star sail

Would be sad to see him play for the opposition next year, particularly Hearts. He is one of the better players we have had in recent years. I had hoped he would stay but at the reported £7000 a week it was never really going to happen. Have to say though that it is mildly satisfying that Aberdeen can't afford him either. Funny how Jim Paterson and Stephen Hughes have not jumped at the chance to be reunited with their old manager.

Dykstra Nijholt Martin Teale McKinnon Cooper McFadden Lambert O Donnell Coyne Arnott Subs: Maxwell, McCart, Van der Gaag, Hughes, Porter Edit: I forgot about Mio. Replace him with Teale.

I am not going to try and argue that Harri Kampman's time was a success but I knew people who worked at the club at the time he took over and they were impressed by some of the things he tried to do. McLeish (apparantly) ran a fairly relaxed ship and when Harri came in he insisted on better discipline from the players (better time keeping etc), controlled the players diets better and gave catering staff a programme of training a month in advance so that they could help with nutrition. For what ever reason it did not work but we have to remember he was given very little time to make it work.

The problem is the same in Scotland I'm afraid. I have a mate who comes over from Northern Ireland and he has real problems getting Scottish shops to accept Ulster Bank notes.

McFadden by a country mile. Everytime he got the ball the excitement level would rise. That still happens now when he is playing for Scotland. Great player who scored one of the most memorable goals in Scottish Football history.

A week is certainly a long time in football. Last Monday the sun was shining, we were getting excited about our new manager, Stockport fans were telling us about his qualities and we were excited about the new players coming in. Reading through this thread the mood has changed somewhat. Concerns about Gannon's man management, concerns about English players fitting in to the Scottish game, Clarkson and Quinn sounding more like superstars with every passing day. In reality nothing has changed since last Monday, except that we lost 1-0 to Llanelli, a game that Gannon cannot be judged on and Gannon has commented on our captain's lack of command at the corner that led to the goal. Before we start talking about the drive and determination of Quinn/Clarkson lets remember they were both playing in the two defeats by St Mirren (cup and top six game). They also played against Nancy and were somewhat out of there depth along with the rest of the team admittedly. Stephen Hughes is not an 'SPL type' player and yet he has been Motherwell's best player over the last couple of seasons. I also remember a midfield player McCormack? (excuse my memory) who played with us (possibly under Billy Davies). He came from the English lower divisions and more that held his own, infact if we get players of his quality we will be laughing. If the comment's about Craigan causes problems then that says more about Craigan than Gannon. The comments were right so hopefully Craigan will use any anger to channel it into aggression on the pitch. To be fair, I heard Craigan on the radio on Saturday and he was talking very positively so it should not be an issue. That Gannon spoke out in public may cause some unease but again go back a week and we were all applauding that very style (Sky box etc). I can understand the unease but we have to keep things in perspective. We need to give the new man a chance and yet I sense that even after one week his honeymoon period is over.

I would like to hope that was the case but unfortunately it does not seem to work out that way. Supporters tend to make excuses for players (unless it's Marc Fitzpatrick) blaming the board or the manager for a teams dip in form. I would guess that if the form of Craigan, O Brien etc drops because they do take the huff most supporters will turn on Gannon saying he can't motivate the players etc. I hope I am wrong but I have seen it to often before to be confident (Barry Feruson, Kris Boyd v Paul Le Guen) being the perfect example.

I think I am just letting out frustrations that have been building for some time about the professional game in Scotland. I hope that it is the transition that is the problem and that after next Thursday I can laugh at my misplaced angst when we come out comfortably on top. I suppose I should wait untill then before being too critical.

11 Full Time Players v 11 Part Time Players. Should have won regardless of circumstances.

Really pleased to hear Gannon speak honestly. He was absolutely spot on. I am really surprised that people on here are defending the players for what happened last night. I understand the need to support the team but there comes a point when a situation or performance becomes unacceptable and last night was one such example. How often over the last few years have we lost goals at corners? How often have we lost games because of poor defending at corners? The conclusion you come to is that our Central Defenders are poor at defending corners, regardless of whether or not one of them has played for Northern Ireland. The manager says we should be doing better at corners. He is absolutely right and should not need to apologise for saying so. The important point is will the manager fix the problem or just talk about it for two years like our previous manager. Laslay was not interested last night so was replaced at half time. Spot on. Jim O Brien was ineffectual so was replaced. Spot on. The senior players took no responsibility last night and the manager realised this and said so. Spot on. Could Motherwell go to the San Siro and beat Milan 1-0 in the Europa Cup? I don't think that would ever, ever happen and yet Motherwell are a professional team. A Part Time team comes to Scotland and beats Motherwell 1-0 and some people are making excuses for the players. 'It's the first game of the season' ,'It was the wrong formation','the manager got the tactics wrong' etc. Defenders played in defense, midfielders played in midfield and strikers played up front from where I was sitting and collectively they managed 2/3 attempts on goal the whole night. Is the manager to blame for that? If last night is in some way acceptable, because we are Motherwell and because we lose these types of games fairly regularly, then why not go Part Time? That way the next time we lose to a Division 1 team' or Division 3 team or a Welsh team at least we would not have payed these players a decent wage for the privilege. I am really excited so see what Jim Gannon does at Motherwell. He may just be the man who finally shakes things up a bit in the SPL.

