dennyc

After all the ownership calamities down Ibrox and Tynecastle way, I wonder if the South American lot would pass the " Fit and Proper" test that surely the SPFL and/or SFA must now look to properly apply to takeovers. Given the recent track record in Canada....where they were thrown out the League for "irregularities".. how can they pass such a test? Our Board don't carry the same clout as the Old Firm, so I don't see a chatty letter from them (as per Rangers re White) promising that the South Americans are good guys will convince anyone. There's also the Work Permit issue (again part of the irregularities in Canada), although there may be ways round that if a passport link to an EU Country can be established. Maybe that's a reason why they are interested in getting a foothold in Europe having been flung out of the States.

But are the existing players really that bad? Or is it just that their confidence has been destroyed by being played totally out of position and/or asked to perform tasks which are beyond them.....over and over again. Eg Sutton up front on his own, Kerr wide right, Lasley as an attacking midfielder. Or for those that are fortunate enough to be played in their correct position, having to look on as the same (losing) team selections/tactics are repeated time and time again. Whatever, it does look like the players are as bamboozled as many of us are at the way they are set up. Admittedly money is tight and McCall does deserve better after his success in recent years.But we are told this year's budget is the same as last, despite the Cup disasters. So the wages from Hutchie, Anier and Faddy were available to McCall to strengthen where required. He chose to invest that money in two year contracts to senior players and Josh Law. Last year he gave 2 year contracts to McHugh and Gunnar which can hardly be regarded as sensible investments. Looks to me as if the Board have provided what they could, but McCall has not spent wisely. I guess what I am trying to say is that...Yes, McCall has been hard done to in some aspects, but the tripe we are witnessing week in week out is mainly down to him.

So please explain Against Accies, leaving Angol on the pitch until the 80th minute despite having Stevie Hammell sitting on the bench. From the moment he gave away the first goal very early on, ZFA could do nothing right and the groans from the crowd every time the ball went near him must have really helped his confidence. McCall left him out there to rot. Against Aberdeen, leaving Kerr wide right until the 84th minute despite having Lionel Ainsworth sitting on the bench. Kerr cannot beat a man, cannot cross a ball and his first touch is terrible. Yet McCall keeps putting Kerr in that position, at the expense of not only Ainsworth but also Thomas. Against St Johnstone, McCall publically slating Erwin for failing to block a cross after he moved him to left back, having already played him through the centre and wide right. Against Stjarnan, repeating the same negative tactics in Iceland that failed miserably in the home leg Against everybody, Josh Law. Against everybody, a lack of fitness. None of the above have anything to do with a small squad or injuries. They are all about poor team selection, crazy tactics, favouratism, a lack of empathy for young players and stubbornness. They are all about Stuart McCall and Kenny Black

Well, the right wing is already reserved for a centre half, so Clarky in goals then....releasing Twardzic to take over at Centre Half with McManus moving to form a strike partnership with Lasley. Problem solved.

What weeyin says. But I would take Clarkson over McHugh any day of the week and that changes the whole dynamic of the squad, particularly with Erwins inexperience and the timing of Moore's return unsure. Problem is that crazy two year contract given to McHugh by our Manager and the fact that absolutely no-one wants him on loan......and I am led to believe every effort was made to get him back to QOS but they would not play ball. Speaks volumes.

