Andy_P

Would that not simply be a case of using a VPN and then tuning in, or is that too simple? I used Turbo VPN whilst in Greece last summer for example to watch the Lions midweek games on Sky Sports.

I fully accept the league is the bigger priority in the grand scheme but this game is very much an opportunity to get everyone, well maybe not everyone, back on board with a view to going in an upward trajectory in the League whilst hopefully having another Cup run at the same time. I kind of get the feeling a lot of people need something to cling on to otherwise their faith in our ability to turn things around will take a real dent. A double blow of losing another derby and going out the Cup is not going to help restore belief at all,which is why, difficult fixture, unsettled line up or otherwise I think it is vital we get through this tie.

It's a big one this for several reasons. It's the Scottish Cup for one thing, a derby game and above all that I think there is the potential for it to have quite a bearing on where our season goes from here. Happy wouldn't be the right word but I've been understanding and appreciative about the reasons why our form dipped so much in December. There has been a fair bit of chat from the coaching and playing staff themselves about why it happened and the measures that have been taken to address it. Tomorrow very much feels like the day where that patience and understanding requires to be paid back with a performance and a result. Rightly or wrongly there is an expectation level that most Motherwell fans will have when facing Hamilton, regardless of the situation each side finds themselves in. Another unfavourable outcome in a derby is only going to add to the discontent that some have displayed on the back of that poor December. There isn't really much room for maneouvre in this one. Whether it's done and dusted tomorrow or in a replay, this really has to be a Motherwell win.

If we lose the Ross County game....but what if we win it? They don't look favourable...but what if they don't turn out to be to as unfavourable as you think? You may well be right. We may well end up in a relegation battle. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but it most certainly isn't as cut and dried as you're painting it to be. I repeat, it still remains to be seen.

By the same token though we've read posts from yourself for the last decade equally insistant that disaster was lurking around the corner ready to strike (even when we were second or third or going for Europe) and yet by hook or by crook we're still here. Actually the reality is we're closer to the top six than we are to the play-off position or automatic relegation spot. I do agree fully however that it is entirely up to what the players do on the park as to what direction our season goes from here and that it would be folly to dimiss the possibility of the season going south. But in a relegation battle? That still remains to be seen.

Of course it's tabloid talk and should be viewed as such; and similarly whilst I can't claim to know the protocols involved in such situations but if I were to pick up a paper and read that manager X was quoted as being in constant contact with one of our players, unless permission had been granted I'd be inclined to think...Get yourself to fuck Manager X. Who are you talk transfers with one of our players whilst under contract?

So you won't be applauding when he comes back and scores at Fir Park then... Seriously though whilst I think you'd probably have saved yourself a whole host of grief by quietly unfollowing it's another perfect example of how laughable their supposed "No one likes us we don't care" mentality is. They fucking love it when someone posts as you did. They're like a swarm of maggots when they see an opportunity to seize upon. The best one was the guy who was so indifferent about your tweet he went to the lengths of replying having taken the time to hunt down an animated gift illustrating how unbothered he was. Hmm...

An interesting view. What I would say though is that I think the mentality/policy, call it what you will, has to be put in some kind of context in terms of where we are as a club - and equally signficant to add to that, where we were as a club, and where we're we hope to get to as a club. You paint it as a dark, cold, emotionless policy. I rather suspect those in charge would feel a continuation of heavy losses and growing debt which nobody was remotely interested in taking on as long term project as a pretty dark and horrible place to be too. So for the very survival and restructuring of the club as a whole I can't argue too much with the policy they've adopted over the past two or three years. And let's be clear, whilst I suspect you've pulled the £500k figure out of the air, the policy has brought in a good more than that. There are two very important words in your post are these days. I, and suspect most 'Well fans would be with you all the way that we would prefer a better balance of home grown players alongside the calculated gambles and the journeyman pros. I would like to think that we'll evolve in that direction over time. Certainly when Robinson was appointed there was talk of such, of a short-term goal - achieved in us staying up, a short-mid term approach of rebuilding a squad and thereafter building a squad for the longer term built upon what by then would hopefully be a regular stream of talent from the youths. If, with each passing season we go further and further down the line of paying off Boyle and Hutchison and begin to accumulate reserves for ourselves there should in theory be less reason for us to take quite so many of the calculated gambles and have more focus on bringing through our own. If it proves to be the case that several years from now we're still not seeing youngsters make up the bulk of the squad then the concerns you raise will have been fully validated. For now though whilst I would still like to see more of own given their opportunity I can fully appreciate why the policy is as it is and what the drivers for it are.

