Ninja_Turtle

Not saying that I disagree with you on this one, but it's very easy for us to sit here & say that, our jobs aren't on the line. George Burley got one campaign in charge, made an arse of it & got punted, Levein will be exactly the same. They only get about 8games a year & don't even have much time to experiment with formations, never mind throwing youngsters in there. I would be all for giving a manager 5years & saying "build us a team that can compete for 10,15,20 years to come" but I don't think the SFA have the bottle & even if they do, Levein is not the man for that IMO. On topic, I would agree with most that Reynolds & Murphy are the only first-team guys in with a shout of playing for Scotland as things stand. Murphy has been tearing it up in the 21s & just needs to keep developing, but when you look at Reynolds you see that positive development is far from a given. 2-3years ago he looked like he was destined for big things, but I don't see where he has improved in that time. He still isn't strong enough as a centre-half (for me anyway), his distribution is average at best & he often looks lost without Craigan beside him. It's frustrating too because a left-sided centre-half with pace & the ability to read the game reasonably well is a rare thing & there's no doubt that if he improved on a few areas he could easily go on to play for Scotland. May just be that he needs a move to kick-start his career, will be shame that in all likelihood we won't benefit financially when that comes.

Can we just claim he is anyway?! Although if he was really that leathal on his own why did he need Kendo Sticks? Food for thought

Right, putting it out there: Either MFC's brother moonlights as a police sketch artist or he's copied the drawing from that photo, cos it's a dead ringer!

Can't be bothered trolling back through to find Beesher's post but I can at least confirm it's accuracy. I was with him at the time & we were walking round past Taggarts to FP for the Breiðablik game when a Corsa (classy I know) pulled up & the guy asked for directions to the ground. When we told him he said somethin' along the lines of "this is Motherwell's new striker lads" & we only caught the name Esteban. I'd assume there aren't too many of them about! The guy in the passenger seat (who he claimed was the player) did look like the picture on Facebook, so who knows. Must say it would be pretty funny if he ends up signin' after all the abuse hammerfist has got on this, but I was skeptical at the time & still am!

Indeed, & it's also nice to see the club recognising the hole that Scottish Football is in & trying out new avenues & new ideas (I'm assuming of course that the sponsorhship is along the same lines). Never gonna please everyone but I'm sure the vast marjority of fans are happy with the direction the club seems to be heading off the pitch. Do find it funny that people are still guessing the new sponsor though, as if they'll confirm it as soon as someone guesses right! Can just see Leeann coming back on: "Well done guys, you've cracked it, Tampax it is"

I agree that you want your midfielders to get up & down the pitch but part of the problem with our attitude to football in the UK is that there are so many talented players are overlooked because they aren't great athletes. Also, I wouldn't consider the role that Sneijder plays for Holland, Kaka for Brazil, Ozil for Germany etc. to be a midfield role as such, as they aren't expected to be tracking back. (I get that it might be daft comparing us to Brazil, but it is in formation only!) I see what you're saying about whether we would be able to sacrifice a body getting back, but if you were playing 4-4-2 you wouldn't expect or want both strikers to be tracking runs way into their own half & I think the same applies with the system many are suggesting. Like I said, Forbes is a luxury player, but if we also play Lasley & Jennings in there then I think he's a luxury we can afford & benefit from, provided of course that he's got what takes to play that role.

There's no doubt that Forbes is a luxury player but IMO if the team is set up to suit him he has the ability to excel. He's never a wide player & although Brown was backed into a corner by the lack of bodies it was a poor poor decision to put him out there when his form had dipped. As others have said his best position would seem to be in the 'number 10' role, finding space in between the opposition midfield & defence & picking out the final pass or shooting himself. It's been highlighted by the WC that almost all of the successful sides use this system, with two holding players allowing the 10 to forget about defensive duties & influence the game high up the pitch. This is the way football is developing & whilst it's certainly debateable whether Forbes has the ability to play there, he's got more chance of success than out wide. Think we've gotta remember that if he was a world-beater, he certainly wouln't be at Fir Park. He does however have gifts that the rest of our squad don't & it seems to me that we should be doing what we can to get the best out of him. That said his fitness is a worry, not too bothered about pace as if we play him in behind the striker it's not essential to have it, but there's no doubt that he's got to improve his fitness level if we're to see him back as a regular in the side.

The problem with Reynolds for me is that he's not a kid anymore & whilst I think he's got ability, he hasn't developed anywhere near as much as we expected over the past few years. I fear we missed a trick not letting him go when Rangers came in a while back as, though no-one could question his commitment or service to the club, I would imagine like many others that 500k is about as much as we can hope for. It's also a bit of a worry that no-one has come in thus far. I accept that the transfer window runs until the end of August, but if we need his sale to fund new signings we really want it done & dusted asap with the campaign effectively starting in two weeks.

Right I know a few others have had a go but seriously, WHIT!? The guy is a good athlete, has two good feet & is comfortable on the ball. If he could add a few more goals to his game he could easily slot in to a top end championship team. The times that he's played poorly for us have mainly been down to off-field issues IMO, as many have said he doesn't seem to have settled up here. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion after all but fuck me mate, how many games have you seen since Bob Malcolm played!?