Well 4 Europe

I think Carswell, like any youngster, needs a run of games before you can properly judge him. I personally think he's shown enough in certain games to show he's a future at Motherwell and I can see why McCall gave him a 2 year deal. Anyone who was at his debut at Tynecastle will tell you for a 17 year old boy he was very impressive, rarely put a foot out of place and the biggest compliment you could pay him is you couldn't tell he was young lad making his debut. Was calm, composed won plenty of tackles and kept it nice and simple. This last season he's made four starts. Four! With half a dozen sub appearances thrown in and people are judging him. He's still only 18 for fuck sake! He's a boy. Still plenty of time for him to grow and develop on several promising showings. His most notable this season for me was the game against Aberdeen in the league in March. I thought he was outstanding alongside Jennings. Won every tackle, got from box to box(even went beyond the strikers to get into the box which is something we've no had from a centre mid in years), kept possesion and recycled the ball and even manged a few shots on goal and was unlucky not to score. Showed plenty in that game that he could be a good player. He's had a few poor showings I'll grant you but what people seem to forget is he's only 18 and he's made about 20 first team appearances(most from the bench). That's no time to write a boy off, he's got plenty to learn but he's got time on his side and McCall clearly sees plenty of raw potential. Let's wait until he's had a full season under his belt and then see what he's all about. The one good thing about this 'cash crisis' is that boys like Carswell and to a greater extent the likes Page and McHugh who have shown some potential will get more of chance this season.

I understand what you're saying mate, and as I said we all want Fir Park as close to full as possible. However the club needs the money and they feel this is the best way to maximise their profits on this match. They might have got more fans, however if they gamble and they don't get the figures they'd hoped for then it's an oppurtunity lost. As I said earlier, these prices weren't just chosen at random. They've been chosen because the board have assesed the situation and they feel this is they way to make the most money out of this game.

Your cash is as good as there's is... We had 10,000 odd against Odense, has it improved our attendences over the last few years? We had an extra few thousand for the esentially free replayed game against Hibs, did that improve our attendances over the last few months? Did it bollocks. You can talk all you like about bringing your aunties, uncles, mums, dads, husband, wife or wee Joe fae doon the road to this game or that, they ain't coming back anytime soon. The clubs has tried multiple deals down the years and they generally show, then when it's back to reality the piss off again. We had St.Johnstone last season, 3 o'clock kick off at Fir Park. Massive game in the race for Champions League, how many turned up? 4,743. Where were all the floating fans then? I'm sure the club like all of us would love to have Fir Park full to the rafters and bouncing, however the clubs needs money and having 7000 fans paying £30 will be more profitable than 10,000 paying £20. The club has tried time and time again to try and get these fans to come back. They haven't and it won't change anytime soon. They'll turn up for big cup games and the glamorous European ties but they aren't going to be there on a freezing winter's day at home to some middling SPL dross. Like it or not this is a money making exercise for a club that desperatley needs it. They've set a price in which I'm sure they believe they'll make a maximum profit. The board haven't just plucked the figures out the air, this is the route they believe will earn the club the most money. And as much as we all love(well most of us) the romance of the idea of a wee team like us being in the big time this was always going to be about money. Sadly that's just the way football is these days, and how it will be for the foreseeable future in Scotland. I know times are hard, and that's why the club will continue to rely on the 4-5,000 or so hard core fans and the rest will continue to 'float' regardless of what deals the club throws there way.

Love it. Remember when the club said 'are you really sure you want us to say no to Rangers' and everyone on here to a man said 'Yes'. Well welcome to your future. The club has a massive financial hole to plug and this they clearly see as one of the ways of doing it. We had plenty of cheap ticket days and decent season ticket deals in the past few years, just like the good signing we pinched from clubs in England. Those days are gone. This is the harsh reality of the financial state that we as a football club find ourselves in. No Ranges would lead to major money problems but as many pointed out when the club tried to paint the bleak picture some were too busy sticking it to Rangers to really grasp the seriousness of the situation. We're in deep shit at the minute. The club needs money, people said they understood the consequences of what is happening around about us and that they would do everything possible to help plug the gap. Put up or shut up. This is only the start. When we lose 9 players at the end of next season and fail to replace them I expect to see similar bitching and complaining going on. Are the club charging too much? Probably. However they are desperate for cash and the fact they're selling them before the draw should be setting a few alarm bells ringing. Remember we wanted this, tough times ahead.