As I understand it, he's been fairly keen to return to his roots in Scotland with a view to having his family settled ahead of considerations like schooling etc. If that's his wish then he's limited on where a player of talents and earning ability can go. I believe even whilst in England he had acquiring property so whilst his choice of destination does leave you a little sad from what I know he is every inch the sensible heid screwed on type you believed.

But if we only ever looked at stats teams probably wouldn't sign half the players they do. Look at Moult for example. Until what, his 5th or 6th team or some such his stats suggest every inch of him being a journeyman player dropping down the levels with his career going only one way. Stats don't take into account injuries, they don't factor in the player's hunger or desire to make a fresh start at a new club, they give you little indication of what the competition for places was like. I know absolutely nothing about this guy but I'm certainly not going to be suggesting we're in trouble because at first glance his stats don't immediately look the greatest.

For a good chunk of the first half I thought we were well on our way to our first three points in a good while. We'd started brightly with a good tempo, got ahead and despite them coming into it a little more we were looking comfortable and well in control. Losing Campbell was a real blow. And irritating also that the challenge which saw him off didn't even warrant a booking. And then there was the penalty. I've yet to see any highlights and there appears little mention of it on the thread but from my vantage point it looked little different to the ball blasted into a ruck of players that the referee seemed content to ignore down the other end a couple of minutes earlier. We never recovered. There have been numerous occasions this season where there's been a reaction (begging the obvious question about wrong selections in the first place. However....) so I wasn't overly concerned. A substitution, tweak of formation, a little caution to thrown to the wind has helped re-ignite us, even if only briefly. Today, Tanner apart, there was virtually nothing. That's a concern. Has the resolve and confidence been eroded to the point there is no longer a belief? Similarly whilst I don't think we've been a million miles away in other games recently we were soundly beaten today by a team that had only really to create one opportunity to beat us given our seasonal gift from Hartley/Kipre and the penalty. Again that's a major concern that we appear to be getting weaker defensively rather than development of shape and understanding. I hope there is some good footage of the that farce with Hartley and Imrie at the end and that it rolls on and captures the Accies team celebrating with their fans like they'd won the Cup. I hope the team see that and it seeps into the psyche as a little motivation for next time around. Are they willing to let this mob come to Fir Park and do that again? I should fucking well hope not!! When all's said and done take everything away and look at the table as it stands it's not far off what most would probably have been happy enough at this stage of the season given the turnaround in personnel. But the cloud has to be lifted. Whether that's through beating Hamilton and Ross County when the game reccomence, or some notable additions, there has to be spark there when we come back for the Cup game in three weeks.

Your thoughts and votes please...

It is. Which is exactly why Kmcalpin observed "I appreciate its a democratic forum though and the rules state you can pretty much write what you like, as long its MFC related.".... and why you're cringe worthy "everybody look at me" style post is there for people to see. Now give us all a break with agonising soul searching now eh?

Poor form, missing players or whatever but a couple of things I have no fear about tomorrow will be our desire or ability to compete physically with them. I don't think it's any co-incidence that our results against them have improved significantly since we began to give the fixture the respect it deserved. I was as guilty as the next for mocking them for treating the derby as their " Cup Final" but there's no doubt that their supporters and more importantly their team approached these games when they first came back up in a manner that we often failed to do. Fancy us to sneak it by a goal, perhaps from a set-piece.

You've perhaps answered your own question with the final line there. The vibe from Robinson at the AGM was that it wasn't a market that offered best value for money. That said Rohan Ferguson was signed from Second Division Airdrie in August. Petravicius? The recently acquired Greek goalkeeper? That tends to suggest there is some knowledge base of what is out there beyond the UK but I think when your Director of Recruitment is based in England then you can draw your own conclusions about what where the DOR's key focus lies. And when you've taken in sums reported to be in excess of £1.5m from players recruited from that market there's a decebt argument that the positioning of the scouting network is fairly sound. I think it's exactly a Ryan Bowmanesque we're likely to see either someone who is on an upward trajectory at English League Two/Conference level who hints at having the potential to do something akin to Moult or a player whose stock has fallen looking to rebuild it. Much as I would love to see us go out and recruit something as close to the finished article as possible I can't see it.

