Joeboy

I don't know that I'd take Fleck to be honest, he's done hee haw to suggest he could hold down a place in a SPL side. He strikes me as Cillian Sheridan all over again. Would be gutted if Jennings had joined Aberdeen, probably suicidal if McFadden did. Thank god it came from that source! Won't gloat about Jennings until it is 100% confirmed, not after the last of our staff Aberdeen were in for. I hate hearing, 48 hours, later to day, expected to sign etc!

In my time, in terms of what we thought we were getting and what we actually got- I think I'd have to go for Brian Kerr. Signing a Scotland cap, who had played in the Premiership and the Champions League should have been successful. Although he showed glimpses of class, he was on the whole terrible. Other than his four spectacular goals a season, he was always too busy playing hide and seek. Definitely the least worthy wearer of the captain's armband I have seen.

I would like another striker, definitely but I think we need to give McHugh a fair crack of the whip. He has only made three starts, one which he scored, one which he was decent and another he couldn't make an impact getting beat 6-1 at Castle Greyskull. Also you could count on one hand how many of his sub appearances have been longer than half an hour. I think our squad looks strong enough to challenge top six.

Yassin Moutouakil was fast. That's all I'm saying.

Best Right Back we've ever had. Just read my posts when he was here Made Kevin Christie look like Phillip Lahm.

I must admit I rated Scott Brown when he was at Hibs but the above post sums it up for me. You'd struggle to find a Celtic fan who rated him before the Diouf incident either, I was sick of hearing "worst Celtic captain ever", "not fit to wear the shirt" etc by the mhanks.

I really don't think he is that bad. Fair enough he has had a couple of failed attempts down south, but he has always done well at this level. It's funny how you say "have we stooped that low", do you not remember both Esteban Casagolda and Alan Gow played with us last year?

My predictions for the league are: 1. Celtic 2. Rangers 3. Hearts 4. Dundee United 5. Motherwell 6. Inverness Caley Thistle 7. Aberdeen 8. Hibs 9. Kilmarnock 10. Dunfermline 11. St. Mirren The fact our budget hasn't been cut and we have the nucleus of a good team in place will go in our favour, as Dundee United can't sign anyone until somebody leaves and Aberdeen and Hibs have big rebuilding jobs on their hands. As for the cups, my gut feeling is we will reach the semi-final of the League Cup, only to be beaten by one half of the Old Firm and we will get knocked out of the Scottish Cup at the first hurdle by an SPL team of similar or slightly lower reputation. I think Celtic will win the league, as Jay said I don't think McCoist has enough to win the league in his first season. I don't think Rangers will be able to spend in the way some are suggesting. If Celtic can stop leaking silly goals I think they will win the league. If Hearts can gel their team quick enough they should walk third place, I think they'll be the only provincial club with competition for places this year. I think it will be between us and Dundee United for fourth, depending on the Goodwillie situation and who be bring in. As much as I can't see us being consistent and high quality next year, I can't see the likes of Hibs or Aberdeen doing much. I think Inverness are a shoe in for top six. Perhaps this is wishful thinking but I think Aberdeen will struggle. Other than his "contacts" down south who may get him one or two decent players on loan, I think he will struggle to build a team. His success both at Scotland and us was largely down to him using the resources he already had. I also can't see Calderwood turning the corner and I think O'Connor will flop and will be lucky to hit double figures. Kilmarnock will struggle without Eremenko and Bryson, Dunfermline and St. Mirren will be made safe by St Johnstone, I think after promotion and a couple of good seasons, they will run out of steam, like Accies did last year.

Where is he now? I can't imagine him still being at Middlesbrough, not heard of him much since he moved.

Some journalist on Twitter says Aberdeen, Hibs and a league one side are interested. I'd imagine they will all be able to pay more than we can so that would make things difficult on the off chance we are interested.

Can't argue with that at all. Going to the Leeds game will pretty much depend on what I'm upto that day and how much time I've got on my hands. I went to a friendly at Fir Park against Wolves prior to the 2008/09 season and it was torture. Waste of time, effort and money.

Must admit I only saw the highlights of the Celtic game, but I doubt we can rate Hollis as "good enough" on the back of one performance when he conceded four goals. If we lose Randolph we definitely need to sign a keeper. Cammy Bell is out of contract, I'd take him.

I'd say to call Kenneth no nonsense is inaccurate. I think most instances that make him appear tough are through bad timing rather than aggression.

I thought Ronaldinho couldn't sign with them as you can't go on loan once you've signed a pre-contract?

