Andy_P

And in keeping with the theme it was nice that Ross Forbes got the winner too on the day of its grand unveiling. Welcome to Motherwell indeed!!

Your choices and thoughts please....

As always, cheers for voting. A win for Hutch in his first start back in the team.

I think for the first time in a wee while there's a definite sense of uneasiness from many. Fitba is such a fickle game but it doesn't take much for doubts to creep in and recent achievements to be forgotten. Mix in the depressing defeat on Tuesday, the cryptic talk of players being distracted last Saturday, the hour long "talk-in" and latest chat from Gannon about the quality and depth of the squad and you have the feeling that is not as well as it could be. I have my concerns too but I think its important to keep perspective that we're but just a short way along a lengthy road. I like the passing game he's trying to still albeit at the moment we don't look much of a threat attacking wise. I like the influx of promising youngsters whilst at the same time I think some of the senior pros who have served well over a number of years are perhaps due a bit more respect then they're getting. I think there's lots of evolution of the team to come and such as we've experienced this week, not all of it is going to be smooth at times, but I do have faith that we're going to be a stronger and better team at the end of it. To settle everyone down again if nothing else a win would be great and would alleviate, temporarily at least, some of the growing concerns. While we've not been flying in open play we have been pretty effective from set-pieces with Hutchinson back I think we'll have a bit of a threat in that regard. More often that not we've been dogged defensively and solidly organised and I'm hoping for a return to that tomorrow. A narrow 1-0 win or draw for me tomorrow.

Timing and price I would guess. The pre-season game was our first game in Hamilton since what January '89? I know we played them in the Cup but that was in Cumbernauld. It was also our first visit to their new stadium and I doubt it cost no more than a tenner to get in. Contrast that to the first game last season. We were on a really shit run, it was all-ticket, it was live on the telly at half-twelve and was £20 plus. Second time around was a post split game which had no bearing on anything much at all for us. This time will be a wee bit more interesting to see how many we take. Would be nice to fill the stand and see us stroll to a win similar to our last visit, that's for sure.

The other side of that coin is that is that those 'Well fans who emailed St Mirren (me included) contributed to saving a number of people a unnecessary or awkward trek to Fir Park outwith a match day to collect tickets and spared folk taking a gamble on whether their ticket would arrive through the post. That between them St Mirren and Motherwell came to the decision of allowing collections and sales on the night was an entirely common sense approach in both making it easier for fans to buy and boosting their revenue. To suggest that it somehow those who were trying to make life easier are responsible for folk getting locked out is quite a leap. How many did we take we take to the League Cup game at Paisley a couple of years ago - around 1700 if I remember rightly. How many did we take for the Scottish Cup game the same season 3000 plus. How many did we take last season around 1200 or abouts? With reduced prices and the above crowds from recent Cup ties its not so much of a surprise the numbers that went through and I'd say if there were problems it was more down to a lack of pre-planning than a sensible decision to sell on the night. Things could perhaps have been communicated better on the day. You could say the club could have put something on the official knowing that they were sending less than 300 to Paisley to sell on the night and folk might have got along sharper than they were. But even then you might still have been faced with a sell-out, just that it occurred earlier in the evening. Ultimately you could say that knowing what crowds had turned up previously for Cup ties and that only a couple of hundred were left that St Mirren and the police might have had an overflow section set up beforehand. Its not that hard to take a wee a few yards of plastic tape in the last section of the Main Stand if it proves not to be required. I would argue there were several more important contributory factors to last night's problems than someone asking to have tickets available on the night.

Convincing win for Lukas. No change in the top three overall.

Perhaps not so much nowgiven the result but I'd have been pretty gutted to have been turned away at half-seven and then discover the ground was little more than half full. Even more so when there folk in the Main Stand with 'Well colours on. Really good turn out from us and very vocal too in our part of the stand. Shame the game was pish mind.....

Man of the Match? Ha ha ha I know, I know before you say it.....

Your thoughts please folks.....

I had loads of fun watching their fans despair as we pumped them 3-1 at the end of last season, but yeah I know what you mean. There have been numerous shockers at Paisley in the past few seasons. Whilst I obviously hope we win, I can see a draw. McPherson never sets his teams up to be flamboyant and attack minded whilst we have proved generally solid from back to front. I'm sure both would like to win, but more so both I think we will be privately happy not to lose to keep recent good form ticking over.

Voting closed with a win for Tom Hateley with Giles Coke extending his lead at the top of the leaderboard.

