weeyin

Malpas was a key player in a Dundee Utd team that at it's peak, not only won the League, but proved they were one of the best teams in Europe. Jim McLean's team was talented and tactically astute. He had also played in World Cup and Euro finals. So when Malpas took over at Fir Park, I was looking forward to him bringing some of that experience to our team, and instilling them with some tactical nous we had previously lacked. Turned out the only thing he had learned from McLean was how to be miserable.

Good call on Ian St. John. We would likely never had signed Bobby Graham if it wasn't for the influence of his old team mate.

Given the way Simo likes to play, I hope so.

Gannon seemed to be great at scouting players, and definitely brought in some good performers. He just completely lose the plot when it came to coaching them.

If he could capture his Scotland U21 form, he'd be great, but never seems to have quite fulfilled his potential.

Wee Tommy is obviously a legend for the Cup Win. His first SPL season in particular, however, was an eye-bleeding park-the-bus system that still ended up with us in a relegation slot, saved only by league reconstruction. If any other manager had a season like that now, he'd be out the door by Februrary.

Malpas was easily the worst for me - on and off the pitch. Jock Wallace was second worst. Davie Hay gave us a great promotion season and I liked McCall both as a person and as a manager. We played some fun stuff under him with some impressive league finishes.

Biereth had 12 senior appearances (on loan) and 2 goals before he joined us, so sometimes it works out. I agree, however, we need someone (or someone else) with a bit more first team experience.

Coyne was fantastic for us. Pettigrew was even better - he really was that good, and Bobby Graham (who was also really that good) played a key part in that.

Me and Tam Cowan - always in the know.

Five year contract I see. So if he does well, quite possible he'll move on for a fee - which is good for us.

Great player, great attitude and, equally important, had some great career advice from his dad.

On. The. Money. Hope it works out for him - sounds like a great next move.

We can't really take the moral high ground when one of our advertisers is Tony Macaroni.

The tractor has been started, but still sitting in the barn.

I've only been to McDiarmid once, but went to Muirton a few times - that was a huge pitch. Most vivid memory of Muirton was when we played there on a snowy day, and while we were attacking up one end, Hugh Sproat was having a snowball fight with our fans down the other end.

McLair was a great player, but I don't put him in the same category as McAllister only because he joined as an 18 year old rather than coming up through the levels at Motherwell.

Invest it in more youth development and upgrading our training facilities. The only way we can have the pleasure of watching another Miller is by bringing them through the academy. We'll never be able to afford to buy one.

He was also the perfect co-commentator in our play off games. Kept it professional while we all knew he was celebrating with the rest of us.

Agreed. In fact, in my time watching Motherwell, I'd say McAllister was the most successful player from our youth system that I have seen. He won quite a few honours in some great sides (including the First Division title with us!)

It's all potential that's being paid for at the moment. As good as he is, lots of players his age disappear of the radar by the time they are 21. We can get good value in add-ons with the right deal though. I'm not quite sure what kind of money you were expecting, as this is very much in the ball park of every valuation I have seen since the outset.

From The Herald: Udinese are pursuing a £4.5million deal to take Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller to Serie A. The Italian side had an offer of £2.5million turned down for the Scotland international in January. Herald Sports understands the two clubs have held fresh discussions with Motherwell in line for a club record sale exceeding the £3.25million secured from Celtic for David Turnbull. And, despite links with Bologna, Torino and Fiorentina, Udinese, 12th place finishers in Serie A last season, hope to conclude an agreement this week.

I think people are worrying about nothing. Based on absolutely nothing at all, other than media reports that more than one team is at or close to our valuation, my hunch is he'll be sold for more than Turnbull and we'll get some nice future payments with add-ons.

There was a great article this week about how Porto managed to pull off an old-school transfer and keep it secret from everyone: The striker was the last to board the plane he took from the Netherlands to Porto last Sunday and timed his arrival on matchday to avoid crossing paths with anyone. Upon landing, he was the first off the plane and ushered into a van with tinted windows that drove him to the stadium. His entourage – anonymous to fans – collected his luggage. In the van the club’s social media team were secretly gathering footage. “It’s quite strange,” De Jong told them. “In these times, with so much social media, to keep something like this a secret … It’s going to be a big surprise. Let’s hope we can keep it quiet until the presentation.” The real challenge was yet to come: the medical. To avoid raising suspicion, Porto had registered De Jong in the clinic’s system as a handball player. The doctors and nurses had no idea they were assessing a high-profile football transfer. It was with shock and disbelief that the 49,000 fans in attendance greeted De Jong, who scored 18 goals and provided 13 assists for PSV last season before his contract expired. The stadium announcer had been calling the players out one by one and before introducing the captain, the last to be summoned, he teased a surprise signing, listing his previous clubs. Then came the reveal: “And now, our new No 26, Luuk de Jong” – the cue for the 6ft 2in centre-forward to walk on to the pitch. Club journalists broadcasting the presentation had to look up his name to check his stats, caught out like everyone else. The plan was a success. Full story here. Having read it, you can see why it never happens now.

That's the problem with the media's need to publish new stories, often multiple times, daily - it gets boring very quickly. Also one of the many issues with transfer windows. Much better when we heard someone was leaving, and the only other thing we heard was the deal was complete.