pretzel

I think it's always a difficult one when your club is looking to recruit a new manager, I started going to games when Tommy McLean was manager and when he left I remember the excitement of who it could be and I remember Guus Hiddink amongst many other names being touted for the job only for Alex McLeish to get announced. Since then for the best part it always seems to be guys with limited to no experience or a few who's stock has fallen drastically that get the gig. I remember being scunnered by the Stephen Robinson appointment, but I think that was mainly based on his Oldham experience. Personally I'm glad it's not the likes of Malky Mackay or Neil Lennon, I woke up in a cold sweat this morning thinking about that this morning. For me Hammell ticks all the right boxes, yes it would have been great to have more experience but he'll know the current crop of youngsters well, he has made all the right noises in regards to the necessary changes that we could all see that were needed under Alexander, so lets see what he does in that regard in the next few weeks. No matter who was hired it would clearly be met with a mixed opinion.

Delighted with that.

Each to there own but I said it earlier in thread that I would actually be delighted if Hammell was given the gig. Throughout our history we have hired much younger managers all of which have had varied degrees of success. A massive emphasis will be put on youth as per and who will know the current group better than the Academy Director himself. Looking forward to seeing the announcement and however gets the job will have me full support, hopefully it'll be an exciting few weeks and we can all shift to a more positive outlook as its been a tough few weeks.

Not that it matters now, but I was reading an interview earlier by Callum Hendry and he was saying he knocked us back a month or so ago to head to Salford. Least we attempted to get a striker in.

I was reading a newspaper article prior to the St Mirren game last week and it had a brief section chatting to Declan Gallagher who was explaining to the reporter that he didn't understand why the 'Well fans don't like him. A quote he made was interesting 'Motherwell received something like £200.000 for me'. I know there was chatter that he had a year extension if he played a certain amount of games etc..it would be interesting to know the story but we likely never will.

When Tierney came on at the weekend we changed to a 4231 formation and we seemed to get more joy going forward, it was refreshing to see a different tactical approach. If we stick to the 433 I would suspect the same players lining up. Kelly McGinn Mugabi Solholm O'Donnell Slattery Goss Shields Spittal Morris Van Veen I still don't know what to make of Aberdeen as of yet, like Joe Lewis the new keeper Kelle Roos loves a clanger but quite a few unfamiliar faces.

Ref for the game is Chris Graham, he has only done one match in the top tier so far.

His son had mentioned on Twitter yesterday that he was still missing but there was apparent sightings in Edinburgh and Inverkeithing.

I think the stars are going to align for this one as Van Veen is due his one terrific performance in five and it's against his favourite opposition as well. In all seriousness they have spent a fair amount on players this season, I'm not really familiar with many of them. They seem to have brought in quite a few loans as well, I think a guy from Liverpool, one from Middlesbrough and of course the Celtic one they had a protest about. In the last three season we have had a great record against them only losing 2 of 9 games. Obviously I want to win but if we come away with a point I wouldn't be disheartened at that either. Hopefully we know what's happening on the manager front by the time this fixture rolls around.

It seems like once a season we gift wrap a win for them deep into injury time. I'm getting nightmares of Tam Scobbie of all folk now. Still plenty of work to be done but I felt the second half was much more positive, we seemed to change formation to a 4231 when Tierney came on so again that added with the half time subs it's actually great to see Hammell identify that things needed changed and quickly, Alexander was alway reluctant to use many subs. A draw would probably have been a fair result but we all know what footballs like, you don't always get what you deserve as St Mirren would probably argue about a week earlier. I actually thought St Johnstone were quite jammy at times, one of the main instances being a clearance that ricocheted off Shields I think it was right in front of the goal and the ball went over the bar, then you have the defender that miscontrolled the ball and it goes through Efford's legs, if he intercepted the ball he would have been bearing down on goal. He had actually done something similar a short time earlier and McGowan got in front of him, with the defenders options either to kick it out for a throw or play a risky ball to the keeper, Efford decides to volley him. I know Mr Ponytailman is a horrific finisher for the best part but it was criminal defending for their winner even he wasn't going to miss for that close in, plus it was even more galling as they never had much of a sniff in the second half.

It might have changed now but were County not well funded by that Roy MacGregor, obviously they have been in the top tier scene for like a decade now suffering the one relegation but bounced back immediately. Every time they seemed to be in trouble he would bail them out in January with plenty of signings, I think it was Stuart McCall who said we tried to sign Jackson Irvine and he was keen to come but they offered almost triple in wages. I would also bet Malky is on a fair wedge as well.

