Welldaft Mk1

In a nutshell....it was very evident against Aberdeen (1st 10 mins 2nd half) that we were content to sit in and see what Aberdeen could do. The quick answer was to score an equaliser In many respects Paw B must look at what happened v Hibs when we opened up and were repeatedly hit on the break. But surely even he can tell who is likely to do that and the teams that are not. IMHO we should have put Aberdeen on the back foot as soon as the 2nd half started. Still it is all about points and as long as we keep picking them up and look to a top 6 finish I will be more than happy. You just need to look at where Falkirk, Dundee, Partick and Dunfermline are to know we have been doing more than OK in the last 3-4 years.

It's a decent debate and one I feel that will run until the end of the season. Arguably the best we have played is the 1st half v Hibs and we lost that game. I think we will be ok this season but we are probably too inconsistent to mount a top 4 challenge. My concern is the 1st 10 minutes of the second half where v Aberdeen we sat back and let them score the equaliser before we started playing again. By the sounds of things we did exactly the same last night and with a bit of quality Brechin should have scored. I look forward to the time we come out after HT and press the game. When that happens we will probably be behind..... Still I would take points over style and substance. I would like both but that looks like being a rarity this season.

True - but I could have said looks a little bit like the Aberdeen away strip. The inference in using Real Madrid as an example is that we will be playing like the galacticos. Maybe I should have made that point more obvious.....

By the sound of things we rode our luck a little and with a half decent striker Brechin would have scored a couple. But they did not, just like we did not against Odense. Any win in a cup is most welcome, especially when we have been on the end of so many upsets over the years. Well done Page - what a goal machine. One wonders whether he will edge in to the 1st team a little more often this season. The white away strip is really growing on me. Looks really GOOD. Bit like Real madrid Plus with 3 away wins - is it a lucky strip? Here's hoping it continues onto Saturday v Jambos.

What is most notable is the alarming decline in away fans. Whilst the Old firm can still shift 5000+ tickets Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen away support has halved at least over the lst 2 seasons. Factor in a 10-20% drop in home fans explains why we got just over 5000 yesterday. TBH it did not look like their would be over 5000 with all the empty seats in the East stand. Some of it you can put down to the standard of football but in the main peoples are watching the pennies this weather and who can blame them. Our away support at Killie and St J was actually in keeping with recent seasons.

I cannot imagine that half time team talk would be along the lines of - "well we are comfortable in the game and 1\2\3*-0 up, so what I would like you to do is sit back enjoy the sunshine and see what the opposition can do" So my question is why does it happen all the time. Not just this season but last season also. Today was a classic case where we did very little until the inevitable happened and Aberdeen scored their goal. Why the f#ck are we not coming out and taking the impetus and imposing our gameplan on the opposition. Aberdeen were by any recent standards poor, but we let them play from the opening minute of the second half till they scored. Does my nut in Make no mistake that was 2 points dropped and unless we buck up our ideas the top 6 will be a distant dream. *delete as appropriate.

That's the problem with highlights. Just like the post above anyone watching the highlights might have thought we were lucky. The most comfortable away win I have seen for ages. St Johnstone were lucky we couldnae be arsed after half time or it would have been 4 or 5-0. Granted Randolph knew little about the shot he saved with his bonce in the 1st minute, but after that the 1st half was ALL Motherwell and we could and should have scored a couple more. St J could have had a penalty and they may have upped the tempo, but at no time did I think we were not taking all 3 points after we went 2-0 up.

Very comfortable win when all is said and done. V Good performance in the 1st half - pretty pedestrian in the second which was a shame as the boys were shooting our way. As comfortable a win at Perth for a long time. My MOM would got to Hammell who did not put a foot wrong all match. He did everything spot on and was rock solid. Great to see. As for the smoke bombs. OK I understand the comments re the asthma etc, but were it not for the 'wee neds' there would have been little atmosphere there today. We were all young once - albeit a while ago. If you want perfect behaviour and a quiet atmosphere - go to church. I say keep it up - then again I am not getting lifted week after week

PROZAC for Milo............... When it comes to the Well I tend to err on the side of negativity myself, that way when mishaps happen as they often do the disappointment is not so great. But the day I start forecasting a 2-0 defeat to St Johnstone I know there is no hope left. That result may come to pass but I am not exepcting it to on Saturday. Cheer up Milo............

Date confirmed: http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/index.php?op...&Itemid=136 Glad it is the Tuesday. Get to see Ross County taken revenge on the Arabs on BBC the following night.

I am sure some of those dates will be moved around. Quite sure they would not have Rangers and Celtic playing at home on the same evening

From what I understand we offered him a lot less than what St Mirren originally offered, but he chose to come and play with Motherwell. Admittedly that was after late intervention by Swindon who were willing to offer more again than Motherwell. Not sure what happened there, but I think we (should) all agree that he is entitled to seek the best deal for him and his family. That is what the majority on here would do if we had several job offers. Either way he is here and if he plays well we get at least 6 months of his time. If he plays gash then we have not risked losing a large amount of money for a longer term contract. A win win scenario for both parties. We shall just have to wait and see how it all turns out. At least it has given us something to talk about...........