Another missed opportunity for me, and with each one that slips past it becomes that little bit more concerning. I thought we looked up for it last night and were fairly accomplished in the first half. Crucially however we failed to take the chances when they fell to us. A decent opportunity around three or four minutes in and one an injury time. We have to be taking those kind of chances if we're going to win games. The second half however was very disappointing. We started poorly, our ball retention was awful and there was no cohesion to what we were doing. So many clearances that just came back to us because lines weren't properly cleared or we were unable to retain possession for any period of time that put so much unnecessary pressure on ourselves. I passed up the opportunity to suffer the goals being replayed on their big screen but it irks a little that from what appeared broadly similar positions one of our most attack minded players on the park fails to take his chance before the break whilst their centre-half bursts the net. Again it was a game where I can't really be too critical in terms of effort and keeping going to the end but we are so so lacking in guile and the ability to finish chances off at the moment that when we do go behind you are immediately fearful of our ability to recover. I haven't read the interview but I see some headlines attributed to Robinson about losing patience with his strikers. Fisher is a player I really want to see do well for us but he is fast approaching that stage where I suspect his team-mates are as equally lacking in confidence as supporters about his ability to put the ball away. He seems committed to the cause and has a desire to do well for us. But I shudder when I think back to that effort in the second half that went out for a throw-in for example. But the kind of misses last night are the same kind of chances he was passing up at the likes of Dingwall and Edinburgh City. I don't know whether it's purely confidence based or ability but he's veering further and further into Jacob Blyth territory with every passing game. Bowman also appears to have regressed since Moult's injury. All things considered Saturday is shaping up to be a pretty massive game. Dare I say verging on the season defining? A win and you've got a decent gap again over Hamilton and those further behind, and the associated momentum to take you into the Cup game. A defeat and they are within a point and there's nothing you can do to remedy the situation on the park for the best part of three weeks.

Your thoughts and votes please...

I'm starting to feel a little more positive also. Different personnel but we turned in a fairly accomplished performance in there towards the end of last season in getting a point. There has been some chat about them trying to avenge the Semi Final but this group have also shown an ability to raise their game for "bigger" matches. At the very least I'm sure we won't be intimidated and might very well thrive on their growing dislike of us. Just wish we were going there with a full complement but not beyond us to get a positive result.

My Airdrie supporting mates have said the same. They seemed genuinely surprised that Hastie was the one considered the better longer term prospect of the two outfield players and that many of us felt Watt was out with them simply to wind down his contract.

"Up the 'Well we will shout"......as the 'Gers again we'll rout. Maybe...

One of those occasional bad point/good point games where you can't be quite sure whether you should be happy or annoyed at what you've got. I was certainly looking for a win beforehand and I'm sure, particularly when you consider that the players recovering from injury were all involved, I think that illustrates the management had very much targeted this for three points also. To an extent it seemed a case of trying to get back to the formation, if not personnel, that had been generally successful for the early part of the campaign. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not. We seemed set up to try to get crosses in to a box containing one striker, who quite often found himself outside the box, and with generally little aerial ability to capitalise on any crosses if they weren't caught by the wind or blocked by the first man. I thought we immediately showed a bit more intent as the second half started but were undone by what was a very well excuted goal by Dundee. I could make many criticisms about our team but chucking it certainly isn't one of them and as per they responded with gusto trying to get back into the game. Without having seen the incident at first glance I thought our penalty looked soft (nobody has mentioned it so perhaps not) but well tucked away by Tanner. There's always that uneasy feeling when someone other than the regular taker steps up so in that respect his finish offered assurance if he's called upon again post-Moult. I was unaware of the extent of Frear's injury but that combined with the arrival of Allan seemed to see the game turn in Dundee's favour and we rode our luck and had our goalkeeper to thank on more than one occasion. I'm not overly fussed at what could be considered an overdue rub of the green. Character is another of our assets in this group and they certainly showed that also in digging in to earn the draw. In the medium term I still think we aren't a million miles away. Easier said than done but having striker of some calibre would I believe have done much to turn the defeats and draws iof recent games into draws and wins. In the very short term however we're creaking again numbers wise and absolutely powder puff up fron. It seems very much a case of limping through the next two games and re-grouping after the New Year with some refreshed players and new additions.