I would actually be delighted if Stevie Hammell got the gig tbf, I'm probably not adding anything thats previously been discussed in this thread but players that he has helped nurture are coming through the academy that he has worked beside so I think that will be a massive plus for his application as we have always had that emphasis on youth players breaking through, it was nice to see he had the confidence to throw a young lad in for his debut, Hammell made his 'Well debut as a 17 year old and was always in the squads after that so it was nice to see him also go down that road and show belief in someone. I seen a few posters saying a few pages back it'll be too soon for him but the likes of Alex McLeish and Billy Davies took the role around the age of 34. I know times are different as the decades have moved on but the likes of St John and Hay had no previous managerial experience either and were both highly thought of but admittedly the likes of Malpas and Black were on that boat as well. I like the idea of having someone that truly has the club at heart but whoever gets the role has their work cut out for sure. The club have made appointments out of left field before, most of the names mentioned via the bookies are quite underwhelming but I will admit I felt like that when McCall got the job but in all fairness I was proved wrong as in the league he done really well for the best part and enjoyed a Scottish Cup Final like five months after taking the reigns. Looking at some past managers Harri Kampman was intriguing but massively underestimated the quality required, Gannon had a great eye for a player but like Alexander it was his way or the highway and with Baraclough, it was refreshing to see his approach to the Rangers playoff games, he brought us Moult and despite seeing the return of the likes of Pearson and McDonald his side struggled in his first full campaign and was promptly binned. Even going further back than any of them mentioned, the likes of the experienced Jock Wallace and Ally MacLeod proved to be a mixed bag. It's a massive week ahead, it'll be interesting to see what road we go down.

Obviously I don't know what the deal is on the keeper front as we seem well covered in that area but that Oxborough guy we had on trial was out on the pitch helping out with the warm up on Saturday.

TBF it took just one player leaving to totally derail us last season. If we can get some quality in then I'm sure it'll make a big difference, but that's a big if of course.

TBF though the guy's comment was targeting a posters comment on how "we have one of the worst supports in football", which is an absolutely wild opinion IMO, yes we have arseholes in our support but considering the regular behaviour of the Old Firm and some of the behaviour of Aberdeen, Hibs and St Mirren fans on their respective visits to Fir Park last season we are no where near being the worst in our own country.

Looking forward to the game, it'll be interesting to see how Hammell will approach it seeing he'll now have had a week to bed in some of his own ideas plus hopefully that match fitness is looking much better. I wouldn't be surprised if this game was won by a 1-0 scoreline again, hopefully by us as that would be an excellent start to the season all things considered. St Johnstone look like a side that might flirt at the bottom again this season, like us at the weekend they struggled up top and only had a handful of shots on goal before losing at the death, Callum Davidson has reshaped the squad quite a bit, defensively they will be a tough nut to crack but they still have May and Kane leading the line. Murray 'Elbows' Davidson may be out as he was sent off against Hibernian but they're appealing that decision.

Sligo pumped out the Irish cup at the first hurdle by a team in the division below them tonight, not that it matters to us now.

It wouldn't surprise me about Robinson considering we have already hired him three times previously and the board didn't want him to go last time. It'll cost us a small fortune as well should we go down that route.

I'm sure he knocked us back a few years ago, not 100% on if it was an actual job offer or the chance of an interview. Dick Campbell has done a great job with Arbroath as of late but not the most exciting of appointments due to his full track record, however I would fully support Uncle Fester if he was given the gig. The club have knocked back the likes of Valakari and Van Der Gaag previously while we were fighting relegation, saying it didn't seem to be the right appointment for that situation at the time, essentially we may see an out of the box decision seeing we're at the start of the campaign. I don't actually know who I'd go for, Dundee managed to get a guy who managed in the English Championship which seemed like a bit of a coup, names like Kenny Jackett and Nigel Adkins are unemployed at the moment. Who ever gets the role has some job at hand.

