pretzel

I was hoping Josh Morris would move on to free up a wage, I assumed thats why he had been missing from the squad recently but I think he was either ill or injured. Plenty others I would happy drive to other clubs but sadly we'll be stuck with them until the Summer at the very least. It's the hope that kills you, both Burrow's and Hammell mentioned last week that they had hoped to get new faces in by the end of last week, apparently we came close but nowt else was really mentioned. Hopefully though the patience pays dividends and we can unearth some gems. A new signing would certainly lift the morale a bit, it's frustrating seeing Aberdeen and Hearts have no trouble bringing in many new faces the last few days but they obviously have far more dosh than us.

Quite a few 'Well connections in that side, Jake Hastie, Euan Murray and the Mikael Ndjoli.

Peter Hartley joins Hartlepool United.

Roberto Martinez named the new Portugal head coach.

We're just a handful of games past the half way point and this fixture already feels like it's a must win. A defeat here will bring them level on points but a win for us will give us a six point cushion with a game in hand. It's actually torture looking at your nearest rivals at this stage to see how they're fairing as I'm sure there will be many twists and turns. Killie face Rangers next Wednesday as they have a League Cup Semi this weekend and Dundee United face Hibernian. It's frustrating as the results over the weekend were quite favourable to us and we weren't able to take advantage. It'll be interesting to see if we finally add an addition or two to the squad. Personally I'm still supportive of Hammell and I hope it gets it right but you can't help but fear the atmosphere if things go badly this weekend. We blew them away in Dingwall earlier in the season with a magnificent second half performance, I'm confident we will score against them but not so confident we will keep a clean sheet. It would be nice to get the three points on board then be able to enjoy the Scottish Cup fixture.

Did he not already knock us back a few years ago?

Same ref as last week vs Livi. He booked Slattery for diving in the box last week but wasn't consistent today when the Hibs guy done it. Newell kicked the ball away numerous times, actual launches down the park. Also the very last chance of the game, Porteous swipes at Solholm at edge of the box tripping him right under refs nose, just as Van Veen is about to swipe at Johnstons cross Porteous cuts the cross out, no foul of yellow. It's a shame how poor the officials are in our country. But yeah I agree we have bigger issue at home needing addressing.

I know you don't like Sol as you hit the Megaphone Sol quip every week even when the guy performs fine but on today's showing I think the defence were equally culpable as each other, we had three players trying to stop 36 year old chocolate knees Aiden McNeddy for the first goal and failed. Lamie came on to a game last year but I feel he is reverting back to his first season habits, how many long balls did he launch out of play. I'm sure Blaney is a left footed defender so in terms of balance its likely its his position he'll take. Mugabi isn't due to return to March and it seems it's the forward areas we're looking to strengthen so it's going to comic cuts continuing until the end of the campaign.

It's a shame how it worked out. Apparently he was suffering lots of pain in his ankle and returned to Burton for evaluation during the World Cup, he might need some surgery done. Hopefully he can get fit again but he has had some run of injuries since leaving us the first time.

Nicky Law has departed the American team he was playing for. I know he and Hammell had a song put together by the Wellbois back in the day. 35 in March prob not worth a punt.

Thats the frustrating thing, we seem to be conceding goals in the most frustrating manner i.e. free headers or conceding after peppering our opponents goal with chances we should be scoring ourselves, funnily enough with goals conceded in the league, its only Rangers, Celtic and surprisingly St Mirren by one goal thats conceded fewer so far. I know it's not a simple task but if we can get the right bodies in this window I think we will have a decent enough side to push on. My main worry is that in the 2014/15 season we left it late in the window to make a barrowload of signings as did Ross County, they beat us immediately after the window closed and then seemed to match us stride for stride, obviously both clubs alongside St Mirren had found themselves cut off far adrift by that point, a little concerned that might happen again due to how the leagues currently looking and if we don't get positive results in the next few games. I'm convinced Lee Johnson is trying to work his ticket at Hibs due to his recent interviews, it would be quite refreshing to actually not do any opposition any favours.

I seen a page on Twitter with a decent rep mention that Kilmarnock are weighing up an offer to sign Sherwin Seedorf. I don't think he has played for anyone since departing us a year and a half ago.

I count five in a year for Hull, might not have the goal haul required but he has been mainly deployed as a sub in the English Championship with Hull. Apparently a few other clubs are interested such as Barnsley and Bolton. When looking at the guys name on Twitter he was rumoured as far back as late September in regards to joining us.

Kaiyne Woolery was released from his Turkish club.

We did approach United way back when to try and bring him in as manager when but we were denied. Obviously it was before my time but St Midden let Alex slip under their fingers, they have a fair knack for letting some world class talent slip away. Makes you wonder if the McLean move happened for us and the Ferguson one didn't for Aberdeen then some major Scottish Footballing moments don't happen.

