Andy_P

If my memory serves me correctly we were due that. They had taken us to extra-time in the League Cup there earlier in the season and we were quite fortunate to scrape past them that night (I can't mind if Darren Smith scored as a 16 year old subby but he had a significant contribution) but they certainly didn't miss us when we got them in the Scottish Cup. The first of a series of some horrible results against them in Cup competitions. But it does bring back memories of how much potential Love Street had for an away day. A doddle to get there on the train and loads of pubs in the vicinity.

Your thoughts and votes please...

I don't know what build your old fella has but taking Mega's build, the one I'm using currently for example, if it's half decent it'll have various sections with add ons built in. It's within those add-ons you'll find the links to games. It's then a case of clicking on the links and seeing if the stream is live. Because it shows a game doesn't necessarily mean someone will be streaming the game. The Sportsmania add on is a paid sub with various options. You can get a day pass for £4. I believe they also have an Android app although in truth I haven't used either. By all accounts the paid sub option will give you a greater chance of finding a stream that buffers less and will be more watchable, assuming there is one of course, but if you don't want to pay there are plenty of add-ons and links within them. If you are willing to plough through them you might get lucky.

I can't say I've ever really considered it at international to be honest but certainly at our level where budgets are perhaps more limited then a player with versatility is usually always well received. Some of my favourite Motherwell players like John Philliben and Martyn Corrigan were comfortable in more than one position for example. I suppose given the paucity of options in most positions Scotland have then I guess that isn't much of a surprise that flexibility is utilised. As an aside, nice to see you posting again Stu!

I opened the thread anticipating it to be about Chris Cadden and a suggestion that he should be one of the players that Scotland introduce soon with a view to building a squad for the next campaign, I must admit I didn't expect it to be about Richard Tait. I do think Tait us playing an increasingly important role for us the more he settles in, but for me I would say he's some distance short of being considered for a Scotland call up.

In response to a similar points raised on Twitter I noticed Graham Barnstaple respond McGhee was at Fir Park all week.

I was pleasantly surprised at just how comfortable a win it was for us. Certainly Thistle weren't at the races and their goalkeeper making a hash of things in the lead up to our first was an immense help. But no, we looked largely assured throughout and, in the first half in particular, my fears of how we were going to create our chances were a little misplaced. When you think of the blocks from Moult, Tait's header and shot in the second half, Cadden clipping the crossbar and McDonald squaring late on it could have been even more emphatic than it was. And when even Craig Samson has time for a little show-boating you know the afternoon is going your way!

Your thoughts and votes please folks...

Depressing reading it may well make but at first glance at the team I think there is justification in wondering where chances are going to be created. Unless the intention is simply to get the ball up to the front two quickly then then there's a huge onus in Cadden and Tait. I also agree that it appears Ainsworth has absolutely no margin for error in comparison to many of his team mates. There remains the argument of course he's being purposely held back to come on later in the game but given the frequency he's the first to be chopped after things don't go well, well...

I read a couple of tweets from Alan Burrows earlier today dismissing his claim that the club aren't aware of how he's doing with Notts County that they have their Chief Scout observing and analyse various pieces of data on his displays. I must admit though I've been struggling to join in the sudden heart-felt concern for Louis Lang's welfare some have been expressing quite vocally over the last 24 hours. Where has all this interest and concern been since he moved I wonder? It seems a fairly clear hedge betting strategy on his part. He likely knows his days are numbered at Motherwell and that he'll most likely move on in January. Even if he has aspirations above Notts County he knows it will do no harm in talking the place up in case his options become limited. You may remember the likes of Ruddy and Jutkiewicz for example saying similarly nice things about coming back to Motherwell when there was little or no chance of them ever coming back.

I might be a wee bit off with my dates but I remember on one of the occasions McGhee was asked about him recently he said something along the lines of even if he walked through the door today it would probably be January before he played. I don't know if that was as a consequence of the head injury if there is some graduated return involved, waning fitness having not kicked a ball over the last three months or a combination of both. You just know he's going reach the point where he's fit and able to return........just as we go into the three week break in January!

How many have been in charge though when we've been Champions of Scotland? I support the change and when boxes, suites and stands have been named after others the absence of an acknowledgement to Sailor Hunter has been lacking. Good to see this remedied. The Well Society discussions have been enlightening on the different ways we all support MFC and so there will differences in the depth of interest fans will have on what's gone before. For me I love to see our heritage recognised in ways like this. All clubs do to a degree but we have a wonderful story to tell about our past - our colours being largely unique in Scotland, that Championship winning side that broke something like a 30 spell of dominance between Old Firm sides, the groundbreaking tours of Europe, Africa and South America, the goalscoring records of Willie MacFadyen and then your post war stuff that saw the Cup wins of the 1950's, St John's hat-trick, the floodlight friendlies against the likes of Flamenco right up the modern day record breaking points tallies and playing in the Champions League. All wonderful stuff that deserves to be highlighted so newer generations of 'Well fans can learn of the legends that have gone before.