I'm not usually one for a knee jerk reaction but when he arrives back at Fir Park today he better be getting slapped across the face with a P45. I'll give the guy credit for digging us out of a hole during the 20/21 season, his first year in all fairness I'm sure he was best of the rest points wise but since signing that contract extension the football has been utterly abysmal as has the results that followed, it's like the same script every week. He's been given a luxury that most managers before him were rarely afforded and he has spent money signing quite a few players and we seem to have regressed massively, two of the players we spent a small fortune on seem to be backup now (Ojala and Solholm), Kelly probably the best sellable asset and it was rumoured he had a tiff with Slattery earlier in the year. In the prediction thread yesterday, in more hope than expectation I gave Motherwell a top half finish as I thought that having that consistency squad wise would put us in good stead but no we're in real trouble and their is no doubt's about that. I know as the side we generally maybe lose more fixtures than we win but this is the first time I've ever been angry. He had horrible performances early in his reign as manager versus Hamilton and St Johnstone, it's that standard that seems to have become the norm now.

I'd certainly agree our approach to the game was lacking, we done that with Llanelli in 2009 where we played one bounce game days earlier against Rhyl before getting beat in the Euro tie. I was led to believe that the team we played in Austria were a second tier team and not amateurs that we first thought, even so it was still not nearly enough prep. I think if we were even a handful of games into our league season you'd be looking at a different result tbh.

He was slipped through on goal in the first half, instead of taking a pop at goal from an angle he choose to tee up Morris who didn't seem to be expecting it he ended up messing it up. Frustrating though as Double V usually has that selfish way about him and if that was last season he would have taken it on himself. He did look really sluggish and a guy who was struggling but like you say hopefully he's much fitter and sharper this week and looking to celebrate that contract extension.

I've been reading the comments from Sligo fans the past few days and they seem to think this game will be a foregone conclusion. Obviously I would take any win just to get us through but I hope we actually pump them silly. It'll be no doubt a tough nut to crack as they defended really well after they took the lead but in saying that they did have a few shaky moments when pressed. The time wasting was something else, I know Scottish Football is terrible for it these days but we could have learnt a lesson from them, so my worry on that front is the longer it stays 0-0 we will see a repeat of that. I actually think last week will have served us well on the match sharpness front, you would hope Alexander will have learnt a thing or two, it'll be interesting to see what the team lineup will be tonight but it wouldn't surprise me to see the exact same eleven start.

In around 50 Scottish Premiership appearances he has scored like 8 goals, his record down the leagues with Ayr and Dundee Utd was not too shabby but he was stinking in the top tier with Aberdeen and quite average when he got promoted with United, tremendous business from all at Tannadice to get the fee that they did. I do however agree Hearts will be the best of the rest again as they have retained most of the side that achieved that feat last season. I'm not really sure what to make of from 4th to 12th tbh, Aberdeen and Hibernian you would suspect would be much better, the Dons have spent some serious cash so it will be interesting to see how they get on, Johnson at Hibs hasn't exactly endeared himself to the fans at Leith with his early League Cup exit, I thought McGeady would have been a decent signing for them but he has been poor so far. Dundee United have added a few impressive additions but much like us I felt they rode there luck last season, Watt didn't set the heather on fire when he joined them his biggest impact was derailing our campaign but I think he might have a decent partnership with Fletcher, on paper though their squad doesn't jump out as being all that amazing. I know we fit into this bracket as well but Livingston, County, Killie, St Johnstone and St Mirren will all be much of a muchness tbh, I suspect County will be fine as they have added some decent quality. Almondvale seems to be a tough but to crack for most teams these days so another mid table finish for them, McInnes at Killie has added some proven Scottish Premiership players but I feel they will still struggle as will both the Saint's. Cautiously optimistic but I actually think the continuity of our squad will actually serve us well this season and mid table mediocrity awaits, we have a favourable start fixtures wise so we really need to hit the ground running. Rangers Celtic Hearts Aberdeen Dundee United Motherwell Hibernian Livingston Ross County Kilmarnock St Johnstone St Mirren

My point was off the top of my head he produced two of our best chances obviously all if's buts and maybes but if Tierney shot across the keeper and Van Veen was his usually selfish self he could have had to assists to his name, out of the three midfielders playing he was the best by far tbh. Anyway I thought the game was so reminiscent of the Llanelli game of 2009 in Airdrie, Jamie Murphy had missed a sitter on the line and we were so slow out of the blocks. Hopefully last Thursday has served us well in terms of a real competitive fixture. I seen on Sligo's social media that they had mentioned they tried to extend the capacity for the game by installing temporary stands but apparently it wasn't feasible for whatever reason.