See this potentially could be as big as a cup final in my opinion. Just say we draw Copenhagen, the first leg is away from home. We go there scrape a 1-1 draw and get an away goal. Then this match at Fir Park turns into one of the biggest games in Motherwell's history in my opinion. Right up there with the several cup finals I've attended. If we can win that game at Fir Park(or even a 0-0 draw in the scenario I painted) we'd be through to the Champions League play off round, guaranteed a place in the group stages of at least one major UEFA competition & would net the club a cash windfall of at least a million pounds minimum(which is much needed now more than ever). This game could be huge, and you could see why they'd charge cup final prices. Then again we could also be pumped 5-0 by Dynamo Kiev in the first leg and the club are asking you to pay £30 for a glorified pre-season friendly. I'm surprised they'd start selling tickets considering we don't know who we're facing or when we're facing them. However the most worrying aspect for me is the club are(in my opinion) doing this to try and desperatley raise some much needed income as quick as possible.

Speaking of our own guys, I see Fraser Kerr was training with us yesterday. Left us to go to Birmingham City when he was 16. He's another defender, seems that's McCall's priority rather than a replacement for Jenno.

A Raith Fan on P&B says this was the response he got from Turnbull Hutton(the director) from his angry email asking about the clubs position. Something tells me(well history in this whole saga tells me) there's still a number of twists and turns to come..

Training starts tomorrow. If he's no there we can assume he's off.

My thoughts when I read it too. He's still good friends with Hammell is he not? Therefore I could see him turning out for his testimonial. I could also see him doing some work in pre-season with us(sure he was training with us over Christmas) however I refuse to believe he'll actually sign. Still, it's nice to dream.

Hero Faddy heads back to Fir Park Written by Andy Devlin in the Sun... My link

St.Johnstone just released a statement saying no as well.

Well they have, can't ask the club to do anymore. I for one will be renewing my season ticket shortly regardless of the outcome. Proud Well fan.

What happens if Jennings breaks a leg or snaps his achilles like Saunders during one of these games and is out for the season? We wouldn't extened his deal as we couldn't afford to keep paying someone we couldn't play & Jennings would be left without a contract and with no income for a lengthy period of time. Not to mention no club to pay his medical bill. It's a nice idea in theory, but it's too risky and sadly not a goer. Jennings either signs for another year or he leaves.

Scott Burns in the express seems to think Jenno is away..

I think some of our fans might be jumping to conclusions. I do agree the overall tone is slightly worrying but I don't think the club is necessarily saying they will vote 'yes'. I believe they want to vote yes and as such are outlining the reasons why as they know all too well how the fans feel. I think the main point of the statement is to give the fans an insight as to what a 'no' vote would mean. I also believe the fans forum will be more about the club explaining in detail the full implications of a no vote rather than the fans simply stating the implications from their point of view if the board go against their wishes. For example we've already seen our budget slashed by 200k, if the club then say that if we as fans are adamant they vote no then we must accept the consequences. For example Murphy, Hutchinson & Randolph could all be sold off during the summer to balance the shortfall. Then next summer the likes of Hateley, Law, Humphrey, Higdon etc. won't be kept on and will be replaced with cheaper alternatives. This is what I also believe McCall's E-mail related too, about building on what we have done etc. I think working on the inside he as manager is all too aware that a no vote would require him to dismantle his team with little money to replace those leaving. It's a sacrifice we as fans have to understand and agree too. You can't force the board to say no and then have the usual moaning on here when someone leaves about us not replacing them and so forth. I for one would be willing to take the hit. For me it's about integrity and they can't be in the SPL. However I'm also a realist and not someone who has great expectations of Motherwell. If we avoid a releagtion scrap and make the top six that's a pretty fucking good season for me. However we only have to look at some of the negativity on here last season duing the clubs most succesful season in SPL history to know some of our fans are throbbers who will get the board to say no and then complain when we're shit next season. I think the board are still undecided on the matter. I think they are desperate to vote yes but are afraid the Well Society will collapse if they do. That's been evident in all their statements. I think with this latest statement they are trying to give the fans the best possible idea of the implications of a no vote. The drop in standards of our team while maybe the increased price of season tickets. Back to the days of a team made up of mostly our own youths and the odd reject from elsewehere. I fully understand that things could get quite tough for us if we say no and if any Motherwell board member is reading I fully understand the difficult position you're in. However I'm willing to take the chance as I believe a newco Rangers waltzing back into the SPL would kill Scottish football as a whole. IF we as fans can convince them at this fans fourm that we all understand the implications of a no vote, and promise to back them all the way by purchasing season tickets, contributing to the Well Society and buying mechandise etc. and plugging as much of a gap as possible that losing Rangers would result in, then I believe we can get them to vote no. If the club do right by the fans, the fans will do right by the club. The answer must be no...

