Ya Bezzer!

First he probably needs to lose some weight. If you look at the team photo in the programme tonight he's almost as big as Andrew Mumford! I've always rated Hammell, I think he's a good player and just because he's been dropped for one match doesn't mean its the end for him. It's also pretty annoying when people praise Reynolds for having one decent game at left back when Hammell has literally had a hundred good games for Motherwell in the same position. Hammell also played really well in the away tie against Llanelli and put in a beauty of a cross for one of the goals. Gannon is just being canny and giving him a wee kick up the arse to get more out of him. He's already crossed swords with Craigan and dropped Lasley tonight as well. Looks like he's working his way through the experienced players in the side and letting them now they won't get an easy ride. I'd expect Hammell to play a big part in the upcoming season.

Apparently it's "mut".

I think I'm right in saying Jamie Murphy now ties with Stevie Kirk as our all time top European goal scorer!

I was in the Main Stand and there was actually quite a few scouts there tonight. At least four, all taking notes. I tried to sneak a peak over the shoulder of one of them, I didn't see any names but he wrote "favours the inside every time".

Murphy was superb in the first half but drifted out of things in the second half. Forbes had an excellent match but you have to give it to Paul Slane. Superb. The 'new Faddy' comparisons will be coming thick and fast...and they might actually be right! MOM - Paul Slane

I keep expecting to wake up and it was all a dream. Even now back from the game. I can't believe what I just witnessed! The first surprise was the named team. The second surprise was the apparently 2-4-4 formation. Admittedly being fortunate not to be 2-0 down in the first couple of minutes wasn't such a surprise but then things went from surprising to wondrous to frankly unbelievable! And the really great thing about the performance tonight was it wasn't the experienced hands that shone, or the new signings even, it was the young players. Mike Fraser - 5 Not much to do but still had some butter finger moments. Jim O'Brien - 4 Not really his fault but as a right back he was heart attack country, let's not do that again. Ever. Stephen Craigan - 7 Had some tough clashes but bossed it. Shaun Hutchinson - 6 A little rough around the edges and raw but did reasonably well and capped it off with a goal. Mark Reynolds - 7 Looked quite comfortable in a left midfield/left back role. Chris Humphrey - 5 Started off well but faded badly, should have buried an excellent chance in the early stages and went backwards from there. Steve Jennings - 6 The opposite of Humphrey started off pretty ropey but looked more composed as the match went on. Ross Forbes - 8 Great display tonight. If he can perform regularly to that standard, a first team place will be his. Jamie Murphy - 8 The first half was maybe his best 45 minutes in a Well shirt. He's always had the ability but last season he looked lacking in confidence and frankly was going backwards. Greatly encouraged by his performance tonight, he's set a new standard now he has to match that each time he goes out there. Paul Slane - 9 I don't think I've ever given a 9 before in the three or four seasons I've been scoring the players but Slane is my new hero. I fucking love this kid! He's got the technique, the pace, a good brain, he works hard, he's got a bit of aggro about him and what I loved most of all was his reaction to being subbed - you just knew he loved every minute of being out their in a Well shirt. Bravo, Mr Slane, bravo! MoM for the second time in two matches. John Sutton - 6 Won the penalty and did a decent enough job tonight acting almost as a decoy while Murphy and Slane came in from the flanks. Subs Robert McHugh - 6 His goal was a gift but showed some promise with some intelligent runs. Jonathan Page - 4 Came on to a dead match. Keith Lasley - 5 Tigerish as usual but the match was over by that stage.

Well, I didn't say they had to be established at our level, just that they had a track record that you could point to and be confident about. As for David Robertson coming through the ranks, why haven't we produced a similar player since Stephen Pearson? What I'm saying is you don't need to spend £400,000 to get the type of player we are looking for.

Motherwell 4 Celtic 4 When we went 4-3 up from being 0-3 down (I think, maybe it was 1-3), I lost it to such a degree during the goal celebration that I actually passed out for a couple of seconds. The first and possibly last time I'd ever seen Motherwell put four past the OF. If only we'd held on....but then frustration is a big part of being a Motherwell supporter. Thankfully we can re-live the moment thanks to You Tube.

I'm pretty sure Inverness didn't pay £400,000 for Don Cowie, nor did St. Mirren for Andy Dorman. Are Craig Bryson or David Robertson £400,000 players? Probably not but they will chip in 5-8 goals for their teams. We don't have anyone like that and we badly need someone who will do that.

I don't know if any one noticed but the Northampton fans seem to be convinced that striker Abebayo Akinfenwa will be following his good friend Giles Coke to Fir Park.

We need a goalkeeper, a right back, an established, good quality attacking central midfielder who will score goals and a striker. These are the positions we NEED to fill.

Yeah, I'd expect Jennings to start tonight. If Humphrey plays, I reckon it will be off the bench. Fraser Page or Saunders - Craigan, Reynolds - Hammell O'Brien - Lasley, Forbes, Jennings - Slane Sutton

£7,000 a week...

