Andy_P

Even as someone who generally tries to look on the positive and often gives some of the resident merchants of doom short shrift it would be impossible to try to defend that today. I rather expect some will be going to be town, and today at least I must admit it would be well deserved. Today raised many questions for me, the first the sweeping changes from midweek. Who was injured, and which were tactical? If it was as was suggested during the week that we had players "running on empty" why has it got that stage by the end of September? Why are we having to put patched up teams out on the park game after game after game? When it started I thought we were eager but looked a little uncertain as to who was meant to be playing where. Not unnatural given the volume of changes. When the tactic of hoofing it to Erwin was sussed by Accies we had almost nothing to offer. By contrast it seemed fairly clear that it wouldn't be if Hamilton scored but when. That we gifted them that opening goal wasn't any consolation and we hardly covered ourselves in glory with their second either. In fairness any hope of a revival was put to bed by what at first glance at least, appeared a harsh penalty decision against us. We'd dominated the second half and you felt it we could get one at that stage we might well have been able to claw our way back into it. After the third though they saw it out really comfortably and were toying with us by the time they walked in their fourth. I do wonder where we go from here.

I know, I know....

I think that remains as yet unproven and rather depends on who you are talking to. You for example give the impression that McCall's stock has never ever been very high and that he's only ever been there to keep the seat warm until you assume your rightful place. There are others who in contrast have stated they believe him to be one of the best Motherwell managers they've seen in their lifetime and he remains sufficiently highly thought of be a part of the Scotland coaching staff. There's also the media view of him which generally holds him in very high regard. Any agent worth his salt should be able to put together a package of his achievements at Fir Park that would be impressive to many clubs in England if you chose to return there. Even if you pointed to the Cup exits you could still come up with a stack of (depending upon your view) excuses/mitigating circumstances for most of them (2 x lottery of penalties, last minute defeats, disallowed goals, controversial goals for opposition etc) that could viewed as easily as sheer bad luck as bad management. But time will tell of course when we see how this season pans out what his reputation is at its conclusion.

Your thoughts and votes please...

It was pretty much everything you've come to expect from Motherwell v Hamilton games, an utter shit-fest only with the added bonus of extra-time and a boot in the baws penalty shoot out defeat to put the seal on it. I thought they were the better team in the first half without really threatening us. I don't know if it was the game plan or a general unease on their surface but we struggled to play much football with lots of aimless punts and safety first clearances. Second half was a bit better, even more so when they went down to the 10 men. At last we looked comfortable and were passing the ball for a time at least. Chances did come with Sutton and Ojamaa scorning decent ones and their keeper making an excellent save from Vigurs. He wasn't having his best game in claret and amber by any manner of means but I thought we gradually lost the stranglehold we had on the game when Vigurs was replaced. But things certainly changed in extra-time. We were unfortunate with the double woodwork chance but the minute O'Brien was red-carded it looked much like Accies wanted to win it whereas we seemed happy not to lose it. And then you have the penalties. All really well taken with the exception of the obvious one and the cup disappointment continues. I would love to say we'll come out all guns blazing, take the game by the scruff of the neck on Saturday but I'm not quite sure we have that reaction in us at the moment. I can only really see more of the same come the weekend although hopefully we'll be the ones that edge it next time.

Look at Sutton's record, he tends to score goals in runs of 3,4, 5 games in succession then you'll get the same again with no return. You simply don't take him out the team when he's on one of those runs.

Mightily enjoyable stuff. I got lucky with an invite to hospitality in the home end so had a very enjoyable afternoon all round drinking their beer and eating their scran, even if it meant sitting amongst them. We set up similarly to the the last time I was at Parkhead, the Hateley missed penalty afternoon, which served us pretty well that day too. Celtic were pretty lethargic and arguably a wee disrespectful with their line up according to our Celtic minded host. Either way we grew into the game when it became clear early on they were going to have some difficulty breaking us down. It was a lovely well worked goal. Superb run and cross from Reid with a delightful finish from Sutton. Was quite an effort keeping the emotions in check! Rather pathetically I think turned to my mate and went 'Oh my' with a big cheeser or something equally horrendous. Sutton inexplicably fell to the floor when it seemed easier to tap the ball into the net and we really should have had a penalty from a clear hand ball too so all in all a great first half with Celtic offering little. Second half was much the same. Even bringing Brown and Commons I felt relatively comfortable. Sure by that stage we were offering virtually nothing offensively but Dan was hardly pulling off world class saves every attack from them. Then they got their penalty. Looked soft at first look and that seemed to be backed up by a quick glance on Twitter from others looking on and then I felt on edge. But the momentum they had having got the goal petered out although Twardzik did make a couple of very good saved in the last half an hour. But all in all a great and unexpected point. Let's keep building upon last week and this week's result now!

Your thoughts and votes please,,,,

8-0 you say?

Ohh and with a game in hand too. Panic! Panic!! Panic!!! In all seriousness I know what you are saying Ya Bezzer!, but real pressure would be going into the split with St Mirren three points behind us, not when we've not even completed a full set of fixtures.

It hasn't happened in over 300 games and in 110 years but aye, it's not at all beyond the realms of possibility.

Any more shite than predicting an 8-0 defeat every other time we are due to play Celtic?

