MelvinBragg

Is he not a holding midfielder?

You have more faith in Motherwell supporters than I do...

Another question would be how will the fans react to Johnson should he still be playing for us after the window closes..?

Weeks of speculation...

I'd be hoping we'd have been prepared for the possibility of it happening at the last minute. Don't know if I'm in the minority here, but I'm at the point where I think if we get a half decent offer, I think it'd be better for all concerned if he moved on. Do we really want another player with a petted lip? Surely McDonald is enough...

Burrows on Twitter saying that unless anyone leaves, no one will be coming in. So looking like if Johnson leaves, a replacement for him will be lined up. Otherwise we won't see any new faces. Although I do wonder if we don't offer Lucas a deal, does that count as someone leaving therefore we'd see a replacement brought in...

Noticed he wasn't playing for the U20s last night. Kind of assuming that (along with the fact that he hasn't come off the bench in any of the league games) meant we probably weren't going to be keeping him...

I don't think that would shock or surprise anyone. Most Motherwell fans know that any money made today will not go to transfer fees. Only hope would be that Johnson's wage would be used for a loan replacement or a free agent. Have noticed that on recent deadline days that there are a lot of players released on the day presumably as clubs try to trim their wage bill. I suspect today we'll see one out and one in. If the one in doesnt happen today, it may be that we pick up a free agent in the next week or so...

As I keep saying, we've been trying to sell Johnson all summer. If we don't have a plan in place for him going, that truly would be incompetence...

I've traditionally been one of McGhee's biggest critics on here but even I don't blame him for this. What I do feel though is that having tried to sell Johnson all summer, we should have a plan in place for replacing him even at this late stage. If we don't, then that's something he should take a share of the blame for...

Given we have, as a club, not very subtly trying to sell Johnson then I would have to hope that we have made contingency plans for any sale coming at this point of the transfer window. Will it be our first choice replacement? Probably not but given where we are in the transfer food chain, I suspect we rarely acquire our number one target...

Celtic would surprise me given they have Sinclair, Forrest and Roberts...

Tend to agree with all you've written here. McDonald, similar to Ainsworth, you kind of know within the first ten minutes what kind of performance you're going to get that day. Too often this season it's been the moaning, huffy version where everything is someone else's fault...

I remember a quote from McGhee first time around when he said he only had 13 players in the squad he could rely on. While it may have been accurate, it doesn't exactly build the confidence of those on the bench. I say this knowing that everyone's personality is different and some may respond to this with a "I'll show him" and he gets the best out of them but some won't. This for me also engenders complacency in those in the team. It also leads to him trying to fit square pegs in round holes. We all know what team McGhee will select on Saturday. And so does Paul Hartley...

I'd have Laing ahead of Kennedy and Ferguson too. I suspect that he's the one that's been shipped out partly because his wages are higher than Kennedy's and we're watching the budget. Personally, I'd also have him ahead of McManus. Laing has the potential to improve. McManus' performance levels are only going to go one way at his age. With Kilmarnock and Inverness in meltdown, I reckon we could have afforded to use this season as an opportunity to develop a team for the future rather than rely on the same old faces to keep us safe. Potential for us to do that in midfield with Clay, McHugh and Cadden but half of the back four will not improve as time passes...

Thought he was decent against St Johnstone. And if the inference is that he only raises his game against Rangers,:the same question could be asked of McManus and McDonald...

I was about to post something similar about Clay. Even in the Parkhead disaster, he was the one I remember having a shot from the edge of the box at 1-0. Every time I have seen him play, he has got forward several times. He was involved in much of our better attacking stuff against St Johnstone including the build up to our goal. Will Clay score as many goals as Pearson? Probably not, but early signs are that Cadden might. For me, it's a three of Clay, McHugh and Cadden. All three young enough to develop with MacLean and Campbell waiting for opportunities...

At least we're bringing fees in. And invariably when we sell players after a couple of seasons (or more, we don't get that much more. Thinking of Reynolds and Murphy...

I reckon Chalmers could be the new Martyn Corrigan. I remember Corrigan being part of the "unholy trinity" with Woods and Adams when anything that went wrong was their fault. He hasn't had a run of games at left back to try and bed himself in but I think given time and patience from the East Stand (ha!), he might develop into a solid full back. Not saying that this will definitely happen but he's not the bombscare that some are making him out to be...

We did sign a very young left back in Stachini but given he hasn't even featured for the U20s, he's clearly a good bit away from first team action... EDIT Appears he may have picked up an injury...

While some fans see left back as a priority, with Hammell and Chalmers both at the club I can't see us signing another one...

Kind of hoping that St Johnstone was a result of having to chase shadows round Celtic Park three days earlier. Not expecting any kind of result from this game. Some kind of performance would be good...

I'd rip yer arm off for that...

My money would be on the middle one...

If you read Onthefringes post carefully, you'll see he says that he's not sure we'll sign a left sided replacement but does expect us to sign a former player so doesn't limit the field to left sided former players...