Andy_P

It's always a popular poser people offering an opinion on who they would like to make up a starting eleven. But having three central-defenders and a striker unavailable after just three pre-season games perhaps illustrates that the question we should be asking ourselves is do we have sufficient cover across each position within the team deal with situations like that. If not as a first choice then certainly Ramsden comes into his own in that regard given his versatility. I would certainly hope that McCall hasn't closed any doors on anybody else for defensive cover but Ramsden hasn't looked out of place at all, offers the versatility required to cover two or three roles, has already spent a few weeks with the squad now and has the added bonus of being known to the manager already. It would seem to me that its just a case of someone holding the purse strings at the club giving the nod rather than McCall having any decision to make here.

A good bit more encouraged by what I saw today in comparison to the previous couple of games. We looked much more like ourselves and played some pretty good stuff at times. Good creativity, quite a few chances fashioned and competed well throughout. Need to be more clinical when the proper stuff starts and ofcourse our defence is somewhat stretched at the moment but that was encouraging viewing today. A good day all round .

Could be a timely one this. Scotrail are doing a promotion for rail season ticket holders who have signed up for their Advance loyalty scheme where you have 2 x return journeys anywhere in Scotland for £19. The trips can be made up until the end of September. Could be quite handy with both Ross County and Aberdeen away before the end of September. Anyone who has a season ticket for the train with Scotrail can sign up for their loyalty scheme >>>> here

In terms of a full-house, If Pana do bring a few, then that might to eat into the capacity further again - when I say that I'm presuming the wings of the Main Stand are going to be unavailable. Mind when Aalesunds brought a few in the Europa League, they had to section off the seats below them because there was apparently some UEFA regulation that you can't have one set of fans above or below another.

Now there's a thing as regards the Champions League matches. What are our chances of earning some coinage through a TV deal in these games? Obviously the BBC are all consumed with the Olympics but will anyone else take it up? Would it have an impact on a kick-off time? Would in fact the club want even want someone to take it up in case it impacts on ticket sales? More for the club to consider I suppose.

"Take me officer......but please, please spare my camera. The photos in Greece just have to be taken....."

I suppose there's an added difficulty in slotting in another game - the weekend of the 28th sees the Ramsden's Cup begin that weekend. A fair chunk of potential opponents will be out of the equation as they will be playing in that or won't be interested in a game because they will be have completed preparations for that. Ofcourse that doesn't prevent us considering a game slightly further afield but it hasn't been ideal.

I thought it was a step up from Saturday still a good way to go. Share the concerns that the Champions League games may come too soon. It surely wouldn't be the case that they are actually being written off completely and viewed as part of the pre-season are they? I can understand the thinking of splitting the team between two matches so that almost all of them will get an hour plus. It also presents the teams with an additional challenge - the youngsters testing themselves alongside senior players whilst the senior players may have more of an additional responsibility to help bring on the youngsters, more than they perhaps might alongside recognised first-team colleagues. Certainly Raith gave those that played a good work-out, no doubt about that. That said there is the question as to what point do we begin focussing on getting a team prepared for those CL games, Presumably after tonight that will ofcourse Everton and Hamilton but we certainly don't appear as readied and fluent as we appeared in the first couple of friendlies at Morton and Dumbarton last season. Do we have a game a week on Saturday? Would McCall want to risk adding another game in between Accies and the first CL game? As for the game itself there was a general lack of incisiveness throughout. We varied from spraying the ball about fairly well to some awful distribution and poor decision making. The draw was about fair although Rovers were unlucky not to nick it at the end. Was a good wee evening nonetheless. Good to visit somewhere we haven't been for a while.

I did see Flow respond to someone on Twitter about a 'Well Society enquiry that Alison, who deals with it, had been on annual leave. Perhaps that's had a bearing on it?

Perhaps a bit mean-spirited but see if I was an opposition manager it wouldn't matter a toss whether my player was Stevie Hammell's best mate of 20 years I'd be buggered if I would let him turn out in his testimonial on Saturday. Boot on the other foot I'd be seriously hacked off if one of our paper thin squad turned out for another team and picked up some daft injury that ruled him out of the Champions League games or the start of the season. Players currently without clubs or who have retired are obviously a little different but I'd be a little surprised if players currently contracted for other teams are involved.

Don't forget about the League Cup and Scottish Cup now....

Nice one Michael, thanks for that! Very much appreciated.

Aye, was mentioned on the club's Twitter feed at the weekend and referred to post-match on Saturday by McCall. Arbroath v a Motherwell XI was mentioned on Twitter.

Ordered one last Tuesday, had an acknowledgement from the club the payment was received the following day and the certificate came in the post yesterday. The actual inscription of your brick, according to the letter that came with the certificate can take between six and eight weeks.