Individual threats won't do much. I'd like to see a list drawn up signed by those who intend to withdraw their financial support be that season tickets and/or the well society. Only once you see the number of Well fans who are willing to walk away will you be able to see the potential power they may have in effecting the boards decision. If you can get a significant number of Well fans on board and in particular threaten the future of the Well society the board might just listen. If it's only a small minority who are threatening to walk away sadly I can't see that having much impact.

It usually is with McCall. I prefer this way than McGhee talking about his German contacts. From what I've seen/heard McCall is waiting on Jennings which should be resolved shortly. Then if he goes, McCall I imagine will have a list of potential replacements looked out and will go and try and get one. Any money left over after he sings Jennings/replacement will probably go towards a loan player(possibly a defender). Then that'll be us. However we can't really make moves until Jenno decides and going by Black's comments in the paper we aren't going to wait forever. We don't need major surgery this summer, just tweaking to keep us going much like last summer. Next summer will be much busier as by my calculations we only have: Lee Hollis Stevie Hammell Shaun Hutchinson Keith Lasley Stuart Carswell Henrik Ojamaa Signed up beyond next season. Is that right? What's Jim Gannon up to these days..?

Sounds like we'll know one way or another soon enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdyWgXvVNhw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOkbIRjhTT4&feature=relmfu As above love a team goal, here's the two already mentioned(Kerr & Davies).

And we're off. Champions league football eh? Just think what could have been... More shite. Whopper. Still refusing to see the light. Serious denial. Not Higdon related but it was funny watching him make a fanny of himself trying to fight eddie. Best ever SPL points total this season. Surely after finishing the season as our top goalscorer, firing the goal that sent Motherwell into the Champions League for the first time in their history achieving a record SPL points total along the way he'll finally admit he's wrong.. Oh well..

Nobody has said that. Stop being such a drama queen cause folk aren't agreeing with you. Yet to answer my question by the way...

Stephen Craigan. Thought givien it was an emotional day for him that he handled it really well and never put a foot wrong. Though I wasn't optimistic his 20 yard effort with his left foot was ever going to go in you can't blame the man for trying. After him I actually thought Hateley was a lot better to day, back to somewhere near his best. Caused real problems going forward, some good crosses and seemed to get booked for a perfectly good challenge. Some of set piece deliveries in the first half in particular were outstanding. Also thought the Humph played well and was unlucky not to get an assist. However it had to be Craigan.

The same sources that told you Randolph was off in January??

"Wasted a year of their careers", who done that exactly. I'm sure guys like Halsman, Pollock, Bradley, Mckinnon & Lawless will look back at the year they spent being professional footballers earning decent money quite fondly when they're turning out part-time for Clyde, Abroath, Bo'ness United and the likes whilst having regular jobs like the rest of us. Harsh but true. These boys were given an extra year to act as cover and a last chance to impress, none of them were good enough. Simple as that. Lawless may have looked good against a third division outfit but McCall see's him day in day out and I trust his judgement that he along with the others aren't good enough. McCall's isn't refusing to give youth a chance because he's 'cautious', I believe it's because they're simply not good enough. We don't owe these boys a living, we look after them very well from a young age & help prepare them for a possible life outside of football. It's not up to us to simply hand these boys a chance, they have to earn it. The best players will always make their way through. To disprove my point above, can you name me one player that has been let go by Motherwell and not given a chance in recent years and actually gone on to have a decent career elsewhere? I can't...