EastStandWellFan

At the end of the Radio Scotland programme last night they announced that they will have commentary of Falkirk's Europa League qualifying match next week. So it looks like we will not even be able to listen to the match against Flamurtari. Might be time to look into "alternative" methods ! Stuart.

I am shocked and sickened reading about this. Such behaviour has absolutely no place and the fact the victims were older gentlemen only compounds the matter. Whoever these thugs are should be publicly named and shamed. Well done to the decent fans who stepped in. Stuart.

If that interview had lasted any longer Craigan would have missed the flight! Stuart.

I see your point Melvin but I think Gannon is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't on this one. He has clearly decided that the past seven days have been needed to get the players at his disposal into the shape he wants to play - read his comment on the official site : "There’s an old cliché about teams running out of ideas and I think we gave our team some ideas last week but they began to revert back to old habits. So we’ve had to reemphasise things in training. Football is a simple game, tactically it can become complicated. But the most important thing is to have players who have the technique to be able to pass the ball, cross the ball and hit the target – and we do.” For me the underlined passage is highly significant and it will be interesting to see how the players respond tonight with a full week of coaching from Gannon/Ward. Remember how surprised we all were when players like McGarry, Paterson, Clarkson etc were reborn under McGhee and were almost unrecognisable from the Malpas era. Yes our squad is threadbare but anyone he signed this past week would be ineligible and would have taken up time away from making sure we are equipped to get through the tie tonight. Not ideal, but none of this process is sadly. Stuart.

Would be delighted if we got JP back. I had felt Hammell had gone stale for about a season before he left us, and while I was happy to get him back when we lost JP I still don't think that he has been anything other than average in a season and a half. He still drifts out of position too often and for a defender I think his defensive qualities are poor. Whereas JP had, in my opinion, been our best player that season before leaving. If he returned at least as good as the player we lost then that would be a tremendous signing. Stuart.

.......and you would also need permission from the SPL as they own the rights. Never going to happen. Not in a million years. Stuart.

In his first spell at the club, Burley was outstanding. Second time around not so good, but in no way would he ever be in the worst Motherwell team. Stuart.

Being honest, right now the only way in which Murphy could be considered a loss would be in relation to the number of players we have. Despite the hype, he has yet to make any telling contribution to our side. I think he is far too lightweight for an SPL striker. I agree with the others on this thread who don't think it is likely to happen but if it did he'd be no loss. Stuart.

Wasn't keeping track - got better things to do with my time! Just noticed that the only 2 posts I made yesterday were immediately followed by you disagreeing. Anyway, for what it's worth I hope Craigan doesn't think he's going to go in to Gannon and take some sort of high ground. As much as I like Craigan, Gannon was correct in his assessment - when did you last see Craigan head the ball clear at a corner ?? Stuart.

Nor is it a co-incidence you disagree with what I have posted. Twice in one day - I must be doing something right Stuart.

BBC Taxi for Craigan ?? Stuart.

Paul Quinn seemed to divide the fans but he will be a major loss to the side - just look at how we performed in the games he missed last season. Despite his failings he was a key part of our team. Good luck in Cardiff - stay out of trouble Coach ! Stuart.

3-1 defeat at home by Queens Park in the Scottish Cup - 1978. Stuart.

That's your taxi arrived. I'll pay your fare. Get a grip. Honestly Stuart.

..he is the boss. End of. Stuart.

Isn't that what he did ? Seriously, who was missing ? Fitzpatrick and Smith ? Would not have made the slightest difference had they played and I'm glad they didn't as we saw some decent glimpses from the young guys. We started last night with Hammell, Reynolds, Craigan, O'Brien, Lasley, McGarry and Sutton. That's seven very experienced SPL players, plus Fraser played regularly for Inverness. You do realise there's a reason that G Smith, Quinn, Klimpl, Clarkson, Hughes, McLean, Malcolm and Sheridan were absent last night. Poor tactics my arse - you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Stuart.

Jim Gannon is 100% correct. Top man for his honesty. Stuart.

To be fair, Gannon, along with all of us, is acutely aware that urgent and extensive surgery is required. In all honesty I don't know that I really expected anything from last night. 8 of last year's first team squad, virtually all of them first picks, no longer with us and no options to sign players once the draw for this round was made, and no new manager in place until three days before the game. Right now, I'm looking on these Europa League matches for what they are - an unexpected bonus and if we do not progress too far I'm not going to get too worried. The main concern is that Gannon rebuilds and has us in good shape for the new SPL campaign - that means much more to us than a run in Europe, which if we are realistic is never going to go anywhere. Having said that, despite the threadbare nature of our squad last night, there were enough experienced players in the starting line-up to ensure that we should have won the game. Unfortunately they did not take anything like enough responsibility. Stuart.

Brighton !! Coca Cola League 1. The Third Division in old money !! Great step up Buzz. I wish footballers would just be honest and admit they make decisions on their next job in the same way as all of us. Stuart.

McGhee knew that Strachan was quitting Celtic whether they won the SPL or not. He was convinced the job was his. He knew he would not be at Fir Park this season. Like most on here, I do subscribe to the theory that he couldn't be arsed getting the out-of-contract players signed up on new deals. Stuart.

This is what I'm hoping for !! Wasn't able to get to the ticket office over the weekend and won't be in Motherwell again until after Thursday! If I can't buy a ticket at Airdrie on Thursday night I'm stuffed. Stuart.

Same could be said regarding just about everything on the site. It's no different to the "all the best Davie" thread which sprung up after his move was confirmed, and I think the official confirmation of our new manager deserves a thread of its own. Maybe I should change my name to 'Flow But thanks for such a valuable contribution to the thread. Stuart.

Welcome aboard to Jim Gannon and Peter Ward. Official Site Totally 100% behind you. Best of luck to you. Stuart.

Reading this thread makes me really disappointed that I won't be able to make the trip to Llanelli next week - shame it couldn't have been at the weekend. The Nancy trip is THE highlight of my time following Motherwell and it's great to see the guys down in Llanelli pulling out all the stops to make our fans welcome. Hope you all have a great time down there and many, many thanks to Nigel and his team for being so welcoming. Terrific attitude ! Stuart.

I would suggest you read the PWC report on the state of the SPL and pay particular attention the section which has our salary bill at 73% of turnover and take this into consideration with the loss of Setanta. Grim financial reading. Once again we have chased a dream and paid over the odds for manager and players wages - Boyle is acting now to ensure we don't go the same way we did in 2002. Stuart.