Andy_P

The break itself is fine. It is designed to give recovery time for players with niggles and injuries and also gives pitches a couple of weeks of a breather or time for work if a groundsman feels its necessary. It also provides an opportunity for some warm weather training on sound surfaces if a club is in a fortunate position to afford it. There is also the fact that many supporters will benefit from a couple of weeks off after what is generally a busy month for games (scheduling to accommodate a break or otherwise) and Christmas bills arriving. It baffles me that there are still people who consider it solely an attempt to avoid bad weather though. We know that shite weather of varying types can hit Scotland in pretty much any month of the year. If they were looking to have a genuine winter break that dodged the vast majority of the winter then we'd be playing an effective summer football schedule. I agree however that any friendly arranged simply to cash in on a free week does infringe upon the spirit of if it but I'd argue much less so than in July/August when that utterly ridiculous rule was created to allow a postponement of a league fixture to play a friendly.

It's an exciting signing based upon the form he showed, particularly under Mark McGhee, first time around and the successes and profile he's enjoyed since. I have no idea what his current form and fitness is like currently however. First time around he was certainly technically proficient, offered something from set-pieces and had a decent goalscoring record. If you haven't done so before now have a browse on YouTube and see what footage you can source from the 07'08 in the early stages of which McCormack was involved in a joyous, potent, and free flowing attacking line up the current side could only dream of. There was a spell teams were blown away inside the first half an hour and we just played out the rest of the game! He's clearly not going to playing in a team of that quality or attacking verve this time but if he can replicate his form of that season we'll be much the stronger for his presence.

Your thoughts and votes please...

All is clearly not as well as it might be. Of that you'll get few who'll disagree. But your almost daily attempt at a squeezing in a "Robinson must go“ inference is about as painstakingly dull as half the games we've watched this season.

Really? Maybe you should mention it a little more often. You know, just in case anyone's happened to miss your current three posts a day saying how much you'd like him gone.

He's become a modern day Kevin McBride. Went from being a superb loanee to a permanent signing. Not long after suffered an injury from which it seems he's never quite fully recovered from.

Your thoughts and votes please..

If and when we do move from Fir Park we should definitely incorporate some kind of replication of that entrance at the new stadium as a nod to the past.

You've always had that kind of potential if the circumstances are right. I think you definitely have an edge on the likes of ourselves from Lanarkshire and St Mirren from Renfrewshire from being that bit further away from Glasgow and having no real local opposition of note (ok you do have an unhealthy knack of losing to Ayr in Cup games) in the immediate vicinity and a fairly expansive catchment area, when things are good on the park to an outsider the potential definitely seems to be there. We're clearly not in the same positive shape but I remember some of the crowds between the teams the first season you came back up and it seems almost unbelievable to think a Killie-Motherwell league game broke 10,000. As a fan of the club who'll benefit from your 2500-3000 or travelling support on Wednesday I wish you well in filling that South Stand if not on the park.

I could actually, for a couple of reasons. I heard or read somewhere recently that with their new managerial appointment they are apparently re-focusing on youth development again. In the not too distant past they had a fair reputation for hovering up and developing younger talent and are seemingly keen to return to that method having lost their way a bit. With successful forays to the Scottish top flight in the shape of Wanyama, Van Dijk, Foster, Davies and most recently Armstrong they don't appear to have the snobbish attitude to the Scottish top flight that some English side have. They will also be well aware that just a few miles along the coast Ryan Fraser, who was plucked from a Scottish side at an early age, has been a success at Bournemouth. With that in mind they would seem the kind of side who might be interested in someone like Turnbull. More's the pity!

Just s thought but wondering if a wee whip round of sorts would be in order to help the Bois sort out replacement materials and drum?

You're right. It doesn't come into it a great deal where they come from. If they're good for us when they come to Motherwell that's great. If they're shite, that's bad. Which is why I don't quite get the regular negative remarks, not necessarily only by yourself, about the English Conference or whatever its called, especially when we've had the likes of Moult, Johnson and Heneghan who've done us a turn and gone on to earn us decent coin. That the team play like and are of an English non league standard is up for debate by those who know that league better than me. And that some of our team aren't good enough is an opinion I wouldn't contest at all. But I know that we've had enough half decent players from that league to know that I won't be getting my knickers in a twist if the first player unveiled in January happens to be from that league.

We had one player we signed from an English non league team that started.