I had seen that interview yesterday and I was quite surprised by his comments as he was well supported bringing in players, I'm sure he added ten or so new additions to his squad. They play us followed by United then Hearts in the cup, you can't help but feel he'll be getting his jotters if they don't turn it around soon. Anyway the first of two massive games at Fir Park, we have a game in hand over both Hibs and County so three points would be most welcome. It would be lovely to bring them right back into the relegation mix esph after spending a fortune. The game at Easter Road was frustrating, obv pre VAR but we should have had a pen that was denied then frustratingly we got a man sent off soon there after and they scored. I wouldn't be surprised if the game was another low scoring affair, we need to be more ruthless and composed in front of goal but you can't help but feel we won't shake off that habit with the current forwards. Hammell mentioned he hoped to have at least one new player over the line this week so fingers crossed we can get some quality added. The wee fud ref David Munro from the Livi game yesterday is the ref for this game too.

Hammell mentioned yesterday that he hoped to tie on deal up this week. The only rumour I've heard that was mentioned earlier in the thread was the guy Leko, but some reporters are doubting the source of the story on that one. I usually look at Scott Burns Twitter page as he's always on the money with our transfers well before we officially announce them but sadly nothing has been mentioned so far. A wee quality signing will lift the place.

I certainly agree with you. I thought the game panned out exactly how we expected on that pitch as its always a shitfest at Almondvale, Rugby Park and NDP on the plastic and yesterday was no different. While we do seem to concede some soft goals we have been guilty of missing some guilt edged chances (the story of our season), Van Veen should have buried the one in the second half that skelped the bar and he should have slid Shields in the first half. The Shields chance when he hit the bar from an acute angle and then it hits the Livi player on the head before hitting the side netting sums up our luck this year as well. Apart from a crazy five minute spell versus Killie we dominated that match and I felt we done more than enough to win yesterday but I know we would all feel more comfy getting the actual points on board. I know injuries are part and parcel of the game but if we had a full compliment of players I feel we would be safely ensconced further up the table, some pundit mentioned yesterday that we have the best away form out with the old firm this season. We have two winnable ties at home next so it would be great to transform that home form, plus we have a game in hand over Hibs, Killie and County so a couple of wins could prove to be massive.

Penney received his fifth yellow of the season midweek, I wonder if he misses this game. Obviously Blaney will be available as his official transfer goes through on the 1st, nice to see that he's been training with us for a few weeks though. We performed well against Livi earlier in the season they never got a sniff and we were guilty of passing up numerous chances before the ref threw us a lifeline. The game will certainly not be a classic on that pitch but hopefully we can take home the badly needed three points.

Peter Hartley's jolly to India comes to an end after he mutually agreed to leave Jamshedpur. Didn't realise he in his 30s when he played for us.

https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2022/12/30/next-up-livingston-10/ They don't make it easy to find. When you click the link under the tickets section it directs you to the Livi website so it looks like you have to register and such. I phoned Livi direct yesterday and they fixed my tickets quickly for our end.

Admittedly I haven't seen the guy play but his CV certainly makes good reading. Pop him in the lineup for Shields would do nicely.

I don't know why people get riled up by post match interviews as I'm positive what managers say to the players behind closed doors is entirely different to what we hear. As far as I've known its always been the same generic bullet points asked. I remember under McGhee I think it was the season after the Rangers playoff, we were looking doomed in February as we lost to Partick via a 90th minute goal then followed this up with a pathetic attempt against Killie which convinced me we were heading down, with only 13 games left we won 8 of them. We done something similar under McLeish where we couldn't score and were heading down but went on an unbeaten 7 game run winning 6 of them. We have 14 league games before the spilt, we don't play the Old Firm again until late March so hopefully we can start to turn it around. Hopefully we have a decent transfer window.

I was unsure if it was 1st January it ends or the 31st, but I have a bad feeling he'll be offski.

It'll be an interesting transfer window to say the least. It's nice to see we have done some business early, I hope Hammell and co have done their homework on Blaney, hoping he's not been signed on the back of looking like Maldini against us. I know it's never easy getting quality in for the likes of us as we don't have one curdy to spend but we frequently get our players in late on in the window, it would be refreshing to get organised prompt. I know it was mentioned we would likely only add a few additions but it will be interesting to see what happens to Moult as he was getting assessed by Burton not too long ago. Furthermore, the guy is entitled to stay as he is contracted but I wonder if Hammell would look to try and move on Morris. Based on nothing at all, you can't help feel it's going to get worse before it gets better as I fear Penney will be off soon.