weeyin

Hope it's on. Have my square sausage and rolls lined up for breakfast. Big mug of fresh coffee, roll and sausage, Motherwell win - great start to the weekend. And I just finished clearing the driveway from our snow, so that won't get in the way tomorrow either.

In general, I imagine it's a tough choice for any player on our books. In recent times we have had great teams to play for, but even at our peak we have had to reduce budgets and salaries. So successful players who would no doubt be enjoying their football, have to think about securing their own financial futures. A guy like Reynolds, even moving back to Aberdeen, is probably on twice his Motherwell salary - plus he would have a nice chunk of change from his trip down south. Ultimately, it's down to how much ambition you have and how much job satisfaction you are willing to gamble. I can't imagine it's ever an easy decision - especially for the younger players.

Even more fun if you had pulled out the quotes from the "I don't care if I have to watch a team of 16 yr olds on the park and get hammered every week, as long as we don't let Sevco into the top flight" brigade. That sentiment didn't last long. I have no idea what some people were expecting at the start of this season given the massive turnover in players, but "deluded" doesn't do them justice.

I agree with some of what has been posted in here, and disagree with some. However, I have never seen any evidence of this often repeated point. All our offers to the players that left were turned down - from Randolph to Higdon. But people's hatred of Hateley means that only he "thought he was too good for us". As far as I remember, we offered him a new deal that was less than his old one. If my employer did that, I'd be offski too.

That's great, except if he proves to be worth signing we could lose out to another team that can pay him more (which would be many), at the end of the season.

It would also come down to whether the club wants him. Just because some fans are making noise about him doesn't mean our management team are.

So Killie had 3% of their combined Killie/Paisley population at their game and we had 5% of our combined population with Perth at our game. Of course, I'm not stupid enough to believe it's as clear cut as that, but available population does play a part that many tend to overlook.

Very true. And that is just a small piece in the evolution of the scheduling of games which has negatively impacted the crowds.

So did we before the Ross County game, which is what makes me a little wary. If we perform to the same level as yesterday though, we should win.

Given our small squad and our from in the run up to the Festive Fixtures, another victory would be quite an achievement. Too tight to call, but ICT have struggled in the past when we hit them with pace, so hopeful that Ainsworth can drive us to a narrow victory. EDIT: actually, reading the ICT forum, seems like they are struggling for midfielders in this game and are worried they will be resorting to long ball tactics. If that's the case, it could be to our advantage.

Based on his posts, he doesn't actually watch them when he's there though, right?

That was a joke. He repeated it in his MFC TV interview and made it clear it was a joke to put off potential suitors.

Normally, when we sign a player it's based on scouting reports and watching them in a game or two. Given that McCall has known about Ainsworth for some time and we have had him training and playing for half a season now, if our coaching staff can't tell by now if he's worth signing, we need a new coaching staff.

Because the people that awarded it watched the entire game, not just the highlights? Plenty of folk on here thought it was a close call between those 2 for MoTM.

One of McCall's biggest assets for me is he sets teams up in a way that they enjoy playing - most of the time, at least. You can see that on the park, and you can hear it when the players speak. So while it's good to be wary of players who have shuttled from club to club, if a guy turns up and performs at Fir Park and the gaffer thinks he is worth a punt, that works for me. Often, all it takes is the right environment to turn a player around and I imagine that for attacking players in particular, recent Motherwell teams have an ideal philosophy for them. I think we appreciate flair players more than some of the lower league English teams, where power is favoured over skill.

I got a lift over into the Main Stand when I was 5, so didn't have to contend with that until I was older

I can see how people think the season is over with a handful of games to play, but if we lose our next 3 or 4 on the bounce we could be struggling for a top 6 spot. It's that tight in the league right now. However, for me, the main aspect of any season is getting some entertainment - especially for a club like ours. Of course it's disappointing that we are out both cups this season, but I'll happily watch games like we have had over the festive period where results and performances mattered and we came out on top. Even more interesting this season is the rebuilding process. It has not been easy to replace the guys we lost - from arguably the best keeper in recent years to our top goalscorer. To watch McCall bring in the new faces and try and work out the tactics that are going to bring out the best from them has been both frustrating and, recently, rewarding. When I was watching us doss around in the relegation battles (and missing out on going down thanks to Falkirk's stadium), I never thought I'd see the day fans were complaining the season was over because all we had to play for was to see if we could finish 2nd in the league in consecutive seasons.

Gonna gie's a lift over mister? Kia-ora. Chimpmunk crisps. Jumpers for goalposts. Can't beat it at that age.

Aye, in a recent interview McCall said that Ainsworth was only reaching full fitness now (I think he had been struggling with niggling injuries), but was worried that he was hitting form just as his loan was running out, as his club/agent might be looking for more money. Now he's 100%, he certainly fits the bill of the creative & pacey wide player McCall was looking for.

That had been our biggest failing this season for me, but glad to see the midfield has clicked into gear in the past few games. Lifts the pressure from our strikers and our defence.

From the Evening Times today:

Definitely his best position for me. Equally important, he looked much fitter today. A yard quicker than the last time I saw him which made him 10 times more effective.

I hope so, because it had me agreeing with Billy Dodds on Sportscene the other night. Not something I want to repeat - made me feel dirty.

So that beats a losing streak at Firhill from 10 years ago? You should put all these rules in a set of Top Trumps.