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Ya Bezzer!

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Everything posted by Ya Bezzer!

  1. Hearts got to the Scottish Cup final, which if you believe Stuart McCall, is worth a lot more than European qualification and they are letting experienced first team players go like you wouldn't believe. There is also going to be something of a mass exodus at Dundee Utd in the summer. Those two teams are probably our closest challengers at the moment and they are significantly downsizing.
  2. I don't know what Hammell earns or what level Motherwell want to re-negotiate at but I think it would be a great shame if we lost a player like that over a few hundred quid a week. Having said that I'm fully aware that its only getting tougher to run a club like Motherwell on the limited income that we have and probably having a further reduced budget over the period of a future contract. However I think we have to be very careful about negotiating new contracts. We need a good core to the team if we are going to be success in league and cup competitions. If we miss out on Europe or higher league placings and later stages of the domestic cups, we are losing out on substantial sums of money. If we are playing and performing well we will also attract good press and get scouts coming along to watch the team increasing the chance of transfer income. It's a difficult balancing act but perhaps it would be wise to cap wages at current levels but not cut the wages of our more important players. If it came down to it i'd rather have a good core of players earning more and younger players making up the rest of the squad than paying out for more experienced journeyman squad players.
  3. If I went by MotM votes I've given more to Stevie Hammell this season (4 votes) than any one else. I think Randolph, Hutchinson, Hammell, Lasley and Jennings have all been stalwarts. Very difficult to make a decision. Maybe for sheer consistency Randolph and Hammell get the nod but an on form Lasley is a huge player for us but perhaps he wasn't quite as good in the second half of the season. I think I'm right in saying we kept a record number of clean sheets this season so for that reason I might go for Darren Randolph.
  4. Good team with no real complaints. I'm sure there were a few Motherwell players that weren't far away.
  5. Good to know he's playing well after his injury.
  6. He's done reasonably well but I'm still not entirely convinced by him. He makes too many 'liitle' mistakes for me and that perhaps shows he's not really a natural centre back. Whereas you have total confidence in Hutchinson as a defender (although he makes mistakes as well) I just don't have that confidence in Clancy. There's always a little niggling doubt about him. He's probably fine up to a certain level of opposition and that would include most of the SPL so I'd be fine with him getting another contract but I think we'd be in trouble if he didn't have some one of quality next to him. We have a limited budget and the key to success is finding a good blend of ordinary journey man players and players with a bit more about them, Clancy is probably the former rather than the latter.
  7. I heard that big Crags is hanging up the boots at the end of the season. Seems like the kinda guy that would play as long as he can but maybe his recent injury is more of a problem than was first thought. It was someone 'in the game' that I heard it from but that isn't necessarily a guarantee of accuracy...
  8. We should use the anniversary strip for European competition.
  9. If the SPL doesn't take Rangers back in then you can be sure the Scottish League will. Rangers would be back in the SPL in 3 or 4 seasons. The idea that Rangers are just going to disappear is wishful thinking at best. Better to have them burdened by penalties and finances and struggling in the SPL than having them storm up the leagues a la Gretna with wind in their sails while probably making a fortune from vastly reduced overheads and big crowds. From what I understand there are some people at Rangers themselves who would rather go down to Division 3 because they know in the long run it's beneficial for them.
  10. To me it's much more important to have the voting structure changed than anything else. If the voting structure is changed the possibility of making major changes in the future won't depend on extraordinary circumstances cropping up and the OF monopoly will be effectively broken. Obviously Rangers should be punished as severely as possible but if you are being realistic about it there is going to have to be some kind of compromise position found. I don't think anyone knows what that would involve at this stage when things are still so fluid but eventually it will come down to the strength of the various parties. Rangers may be weakened, even severely weakened, but they still carry a lot of clout. Put it simply Rangers are not going to go away and that's why we have to play a long game here. The greatest single impediment to the other SPL clubs is the SPL voting structure. Even if Rangers were expelled from the SPL you could be fairly certain another club would soon fill Rangers seat and the chances of getting anything passed with an 11-1 majority would be virtually impossible. Our single focus here should be to ensure increased democracy within the SPL power structure. If that is done we will be living in a whole new world of possibilities.
