Al B

Vastly better manager than he gets credit for. He's the sole reason Killie arent in the first division at best. Still wouldn't want him mind you, but he's far from a shite manager.

Best reason yet.

Cooper Stand, Row M, right in the middle of the goal. Sat there or thereabouts in the whole time i've been going to Fir Park (other than the odd game here and there for various reasons).

Hypothetical obviously but, what if the current management team offered him a contract and he wouldn't sign it? And what if the previous management team had offered him a contract and he wouldn't sign it? And then what if the management team before that had also offered him a contract, and he wouldn't sign it? Just sayin obviously...but one fact we do know is that he doesnt want to sign it otherwise he would have. So how do we know how far back these offers have been being made and for how long he's been saying no? And it's one thing to say "make him an improved offer", but theres a limit to what you're gonna offer a wee boy that's done the square root of hee-haw so far, and in fact isn't even a professional footballer yet. Seems to me that most of the critics of MFC, seem to think that we have dillied and dallied and not done the right thing by the boy, and now Celtic and McCart are diving in and taking advantage of that. Fact is though...it's completely irrelevant whether it's a player already at the club or a player at another club, if he just plain doesn't want to sign for MFC (and the reasons for that are also totally irrelevant), then theres not a single thing we can do about it. Would anyone be critical of the club if we made an offer to someone that played for Aberdeen/United/Carlisle/whoever, and they turned it down to go elsewhere? Of course not...so whats the difference with Paul Slane? How can his case be the clubs fault?

As far as i'm aware. Although that seems to be being overlooked in the midst of the rumour-mongering... Edited to add a quote from the supporters panel night before christmas...

You're missing my point. I dont think Ruddy is shite, or not as good as Buzz. Im saying theres plenty reasons for letting in a barrowload of goals apart from being shite. If Ruddy aint shite because of 12 goals...then 13 doesnt necessarily mean Buzz is either.

Much better than John Ruddy's 12 in three games! Ah hang on no...it's equally as shite...

During the half-time analysis of an England game at either The World Cup or The Euro's (canny mind), the conversation between Lineker and Strachan was something along the lines of... Lineker: "so Gordon, if you were English what would you be saying to the team right now in the dressing room?" Strachan: "If I was English i'd top myself"

I think McGarry's alright. Thought he played very well when he came on against ICT in the cup.

Jack and Winston didn't pick the side tonight, it was Gordon Young.

Football managers not having written contracts isn't that unusual, even in our own league.

There are a few SPL managers who don't have written contracts. It's not uncommon.

Burma, See how you're criticizing people going on unsubstantiated rumours, and having a go at folk who are speaking ill of Gannon without having any facts? Can you let us know how many facts are in your opening post?

No-one has come close to paying 9m Euros for him.... It wasn't even one million from Osasuna. And he hardly gets a game. The Vadocz myth always makes me smile...the guy played 11 games for Motherwell, we won one of them. Against the team that got relegated.

The best bit about this thread has been Gazzy saying he never really rated The Kaiser Have a word wi yersel dafty

Apart from him being one of the most highly respected goalkeeping coaches in Britain?

Yeah you're right, we do. Thing is though, what Gannon is trying to instill is an instinctive way of playing. A culture if you like. He's not trying to apply tactics in games here, he's trying to ingrain a natural way of thinking in players. The changes he's trying to make takes a couple of years at a club, until it becomes second nature and the players know what they should be doing in any given situation. Until that time, it's just gonna have to be accepted that it's going to be very very patchy and sometimes won't work at all. You can't undo 2 generations of the car-crash that passes for kids football coaching in Scotland, in 5 months. The work being done at Motherwell isn't supposed to reap rewards just now, it's with a view to where we want to be in 2/3 seasons time. We are very much a work in progress at the moment...this season is a tiny part of what Gannon is trying to do, and as long as we don't suffer in the meantime then it's fantastic for everyone. It doesn't look like we will, and so therefore all things considered Jim Gannon is doing an exemplary job as Motherwell manager, going way beyond what he'd have to do if it was merely about having and keeping his job. He really is changing our club, but it seems some people won't see that until 2012-ish, when they can look back over what he's done, and see the results, effects and benefits rather than the ideas and the work.

If you worked in a shop, and a customer brought something back because they had been overcharged (as an example), and they demanded a refund by saying something along the lines of "get it done...this is a fucking joke, can you not even scan a proper price?), if you dealt with them in any way other than accepting the blame and being apologetic, then putting the situation right, you'd be handed your jotters before you could even try to make a case for yourself. 'Flow has worked in a customer service area for years at quite a high level...and his response on this thread is exactly what would be expected.

Fuckin, Laura Ashley wouldny even consider coming to Motherwell!

I think a lot of things are up in the air depending on opinion and the way things unfold, with regards to what level John Ruddy will eventually play. Will he cut it at Everton? Would he make it at another Premiership Club? Who knows...it all depends on lots of factors. What I do think is as good as guaranteed though, is that at 250k we would most definately make a profit (and a relatively substantial one) on him eventually...wherever and whenever he ends up going, not to mention the benefits of having his services in the meantime. Seems to me like one of the most open and shut cases of "speculate to accumulate" you could have. Of course this is all bearing in mind that the figure of 250k is unconfirmed, and fairly speculative. Just my take on the situation as we have it.

Today was like watching really good, talented 5-a-side footballers who consider themselves to be pretty good at the game, coming up against an actual football team and realising that when it comes to the real thing they haven't got a clue what they are doing.

He wouldnt be far wrong either. 90% of football fans know fuck all about football.

See I thought so too, but i've seen him matched a few times by opposition! On the other hand, I reckon these days Reynolds must be one of the fastest players in the SPL, which as a centrehalf is phenomenal! I've seen him rape players for pace time and time again, often starting 4 or 5 yards back if he's covering for someone. As far as Yassin's crossing goes, im actually happier when he cuts back...he puts a better ball in with his left foot than his right!

Yeah I was quite pleased with his display when he came on...surprised to read some people didnt rate his performance! I actually said at the time I was glad to see he was in the managers thoughts when he wanted something changed, and I genuinely thought he offered something we'd lacked. I think he could have a role to play in a Gannon side, as the one thing I think we often dont seem to have is someone that will hassle a midfield and then move the ball on without trying anything spectacular or glamorous. And without taking 20 minutes to do it before getting caught in posession (a-la Forbes/Coke). Las did that countless times I thought, picked up a ball thats been rattling back and forth between both midfields, and then simply moving it to someone in space to retain posession. Not neccesarily gonna be noticed, but an important part of the game none-the less. I appreciate the people who are saying he made a fairly basic error which led to a chance, but any number of mistakes from anyone could lead to a chance, and we're not gonna get through 90 mins without making our fair share. I think the more damaging mistakes from our midfielders which need addressed, are our two options from free kicks (scudded off the wall, or over everyones head), and our two options from corners (rattled off the head of the first defender, or our for a throw-in on the opposite side). They are more dangerous mistakes for midfielders to be making.

Not that it matters a jot, but our goal that was disallowed for offside when it was 2-1, is the best goal iv EVER seen us score. Was Arsenal-esque, or like the goal Barca scored against Liverpool (i think). Everyone in the side was involved at least once including Ruddy, and the ball was literally passed right around United, finishing with a tap-in to an empty net. Unfortunate that the timing of the 2nd last pass was slightly off, but football at it's finest.