Is it not Gerry Britton when he was at Thistle who we're thinking of? Or was he just hated everywhere? Speaking of Thistle, I'll chuck in their fans. What a smug, holier than thou, morale high ground grabbing shower of shite they were/are.

While I'm not able to make it on Saturday I'm going next Tuesday and like a few are wary of the postal strike and find it awkward to get to FP during office hours. Anyways I emailed St Mirren's ticket office about the possibility of buying on the day... As they had been in the past when I've contacted them their response was quick and helpful.... Hopefuly if they get the collect on the day facility agreed with MFC then that'll help, it'll certainly help me!

I'll keep this open until sometime on Wednesday evening what with my initial balls up and the server problems. A reminder to those who cast a vote prior to about 1130pm on Saturday night to cast your vote once again, if you haven't already done so, as your original vote was lost.

Any word though as to whether they are going to be on sale at the ground as they were for the league game last season? There is a ticket office in the away end stand after all? Not sure if they were available on the night for the Cup game.

Stumbled across some highlights, or rather a collection of Celtic efforts on goal >>>> here

Apologies folks. I made an arse of the first poll If you wouldn't mind casting your votes again....

The good lady and I have got personal experience of the circumstances Chris and his wife have gone through and I think its one of those scenarios that its very much each to their own in how you deal with it, and how long it takes to work through the grieving process. I can relate to his point about seeing that his wife was all right before getting back into work mode which has perhaps added to the time involved. I think its much harder for the woman having carried the child and although I felt ready to get back to work, if ready is the right word, a bit earlier than my good lady it was a number of days before I felt I could leave her on her own, and even then it was with a some guilt and angst I did so. I'm pleased to read he's had good support from all at the club and has been able to focus on his football to help him get through it.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the guy's ability and his worth to the team or the club. But as for the part in bold why should he say anything? He's under contract and whilst he is, is surely under no obligation to discuss his anything to do with his contract publically until he's either signed a new one or signed for another team. Anything comment from Slane beyond committing himself to us or a new team is only likely to result in similar posts to the like that have cropped up since the start of the season with folk taking rumours and speculation and taking exactly what they want from it.

Or you could be cynical and suggest that Hughes and Cowie were two of the closest Scots that they could get to Heathrow airport when the last two pulled out on the morning of the trip. To be fair to Hughes Burley called him up for the Northern Ireland friendly last season but he had to pull out through injury so he's been in Burley's thoughts in the past.

Way back the unfortunate Stephen Craigan got landed with a group of us representing the Muirhouse Branch in the Association Quiz. We won actually, now that you ask , but the bigger prize that night was getting the nod from Craigan for him to be interviewed for the MFC Exiles Club which I ran then. He was just on the fringes of the team then and was staying in a flat in Muirhouse but invited me to his house to do the said interview, gave me beer and spent the best part of a couple of hours of his time happily answering any questions and having a good blether. Before he moved to Thistle he also did several columns for our newsletter. Who would have thought a decade plus later he'd be back as club skipper, several hundred games under his belt, most capped player for the club and in his testimonial season. What a man! Another story which has always made me smile was again from my youth. I was at school at the time actually when my old man and old dear were sent on a mission to Fir Park to get something or other from the old club shop (or hole in the wall as it was). The old man headed for the door inside and was met by none other than Davie Cooper on his way out. A quick request from my Dad and a few seconds later, the old dear who had had been miles away having a fag and reading her book in the car, had her attention quickly grabbed by none other than Coop rattling the car window and shouting "Awright Margaret, how are you".

I'd say this has more than ran its course now eh? Time to close it and move on I think.

I'd say its a wee bit early to say he's close to the make or break stage with Motherwell but I do sense a growing feeling of frustration amongst some 'Well fans that Jamie's progress has not been as fast as some have expected. Having been around the first team for 2 or 3 seasons now I think some feel he should be closer to cementing a place in the first team and scoring more. I agree to an extent that by now I might have expected to have seen a wee bit more from Murph in terms of goals scored but its still early days. He's not that long turned twenty so he's hardly at his peak, around two thirds of his appearances thus far have come as a sub and he's often played out wide rather than a central striker. I'm fairly confident that with the right backing and support and a bit of patience he'll become the striker we hope we can be. If I do have any question marks over him its what appears at times to be a lack of self-belief. He's scored routinely at pretty much every level he's played but there are times you see him out there and you think he looks totally at ease at first team level and there are other times when he seems nervous and timid and you would just love to give him a shot of confidence. I think it'll come though.

Oops. Forgot to close this the other night. A win for Stevie Hammell.