Not trying to defend the players as they definately need to have a long hard look at themselves. But they must be baffled and totally dispirited regarding McCalls choice week in week out about who who plays wide right/left. The only decent cross in open play last night came from Stevie Hammell very late on. I lost count of many times attempts at crosses by Kerr and ZFA hit the first defender. They way we are set up means the performance of the wing backs is critical ,yet McCall persists in selecting two players who cannot control a ball, cannot beat a man, cannot cross a ball and who's confidence is shot to pieces by being played out of position and and expected to work miracles. And then you have the Josh Law love in!!!!!! What really pissed me off about the so called professional pundits on BT sport last night......Craigen included......is that no one had the guts to ask McCall why he persists with Kerr and ZFA out of position to the exclusion of young, reportedly exciting talent and/or experienced players who can actually shoot and cross a ball effectively. Willie Miller (quite rightly) gets flack from many on here but he at least was questioning the reasoning behind last nights team line up. McCall has too many pals in the Media who refuse to ask him hard , meaningful questions. Although most of us thought it was amusing to see Hearts and Hibs go down, I bet we all also thought they would come back up in a healthier, stronger position ready to push on in the top division. Hearts are well on the way and Hibs will get there eventually. How many of us actually believe Motherwell would have the same outlook following relegation. McCall must go sooner rather than later if we are to have any hope of survival. I liken it to the Fulham position under Felix McGath. Following his sacking, and under an unproven stand in Manager, the same squad is pushing up the league and could well make the play offs. In my opinion our existing squad, with proper leadership have the ability to do likewise. Does question our players' attitude I know, but it all stems from the Manager and his backroom staff.

McCall clearly doing his usual. Wait until we go two down and then throw on Ainsworth and Erwin when all is lost. Have to admire both our wing back's ability to beat a man and put in an accurate cross to Sutton leaping like a salmon. Maybe one day Stuart and then you can say you were correct all along.

More appearance money for Josh Law then. Thomas and Cadden bumped from the bench and McHugh still there although Erwin back. Same old story.. Clearly McCall sees a different game from everybody else who has had the courage to go along this season. Hard to be positive when the man in charge stubbornly sticks to the same old losing approach. Wonder how many will be played out of position and hung out to dry. Love to be proved wrong, but fear a proper hiding. Aberdeen have a point to prove.

McCall has done very well for us in the past but in my opinion his refusal to accept some of his ideas just don't work with the present squad is actually the biggest barrier to us getting out of the mess we are now in. Biggest example is playing Kerr wide right. McCall tried him out there in the home leg against Stjarnan. It did not work and was even quite funny at times. He repeated the same tactic in the away leg and it proved even less successful but not as funny. Lesson learned?...No chance! Fast forward several more failed attempts to the Accies match at Fir Park. Kerr starts at centre back but is switched to the right about 15 minutes in when it becomes obvious the long punt upfield from the goalie for Erwin is not working. Cue punts to the right wing for Kerr to win. That didn't work either. Yesterday we start with Kerr at right back in a 4-4-2 ish line up that frequently seemed to change to 3-5-2 with Kerr being expected to push forward, beat two or three players and then fire in a cross for Sutton to bullet home. Surprise, surprise it didn't work and actually led to the first Thistle goal. Agreed Vigurs failed woefully to track back and cover the huge gap left at the back, but surely the man to blame is the Manager who hung them out to dry. Kerr is a centre back, nothing more. Maybe one day the tactic will work and McCall can say he was proven right, but how many games must we lose before then just to satisfy his ego. There are other numerous examples with other players...Erwin wide right/left or left back! Josh Law anywhere. Sutton on the right wing for 15 minutes at Killie to name a few. At times it feels like McCall is actually trying to punish certain players. Leaving ZFA on the pitch until 10 minutes from the end against Accies despite him having a nightmare and giving away the first goal whilst Stevie Hammell sits warming the bench. Kerr being forced to play on the wing with Ainsworth only getting on when the game is lost . Thomas not even meriting a place on the bench. Madness. Rant over. Apologies

Unfair that it may seem to some given our League achievements under Stuart McCall, he is now being judged based on our performances this year. Can anyone really defend our lack of preparation for Europe, the lack of fitness (players running on empty FFS), the stubbornness in sticking with tactics that clearly do not work with the present squad, the loyalty to players who are either out of form or out of their depth, the benching of players who are actually contributing, the playing of players out of position, the timing/nature of substitutions. We were very fortunate to beat St Mirren and Ross County and it could be argued that the draw against Celtic is the only match where the result reflected the performance of the teams on the pitch. A win against Accies on Saturday is critical if we are to have any realistic chance of making the top six and avoid the horrendous prospect of a relegation play-off...or worse. McCall has been good for Motherwell and Motherwell has been good for McCall. But given our circumstances on and off the pitch he must address his refusal to accept the need for a fresh approach if we are to get through this difficult period.

