Andy_P

Your thoughts and votes please...

There are a couple of things that could change the dynamic such as Lobey says, Lennon's rant. How much additional motivation that might give them, or whether our Guard of Honour thing might take any of the steam out of it, who knows? The Celtic supporting windae cleaner - who I must admit takes my abuse of his team in good fun every time - suggested they might throw some fringe players in now the League has been won. He reckoned towards the end of last season some of Lennon's selections were dictated by getting players to the magic number to the entitle them to a winners medal and it wouldn't surprise him if he did this time too. If that's the case again the fringe players one can go both ways. When Lennon rested some of his first choice players last time out we took advantage - Randolph didn't have a save to make for an hour, but go back a year and you've Tony Watt coming off the bench to score twice two or three minutes. So again a difficult one to call. All we can really do is take care of ourselves, try to get them on the back foot as we did so well in February and see how we go.

Kind of going away from the topic a little. You could very well argue that both are totally unnecessary but if we're talking recent and fake additions I'd say a once in a blue moon Guard of Honour for when a team has won a trophy is a bit more genuine and relevant than the weekly line up and handshake caper.

No, I don't mind the guard of honour thing either. It was well received by the folk at Kilmarnock after they won the League Cup and likewise by the people at Dingwall on opening day too. It reflects well on us a club and won't have done relations between MFC and those respective clubs any harm as a consequence. But..... The important thing to keep in mind though is that as supporters we have absolutely no obligation whatsoever to mark it and can ignore it, turn our backs on it or shout and scream whatever we want at them. As for the game I would hope given the last game here a few weeks back the team won't be lacking in confidence at facing them. We've illustrated recently that in full flow we are a strong attacking threat so if we can get a good tempo going and take the game to them it there's a chance of a repeat.

A pretty good column from Shiels there I think. If I was being a bit picky it would be his remark about going on displays against Killie. I think they are the only team in the SPL that Higgy hasn't scored against.

I'm kind of along those lines. Not overly fussed about the colour of the shorts or socks they dish up but I do look to see a claret hoop or band and since we've retained that I'm delighted. But I do agree if with your points that a couple of tweaks involving the side-panels and the neck panel could have made it a belter. If the neck panel was a solid block of claret and the side panels weren't there then I think it would a bit more clean and less busy looking.

Suppose that's the beauty of it. One man's dull and lacking in imagination is another's simple, uncluttered and classy.

I liked the "Malpas" strip but odd as it sounds, I think it looked much much better when it was worn with long sleeves. On the long sleeved version the white collar looks a bit more like it should belong when you can see the white cuffs. The band around the arms looks much nicer too with much more space about it. On the short-sleeved version it's all a little bit cramped on the arms. I actually thought it looked better on the short sleeve version worn the way Scott McDonald did...

Nice to be able to say I've enjoyed both. I'd say perhaps that the 94'95 team was a more complete footballing team than our current side. From Mio, through to Davies, Lambert and the under-rated Dolan in the middle and up front to TC the spine of the team was built around wonderful, intelligent footballers. Some of the possession football was sensational. There was a game against Partick Thistle for example that sticks in the mind where we beat them 3-1 with one of the goals finished off after something like twenty-odd passes in the build up. There was a know-how about that side too that meant that Old Firm games were eagerly anticipated as we have no doubts whatsoever either mentally or ability wise that we were going to give them a game. But having said that I don't think the 94'95 compares just as well when it comes the current group in an attacking sense. Our current team have developed a wonderful knack of absolutely fucking scudding teams out the park. It has been a great feature of McCall's teams the way we've been able to take teams apart by three or four goal margins on so many occasions. I'd say the 12'13 vintage may not contain quite as many footballers as the 94'95 team but they are I think more clinical.

I've only ever been at one meeting but I don't ever remember getting the impression that MFC would utilise Well Society funds only when a sum was reached that enabled the WS to have a controlling interest. I do recollect the discussion that the £250k or £300k, whatever that first target was, had to be secured before the Well Society itself would be legally constituted - if they didn't get that money - despite legal advice and whatever associated costs it accrued - they intended to reimburse everyone who signed up. And I do recollect the discussion about why they potentially would require to dip into the WS funds - that being the dearth of finance coming into the club after the turn of the year, with specific mention given to the odd nature of when the SPL dished out monies due to clubs. But again I don't remember the stipulation of the controlling interest scenario being discussed.

Traditional option for me please. I'm not so particular that I would demand a claret "hoop" rather than just a claret "band" but personally as long as we have either of those on our home strip I'm generally happy and you can mess about with claret/white/amber shorts and have whatever kind of collar you see fit. And if we get that then I'm fairly relaxed about what they do with the second and third kits. I can understand why the club might want to do something different once in a while for commercial reasons if nothing else. I remember as far back as Alan Dick's time as secretary he offered the theory that a hoopless/bandless/radical kit once in a while would stimulate sales as it would be sufficiently different from the traditional to tempt folk to buy it. And when that kit itself was replaced by the traditional kit again because it was similarly sufficiently different from the last so more bought it. How true that is I don't know but it kind of makes sense albeit my personal preference would still be to go down the traditional route every time.

A good way to mark a special occasion or the passing of a loved one the bricks I think. Ordered mine online last year via that new website they set up early into the Steelmen Forever campaign. It was £30 if I mind right. Delivery of the certificate was quick although a little disappointingly they never ever did follow up on the promise of letting me know where the actual brick was on the Cooper stand exterior. But aye, a win-win one. Club get funds and you've got a unique personal momento of all your own at FP.

