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As I’ve said many times before, European qualification for me is just a bonus for a very good season or a Cup win. The ‘reward’ for me was how good we were last season when we were at our best. On paper of course it is great for the club and yes, financially it is good for us (albeit we have reported it has cost us money in the past) but I am more concerned with what happens ON the park for us and I just can’t get on board with this idea of mere playing a couple of Euro qualifiers being held up as some sort of trophy by the club because it looks good on paper, and by the supporters because they get to enjoy a piss up abroad somewhere when the actual football is very much an afterthought. Each to their own and of course and no harm to the Motherwell fans who invest time and money to travel for these games, but it’s just not for me.

Europe should be what we aspire to. It's a massive achievement for us and should be celebrated. Increases clubs and players profiles. I'm buzzing to be in Europe. It is difficult but there's always hope. Can't wait for match Thursday.

Fairy nuff: thanks.

I assume you weren't all that fussed if we got into Europe in the first place then? European football is very much an "event" for all concerned. The players certainly want to play in European competition, the fans get the chance to go overseas on a trip, see some sights, enjoy some time away and follow the team, and more importantly, the club benefits financially. Unless I'm mistaken, the club stands to pocket a minimum of 700,000 Euros if we progress past this stage. If we somehow get past this round and the next, we could be looking at over 3 million Euros. Even if we tumble out at this round we'll still walk away with 500,000 Euros. Not bad for a couple of "glorified friendlies", eh?

He did move forward when he realised Eli was about to take it but split seconds before it he was looking in the other direction staring at the east stand…looking oblivious to what was going on. a few of us were looking at him laughing when we really should have been concentrating on the penalty….. my lack of awareness was up there with Willy’s

We obviously focus on Motherwell’s but I wonder how other teams are doing. I wonder but I don’t care so I don’t bother going looking.

Willy Vogt was utter mince last night.

In the video above of Just's penalty, isn't that Vogt toeing the 18 yard line? Admittedly, I haven't got used to some of our new faces.

That works for me. I'm OK with white too.

I'm sure everybody at the club is aware of where the gaps in the team are, who is likely to be leaving, the extent of the injuries we have, and who our targets are. It's literally their job, and their continued employment depends on it. Unfortunately, the one thing we can't control as much as we like is the timing of the signings. The window not closing until September doesn't help, and the World Cup has slowed business down a bit too. While it would be ideal to have a complete squad in the middle of July, in today's game that is unrealistic. If SOD, JK and JT hadn't been injured, we'd probably be more comfortable heading into the HB game, but these things happen and we just need to deal with it.

Use the 140th anniversary top as the away kit, and dont waste it by putting a tacky sponsors logo on it.

I agree, but that's a different argument. I don't think there are any teams in our division where we need a change kit, and I'm pretty sure we have played all of them at one time with neither side changing. If we are going down the change kit route, however, to avoid a "clash" then sticking with the same major colours in the away shirt seems pointless.

You actually come across as very bitter. Thankfully most see us qualifying for Europe as a measure of success and enjoy the ride however long it lasts. Whether or not they enjoy a trip to the away games. Results are not always great but the anticipation and build up to the games gives fans a lift and a wee bit of hope......well most fans anyway.

You're making my point here. What managers say to the media who love to twist everything and try and concoct controversial stories, and what managers say to players behind closed doors are two different things. Prime example, JBA discussing his tactic for targeting Hanley. You could write the script for every post-match these days. One for the good games and one for the bad games. They've all attended the same training on that score, so it tends to pretty meaningless. The only thing that matters is how the team is performing, and no amount of talking with Scottish journalists changes that.

From a transfers in perspective - we're still very short in numbers. If Im being honest I"m lost in terms of who's injured , who's leaving but bottom line we're in a significantly weakened position than both the end of last season and same stage last season. I've read a few posts about no need to panic as we have until September - I'd accept perhaps 1 or 2 late arrivals but right here , right now it feels like we're well behind the curve of where we should be.

