Goggles & Flippers

I did get that but last season when Thomas made an appearance it was mostly to replace Ainsworth and then switch sides. Johnson looks like he'll last 90. Regardless, as I said earlier, not enough depth in central defence and central midfield, more signings still to come, not to forget the last minute scramble come deadline day and a few loanee's. All very promising. Keeper in the Randolph mould to gain us 15 points a season and it's back to the top 6/Euro qualification (fingers crossed).

--------------------------------- TBC (Twardzik) ----------------------------- --- Law (Watt, Reid) -- Laing -- McManus -- Hammell (Chalmers) --- Ainsworth (Thomas) - Pearson (Cadden) - Lasley (Leach) - Johnson ------------- Clarkson (Fletcher) ------- Moult (Moore) ------------------- Correct me if I'm wrong but this is our current lineup with backup (some players can be used elsewhere). No doubt there is cover but I've only listed players who have made a consistent jump up to the first team in the past.

Give our latin friends some credit, Football Manager took from the Italian noun for the role. Literally means "3/4's", the area in the park in which he inhabits and works his magic. Faddy at his best all in really.

Sad to see his stock reduce to such a degree however Baraclough may like the idea of a cultured Trequarista ...... Can see Dom Thomas getting used from 15-20 minutes as previously Ainsworth has struggled to last a match, maybe that will change this pre-season. Can see Johnson being dynamite now he'll have a decent pre-season as he admitted the difference in fitness levels between us and the Kidderminster was quite a gulf. Moult looks extremely promising. For me we're lacking a 15 point per season keeper, a centre half and a backup for Lasley (if possible). McDonald would be the icing on the cake.

Away strip is an homage to my favourite ever away top, the Pony one from the mid 90's. I'd prefer wider amber stripes to distinguish it from Hearts as has been mentioned, would Macron have accommodated that? Doubt it! Not a fan of a sash, I look at pictures and footage of the era of the first incarnation and my initial thought is it isn't Motherwell, but obviously it is. As for the letters, I like our badge and really dislike the lettering, both the sash and the letters had their day in my opinion and should remain there. I'd only welcome a change from the current crest to a reworking of the badge a la Everton or Arsenal and even then a fans vote. Fluorescent should be reserved for Dortmund and only Dortmund, I imagine it's a punt by PS to see if it takes off. Would have been nice to have 2 different collars but the socks no doubt help out beleaguered parents a tad. Last years strips only got a year as we were meant to be changing our sponsor. Looks like they've extended either as the one Flow mentioned fell through and they got it cheap or they outbid them. 8 strips used over 5 years, not an ideal situation

He still could, but we'll get decent wonga for him and next summer too. We'll have increased his terms to get the extension so the hope either is to demand a bigger transfer next summer with 2 years to run or get 2 seasons where he shows constant improvement to put him in the shop window in 2017. Regardless all good. I suspect Sutton's wage will be part of what's being offered to McDonald but I suspect a few of the others who were released will also be added to that pot. Wes will be on buttons and Moult will be on a decent wedge, maybe as some have pointed out, too much to allow McDonald to be involved. I think that's the crux, WE .... as in the support. The new owner is facilitating these but ultimately if we don't sell them on for decent cash (Law and Randolph) then it will come from WS members. In Baraclough we trust, in years gone by if a manager made a bad decision then we may suffer on the park, in these days of potential fan ownership, our WS investments could be wiped out in addition to watching dross. However, to clarify I have great hope in what he can achieve this summer and everything I've seen so far appears to show a degree of acumen.

Skippy was always going to be wishful thinking, he's probably in real terms another season to 18 months from his signature being a realistic prospect for us, I still think he can compete at a higher level for that amount of time before looking to our level. Underwhelmed by Clarkson I'm sad to say, hope to be proven wrong.

Aye cause that stopped them signing Mo Johnston

Anyone else think Neilsen may star against Celtic for Starjnan? ..... Nope ..... oh well.

Safe to say regrettable all round, I'm sure our former employee feels a bit coy towards for his mate who got him the gig, I'm sure our manager hoped he may have found the role he gave him more attractive than the one he's now moving to and I'm sure the club could have done without all the upheaval and the extra expense and hassle of recruiting a replacement. This is definitely the most significant summer for recruitment since 2009.

I will never fail to wonder at the mindset of those in the shiney offices at Hampden, pretty poor to have two away games either side of Christmas Day.

All this talk of diagonal shirts, is there any substance to it or just hopeful optimism?

