Andy_P

Tommy Craig is an interesting one if it does come to pass. I vaguely seem to remember him not being taken particularly seriously when assistant manager or at least a part of Billy McNeill's backroom team when Souness's Rangers left them for dead for in the late 1980's. He seems to have gone quietly about his business since and whilst he doesn't have quite the same level of experience as perhaps Archie Knox did his CV is along similar lines with some coaching experience in both England, Scotland, abroad and with the youths at international level too. I don't quite know where the connection comes in, there doesn't appear to be a crossing of paths in the past but Craig will be well versed in Scottish football and between the likes of Gordon Young, Stewart Kerr and Bobby Jenks should help afford McCall some time to reacquaint himself with Scottish football.

Dunno. One to be better answered at the end of the season perhaps.

They've been saying on Sky Sports News for the last twenty minutes or so that they'll be speaking to McCall live shortly.

Thoughts and votes please....

On the positive it does mean that John Hartson can get up off his fat arse having set looking at the phone wondering if the batteries had gone on it, or whether he's had a faulty line for the last week.

Really? I've got no real desire to revisit the Gannon debate - I think we all had a good stab at it when he left. My perception is its actually the opposite and its those who remain most supportive of Jim Gannon who continue to talk him up, push his case and defend him, call it what you will. I do find a bit ironic however that as Finlay and Steve Diggle picked up on earlier in the thread is that the criteria employed by the board appears heavily influenced by what Gannon was able to deliver and what he stated he hoped to deliver when he first came to MFC. He appears to have left his mark in that regard even if it didn't work out for him personally. But time is marching on a bit now, nearly three weeks now, and I think we have to have some kind of appointment pretty soon be it a ship-steadying one until the end of the season if the calibre of the candidates and our criteria aren't matching up or by re-assessing existing candidates or the package that's being offered.

Certainly he or someone posting under his moniker on Twitter claimed that he'd gone over his ankle in training a couple of days before the Rangers game and how he had to rest up as it was a big game. As I say I don't know if it was really him or not but the comment didn't suggest there was a desire not to be involved.

Was about 20 years or so ago that in my youth I used to mock my Airdrie mates at school for the state of Broomfield how it was the worst stadium in the Premier League with their shitty wee shed for a Main Stand, open air sewers for toilets and being a general shitehole. The irony ofcourse is that with each passing year the condition of Fir Park becomes more and more like the place I used to sneer at. Its never been as bad in the East Stand as yesterday but its far from being a one off having dustbins strategically placed across the stand to catch falling water or having to wade through puddles to get along the top of the stand. We hear reports each summer, some official, some speculated of thousands of pounds required to be spent to get the Main Stand a safety certificate to be able to open. Clearly the club have little option but to keep plugging the holes, mending and making do but whether we like it or not it must be pushing the club closer to the tipping point where they have to make the move.

I'm struggling to see anything other than a defeat from this one. Even if we do get a new manager in place before the game I don't think he's going to be able to make any great impact in one or two training sessions. However, in one sense seeing as you might expect to lose to Celtic at Parkhead anyway then its perhaps a game up his sleeve where any new manager in conjunction with Young, Kerr and Jenks can have a bit of a tinker without too much expectation upon his shoulders. By that I mean its not like next Saturday where another defeat against Hamilton would be a serious boot in the chuckies and would immediately have some eyebrows furrowed amongst the support. Personally I would go with a much less expansive starting eleven than we have been of late and take it from there. The puddle drinkers seem to have had a bit of difficulty breaking teams down at home the last few games so lets not make it easy for them by going too gung ho. I thought yesterday given Rangers were going through us like a hot knife through butter it was just asking for trouble to have Sutton, Blackman, Murphy and Gow all loitering about to varying degrees further up the park after Hateley went off. I'd get Fizzy in there for a start drop Humphrey and Gow to the bench and see how that goes for starters. Randolph Saunders Craigan Reynolds Hammell Hateley/Page Lasley Fitzpatrick Murphy Blackman Sutton

Tall order this one....

