Welldaft Mk1

It has got a lot better our direct marketing, but then that would not be difficult from wherewe were. It was not that long ago you could not pay for things using a credit card!! I bought tickets for a Champions League game at Arsenal a couple of years back. Every now and then I get an email asking if I want tickets. Does not need to be like Amazon....of course some of this software and skills comes at a cost...

Of course we can debate it. It was less of a penalty than the one we did not get from Vigurs up at ICT where he was halved. Vigurs cathes Stokes no doubt about it, but Stokes was heading away from goal and lost control of the ball. I have seen many like that where the ref has waved play on.

On a couple of points above. For me Reid has been an inspired signing by McCall (yet again). Had big Mick not signed for us then he would have joined us earlier. People can point to his flaws, but as I state time and again if any player we had in our ranks had no weaknesses then they would be at Real Madrid and not Motherwell.... I have been very impressed by him. He is capable of playing in many positions which for a team with a small squad is invaluable. He can also play decent football as evidenced by his pass for our 3rd goal and is quite quick. So yes I would like for us to sign him on a 2 yr deal. Gunnar - outstanding penalty save. One of the best I have ever seen by a Motherwell goalkeeper. He was fairly solid all round at the weekend and hopefully that will give him some confidence ahead of Dundee United. We have him for another year and I would be looking to replace Hollis at the end of the season. As for the Celtic penalty. Thomson could not wait to blow his whistle. In fact I swear he did it before Stokes hits the deck. A very soft penalty and one we 100% would not have got at the other end of the pitch. Overall I was v impressed with the team and work-rate on Saturday. We deserved a point and played some nice football at times. Hopefully we can take that on to next Saturday and put in a decent performance against a team that have the better of us this season..

Fair enjoyed that yesterday. Would have taken a point b4 the game and with United losing, instead of being just 3 points behind going into next weeks game as i had anticipated we are 7 points ahead 5 guys next to me left after the 3rd Celtic goal went in. I could sense it was coming but you would think after the 6-2 Hibs game fans would learn. Going to head up to Tannadice next week and hope we can clinch our Euro spot and 3rd place. Wont be eady as it is United last chance to get 3rd place, but if St Johnstone can beat them then hopefully their confidence has taken a knock and we are on a bit of a high.

I would be tempted to play Anier up front. More pace to cause Van Dijk and Co problems. If (when) we play hoofball to Sutton that will just be mopped up all day long. ZFA has struggled against lesser teams this season. But with our injuries he will probably start. No expectations other than NIL points. Anything more will be a miracle the way our defence has been of late.. Just hope we hold out for a while and make a game of it.

This is what concerns me. We are having almost unrivalled (recent) success in the league. Finishing 2nd and 3rd and qualifying for Europe. Despite this and earning in some cases an extra £6-700k over the likes of St Mirren we are still in the financial sh1tter.. It is a catch 22. We obviously pay decent wages to the 1st team to attract players like Faddy, McManus etc, but one of these days we will finish bottom half and I would not like that to be the tipping point once more

Ever the voice of reason..... We have lost £750k the last 2 years and the free cup game costs us money. Sure it is disappointing but unfortunately it makes business sense. Plus as the Board state we are one of only a few SPL clubs that still offered that up.

I see on the club website that they have released details of Season tickets for next season. A modest increase and the removal of the free home cup game are the key summary points. The Board have also released a statement which states and which comes as no surprise, that they have had to rely on the Well Society and soft loans from Directors to plug the gaps this season. Worrying and also combined losses of £750k for the last 2 years shows what a struggle it is right now. I am more than happy to pay a little more and sacrifice the free cup game if it hekps to get the club on a more even footing.

Absolutely. In fact a draw in those 2 games would be the best outcome.

If we finish 3rd we dont have to rely on anyone. That has to be and will be our focus. If we can get 5-6 points that should be enough to see us over the line. United reaching the final is no bad thing as they may feel they have a fall back position.

Finishing lower than 3rd would be a disappointment both in terms of defining the season and club finances. But I do agree that 4th and Europe would still represent an excellent season. I doubt any of us realistically thought Europe would be achievable after the 1st team players that left last summer. If United and Aberdeen get into the Cup final or Aberdeen and Rangers (given they are barred) then that would give us a little more breathing space. Also would be interesting to see what both of those teams do in the week before the cup final. St Johnstone are decent at home so there is no guarantee that United will win that game. I am expecting us to be level on 60 points with United after 2 games, but who knows. We could take a point of Celtic or perhaps more realistically we do not lose or win up at Tannadice. Then we have 2 more winnable home games to come... Exciting (in a pant wetting way) and all to play for...

Which given the way we have been defending them would have probably led to a goal

As long as St Johnstone don't win the cup, then 4th place should qualify for Europe, assuming United finish in the top 4 as do Aberdeen. That said I remember wanting Celtic to the league or was it to win a semi final v Ross County for us to get into Europe and you know what happened next!! Either way Celtic ballsed up and we were not in Europe.. For that reason alone I would not be surprised to see St Johnstone win that semi final....

