The African

In the days before undersoil heating and plastic pitches, Arbroath were just about the only team who were guaranteed to have a playable surface, whatever the weather. The pitch is so close to the firth of Tay that it doesn’t freeze. As such, throughout the 1970s, you would get the Scotsport cameras there every couple of years because Arbroath v Stirling Albion (or whoever) was the only league game on in Scotland. While the pitch itself never freezes, the same cannot be said for supporters, so anyone planning a trip, please remember to dress accordingly.

I am putting that one down to predictive text and I am in the process of sacking my proofreader.

I seem to remember a cup tie at Garfield in the early eighties. I think we won four nil. Might be a little tougher this time as Dick Campbell has done a great job there. Still, someone different and an away day for our fans against someone we rarely play. Used to be a very tidy wee ground as well so worth a visit if you are into that sort of thing.

Easily done so don’t beat yourself up over it. I’d agree that there is no real comparison between the two in terms of ability, but Wright played his part as, under McLean, we made slow but steady progress from a side yoyoing between the premier and first divisions to one capable of challenging for silverware.

Are you getting your Brians mixed up? I cannot remember Brian Wright playing centre back, whereas Brian Martin flourished for us when wee Tommmy moved him from midfield to defence not long after he joined us from St Mirren.

A strange fixture in the context of the season, given our injuries, poor run of results and the impending break. It almost has the feeling of a free hit. If we win, then great result. If we lose, disappointment but the hard work that is required during the break and leading up to the January window remains and three points, one way or another, are not going to change that. Having said that, a win would be most welcome from a short term moral point of view, both for the players and fans, so COYW!

Undoubtedly gave us a false impressions of how we thought things would always be. Still, I consider self lucky to have had my early loyalty cemented by such classy players. When things are dire and we are on the wrong end of a series of results, playing so badly that you wonder where the next win or even goal is coming from, there is solace in wondering where the next hero is coming from. It may be fanciful, but perhaps the purpose of our club is to provide the opportunities for the next St John, Pettigrew or the next Bobby Graham.

Regarding Graham’s playing style and ability, I remember watching the World Cup with my late father and him comparing one of the stars on display with Graham. He remarked that the star player always looked like he had time on the ball because of his great first touch and control, and that his eye for a “slide rule” pass to put a teammate into a goal scoring position was very reminiscent of Graham at his best. The player in question was Carlos Valderrama.

We must be of a similar vintage. The early to mid seventies side with the likes of Wark, Graham, Pettigrew, McRae, Bobby Watson, were my childhood heroes. Graham is a worthy inductee and, looking at his career, the only question I can ask is did we let him go too early? Of course, back in those days you were classed as over the hill by the time you were thirty.

Tough place to go and get something. Hopefully the Hearts squad will struggle with their recent European exertions and we can take advantage. As it I, anything gained by full time tomorrow will be a bonus. I think it may be beyond us and would predict a home win by one or two goals.

If his recent form in Finland is indicative of a positive change in his goal scoring ability, then it might be worth a punt, but otherwise his record of around one goal in every five games is not what we are looking for.

Predictable outcome against a side with a budget and playing resources we can only ream of. Our season will not be defined by our results against the old firm. The manager is having to deal with issues within the squad which are not of his making. Issues, I might add, that have been evident for some time and which his predecessors failed to address. We need to be both patient and understanding as it is not possible for these problems to be fixed in an instant. I think there are genuine signs that we are heading in the right direction, and I genuinely believe that we will stay up this season. Hopefully this run of poor results will be arrested soon, and not become a self perpetuating spiral of negativity. We have a squad with some talent and it is up to them, with guidance from the coaching staff and support from the fans, to find a way to get us back on track. COYW!

I am loathe to say that this fixture represents an opportunity with nothing to lose, as this has been the situation for a number of years and we rarely, if ever, strike a blow against the Old Firm. Having said that, a professional attitude and performance and there is no reason we cannot achieve a result. What I really cannot stomach is the thought of another “beaten before a ball is kicked” performance where we just accept a hammering on their terms. I am not suggesting a gung-ho cavalry charge approach, though goodness knows, it would at least have offered some entertainment in previous fixtures of this type, but a visible plan to take them on and get something from the game would be nice.

