Goggles & Flippers

It would have made sense as that game would have been worth a tidy penny and if we progressed you would think we'd at least do the same again. I suspect if there are any signings it'll be after transfer day as they'll be cheaper. Otherwise why wait?

Good points Andy but I can't see any significant additions otherwise I think they would have been in place to play in Poland ...... As for the league table I expect what Judge Jules put down is pretty much on the mark for me.

Sorry, my bad! brain fart

Can anyone see us bringing anyone in before deadline day? I think our best chance of adding to the squad based on that result is picking up a free agent or two in the days after the dust settles and Jim White can get a kip. Can only see us pick someone up who's at a lose end and looking for a gig. Don't know if its a club policy of late not to bring in Loanee's but we haven't had any since Juke/Ruddy unless someone wants to correct.

I thought our league placing was very flattering based on some of the performances, too many losses and some of them humbling from those around us. Therefore this season, for the first in a while, I'm very pessimistic. I don't think we'll have much to play for come the split. I think Aberdeen will give Celtic a run much deeper into the season and Dundee Utd if they don't have another lull or two like they did last year will fill in 3rd. I can see some distance between us and the top three. I can't see any improvement in cups, unfortunately a marker was put down last November and a number of players and the manager stressed there would be no repeat and here we are. Why should any of us believe there will be no repeat now.

Probably go onto imdb.com and slate it on an online forum

I with you on about 50% of that Shaka. I think what McCall brings would only fully be appreciated when he left unless we got Louis Van Gaal and I think he's got a gig.

One of the commentators mentioned how they were filming Superstars and when finished filming offered Ally Brownlee a space in their transport back to the hotel, "How far is it?", about 12 miles, "I'll meet you back there, I haven't trained enough today" 100m sprint 800m running javelin throw 50m swim archery kayaking cycling (hill climb) gym tests Different mindset. If young footballers enter an environment where their peers expect a certain amount of free time, then they learn to expect it too ..... along with the trophy WAG and Aston Martin. If what the subsequent posts to mine confirm that Motherwell and Starjnan train roughly the same number of hours per week, however one team holds professional status and the other part time. Then you have to ask where is the significant difference? Is it purely we are in a country of 5.5 million and they live in one of 320,000 and therefore have a smaller pool of players to, select and less revenue streams? Whereas our are larger on both counts so to secure the top talent you have to offer professional status and the benefits that come with it here? By all means keep pro status but actually have them earn it after lunch, letting them hone their PS4 skills or heading off to Nando's for dinner doesn't count. It's only a fine balancing act to implement if you permeate past behaviour and traditions. As I said, John Collins is one of the few I've ever heard of who's approach to the game on and off the field was akin to how a top lawyer would approach a big trial, doctor prepare to give a lecture or a novelist would research a book.

Chances of her asking you to give up posting on online forums?

Definitely an element of the Ibrox class of the 90's about Fir Park. But it's a large factor in how we attracted McManus, what Ainsworth cited in his interview on the homepage, why Higdon said he'd be keen to return etc. And no, I'm not suggesting we go part time, don't know why you would default to that conclusion from my post. I'm suggesting the whole team would benefit from having something closer to a 9-5 like the majority of the punters that pay their wages. Know there's a chance of burn out but gym work, community interaction and standard training along with tactics etc. would be more like it. I know John Collins tied to implement something similar at Hibs and had a boardroom revolt from Scottish players who prefered going down the bookies and snooker halls in the afternoon. Watching the triathlon and seeing about how the Brownlee's train and I think Jesus. I know its a different discipline but having stamina and an engine like them surely can only benefit a footballer. Look at what McGhee achieved in his first summer.

Aye that's it, hit it on the head, well done

With respect to the topic title "where do we go from here" How about we stop wringing our knickers out like a bunch of little bitches? Look we've missed out on a bit of cash, not the end of the world, just no more opposition at a much lower level putting us out please Stuart. Out of interest, a lot has been made of our professionals playing part timers. When I played amateur in my youth I trained twice a week for 2 hours, if I played junior it would probably be 3x. As far as I understand it our players get Sunday off (based on 3pm Sat KO), Monday to Friday 10:00am for 10:30 start and done by 12:30 so 10 hours a week, hardly a huge gulf. Maybe I'm naive but past lunchtime do most Well players have the rest of the day to themselves?

