CoF

The club have stated on a few ocassions they're aiming to get the average crowd up to 8000 which seems like a massive challenge when attendances are falling. However, I've always thought about the season ticket initiative Bradford, Hartlepool and Huddersfield have all tried and I've mentioned it previously on here sparking some arguments for and against but here's the general idea.... When McCall first joined Bradford in 2007, they ran a season ticket offer in which the price was dictated by the number sold (the more supports pledged to buy a ticket, the cheaper they became). They managed to get the adult price down to £138, which worked out at £6 a game, and went from an average crowd of almost 9000 to almost 14000. Not saying we'll add 5000 onto our gate but I'd love to see it tried. Can't see how the club can lose out and there's a chance, if the price can be reduced enough, we'd see a nice increase in tickets sold.

Don't we only have one of each?

Both Moore and Faddy haven't been anywhere near consistent yet, far from proven that they can start regularly and give us what Anier has given us. Considering he's quite often subbed 70 odd minutes in and hasn't always started , 7 in 19 is a great return. The squad will be far weaker without him.

....and hoping to achieve what?

In the last seven games Hearts have taken 2 points out of a possible 21. Such a young team will be physically and mentally exhausted and it wouldn't surprise me if they only managed a couple of more wins this season. Can't seeing one of them being on Saturday. Doubt we'll hammer them but could see a comfortable 2-0. Think I'll head through for this one.

He probably was one of the highest earners. His contract extension in 2010 would have made sure of that and to be fair, at the time I don't think anyone would have begrudged him that. Don't believe me? See here... http://www.steelmenonline.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=7712

Lacked the consistency he showed in his first year here, but always an important player in one of the best footballing Motherwell teams I've seen. I had no problems with his attitude when he was here. Yet to see/hear any evidence of this 'billy big baws' attitude he apparently had. I had no problems with how he left either. After 4 years and 150 games for the club, he wanted to move on. It's really not much more complicated than that, which made the pleasure some folk got in seeing him struggle to find a club seem not just hard to understand, but also slightly cruel. Maybe I'm just saft. Or maybe they are just fannies.

Yep, can see us taking a big crowd there now!

It's a true Christmas miracle.

Side netting. Fffffffjdjcnkdkdjd.

Regardless of today's performances I've thought for a while we should be looking to keep them on. They do have flashes of being excellent players and I think the consistency will come by the end of the season. We need them to give us a depth of squad we would otherwise be sorely lacking. I'm not so sure. With two early cup exits, every penny is a prisoner this season. If Anier and Answorth are the difference between one league place, which could be worth £100'000 in prize money, then they are worth keeping on.

Took me about 5 minutes to pick this as hard to pick a motm when so many of the team were exceptional. Went for Ainsworth simply because of his exciting and dynamic attacking play, something that we seem to have missed so much this season. Special mention to Sutton who won everything sent up to him and Anier who, although fairly quite for long spells shows flashes of brilliance for his two goals.

Good 3 points. Best performance of the season. 1 point off second. All good.

From comments Mccall has made in the past about keepers, I think it's Gordon Marshall who calls the shot when it comes to that position so I'd trust his judgement if he feels someone isn't quite ready for first team football. Chucking a player in at the deep end isn't always what's best for his development, especially in a position that so often hinges on confidence. As for knowing Twardzik's capabilities... I think it's safe to say Marshall will have his finger on the pulse when it comes to other professional keepers in Scotland. Unlike outfield players, there are only a handful at each club so I imagine having a general awareness of who is in the ranks at other clubs is just part of the job.

Aye, but worth bearing in mind that Dundee united have dropped points to Hearts, Hibs and Partick Thistle. We didn't. ICT have dropped points to St Mirren and Partick Thistle. We haven't. Aberdeen have dropped to Hearts (twice), Ross County and St Mirren. We haven't. The fact that those teams have won the six pointers against us and yet still aren't miles ahead says that we have something about us that they don't. As long as they keep losing and drawing games they 'should' be winning we'll stay within touching distance of 2nd or 3rd.

