MJC

A Claret away kit it is then. And not one of our better efforts either on first viewing.

As I’ve said many times before, European qualification for me is just a bonus for a very good season or a Cup win. The ‘reward’ for me was how good we were last season when we were at our best. On paper of course it is great for the club and yes, financially it is good for us (albeit we have reported it has cost us money in the past) but I am more concerned with what happens ON the park for us and I just can’t get on board with this idea of mere playing a couple of Euro qualifiers being held up as some sort of trophy by the club because it looks good on paper, and by the supporters because they get to enjoy a piss up abroad somewhere when the actual football is very much an afterthought. Each to their own and of course and no harm to the Motherwell fans who invest time and money to travel for these games, but it’s just not for me.

Gannon and Brown oversaw some good results in the early qualifying stages including the aforementioned 8-1 win. Even scoring at Airdrie against Steaua Bucharest was a great moment. However our efforts under McCall were pathetic and we went into the games against PAO, Levante and Kuban beaten before a ball was kicked and failed to score against any of them IIRC. And then we had Stjarnan.

It’s just a non event for me. We know we’re never going to do anything of note in the competition but apart from the novelty factor of playing a big name like Borussia Dortmund and then playing PAO in the CL prelims, I can’t remember much, if anything, for us to shout about especially in games at Fir Park in Europe. Obviously Flamurtari 8-1 was great but that was the exception…and it was at Airdrie. But in our last seven European matches at Fir Park we have one win to our name and that was behind closed doors during the lockdown season. Outwith that one our record is played six, won zero and scored two goals. Us playing in Europe is like Scotland at a major tournament. The team do nothing apart from occasionally embarrass themselves. But hey, what does that matter? The fans had such a wonderful time, the locals loved them and it was a great trip! Big leap to the left! YAAAASSS! Big leap to the right! YAAAASSS! Who cares about the result we drank the pubs dry! YAAAASSS!

Exactly. Optimism, positivity and championing progress will only work for a manager if it is actually backed up by what is happening on the park. Graham Alexander, albeit who was as dull as dishwater, made a habit of coming out after a loss and a dismal performance and trying to tell everyone that we played well and everything was fine, when everyone could see that it was anything but. That really didn’t help his standing with the support by trying to state that black was white.

I miss us being in the League Cup group stages. They’re the perfect preparation for the season whilst being serious games themselves in a competition that we actually have a chance of making a scratch in. Unlike this ‘European’ nonsense which is essentially a couple of glorified friendlies which we always make a complete arse of and get embarrassed in.

Wouldn’t mind a mostly claret away kit as long as we don’t wear it in just about every away match like we did in 2018/19. We should always be in our first colours unless there is a direct clash.

Great to see EJ starting. Hard to tell how this will go but hopefully a good workout for the players selected.

Indeed. And if he is not handed at least a four match ban the same as Watt then we need to be questioning it.

Any comments made by anyone about refereeing decisions should be being highlighted by the club in regards to this. It doesn’t matter if it’s John McGinn or Derek McInnes or whoever. If someone else has made similar comments about match officials and isn’t hit with the same punishment as our player then we need to be asking serious questions in a very loud voice.

Club have now released a statement about this saying they are extremely disappointed at the outcome of this and have asked for written reasons to explain it. Also that they will “liaise with solicitors on any next step”. I’m glad to hear it and also pleased to see a swift response.

Another load of word salad and tired old patter from you as usual, but I prefer to actually look at things as they are. Rangers clearly have more clout than we do and indeed every other club outwith Celtic, but they are not on the same level as Celtic in terms of control, manipulation and running the game through bullying tactics. Certainly not today, in 2026. Derek McInnes has also been citied for comments he made about the very same incident that Elliot Watt has been “put in line” for speaking about. He made those comments on the night of the game whilst still the Hearts manager. I believe his hearing is next week. Now, if what you and the above poster are saying is true then the authorities will surely go easier on him now that he is Rangers manager? Yeah? So, if McInnes gets a touchline ban of anything similar or more than what Watt has been banned for then that would very much fly in the face of the idea that “both of them are equally culpable” and such like? I will watch with interest on this one.

Nope. That outlook is part of the problem and part of the reason why Celtic get everything their own way.

Regardless of whether Watt leaves or not we as a club should be appealing this or at least stating an intention to appeal it. While Watt is still our player we should be standing up for him otherwise it will keep happening with other players or employees who speak out and upset the apple cart around Celtic and the way they’ve got everyone dancing to their tune. Start by citing that the then Celtic manager got a lesser ban for comments about the same official in March 2024 and that that ban was subsequently reduced on appeal.

He will be but that’s not the point here. The bigger picture is that Scottish football is run for the benefit of Celtic and Celtic alone and anyone who speaks up about it will be censored. Its absolutely scandalous the hold that club have over everyone in the game up here.

Welcome to MFC JGR. Yours sincerely, MJC

She wouldn’t have if she had baws though.

Great input. 👍

It’s more likely than not that next season won’t be the same as 25/26 in terms of quality of football and overall league performance and as I’ve already said that’s fine. It would be a very tall order, unrealistic even to expect it to be the same. However if we are humiliated in Europe which is a distinct possibility and start the season on the back foot from the word go and our domestic form is also poor resulting in us involved in the relegation dogfight, or worse actually being in the playoffs or relegated, then that will be hard to be looked on as anything other than a disaster of a campaign. On the other hand a solid if unremarkable season with a league finish anywhere between 6th and 10th wouldn’t be disastrous.

The omens certainly aren’t good at the moment. Last season’s squad decimated with more departures to come, a small squad riddled with injuries, a very young manager just in the door having to deal with all of the above and all this just a week before a European tie. It doesn’t look good.

Getting dumped out of Europe will likely be the least of our worries if we don’t get our recruitment absolutely spot on over the next few weeks. I’ve already written off the Euro tie because as much as I’d love to see us progress or at the very least not whimper out like we always do, our priority is the league and the domestic cups. But here we are three weeks away from our league opener and we barely have a first team to field with more departures likely. We are going to recruit in every single position which is a very tall order especially with a new manager just in the door.

It is very unlikely that we will see anywhere near the same levels of performance both by the extremely attractive football we played when at our best last season and how we finish in the table. And to be fair that is absolutely fine and reasonable to not expect a repeat because that was always going to be very difficult to repeat. If, for example, we finished bottom six after a pretty mediocre campaign but nowhere near relegation then we could probably look at that as a positive, certainly if that is what was being offered to us right now. It doesn’t work like that of course. The key thing which will determine how our season goes will hinge on who we are able to bring in between now and the end of August and at this point we still have time to get our squad sorted.

A European run was never happening, even had JBA stayed imo. We would still have lost key players and have been short of options come the tie. But as I said I’m not overly concerned about Europe, the real test comes when the league season begins and we’ve got a lot of work to do to be ready for that.

Ward gone for undisclosed fee now confirmed. Best of luck to him, he really came on leaps and bounds as last season went on after a shaky start.

I’ve seen this movie too many times before to know not to expect anything other than disappointment. We have a great season, qualify for Europe, lose several players and by the time the games come around we just aren’t ready on or off the park. Either that or we just humiliate ourselves. I am getting increasingly bad vibes about the upcoming season with us more or less having to build an entire team under a manger just in the door. It was always highly unlikely that we would get anywhere near last seasons levels but unless we get the recruitment spot on over the next month or so then we could be detached at the bottom of the league come the end of August.