  11. They only have to gain 2 points over the next 2 matches and then beat us in the final game if we don't pick up any points. Even if we drew at Hearts and Dundee Utd beat Rangers, we lose at Ibrox and they against Celtic, Dundee Utd could still pip us on the final day. Basically it's unlikely Dundee Utd will make up 5 points before the last match but its not unlikely that they can still take it to the last day and clinch it with a victory over us. Remember that Dundee United have a far superior goal difference and although its unlikely now that will come into play because of the combination of results you'd need to finish on equal points its still possible Dundee Utd ould take this on goal difference. We have an advantage but I still think the crucial factor here is Dundee Utd are much more likely to take points off the old firm and if get 2 points against Rangers and Celtic (in whatever combination of results) and we don't beat Hearts the likelyhood is it's going to the last match.
  12. Big match - the points difference after the two matches could range between 8 points (We're There!) to 2 points (Shit!). Hopefully we can get a rare win at Tynecastle but I have to say I have fears about Rangers. They look absolutely gubbed again after the wee revival they got from beating us. Wouldn't not surprise me in the slightest if Dundee Utd got points at Ibrox for the second time this season but obviously I hope that's not the case. Also who the hell would change our team now when we just got back on track! Same 11 again please and for the rest of the season.
  13. Huge game that could confirm third place with the right combination of results. As I've said before I'd like us to tie it up as soon as possible to remove the possibility of Dundee Utd knicking it on the last day. Hearts have the best home record outside the OF but they have also lost at home to all the other Top 6 sides this season so that should give us a glimmer of hope. I think we should approach this games almost as if it was a Final. It's a one off, let's try and win. If we can beat Hearts and Dundee Utd fail to beat Rangers then its done and dusted. If we draw and Dundee Utd fail to beat Rangers it makes it difficult for Utd. However Utd do have a good record against Rangers lately and I don't think its impossible that they could pick up a point or even win which has always been my big worry going into these final matches. Other teams get points against the OF and we don't. Rudi Skacel seems to be in fine form at the moment so he will be their biggest danger to us.
  14. We were 3-1 and 4-1 up when he scored and they were late on, so the game was already won and the goals didn't make a huge difference. They were also both a bit scrappy and I think players don't tend to celebrate those types of goals too much unless they are really important ones. Still you like to see players happy when they score and as has been said he looked a bit moody.
  15. Higdon 15, Murphy 13, Ojamaa 9, Law 6, Lasley 4, Hateley 4, Daley 3, Humphrey 2
  16. Fair enough. But I was making the point that I thought it was an uneven performance which is a perfectly acceptable point. Why didn't you quote the part where I congratulated the manager and team or said Humphrey had probably his best game at Fir Park or where I said all the forwards had stormers? To analyse something with a degree of accuracy you have to look at pluses and negatives and that's what I try to do. I think the point of my post was that today was overall positive it's you that's highlighting the negatives out of context.
  17. Humphrey. Probably one of his best performances in a Well shirt
  18. I'd still rather be in the position were we don't have to beat Dundee Utd on the last day because I don't think my heart is up to that sort of stress! Oh for a result in midweek!
  19. Must win game and we won so congratulations to the management and players. It was an odd match though and although we deserved to win our opening two goals came against the run of pla after a very sluggish start and I wasn't altogether convinced by the performance in all areas. Luckily though our forward players all did very well and that combinded with St.Johnstone having an adhoc defense today meant we created lots of chances. The reintroduction of Murphy made a made a big difference, Law was playing in his best position and Chris Humphrey probably had one of his best performances in a Motherwell shirt. Defensively though I wasn't entirely confortable even though St. Johnstone didn't put us under to much pressure and our midfield duo of Jennings and Lasley were quiet today - luckily their opposite numbers didn't distinguish themselves either. All in all though you couldn't complain too much and today is a massive step towards Champions League football next season although we still have a bit to do before we can get too cocky but today has to be a big confidence boast after a shaky spell.