I'm generally more cup half full than half empty but that today leaves me more than a bit concerned. What an opportunity we've blown. The whole resting players issue thing beforehand put some uneccesary pressure and set us up for a fall which duly came. I think whilst we've been clear of both St Mirren and Dundee, Accies we've always been erratic against so them less so, and they haven't been able to lay a glove on us we've had a physiological advantage over them as well as points advantage. We've lost that now. St Mirren will look at that today and will have absolutely no fear going into the last two games against us. Over the piece I actually thought we were worthy of a point at least but David Turnbull apart there was virtually no creativity. It was summed up towards the end of the game when we had four forwards on the park but no clue how to supply them with the ball. The substitution of Mbulu in itself wasn't wrong but when we were crying out for width to throw another central midfielder into the mix seemed odd. That was compounded by later changes. I cannot fathom how we ended the game with Grimshaw on the park and Tait hooked. Grimshaw was having a tough time of it trying to create down the right. Surely Tait over on the right and Frear on the left would have given more shape and balance. The goal does not leave Bigi looking particularly clever. The chance Hammill fired over apart they looked as woeful at creating anything meaningful as we were so really poor to give them a helping hand. Shite result. Shite performance. Shite that we've given St Mirren an opening they never should have had And only ourselves to blame for it all.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Mentioning the Cup Finals (which incidentally I thought you told us we weren't allowed to mention any more because it was all soooo last season) and Al B's call for patience puts me in mind of 1991 and the aftermath which has some similarities to this season and perhaps beyond. We similarly failed to build on the achievements of the previous campaign and had a completely non-descript season (Europe excepted). Things actually deteriorated for spell into the next season again, before it all began to come together and within eighteen months we were challenging for the title and back in Europe again. I'm hardly suggesting that Robinson is going to have us chasing league flags but it does show, as Al B alludes to, that if a degree of patience is shown then a manager can bounce back, rebuild and refresh a team. Whether Robinson has it in him to do so remains to be seen but I'm inclined to think the board will give him every opportunity and someone crying for his dismissal at the current stage every 6th post is going to be disappointed in the short term at least.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Yeah, the impression I got was that it was a case of them doing their due dilligence in exploring what would be involved were a move ever to become more pressing and enabling them to set those sums against the costs of remaining at Fir Park. I think Jim McMahon even used the phrase "don't hold your breath" on any prospects of a move. On Turnbull it was mentioned that we would be protected to something like eight years worth of development compensation if the worst were to happen. There is still a hope he will resign but we do at least have that if things don't get worked through. Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

A quick summary of what was discussed at the AGM earlier this evening. All in all quite low key. Business was taken care of and a short Q&A was all undertaken inside around 45 minutes before shareholders were invited to relocate to the boardroom for nibbles. Or bolt down to try to catch the train back to Bargeddieshire... Financial wise much of what was mentioned was already released when the summary of the accounts was issued a few weeks previously with similar language such as a Haley's Comet style scenario where all factors of the business (football and commercial) were near perfect and a with a bit good fortune we recorded probably the club's biggest ever profit. Instilled is a sense this will be far from the norm and a review of the club operation is ongoing with a view to reaching sustainability. The debts it were noted were reduced modestly to JB and LH. An anticipated sum of around £200k is expected to be wiped courtesy of Les extending the double your money scheme. A large amount of the debt is to the WS and it was put that whilst this could be paid back it is in a sense a protection should the worst ever happen and the WS would be the largest creditor with the greatest say in how to proceed. Costs increased on ground expenses such as the scoreboard and Hunter Stand roof. Quotes are out for a replacement PA system. This is increasingly becoming a necessity rather than nicety since the Green Guide issued to clubs raises standards each year. This will cost circa £250k. The protective sheets seen earlier in the season in the South Stand were damaged (ironically) but should be back in place soon. These helped cut cleaning costs and enabled the club to use the POD for visiting supporters but the club are aware of frustrations of POD patrons as regards away fans in that stand and are reconsidering their stance. I was near the back so missed the full line but I gather some kind of netting or equivalent has been purchased to attempt to limit stray shots smashing into weans in the Cooper Stand during the warm up after a further incident at the last home game. Increasing costs like these and the various refurbs and repairs around FP took the conversation on to exploring Ravenscraig as a potential option in the longer term. Alan Burrows answered a question on the frustrations of lack of PATG options and said on occasion the club have tried to assist by sending MFC staff to sell at turnstiles but this was driven by individual clubs. Colt teams were discussed and it was felt in principle it would be a positive move for MFC to have a Colts side in "Division Four" but to run with a set up would be akin to running almost a second club which would be extremely financially challenging and detrimental to the funds required for the first team. There are discussions ongoing to see if loan options can be expanded upon. Stirling was chosen as the "base" for the 20's primarily as it was the closest available grass pitch that the side could play on. It was felt it would also be beneficial for any returning first team player to return to play on grass rather than an artificial surface. Stephen Robinson is actively looking to strengthen and has two or three on his radar but acknowledged people will need to go out. He remains hopeful David Turnbull will sign but again referenced his agent. He believes the offer made stands well when set against others who have played more games at his age or have had greater representative honours. On international matters he insisted the club were delighted at the likes of Campbell and Cadden going away and representing Scotland last summer but acknowledged it has had a knock on effect in terms of tiredness and that players of that age require to be managed. He was frustrated the Cadden appeared on the cusp of recapturing his form of old before suffering injury at Ibrox. On injuries he bemoaned the freak nature of some of the injuries striking down players. Tanner is unlikely to return before the end of the season and the injury that Dunne suffered earlier in the season was apparently one, the physio of some 30 years standing, had never seen before. Carson is at a point he can run again but no timescale has been set for a return. He is happy with Mark Gillespie and Rohan Ferguson as his number two. An interesting point was made about Robinson's choice of words during interviews and the phrase about having too many footballers was put to him as being unhelpful. SR laughed this off firstly by saying it depends on what interview you read. He went to attempt to clarify saying that he required a balanced team of players with technical ability but who could equally do the dirty jobs. He noted how because of our reputation teams have routinely changed formations and tactics to attempt to counter despite as Robinson said we actually have only two players apparently nudging over the six foot mark. And there my scribbles ended...

