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Playing a team that's not won in 16 i'm slightly concerned given our history against teams in that sort of form. Team for me would be Ward (Where was he Sat anyone know) SOD Mcginn Gordon Longelo Fadinger Preistman Maswanhise Slattery Just Bjorgfolsson (If he's signed in time if not Stama) I suspect this will be similar to the Ross County game where we're trying to break down a low block for the majority of the game. They've got some better players than Ross County so it will be a tough game. Hopefully we get the win and start to build some more momentum going into a busy and season defining February.

This is where all the focus has to be, on this game. Not on cup dreams or transfer speculation. Going into the third round of fixtures and most seasons we have at least one round of fixtures where we struggle. 2 good rounds already so we need to play even better to have a good third round and hopefully keep us well in contention for top 4 spot. two teams above us play each other (Hearts v Celtic) and two teams below us play each other (Falkirk v Hibs) so if we take care of our business it could be a great day for us.

He also, more importantly can't play in any cup ties. Imagine we ended up with the h**s or St Mirren in a cup final and we had to change our defence just for that. I'm not saying I wouldn't welcome him back cause I absolutely would, but that 72 min appearance for Celtic has diminished his value to us and any deal to take him back would need to reflect that.

Definitely agree with your statement about trying to sign a permanent CB. We should be trying for both, plus if there is a reasonable way to get Welsh permanent I’d be all for that as well.

As I said above I'm fine with him coming back he's been really good for us I just think given the fact we won't get him permanent and he can't play in the cup surely we try and sign a CB that will be our player permanently and be here next season.

My mates and I said same. Poorest seen pitch in a while

Can imagine Killie being very defensive so we will need to be patient but hopefully not look for the perfect goal and one pass too many. COYW

Biggest problem has been the weather I would imagine. I don't know if we still have UV lights, but my recollection is that we only used them on the penalty boxes. Have we had to use the undersoil heating at any point? That is normally a contributor.

Let's destroy McCann and Doddsy with a new striker and then have them on Sportscene in the evening to analyse our performance.

So Killie come to Fortress Fir Park again should be a big crowd and another three points for the Steelmen

I'm a bit late to this particular party I know, but I was surprised by the state of the pitch last Saturday. The POD Stand side looked a bit on the bare side. I know we've ahd far worse, but we've also had much better. The winter so far, hasn't been that bad, so it seems a bit odd. In previous years, we've hired UV growing lights in winter to boost growth. By Scottish standards we've got a state of the art pitch and spent a wad of cash on it so why the problems?

Two goals for Tony Watt at the weekend.

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Hi all Didn't catch the numbers for this on Saturday and bought a few tickets, can anybody on here get them for me please from the club? Cheers

We have 16 league games left and he can’t play in two of them. Played 22 from total of 38. We have 2 already played Celtic twice so only 2’gamws against them if we are top 6.

I don't think we need 2 Cbs if Mcghee is back fit he's a solid player and replaces Balmer. I wouldn't say no to Welsh coming back but now he's cup tied it restricts the games he can be used in even further. We have minimum 17 games left and he's unavailable for selection for 3 (providing we finish T6) before returning and any cup games should we progress. Our priorities rest of the window should be:- - Sign a ST (Bjorgolfsson is basically a done deal assuming we're waiting on a work permit before announcing) - Sign a CB (Wither that be a Welsh return or a New CB) - Sign a LB (Longelo needs competition he's been poor since Aberdeen (A) in the QF of the premier IMO needs someone to push him) - Sign a 10 we need an attacking midfielder to open up the low blocks ideally someone of the Spittal mould who can play a pass and shoot from range. - Line up a Maswanhise replacement if the bid we can't refuse comes we need to be prepared and have his replacement lined up. - If we're being greedy we could do with another CM (Halliday and Watt both being out is going to put strain on Slattery, Preistman and Fadinger) so another player in that area wouldn't go a miss unless he has enough trust in Mcallister to play minutes over the run where we have 5 games in 2 weeks or chucks Sparrow in midfield which he's not done all season. - Loan out Luca Ross sitting on our bench most weeks probably isn't helping his development maybe use the co-op agreement with Stenhousemuir and get him some game time that way he can still be used if needed. - Make a decision on Nicholson, Stuperavic and Robinson and Halliday if they're going to play a role keep them if not loan them out/mutual agreement. - Finally once the big Norweigan is announced send Osong back up the road no point him being sat on our bench when he's having little to no impact.

Agree 100%. I would prefer both solutions. Welsh and another CB asap that Askou feels fits our style. Rangers fans seem to think discussions have taken place regards Nsiala. I hope not as it would be another loan and from what little I have seen he is also a bomb scare.

I think that depends on the terms. It cant have anything to do with Maswanhise as that just muddys the waters. Meanwhile if we can identify a suitable replacement, preferably on a permanent deal, then we should do so......

The cup tie thing is obviously nonsense, because they can just make not playing in the cup a condition of any loan. For all we know Welsh might have agreed to play tonight so Motherwell would be the only option for his next loan and the Board can't entertain any other offers now. It doesn't really matter, though. Celtic need to take care of their business and we need to take care of ours. If there is a beneficial overlap - great; If not, then we move in another direction.

I don't believe he brought him back and played him just to cup tie him. Given he couldn't have played against them even if he'd stayed with us, that makes no sense. If you read O'Neill's reasoning behind the recall, it's all about being down to the bare bones due to a lack of signings. He spoke about one of the young defenders being a great prospect - there was absolutely no suggestion Welsh has a future at Celtic. 10 changes tonight doesn't suggest a lack of players, but their performance did scream a lack of quality. O'Neill plays the bewildered pensioner, but he knows exactly what he's doing, and reading the Celtic fans reaction to the recall shows they got the message, loud and clear.

I’m not quite sure why Celtic played him. They just locked him into Celtic or Motherwell. Do Celtic plan on playing him? To me, it looks like they really don’t want to play him, so are they going to be out 10 grand a week for nothing? Seems like it is to everyone’s advantage, Celtic, Welsh, Motherwell, for him to complete the season at Fir Park. From our point of view it’s good that he can’t join another Scottish club and play against us this season. I really would like to see him come back here for the rest of the season.

How about playing him tonight just to make sure he cannot play for us in the cup if he returns? That was also a suggestion. Or the Board recalling him to spite O'Neill ....or was it the other way round? Or did the Board recall him to spite the fans? I've lost track.

So other than the knickers in a twist comment we more or less agree? Nothing to do with the goodness of their hearts though. If having had a look at Welsh in light of his form with us, Celtic decide he still does not cut it then why not offload him to the only place he can go. If Motherwell agree. Surely that is best for all parties?

Strange take from a normally sensible poster. Who is getting their knickers in a twist? Of course Celtic are within their rights to recall their player. And absolutely within their rights to play him in the cup tonight. But given that they have done both of those things, surely any expectation that they can suddenly decide to return him to us out of the goodness of their hearts once they have signed someone better, can be resisted? We need to do whats best for us. For me, we should get on with finding someone else that can do what Welsh does and not hang about waiting on Celtics "benevolence". Of course if we get to the window and dont have anyone in the door and the offer is still there, it would be mad to refuse, but is it that crazy to not want to be left at the whim of another club?

O'Neill recalling Welsh purely to show up the board's lack of signings isn't much of a conspiracy theory, given he basically said that was the reason he did it.