Fair enough. The memory can play tricks on us all, and, as said, I was all over the place at the time.

I remember us getting a five nil win at Inverness in a televised game in November 2012. Sadly, I recall it because I completely forgot the game was on because my Dad had just passed away. I saw the fifth goal on tv when I went to visit one of his neighbours who had been watching the game.

Not a bad strike rate at international level, but you then have to take into account the standard of the opposition. I thought that he was not without talent when he played for us, but Ojaama was definitely a class above in my opinion. They have both gone on to have "interesting" careers, with the old quip of "more clubs than Jack Nicklaus" readily applying to both. Seems to be the way with football today.

Pretty sure that the SRU have postponed all the rugby in Scotland this weekend.

I think it is fair enough to look on this as a fairly disappointing transfer window. The main plus is that we have been able to get rid of a fair amount of dead wood from the squad and hopefully saved a proportion of our operating budget. Unfortunately we have not been able to address the various failings in our squad in terms of personnel and the injection of quality I am sure most of us were craving hasn't really happened. Having said that, looking at the players moving to and from our immediate rivals, I don't see too many that I feel I am disappointed that we missed out on. The truth may well be that the players we were looking for were just not available, especially when you have to work with limited financial resources. Another factor to consider is that Alexander, for whatever reason, thought that he had done enough . This error was one of the many reasons why he had to go. The disruption caused by changing manager so late in the pre season left Hammell with a difficult position. I think he has made mistakes including being too open and honest with a media who are only interested in creating friction and negativity to justify their existence. I do see the fact that he did not panic and recruit just for the sake of filling squad places. Hopefully we can fill gaps with the young guys coming through from the academy, if required. My one worry is that we seem light in terms of genuine goal scorers. We may need to get lucky with regard to KVV staying fit and free from suspension or someone unexpected stepping up and pitching in with a few goals.

Given his lack of experience, you have to think that the other people to apply and get interviewed must have failed to stack up. Having said that, with the names that were being thrown about both on here and elsewhere, I ad pretty much come round to the idea that Hammell was as good an option as any. From what I have seen of him, mainly as a player and recently in his temporary role as manager, he appears to be of sound character. As such, he is the kind of person I would wish to be in charge. He has given the club most of his career and there can be no doubt that he knows the club, understands the club and, dare I say it? loves the club. That is the sort of person I want to be in charge of my club. I know that this is both a romanticized and unrealistic approach to what is a business, but we have tried serious and pragmatic with our last few managers and where has that got us? And now I think about it, you probably need a romanticised and unrealistic approach if you support a team like Motherwell. I think Steven Hammell will give his all in his new post. I hope he sets us up to play with style and ambition and, in doing so,reaps the success that we all crave. He is fortunate to have a good idea of our youth setup, so hopefully he can utilise this and show that we are a club that can give young players a chance. Who knows what the future will bring? Will it work out for the best or will we crash and burn?The one thing you can pretty much be sure of is that there will be downs as well as ups. I wish him all the best and every success. I am willing to get right behind him and know that if things do not go our way, it will not be for the want of trying! COYW!

Given where we find ourselves, managerless and short of ideas and goals, I think a pragmatic approach and a draw away from home would not be the worst outcome. I think St Mirren are destined to be strugglers, so it might turn out to be points dropped, but we need to take something from this fixture.

And a blast from the past, Stuart Baxter?

Maurice Malpas might lay claim to that honour.

Well that was shite. Predictable shite, but shite none the less. I think I am done with this until we make the necessary changes at the top to try and arrest this slide to, and beyond abject mediocrity.

The most disappointing thing from my perspective was the fact that we were obviously underprepared for what should have been considered an extremely important fixture. We are all aware that it is our first competitive fixture of the season, but this fails as an excuse because we were so obviously aware of it. Whatever we did to prepare, it obviously wasn't successful. As for hopes for progressing, we were behind for over an hour and threatened very like. It would be very optimistic to think that seven days will make too much of a difference in performance.

Glad it is Sligo, if nothing else for the 'well fans who had taken the plunge and sorted travel and accommodation already. Hopefully we can be ready for our first competitive match of the season and make it through to the next round. I do think that the fact that the opposition are half way through their season gives them a bit of an advantage though. We need to be ready for a bit of a battle.