ekwellfan

2 wins in our remaining 5 games should clinch a top 6 place. Due to the fixtures remaining and the teams in contention playing one another 43 points should be enough ( I actually believe 42 is the magic number but add one to be safe )

UEFA rules now dictate that all players eligible for first team selection in their competitions must have an ECG an Echocardiogram and an annual cardiovascular screening medical . I believe hampden offers ECg and echocardiography for any player who requires it.

lets think about this logically without any gnashing of teeth or preconceived ideas. Football is one of the only professional sports that does not use video technology to assist referees and officials. Because of this managers, officials, referee supervisors journalists and fans have to accept that mistakes will occur several times during every match. What used to be debated in newspapers and pubs up and down the country is analysed by whatever recording cameras are being used from the 2 cameras at minor SPL games to the 40 odd cameras at a top EPL match and there is no hiding place from a perceived mistake. The referee has made his decision on one viewing at full speed and from whatever position he happens to be on the field of play at the time with possibly his sight being obscured by other players. I do not believe referees are biased towards any teams but I believe they are INFLUENCED significantly by for example 50,000 old firm fans screaming for a penalty at Ibrox or Parkhead as opposed to the away supports 2-400 in a small corner of the ground. If managers, journalists and officials cannot accept that genuine mistakes are made then there is no hope for the future of refereeing here. Increased criticism just makes things worse. I do not think that a referees strike will make any difference . What do they hope to achieve? They will still be criticised. If their job is impossible ask for help ask for any technology that will let them achieve a higher percentage of correct decisions. If referees ask for technology then surely the SFA, UEFA and FIFA have to listen. It is my firmly held belief however that the larger the club the less they wish referees to get decisions correct and the more they wish them to be influenced by the fans. So what am i saying?? In essence referees do their best, they are human make mistakes and are influenced by players managers fans and journalists. If everything remains the same they will continue to do so and the quality of refereeing will never improve. They will be roundly criticised by fans of every team but it is forgotten quickly unless a perceived injustice is done to one or other of the big two. Then the brown stuff hits the round swirly thing. Help them out. make players responsible for their actions in a game. If they win a penalty by diving which is subsequently shown to be a dive ban them for a predetermined number of games. Let video technology rescind red cards but also dish out red cards. Within a few weeks of this coming in there will be a change in attitude from the players and managers and the refs will not have to face the wrath of the fans for the remainder of the game in question. have a panel made up of ex players ex refs and ex or out of work managers to view contentious problems and make a binding decision for all parties. If there is a change in attitude of the players games, will be easier to referee and more decisions will be correct. It would be a small step in the right direction.

Right Guys. Now that all the qualifiers are known we are 17th seed in round 2 . The standard way Uefa make the draw would mean we would be in pot 1 with: seeded- Olympiakos Gre, Randers Den, MOTHERWELL, Gefle Swe, Dinamo Minsk Bls unseeded- Skonta Riga Latvia*, KR Reykjavik Iceland*, Iskra-Stal Ribnita Moldova, Mogren Budva Montenegro*, Tre Penne San Marino *if qualifies from round 1 This is by no means certain and usually involves a minor amount of swapping around in order for teams from the same country to avoid drawing each other . This is made more complicated as the second round is drawn just after round 1 and the 'either ors' must avoid the possibility of drawing each other. So this may be hugely inaccurate and should not be regarded as gospel

Draw for round 1 and 2 on June 21st. Round 3 July 16th

Seville's win last night means that Hibs and Motherwell will be seeded in the last 2 seeding places in round 3. Obviously we have to win against whoever we are drawn against in round 2 but it gives us a better chance of getting to the play off round and it could be that there are 4 Scottish teams in that round if Celtic get punted out of Champions league qualifying (which is likely)

Is this true? Even if Hibs have been entered as Scotland's second qualifier and we are Scotland's third qualifier?