Always liked Palace. Thanks for what you achieved Stuart but know it's time to say goodbye. A fresh open minded Manager willing to give youth a fair crack is the long term future. We might also be brave and appoint someone willing to accept and learn from his own mistakes instead of stubbornly sticking to a plan in the hope he will eventually be proven correct. I say this as someone who travelled to Iceland to witness an almost exact rerun of the tactics employed in the home leg and who has watched with disbelief as Law continues to feature, Sutton/Erwin/Kerr are asked to be right wingers, substitutes are left to rot until games are lost and Thomas continues to be ignored as far as first team game time is concerned. Please take Kenny with you

An absolute shambles of a performance with no leadership on or off the park. Killie won at a canter and should have scored several more. Two questions for Stuart McCall. When did John Sutton turn into a winger? Having finally accepted that a lack of width was hurting us badly, why not bring on one of the two wingers sitting on the bench. Sutton being moved onto the right wing was ridiculous and did nothing other than to highlight even more his lack of pace and inability to go past a defender. Madness. Similar to the move McCall made with Erwin last week, but even less effective. Why no substitutions until 80 minutes? The game was well and truly lost by then and it was clear after the first 15 minutes that the formation and tactics were not working. McCall has commented that his players must learn from their mistakes. Perhaps the Manager should set an example.

Apparently Cummins and Lawson are both out injured. Must have got splinters in their arses sitting on the bench for 90 mins+ on saturday.

Reid....up to the point where McCall decided to move our best defender into midfield so that the defender who replaced our only attacking threat could play at right back. Utter madness. Again

"A lot of times in Europe we treat teams playing at Fir Park with too much respect and I think that was the case last night. Not ruthless or offensive enough." Exactly this. A negative, cautious approach from the Manager from the moment the draw was made. Sometimes SM builds up the opposition to the extent it appears counterproductive. Even when we were two up and it was obvious we were a class above Stjarnan, the fear factor remained with the players. At times it looked like they were shitting themselves and unable to relax and let superior quality show through. Stjarnan would have sensed this and when SM decided to shut up shop and accept 2-1 by bringing on Kerr rather than Thomas it gave the Icelanders the extra spur they needed to go for it hell for leather. Another ten minutes and we would have lost the game. To a degree, I can understand an element of caution against teams from a major European League with a huge budget and quality players. But last night! This was a rare occasion when we were in a position to kill off the tie in the home leg and that's the message that should have been given to the players from the moment we knew who were playing. We can still qualify for the next round, but only if we adopt a more positive, attacking approach and the Manager talks up his own players rather than the opposition.

ZFA is certainly not the most consistent of players and at times he drives me nuts. But he is a youngster and does have some potential. It's up to him and the training staff to realise that talent. I don't think that, with a fully fit squad, he would be a first choice and maybe he suffers a little from being regarded as a versatile back up who can fill in where required. That said, he does need to quickly learn from his mistakes or else other youngsters should be given a chance However to say he is one of the worst players to ever wear a 'Well shirt is just wrong. Anybody remember Omar Daly!!! He hid during most matches and to my my mind stole his wages each week. ZFA might not be the best, but at least he tries hard and doesn't shirk his responsibilities. Give me that any time over the numerous money grabbing wasters that have appeared over the years. And as for being a Bombscare............we need one of them now that Hutchy has moved on.