Exactly this, in times of precarious finances cup games = prizes. I calculated that beating Albion Rovers, then Stenhousemuir? (both within our capability)and getting to Ibrox was probably worth £200k+. Add to that your figures and why not recall not being able to tuck away a team of 10 men in 85 minutes, leaves us looking at a major deficit.

You know what, reading through the last few pages, some of the stuff on here isn't too distant and echo's the woeful displays on the pitch. Calling for Higginbottom to be retained last season instead of Faddy for example, tell me 1 fan who was unhappy, nay ecstatic we'd retained him. Of course hindsight is a great thing. Another example is Dan being the key to our season, how many championed him on here, thinking his presence between the sticks was the key to our 6 game run last December and now he's too small and weak. I've seen Steelboy request McCall resign and it got 4 likes ...... gents have a long hard look at yourselves. As has been pointed out, cups mean prizes in terms of silverwear and cash while league position counts for something, our form here in the majority of his time in charge is well below average. Would I like him to give the opposition less credit pre-match? Yes. Do I want him to stop writing us off in advance with visits to Parkhead? Yes. Do I want him chased out my club to be replaced with a Yogi Hughes type journeyman? No.

He's an explosive player and his tank isn't that big. If he tracked back and lasted 90 minutes he would be playing at a level above us. In this instance it was no doubt to shore up for the last portion of the game. While Kerr offers not a fraction of what Ainsworth going forward, he offers 100% more than what he does in protecting the back line. It is surprising its not really clicked for him. No doubt due to the World Cup, a number of teams would be starting back a tad later. Pre season generally involves a few weeks of limited ball work with an emphasis on fitness. I suspect the lack of friendlies is due to not enough teams being advanced enough to step up to games. As for tonight, all that team should go and have a long look at themselves. McCall needs to put his hands up and tell where it went wrong but to be fair he always has. Just getting a bit boring hearing it now, its getting too repetitive. Check us out, all gallus talking about how we're going to get to Poland for the next tie. I don't think we're on the way back to mid/low table mediocrity (mainly because a lot of teams around us are in much worse positions) however if Stuart wants money to strengthen the team then he needs to put things in place to put ties like this to bed to ensure extra income.

I think back to the statement on the fishal site back in May, it seemed pretty final which I found surprising. One thing is clear, I don't think he'd behave like Higginbottom if he scored against us ......

Weren't Bredablik accommodated in the POD?

That figure was given to me by someone senior associated with the club from the mouth of our former CEO. Sorry Steelboy, epic fail!

From what I understand the cost of hosting a standard game at FP including stewarding, cops, etc. is from £25k to £35k. If we made £50k last week then we'd be doing well (I still can't fathom why the cops insist on having mounted police for Euro games against 22 good natured and friendly fans). Regardless it looks like the club made the right business decision on the pricing. I can only imagine maybe 300 extra would have came along if tickets were £15.

Anyone know what UEFA pay out for a win and a draw in these preliminary stages? I worked out we must have been close to £100k in gate revenue from last week. Just wondering what else that second half performance cost us in addition to having no fingernails left.

Anyone know if a certain sports bar in Motherwell is showing it?

Maybe his agent alerting the competition via a friendly journo that he could be available. Quite a few teams would fancy him and a couple have bigger coffers than us.

Decorator must raging that he can't have a drink the night before otherwise he'll miss out on the 2pm sale and the run is over. It's a bit of a poor show from the home team no opting to switch to a bigger stadium as we are bringing so many, expensive trip to spend it sitting in a bar buying expensive beer. Sorry to say it but I hope they do a one ticket per person thing, not overly fair if you're at the tail of the queue and someone arriving on Thursday gets a brief.

You google that or was it burned into an adolescent memory?

I'll explain in depth for you as you appear to have also negged my comment. In answer what's he done wrong? I implied he wasn't Randolph (of course it would require a) sense of humour and b) intelligence to draw the conclusion) a player well regarded by everyone on here and in some people's eyes the benchmark for our keepers. Which isn't fair on Dan.