MearnsWell

For me, it'll be interesting to see how Jennings and Coke compare to what we have. Gannon is making all the right noises about atheticism and presence, however it's how the players cut it on the park thats the true test. Lasley IMHO is still a big asset to the side, as others have said a good combination of abilities if not outstanding in any one aspect but, hey, if he was he wouldn't be here. He kept Boab out owing to his pace and dig being better, and any time he was alongside Shug looked no' bad, although particularly this season he carried the centre a lot when Shug went missing, probably down to a combination of factors (poor surface, waning interest etc.). Potentially a 4-2-3-1 with say Lasley and Jennings holding, Coke, O'Brien and the Hump as an attacking three behind Sutton looks intriguing. But as I said, the true test is on the park. Interesting times indeed.

I would love it if we could put one over on McGhee, either in a few one-off games or alternatively by finishing above the Sheep in the league (unlikely admittedly) purely for the fact he disrespected the 'Well fans in the last game of the season by not coming out for the lap of honour. Funny how wee symbolic things like that can undo a whole lot of good work.

Was fortunate enough to be on a break for a few months a couple of years back so used to go free with the old season vouchers. Good stuff, managed to talk the guy at the turnstile into letting me take a flask into the game, first and only time I've had decent coffee at FP

Naah, 'The Hump' surely? Last time we'd a six foot 'hump' on the wing, it was called Kevin Twaddle...

Ach, I'm surprising myself these days in my restraint..... Seriously, big Krisztian is almost an irrelevant piece of history, since I can no longer have the 'why Hughes and Malcolm?' dig at the current management, and given our budget constraints, a several million Euro transfer from Ossasuna is way out the question. He probably could take on the Bairns midfield single handed however as they've now all moved to Easter Road

Arguably Hughes may have been a bit of a luxury given the new 4-2-3-1 formation. With two holding midfielders the emphasis is on players who can sit, break it up and pass it to a fairly mobile/fluid three sitting behind a target/pivot forward. Lasley, Fizzy, the new ex-Tranmere dude and Forbes (from what I've heard) would be ideal for this, I think Hughes would struggle in a more advanced role (anyone remember him as a wide player in the 5 in McGhee's 4-5-1 against St Mirren?). Hughes had his moments, albeit infrequently, and was undoubtedly an improvement over Brian Kerr ( ) but for me, happy with the way things are shaping up in the middle so far.

In todays Evening Times that we are challenging the Dons for Stepover on loan a year. The Jim Paterson versus Stevie Hammell East Stand touchline challenge starts here.... (Wee Stevie would win but would obviously cut inside in doing so )

Aye, was the major blot on Mutleys copybook for me in the first season. Would've done a better job than Hughes and Malcolm combined, and cost less than their joint wages. Plus a nice wee 2 million Euro transfer fee, which is what big Krisztian went to Ossasuna for. Where's the broken record smiley when you need one.....

My main concerns about Sanchez would be possibly the style of football (maybe we are unfarily maligning him for his Crazy Gang past) plus it would be a wee bit short term-ish i.e. he'd be pants, get us relegated and get punted, or he does well and he's aff next season., his career aspirations may be even loftier than Muttleys. Nijholt would still be my preference although I'm warming more and more to McCallister as time goes on. Both guys who know the club, Nijholt good on the youth side, McCallister on contacts/getting signings in on the strength of his reputation as a player. As for the nobodies from the North East, nae thanks.... But I'm getting to the twitchy stage in terms of getting someone in, you canny put a price on continutity of coaching methods, getting to know the squad pre-season, getting though the qualifiers in Europe. Or maybe you can and it's £1M+ of deid TV revenue...?

I was pro-Nijholt two years ago when McGhee got the position, voiced concerns at the time re: McGhee''s track record re: club loyalty and turnover, isn't it funny how things pan out... For me the plusses for Nijholt still remain, popular with the fans thus breathing space, track record with clubs like AZ, arguably the model for any wee provincial side in Europe and exposure to European coaching methods. He will need someone with Scottish experience beside him this could be either an auld heid like Craigie Broon or wee Tam, or someone like McCart who knows the club and the SPL well. Fingers crossed.

For me, the non-appearance to clap the fans on the last day both spoke volumes about his attitude to us, and his knowledge of an impending move (he admitted he knew about the WGS at the 'Tic thing ages ago). Thanks for 2007-2008 Mark and all your good work this season mate, but as you yourself acknowledged in a recent media article, all managers have a 2-3 years shelf life and need to move on to keep things fresh. Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out. Oh aye, and it was a 4-5-1 in the St Mirren cup game...