  20. St. Johnstone have won more points away from home than we have at Fir Park, scored more goals away from home than we have at Fir Park and conceded less goals away from home than we have at Fir Park! It's going to be a tough match but hopefully we can overcome them and Hearts do us a favour.
  21. I think it's in France where they have all there player and manager of the year awards around Christmas/New Year. Always seemed a much more sensible idea to me to judge a manager over the second half of one season and the first half of another. You not only know who won what in the previous season but also how they followed it up in the first half of the current season.
  22. Derek Adams deserves it. Apparently he turned Michael Fraser into a goalkeeper!
  23. Administration was the best thing that every happened to us and gave us at least a 5 if not 10 year start over most other teams in running the club on a financially realistic basis. Just look at what is happening to Rangers right now and think what would have happened to us if we'd accumulated our debts over a further decade. It's no coincidence that the last 10 years has probably been the most consistently successful for the club since the 1950's. Just a pity we've not gone one step further and actually won a trophy in that time but there's always next season! I'm not sure I really understand the antipathy to Nevin. People made mistakes and we moved on. Now and then I had much more distaste for some of the players that passed through the club at that time, earned very good wages and gave nothing back in terms of performances or value for money.
  24. It would be nice if we could repeat the semi final performance with 3 first half goals and the breeze through the second half but it's probably not going to be like that. I hope to God we get the first goal because if we don't you can see it turning nasty in the East Stand and that's not what we need right now.
  25. First of all it's plain daft to be thinking about getting rid of McCall but that doesn't mean people can't voice concerns or observations. We are 3rd but Celtic won the league and I don't think anyone (away from Celtic Park that is) thinks Neil Lennon is an extraordinary manager. Basically he won the league not because of his tactical ability, his ability to motivate players for important matches or anything else - he won because of the playing staff he has available to him. There have been times when I think our league performance this season has been more down to our playing staff being better than most of the rest than Stuart McCall. But it's also important to recognize that being the manager of a football club isn't all about match day. There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes and I have no reason to believe Stuart McCall doesn't do that side of things very well. We seem to be well run behind the scenes, a good dressing room, we haven't had too many injuries and players all seem fit enough, although I don't always agree with his after match comments he conducts himself well in the media etc and all that preparation during the week may be just as important as what happens during the 90 minutes of a match. However I rarely agree with his line ups, his tactics have often been inflexible, he is conservative and defensively minded in my opinion, his use of (or lack of) substitutes is often baffling, he is over loyal to some players and hasn't give others a real chance, he seems to make the same mistakes over and over, we have not seen a single young player of note emerge in the year and a half McCall has been at the club and our record against the Old Firm and in important matches isn't that great to say the least. So there is good and bad about McCall. I always say finishing Top 6 is a good achievement for a Motherwell manager and McCall will certainly do that. He has a smaller playing staff and a smaller budget than many sides and his options are limited and he deserves praise for his achievements but I just wonder if we ever find ourselves in a bit of a hole if McCall is the kind of guy that would get us out of it. Decent at keeping the motor running, perhaps not so good if we need a road side mechanic. I heard a while back that McCall was worried about finishing high up the league because it would increase fan expectation. Understandable perhaps but I think that sums up Stuart McCall in a way. A bit of a steady eddie. Some one who isn't going to push the team on to bigger and better things. Someone who is happy to have relative or modest success rather than actual success. It could be a lot worse. I just fear when we look back on Season 2011/12 some of us will feel a little disappointed that we had 'once in a generation' chances (finishing 2nd, cup competitions, weak Old Firm sides, and now the battle for Champions League) and didn't take them.
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