It is the old catch 22 scenario. He turns out to be a revelation and then he inevitably walks to another team or he is a donkey and we are saved further expense. Chances are it will be somewhere in the middle and we can negotiate an extension come January/February........

Glad I did not slag him off too much Still 6 months is a strange one. Would take us up to end of February. Is that not after the Xmas transfer window. Would it not have made sense to sign till end of the season??

Not seen anything on BBC or Pie & Bovril. By the sounds of things he was playing us off against St Mirren and Swindon. By all accounts a deal was agreed with Swindon before he ballsed it up by asking for improved terms. It would be refreshing to see him fall flat on his face after playing such a poker hand. That said he is perfectly entitled to try and get the best deal for himself. We would all do it ourselves after all. If he is a free agent then I believe he can still sign for any club for a short while longer - that said I am not too sure if I understand the rather convoluted rules. It also looks (according to currant bun) that Reynolds could not agree personal terms with Swansea as well as their bid falling short of expectations. Happy to keep him especially if we were only likely to get £250k. I suspect there is a little finance there to add to the squad, otherwise we would not have offered Gow a deal. Obviously Paw Broon was waiting to see if he would join and/or thought there was no-one else worth going after within our rather limited budget. I think we are well served in defence as we are in attack, certainly in terms of numbers. The missing link was a creative midfielder to feed the strikers and unlock defences.

It is widely anticipated that the SPl will vote for change at the end of this year. I do believe however that any change will need at least 1 maybe 2 years notice for all sorts of reasons inc media contracts etc. So any change is unlikely this season and there will be relegation. I also suspect that when there is a change there may be a play off the season before otherwise it would be a dead rubber that season and even more dismal crowds at the bottom end of the league.

Fair point regarding the management teams experience. It was reported that Commsworld signed for a 6 figure sum........£3214.90. Actually I believe it was £100k which is not bad since we were looking at no shirt sponsor a few weeks ago. It is frustrating but WE DO need to live within our means. We speculated to accumulate in the early 90's - look where that got us. Just would have been a boost to get another body or two in to add a little more experience and cover to the team.

Well that was an exciting transfer deadline day - NOT I reckon we have taken in around £600k in the last 6 weeks alone based on the Euro games + Quinn money + Celtic game. That said we did reportedly make an operational loss of £700k last year. So perhaps no surprise that no additions have been made the the squad. What is the score with Gow? Has he signed for anyone? He would be a decent signing if he got back to the form before he joined the Gers, but the Jury is out on that one. All in all reasonably happy Reynolds is staying. He is worth more than £2-250K even with one year in his contract left. You have got to ask why he would even want to consider Swansea. I think the squad is marginally weaker in midfield than last season, with the defence and attack approx the same. I am generally an optimist but I think it will be a real struggle to make top 6 this year with no creative midfielder as such. Time will tell......

ICT or Killie away.............not what I want, but knowing our luck what we will get

What a bunch of pessimists. We may not have quite as strong a squad as last year - but who has? Consistency will be a problem. But if we play like we did against Odense at home the other night we WILL be top 6 at the very least. Miserable so and so's - being polite since it is a Sunday

I doubt Reynolds is offski. He is a decent player - sure, but anyone watching him this season would know his limitations. His distribution is quite poor at times. As for Paw Broon talking to Boyle re a couple of more players. Leaving it a bit late no - with the transfer window shutting in 2 days time. Sound like Gow may be going to St Mirren according to Danny Lennon. We certainly need a little more of a spark from midfield. Results went our way this weekend with Hearts, Ddee Utd drawing and Hibs and the Dons losing. How come Hibs play a blinder v us (2nd half anyway) but are utter cack against the likes of St Mirren.

SPOT ON. We have 2 of the most experienced coaches in the business. We even have a video analysis coach that helped England win the rugby world cup. In fact we realised that Utaka hangs around the edge of the penalty waiting for a break to bang the goals in. Wait a minute is that not what happened............. I am somewhat perplexed why we do not have 1 designated penalty taker. It may be Forbes, but surely someone else must deputise when he is not on the pitch. Simples - tell each player to take 100 penalty kicks - whoever scores the most is the man.......

Because everything that comes from the East stand is a pearl of wisdom and all get behind the team and never criticise the players at all........... There are more Business suits and Corp hospitality in the main stand - not rocket science that the atmosphere, sweary words and supposed support is toned down a little. If you came over to the POD expecting a Turkish style fanatacism.........deary me.

A lot of the main stand fans inc myself came over from the East stand. Many reasons for that, older, wiser and a little wealthier perhaps. But that does NOT make us any less passionate about supporting Motherwell - quite the contrary. The odd song does break out from the POD stand, but we tend to leave that to the youngsters in the East these days. Anyway - have you ever tried singing a song whilst eating a prawn sandwich

I think some are being a little unfair on Odense. Yes they did represent probably the best chance of progression to the group stages, but we did not take it. Over the two games and especially last night we had many more chances to score - but we did not. They are not a great team, but they are a solid experienced bunch and Utaka and Djema Djemba will be on many times what our players earn. At times when they had the ball and we tackled them - they came away with the ball - mainly down to body strength. We had young boys playing last night - they had experienced players. They did what they had to do - we did not. Up front + midfield they are strong - at the back a bombscare and that will be their undoing when they play better teams in the group stages.