A guy I know is a Northampton supporter. He got back to me this morning on Giles Cokes. I asked him if Giles Cokes was any good. "Underperforming lazy tosser comes to my mind... He was highly regarded when we signed him but we have only seen occasional glimpses of what he can do (quick with both feet, good vision, box to box). Towards the end of last season, when we needed a player like Giles to step up and help us out of trouble, he just didn't want to know. His attitude stank to be honest... Even so, it has come as huge suprise that he has left, i mean the club announced weeks back that he would re-sign and he has played three pre-season games for us. This is slightly entertaining http://users.boardnation.com/~thehotelend/...0;start=0"

I think we need to show some restraint especially in the early stages. Flamurtari are not a great team but they looked most dangerous on the counter attack. Even one close shave from Flamurtari would give them a huge boost in confidence and we saw the difference the missed penalty made in the first league. Obviously we have to attack but I think we should be saying something like 'you've got 60 minutes to make it 1-0 so keep it tight then we can concentrate on getting the winner'. We only need 1 goal to stay in the tie but if we concede its more or less over so its more important that we don't give away a goal.

McGhee took a lot of stick on here for leaving us in the situation we are currently in with the depleted squad. So Gannon's plan is to bring in 4 loan deals and 2 of the 3 players we've brought in have signed ONE year deals? Hmmm.

First of all Hammell was successful in the Championship, Southend didn't want to lose him, and Clarkson hasn't kicked a ball yet. The point is we have sold or lost under freedom of contract the backbone of our team to top half Championship level teams and are recruiting from bottom half League 1 and in some instances League 2 sides. Generally, that is a big gap in quality, like comparing St. Johnstone with Berwick Rangers. And with all due respect to McGarry and Fitzpatrick we didn't build a side around them, they were fringe players who could come in and do a job. Are we building a side around Coke, Humphreys etc? Are those players going to be the spine? I don't doubt there are good players to be had down there and bringing up one or two would be worth the gamble to see if it worked out but it looks like 6 or 7 in the line up next season. That to me is a bit of a risk because for all the flak the SPL gets it is light years ahead of League 2 and at least half the clubs if not more would be among the better sides in League 1. Believe me, I hope I'm wrong because I don't have a job right now and I've put even more, comparatively speaking, into the club this summer than I usually do and I really don't want to see that investment go Malpasesque. I guess we'll see what happens but right now I have concerns.

Another guy we know nothing about. Another guy brought in from a lower level. Another midfielder, meaning we probably have more midfielders than goalkeepers, defenders and forwards put together. Good luck to the new players but I have reservations about our transformation into an English League 2 side. It will certainly be interesting to see how they get on but I'm a little uneasy that we are being taken down a level and we're all too thankful just to get bodies in that the support isn't saying 'wait a minute here, who are we actually signing?'

I'd never be confident of this team scoring three goals. I think we will win the match but the shadow of the away goals rule looms large over this tie.

Albanian footballers have a track record of disappearing when visiting the United Kingdom to play football matches. It's happened at least once when England played Albania in a qualifier (can't remember if it was Euros or World Cup) when quite a few of the team absconded. And if I remember correctly there were a few other instances. Obviously the Government mandarins haven't forgotten.

I'd be 'happy' with a similar season to last, bottom six but no real relegation anxiety. I honestly don't see how any of the provincial clubs are going to break into the Top Six this season as most of them have more or less been strip mined of their playing staffs (Us, Hamilton, Falkirk, Kilmarnock etc) are newly promoted (St Johnstone) or weren't very good in the first place (St. Mirren). The Top 6 will almost certainly be the 6 city clubs and it will be left to the others to scrap it out in the bottom six. I also have my doubts about the ability of lower league players from England to cut it in the SPL. Since it looks like we might have a team full of them next season that could be a problem. We'll see what happens but right now I'd rather have lower expectations and hopefully be surprised than expect too much and be disappointed but I can see the bottom six being a really tough, dog eat dog mini division with hardly anything between the teams.

We should be able to defeat Flamurtari anyway, as far as I am concerned the lack of signings won't be an excuse if we don't manage it. As for the transfer market, you need to look at the bigger picture rather than rushing people in. We don't have a lot of money so we should make every penny count by making sure we get the best possible players available and if that means waiting another week or three then fine. However we DO need to bring them in, we won't get by on what we've got over a season.

Been to a few reserve/U-19 matches but didn't make to one for two seasons I think. I think I'm right in saying they don't play them at Fir Park anymore which is one of the reasons I've not seen one lately. I remember once against Dunfermline, Sean Fagan went in pretty hard on the then unknown Nicky Phinn. Phinn's parents were sitting just behind me and his mum went mental at the tackle. "Who was that!?" she said and consulted the team sheet "I'll Sean Fagan him!". She then proceeded down to the front of the stand screaming "Don't you hit my wee boy, you listening Fagan!" style patter down on to the pitch. Must have been a beamer for the guy!

My coke was £1.50. Must have seen you coming!

Pretty much agree with this.