Andy_P

Ha ha. I didn't say whether he got it right or wrong just that he made a bit of a thing about it in his first close season. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

Pretty much since Stephen Robinson took over and said it wasn't just ability they looked at when signing players they also took into account the players character and personality. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

Speaking of copies the training kit, as seen in the training images, appears to be the design used by the SRU last season across their training and travel kit, albeit in light grey and black rather the navy and marl grey of the Scotland range. It isn't uncommon of course for Macron designs to be regurgitated and adapted for different teams within their portfolio. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

Remember those more simple times when Celtic made it quite clear they didn't talk about other teams players. Me neither, come to think of it... Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

Duncan Ferguson from Dundee Utd to Rangers was around £4m or so if I recall rightly. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

Most likely as the "won't stand in your way if a suitable offer received" approach appears to play a part in us selling the club to new players and encouraging existing players to sign new deals. But I imagine the healthier the bank balance is the more resilient we can be in determining what bids we can immediately dismiss and those we consider. Great strides have been taken from the days of say Jamie Murphy's move compared to now. This sum should help us continue to strengthen our hand when negotiating. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

£100k? You've just taken in £3m. That'll be £250k now... Welcome to the reality we now have of attempting to spend money on players. And why, regardless of whether it is true or otherwise, the club will make great play that Robinson's budget won't change. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

It is painful to see an especially talented player go and that hurt is only magnified given the destination but for me the harsh reality is that this is the model operating as intended. Develop or identify. Sell as high as the club believe is possible then invest and begin process once more. Having a scan on Twitter I'm intrigued by Alan Burrows remarks that the deal will "literally allow us to lay foundations" on the back of the transformational stuff from earlier. My immediate reaction was that must be relating to training facilities for which we are reported to struggle with, particularly in winter. But whilst £3m will not of course pay for a new stadium. £3m plus proceeds from the sale of Fir Park (although something in the back of my mind tells me John Boyle has or at least had ownership of the ground) money for naming rights and any potential sweeteners for re-locating to Ravenscraig might take you a good bit closer to making it a reality. Ridiculous I dare say but just a thought. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

https://spfl.co.uk/news/summer-signings This is a few days old but given where some of our contemporaries have been signing their players, despite what the perception may be, we are hardly alone in recruiting from where we have. Aberdeen recruiting from Barnsley, Northampton and Motherwell is not a million miles away from us signing players from Blackpool, Cambridge and Livingston. Hibs have signed players from Barnsley and Rotherham, Livingston from Walsall, Ross County from the Championship. There is nothing massively different in what we're doing compared to others. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

Isn't that largely what we've done under Robinson thus far? Tenth or eleventh in terms of budget, aimed for top six but came in 7th and 8th. Minimum Quarter Finals in 3 out of 4 Cup competitions. I've seen it mentioned a couple of times that you have to qualify our high finishes under McCall with the fact that the league was missing full strength Rangers, Hearts and Hibs in part or full at that time. Well, if that's the case then equally it has to be conceded that to do anything close to repeating those feats now is going to be all the more difficult now they are all back and stronger. It's not impossible as Kilmarnock have proven but it is more difficult to finish top half on a bottom half budget. I think the MFC Podcast with Maurice Ross is a good listen and revealing in terms of how the club know their place in the grand scheme and how they seek to bridge the gap in terms of budget. The positive for me is that with each passing season we are getting closer to the point where budgets can be held or even increased. With debts paid off and money that is going out of the club we can look more at improving infrastructure to help generate more money, be that in the ground or through the academy, and consider directly boosting the playing budget. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

It must be the easiest thing ever to pick holes in a Motherwell signing. Sign a youngster = unproven boooo! Sign a veteran = over the hill boooo! Sign a former player = old pals act booo! Former teams fans say he rubbish = clearly must be rubbish booo! Sign a player from a lower level = untested at this level booo! Sign a player on loan = developing other teams players booo! Ask who you think would be a better signing under the parameters = I don't know I don't get paid to find players... In all seriousness we've seen plenty come highly regarded and some at some expense and absolutely bomb. Similarly we've seen plenty unheralded who've become absolute legends for us. I'll wait and see before getting overly excited or overly critical. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

I don't mind Main. There's a half decent player there in the right formation with the right type of partner. I hope he is freed in May next year having failed to score a single goal of course... I'm also having a wry smile at the prospect of the type of football Aberdeen will likely play next season. Everything they do is already overhyped and given a sheen it often fails to merit by the likes of Miller, Gordon et al but I'm looking forward to the interpretation put forward by then when Taylor us hoofing sixty yard punts for Main to battle for. Something tells me it won't be hoofball played for by beasts and giants as I've heard some Aberdeen minded broadcasters described us. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

Is there a place for a thread for the wee Motherwell bits and bobs you come across and maybe aren't worthy of a thread of their own? Time will tell I suppose. I'll start us of with a snippet from a feature on Andy Robertson on the BBC where John Rankin, one of his former team-mates mentions us in a fairly complimentary light. I thought his perception of us as a team and Fir Park as a venue was quite interesting.

