dennyc

Gordon was poor in his latter games for St J and after a brief encouraging start with us he then reverted to little better than the rest. Positional and ball retention, trying to play out hardly inspiring. There has to be a player in there given his earlier St J performances and I think he found playing in a back three especially difficult. I have hopes that in a back four, concentrating on defensive duties, we will see the player we hoped we had signed. But he needs a partnership and I do not think Balmer is that player. So yes we need a CB that the Manager knows and trusts.

Oh for the days when the official MFC site kept fans properly informed. The lack of info regarding the development teams is really poor. I used to go to a fair few midweek youth games when Turnbull, Hastie, Scott and some other potential future stars were playing. For some reason they played a number of games at Kelty. And very entertaining they were. Craigen in charge for many of them. Almost every game Alan Burrows was there updating fans live...internet permitting....via the Club site. But then he was a fan. No reason that could not be done nowadays but there appears to be a lack of willing within the current set up. Too busy trying to win awards with their video output perhaps. Few fans have any clue as to the players in our youth set up. A start I suppose that they listed those recently awarded contracts> But will we ever hear if they actually play any games.

I agree every signing is a gamble. So all any Club can do is minimise the chances of failure. But I think in this case it was as close as you are going to get to guaranteeing success. I think there is no similarity in any way to the Hendry signing or the risk attached. With Biereth we signed a player who not only scored goals but was physically suited to the Scottish game.....as demonstrated in his first appearance (I think) when as a sub he bullied us into a home win over Hibs. I think that lack of physicality and determination is what Hendry was lacking, We did not discover those negatives until the deal was done. .So score one for lessening the risk factor re Biereth. He was suited to our game and had the correct mentality.. Arsenal were adamant Biereth was not for sale as he was viewed as one for their future. Just not right then. Spurs wanted shot of Hendry. Another plus point on the Biereth risk assessment. For once the hype of 'Even short term, we are fortunate to get a player of this calibre' was pretty accurate. Clearly when he did well for us and in Austria, the offer of a few million up front was something Arsenal saw as too good to miss given he still had no route into their first team. A big mistake by them as it turned out. No injury record of note or a rehabilitation/career rebuild in mind. Not a player looking to top up his pension. Like so many we have taken a much greater risk with. Now referred to as 'The Kettlewell Signing Policy'. Biereth was a Loan deal (sadly). Risk minimised. We had an out if it was a disaster. Unlike Henry who we signed on a permanent deal.......for £200k? So, in respect of signing a youngster whether permanently or on Loan, I think the Biereth deal was as guaranteed as any Club could hope for. We were fortunate to get him but it was not luck that it worked out as well as it did. Just all too brief a stay sadly.

Talking of history, did you look at his goals per match record in the U18 Premier League? 23 in 33 games......and 15 assists... in case you missed it. He was loaned out because he was far too good for that age level and his route into the first team was blocked by players who cost millions. If that is taking a risk then can we please find more risks of that kind.

I guess Miller chooses which he prefers. The deal being we allow to let him to go if we receive the release figure which we signed up to. So we would have little choice but to accept his decision. I am certain other players at other clubs have faced that very situation. No obligation on him to take the higher offer. Effectively in that situation the player has the power. What’s the option? We refuse to sell to the lower bidder, he digs in and stays until contract end? Joins the Club he wanted to anyway. Goes for a development fee? Thankfully not with us, but others have gone down that route. Sitting tight I mean. Say Celtic offer 5.5 but Napoli offer 4.5 with longer term and better wages. I assume, as fans, we would be supportive if he chose Italy. As long as we get the release figure which was agreed. But being a good guy he would take the Celtic deal to get us more cash? Or perhaps not. But as I said, all speculation. Miller and his Dad will decide and we’ll go along with whatever they choose. Hopefully he has a long list to choose from. Then we put the cheque in the Bank. At the end of the day that is what really matters to MFC. Much as we all want what is best for Lennon Miller money talks. Certainly when it runs into millions.

Apparently Celtic are about to get £16m for Kuhn having already raked in £4m following Frimpong's move to Liverpool. And some lesser amounts from other departures. So no surprise they are back in for Miller with an increased offer compared to January. But they will still want him on the cheap with a crap sell on clause. That's the transfer model they insist upon and usually get away with in Scotland. John McGinn being the exception and well played Hibs on that one. Following his Scotland appearances, the talk was that Miller and his advisers preferred a move overseas. Hopefully that is still the intention. SPECULATION ALERT! 🙁 What I find a bit concerning is the comment that Celtic are aware of the price Motherwell have set. Hopefully purely media talk as they do Celtic's bidding. But it makes me wonder if the Board agreed a release clause of £4.5m when Miller extended his contract? An amount that seemed a good figure back then. IF they did, then then we would have little option if Celtic offered the agreed amount AND Miller wanted to join them. Perhaps in the absence of an overseas/English team meeting or exceeding the release figure. At the end of the day Miller and his family will decide where he ends up. Motherwell will be delighted take the money from whoever offers it. That's the reality of the situation . Best we can hope for is that Celtic start a bidding war, with Miller opting to join whoever offers the most. I also hope he makes a choice that works out best for him long term. And I doubt that would be Celtic. He seems more ambitious than that.