Sad news. Thoughts are with you and you and your family.

That's a good find church_of_fudge. The heavy weighting towards the top too was my understanding, although I actually thought it was even more in their favour, but I took it I was wrong when doubts cast by the great and the good that Modernist chinned for info. Interesting that there's the notable gap between the top two and third in terms of prize money yet there doesn't appear to be any significance whatsoever placed on making the top six or not, despite the importance of making the top half being the stated target for many of the rank and file. That said I remember a couple of seasons ago someone posted a table that actually had the details in monetary terms which was also quite interesting. 0.5% of a difference from 3rd place down doesn't catch the eye but when the actual differences in prize are listed it was quite an eye opener.

It's the opposite I think. Folk remember only too well the sustained criticism for the media, other clubs, and supporters of other teams about our pitch and stadium. We've had punishments levied against by the SPL in fact. Clearly clubs are at the mercy of the police and local authorities as regards the exterior of their stadium but lets take Hamilton Accies as one example. One of the criticisms made previously was that Hamilton could get games on when Motherwell couldn't and they were only two miles away or so. Yet this isn't the first time their undersoil heating has failed. Remember last season for example they had to knock a few feet off of the wings because a section of their pitch was frozen when the USH chucked it. Now we have their Celtic and Hibs game gone too and talk of remedial work to remedy the fault being delayed - because the pitch is frozen meaning our game there may also be in some doubt. Ofcourse our pitch was absolutely shocking for long spells of the previous couple of seasons but in terms of postponements because of USH and related pitch protection problems there cannot be much of a gap between Fir Park and some clubs now. But the call for ludicrously large fines? Points deductions? Banishment to the SFL?

It does make you think somewhere in SFA Towers there's some wee tadger sitting having a wee giggle. Can't send emails about visiting popes or child abuse this week what'll I do for a laugh this week. I know!! Murrawell v Sir Walter of Govan's finest eh? What's the baldy wee linesman up to that cost Murrawell the game last time up to.... hee hee hee......

Agree with the sentiment Dave and my lot were handed in at the Hearts game on Tuesday night. I was actually surprised given the timing, what with Christmas only a few days away and the general perception that folk are being a bit more choosy on what they are prepared to spend on, how quickly mine went. Or maybe it was just the tugging at the heart string of my workmates telling them the quality of my future Saturday afternoon entertainment rested upon their shoulders.... Might be seen as nit-picking but perhaps more drive and better communication required from MFC on this one though? Should it really be down to you Dave to do the reminding? As I recall there was no deadline set as to when tickets should be handed in. It says that the draw will be against Rangers on Boxing certainly I assume then the draw will be at half-time? But will tickets be accepted beforehand? There's been nothing on the official or twitter that I can recall pushing sales the way they have with Cooper Bricks etc. reminding of the raffle or if there has its been days ago. There was an email came in from Diane Harvey in the middle of the month pushing that and Christmas nights but no mention of the raffle. Seems a bit like they've put it out and that's the job done. We'll just wait for the cash to appear back at us. I'm sure that's not the case and recent events have taken up the time that could be used for promotion but if the club are going to run this, they should really be seeking to maximise what return they can get.

I know Gdalli means to a certain extent. It's not so much that they've been with one of the Old Firm, that's neither here nor there, its the constant media references to the fact they've been with the Old Firm that begins to grate. All the former Celt, Gers great, Hoops hero, Legend in Light Blue pish that many articles which have fuck all to do with Rangers and Celtic are riddled with. I find that somehow I'm not immediately dismissive of Alan Stubbs. Certainly less so than McCall and in particular Chris Sutton. An interesting one with Stubbs and if the speculation is correct about McNamara an interesting choice there also. Would appear to make sense to have someone in there alongside him with an in depth knowledge of the Scottish game.

