MelvinBragg

If so, fantastic news..

Ha, funny enough when I saw your name at last post, I thought "Jesus, have we got Vadocz back?!?"...

Higdon has one advantage over Sutton. He wants to play for us. No point comparing them like we made a choice. Choice between the two was made for us by John Sutton. Higdon wants to be here. That makes him better than Sutton for me..

Aye, but for who...? ;-) And as always... Source?

I do recall McCall saying in January that he had four strikers on his list and that for various reasons (family reasons, current clubs not getting their own targets) he couldn't get any of them. It definitely sounded at the time as if he thought some of them might be available in the summer.. Not sure why, but I have more faith in McCall than I had in McGhee or Brown to bring in,players that will do a job...

While I might or might not agree with your assessment of where we're short, a bit of realism is required here. I'd describe your list as "what we'd like to see brought in" not as "needs". Three strikers would be excessive given we have Murphy who can play there. We have two players who are adequate SPL right backs. And I think every club in the SPL could do with the midfielder you described... Our budget will only stretch so far. We should be looking for players who can perform various roles, similar to Murphy, Gunning and Hateley...

It's the old best versus favourite debate. I think if it were a case of which of Boyle's managers were still held in high regard at Motherwell, then it would be a Butcher landslide. As it is, I can see the reasons why some would vote for McGhee even if I don't agree with their choice. McGhee presided over some atrocious performances (particularly in the cup, St Mirren at Fir Park anyone?). There seemed no Plan B. I seem to remember reading him saying that he only had about 14 players he "trusted". In his first six months, there were no injuries so he never had to come up with a Plan B. And he rarely if ever took responsibility when things went wrong (again St Mirren in the cup, 433, aye right springs to mind). All the guys on the list had their bad days. Most of them took their share of the blame. Not McGhee or Gannon. When you're manager the buck stops with you. Their failure to realise this rules the two of them out in my book..

Funny enough, with all the talk of Randolph being sold, Fon Williams was a name that popped into my head. My mate saw him play the second half of last season for Rochdale. Says he's a very decent keeper. Wouldn't be stunned, however, if he ended up at Barnsley given that the Rochdale manager has just gone there. Get the impression that the only reason Fon Williams wasn't being kept on at Dale was the fact that they might not be able to meet his demands...

I can only imagine the name will be Mark Reynolds. Probably a load of old tosh...

Hughes, although a good player, doesn't score enough goals for an attacking midfielder. I could be wrong but I reckon Lasley probably scored more in the two seasons Hughes was here. And Lasley isn't exactly Frank Lampard... Whether I'd be happy to see Murphy go depends on the fee. Given the length of his contract and his potential, we should be looking for seven figures given the fees down south. Aye, we'd miss him but him leaving might solve a problem for us. We might actually find an out and out winger and not waste him out there. He's clearly one of our most gifted players but can't play up front himself. Playing him at left wing seems more about getting our best players on the park, even if not in their best positions.. Having said that I'd be quite happy to see him still at Fir Park next season..

If true, his choice. We move on...

I hear Faddy is off to Ibrox. How many transfer windows have I heard that now..?

I could live with it. Dunno if Hateley is overly happy at RB though. There will be those who say it's a pretty inexperienced centre back pairing, but both guys have played a lot of games for their age (including some big games) so their age shouldn't come into it. Was this not the back four when we got a 0-0 at Parkhead under Gannon..?

For me, Hammell has had a solid season so don't know why we'd need a left back. A natural right back would be a priority. Craigan, we need to look to be replacing. He may have another season in him but if not it'd be better to have another experienced centre back rather than find out in September that Craigan's legs have gone. I'd let Jennings go as Lasley can do the same job without as many bookings. Maybe a more attacking midfielder alongside him to save Lasley having to try and support the strikers. Stephen Hughes wouldn't be my first choice but could live with him and Lasley in the middle..