That's it exactly. Aye, it would be exciting to get a new manager in with fresh ideas, but the reality is that in the last 7 years we've been very very lucky/clever in pulling candidates out of 'left field'. With the wages we have to offer, it's always a huge gamble with any manager and I think there is an assumption that we'll get it right every time. Would folk be happy with a manager that gets us decent cup runs but we're stuck in mid-table mediocrity each season? That's the kind of manager our finances could potentially get. We've been lucky with what McGhee, Brown and Mccall have brought to the club. It's simply far too early to be calling for his head.

Personal abuse aside, all fair enough. It's been a disappointing 4 months out of McCall's 2 years in charge but honestly, without him there's every chance we wouldn't have had a cup final or games in Europe to even fuck up. Grass isn't always greener.

We should still feel that the chase for Europe is massive, but I think our approach to Europe this year has sucked the enthusiasm out of that. How different it might have been if the away leg against Kuban Krasnodar was treated like the second of half of a cup-final, instead it seems to have been approached like a pre-season Friendly. The highs of qualifying for Europe only exist if we are giving it a damn good crack, even if we are two goals down. Don't know about anyone else, but our approach this year has scunnered me.

Absolute bollocks. If you can't give Mccall credit for getting the best out of last years players then he's as well giving up just now. Law and Randolph were the only two who arrived as close to the 'finished article', even they improved under Mccall. Higdon, Ojamaa and Ramsden came in with some potential and turned into absolute quality players. Hammell, Humphrey and Lasley all had arguably their best seasons of their careers under Mccall. Believe it or not there is more to management than 90 minutes on a Saturday. Those players would not have performed last season if it wasn't for Mccall's input every single day. The man has proved that he can pull players out of a slump (we went on a run of 2 wins in 9 at one point last season). Yes, a harder task this season given the new-ness of the squad, but give him a chance. 3 points off second and 7 clear of the bottom six, if you think we should be doing better under the circumstances than maybe you should support a different team. Sack Mccall?

I'm sure a wee breakaway group to infiltrate the cooper would go down well, especially with the number of kids in there! Unless of course we end up with 300 12 year olds singing about Bob Mchugh shaggin the burds.

One of who has conceded fewer goals and made more clean sheets in his opening ten league games this season than Randolph (widely regarded as our greatest ever keeper over the last 500 years) had in the opening ten last year. Aye. Pure shite.

That's completely untrue. 2012/2013 Played 10 - Conceded 15 - 1 Clean Sheet 2013/2014 Played 10 - Conceded 12 - 3 Clean Sheets Considering we've lost randolph, I'd say that's incredible. With regard to your other comments, I think you are jumping the gun big time. Good individual performances still rely on the rest of the team. Communication, teamwork and partnerships all take time to develop and can all make an individual look good when they are established and working well. It's pretty much a completely new team who have had a total of 13 competitive games together. Under those circumstances I think it's understandable players aren't quite working on the same wave-lengths, which makes our league position all the more amazing. Gee folk time ffs.

The result isn't the issue. I can't remember a Motherwell team so completely lacking in self belief in the way they appeared to be on Saturday. Is that no worth discussing? Might as well shut the forum down then.

I'm rarely critical after a defeat to Celtic (and this post might be influenced by the fact I paid £26 to get in....) but what a disappointment. 2-0 at Parkhead is nothing to be ashamed of but that was a completely uninspiring display, I don't think we broke sweat all game and I don't think Celtic had to break sweat scoring their goals. I understand games can be won in many different ways, I've no problem with cautious and defensive tactics, sitting deep and trying to frustrate the opposition (which I think we achieved to a fair extent) but it seemed like the game plan went no further than nullifying their threat. When we did get the ball, we looked scared and devoid of ideas. I thought Carswell was decent and Hollis, despite his mistake for the first goal, dealt well with the three hundred or so passbacks and put in a few good saves. Also, Kerr and Anier looked sharp when they came on. On a side note, fucking hell there were a lot of police watching the well support.

Great gesture by both clubs. Hopefully it'll be packed, canny beat a floodlit game in a busy Fir Park.