But we should all be under no illusion, if the new owner digs deep to fund any of these, it's added immediately to the growing total we (the club and WS) have to pay him back in 4.5 years time. He does seem to be a bit of a hybrid between the Ann Budge and Fergus McCann models of rebuilding a club with a decent foundation. To be honest though, that is fair enough. The only fear for me is that money could be spent that means that we could never dig ourselves out of the hole, but at present nothing I've seen suggests that is a possibility .... so far. The club should be following a business model to maximise its assets going forward. We can't reply on a rich benefactor safety net in perpetuity. I'm encouraged by what Flow said about Ainsworth the Clyde interview, even more surprised to hear he listened to the phone-in regularly with all the OF eejits taking up 99% of the airtime. I have a hope and a feeling that our players may start next season as fit as they did when McGhee had them. A player like Ainsworth who, let's be honest, has a questionable worth ethic at times, could be a star in this league if he buckles down and improves his stamina and attitude, his footballing skill and ability is unquestionable.

Isn't that the case for all managers? His signings in January were somewhat imposed on him. They had to come into to a malaise filled dressing room and hit the ground running. Always tougher for the defenders to accomplish. I suspect Flow was the driving force behind Pearson and McDonald. Marvin was an undoubted success as his fitness improved. Laing came onto a game as understanding with McManus increased over time and Connor Grant certainly has something about him. As for the keeper, rollercoaster showed he was a bit of a confidence player, a few errors results in him being a 50-50. Straker and Thomas who I suspect were very much on the radar of Baraclough and/or the new head of scouting were failures, but to be fair one was always going back to his club and the other we took a cheap punt on and it didn't work out. This summer will be interesting and I'm very optimistic to see what he can do with his players playing his system, which if any of you recall was a high pressing game that relied on high levels of fitness.

Multi-coloured keeper top ...... thoughts? Guessing it reminded him a particularly heavy night in some of Amsterdam's cafe's Swinging on the bar, did he get much grief?

Because he builds up a 7 year dossier of every player to whip out in his "told you so" rants. But revenue from his move to fund new players would be something you do care about surely?

Well with the context of Goodwillie, GMS and Stuart Armstrong as datums and how much they went for, how much would you have Erwin valued at? Is £500k that different from what he's worth? 21, half a dozen goals, half a season of starts?

I'd love to know what the club could have done to avoid this. McCall decided not to extend his contract last summer, that would have been the opportune moment and with hindsight he would have probably went for it. He then features in a couple of games until Baraclough comes in and uses him a lot more which raised his profile and probably brought him onto the radar of a few big clubs. He was offered a deal (no doubt around the time of Dom Thomas and Watt) and declined it, no doubt because he was aware there was significant interest. Why re-sign for us when any potential purchaser would then have to use some of what he'd get in salary and have to use that towards a transfer fee. To listen to many on here we would have had Lawless, Forbes, Carswell, etc. signed up on 7 year deals, where would we be now if that was the case? Difference is this is the first summer in a long time we've had an engaged owner which an eye on the long term picture. I suspect that this will be the last we read of for a while on here. Marvin Johnson's option needs taken up immediately, ideally extended.

I find myself rolling my eyes yet again at the comments of many on here when a player moves on. Seen it with Nicky Law, Mark Reynolds, Jamie Murphy etc. Yes it would have been good to keep him, yes his development could have continued here, but nothing I've seen so far to suggest that won't continue to happen in Yorkshire. He's been approached by a club who despite being out the top league for +10 years now, still command crowds of over 30,000. His salary will no doubt go up and undoubtedly going to play and train at a higher level. All footballers aspire to play on a higher stage for more financial reward, fans need to get over thinking that they'd stay somewhere for an easy life or any sort of loyalty as they may do themselves. Some on here would have him stay here, merit to that of course but with every possibility he could get injured on a wet Tuesday night in Dingwall and have the career plateau and any future moves fall through. I for one have no issue with him taking an opportunity with offered at present and going for it, better the guarantee just now than the hope in a few years time. The best deal we could have ever hoped for was him being loaned back to us, but I certainly feel he has the tools and physicality to compete down there from the start.

Looks like a Spanish watermelon seller packed in the day job to fluff radioactive elephants.

Let's never mention S%$@*!n again, I get a nervous twitch whenever I think about it.

It's silly season mate, par for the course

Don't like the sash and never will unless it's an away top. I'd like to see black socks and not have to wait 16 years to see them. If any of you recall the Leeds Utd game and how good and how much impact that relatively simple strip had, it's the way forward.

Take it you were in a coma in October then?

I know puma used them to make the strips, I would be surprised if Macron weren't instructed to do the same. Sometimes the material and sheen may make things look different but at their core they are the same.