No.

You could criticise much of the team but Hammell particularly just did not look interested. He was playing in front of the East Stand Second Half so he was close to us, and his body language said it all. Also he was giving no encouragement to the younger players in front of him.

Normally I would agree with that, first game of season, new manager etc but to put this into perspective, I counted three of their players that had beer bellies, I kid you not and they were coasting. What we watched tonight was disgraceful and some of the so called senior players should be embarrassed about taking a wage for that dross. Gannon takes no blame for this, but I would imagine that he is wondering what he has let himself in for. That's two games in a week, conceded 4, scored 1 against two Part time teams. How many times does this have to happen before we realise that Scottish Football is shit!

Thanks mate. Would be ideal if we could park at the stadium.

Somebody told me that the Excelsior Stadium has designated parking. Is this true or is it a case of parking out in the street?

Is Paul Quinn likely to play? He did not play on Saturday

I know that statistics cannot be disgarded but there are other factors. When we had that excellent spell during McGhee's first season, Hughes was pulling the strings. I see him more as a link man than someone who sets up goals. I agree however that playing killer balls and scoring goals is the weaker part of his game. The sad aspect thought is could he have kept up that level if Phil was still there to play along side him? One of those questions we will never know the answer to.

McLean, Quinn and Clarkson are all replaceable without breaking the bank. A player of Hughes ability will be difficult to replace. I know he did not have as good a season last year but he is still one of the better players in the SPL. I think we are going to have some players that we have never heard of before with us in a few weeks all from the middle divisions in England. If they are anything like the quality of Chris Porter we may be in for a decent season. Jim Hamiltons free.

I think the team had to be submitted a few days back so no chance to add new faces I don't think. Wish Quinn and Clarky had held their move untill Friday as they are both named in the squad. I think the reality is if the players that we have cannot do a job and get us through then they are simply not good enough to play in the SPL.

Has anybody found footage of the press conference online?

I still think that Clarky has a long way to go to be at the same level as Faddy, Roscoe and even Pearson but as a man, professional and as a club servant he has been first class. It is rare to get players these days you can truely call your own and he will be missed. I am sad to see him go for emotional reasons and it seems like the end of an era in many respects for the club. All the best. Will look out for Bristol City scores from now on. Make Phil proud.

Had a chuckle at that. Shows McGhee's confidence (arrogance?) when he thinks that Hughes will take a pay cut and move his family North just to have the pleasure of McGhee as his boss. What a boost it would be if we could keep Stephen Hughes. In terms of physicological advantage it would be a big one.

Harsh!

Thanks for that. Will be interesting to see a few County shirts at Wells games. How about LLanelli for starters? Interesting that you along with a few others have mentioned that he may need time to get things going his way. I hope my fellow Well fans give him that time if the season does not start particularly well. Don't think we are any worse than others football fans but we are not much better either. I'm sure he is going to be great for us. It will be fantastic if we have a manager that we can really get behind. Our last manager, although he did well at Firpark never really had the best of relationship with the fans.

You got the impression when McGhee got the Aberdeen job that he was very confident of getting Hughes. Maybe the players did not think as highly of McGhee as he obviously thinks they did. I know there are other factors but I think if Hughes really wanted to play under McGhee he would have gone to the Dons. On Klimpl, I thought he was hugely overrated. He had a positive impact in our team because the team was a bit lightweight and he was not scared to put a foot in, but he looked like a potential train wreck most of the time. He (along with Quinn) almost single handedly seemed to be trying their best to prevent our qualification for the Fair Play Euro place. If you have decent creative players around him (like Stephen Hughes) then there is a place for him to break up attacks but if you are looking for a creative player look elsewhere. He did not look like a defender to me either. Anybody else feel that it seems a long time ago since McGhee left?