I think you have to put the "misinvestment" as you put it in some kind of context though. Up to a point the "investment" made sense if not perhaps all utilised as efficiently as it might. Building club infrastructure for what would hopefully be beneficial in the longer term seemed sensible enough, getting in players like Moult and Johnson with a view to making a profit further down the line again seems like fair logic and I can't really fault the thought process of increasing the budget in the hope that we would retain our top flight place for fear of what might transpire if we didn't (hiya St Mirren). And all of that makes even more sense when you put in the context of what was meant to be a five year plan with anticipated returns throughout those five years. I certainly do agree however that utilising that playing budget definitely got some way out of hand - the signings of Theo Robinson and Craig Samson being perfect examples which won't have done much to help limit the current owings. Whilst I also agree it is unfortunate that in the short to medium term a proportion of transfer funds generated will be going outwith the club in repayments it is perhaps worth keeping in mind what was mooted at the Q&A after the AGM and seemed to be re-iterated by one of the WS repts to DennyC last weekend. It was suggested that as increased revenue through the SPFL allied to the conclusion of some of those contracts handed out during the Hutchinson year are concluded that a break even point isn't that far away thereafter. Now of course that remains from the initial goal of having the £1.5m sitting tucked away to cover however long a period of disasters but if come next year we will be close to break even point, we know that an increase in revenue will be coming our way, our academy is delivering players that are generating revenue (if sometimes frustratingly merely development fees) then it does at least give us some scope for making a go of it.

Your thoughts and votes please folks...

Small margins in a lot of cases. It was three or four goal pumpings every week and we were detatched then I think we'd be right to panic. Of course there have been a couple but in many cases the margins between defeat and a point, or even a point and a win have been slight. Think of the last minute goal at Ibrox, the disallowed goal (wrongly) at Firhill, the game changing deflected goal right on half-time that gave Hearts the lead and here we have another goal that could have changed the course of the game at Dens today. There's much he can do better certainly but for me it's by no means anything like a sacking case at the moment.

Supposition on my part but since the Excelsior pitch is available to anyone to book perhaps we are working around bookings they already had in place before our tie was drawn?

Impressive haul!!

Was that Gunning, as in our one time loanee Gunning that was on the bench for Morton too tonight?

Again we don't know how much truth there is to is or whether perhaps it was a reaction to the young boy with Celtic who played for their 20's but McGhee did say if he was allowed he would have had him involved with the first team. The statement could be intended as a carrot for Semple, a suggestion to his parents that Motherwell is the place to be for him to develop or maybe it could even genuinely mean he would consider him for inclusion at some point. Certainly seems to be picking up positive headlines anyway.

Things you wish you probably hadn't said number 43034..... Would we like to see more people make use of the site? Sure. And I'm sure any data you are able to put forward as regards usage will make for interesting reading. Will the site head honcho want to go down a weekly email route to tackle that, I pretty much doubt it. I wouldn't knock your marketing and analytic credentials but I would question that folk would find some the content you suggest of sufficient interest to tempt them to visit. Why would you want a match report sent to you when with a couple of links in media you most likely already engage with can bring you that report within seconds of full-time after a game? Anecdotal evidence suggests users have moved on for a number of reasons. Some felt the site lost its personal touch from its origins as WTFC.net when it was essentially a group of mates who started it. Some felt that initial group of posters overly "happy clappy" and not so open to debate. Conversely as the site grew others felt it had become overly negative and riddled with trolls. Over the last decade plus SO has also changed, alongside Fir Park Corner, from being the only places for debate to being just one of many. Folk can engage in 'Well related chat on so many other platforms like Twitter or Facebook and if they wish restrict that debate to just their mates. And yeah, probably the most trivial of all the threads posted each week, the Man of the Match thread, sheesh, I don't know how many hundreds that has turned off over the years....

Not sure about voting rights but I do remember reading that you were required to pay in £300 before you were entitled to claim any of the benefits that came with membership.

In truth I actually have no idea. Just going by my own perception really. Whilst I believe we have a good core of people who sign in and read or post regularly I don't the think the overall volume of people who have visibility of the site is a high as it's been in the past. It could easily of course by my perception is well off the mark and is skewed from being around here for so long and having seen so many come and go.

After midnight. The SPFL got huffy a wee while back and insisted they couldn't post them around 10pm as they had been doing for some time that it had to be at twelve. Your only concession would be if we are on Alba which normally airs at 2200 but it's tomorrow night we're on, not tonight.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Perhaps the traffic on this site isn't what it once was but I think it's telling that what six hours or so after the announcement (at the time of writing) there have been a mere 20 odd posts about what could be one of the most significant moments in our recent history. To me that illustrates that the club and the Well Society have a major task ahead in re-invigorating the notion of Fan Ownership. It's now a reality and the job really does start here. I hope in the period that these negotiations have been ongoing the time has been well spent ensuring there is a fully prepared relaunch ahead with a clear plan that will help enthuse both those who have been hesitant and those whose interest has been lost some way along the road. Time is now of the essence now the club is "ours" and there will nothing more soul sapping to read more of the "we will shortly announce" or "we cannot state at this time" style responses to questions now the acquisition has finally come to fruition. I'm happy to admit a mixture of excitement and a little trepidation as to what the future holds for MFC. I doubt I'm alone there. I hope what comes next will build on the former and help reduce the latter.