I do also wonder if the bit, really gets to the bit, whether John Boyle may still have a part to play. Complete supposition on my part but he remains a creditor with a six figure sum due to him from MFC. If the club are in dire straits then the chances of him recouping that are drastically reduced. I don't know, that well might be small beer to someone of his financial standing but it would seem reasonable to think he will want his money back. There would also be the fact that his legacy at Fir Park - the 'Well Society would also likely crumble. Would he let that happen? Even if some measure of assistance were to be forthcoming there is no way I would ever expect the club to let on, after all the whole 'Well Society deal is about taking control ourselves without any relying on any benefactor. But this is a pretty exceptional time and I do wonder what John Boyle thinks of events. I imagine he must be quite frustrated that just as the plans he put in place appear to be coming to fruition this has all blown up.

I always find it hard to make predictions like these. Difficult to know where you stand in relation to other sides until you've played a few games. Current perceptions are that we've slipped back a little with the departures we've seen, but we're hardly alone in that. There are one or two who seem to have made some progress - although you could argue Hibs couldn't really go any further backwards and Aberdeen to a lesser extent. It's a tight enough league as it is but I sense an even greater bunching up of teams in the middle than normal. That being the case I just hope we can replicate our ability to eek out results against non-Old Firm sides which was the basis on which last season was built. Whether its Dunfermline or Dundee I can only see them struggling so I don't so foresee a relegation battle. But outwith that? Could be anything from 2nd to about 7th or 8th. As ever on top of that good runs in the Cup would be most welcome. Champions League/Europa League? The cherry on the icing on the cake.

An eye-raising final score. I suppose with every defeat you look to see what positives you can take from the game. From this I guess the main thing will be that if any of our players had misguided notions about being able to coast on the back of recent achievements then today should be the wake call up that knocks that one on the head. I fully accept that in the grand scheme of things friendlies are there solely to get the team prepared for the real stuff when it kicks in, but if we'd have won 6-0 today we wouldn't dismiss it as meaningless so by the same token I don't think we can just brush off a 4-0 defeat as meaningless just because it didn't happen to go our way. At first glance the scoreline might not have been so surprising had we started a bit ring-rusty but we actually looked really decent in an attacking sense for the first 20 minutes. It just seemed a matter of time before the floodgates would open. Never saw it coming at our end mind you! Sometimes, to quote our old pal Maurice, its just your Donald Duck when the opposition have little or nothing of the play yet manage to score three goals from three efforts on target but that was how it went today. That said it was a little concerning at how we just seemed to stop playing after Ayr went in front. Clearly both as individuals and as a team there are several levels that they require to go up before the season starts in earnest. Whilst there a couple of positional changes I would have preferred to have seen today - such as Tom Hateley being in defence - over the next few friendlies we'll get an indication if today was the plan McCall has got in his mind to go with or a bit of a experiment. Step up required on Tuesday though.

Sieb if you want I'll give Brazilian the dosh and you can square me up next weekend if that helps? Presuming you'll still be in your usual seats?

I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm worried about the departures of Craigan, Clancy and Jennings but there is a natural concern that we might not be as strong as we were and how that will impact on our standing next season. But that said I do think its important to keep in mind that teams can and do adapt to compensate for the loss of important players, youngsters or fringe players can stake claims and a fresh face can emerge unexpectedly that can any ease worries about departed favourites.There is plenty of evidence of that at Fir Park alone over the last few years. I think that part of any apprehension about the depth of quality of our squad as a whole is, as has been hinted at in couple of threads, not that many are too sure of how good the youngsters who will be on the fringes of the squad are. You always like to think that there are some good prospects around capable of making the step up but I genuinely couldn't say if that's the case or not. Not too many get the chance to see them on a regular basis these days to be able to form an opinion. Used to be you clearly identify who was a prospect by watching the reserves up at Fir Park every other week. Nowadays youth games are generally played in the afternoon during the working week which limits opportunities and as a consequence only so many will be able to accurately comment on what they feel the squad needs. Perfectly capable replacements for each of three departed first-teamers may well be lurking in the squad already - but that we just might not be aware of it.

I did Sandy yeah, thanks. Got that on the 28th of last month. Rather than emailing direct I had replied to one of the PM's you had sent me, letting me know your contribution was on its way. Apologies if I've not made it too clear that I was confirming receipt of your donation but yeah, received safe and sound and was included in the last payment I made to MFC. Cheers again.

Thanks Gordon, that would be much appreciated! Cheers again!

Received safe and sound Phil. Thank you for your support!

Good man Special! Much appreciated!

Currently we've £180 to go to hit the £1000 mark Dave. Since the last wee burst of activity post-newco vote, we've had about 4 or 5 forum members who have intimated they are keen to contribute and hope to do so in the near future. Getting there!

I'm in a similar boat to a few who have posted. I'd be quite interested in taking out another 'Well Lotto membership but direct debit is more preferable to a one off whack of £52. Can't access the 'fishel at work but perhaps it might be worth someone using the feedback/idea section from the official website to ask them if they'd scan and upload the paper documents to be able to set up the Well Lotto on direct debit.