Kmcalpin

As we've established on these boards may times the club does not control the Police. Its the other way around.

From what I can gather Alan Combe is definitely out and I can live with that as I don't particularly like him visiting Fir Park. Fraser Wright is being rested due to his disciplinary record.

For me its a toss up between Chris Porter's red card against Hamilton in the CIS Cup or Davie Clarkson's red card at Parkhead. I'll settle on the latter.

Facinating isn't it? A 9 year old kid from Wishaw is on the radar of English clubs, Aberdeen and Falkirk. It just goes to show these outfits have an intelligence network that Mossad would envy.

Yes he is guaranteed regular European football with us.......once every 15 years.

I've been clear in my own mind for some months now that Smith and Hughes would move on and I'm relaxed about that. Maros Klimpl? I've again thought that the probability was that he too would move on. That leaves us very short in midfield and back where we were 2 years ago. In my book we'd require a left winger and two central midfielders (a midfield destroyer and an attacking type). Hopefully some newcomers with pace. Keith Lasley is a decent and committed squad player but too lightweight for the hurly burly of the SPL. All this adds up to an interesting summer.

Correct Greg - and off the field too by all accounts. A player doesn't just require talent he needs to be part of the team not just on, but also off, the pitch

Yes, and those are the very qualities that will make him more attractive to an English side at the moment. Someone who should know, Mark McGhee (and Terry Butcher before him), rates him very highly.

I too quite liked Mark Brown, but to be fair he was not universally liked. On a few occasions I had my work cut out defending him with others in East Stand. Quite a few Dossers would take issue with us MJC.

Almost certainly Paul Quinn will move on at some stage, but hopefully we can hold onto him for another season or two.

An interesting summary by Leeann. I doubt if any contractor could rectify the slope as we've discussed before. If they were to level it completely then the POD Stand side would be somewhere between 4' and 7' which simply isn't feasible. That said perhaps they could level it and raise it slightly, but I'd have thought by no more than 6" at its lowest point.

Well done again to all concerned Angie. Good to see us thump our county rivals. Maybe its time you reminded Flow of his promise to give you a dedicated page on the clubs website

Personally I think this is a good idea. It gives those who want it, an opportunity to buy some memorabilia and the club a chance to raise some income. Many fans, including myself have banged on about the need for MFC to increase turnover. Any new income helps to improve the quality/quantity of players in our squad, keep gate prices/season tickets at a "reasonable level", or simply help out with the club's running costs. I suspect that the income raised from this venture will be pretty modest but what harm can it do? I don't understand anyone who is opposed to it, although they are entitled to their view. I would be dead set against it if fans were being forced to attend but we're not. If anyone doesn't like the idea or is offended by it then they have the option of not going along. Perhaps those who are opposed to it could come up with a better idea to raise cash?

Cheers Flow. Points taken

At the risk of straying onto another thread Tweed, I think the problem in this particular case is that many/quite a few fans made their minds up months ago that Messrs Smith & Hughes were going to leave. Any subsequent comment the pair made, and quite a few were reported, were all along the lines "I haven't ruled out staying but am keeping my options open". To me at any rate that means "I'm offski". A meaningful update to me would a change of direction and one which should be reported is "I'm signing a new contract at Fir Park". Its reminiscent of the old Monty Python sketch with John Cleese reading out the news for various animals.

Fair comment Steve. What about: * some column inches on our new pitch i.e what is going to be done, how its going to done? * a feature on Shaun Hutchinson/Jonathan Page/Paul Slane/Steven Saunders etc etc - we don't know a lot about many of our young lads. I'm all for a newsletter and all credit to the club (Flow?) for instigating it but maybe a bit of fine tuning is required?

Totally agree Jim. It wouldn't surprise me if the eventual recipients of the place were "outsiders". The scoring system is very subjective and very much a black box process.

You were spot on Sarah! Your optimism could teach a few of us a thing or two. Good win.

Shades of Maurice Malpas again. I'm not overly concerned about losing Hughes or Smith - especially the former as he's done little all season. However we don't have youngsters waiting to step up and so thats not an option. The team has shown a distinct lack of bottle this season in crucial games and so I would not be at all hopeful of our chances in a real relegation dogfight. If we're not careful we'll land back where we were about 3 years ago - cutting back our budget to such an extent that we really are fighting for SPL survival. At the time I recall the powers that be at FP saying that that would not be allowed to happen again. All I ask for is a side capable of battling and scratching for points as Tommy MacLean's sides did.

Yes, there is something in that. That has been true for quite some time now. Its also true of our right flank where Paul Quinn has been left exposed just too often. Its an inherent weakness in our side.

The problem is that he creates significantly less goals than he causes. Where would I play him? I'd try him at wide left midfield for a run of games. He's played there a couple of times but struggled positionally. On the last occasion he played there he persistently wandered into the centre and I'd be tempted to give him a run there as well.

As I said after the game both goals really came from our left flank, as they have done on many occasions this season. Opposing managers are well aware of this weakness. The goal we lost against St Mirren last Saturday was a bit different but still a defensive disaster. Whatever else we need to strengthen our defence for next season. Irrespective of departures, we need to bring in a new left back.

It may be of course that MMcG was prepared to offer both lads what he thought they were worth, as squad players. Saints on the other hand see them as first team regulars and were prepared to push the boat out financially. Who knows? Either way a litlte bit of clarity from MFC, without breaking confidentialities wouldn't go amiss.

Thats what concerns me. No disrespect to the young lads but they're not ready or in some cases perhaps not good enough for SPL football. Last season the team proved it lacked the mettle for a fight. This isn't sounding good for the coming campaign and won't help season ticket sales!

Flow Just some feedback on my renewal experience - its meant to be just that and hopefully it'll help you fine tune the online system. Not being negative. I received my letter ok and the details were all correct. I decided to renew online and did so & that has saved me a round trip of 120 miles by car. I logged on ok last night but found the system a wee bit cumbersome. Again my details were correct. I didn't realise at first that the "email" box on the renawal form equated to the on-line username in my renewal letter. Could the same terms be used perhaps? Why do we need a 20 digit bar code? Would 4,5 or perhaps 6 not do? The online renewal took a wee while with a bit of toing and froing - a bit cumbersome. Anyhow, it seemed to take ok and I logged out. However I don't know if my renewal was successful? Would there be any way of sending an automated email to confirm that it was? Thats about it - just glad that I can renew online. Well done.