fizoxy

We've beaten Rangers against the odds before and we'll do it again. It may be this Sunday or it may not, but I'll be getting up early to watch whatever live stream I can find and I'll be hoping we pull off the upset. If I only went to or watched the games I thought we were going to win I doubt I would have seen the inside of Fir Park yet. OF victories are rare, but it's sweet to be there when they happen - Ibrox when Coyle spoiled the title party, and Skippy Sunday stand out for me. We don't get to many semi-finals, so this should be a big occasion for us. Considering our home gate is around the 4k mark, taking that many to Hampden isn't a complete embarrasment. It's been an expensive season so far and January is a very long month when you're waiting for pay day.

I think the 90's team is harder, but the rules have also softened the game up a bit since then. If the McGhee team went back in time to play Tommy's side, Hughes and McCormack would have the shit kicked out of them. However, it Tommy's team came to the future I reckon a couple of red cards may happen. Looking at the defences, I think that Coyne and Arnott would get more joy out of Craigan and Reynolds than Clarky and Porter would have gotten out of Buff and McCart. The keeper position is a no contest. The 93/94 midfield wins hands down as well for me. However, did we have this opinion of the players at the time? I remember Dolan, Davies and Lambert getting their fair share of stick at the time, and Sieb was a psycho. I always loved the McKinnon long ball into the channel.

You're right about McCart and Davies, my memory is dreadful. I always liked Quinn, and didn't really have much time for Shannon.

We were further out of the race in 94/95 though.

So thinking back to some of the best Motherwell teams I've personally witnessed. Two of which are the 1993/94 team which came as close to winning the league as we will do for a very long time, and the 2007/08 team who for at least the first half of the season played some excellent attacking football. I'm no good at remembering teams, but the 1993/4 team was something like ------------------------------------Sieb--------------------------------------------- ----------------- Philliben--------Martin--------Krivokapic------------------------ -------Shannon---------------------------------------------- McKinnon----------- -------------------------Lambert---Dolan---O'Donnell--------------------------- ----------------------- Coyne----Arnott/McGrillen/Kirk---------------------------- With wee Tommy as manager. League table here There there was McGhee's 2007 team: --------------------------------------------Smith-------------------------------------- ------------Quinn------------Craigan------------Reynolds-------------Paterson---- -----------------------Lasley----------Hughes-----------O'Donnell------------------ ------------------------Clarkson------Porter-----McCormack----------------------- League Table So if the two teams played eachother, who would win? and if you could combine both teams, how would you do it? Also, who in the above teams were considered shite at the time?

Is this just something spawned from this forum, and not based on real life reality?

If I was John Boyle, and owned a club with unlimited finances and had all of the managers and potential managers in the world at my disposal, all willing to manage my club, then I would have appointed someone else. Otherwise, I'd go through the list of applicants, give interviews to four or five of the best suited applicants, and appoint the one who impresses best at the interview, assuming he still wants the job. This is how the hiring process works. We probably wont know if McCall really was the first choice, but it doesn't matter since we can't force people to take the job and the financial conditions won't be changing anytime soon. Please remember that Jim Gannon came to the club in the summer, and therefore had more scope to make some signings. Few players come to the end of their contract in December, so we have to weigh up whether we want to bring in some short term shite, or get through to the end of the season and then make some proper signings. What was the last good January signing we made? I also believe Gannon's "eye for a player" is way over rated anyway. Also bear in mind that the combined genius of Gannon and Brown got us to 5th in the table, a position which is still very much achievable this year. We didn't win the league, and we also had a whole load of shite performances. The Christmas periods of 2009 and 2010 were very similar. Where do you really think we would have finished if Brown and Knox stayed? What is a realistic aim for us in the league? As for McCall's record. We bucked the recent trend with wins against two teams that have had the better of us for a good while in Dundee and Hibs. Although we've beaten St J and Utd each twice this season I don't think we've got to the level of Aberdeen-esque snobbery where we can start saying "we should be beating teams like these", they are at the same level as us. Winning away at Tannadice and McDairmid isn't an easy job. The draws against Caley and Hamilton weren't ideal, but a point away can't be sniffed at, and we all know caley's away record. Overall I think it's way too soon to be doubting the management team, especially when they have only had a few weeks in the job and one signing to show for it.

It seems that the online radio works fine for non UK residents. The link isn't visible on the BBC website, but if someone from the UK posts the link it works fine.

Shhh, they get touchy when you say things like that.

I think Alba is available on iPlayer or Zattoo. Where did Page play when he came on? and how did Meechan do?

Excellent, I've seen him play and he'll be an asset to the club. One of those players who makes his presence felt and gets under the skin of the opposition. He'll be all over SPL strikers like a rash.

Part of me wouldn't mind a 7th place finish if it meant we had the chance to relegate Hibs.

He got a wee cheer coming off, but I don't know if it was a Faddy cheer or a Fitzpatrick cheer. Commentators said he did alright and had quick feet.

Page on for Jones. Not sure how that will shape up, Murph on the left?

Meechan on for Hately (injured)

£110k for Hammel.

I think someone did notice it earlier in the thread, but that doesn't really matter because none of us are paid to notice these sort of things. Our club gets more embarrassing by the minute. A lot of people on here were crying out for more communication from the club, but maybe it would be better if the club just didn't say anything, ever.

We probably had to pay something for him, as he was under 24 at the time I think. Maybe in that case we also paid for McCormack? I like that we don't pay fees anymore. Just think of all the money we spent on McSkimming, Thomas, and Spencer.

Why don't we do this anymore? Hearts and Dundee Utd have got a lot of recent success out of this in recent years. I guess Steve Saunders is one example of this, coming from Queens Park, and we beat a lot of teams to Derek Adams back in the day, but we seem to be avoiding this avenue altogether. Is it the transfer fees? Or is the talent just not there anymore?

Did we pay for the shite left back Murphy? Edit: No we didn't. We paid for Hammel didn't we?

We lost Blackman and Gow, and there has been rumours of Sutton, Casagolda and Murphy all leaving. It seems like a no brainer that we should sign a striker. If we didn't sign one and then we lost someone on the last day of the window most people on here would be livid.

These new signings have no impact on next season's budget. We lost four players, and so far we have replaced them with two short-term replacements. Most of these young guys are out on loan getting regular games away from the east stand, and when they're ready they'll get their chance in the first team. The plan hasn't changed for them since the start of the season, and it shouldn't. Losing a couple of players doesn't make them more ready. Relying on the youngsters to suddenly step up halfway through the season is a huge risk to take and could shatter their confidence. For every McFadden, Hammel and Clarkson there's a Fagan or a Ramsay.

As said above, it's fine to say that the young guys could fill in, but with only one window to make signings between now and the end of the season it makes sense to ensure that we're covered in every area. If we stand pat and go with what we have, what if one of these kids gets injured, or turns out to be shite? We lost four players from an already small squad, and we should be looking to replace all four. We are still in two cups, and have some fixture congestion coming up so we'll need a squad.

He's a dick.

Personally, I'd take Hughes back in a heartbeat. He was as responsible for our excellent play as McGhee was when he was here.