dennyc

Nah, Bob Malcolm

There was also a through pass that split the centre backs and just eluded two players bursting in behind. Given time those attackers will know what he is capable of and react a split second earlier and so make the most of his vision.

Hilarious last night at end of game. Guy in front of me on stairs was carrying his seat and handed it into the Director's box on way out. From what I saw it was held in place by one giant screw which had come loose. Maybe we should all try that. Never got a chance to ask him what the reaction was.

And this shows me you haven't got a clue what I'm saying. I thought I was very clear but my bad if not. Where did I say we should have a squad of 13? Where did I say anyone not up to Turnbull etc standard should be shipped out? Where did I say anyone not first team ready should be moved on? Where did I say players should not be given time to reach a standard? What I did say, and I'll repeat it in the hope you get it, is that we should always be looking to upgrade where possible, from within or by recruitment. And that applies across the board, the entire squad which at last count was way more than 13. As for Wilson, I haven't counted the number of games he has had. But if your figure of 100 is correct then the progress he has made in that time is disappointing. In truth he was a better player when he first broke through. In my opinion he has regressed but you are entitled to disagree as you clearly do.

My view is we should upgrade all areas when the chance presents itself, first choice or bench. If that means the likes of Wilson lose out then so be it. But only if we can do better. Maybe Wilson will prove to be a late developer but given the chances he has had here and elsewhere I have my doubts. How long do we wait before trying someone new? Preferably from within as you say but if no-one presents themselves then look elsewhere. Someone who is less of a quality drop from the regular first choice. Someone who will push the player ahead of him to maintain his performance level. Someone who convinces us he can eventually perform at a high level. Ross is at the stage Wilson was around a year or two ago. Failing to convince that he will prove good enough to ever command a first team place. Possibly has earned a wee bit longer but needs to prove he can contribute more when given the chance. We have stuck with players in similar situations in the past (possibly for financial reasons) and inevitably it does not work out. It's a tough and ruthless approach but we cannot retain players just because they are good guys who came through the Academy and give their all....... if their ability does not support our progression. As a comparison, Whyte has shown much more in his loan spell at Stenny and his limited first team minutes with us than either of the two under discussion. It seems likely he will grab his opportunity when it comes. Miller, Turnbull and Johnston from within as earlier examples. Priestman more recently from without. So no Whyte upgrade and it meets the preference for giving youth a chance. I suppose it boils down to the quality of player I believe we should commit to long term and how long we should give a player to prove he has that quality. As for Maswanhise and McGinn I take your point regarding their early careers.. But from a Motherwell point of view they delivered and contributed almost immediately. So it's not a like for like comparison. I should add 'when given the chance', because Maswanhise was hardly flavour off the month under Kettlewell. And It's not an age thing. If a player is not good enough we should move on....21 or 31 it makes no difference.

I agree to a degree but to my way of thinking you look at each position, starter and back up, and look to upgrade where possible. From youth teams (ours and elsewhere) if possible for those back ups.. That way you achieve a constant uplift in quality on the pitch and on the bench.. And more likliehood that those bench players will elevate to first team regulars. Regards Wilson, he has been with us for a good number of years and after a very promising start has shown little to no progress. Despite loan placements to address whatever deficiencies our coaches identified. So how long do we wait before looking to upgrade? Ditto Luca Ross I guess. And if we hold on too long, are we effectively missing out on others that might improve us? Not saying it's easy or that some decisions are painful to make but eventually it will be to the benefit of all concerned to part ways. Cue Wilson scoring the winner on Thursday.

I hear what you say about not wishing to absolve the Club, but mentioning UEFA in mitigation kind of does that. That's the first excuse Brian came up with. UEFA may have been the driver, but it was not UEFA who chose a dangerous and ill thought out solution. Plenty of other teams will have had to modify seating to meet higher standards.....some we will both have visited.....but they did so without the shambles we are now faced with. Someone at the Club got this badly wrong and the Board need to accept that fact and rectify matters before it becomes an even bigger issue. ie. Someone gets injured. Not saying anyone should be sacked. Just that a solution needs to be found. The top tier of the away Stand could possibly be used to temporarily accommodate displaced home fans as improvements are made on a staged basis. Say, 250 or 500 at a time. Maybe not ideal having to move but I think folk would understand. Plenty of home games where a tier of that Stand lies empty. Looking at our fixtures, if and when we get past HJK, Oct 10 v Celtic is the first time the full Stand is certain to be full of away fans. Is that a window that could be utilised ? Even if Freiburg could fill the stand that would only delay matters a week.

On this occasion the Club are ignoring fan feedback and hiding behind Uefa considerations. And the Society are also noticeably silent. In short, MFC made an arse of this and nobody is willing to admit it. The odd person may have received a reply to letters of complaint, but many people putting a reasonable case have not. No way can these seats be considered safe but it appears that only when someone is badly hurt will anybody in authority take notice. Not a good look. Given how well things have gone on the pitch it speaks volumes that seating is the hottest topic in town. I guess many who sit elsewhere will think folk are exaggerating how poor the situation is. But I assure them it is as bad as reported. I really do question whether any of the decision makers have even tested the seats. In fact, on Thursday I offer any one of the Board members...Cub or Society.... (that includes you Brian and Kirk) who sit on those nice comfy seats directly behind me to swap seats for the match. I won't hold my breath though.

I thought the game were set to postpone was the one in the middle of the Freiburg games? Only to apply if we made it to the final play off round.

Cheers. Still recovering from Easter Road so forgot that.

KO on BBC listed as 5PM?

