The thing now is that the dynamic is changing with regard to young Scottish players and how their careers are moving on...
In the past the old firm would sniff about, put in silly offers and often our hands would be tied to sell at a knockdown price due to lack of alternative or as it being seen as a kid's only chance at a crack at the big time.
Recently however, we have seen English teams start to take an interest again and take a chance on our young players.
Previously McCarthy, Easton et al would have gone to the o/f whereas now the spending power of the English clubs, even at championship level, can blow the old firm out of the water both in terms of transfer fee and wages. This is leading to us (and lets be honest the agents) getting more reasonable fees.
The good thing from a Motherwell point of view is that over the past few seasons the club's profile has been raised for a variety of reasons. We are on the radar of clubs down south and we are now in a position where we have a certain amount of leverage with the o/f.