A lot of these stories bring a lump to the throat.. My mother passed away a few weeks after the CIS final in 05. She wasn't a regular attender in those days (back in the 60s/70s, she was, Goldthorpe being her favourite), but the CIS cup final seemed to give her a new taste for it as she attended the 3-2 defeat to Celtic a few weeks later. Although she was ill, she was determined to make the Celtic game on the last day. Sadly was not to be. This will be my third cup final, but the first she won't be attending. My only regret about tomorrow...

I'd be relucatnt to do this, for slightly different reasons to Mitch. The 2005 CIS Final was, I feel, named the Cooper Final to give the media an angle to talk about. Rangers and Celtic are in finals all the time so they tend to look for an angle to distinguish the game from an Old Firm team against a provincial club. The only good thing about the whole Neil Lennon carry-on is that there has been no need for the media to look for sub-plots to write about for the final. I was dreading this becoming the "O'Donnell Final". As much respect as I have for Davie Cooper and Phil O'Donnell and their memories, Motherwell cup finals are so rare that they have enoguh significance all of their own. I personally think this Cup Final is about Motherwell and the fans. We have honoured, and continue to honour, the memories of players taken too soon. Saturday should be nothing but one long riotous celebration. No matter the result... Just my opinion, mind...

Had managed to rein it in for most of this week.with work and other stuff getting in the way thankfully. Starting to feel the tension build a bit now. But as star sail pointed out, these occasions don't come along very often so I'm determined to savour Saturday so any tension and nerves are being put to the back of my mind. Whether that will work at 3pm on Saturday, that's another story...

One I haven't seen mentioned yet but myown personal favourite would be the opening day of the 90/91 season. Had everything. Luc Nijholt's first league game, Colin O'Neill's elbow, Kirk getting Dariusz Wdowczyk sent off, Billy McNeil and Tommy McLean fighting in the tunnel at half time and Bobby Russell's quality mazy goal are just some memories of that game...

Result? Don't care really.. Performance? It was poor, but we as fans have our minds elsewhere, do we really expect the players to be different? Only concern would be the possibility that Randolph is injured. As someone at the game said, the one player we cannot afford to lose...

I heard In January that he was supposed to be coming on loan from again a reliable (HP) source, but that just couldn't get the deal done so it wouldn't surprise me to see him back. Whether I'd be happy about it or not...

With more wangling and some calculations that would give a NASA scientist a sore head, I've managed to get cup final day off. All without groveling to a Rangers supporter. To quote a big blonde fifer, "Ya beezer"...

It's with a heavy heart that I type the fact that it lkooks like I will be missing the cup final. I had rediscovered my enthusiasm for it over the last couple of months following a few months where I couldn't be arsed. Didn't swap my shift for 21st May becuase I didn;t want to put a jinx on the whole thing. I had two people who I could ask at work to change shift with me. One is going away for their birthday that weekend (fair enough). The other, a Rangers fan who doesn't go to the games, informed me that he couldn't change shifts with me because he "quite fancies watching it on the telly...". Feel free to add your own expletives here There are another couple of long shots I could try but I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll be watching the cup final on a tiny telly in Wishaw General. To say it's been a massive downer after a real high would possibly be understatement of the year...

Have already heard talk that the orange hall in Motherwell is talking of running two buses to the game, with guys talking of wearing their Rangers tops and bringing Union Jacks. I suspect it may just be hot air and the thought of spending hard-earned just to wind up Celtic supporters might put them off but it's a slight concern that this final might already be in danger of being ruined by a braindead minority.. It's looking increasingly likely that I won't be there, and if there are Union Jacks and Rangers tops, maybe I'll be glad about that...

Forgot about Page, or perhaps more accurately don't think of him as a first team player yet. Hateley will be here. I'd gladly hunt him unless he agreed he's a right back (I can live with Saunders and Hutchinson at centre back). Oh, aye, and agreed to stay away from set pieces...

"Nothing silly......THAT'S FUCKING SILLY!!!!" is a particular favourite of mine...