star sail

If we lose today there will no doubt be questions over the decision to rest players but with Thu eve being so important for the club it is worth the risk.

Squad rotation and European football. Can't beat it. Think it shows the important role Lasley has to play on Thu night. Hope he has his feet up and is resting well.

Thanks for your thoughts. My biggest concern is that OB only played to 80% of their capability and can play much better. I think that their celebration of the first goal showed that they thought they were out for a practice match. Having said that Fir Park will be a very difficult place to come. It is a small, compact stadium with the fans being very close to pitchside. Rangers and Celtic have had many a tough visit and it will be a difficult night for OB. They may well regret the rather relaxed attitude from the first game. For our players it will be one of the biggest games of their lives and as a club, one of the biggest in our history so OB are going to be up against a team and support that are fired up and ready to go. Looking forward to the reaction from the East Stand the first time a OB player takes a dive. Roll on Thursday. Cannot wait.

Ok. Was kinda starting to think the same myself on what is a great night for the club. Apologies.

So polite. Fighting is fighting, not small fight good, big fight, bad. I am talking generally as no real indication that the Well fans have been less than superb again tonight but if (big if) a section of the support have been fighting then that my friend is 'negative pish'

To be fair the comments have been hypothetical and fairly general. Nobody is treating it as fact.

Craig Levein being really positive about us on Radio Scotland. Described the result as 'fantastic' and said he was 'chuffed to bits'

Thanks. Makes me happy to think we have polar opposite views.

Shit attitude. I care. Fighting brings us down to the level of England thugs and Rangers thugs.

Good team performance but no stand outs. Went for Hateley. Did very little but a belter of a goal completely changes the tie.

You are not allowed to say that about our captain. Don't you know the rules. Interesting stat Odense 11 fouls 1 yellow card. Well 13 fouls. 3 yellow, 1 red.

As regards the ref decisions, I think that they have a pre-concieved idea that Scottish teams are aggressive long ball merchants so already have a few bookings in their minds. I think Motherwell have played the refs as well as they can, no daft bookings, no diving in and yet we still find ourselves a man down. Very strong performance, good result, just wish Craigan had a bit more pace to get to that ball for the second goal. Real chance next week. Lets make some NOISE!!!!!!!!!

Will be interesting to see how the Scottish press report this. Will they take the Andy Walker angle (nice to see such loyalty from a former player) of John Boyles a hypocrite or will there be a call to arms to support a Scottish Club? Don't have high hopes I'm afraid.

To some extent I agree but unfortunately the Bellamy story in still the bigger story. The plight of a small Scottish Football club will not capture the imagination of the English Football fans so the story will burn out very quickly I am afraid. Hope I am wrong.

I am not a particularly patriotic Scotsman but when I see the likes of that greasy runt Jones, I am filled with a real sense of satisfaction that I was not born an Englishman. He knows its a disgrace, that is why he is so defensive.

There must be a way to argue against these stats but I don't know how to do it. Makes for interesting reading. Cheers for the info.

Could argue that scoring 13 goals in 5 games and only getting 5 points out of a possible 15 is a poor return but would be playing devils advocate to an extent because the stats you provide actually give a strong case for the defence (so to speak) and pretty much blows my arguement out of the water. What was the Dundee Utd ave last season out of interest?

First of millions.

Think the away goal is so important again. It almost assures us something to play for in the home leg. Even 4-1 would leave the door open, if only slightly. 3-0 at home would be a tall order but that seed of hope would still exist.

I think our defence is a real problem at the moment and has been for the last 2-3 seasons. Last year it was to some extent covered over because Ruddy was commanding with cross balls, but despite the praise and hero worship Craigan and Reynolds get on here, I dont think any one of us, hand on heart is relaxed and confident about our defence and we are often waiting to watch the next car crash. For example, Celtic Park last season before the split, Well go 1-0 up (admitidly thanks to Reynolds) then instantly gift a goal to a player that was having a major crisis of confidence. The same player gets a second and we go from 3 massive points to 0 in the space of 15 minutes. We have lost 9 goals to Hibs in the last two meetings with them and lost 16 goals in the last five games of last season. That is not a good record by anyones standards. Remember that McGhee recognised the problems with the defence but failed to sign a defender to fix the problem, despite constants promises that he would. Gannon recognised the same problem so dropped Craigan. Latterly that backfired but initially Saunders and Hutchison were able replacements. I think that we are still crying out for a commanding central defender. I think that Andy Webster was the difference between us and Dundee Utd last season. That is how important the position is.

Could Hammerfist really be the man himself? It just gets more surreal. Also reminds me a wee bit of a Mr Jim Gannon. Love it.

Controversal. Much as I would love to see it happen Rangers will still be 1st or 2nd and by a good margin. Rangers were the poorest they have been for years last season and were still ahead of the rest by a country mile. Remember getting irrate after Kevin Thompsons comments last season only for it all to end just the way he predicted.

Rangers (Smith v Lennon, only one winner) Celtic (for reason above) Hearts (think Jefferies will have booted them into shape) D Utd (thought they flattered a bit last year but will be there abouts) Aberdeen (can't be as bad for them again and still believe McGhee is a good manager) Hibs (think Yogi will be found out but still have the players to see it through) M/Well (best of the rest) St Johnstone (really impressed by McInnes and one of the better teams to watch last seson) St Mirren (new manager will give them a lift) Hamilton (had a good end of season so will be safe_ ICT (Butcher will have them working hard and playing with passion) Killie (struggling to see many positives for them this year and Mixus a poor mans John Hughes)

If this is the case hats off Hammerfist. Have to go through pages of speculation and symbols and 'I know I guy who knows a guy' crap for one gem of truth so will be impressed if tomorrow we are parading Esteban Casagolda as our new signing and you called it right from the start.

I think we need to get over the notion that somehow the club owe's the fans something. Without the fans the club would not exist, true but the same can be said for any business. Without paying customers the business does not float. The equation is simple. Pay for a ticket = Club provide a football match. The club are not in debt to the fan therafter, in the same way that cineworld are not in debt to their customers after they have shown the film. This notion that buying a season ticket means that the club owes the fan something more is also nonsense. You buy a season ticket and the club let you in to every SPL home game. That is where the deal ends. The responsibility of the decision makers (i.e Boyle, Dempster) is to the business, not to the fans. Each individual fan has the freedom to decide to go, or not. Personally I think that £20 is too much to pay for a football match but I will be there all the same without any sense of being a martyr or a victim because at the end of the day the choice is mine.