Ahh right. Cheers for the information WishyWell.

How many times have Celtic beaten us 8-0 before?

Been there before. Van Hoijdonk was it? The irony being the 5 minutes of injury time were only added because the fly fuckers had a man sent off, then tried to put a subby on for the aforementioned red-carded player taking additional time for the ref to resolve.

That's quite odd that Andy Smith's name should crop up. I spotted him outside Fir Park before the St Johnstone game the other week. Had a bit of a blether about him with the Airdrie mates who hold him in high regard. I wasn't quite so complimentary.... Wondered as to his presence, if perhaps he now stayed locally, or was just taking in a game. An apparent friendship with Leitch might explain that then. As for the Crystal Palace link I suppose its not unnatural given McCall was something of a trusted lieutenant for old Colin Wanker on and off the park at Sheffield United. Some of the potential juicy outcomes for him should he wind up at Palace have already been documented in the thread already and again as has already been stated McCall's pretty close to the ceiling of what he might be able to achieve at Fir Park. The only other thing I'd add is that I'm sure he will be conscious of the fact that if he knocks back one offer too many people might assume he's just not interested in "stepping up" and the offer may not ever come. If it happens, it happens, we've got something like 15 months more from him than I might have envisaged when the Sheffield United job was offered to him and achieved an incredible amount more than I ever dared hope for when he eeked out his first point in charge of that shitfest of a 0-0 with Accies a few years ago.

Your thoughts and votes please...

I've seen one of their supporters remark that they are struggling at left-back today so if Ainsworth is in the mood that could be an area we might be able to exploit to our benefit.

That's much more encouraging to hear then when set against the email error.

Just out of interest, when was the last time you saw him play DEWELL?

Taken in isolation, of course it shouldn't be a mistake that threatens someones job. In actual fact it's small beer in comparison to an email I received a couple of years ago from our former Chief Executive discussing bids on two of our players with other directors!! Accidentally hitting the send button early - it happens. That said, not unnatural to be a wee bit concerned after viewing the email. It's the doubt that is left after reading the grammar and writing style that maybe our pursuit of commercial revenues is not as professional as it possibly could be, however much initiative was shown by its author.

I think it's a good idea. I would say that of course as I've been one of the people pushing for something like it in the past! It's the kind of thing I think would be ideal for the likes of my sister. Not a regular attendee due to work commitments but can attend anything between a couple and half a dozen home games a season. It immediately stands out as an easy and attractive Christmas present and even if she doesn't get to her full quota of matches, it's money in the bank for MFC. The 1:30pm cut off seems to have attracted a bit of comment. It seems a fairly reasonable compromise to me of offering the flexibility of booking games in advance and preventing a build up of annoyed fans and flustered staff as kick off nears. The ticket office is hardly the biggest, it already can be a busy wee place in the run up to kick-off and I'm sure having a queue up the street of people waiting to get tickets printed off at ten to three wouldn't be particularly pleasant for either punters and ticket office staff. It may be over time the club will look to develop or tweak the initiative further depending upon uptake. I'm thinking for example of Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun where you can print off your own ticket and its scanned by a yellow jaiket as you enter the ground by passing the ticket office completely. Let's give it time and see how it goes.

That sounds a lovely ideal but I suspect the reality would be somewhat different. For one thing Hibs have illustrated perfectly that you can't simply assume everything will end up okay. I also think you are being extremely optimistic if you believe that every Motherwell fan would be "on board" as you put it and would be willing to write off a season in terms of the cost of following the team, a potential dip in results and having the perceverence to cope with youngsters who may or may not cut it as hoped. I think of how patience for the likes of Fagan and Fitzpatrick ebbed away pretty quickly when it became clear they weren't of a Pearson or McFadden calibre. The administration season is offered put forward as an example of how widespread use of youth can help develop them in the longer term. It remains a hugely memorable season for me too but the fact is we should have been relegated that year. And we're a world away now from a point in time when we were just overjoyed that our team was still in existance and getting pumped wasn't such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Don't you think the club would love to be in a position where they can develop players then pick and choose who to sell for a tidy sum and who to keep on to build up a team? Ofcourse they would but its easier said then done. The club know that if they finish several places down the table it has a signficant impact on the balance sheet and the budgets for the following campaign. They are also well aware that the smaller the manager's budget the bigger risks are for the future status of the team. They just aren't going to take that risk of flooding the team with youngsters.

Forgot to add, the former Clyde fan in the work told me today that Clarky had apparently committed to joining Clyde if he was unable to secure another club further up the leagues.

Some of this reads a little like the kid that got a tablet, pool table, bike and an Xbox for Christmas but is still greetin' to his folks because he didn't get a selection box. I really can't see it coming around too many times where there will be a set of circumstances that will allow for us to blood youngsters when things are going well, sell players at a tidy profit and yet still manage to finish in the top three, three seasons in a row. You might sell lots of players for high prices, you might have a successful season or you might be able to blood a lot of youngsters but you'll be hard pushed to manage to do all three at once. The more realistic scenario is that there are balancing acts to made along the way like knocking back some of the low offers we did receive for the likes of Hutchinson and Law and going with more senior pros in the hope of a higher finish whilst trying to bed in youngsters like Hutchinson, Carswell, ZFA and Moore over time along the way.