Probably 75% of the teams who qualify for Europe know they will " do nothing of note" as you put it, we are in that position, we will never win a euro trophy but qualifying for the group stages would be the next best thing. Euro qualification is a wee bonus for having done so well in the previous season, when we ended up as the 4th best team in the country. We are a small provincial club but weve had quite a few euro adventures over the years, seeing how far we can get and having a great time in the process, and giving me some of my proudest moments as a well fan, ie champions league in the olympic stadium in Athens. So however we end up in this years ECL we have earned the right to be there and give it our best shot. So why dont we all get right behind AJ and the team and see where the adventure takes us the experience is worth it.

There is a big difference between playing Scandinavian teams at this stage in the season and other teams who are just starting their seasons too. Summer season clubs have a pretty big advantage in being at full competitive fitness. Even if you look at the League Cup group stages there are way more 'shock' results than happen in the Scottish Cup and that's pro teams playing semi professional or part time teams with no fitness advantage, they are just starting on a sort of level fitness field. Steaua, Panathinaikos, Levante and Kuban are/were all different level clubs. Big ask to get anything from them.

Gannon and Brown oversaw some good results in the early qualifying stages including the aforementioned 8-1 win. Even scoring at Airdrie against Steaua Bucharest was a great moment. However our efforts under McCall were pathetic and we went into the games against PAO, Levante and Kuban beaten before a ball was kicked and failed to score against any of them IIRC. And then we had Stjarnan.

Some of the runs we went on under Gannon, Brown and McCall(?) were good. Especially the season under Brown when we beat Breadablik and Aalesunds but aye, you're right there. Managing to beat one of those higher ranked teams and give us something to shout about is the next step we need to take. Even St Johnstone have managed to do it.

It’s just a non event for me. We know we’re never going to do anything of note in the competition but apart from the novelty factor of playing a big name like Borussia Dortmund and then playing PAO in the CL prelims, I can’t remember much, if anything, for us to shout about especially in games at Fir Park in Europe. Obviously Flamurtari 8-1 was great but that was the exception…and it was at Airdrie. But in our last seven European matches at Fir Park we have one win to our name and that was behind closed doors during the lockdown season. Outwith that one our record is played six, won zero and scored two goals. Us playing in Europe is like Scotland at a major tournament. The team do nothing apart from occasionally embarrass themselves. But hey, what does that matter? The fans had such a wonderful time, the locals loved them and it was a great trip! Big leap to the left! YAAAASSS! Big leap to the right! YAAAASSS! Who cares about the result we drank the pubs dry! YAAAASSS!

That was a hangover from the previous season though, not from a standing start, and had been building from about March. He should really have been dealt with as soon season as the previous season had ended rather than prolong the agony. As shite as Ricki Lamie was the worst thing he ever did was score that goal v Livi or Alexander would never have made it to the Sligo game.

I read Weeyin make a comment on this thread or possibly one of the other threads that he does not form an opinion on the team until September and I understand the reasoning behind this but unfortunately in modern football September is a long way away. Russell Martin at Rangers had effectively lost his job by then last season. He had certainly lost a dressing room and support. Likewise Alexander was out of a job by the end of July after the Sligo fiasco. I think one of Askou's qualities was that his messaging was very clear and concise from the beginning. The plan was very clear. This season does not have that vibe about it although I don't think that is necessarily Johansson's fault. He has a significant rebuild on his hands. Askou had the luxury of easing himself in with the League Cup group stage. If we remember those first few games, would last year's team have made it past the first round of a European tie against a half decent side? There is no guarantee. I always felt that Stuart McCall never recovered from losing to Starnaan. I really worry that if Motherwell go out to HB, the knock on effect could be significant. I would like to think that as a support we will give AJ the first round of fixtures to stamp his mark but modern life does not really lend itself to that kind of patience.

Yup defo a concern bud. Thor no game time was baffling but apart from that all our first team regulars featured. The amount unavailable is frightening. I assume reich will be available next week also