joewarkfanclub

100% agree that the grandparent rule should be gone, but parents has to be allowed. If I was living down south and my kids were good enough to play for Scotland please dont tell me they wouldnt be Scottish! I dont agree re Dykes, he is Australian, but both his parents are Scottish. His father is from Dumfries and he has family there. To say he didnt develop playing in Scotland is also incorrect. He is only 25 and spent the last 5 years playing for Queen of the South and Livingston before getting his move south. Im not saying for a minute he doesnt feel Australian, but he has chosen to play for Scotland over them so I wouldnt be putting him in the same basket as some of the others you are referring to that should never have been picked. Re the list of players whom you say we have missed out on, McGeady never wanted to play for Scotland. His parents are Irish, he felt Irish, so he chose them. No issues with that. Likewise McCarthy got selected for Ireland when he was a youth, and chose to stay loyal to them for giving him his chance. Houghton and Coyne played in an era where there were Scots players of similar if not greater ability than them, they didnt miss out because of "fake Scots". Overall I agree with your point, just not the examples given.....

Must not lose. A 10 point advantage going into the split would have to see us clear of automatic relagation you would think. A win puts us in dreamland!

Think the top one in white with claret and amber stripes would be fantastic. But more likely a claret one with white and amber stripes given our rotation. Not keen on the stripes up the middle.

Really like that! Modern but with still a touch of class.

From a Motherwell perspective I welcome the change. They may appoint someone shite and give us an advantage over them!

I would like a right good go at the cup this season, and on current form, I think thats perfectly reasonable. But as a Motherwell fan, I expect nothing. I find it hurts less that way!

Didnt see the whole game, but from the bits I did see, there didny appear to be any failures again which is great to see. I thought Roberts looked very good again and some pretty combative performances feom Campbell and Crawford. The whole defensive line did well for the most part with only momentary lapses at their goal and the Kelly save. Overall though, I agree with most, its hard to argue against Cole. His overall contribution to the team the last few weeks has been vastly improved and 2 goals and an assist are hard to argue with.

Oh well! That post aged well!

Whilst I couldn't argue if GA chose to go down that route, I dont think he will. Carroll will almoste certainly be unavailable with concussion. He was out cold last week when he hit the deck. