El Grew

Spot on Melvin. Smith wants to play at a higher level and/or with a team that is regularly challenging the OF. Well that means who.... Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee Utd, Hibs I assume. But I don't see any of these clubs exactly falling over themselves to avail themselves of his services given that they would get him for nada. The only way these guys will re-sign at FP is if they don't get better offers. Well, as I said earlier, I wouldn't wait to be pissed around by them. Offer them the best we can, set a deadline for signing then if they haven't signed ...adios. Put the pressure on them. However, they would do well to remember what happened to Brian Kerr.....

I said it before earlier. The first team players get away with poor performances because they know that there is nobody among the rest of the squad going to oust them. MM knows this and worse the players know that MM knows this. All this pontificating about only wanting players who want to play for the club etc. etc. is just bullshit of the highest order. Every player that is currently or soon to be out of contract should be given a contract offer with the club's absolute best offer, given one month to consider it and sign it and if they haven't done so by the end of that time then they should be told to pack-up and move out pdq. By doing this he will then know the extent of the team re-building that's in front of him. He will to tackle this fast for next season and cannot afford to piss about. Now is the time for actions, after all its not as if he or us didn't know this was coming. Leave Leitch in charge of the team until the end of the season and get out and about and suss out if there's anybody worth picking up from the sides that are destined for another season in Division 1 (Dundee, Dunfermline, Partick, Morton, Livingston) and interested in playing SPL for us. Get in a few hard working reliable pros that can reproduce solid performances on a regular basis - particularly defenders a la Joe Wark/Brian Martin.

To Gazzy B. Go forth and multiply. Meaningless games? - Then why are the fans not being allowed in for free. - Tell the chairman, because every point gained earns the club money. - The club owe it to other clubs in the relegation zone to put up serious performances. - Fans will hardly be swayed into renewing season tickets with kind of garbage served-up. No, this just goes to show Mark McGhee that there is a clear-out needed at FP. Too many players have been getting it too easy for too long now. There is no pressure being put on the first team squad by the fringe players so they know they can get away with this kind of shite.

Wow massive changes in team selection!!! Smith, Lasley, Hammell, Reynolds, McLean, Hughes, Fitzpatrick, Klimpl, McGarry, Clarkson, Sutton. Subs: Krysiak, Malcolm, Sheridan, Murphy, McHugh, Hutchinson, Page. Lets be honest the only reason the youngsters are on the bench is to fulfill the commitment required under SPL rules. Questions 1. Why are Malcolm and Sheridan still be considered for selection? 2. Can we take it from this that Hughes and Klimpl will be staying on then? 3. Why are McGarry and Fitzpatrick still being considered? 4. What happened to O'Brien - not even on bench, on his way? 5. Where's Quinn - also not on even on bench, also on his way?

I wholeheartedly agree - far too much substance abuse going on here. Paul Quinn for (in no particular order) Celtic/the Premiership (Everton)/The Championship (Birmingham)/Russia.

Don't know about a new stand but I had heard a couple of months back that the club might be having to spend around £500K on 'upgrading' the current main stand. Not exactly sure why this was but it may have been a safety issue.

Given the quality of Scottish football these days its good to see four Motherwell players in ANY Scotland squad. Well done to all four of our guys. They are probably our four best, most consistent, and most reliable players. Also our most saleable assets.

Headline in Gazetto dello Sport tomorrow - "El Buzz concorda contratto con AC" Well its about as believeable as him going anywhere.

Easy, I take your point but Craigan's done now and Reynolds is not really a centre back. But I've been watching Quinn since he came into the first team and has not improved one iota and its not just his passing. He ball watches, drifts to close to the centre backs, fails to spot midfield runners and position himself to deal with them. Admittedly he is playing in as poor a back four as is in the SPL but.... well that's another argument.

weeyin, you miss the point. Ever since MM arrived back in Scotland he has gone out of his way to court the media, both written, tv and radio. He was the media darling and they and he milked it for all it was worth but only on the back of us having our best season for years. I'd rather he just buckled down, did the job and let his team and players do the talking as opposed to him - maybe now that we have had a mediocre season they will forget about him and then he can do so. For the club's sake I hope so.

Apparently, Rangers have an 'A' List and a 'B' List of Signing Targets. They will only be able to go for the 'A' List if they win the SPL and get automatic entry to group stages of Champions League. If they don't then they will move to the 'B' List and seemingly Stephen Hughes is one of the targets on this. I'd like to see him stay at FP but wouldn't blame him for moving. Everybody jumps on his back for 'not performing' and 'not scoring enough goals'. Well lets take the second point first - his record before coming to us showed he was not a prolific goal scoring midfielder so why get up tight about it now. MM knew what he was getting. As for the first point about him not performing - well he has hardly partnered by the best of midfield partners at FP (McGarry, O'Brien, Malcolm, etc. IMO he played his best games when Keith Lasley was in the side because Lasley's style allowed Hughes to play closer to the strikers, which IMO is his best position. Klimpl is a wholehearted player but he is a bit of a wanderer whereas Lasley is more disciplined. I think MM needs to play a 4-3-1 (Hughes) 2 in order to get the best out of him. He should not have to expend energy chasing back to defend all the time. We should be looking to build a team around guys like Hughes not punt him.

Wow!!! Well if Quinn had a good game, heaven helps us. The guy's passing is utter pish and has been since he came into the first team!! No improvement = time to move him out. And we did play 3 centre backs - maybe not in the centre of defence but we did play them because McLean, Craigan and Reynolds are all centre backs!!

Boy oh boy. You are one argumentative person. Everybody comes on here and posts their thoughts, ideas and suggestions. People come on and agree/disagree argue, counter-argue etc. etc. But you!!?? You just come on and decry everbody regardless!!

I'm not a hate Mark McGhee merchant nor do I want to see him get bulleted. But facts have to be faced he is a self-publicist. And far too many of you guys don't seem to recognise it. The guy has to talk us up because in doing so he's talking himself up. Make no mistake about it this guy is here under sufferance now. He had his chance for 'bigger things' at the end of last season when his stock was at its highest but knocked back the Hearts job. Only he will know why. There are no other 'bigger clubs' out there just now waiting to sign him up. If he is to 'progress' to 'bigger things' from MFC then he will need to work his socks off to try and duplicate his first season. Hey, and that's no bad thing because it means we will reap the benefit of that. I'd just like to see him buckle down now and do that.

The aerial view shown is of the old Motherwell Stadium. This has been unused for a number of years now. I remember it was developed with a covered grandstand and used for Harness Racing (Trotting) sometime during the 1970s. That didn't last too long though and it fell into disrepair and the site was eventually cleared. I can remember playing for my old school (Knowetop PS) on it about 1969 against Calder PS. I'm not certain but I don't think this was the original park used by Motherwell FC and known as Roman Road. I was always told the Roman Road park was actually the old swing park that used to be on the Roman Road off Milton Street and past Muir Street Primary School. As I say I'm not sure and maybe somebody older and with better knowledge of the area could let us know.

For Wellfan1984 and WellArmy 88 "I don’t give a monkey’s chuff if this gets on anybody’s tits because facts need to be faced." Ya pair of twats. Where will we get players from to replace them? McGhee will just have to start earn his fucking money now and do a bit of what Tommy McLean had to do when he had no money - wheel and deal in the transfer market. There will be plenty of players out of contract at other SPL clubs and plenty of players at clubs in the 1st Division who could do us a turn (Dundee, Livingston, Partick etc.) + give some of the youngsters at the club a try. In short he should start to do what a football manager should be doing - get up of his arse and do some scouting to try and improve his squad instead of spouting off in newspaper columns. Forget all this loan signing shite and players from the Bundesliga etc. and do some honest fucking grafting for a change.

Ah, somebody after my own heart. Great well argued post mate. But get your steel helmet on because the flak will begin flying towards you soon.

Really good post mate. Enjoyed reading it and its spot on accurate.

Just got letter in from el Chairman advising season ticket price frozen at last year's price plus 10% discount if renewed before 31 May. I will not be renewing though. Pay at the gate from now on and choose my games. 'Well fan through and through but I am not paying a small fortune to watch people do what I could do if I got myself fit. Also fed-up getting shafted with all these reduced gate prices.

Eh..........(thinking)............!! No!

Hugely disappointing but hardly surprising. Considering where we were at Christmas I think it was near miraculous that we managed to get back into contention for a top 6 finish. Plenty of graft and effort but absolutely no quality – Stephen Hughes excepted. However having said that, I would like to make the following observations on our manager and players: Manager Wrong team selection from the start. In a home game which we needed to win, against a team well below us in the league why did he: - play our normal right-back at left back (Quinn); - play our normal left-back in midfield (Hammell); - play a 4-3-3 with two defenders (Klimpl and Hammell); - wait until St. Mirren scored before making a substitution; - have his defenders launch long balls to Sutton but have no midfield players getting forward to take advantage of his knockdowns; - vary his tactics occasionally from just launching long balls forward; - have no width to our forward play. This is not the first vitally important game that he has done this – has he not learned anything? Far too indecisive and seems incapable of influencing a game by use of substitutes. Also is he able to motivate the players. Players Poor application and questions must be asked about their mentality and spinal fortitude when the chips are down. This is not the first time they have bottled it. If McGhee stays, then now that the top 6 is over and we are safe from relegation, I believe its now time for him to re-build and bring in some new blood. Of the current lot, I believe the only ones he brought are Hughes, O’Brien and Klimpl. The rest he inherited and lets be brutally frank a lot of them are rank. Keep McLean Reynolds (not a centre back in a million years but move into left back) Hughes (if he'll stay) Klimpl (if he'll stay) Sutton Clarkson Murphy Lasley Move Out G. Smith (wants to play at a higher level – I’d recommend Mexico it’s nearly 7,500 feet above sea level) P. Quinn (one of the worst defenders ever seen at FP. Still making same errors as when he came into the first team) S. Hammell (full backs need to be able to defend first and foremost and he can't) S. Craigan (simply too old and slow now) O’Brien (sand dancer and now back to what he was when he first came) Fitzpatrick (has had a long time to establish himself as first team regular and failed) D Smith (not good enough for SPL) McGarry (still don’t why he was originally signed) I don’t give a monkey’s chuff if this gets on anybody’s tits because facts need to be faced. IMO McGhee first needs to build a defence that is hard to break down and score against and not be fragile like the present lot, and then take it on from there. This needs to be a top priority for him now. He needs to show that he can manage now.

I wonder what the crowds will be like for the remaining games at FP after the split if as seems likely, we don't make the top six. I mean we are safe from relegation so we would really have nada to play for. What do others think? Mind you as I right this St Mirren have just gone 1-0 up on Hibs.

Sorry Kmcalpin I wasn't singling the 'Well out when I said most games are dross. I was speaking generally about Scottish Football in the SPL. I agree that we were bloody good to watch last season and it was one of the best seasons I can remember both in terms of results and the style of our play. I do honestly feel that Scottish football is at at an all time low. We have teams full of players who are undoubtedly very fit and athletic but sadly lacking in craft, guile and skill. The speed at which the modern game is played means that players' first touch is critical whereas in years past this was not the case. Players could get away with not having a great first touch as they and their opponents were not as fit, athletic or quick. We fans are fickle. Do we want to see our team entertain and lose or do we just want to see our team win and to hell with entertainment? We will all have our views. To do both is the ideal but few teams ever manage it. The great Ancell Babes were fantastic to watch and highly entertaining - neutrals came out in droves to see them, but sadly they didn't win anything. Personally, I like to watch entertaining football - to go and see guys doing things that you know you couldn't do yourself. I can remember when guys like Andy Weir, Davie Cooper, Jimmy Johnstone etc. got the ball, you could feel electricity in the air as the crowd suddenly perked-up expectantly, as they knew they were going to see something very special. I can remember seeing Davie Cooper scoring a great solo goal against Dundee Utd at FP and thinking that it was worth the entry money alone just to see that moment of magic. Be honest, if you were young, athletic and fit, you could go out and do what the vast majority of SPL players do and that is truly sad. We have lost our way somewhere because we did previously produce highly skilful players that were sought after and respected throughout the world. Sorry if I've ranted and wandered slightly off topic here but it is something I do feel strongly about. Yes, SPL football is overpriced but I honestly don't think fans would complain as much if what they were seeing was more entertaining with more skill, craft and guile on show. And it might just tempt some more out to see it.