MJC

As things stand we are going to be very, very short of options going into the new season, virtually having to rebuild the entire team under a new manager. Hopefully by the time the league season starts we will have got a few more on board but it’s a big ask for the new boss. And I think we can safely write off the ‘Euro adventure’ as the usual anti-climax and exit at the first hurdle. That said I’m not too bothered about that, the real stuff starts on 2nd August at Easter Road.

He missed one in a 0-0 draw at Tynecastle in 2005. I think Ged Brannan and Kevin McBride had 100% records from the spot for us and they both took a few.

Sounds Just Bloody Awful so far. Absolute Joke 🙄

Just before my time that one but yes it’s similar too.

The jersey is quite similar to the 2009/10 Canterbury effort especially with the badge and the manufacturer logo in the centre. That kit had amber shorts mind you.

And what in the name of utter fuck is that shorts sponsor??

A nice jersey but the sponsor kind of wastes it. And the white shorts ruin the entire kit as they always do. Not our worst effort with Macron but not a patch on last years cracker.

Clear vibes of “move on, move on, nothing to see here! But if you speak out about this we’re coming down on you” right here.

The Herald reporting that we are facing sanctions for social media posts about the Celtic penalty award in this match, as is Elliot Watt.

The fact that he is only 35 concerns me. That is extremely young in managerial terms and something that has failed in the past at other clubs, Ian Cather at Hearts being the obvious example. The ‘aura’ thing is on point too. Good managers have that air of authority about them, that bit that just makes players sit up and listen to them. It can’t be learned, you either have it or you don’t. JBA had it, just that “I am in charge, I am your leader” about him. AJ? I’m not seeing it yet.

I’m going nowhere. I’m Motherwell til I die as the song goes. 😊

Oh right. I’ll say again, I just think Derek McInnes is a good manager. That’s it. You got anymore anecdotes about Sir George Graham or anyone else who was involved with the SFA that was favouring Rangers 60 years ago and how that’s somehow relevant to what happens in the modern game? No? Okay, let’s move on.

Sometimes the so called eye bleeding football works in Scotland though doesn’t it? It worked to an extent with Robinson when he was with us and even more so with St.Mirren. Killie under Steve Clarke weren’t easy on the eye either but they were effective and got results. And our last manager to win a trophy wasn’t renowned for ‘great to watch’ football but we ended up doing pretty well under him. (And yes, before anyone says it, I know that that wasn’t always the case and fans were protesting against Tommy McLean in the late 80s)

I am too as long as it works. It kind of worked with Wimmer in that he kept us up that season but he left pretty sharpish. JBA was obviously a big success for us and we are obviously hoping that Alfred Johansson will also do well. But only time will tell and as I said he’s very young in managerial terms and our job will be a big challenge for him. But I am right behind him.

Which would be the club I should be supporting going by that post then? Hearts? Aberdeen? Kilmarnock? Or maybe St.Johnstone? Or are you just going down the usual lazy route of “anyone who says anything remotely connected with Rangers must be a Rangers fan”??? I think Derek McInnes is a good manager. That’s all. Artichoke, Cholmondeley, Pedigree, CHUM. I think Derek McInnes is a good manager.

You don’t say about Craig Brown do you?? I don’t think anyone would seriously dispute that he was very much out for himself but when he was here he was very much being described as a Motherwell man, even up until his departure with some on this very board citing that supposed fact as the reason he would not leave us for Aberdeen.

He would more likely than not have a League Championship with Hearts to his name if it hadn’t been for John Beaton’s shitebaggery against us. He won Aberdeen their first silverware in almost two decades and never finished lower than 4th in the league whilst regularly reaching the latter stages of cup competitions with them. He also won the championship title with Kilmarnock (and St.Johnstone for that matter) and took them to Europe. I’d say that’s a pretty decent track record.

Well it certainly worked for us when we brought in Craig Brown to sort out Jim Gannon’s mess. I’ll even grudgingly credit McGhee second time around for stabilising us after the Baraclough shambles. Though granted your point about managers from Scotland having that defeatist mindset when it comes to us playing bigger sides is absolutely valid. Plenty of our fans were describing the aforementioned Craig Brown as a ‘Motherwell man’ before he moonlighted to Aberdeen. And to be fair calling him Del is pretty cringeworthy. I think ‘Mr McInnes’ sounds much more staunch and dignified.

That is approach is fine as long as it works out and there may well come a time sooner or later where we need to get back to basics and hire someone with a better knowledge of the league we play in. Rangers are doing just this by hiring Del after a string of foreign or project managers with little to no knowledge of the Scottish game.

Never heard of him but two things jump out. He’s very young for a manager at 35 and despite this he has experience of managing a pretty big club in Rosenborg. As with any appointment this is a gamble and only time will tell if it pays off. Best of luck to him and welcome to the club Alfred.

Away to Hibs first game of the season with a 1630 kick off on Sunday 2nd August. First home game is against Falkirk.

And the Daily Record headline on this subject is “Motherwell and Hamilton Accies fined and reprimanded by SPFL amid pyro use and pitch invasions” and that is the main story of the article with the fact that Celtic were also involved and hit with similar sounding like a mere side story. We all saw what happened but that is how it is reported. Anyone who seriously doubts the influence and clout that Celtic have over football, the media and more in this country these days needs to wake up.

Of course but that would indicate that they recognise Celtic and their fans as being more culpable than anyone else for this type of behaviour. But that is never going to happen in 2026 where Scottish football is run by Celtic, for Celtic.

So suspended punishment of a reduction of 100 tickets for Celtic which lasts until 30th June 2027 and a £2500 fine. And the same fine for us with a suspended closure of Block E for the same timescale. And five of our fans and five Celtic fans referred to the SPFL Trusts pyrotechnics awareness course. So there you have it, a slap on the wrist for Celtic and us lumped in with them to dilute the blame. That’s not to say that ‘Block E’ are blameless and indeed they gave the authorities the open goal they needed to drag us into what happened, but this non punishment for the true culprits is as predictable as it is laughable.

It is clear from that that Beaton simply erred on the side of caution and gave the decision in Celtic’s favour. As I said, that tells us nothing that wasn’t already obvious. Beaton is compromised by Celtic and is scared to go against them given past experiences when he has. There was nothing “clear and obvious” about that incident yet VAR thought it was enough to intervene and Beaton obviously had made his mind up to award the penalty as soon as he got the shout, hence the almost immediate awarding of the penalty. Like I said, the whole thing stinks.