Didn't give you the negative rep - I can see what you are trying to get at - those that went to Dundee unwittingly suffered a backlash of additional entry money because of the Cooper event. No mention of the closure of the bottom tier but Derek Rae on ESPN brought the issue up and attempted to give a balanced summary of why some Motherwell fans hadn't travelled whilst - wrongly countering that by stating United would argue they were only sticking to SPL guidelines about fans. The questions about the top tier issue I would ask were Motherwell aware? If so when did they know and was it communicated to supporters. (I couldn't make last night so hadn't checked the arrangements the way I normally might). If as I suspect Motherwell officials are unaware and it has proven to be a late cynical ploy by Dundee Utd to recoup some losses from stay away fans then time to start highlighting the issue when the opportunity arises on Off the Ball etc. and to the club, Trust, Well Society etc, to explore it further. But to answer your original question - yes. The last Friday night game ESPN or Sky shown was I think Inverness at home to St Johnstone where Saints were advertising a High Tea at McDiarmid Park night where you obviously went for your dinner and watched the game with other fans who weren't able to make to the trip to Inverness.

Your thoughts and votes please....

It's a tricky one to call. It may be wishful thinking to hope that with them going out the Cup they won't have the same intensity about them as they might have done if they were now playing for Cup Final places. Having said that I don't think their actual result or performance will have any bearing on Friday's night's game as The Skipper above appears to be implying. I remember going to Firhill a week after our Semi Final against Rangers at Hampden a few years back thinking the same kind of display as the Semi Final would surely get us the points. We were awful. A shambolic shadow of the team that had been so good a week previous. Because you can hit the heights one week trying to reach a final, doesn't mean you are going to replicate that in a league game the next. Obviously you want a fast start every week but if we could get an early lead and some of the Utd players do have any notions of going through the notions, then that can only be good for us. 1-0 Motherwell.

Ahh right, fair do's then. Kind of brings me back to an occasionally aired suggestion put the club about being able to buy blocks of games rather than a full season ticket. I.e you buy six games say across the season and you pick whatever six you want to see/can get to as the campaign progresses. Awkward to administer? Possibly. But money in the bank up front and perhaps more chance of people still going than if they have already purchased - and buying drinks/food/souvenirs etc than a PATG punter if the season is a shitter.

There have been plenty of Motherwell seasons in my lifetime where the season has been finished by the first week in January!

I accept the point about us requiring to win on the Friday to mathematically take it to the Saturday but I think in a sense our result will be irrelevant. Win or not on the Friday there will still be 50,000 plus of them buying tickets beforehand in the knowledge that they could be witnessing them win the league. It won't be just another routine home game. I'm still fairly confident they'll do Caley by three or four goals that afternoon.

I think sometimes when you don't see the chaff in there in your next immediate fixtures you can sometimes get a little anxious when scanning the forthcoming games. But there are periods of the season like that anyway. Think back only a few weeks for example after the Dundee Utd and Ross County results. Off the back two defeats we were looking at Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs and you are thinking if this goes wrong, the arse could completely fall out of our season. It might be worth scanning the whole set of fixtures for some further re-assurance. The fact that Celtic should be at their most menacing when Caley visit should be a bonus. There's plenty evidence of teams scudding the opposition when wrapping up a title and if that came to fruition it would do the goal difference no harm at all should it come in to play. Continuing with Caley I think its significant that they have a derby game still to play, and on the last day of the season, away from home at that.

We can wait and see if that transpires but what I can say with cast iron certainty is that if it was Rangers who were in our position there is 0% chance they would be facing Celtic home or away in the first game after the split!

I caught a wee bit of Radio Scotland on the road up to the game on Saturday and that's certainly the impression they were under that there was a two tier voting structure which for some issues - issues they couldn't actually clarify - it would revert from 9-3 to 11-1.

I thought it would have been a travesty if hadn't got at least a point from the game. They started the better of the teams but we could have had the three points in the bag by about half-past three if we'd had our shooting boots on. The Ojamaa one was particularly exasperating. Has he got some Estonian gypsy's curse on him or something? Seems like every other game he's six yards out perfectly placed to score and he trips over his feet, or lands on his arse. Goal however was fully deserved when it came and once more we benefit from the supreme luxury for a football team of having a player on the field, who even when not perhaps having his greatest game, can almost routinely bag you a goal a game. Frustratingly I felt we let it slip. Perhaps overly harsh on my part but I felt their first, scintillating strike though it was, was the culmination of several opportunities to properly clear our lines stretching back to a rather iffy kick-out from Randy. Great start to the second half. Along the same lines to the Hibs game I felt but just not quite with the same intensity or obviously same degree of finishing. It didn't help the number of occasions Saints were getting deflections and last gasp blocks in. It was a total boots in the chuckies to go 2-1 down but no real surprise given how often St Mirren have proven to awkward opposition for us in the past but great character and obviously a sensational goal to get us the point that was the least we deserved. One of those games where you are chuffed to get a point given the timing of the equaliser but at the same time have a little bit of regret that we weren't able to take full advantage of other scores. But when all's said and done. We remain eight ahead of fourth and three ahead of Caley with one game less for them to catch us up so its far from the worst outcome in the world.

Your thoughts and votes please...

I remain a little cautious about what anyone in football says when it comes to contracts. It can be difficult to know who to believe. Higdon for example says he hasn't spoken to the club which may give the impression of reticence on the club's part. But it could be his agent is doing all the negotiating on his behalf and he'll only get involved and actually speak to the club when agreement is near. Whatever the case is I would love it if he committed for a year or two more at Fir Park.

Your thoughts and votes please...