weeyin

Celtic will win it. Aberdeen (and the media) will pretend they have a chance of winning it. Whoever finishes bottom is irrelevant as Doncaster has already intimated he wants this season to be the last season of a 12 team SPFL. How the rest shape up will depend on injuries, suspensions and luck.

Wonder if JJ will be heading back to his old stomping ground at Ibrox. I also read yesterday Gary McAllister is taking over First Team coaching at Liverpool. Unlike Craigan, I don't know if that will allow him to continue with his BT Sport duties - which would be a shame as I always enjoyed his contributions. I still have Craigan's signed jersey from an early Steelmen Online Sponsorship raffle - is it worth more now?

The two new backroom signings look very positive too: http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2015/07/10/two-new-staff-appointments/

I wasn't criticizing - genuinely curious what his standing was a coach given all his TV work etc.

He might well be - I honestly have no idea what badges he even has.

Probably felt it was a good time to move on with all the other changes taking place in the club's infrastructure. He had a shaky start, but managed to turn things around and seemed to make good progress with the youngsters. I understand the Craigan love, but does anyone know if he is any good as a coach?

In his post match interview today, Baraclough said Twardzik, like all the players in the squad, can play themselves into contention of they show a bit of form. He also confirmed we are in the hunt for another "senior keeper", but I think we all knew that.

Maybe the new coach has upped Dan's game already.

From Twitter, it sounds like Dan is staking his claim for the first team.

Hopefully not, but I guess that is one reason we brought in Chalmers.

I assumed now that we have Clarkson, Fletcher, Moult and Moore we wouldnt be looking for another striker. Unless there were plans to use Skippy in the deeper role he adopted in the play-offs.

It's my first joke of the preseason. If you want funny, you'll need to wait until September.

Do you not "watch this space" after the brownies have been consumed?

Someone tweeted about 2 new Vans, but turned out he was referring to Transits, not Dutch trialists.

We picked up a "struggling" Skippy. McCormack couldn't hack it with Rangers. Dom Thomas was "too wee" for Celtic. Ojamaa couldn't make the step up from Derby's Academy side etc. etc. Sometimes players a mince, other times they are just a bad fit for a team, sometimes a bit of both. I'll be really happy when the season starts, though, and we can start slagging off players in competitive matches.

Kerr is one those players a section of fans took an instant dislike to. The same ones that complain when we don't play youngsters and then complain when we do that they aren't the finished article. I have no idea if he will develop into a decent central defender, but I won't be surprised if he gets a new club at a decent level. He's definitely better than many on here give him credit for.

Now the complaint will be "too many weights and not enough speed work" the first time McManus gets turned by a striker.

Between that and McCall's effort to pick up the ball at Ibrox, it's the comedy gift that keeps on giving.

Don't forget Kendo Nagasaki.

I think it it was indecision as much as anything thing else. The fact that he had sufficient time to just slap the ball to safety, fall down, stand up and stroll over to wherever it landed to pick it up again, just adds to the comedy.

Maybe a generational thing, but the wrestler was the first thing that sprung to mind when I read it.

Or he didn't travel with the team, he travelled on his own. Or 'Flow was telling porkies so as not to alert other teams.

See, I don't believe that. I can point to a thousand examples where teams that are playing poorly look unfit. However, that is usually down to a lack of confidence. Players dwell on the ball afraid to take risks. Players are afraid to commit to tackles. Players abdicate responsibility so if a team mate screws up they will take the pesters instead. Players lacking in confidence also tend to hide, and that reduces the options. Plus some players are carrying knocks but forced to play. Teams that stink always look a yard slower, but that is almost always psychological. I also think that there was an inevitable lull after the prior season's league success. Great teams struggle to be consistently good and have to continuously refresh personnel even when they succeed. As counterintuitive as it sounds, I think our ability to quickly retain pretty much the same squad as the prior season was actually detrimental. A few fresh faces in key positions might have kept some of the old guard on their toes.

I seriously doubt foot golf was our downfall last season. We had the same training regime the season before and won 2nd place in the last minute of the last game. The malaise was much deeper than that, and I guarantee there will be similar games played during this pre-season - you can't just run hard for 6hrs a day. Jock Wallace had our guys vomiting after running up and down the dunes at Gullane, and that team was mince.

Maybe they drove him past Murray Park on the way from the airport.