Smalltown

wishing good luck to the squad from the US. getting to follow the game today while wrapping up work. hope the weather is decent.

excellent way to start the season. It just went final before I had to leave, so had a happy start to the journey to Chicago. ManU didn't play great but it was still impressive to see them in person. Nice goals by Rooney and Nani. Huge crowd, over 60 thousand. how about getting our guys to come to a tour of the states next summer?

I know, have been watching the forecasts. at least rain would cool it off for awhile. last game we went to at Chicago was a World Cup qualifier versus Honduras and that one was unseasonably cold (which isn't bad if you're dressed for it, we weren't). we'll have fun regardless, hope that you all have a great day at the field, too

I'll be cheering from the US. would be great to pick up the win tomorrow. taking my son to see Man U play at Chicago for his birthday (despite my efforts, he's a Man U supporter). Hope that the weather is better for you all, it's blazing hot on this side of the pond.

thanks for the info. I understand the tradition of grass and, generally, do think it's better. but, given the choice between poor grass and losing games to to unplayable natural turf and then the more options available with artificial turf, I think it should at least be considered by the authorities. but the SPL has a lot bigger issues to settle than this looking forward to the season

please excuse my ignorance of the regulations on that - is that an SFA rule, UEFA or? as noted, they do allow them in Russia and here in the US. thanks for the input

conversation starter regarding the pitch: there's seemingly a season long complaint about the quality of the pitch, which is probably more complicated to maintain than most of us think. looking beyond simple tradition (not a point to trifle with, but this is a conversation starter), why not consider more seriously artificial turf? I know that my son's teams love to play on it when they get the chance (U16 to U18 level here the US). it gives a consistent bounce (faster and higher but consistent)and there's no question that it's either to maintain, especially in difficult weather situations. the technology of turf has advanced considerably, so that it's not a sheet of plastic on concrete anymore, so the physical damage of it is less than years ago. thoughts?

any word if McCall is still trying to get Mike Grella up from Leeds? might not be the greatest need since Higdon signed but we know there was mutual interest back in the january window

is there no appeal process available? I understand the intent of the rule but it would seem that, if possible, an appeal would be worth pursuing. granted that the chance of FIFA doing something thoughtful and helpful is incredibly small. it's a bad break for both the team and the player

good news! as a fan over here in the US, it will be nice to follow a countryman in the squad. hoping that the management has a couple more additions in progress. very much looking forward to the game

an American perspective. I got interested in Scottish football through Beasley and Edu playing for Rangers. I'd heard of Motherwell through Phil O'Donnell's death and then read a preview of Motherwell's Europa League (actually probably UEFA cup still at that time) in World Soccer magazine, so I paid attention to those games and got drawn in. I just like how the team is -- works hard and knows success won't be easy and with a good (if not large) bunch of fans behind them. thanks to the wonders of the internet, I follow along on as many games as I can on ESPN's gametracker and keep up with the comments here every day. Hopefully, someday I'll get to come over and see some games in person (right now I'd settle for just getting some video highlights once in a while or if I'm really lucky, ESPN will put a game on along with the Premier League games we're getting). I still want Edu to do well, except against us, although I will admit to rooting for Rangers against Man U since my son is still a deluded Man U fan.

I'll call for a 2-1 'well win. looking forward to following the game while finishing up at work over here in the US

nice to start the year with a win. it was hard to follow along over here in the States, the text updates on the club page were slow due to server traffic. Hope we can get a quick away goal in the 2nd leg to have some cushion.

thanks again for all your work on these podcasts. hope it works out for getting them on iTunes for next season.

oh man! this went like some of my son's kiddie ball league games - and that's when they were 6 year olds. I'd get so fed up that I'd log off the ESPN play by play and then come back, over and over. didn't get much work done this afternoon. I can only imagine what it was like to be in the stadium. very impressed with the "no quit" approach by the team. hope we get the defense figured out for Sunday.