Not unexpected. And I suspect that perhaps both clubs won't be too upset that its off either. Assuming it doesn't get quickly rescheduled for midweek (there are some other SPL games on but I can't remember who) by the time we come to play them again its likely some of the sting of the situation may have been taken out of recent events. A day on the sauce going to Aberdeen lends itself to some looser tongues than normal at the best of times but against the current backdrop with a larger than usual travelling support given the £5 tickets eager to let Brown and Knox know their feelings, I'm sure the board will be quietly relieved that the potential for our support to end up slaughtered in the media has been stopped, or at least much watered down. A midweek travelling support in January or February, less folk going, many coming straight from and having to get up sharp for work the next day just isn't going to generate the same amount venom. Aberdeen will ofcourse be pleased as it gives them extra time for Brown and Knox to impose their ideas on their shitty squad.

Caught a glimpse at the Mother-in-law's Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser and they're reporting that the three youngsters on loan at Cliftonhill (Peter Innes, Steven Lawless and Steven Meechan) are set to extend their loan deals to the end of the season. The Rovers gaffer is full of compliments for them crediting their ability, work-rate, determination and says the paperwork has just really to be signed. Says the departure of Brown won't have any bearing.

You know the drill...

I'd have to say I'm more apprehensive than excited at the prospect of filling the mananger's job. When it comes to the list of names touted about in the media to its more a case of hoping to avoid virtually all of them than rather than thinking, oh aye I'd love him to get it. If pushed on the current candidates I'd go with Spiderpig's call of Calderwood too. A couple of posters have made some observations about the budgets he's had in the past and the legacy he's left but looking purely at what was achieved he lead Dunfermline to probably their best spell in a few decades, kept Aberdeen at a level I think we would be happy with at MFC and most recently rescued Killie. That seems to be a fairly sound CV for a non-Old Firm mananger in Scotland but admittedly I don't have knowledge of the type of funds he had at his disposal to be able to do that. I suppose the good thing about Boyle and the board is that they haven't had a mould into which a Motherwell manager must fit for them and they've been quite bold and open-minded about who they'll appoint. They haven't been in a hurry either so I hope if they do tend to cast the net a bit wider than the usual suspects we don't nosedive on the park and force them into making a decision quicker than they'd like.

I must admit I'm growing increasingly weary of his pain and angst at the decision, realignment of positions and attempts at justification from Brown and Aberdeen. Fact is he's gone and with each passing day I care less and less about what he has to say. Pretty sad for someone I had the utmost respect for up until a few days ago but fuck him, he's made his bed and all that. If he's on the telly when I get in tonight, he'll get muted. That said I do hope the club continue to push Aberdeen and the SPL for whatever gain we get from the situation but in contrast to the daily squirming from the north I like the fact we've stated our case and quietly held our counsel since. Says to me that we are confident of our position whilst Aberdeen continue to give us a slightly different slant every day they are asked.

First thought that came to me was the Malpas and Hegarty season. Id I remember rightly there were a handful of youths who were being released who upon the departure of Malpas and Hegarty were immediately given new contracts. I also seem to remember reading or hearing a rumour that a member of the backroom team had to be talked out of packing in his position due to the treatment of the youth team.

Are you looking for questions ahead of the forum or is it a case of putting them on the spot on the night? Odds on Bill Leckie greetin' about Fergie's super dooper St Mirren team getting kicked off the park at Fir Park in the Scottish Cup?

I actually think that now the players have had a couple of days to get their heads around recent events they'll be quite happy to get back to playing football and Tuesday will be something of a watershed. There are concerns though. Obviously the recent form of Hearts is a worry and our inactivity over the last three or four weeks could be a problem also. It doesn't paint a particularly promising picture but I'm sure there will be a desire amongst the team over the next couple of games in particular, when all eyes will be on them, to ensure they prove their recent successes weren't all just down to the old management and that Gordon Young will have reminded them comfortably they've seen off Hearts the last couple of games. Wouldn't be upset at getting a point.

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