David

Some amount of pant wetting going on around here of late. Looking forward to when we scud this lot, and end up cruising to a fairly standard 7th or 8th place finish. You'd think we were the side five points adrift at the bottom going by the patter on this forum.

Of course, I might be entirely off with this – I’m no mathematician – but here’s how I see it: We’d need to only reach a maximum of 40 points to be in trouble, which would mean one draw and four defeats. At the same time, Dundee would have to pick up at least seven points from their remaining five matches. And then, either Ross County or Kilmarnock would need to reach 41 points or more to push us down to 11th place. Possible? Yes. Likely? I wouldn't put my life savings on it.

If there’s a way for players who are still under contract but not part of the manager’s plans to move on, then by all means, that should be explored. As it stands, I’m assuming those who aren’t especially in favour but still tied down by deals will likely remain until their contracts expire.

As I posted elsewhere, according to what I can tell, we'll see the following first-team players return for next season at this stage: Aston Oxborough Stephen O'Donnell Liam Gordon Kofi Balmer John Koutroumbis Ewan Wilson Tom Sparrow Callum Slattery Lennon Miller Zach Robinson Apostolos Stamatelopoulos Sam Nicholson Tawanda Maswanhise Filip Stuparevic And notable among the younger players on loan/in development squads I think we're set to lose Matty Connolly, Luca Ross & Mark Ferrie, while Dylan Wells has another year left on his deal. I think, going by that list, Wimmer has not a bad base to work with next season, although it's clear that in order to completely change how we do things he's going to need two or even three transfer windows. In my view, Oxborough, Gordon, Sparrow, Slattery, Stama and Maswanhise should be regarded as genuine first-team players, provided they stay fit and maintain their current level. That gives us six, five of whom are outfield. This effectively leaves Wimmer with room to bring in up to six new faces who could slot straight into the starting eleven. The others on that list, realistically, will make up the squad depth and hopefully feature regularly from the bench. Let’s be honest, unless Wimmer sees something in pre-season that he feels he can develop, many of them will be sticking around simply because they’re under contract. I wouldn’t be surprised if Balcombe returned as a backup goalkeeper, unless there’s a stronger alternative available. From what I can tell, beyond Oxborough there’s nobody else in that role worth noting. If Balcombe is open to taking on that job, he might be a straightforward short-term solution until something more solid comes along. I’d also be tempted to explore whether anything can be done with Andrews. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve seen glimpses of ability there that might come to the fore with a different setup around him. If Miller is sold, we’ll need someone to step into that role, and Andrews has shown flashes that suggest he could do it. It all comes down to his own aspirations and whatever plans his parent club might have. Ultimately, it’s now up to Wimmer and the club to make the big decisions. Beyond the names already mentioned, I don’t see any strong case to extend deals for others currently in the squad. There’s clearly room to overhaul things, and how far that goes will depend on the manager and those handling recruitment.

I have no idea why people are talking as if we're the worst team in the league. Where will the four points come from? Who would be all that surprised if we beat St Johnstone at home, drew with Killie at home (securing the four points needed) and then went on to draw away with a poor Hearts team who really have nothing left to play for, and grab another point or three against either County or Dundee away? We can get four points from that lot without much bother. I fully expect us to finish 8th or 9th.

I see we're still going with the old "foreign coach doesn't understand our game" stuff, eh? Even in 2025. Astounding.

And if Hearts had won and secured top six you'd be saying we're in trouble because we're playing a Hearts team that's flying and now has ambitions to catch Dundee United or even Aberdeen and finish 4th or 5th.

It was quite literally the only outcome that gave us even the faintest chance of making the top six, and somehow you think that’s the worst possible result we could have got? Completely mad.

This team has 7th or 8th written all over it. As usual, really.

There's a very good chance the new manager will need more than one or two windows to completely revamp this squad into something more suitable for how he wants to play. I hope he's given time to do that. I have a feeling much of the media will try to label him as an "out of his depth foreigner" if things don't go our way from the off.

Let the debates begin over which players the new manager will keep, swiftly followed by disbelief when he chooses to hold on to a few unexpected names!

As I mentioned earlier, for those seeking a significant investment, I’m genuinely curious to hear your thoughts on the following: "What kind of return on investment do you believe is realistic when putting money into a club like Motherwell?" This isn’t a loaded question, nor is it meant to catch anyone out.

From my own perspective, I’d say the situation is a lot more complex than many people tend to assume. Back in the summer, I was regularly asked by people who have experience in investing, “what sort of ROI can you expect from putting money into a club like Motherwell?” It’s a fair question, and one I’d be keen to put to the forum here to see what others make of it. I’ve got my own thoughts, of course, but I’d genuinely like to hear what others think.

The reason we've never seen it happen in our lifetime is that, as a footballing nation—Celtic aside—we’re still playing catch-up to some extent. If an 18-year-old midfielder from Norway, playing for Rosenborg, has been highlighted for scoring eight goals and providing seven assists in the top tier over there, and he's being valued at £10 million upfront with substantial add-ons, then there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be using that as a benchmark. Factor in that there are no work permit issues when clubs in England sign players from Scotland, and the language and culture are the same—it only strengthens the argument. On one hand, you're saying we’ve sold our players "on the cheap", yet on the other, you seem content for Lennon to be sold at what would also be considered "on the cheap" in today’s market, especially given his ability and potential.

It isn't really. Clubs in Norway and other Scandinavian countries are catching on, and we're a little behind in Scotland, but we'll get there.