daver

Would Firhill not be a reasonable option? Better transport links than Airdrie, decent size, good boozers and nothing to do with it being just down the road from me!

From what I've heard from people who know the First Division, St. Johnstone have not been very impressive and they probably know they have to bring a few players in. The chances are the rest of their squad will be poorly paid as 1st division players so they are able to pay a bit more for players just now based on the money they know they will receive. We have to keep playing SPL wages to our squad. The various teams below us will all be in the same boat and are also likely to be weaker next season so I don't think we need to panic just yet. We also have a more successful youth set-up than most of the clubs below us to help bolster the squad if need be.

We stopped in Luxembourg on our travels between Charleroi and Nancy but it was only in service stations so can't say much other than it's very easy to get to and the service stations devoted a lot of space to merchandise for keeping the lonely lorry driver amused at night!

That's a bit harsh - he had two good free kicks!

The Metro says they've signed for St. Johnstone, with us and Dundee missing out.

That's what the opposition will be saying about us!

I think Cambo would freely admit that I had first suggested it was possible (see post a bit above his). I just didn't type out the permutations to show it was possible because I didn't anyone would be interested! However, credit to Cambo who went to the effort of thinking it out and posting it. Seriously, we all know it won't happen - I only posted it because someone said it was arithmetically impossible for us to be relegated and it got me thinking. Come on, surely we'll pick up a point somewhere? Won't we?

I'm one of those who will be renewing because they can't imagine doing anything else. I've seen us in the first division and I've seen us play much worse and less entertaining football than this so our disappointing (after last season) doesn't really come in to it.

That bridge, and the cast-iron bollard in particular, has been responsible for enough injuries by itself without any locals being involved!

It should be possible to view ( and get copies for a small charge) of historic OS maps for the area showing exactly where the old grounds were. Try the library first and if not there, then the building control archives. You should be able to see all editions which generally start from some time in the 1860s so it should be covered.

I read this yesterday and found it very interesting, particularly the last paragraph about increasing the size of the squad - all the people looking for a wholesale clearance can forget it. My concern is we end up with a larger squad but with less quality at the top end of our squad to make the difference in games.

So Hibs won the league then?

We need to ensure 7th place for the money involved but I'd like to see a few of the youngsters get a chance to show what they can do. Only thing is, and I've not seen the under-19s play, although they're in 4th place they don't seem to have been doing as well as in previous seasons. Bob McHugh has been mentioned but he has only scored 6 goals. Callum Hendrie is the only one to have scored more, on 10 goals, but nobody has suggested bringing him in. As I say, I've not seen them but the forums have hardly been packed with glowing reports.

Oh my God, what did I start? That's pretty much the combination I had come up with although the 3 teams are interchangeable. We all know it's not going to happen but there's a fair chance of it still being possible after the next round of games.

Not 100% sure without making my head hurt too much, but i think it is still conceivably possible for us to be caught on goal difference, with all 6 clubs on 41 points!

Does he? Despite TV footage to the contrary? I just about wet myself whenever he comes out with a moan about cheating against whoever is daft to employ the cheating wee jambo. Not that I hold a grudge! Anyway, we still won (I think).

The most important factor with all of the players mentioned is money and the fact they will be getting paid a good deal more away from Motherwell. Paterson wouldn't have gone all the way to Plymouth unless they were making it worth his while and Lappin will be on a healthy wage at Norwich. There's little point in wondering what might have been with Porter as he might have been extremely disgruntled if he felt we had reneged on an agreement to let him further his career should a reasonable offer come in. Also, if we're going to offer contracts on that basis to attract players we wouldn't otherwise, then players would stay well clear if we were seen to be not upholding our end of the bargain. It was obvious from before Christmas that Ross McCormack was going to leave for money. I admit I felt he should have stayed another year to improve parts of his game but I'll now freely admit I was wrong in that respect. We had a weaker side this season than the previous and have probably ended up where our general play has deserved. I've seen a lot worse over the years and you could probably argue this season has been slightly above average when compared to the last ten or twenty years. Unfortunately I think our side is likely to be weakened further next season and we could be right in amongst it, although the chances are the competition is also likely to be weakened ( or players are going to have accept wages reducing across the board).

I know a lot of people don't like him but I genuinely feel his replacement won't be any better. There's no-one in the SPL that doesn't make mistakes and a top class keeper would be beyond our budget. He's made some mistakes this season but there's also plenty of games he's kept us in.

What's the position with Craigan - is he still out for saturday?

So, £5 entry and we've got the Cooper Stand back next season!

St. Mirren were very unlucky not to win last night but it did come down to ability (or lack of) to take chances. I'd love to be proven wrong but, on the evidence of last night's display, I think we'll struggle to beat St. Mirren as we haven't been taking our chances either. With Aberdeen and Dundee Utd. winning on saturday I think Europe's a bit beyond us now but I'd much prefer to be playing in the top six than watching a relegation scrap we're safe from.

I remember they ran buses to Tannadice and one of the old double deckers broke down and our bus stopped to pick up the passengers. Being on the top deck of a double capacity double decker going over that high bridge at Perth was not a pleasant experience! I'm normally ok with heights but it definitely felt as though that bus was swaying. It may not have been free, but it was certainly heavily subsidised. I do remember a fleet of about 20 free buses going to Morton and there were other free trips as well.

With 3 games to go, I think it comes down to us and Hibs for the 6th spot. If we make it we can then start looking at the teams above us, who we will hopefully have closed the gap on. Unfortunately I think the Kilmarnock result was a lost opportunity and I think we'll just miss out, but I hope I'm wrong because it will be a huge anti-climax for whoever finishes 7th.

Motherwell must have pretty large laundry facilities for their own strips, certainly much better facilities than Eileen O'Donnell. I remember at the time people suugesting on here that the strips could go to Africa - I hope that MFC had other options rather than just incineration. A tremendous gesture by her and I'm sure that if she'd asked, there would have been shortage of volunteers to eack take a batch for laundering.

The link isn't working for me but I've got a horrible feeling it's the one when they score after six seconds and then spend the rest of the game passing it back to Leighton. If ever a rule change was needed, it was the back pass rule!