I'm really not interested in how Twente played, good or bad, this season or last. And I could not care less about Falkirk or Edinburgh City. All of whom were, like us, playing their first game of the season. So all the same qualifications apply. What I am interested in is Motherwell and I expected more from them yesterday, even with all those valid comments about first game, new Manager, opposition, new tactics etc etc. And that's fair comment. Or am I and others not allowed to say we were disappointed in what we saw? Not overly concerned, but disappointed. Rightly or wrongly I expected more. The performance of our experienced defenders was poor and they looked far from comfortable at being asked to play out from the back, with Ward also struggling supporting as sweeper. Midfield and up front we looked ponderous, with little link up play. Lack of pace all over the pitch. Little threat up front. I challenge anyone who watched the game to say my assessment was wrong. . The youngsters that came on performed well, which also highlighted how off it the first choices were. But for me those youngsters were the only positive yesterday. Again that fact raises questions. And the budget available to the opposition is irrelevant. At times last season those same players performed well against opposition with far greater resources than us. Even when playing against superior opposition, I came away from some games feeling we had did ourselves justice., despite losing. Not yesterday. Will we improve? Most definitely. Am I saying we will struggle this season? No . Did I expect more from our established players? Yes. Will the new Manager be more aware now of the challenges he faces? Undoubtedly. The criticism posters are getting for raising valid points is nonsense.

You did say you had not seen any of the game. Given the playing out from the back pantomime I think the comments were pretty mooted and I wonder what you would have thought watching it. . And most folk did qualify it being first game etc etc. I guess folk just expected a bit more encouragement having been starved of proper football for a wee while..

I think the main thing we learned from tonight was the style our new Manager wants to play. The heat probably made that a hard ask. Hopefully he learned what we all already knew. This set of players do not have the ability to play out from the back and pace is an issue, both defensively and offensively. It was interesting watching Ward being asked to play outside his penalty area though. That did not work either and he looked a bag of nerves to me. Although that may have been down to the quality of back passes he got, mainly from Gordon. Is that really the guy that led St J to two trophies? For me the only positive was the performance of the youngsters. But let's not ask too much of them too soon. Early days but uninspiring. Possibly unfair but I did expect better. Hopefully by the time we finish the League Cup group games we have a lot more to get excited about.

In truth, although I much prefer grass, I am not 100% against artificial if it is good quality and maintained properly. In Falkirk’s defence they have just about the best non grass surface I have seen and it plays true. The real crime has been the authorities ignoring sub standard surfaces which are a danger to players and also ruin games. Killie, Livi and Accies as prime examples. If Livi have been told to upgrade then it’s not before time. Hopefully the criteria change will be enforced. Time will tell. Anyway, back to former employees, I still hope SK crashes and burns no matter what surface his new charges end up playing on. His bring in as many new players, including crocks, policy appears to be in full flow. I give him until Christmas.

We’re pleased to confirm that we’ll have a new artificial playing surface installed here at the Home of the Set Fare Arena ahead of the 2025/26 season. The club has been working hard behind the scenes over the last few weeks and months to put the planning in place and source the funds to make this possible. The new surface itself is the latest generation of MX Elite – a high-tech woven system offering the very best performance characteristics for professional football, the same currently used by a number of other sides at all levels of the SPFL. We’re hopeful that this will be completed and ready ahead of the Premier Sports Cup group stage matches starting in mid-July but should that change, we’ll update you all accordingly with any change of venue for those opening home ties. Our thanks to Sportex and for their assistance in getting to this stage and we look forward to starting the new season with a new surface in place. Seems a lot of expense to ditch it after one season. This cost will be part of the masterplan to cancel the requirement. And remember that Killie were meant to go grass this season, but opted out. And since season end there have already been meetings with the powers that be involving several 'plastic' clubs. Will the PL stand firm? Don't hold your breath.

Just checked. They will have a new ARTIFICIAL surface in place for season 25/26. So a switch to grass the following season seems even more unlikely given that news.

Oh I hope so. But then tarmac would be an upgrade. Maybe they are looking for a surface that suits their new silky football approach. Apparently we are about to be treated to a new LIvi.

I fully expect the Authorities to renege on the agreement to have only grass pitches in the top division after this season. Pressured by Killie, Livi and Falkirk. And supported by a number of lower league teams with hopes of eventually reaching the top level. Would they actually have the balls to throw those three out if they refused to change? I'm far from convinced. In fairness Falkirk look after their pitch and it is as decent a mostly grass pitch as I have seen. Theirs and Kelty. Livingstone and Kilmarnock should be ashamed at what they offer as acceptable. As for SK, he will already be preparing his ' it's not my fault' excuses and I'm sure the surfaces at Kilmarnock will be high on his list. Oh I so hope he makes an arse of it and the fans express their displeasure.................. But like grizzlyg I am over it and not bitter.

Minutes towards the end of the second half in a match at Fir Park. Had a few decent touches but immediately got injured. Never featured again. My recollection anyway.