Your thoughts and votes please...

The Clyde fan in work suggests that Pearo has been training with them. No indications if there is any consideration to them wanting to sign him, or him join them for that matter, but has kind of disappeared off the radar after he left us in the summer.

Nothing specific asked or raised about either of three issues quoted James.

A brief summary of some of the stuff that sticks in the mind from the AGM earlier this evening. Not a lengthy meeting but fairly positive stuff to report from the board and the manager nonetheless. It was reaffirmed that 40% of transfer incomings goes to the club with 60% to creditors but what was further explained was that any costs involved with the transfer are deducted before anything goes to the club or creditor. For example if we got £100,000 for a player and £10,000 of that went to the player it would then be 100% between club and creditor of the remaining £90,000. Debt has been reduced on the previous accounting year with Well Society funding contributing largely to that. The topic of future finance came up a couple of times with Jim McMahon giving an assurance that we would be in the coming year, with a later remark (curiously from the manager actually) suggesting we may well be "cash positive" was the term used over the next three years. The "why an undisclosed fee" question that comes up here regularly was answered and it is apparently almost always at the request of the buying club - to the point it is actually included as part of contracts. It was suggested 90% of our negotiations with players involve agents although one significant transfer signing this season negotiated his own terms. The minimum wage stuff came up with the club feeling somewhat aggrieved at the impression left. It was emphasised all staff are paid what is legally due to them. The issue would seem to have arisen whereby sums come off an employee's salary to cover payments to the club (e.g. for a Well Lotto subscription) which if the end sum is looked at could suggest they are paying less than is due. It was inferred the transactions are actually in the employees benefit e.g. dosh comes off their wage for a ticket for a game rather whereas now they have to go to the bank, get money and pay that way etc. The SPFL are both comfortable and supportive of the club's position. A re-evaluation of stewarding is ongoing in general but further thoughts will be given to the housing of both Celtic and Rangers fans (who have recently returned to the Main Stand) in sections in there. The club are aware of issues but are also keenly aware of the benefit of the six figure sum ticket sales from their presence in the POD can bring in. Interestingly there apparently seems to be some desire from some involved in the security and stewarding process that the Bois move to the opposite side of the East Stand. There was a claim that the Bois themselves aren't against this proposal. The board noted however that the Cooper stand predominantly used by families is of course immediately adjacent to that section and indeed those who currently use those sections would require to be consulted before any move were to happen. There is a proposal to replace the scoreboard up for consideration shortly and a survey has been undertaken on the PA system also. The company involved in the PA evaluation have experience in improving at least one of other top flight ground. Stephen Robinson gave a brief run through of the season thus far and reckoned it had been a good start given that we have one of the lowest budgets in the league. He was lavish in his praise of Keith Lasley whom he believed had completely surpassed his expectations when he offered him the role. On the recent injury worries he was positive that most if not all will be in a position to return if not on Saturday then shortly after. Work is ongoing to try to secure Peter Hartley on a permanent deal. Discussions are ongoing about adding to the squad with at least one striker and a central defender on the wanted list. The club are aware however that with the perception of being flush sums discussed have rocketed. Robinson insists the club will continue to trade within its means. He acknowledged that signing players from Scottish sides was particularly difficult in this regards. Negotiations are ongoing with some current players about extensions also. Some deals he pointed out were not as clear cut as simply offering and accepting terms with, to use one example, the location of a players family having a bearing on whether they might accept an offer. Longer term he hopes to build a core of first team players that is perhaps added to each in each window and further supplemented by those graduating from within the club. He remarked that Allan Campbell was one who had made the progression but cautioned that he still had to be managed carefully to avoid burnout. Lessons have been learned about handling a schedule such as the three successive Celtic games in six days and the mental and physical repercussions of such a run of games. The issue of referees was raised but those who spoke didn't go into huge detail. The message was they preferred discuss matters privately with the SFA and match delegates with the manager keen to ensure players tried to keep their discipline.