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Yes there are some who get very worked up at a player leaving us and I get that. At the other end of the spectrum there are those who almost, and I say almost, encourage a good player to leave us. However many, myself included, accept that its part of our business model, and players have a right to move on. My grouse is how its done and in this case it leaves a lot to be desired.

TBH, I'm not sure why people get so worked up about players leaving a club like ours. Our public business model is to bring in players - especially those with a point to prove and/or a career to resurrect - and move them on. If Watt does move in Jan, we still got a bargain by signing him for free and getting some top performances from him. The fact that he bought into our club and its community philosophy is a credit to him and our club's signing strategy. Despite his good showing, I think it's more of a risk for TW to leave for a club like Utd. than it is for us to lose him (just ask John Sutton), but I certainly won't bear any grudges when he go. At the end of the day, it's a job, and most of us consider better wages when they are offered, even if we don't always take them. And, as always, we can hold him up an example of how beneficial our club can be to a career when we are looking to recruit.

Too far..!!

As al lot of people has said, players need to look after themselves, and will move for a good signing on fee and more money. That's fine, but we are talking about a player moving to a rival in the same league, so my only concern is for the good of Motherwell, not the player. If indeed Dundee Utd want the player to start in January then they pay good money for that to happen. Not what they want to pay, but what Motherwell want them to pay. If they can"t or won"t come up with the cash the player stays until the end of his contract, and trains with the youngsters and sits in the stand and watches the games from there. Unfortunately a player who has played for at least 12 clubs, doesn't come across as a very reliable individual, which is a real shame, as he has said he felt at home here. The manager has appeared to have made his position clear, by sitting Watt on the bench for the last game, and I see that continuing.

I thought the xGA was a yellow card for berating the ref

I think I am the only one who thinks good on you Tony you deserve more cash. You scored some crucial goals and had some brilliant performances for us when we were almost dead and buried and the rest of the team appeared to have downed tools. I have nothing but good wishes for him and if this turns out to be his last big wage before he retires then he deserves it. The club has survived another year in the big league and pushed on this year. So best of luck (except when you play against us) in the future. The club will move on and we will no doubt find someone else who will be our short term hero until they move on and ad nauseam

What exactly is annoying you about how it was done? The media getting hold of it? As far as I can tell nothing else has been denied or confirmed by the club or player, so I'm not sure what you expect from him? Any club who does that to not only their top scorer, but the league's top scorer, is mental. Apart from the fact we'd be intentionally depriving ourselves of a very good player who we will be paying very good money by our own standards, what kind of message does that send to the rest of the squad? From what I gather, Watt is well liked and respected in the dressing room. Unless the player gives the manager a reason to take such harsh action it shouldn't be considered. He's a Motherwell player, being paid by us until he signs for another club. So what's the moral of the story there? Don't show any ambition? Stay where you are and where there's less expected of you? Although, I don't think Dundee United will expect anything more of him than we have. There's not that huge a gulf between the clubs and their targets each season. If Tony Watt is good enough to lead the scoring charts for Motherwell, he's good enough to do the same for Dundee United.

Quick question, but why do you always need to take a confrontational tone whenever you post? Are you like that in real life? Or just a bit of an arse on this forum? I was simply asking, since you seem to know, if the paying up of said contract would still occur even if Watt wanted to leave and was in favour of the move? I can understand offering to pay someone's contract up if you wanted to get them off the wage bill and perhaps move them on when they're not quite into the idea, as a little sweetener? A way to convince them it's a move worth making? I just thought that since any move to shift Watt in January would more than likely be something that the player himself would be happy with that the idea of paying off his remaining contract with us wouldn't be a factor. He would be making, in theory, the move that he's agreed to already, except sooner, thus providing him with the higher wages he's agreed to a few months ahead of schedule, no? I'm genuinely curious.