Your thoughts and votes please...

Forgive me Dave, but in what way would our budget preclude Jack Hastie's return? He's already our player and by all accounts an option for him return during the January window was included in the terms of his move to Alloa. Even if Alloa were making a contribution of sorts for his services I would be amazed if the fact we were now 100% responsible for his salary would have any bearing on him coming back, if we wanted that to happen.

I'll never quite understand what purpose it serves to heap further unnecessary angst on ourselves because another team happened to achieve a different result in circumstances that weren't exactly identical to those we experienced. Yeah Dundee had 10 men but they were winning and were at home, two not insignificant and different factors to our own experience against Rangers. And if we go down that road we should surely be hailing our team for earning a draw against Celtic when the mighty Killie suffered a 5-1 pumping no? I won't hold my breath.

Rose moving on wouldn't be a huge surprise. The surprise was, given that even this time last year there was chat that his family were nudging him towards a move away from the UK, that he signed an extension in the first place. I think he's been a good signing over the piece. Never spectacular but did a decent job whilst the likes of Campbell and Turnbull developed to the point that both have made his presence in the side much less important than it perhaps was when he first arrived. Interesting to see whether he's one of those earmarked for a January departure or whether it'll be at the end of the season.

My current view of Robinson is that I really don't know where I stand with him. Just when I think his time is up we'll come up with an Aberdeen or Celtic result but then just as quickly I find my morale sapped with missed opportunities. Just when I think we're beginning to work towards the evolvement of style of play he'll take a hissy fit and talk about being forced to play too many footballers. Just when I think there is a considered plan about introducing youngsters there's remarks attributed to him like the ones about Livingstone's fitness leading you to suspect he's not all that convinced about our youths. Current league position? It isn't where I'd want us to be but in the context of supporting Motherwell across my lifetime a 'Well side sitting relatively safe three or four places off the bottom coming towards the turn of the year is by no means the worst I've seen. Looking forward accruing points at the current rate we should hopefully be OK. There's no guarantee it will remain the case but the bottom three do rather helpfully appear to be adept at taking points of one another meaning if we keep ticking over we should remain clear if danger. If that is the case it presents Robinson with an opportunity to do exactly as he has suggested recently to freshen the side up with youth. Ya Bezzer for one, having queried why he didn't do the same last season in an even stronger position, will I'm sure be sceptical but I think even if results do continue in a frustrating inconsistent manner, it will be more tolerable if we know that it it's going to be beneficial in the longer term for those youngsters involved. The January transfer window will be interesting. It's obviously fair to say some signings haven't worked out as hoped thus far and there's apprehension from some that they don't want Robinson handed more of the budget to use but by the same token I welcome the fact that if he has acknowledged that if some he has brought in are the wrong fit then better that be addressed sooner rather than later. I suppose I really I hold much the same hopes as I did back before the season started. An easier on the eye style of play, a greater proportion of youth players involved in the team with a view to their permanent inclusion if good enough and hopefully another good run in the Cup. If we get that then and steer clear of the bottom two then there will be something to take from the season. If we continue in the vein of frustrating losses when often the football isn't great and youngsters have been overlooked it's difficult to see how the optimism from last year that lead us to getting these near record season ticket sales can be recaptured.

Your thoughts and votes please...