McPake was a stand out at Livi and, in a spiritless Hibs team, he was one of the few who showed any stomach for the battle and who never gave up. Many of the Hibs players looked to him as a leader on and off the park. Something that we are sadly lacking when games are not going as planned. Perhaps if he had not fallen foul of Butcher and had been given the chance to play towards the end of the season then Hibs might have had the drive and leadership to avoid relegation. Butcher says that McPake did not play more games after Christmas because of injury, but McPake insists he was fit enough (and eager) to play. I accept that McPake is not the most cultured of players. But, if Hutch leaves as expected, we could do worse. As for being finished due to injury, the same thing was said about the almost ever present McManus. It's up to our medical staff to assess him and advise McCall. Kerr is fair enough as a utility player to have available as cover and Murray has potential but neither in my opinion is ready to fill a central defender role on a day to day basis. A back four of Ramsden, McPake, McManus and Hammell would not be too shabby. If it's true that we are speaking to McPake it suggests that Hutch has told McCall he is off. Hopefully the other out of contract players let it be known soon what their intentions are so that Mccall can spend our very limited budget where it's most needed.

£25 sent via Paypal. Keep up the good work. Josh Law worth a sponsor given most of the usual suspects already gone?

Sounds like Mark Hateley and his media pals are trying to drum up some interest by highlighting his son is available. Suggests that maybe he has not been flooded out by offers and maybe his move to Rangers is not as cut and dried as had appeared. As for TH not being offered a contract by Motherwell, Stuart McCall said ages ago that offers had been made to all out of contract first team players that we wanted to stay. If it's a case of believing either Mark Hateley or Stuart McCall then it's a no contest. Maybe Tom just hasn't worked out how to tell his Dad he has a good offer from Motherwell and wants to stay at Fir Park rather than move to a lower league team.

I agree with DosserJoe. They should have come clean as soon as the problem was known. Folks on here picked up that something was not right so it was only a matter of time before the truth came out. We are told in the E-Mail that it is preferrable for the Society to loan funds to MFC rather than to inject funds by way of a share purchase. I think that might be to give the Society a stronger claim in the event of MFC going belly up. I seem to recall that Shareholders rank dead last when it comes to insolvency payouts, so it is better to be owed loan monies. Might be wrong in all of that but maybe someone more clued up than me can clarify..........or maybe even a Society Board Member could comment! Not that I'm suggesting MFC are about to go into Administration but any lender should protect their monies as best they can. It surprises me that there is no mention of the Share arrangement being reversed and the £150k then being made available as a loan as we were originally told it would be. My reading of the latest update is that the emergency arrangement would continue with only further advances being made by way of a loan. Why?

Arrived today. Perfect. Good effort guys. Keep up the good work. Hope the funds got the boost you were looking for.

Isn't this fun. Better than working. For what it's worth and given that all seeds get through to the third round my calculation is Motherwell unseeded in pot 4 with the seeded teams being Standard Liege, St Etienne, Rosenborg, Utrecht, Estoril and Debrechen. France or Belgium would be my choice but not really a bad pairing if it works out like I think.

Yep. Split into 5 groups of ten or twelve teams with an even mix of seeds/non seeds. Don't know if details of the groupings is announced before the draw date. Seem to recall it was maybe a day or two before draw but could be wrong on that one.

Glad to help. Donation sent via Paypal. Good luck.

It was Law's decision to make and he chose Rangers. End of. I say good luck to him and thanks for taking a gamble and joining Motherwell two years ago. It's been fun having you on board. Cannot understand all the aggro now being shown towards him. Unlike some, he made his intention to move on perfectly clear and at no time has he tried to pull the wool over our eyes. Hateley and Humphrey for example have done absolutely nothing to clarify their situation. I too would have preferred Law to have gone elsewhere but it's what he wants that counts. As for lack of ambition, the same could have been said when he opted to move to Motherwell rather than one of the Championship and First Division sides that were reputedly keen to sign him. I'm certain there would have been people in England amazed at his decision then. Like any player who plays fair by us and then moves on I hope he goes from strength to strength and has a great career.