dennyc

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.

I agree, but you never know he just might want to return home to Lanarkshire and given what he has contributed to SW they might do him and therefore us a good turn Even at his age, he looks fitter, more mobile and technically better than players 10 years younger. As a short term addition and if available on decent terms I think he would be a good addition. Hopefully wrong, but I expect one of our regular midfielders to move on this window.

Exactly this. Celtic are only doing what I hope we would do in a similar position. Having a look at Welsh in training to assess whether he would fit in to the team, is better than they currently have, is better than anyone they can bring in. If none of those apply send him back out on Loan. I hope he does play against AT. That way I understand he could not go on Loan to anyone but us. And if some team wants to buy him outright and pay his full wages then so be it. All this 'Celtic are doing the dirty on us and Welsh' is just nonsense.

With Balmer gone we must be looking to bring someone in no matter what. But also look to Welsh returning later in the window. I'm hoping Welsh features at Falkirk tomorrow and that rules out a loan to anybody but us later on in January. That leaves only a permanent transfer available this window to all but us and his wages might prove prohibitive to those other teams showing an interest. With a wee bit of luck this whole circus could work out quite well for us. And if we can't beat County without Welsh I would be amazed.

Probably wrong but the only place I could see him going is Belgium , but even then the wages might be an issue. A Loan might be doable I guess. But remember Celtic already mucked him about when Mechelen wanted him back for this season. To our benefit. Celtic have one CB injured long term and let two youngsters for the same position leave because they could not get in ahead of Scales and Trusty. Which speaks volumes about Celtic's recruitment under Rodgers. No inside info, just a feeling, but I think they have recalled him to be a starter.....at least until Carter Vickers returns. And as others have said, why should Welsh take a wage cut to facilitate a permanent transfer to the likes of Aberdeen or us?

My point was that we could afford the fee but the wages ruled us out. Sorry if that was not clear.

What you say is true but sadly we know that very few players in Scotland will turn down the chance to go to either Celtic or Rangers. Maybe also Aberdeen and Hearts. Whether it works out for them or not is not really a consideration. They will usually get chances somewhere elsewhere if that is the case. That's just life up here. We are not the only club that faces that challenge. In fact even those clubs I listed face the exact same issue when England or Europe come calling. If any of those four are prepared to offer a 3 or 4 year contract at upwards of £10k a week (which is what Welsh is on) then it would take a very brave and confident player to say "no thanks". John McGinn is the only one I can think of and in his case I think it was more Hibs than the player that refused the move to Celtic. And what if a player stays put and his form dips or he suffers a serious injury? That might be his only chance of financial security gone. Or if a club deny a move and the player downs tools or disrupts the dressing room? Declan Gallagher springs to mind....allegedly. If Motherwell receive a fair offer and a player wants to go then he will be gone.

I heard we did and could afford him. But he is on £10k plus PW at Celtic for the next 18 months. I would not be surprised to see him playing for them at least until season end. Their current defence is shocking. Just look at how we ran Scales ragged. I suspected he would be recalled as soon as I heard Nancy had been sacked.

Think they are more likely to move him on. If not Aberdeen, his performances for us will have alerted others. That said. given that Celtic's central defence is a shambles and Carter Vickers is out injured he might get his chance. They also loaned Inamura back to Japan despite having given him a 4 year deal in the summer. Askou will sort it out. With SOD injured and Balmer likely on his way I hope we get two central defenders in fairly quickly. The Watt to Rangers rumour is also gathering pace although his injury is delaying matters so I am told. At least with Watt we have a say in matters.

Lord Hamilton colours

Good to see you have removed that imposter who had taken over your account. Or are you just recalling November 2013.

The racing colours thing sounds more plausible to me. Changing colours is a huge thing and would need something major to justify it. A condition of being donated land to create a new Stadium comes across as more likely than adopting an English team's colours. Then again, maybe Lord Hamilton was a bid Bradford fan.