Yir Elder

This extra cash means he could surely afford to sign for us for six months, to prove his fitness by playing week in week out. We should at least ask him the question. Nothing ventured nothing gained! its probably fantasy but at this stage he has no club and no wages, so why not?!!

I'd imagine it'll be viewed as the next game in our pre-season schedule, and will be treated as such. We want to see our players continue to prepare for the start of the SPL season by playing well and beating Thistle. I don't expect that McCall will see it any differently. Of course it is a chance to thank Crags for his great service for Motherwell, and I don't anticipate many thunderous challenges! However it will be a normal friendly match in every way.

Very enjoyable day out yesterday, its a very picturesque ground to watch your fitba in, although that might not necessarily be the case in the dead of winter! Enjoyed our performance yesterday, some lovely stuff and in truth we could've easily doubled our tally. For all Dumbarton were poor they did at least try to play some fitba. I anticipate that Nicky Law will be a very important player for us this season, but will sadly be a target for the midfield cluggers that earn a living in the SPL!

I seem to recall the term 'corridor of uncertainty' being used by cricket commentators. They meant it as the bowler landing the ball in such a place as to make the batsman unsure whether or not to play at the ball, and possibly nicking it to the wicketkeeper. So in fitba it would refer to a dangerous ball in between the keeper and defender, with the keeper unsure about whether to come for the ball or not and the defenders scared to play at it for fear of conceding an OG.

For me a natural left sided player is a must. Jim 'Stepover' Paterson would be worth a shout in my view, as long as he could prove his fitness.

Enjoyed the game tonight, for me it was one of the better pre-season friendlies I've been to. Yes there was rustiness as you would expect, but for our first game it wasn't too bad. I was particularly pleased with many of the youngsters who came on at half time. Winning the game was a real bonus as i thought we'd struggle with so many u-19s on the pitch. However guys like Halsman, Lawless, Smith and Carswell were very good indeed, and hopefully we'll see more of them at Dumbarton on Saturday.

Myself and Polomint Dosser will be there.

I will probably be there.

Agreed. He's said that we've only lost Sutton from the first team squad, but he must be forgetting Ross, Jones and Jeffers who it looks like we won't be replacing. That for me is a MASSIVE gamble, and means that McHugh and Smith MUST step up to the plate, otherwise it could be a very long season. Quality over quantity sounds all well and good, but our overall strength in depth is wafer thin, and as I've already stated we can't keep reducing numbers and get away with it.

Most of the responses to my post have been fair comment, but the point remains that we CANNOT continue to allow more players to leave than we bring in, unless we have one or two excellent youngsters coming through who are ready for the first team.

We were told that the budget would NOT be reduced from last season, and considering that Sutton, Jeffers, Jones, Gunning, Ross, Casagolda and Charalambous have all left, to seemingly only be bringing in FOUR new faces is very disappointing to hear. I mean, with the cash generated from a six-game Euro campaign, a Top Six finish, a League Cup Semi and a Scottish Cup Final we MUST have made a very decent profit, plus the Reynolds sale too. To me it looks like the budget HAS been cut, despite previous promises.

Agreed Andy, and hopefully Thistle will bring a decent support too.

Personally I like the kit, looks cracking.

Have to say I'm disappointed. That's now six summers in a row that the club have launched new kits. Its hugely expensive for us fans to keep up every season, and yes I know we have the choice to NOT BUY the latest kit! Just saying that I don't like going down the line of a new kit launch every year.

We can all surely look forward to Broon's pals in the media giving him YET ANOTHER easy ride over this, despite the facts!

Whoever we are paired with in the opening three rounds of next season's SPL, I predict we'll have at least one of those week's off due to friendlies being arranged, as is our luck.

Anyone mind we played Leeds in August 1982, in what was only my third ever game watching the Well!! Sadly they pumped us 4-0 but I do recall that George Best guested for Motherwell that night.

Pretty sure the 'keeper was Pegguy Arphexad who went on to play for Leicester and Liverpool, and also the defender Bjorn Kvarme who also signed for Liverpool.

This.

Disappointing but not unexpected. Difficult to blame him in terms of wages, but I suppose I thought he'd want to test himself at a higher level. Ach well, thanks for three very decent years Sutty.

Keevins has nothing to say that I want to hear, so I no longer bother with the ill-informed wee pecker.

Guilty as charged!

I'm enjoying the build-up to the full. Saturday will fly by in a heartbeat so its great to take it the whole thing at a slow pace! Excitement is building though, make no mistake! The house has now been given its spring clean and is bedecked in Claret and Amber!!

A very poignant thread this. I raise my glass to all of those who won't be with us when we head to Hampden on Saturday. I hope we can do it for you all.

Aye it was tough for Softy and big Nick, who had both done plenty to help the team to reach the final. Only two subs back then, but even with five on Saturday we'll still have two or three who'll be gutted to miss out.