Aye, think the pair of them could've done with RELATE counselling for Killies first goal. McLean to be fair isny used to playing in the left centre defence slot, and Hammell's defensive abilities are always a subject of debate.

I always quite liked Foran, had the knack of arriving in the box at the right time, good in the air, and unafraid to have a dig. Now that Sheridan is away back to Celtic, he would be a decent shout IF McGhee can knock in some professionalism about him. Tha landlords at the Bullfrog and the Mega Bar, plus the social diseases clinic at Wishy General may disagree however.

Anyone else think that we could really do with a flair player who drives AT goal and shoots on occaision? (like Taoul who won the match doing this?)l This arguably was our undoing today, with Hughes and O'Brien in particular flattering to deceive, passing sideways, backtracking? It was painful at times, particularly in the second half where we were looking to pass the ball in at times rather than just being direct and having a dig. Maybe a better pitch will help with this type of game next season, hey ho....

Clarky for me, couldny really say anyone in the defense or midfield stood out, Clarky did the best out of our attack IMHO.

Bob Malcolm? Known to trivia anoraks as the only Motherwell player to have entered Miss Scotland. Mind hearing some radio pundit saying that, canny mind who, must have been a complete non-entity...

Faraway Saint, Billy Dodds, Captain_Sensible that one was for you....

Don't feed the troll folks. Seriously, there's a bit of me thinking that there may be a god after all, hey we missed out on the top 6 but we still get into Europe via the back door AND have an influence on who goes down. As others have said, nothing against the Saints as a team BUT their online fanbase ranks them in line with OF in popularity stakes. Aye we may have kicked them aff the park in 1977, BUT we've had some fud on P&B greetig about the attendance ever since... Everything is in place for a win tomorrow, the pundits are predicting a Saints victory, the natives are getting (more) obnoxious, fingers crossed...

Always rated Hammell, and felt he's been pretty hard done by re: his contribution. If you want bad defending, anyone remember Danny Murphy who got skinned/ripped several times a game on a good day? Stepover, while more inclined to go outside, was never as pacy as Hammell, and was more often than not caught by the opposition full back while on the overlap and forced to cut back. Hammells assists often don't come from direct runs/overlaps anyway, he does it more via neat one-twos around the edge of the box followed by a decent cross in. In his heyday, with Pearo and Faddy, some of the one-twos and interplay between them was a joy to watch. Yes he cuts inside more often that people would like (usually because the opposition assign a man on him to stop him going outside), yes he could be a couple of inches taller but, hey, in the context of what we can afford and where we are, I'm more than happy. 'Mon the Stevie Hammell

Sit about there and agree, however the reason for big Stretch punting it all the time was that O'Brian was not showing for a pass - he spent most of the second half in the top quarter in line with the penalty area, even when McLean had just been given the ball by Buzz. Nae midfielder coming back to pick up either - was reminiscent of Malpas era Coach where the only option he had was a long diagonal onto Flippers head, or punting in into a channel for Skippy. Could've been down to either O'Brians desperation to create something in the last third, or our midfielders losing interest by that point. Not good anyways.

On the lighter side, one punter in the East Stand second half, when Stevie Hammell lets the ball go out for a throw to us : "Awww for f***ks sake keep it in ya wee sh*te!" Quick as a flash, another punter "Thats what ma wife said last night..." Quality

Ditto.

Oh aye, MOTM jinx? What jinx?

Agree with everyone else who thought the Arabs only had about 15 minutes of fame today in the second half. Really enjoyed the game, nice to see us trying to play some footy despite the wind, highllights for me were big Stretch who I though was great at RB, Hughes who ran the show in the middle, and Coach didny look to bad at RM, only other time he played there it was a disaster. Buzz did well with one save also from the Swanson first-time volley, get the feeling it'll look more impressive on the highlights. Both Sutton and Sheridan had the proverbial cows a**se/banjo moments today, had we drawn it'd be harder to take though. Oh aye, Clarkys booking - he was clearly clothes-lined by one of their defenders, think Brines was well and truly behaving to type today.

Aye but if you know yer Tele's a '52 vintage is the original and best. If ye canny do it on one of those, give up. Extending the analogy to footy shirts, everyone should be happy with a vintage 50's top no? Except the dynamics a wee bit different, and everyone has to have the latest model. Understand why folk are a bit scunnered but the flipside is it's a massive feather in our cap to get a decent kit from a well-known prestige manufacturer on board. No' sure how a compression fit top will look on the more generously proportioned of the home support though......