I don't think he would be the worst player to sign but he's not the type of player we need to sign to progress. Al B makes a good point about him being as good as he'll ever be. His pace was his biggest asset at centre half, normally an attribute you'd associate with another position. The way some people are going on you would think he was Gunni Jonnson. Fair enough he stalled after his first two seasons but he was definitely one of the better centre backs we've had in recent years and a model pro at that. I think with Hutchy he isn't as fast as Reynolds but he's fast enough, he is stronger in the tackle and better in the airm. Perhaps like Reynolds he needs to work on distribution but he is still developing? Ps are we going to get linked with anyone who hasn't played for us before? Bring back Shivute!

When Porter signed with us he was obviously earning a bit more than others thanks to Boyle's funding, when he moved to Derby he would have got a decent payrise aswell, so if we were to approach him now it would be less than his previous two wages. That alone makes me think it's a non starter. Also, I seem to remember him choosing Motherwell over Dundee United partly because it was easier for him to commute back to Wigan. That makes me think he'll stay South of the border. The papers are probably putting two and two together and trying to put words in McCall's mouth.

Today's express has an interview with Stuart McCall, basically he rants that newly promoted blue square teams are paying £3k a week and we can't compete with that. He said his best option in the market would be Scotsmen playing in England wanting to return, or those wanting a new challenge. He admitted interested on both Hughes and Porter, but admitted it would be down to money as they would need a massive drop in wages and with Hughes he said it may depend on Jennings' decision. Lappin is someone I would be interested in, what's his contract situation at Norwich? Was he not quite a regular last year?

To be honest with you, having a player like Hughes in the team isn't about how many goals he scored, but how many the team does. In his first season, Porter scored 18, Clarkson scored 13 and McCormack scored 11. His influence on those tallies were priceless in my opinion. If he manages to get us playing in a way that the forwards score, I'll be happy with that. As for Ross Forbes, the boy has the ability to be a top class player, we just need to utilise it. As it has been mentioned further up the page, last season he was dropped on the back of some good performances, I.e after the Celtic game, probably his most battling performance with Motherwell, then he was left out. Also, in the 0-0 game at Tynecastle, the week before the semi-final, I thought he was the best player on the park by a country mile, but wasn't in the squad for the semi-final, that must have knocked his confidence. Like anybody I can see his fitness has real room for improvement and it is upto him to work hard to improve that, but he can spot and execute a pass better than anyone else in our team and it is a waste we aren't using that. That said he does only seem to fit into a midfield three and you shouldn't play a formation to suit one man.

I wouldn't be too gutted to lose Gunning, he's a good player, but a bit Jekyll and Hyde. I think a creative midfielder is a must, regardless whether Jennings stays or not. I unlike many, rate Forbes and I think if he was given a run of games at the head of a three man midfield he would be effective. McCall did hint the other day we would be playing that formation. As for Hughes, if he can get anywhere near his first season form I wouldn't hesitate to take him back. It would make sense aswell, apparently his mrs and kid have still been living in Motherwell the full time he has been down South.

From the BBC gossip column: Midfielder Stephen Hughes could be on his way back to Motherwell now that it looks like he is not in Paul Lambert's plans for Norwich in the Premier League. (News of the World)

Yeah, McCormack left in the May if you like and Sutton joined in the August. Kevin McDonald was at Burnley, but has been let go. Could see him staying down south in the Championship or League One for monetary reasons.

I think his signing cushions the blow of losing Sutton. When you look at statistics he only scored two goals less than Sutton last year and I'd imagine that was from far less games as St. Mirren didn't have that long a run in either cup and weren't in Europe. As much as I would never have faulted Sutton's application or attitude as a Motherwell player, his last six months have been far better than any other spell and I don't think he will be as big a loss as some are making out. Chris Porter was a better player in my opinion and we didn't suffer too much from losing him. Ultimately, if both were available on a free transfer and one signed for Motherwell and one left Motherwell that would tell you who was rated higher. Realistically, Sutton left us due to money and if we were expecting to sign a player better than him to replace him, surely he would be getting offered the same or more money by someone? We have replaced him with a player who scored more goals in the league than him last year in a struggling side, which I don't think we can complain about. If three years down the line, Higdon has scored forty three goals and he leaves, I'm sure the same conversation will take place! Good but replacable. It is very rare we find a "Motherwell" level player, a la Stephen Craigan, and after three years service it is more than likely a player will join a bigger or smaller club.

The Daily Record says that Craigan and Jennings are EXPECTED to sign when they return from holiday. That sounds promising. Although after Craig Brown I won't be 100% sure till it's in writing! Think Higdon would be a fantastic signing, said that as he signed for St. Mirren aswell. Although, I think St. Mirren have done well to replace him with Steven Thompson.

Aye cause those four names are a lot worse than Casagolda, Jeffers, Ross and Charalabous? Not seen much of Paterson since he left us so I'd decline to comment there, but would definitely take the other three!

£350,000 was the record transfer for a Chinese club.