dennyc

Average attendance is the official measure and it's fantastic to witness the growth that has been achieved this season. But I suspect excluding the away stand numbers would reveal even more progress. As that would focus on the growth within the home support. For me that is the true tell of the Askou appointment. Comparing the numbers pre split avoids the extra OF home game skewing the numbers from a top 6 finish. Celtic and Rangers can be guaranteed to fill their stand so that is more or less a constant season upon season. However it looked to me as if most of the other visiting teams brought less fans with them this season. In fairness, Falkirk as newbies far outstripped the numbers brought by the team they replaced. Taking Kilmarnock in isolation. From what I can find online, their two visits last season brought in a total of 9312. This season that total climbed to 14163. An increase of just under 5000. But from where I was sitting it looked like this season Killie brought far less fans this season than last. So by that calculation our home support increased by at least 5300 over the two games combined. An average home support showing an increase well in excess of 2500. Happy days. The totals I found online quoted 11209 for Sunday v Rangers. So that suggests to me the figures are accurate and not based on BBC guesswork.

Agree. He was top class.

Here's a whisper then. Dylan Levitt from Hibs. Was mentioned to me earlier today by a Hibs mate who is pretty reliable when it comes to transfer info from Easter Road. Out of contract in the summer and unlikely to get a new deal. Good number of appearances for Utd and then Hibs but injury hindered his game time at Easter Road. Now fit but but with Andrews added to the mix he is very much looking at bench time, if that. If we are interested it could be more about covering anticipated outgoings in the Summer.

Pretty sure he will know how and when to play Pinocchio. Part of the job spec.

So by that token when do we revert to bottom tier only to preserve the overused top tier? And are they currently refreshing the bottom tier?

Occurs to me that only using the upper tier when numbers dictate is all about reducing the likelihood of fans invading the playing area and confronting home fans, players and staff. How much abuse would our keeper receive when retrieving the ball? Also restricts the possibility of objects/pyros being thrown onto the pitch areas and players officials being injured. Makes practical sense to me given that Clubs are expected to take all possible precautions to avert crowd trouble. And quite honestly I don't care a toss if visiting fans find it difficult to create an atmosphere. Think back to that Celtic game where all sorts of mayhem erupted with our players being confronted on the pitch. Did our 'top tier' rule not come into play shortly after that game? I would happily bar the OF from the bottom tier as well but money talks I guess. And anyway, does anybody really believe Motherwell fans visiting any away ground are given a prime location where it can be avoided.

I thought the first yellow card for Lowery was correct and Walsh got it spot on. Unintentional as it may have been Lowery went over the ball and caught our player on the shin. Happy to see a yellow given for tackles like that. The second yellow was just stupidity from the Killie player although some referees would have bottled taking action. The offside I thought was clear enough although not as blatant as I thought at the game. Not quite in line but everyone around me on the POD could not understand why the VAR decision took so long. I thought tv highlights showed Polwarth was clearly offside. Tight maybe but not in doubt. All three talking points I thought resulted in the correct outcome although they did give McCann something to deflect from how ineffective his tactics and players were after the first 20 minutes. He appears to have adopted the Kettlewell teflon approach.

In fairness he then did go on to give an update of sorts. Along the lines of..... 'they are on track with the schedule we set and are a week closer to return'. I guess he was just making a point about being asked the same question about the same players week after week?

I thought it was very clever of Askou. Not only did his comments reassure us fans, they also sent a clear message to the Club Board. Promises made should be promises kept and the time to consider a sale is at season end.

If we were offered £3m for any player that cost us nothing and had only been with us for 6 months I think he would be gone. Hopefully with a decent sell on clause as an addition. Especially one as raw and relatively unproven as Maswanhise. Askou was recruited on the basis he would develop players. Young and old. Is that not exactly what he is doing? So we should not be surprised or disappointed at others showing an interest. Securing players on longish term contracts and selling them on our terms is the gameplan. If an offer is not considered good value then it will be rejected. Watt still being with us and not on his way to Poland as an example if what I was told is true. As for Halliday. He said he hoped Maswanhise would not be on his way and also that he considered £3m as the minimum we should expect. Nothing wrong with that. He did not say we should accept £3m from Rangers or any other club. Personally I think setting a minimum figure did us a favour as it will frighten off clubs seeking to rob us (Celtic). SODs follow up today merely emphasised we will not give our contracted players away at a bargain price. But we will listen to offers. We have to sadly. Given our model and our on field success so far, the interest being shown in our players is confirmation of the progress we have made. It's a good thing. I trust our Board to manage any departures so as not to disrupt that progress to any great extent. I also trust our Manager to continue to identify and develop players to fill the gaps which will inevitably need to be filled. I sincerely hope the likes of Maswanhise, Watt, Just, Fadinger and others are still with us until season end at least. But I am realistic enough to realise that may not be the case. I just hope Askou is given the funding to bring in suitable replacements. He has earned that right and I am sure he will already have identified a few players just in case the inevitable happens sooner than later. Just consider the mess we were in only a year or so ago under Kettlewell. This conversation way back then was inconceivable.

Fair comment. But for me another quality CB gives us scope for SODs McGinn and McGhee to cover injuries and rotation elsewhere. Once this window slams shut we need the squad depth to cover all eventualities. Doubts already exist as to when Watt will return and I believe Ross picked up an injury on Saturday. We are just not going to go injury free during the second half of the season. I agree other positions require more urgent attention but I am greedy.

Agree 100%. I would prefer both solutions. Welsh and another CB asap that Askou feels fits our style. Rangers fans seem to think discussions have taken place regards Nsiala. I hope not as it would be another loan and from what little I have seen he is also a bomb scare.

How about playing him tonight just to make sure he cannot play for us in the cup if he returns? That was also a suggestion. Or the Board recalling him to spite O'Neill ....or was it the other way round? Or did the Board recall him to spite the fans? I've lost track.

So other than the knickers in a twist comment we more or less agree? Nothing to do with the goodness of their hearts though. If having had a look at Welsh in light of his form with us, Celtic decide he still does not cut it then why not offload him to the only place he can go. If Motherwell agree. Surely that is best for all parties?

If we had a spate of injuries and were short of players for a position, would those getting their knickers in a twist about Welsh react the same way if we recalled a loanee whose wages we were paying to see if he could fill the gap? Especially if he was performing at an exceptional level. Pretty sure I read on here that some folk thought it would be a good idea to recall Whyte from Stenhousemuir to see if he could do a job in our midfield as cover for Watt or Slattery or perhaps sit on our bench to give us more options. Celtic are perfectly within their rights to recall Welsh to see if he can improve their current squad, bearing in mind injuries and other players moved on in this window. We knew that when he came to us as the recall date was included in the Agreement. If he does not cut it in training or game time he will be back with us soon enough, if we want him. All this talk about conspiracies, victimisation etc is nonsense. The situation is inconvenient and might be stalling us bringing in a new face or two. But that's all it is.