Tactically it looks like AJ plans to start two on the left side who can support each other in pushing forward, with Longelo and Williams the pairing that best fits that set up. Despite the promise of his early career, Wilson has not progressed either offensively or defensively. He should be moved on. That's the same Wilson who struggled to get a game in the Championship last season and who clearly still cannot last a full 90 minutes. If the sale of our major assets continues (contrary to what we were promised) and Longelo does ship out, then we would be relying on Wilson to slot in unless we bring in a direct Longelo replacement. Hardly ideal as we need to finalise our first choice starting eleven sooner rather than later.

Good point. Certainly looks like we are in sell now where we can mode despite earlier Board assurances to the contrary. And given our left back stock it would not surprise me in the slightest if Longelo goes in this window.

Anderlecht signing Antman from Rangers for £4.5m might mean they drop their interest in Maswanhise. He might end up being the one to stay a bit longer. His Agent will be gutted.

Setting aside how uncomfortable and cramped the seats are, the health and safety implications are a major issue.. Seriously, until you have actually been in the seat and attempted to let someone limbo past as the rear of the seat collapses under you, it is difficult to appreciate how much of a mistake they have made....no matter how many good intentions came into play. Heaven forbid, but the thought of needing a quick Stand evacuation is frightening. And that is a factor the issuing of a Safety Licence must take intro account. I've been to most grounds in Scotland and I'm struggling to come with one that is worse than what we have been landed with. Next time you are back home I'll happily let you try it out.

I think each one of those three would have scored on Thursday given the chances created. The opportunities we did not convert against HB were criminal and have kept the tie alive. If none of those three are fit or going to feature under AJ, then we have to quickly find someone to finish off the chances created. With our more direct play under AJ we are going to create more penalty area openings so we need a central striker we can rely upon to convert. And I don't think anybody we saw on Thursday can fill that role. No matter how hard they try.

And yet one of the guys that helped replace the seats said the middle seats were only replaced so they were uniform and looked better. And they were good enough for the Sligo game. I think Brian said what he had to to placate the fans. Not a first. Maybe you should have asked him if he had actually sat in the new seats. And whether they passed a Health and Safety check. I get we are stuck with them but somebody got this badly wrong. After a Euro tie the talk should really be about the game but sadly the hot topic is the seating. There is a reason for that.

Tried that after Genk. Ignored. And they did not need to replace the central seats. It was only the bucket seats on the wings that needed sorted. I wonder if any of the powers that be even tried the seats? Biggest issue is Health and Safety. An injury waiting to happen. How they passed inspection is beyond me. Someone needs to put their hands up and accept they got it badly wrong. But currently wagons being circled. Although those wagons are probably more comfortable than the new seats.

I have two questions - 1. Was the mitigation that McInnes was wearing his Rangers tie at the hearing? 2. Was Infantino included on the Panel? It's not the corruption that is the most infuriating. It's the fact they are so open about it and don't care who sees it. And if Motherwell make a noise about it then they will be cited again. I'm just waiting on Hearts getting a wee phone following the little sing song from their fans last night.

The bucket seats on the wings of the stand could not be used per Uefa. Apparently to be acceptable seats must have a back. So they took the chance to change the lot. Sadly the word 'upgrade' is not appropriate.

You actually come across as very bitter. Thankfully most see us qualifying for Europe as a measure of success and enjoy the ride however long it lasts. Whether or not they enjoy a trip to the away games. Results are not always great but the anticipation and build up to the games gives fans a lift and a wee bit of hope......well most fans anyway.

Thor not getting a run out was baffling. Tells me the Manager has decided RCC is our new central striker. Good luck with that as no way is that his position. Was Thor the only unused substitute? If fit, he is clearly not rated by AJ. Otherwise why ignore him? The youngsters all did their best bearing in mind they only got promoted from the development squad last week. Some showed up well but no way are they first team ready. Needs must I guess but for various reasons we are in a mess heading into the season. Re Seating in POD. An absolute disgrace. Whoever decided they were fir for purpose clearly sits in the nice comfy padded seats at the rear of the Stand. A total waste of money and actually seem to have resulted in less room. Poor quality and flimsy. Not one person I spoke to had a good word to say about them. And someone is going to get hurt trying to let folk squeeze past. Whoever is responsible should hang their head in shame.

I think only players registered by this Thursday can take part in our first two Conference ties. So I am hoping to see a few incoming very soon. Especially if the number currently injured is as high as seems to be the case. I get that some are not too fussed about those Euro games but I take the opposite view. Win the tie and the players and fans will be on a high and the feel good vibe within Fir Park will return. Lose and the pressure builds on players and Manager for and the trip to Easter Road. Won't take much for the doom and gloom to return to the Stands. So, yes, these two games are important and not just for the financial boost. We need to put ourselves in a position to progress.

That's what I thought. Cannot have St Mirren diving in and stealing the next Eli Just from us. Hope they have planned for a sneaky wee drone appearing over the stand roof.

Much along the lines of what I was thinking. I can see Stam getting the chance to claim a first team spot. Who knows, with a slight modification to our approach he could turn out to be the goal scorer we thought we had signed. Last chance saloon though. Although he has said he advocates a possession based, play out from the back system, Johansson has also said he will mix things up at times. That might suit Stam as he certainly struggled to get into games when given the chance last season. Plus if we lose the players we think we will lose, then we might need to be a bit more pragmatic. I do expect us to be more risk averse than we were Askou. Has Stam ever indicated he wants to leave or has the Club ever said they want to move him on at any cost? To sell you need a buyer. I get he returned to Australia on loan last season but I would love it if he could prove all the doubters wrong. And in his time back in Australia I don't think he missed any games through injury? Whatever, the new Manager needs time to assess what he already has in the building. Following numerous closed door games our friendly against Genk will likely give a good idea of who he rates or does not rate.