The key for me is the United game. If we can avoid defeat then i think another 4 points would seal 3rd place. Assuming it is a draw , then we would finish on 65 points and they would need to to win 3 and draw another game. Tough ask in the post split top 6, especially when they have Celtic away. I am not expecting anything from the Celtic game, other than a comfortable win for them. I think the pressure would be on United to beat us when we know a draw would be fine. That is of course assuming they have won away at St Johnstone in their post split fixture. It is highly likely that we will lose to both Celtic and United away and United will be level on 60 points. If that happens we need to take 7 points from remaining 3 fixtures to finish at least 3rd. I think we will get 5 or 6 points and they will come from the 4 games after Celtic. 2 wins or a win and 2draws. I also think it will go down to the last game. Whether that is our fight for second with Aberdeen or 3 rd with United or both god only knows....

I think a few on here are questioning why when Brines referees our games his cock ups always seem to go against us. how he can give that penalty yesterday and not the one for Vigurs up at ICT early in the season. He is not corrupt or a match fixer but i would like to see what he would have done if that had been in St Mirren box in 86 minutes. Sadly i think we wll know that answer. Every team has bad decisions such as the perfectly legit goal for Hibs in the recent Edinburgh derby which was flagged for offside when he was yards onside. Just seems we have been on the end of a few this season. Let us hope that is the last time this season. we move on.

Bit tough that Shaka. we are all upset and pissed off. But the facts are we are 6 points ahead of Dundee United and sitting in 3rd right now. It could be better but then United could say the same if they did not go 7 games without a win over Xmas, New Year etc. If we finish 3rd or 4th and qualify for Europe then that will be a fantastic season. still all to play for. A 2 week rest will do us the world of good. I expect nothing from the Celtic game, but then we must put our all into the remaining games and I am sure the lads will.

agree that the officials are not to blame for how we defend or do not defend as is the case. however McCall and McManus are entitled to have a go at the officials it if it is proven it never hit his hand or that it was never a penalty in a month of Sundays. that decision cost us a point or all 3. If it is a 50-50 then happy to give the officials the benefit of the doubt. But what the fuck is a linesman doing if he is not 100% sure. It will be a long night, but we have been struggling big time with injuries and have probably done well to stay in the hunt for 2nd and 3rd given the changes made over the past month or so. I would have taken a 6 point gap over United come the split. yes it probably will be 0 by the time we have played them, but we then have winnable games and they have yet to play Aberdeen and Celtic away. I get the feeling a lot will be at stake when we go to Pittodrie. If we are lucky then 4th will get into Europe. Still for the sake of our budget we could do with finishing no lower than 3rd.

I have a few bob on them finishing 2nd bottom at 4-1 That however could be there saving grace my luck with wagers...... So 3 points for the good guys tomorrow would be welcome x 2. Interesting to see who will make the team. Wonder how long Faddy is going to be out for?

The players do indeed get a win bonus. So perversely the more successful we are (this season) the more there is a strain on our finances. It probably evens itself out once the prize money comes in, but if we finish 2nd we will not see that till the summer and next season, all the while win bonuses are being paid out in the present. Nice problem to have all the same...

Wrist slasher right on Q Luck to finish 3rd. I would not put it past United to get some sort of result on Saturday, but given the pressure will all be on them it may work in Celtic's favour. We do our business on Saturday and get 3 points and we will either be 6, 7 or 9 points ahead of them come the split - 7 or 9 points will be enough as we will pick up 4 points from the 2 home games v St J and ICT. If we can avoid defeat to United at Tannadice - we will be home and dry

It is strange that we have to play United away again given they are our rivals for 3rd. That said - as has been pointed out we have an even worse record at home, so no real issues there. Easier to get to as well than say another Inverness game away. Strange however that we have had 2 seasons where we have had away games for the 1st and last fixtures..Hopefully they will resolve that next season. Not unhappy overall - although starting with Celtic and United may put a bit of pressure on us going into the two more winnable home ties.

Every day later is a day later that some people have to commit to other business or personal plans. Plus those that are travelling from further afield. It was Saturday 22nd March when top and bottom 6 was decided. Coming up for 11 days now. Whilst I did not expect the fixtures that Monday/Tuesday to wait this long is a bit of a joke. I also note that there has only been one update. They are amateur to the point of embarrassing, especially given the salaries some of the them are on

Steelboy says everyone is pish. A troll of the highest order...

It is how the premier ship rugby down south works. Top 4 go into a play off if I recall. The reason why you would not have a 5 game season is that you need the 33 games to decide who plays for title and who plays for relegation. It was merely an example of how we would have a chance to win the title. Of course it is a guff idea, but in keeping with previous posts.

Better yet - how about every team in the two groups starting with zero. Only chance (albeit remotely) of anyone competing with Celtic for the title. And each year all the other teams agree they will lie down to say Motherwell for example and try like Barstewards against Celtic. So we have 4 wins and then play Celtic. Cloud cuckoo land, but a nice thought..