Complicating factor Randers Fc of denmark have got the 3rd Fair play place and are higher ranking than us. This drops us down to 35th of the 70 teams. If Seville win the Spanish cup on 22nd May we will stay seeded but if Atletico Madrid win we will drop to 36th as Getafe will be in Round 3 instead of Nordsjælland . This will make us unseeded but Hibs would remain seeded. That would irritate me somewhat !

I would personally be delighted as it would 1) give us a better chance of getting to the play off round increasing our revenue and our club co-efficient . 2) Give us the possibility of being within 1 round of making the league stage before we have to play a 'glamour team' 3) Allow us to still be in Europe when the season starts proper! Obviously if we lost to a lower ranked team in round 3 that would be disappointing but there is still a good chance of pulling out a relative minnow and earning the right to guarantee a glamour tie

Been following bert kassies site with interest since we qualified. We are currently 16th seed in round 2 which will easily make us a seeded team. Hibs have the same ranking as us in round 3 and are 18th seeds. This makes us 34th seed in round 3 should we qualify as the draw for round 3 is before round is completed which means the seeding doesn't change. FC Viktoria Plzen have qualified from the Czech republic as one of the current unknown teams and have a lower ranking than us. The other unknown that could overtake us depends on the result in the spanish cup final between Atletico Madrid and seville. If madrid win Getafe will be in Round 3 (higher ranked) and if Seville win FC Nordsjælland will be in round 3 (lower ranked) I think therefore we will be ranked 34th or 35th out of 70 and therefore seeded in round 3 Feel free to argue

The single most important thing to improve standards of refereeing would be video technology. This will never happen as Rangers and Celtic are totally against it. (As are the Big Four in England) The whole of Ibrox and Parkhead shouting for a penalty undoubtedly will influence any referee and the 'Big Clubs' would not want the decision to be actually proved correct. This works vice versa when our handful of fans claim a penalty and can easily be ignored by match officials. You can argue many things but the Big decisions should be correct. Only when video technology comes in is there a chance of this occuring.

Couldn't put anything better myself and agree with every sentiment. RIP

Don't remember the knife suggestion

Sad news indeed My strongest memory of him was when we defeated East Stirling at Firs Park 6-0 in the early eighties (possibly 1st division championship season). The away end behind the goal was full of Well fans and Brian hit an absolute bullet of a shot which fizzed past the post. He hit a young lad full in the face who was the only person at that end with a black and white scarf on ! Obviously the crowd loved it but he went over to the fan and was very apologetic. Thoughts are with his family

Yes 500 but their wikipedia said they once had 800 in the ground for a local derby!!!

Hi Guys Just thought i would add my input to our possible opponents. The first column is the distance from Motherwell as the crow flies. The second is the stadium capacity of the club and the third is whether the club is currently in their close season. Renova Dzepciste Mac 1467 15000 Yes Inter Baku Azb 2625 10000 Yes Simurq Zaqatala Azb 2443 4000 Yes Trans Narva Est 1205 3000 No Kalju Nomme Est 1085 500 No Vllaznia Shkodër Alb 1416 20300 Yes Dinamo Tirana Alb 1466 13900 Yes Irtysh Pavlodar Kaz 3107 15000 Yes Okzhetpes Kokshetau Kaz 2809 10000 Yes Mika Ashtarak Arm 2429 7000 No Banants Yerevan Arm 2429 6000 No Llanelli FC Wal 284 3700 Yes The New Saints Wal 206 2000 Yes Linfield Belfast Nir 112 18000 Yes Lisburn Distillery Nir 112 8000 Yes B36 Torshavn Far 442 5000 No NSI Runavik Far 449 2000 No CS Grevenmacher Lux 607 4000 Yes UN Käerjeng Lux 597 1000 Yes Buducnost Podgorica Mon 1387 17000 Yes Sutjeska Niksic Mon 1360 10800 Yes Valletta FC Mlt 1628 17800 Yes Birkirkara Mlt 1628 12500 Yes Obviously Wales N Ireland and the Faroes would be best but would also accept Malta Grevenmacher and Narva.