I take it he means Ollie Burke.

One of the former U20's Kyle MacDonald has joined Airdrie.

That's a thought. Based on the blurb that came with Premier Sports taking the rights, they boasted of showing between 12 and 16 games a season from 2020'21 , that would suggest we might be looking at 2025'26 before there may be a change from the group format. That number would seem a shade excessive if there were any plans to revert to the regular knock-out format from the off. I don't actually mind the group format itself and I'll concede that however artificial a creation it may be penalty shoot-out bonus point provides a handy differential to help decide the qualifiers. But we definitely need to lose the regionalisation.

I liked the freshness the changes brought to the competition but the regionisation is increasingly taking much of that freshness away. It's becoming repetitive when you are restricted to only half the teams in the country in the group stages. What's that now Morton twice in four seasons? Queen of the South twice in a row, Annan twice in three or four seasons. We've also had two trips to Stranraer and played Edinburgh City twice too since the revamp. Time for another tweak, or for us to qualify for Europe again methinks!

I he latterly gets called up - fantastic. If not, then we take the positive of the extra 2 or 3 weeks rest he'll have ahead of next season. He's young of course so won't be drained the way a more senior pro will be at the end of a season, but we saw the way Allan Campbell was "nursed" to get him to his peak after the U21 tournament last season. Chris Cadden is another good example of a younger player who often starts the season flying having had that rest behind him. All academic if that lucrative bid comes in for him of course...

It's the potential requirement for a change of formation be that as a result of personnel changes, or simply when an opponent, in game situation or match warrants it, that left me slightly puzzled at the freezing out somewhat of Danny Johnson. I absolutely backed the decision to give James Scott the game time but wondered if perhaps some of that time might have been useful alongside another striker, in particular Johnson, to see if there was a potential partnership there. I still think Johnson offers something when we play with two strikers.

Quite a strange game on reflection but plenty to take from it in the end. I also felt our lead came a touch against the run of play, in terms of the chances created and corners forced by Livi at that point, but we continue to benefit enormously through the presence of David Turnbull. From goals to assists he just brings us so much. The routine from the corner was brilliant too. It was a mad sixty seconds with both sides having penalties saved. Gillespie, as well as being a really decent keeper overall, has proved himself to be really good at saving penalties. Must be about four or five over the season now. I wonder what the scoreline might have ended had Turnbull put his penalty away. A real shame he didn't get the hat-trick but perhaps the experience of being in that situation again of handling two penalties in the one game might stand him in good stead in the future. The substitutions seemed sensible in the context of where the game was at that stage and whilst more by accident than design I think the two debutants will have gained something from that last quarter or an hour or so. Certainly more from having to handle the situation of a game potentially slipping away than playing things out at 3-0 so again in the longer term, it's perhaps not the worst thing for them to have experienced. I hope that we might pick up one or two fans from the youngsters in the South Stand. From being in the proximity of the noise and colour of the Bois and seeing all five goals at "their" end as a showcase for the club it wasn't at all bad. It was interesting to see the names of schools and groups on the scoreboard at half-time and seeing a Boys' Brigade group from Dunblane illustrates the potential reach of these days. That we now have contacts for however many groups or individuals (GDPR legislation and all that malarky taken into account) the clever thing will be to follow up on their interest, get feedback on their day, thank them for their support and ensure we retain contact to help build relationships that may encourage them to return again. The "lap of honour" is something that I enjoy - the opportunity to thank the team and management en masse for their efforts over the season but as ever it is always tinged with sadness at those who have played their last in claret and amber (well, given our penchant for re-signing old favourites, for this spell at least). Whilst the standard of his performances and his ability to play at the pace required was often up for debate I'll miss the determination shown by McHugh. He put his head in where it hurts for the cause more than was perhaps sensible given his head injury so early in his 'Well career. Aldred likewise. He never ever felt like a loan player and the player we saw for the last two years is indistimguishable from the player Bury fans describe. Hastie, I just haven't seen enough to say whether he has won a life changing move on the back of a Ross Forbes style three month purple patch or whether he is indeed the real deal. Rodriguez -Gorrin moving on is a frustration. Just when he got up to speed, was given a chance and proved a perfect foil for Campbell and Turnbull in the midfield, he's gone. And Main. He never recaptured the goalscoring form of his opening three months but played his part in transforming the season, as well as the style of play, in the latter part of the campaign. Let's see what next season holds.

For the last time this season your thoughts and votes please...

All being well Inverness will make it past Dundee Utd which would give him three further games as Caley player to use up any suspensions in.

6-2 win. David Turnbull hat-trick. "Are you watching.....ummm.....Malky Mackay"????

Discounting the dismal Scottish Cup exit, by the close of the season Robinson will have delivered pretty much everything that would have been asked of him by the board before the season began. We finished comfortably clear of the relegation battle, a number of young players were introduced and there was a notable player sale through Kipre. That this has been done so whilst debts to former owners will have been further reduced and edging closer towards the break even point the board seek and I'd wager they won't consider this season a failure.

Your thoughts and votes please...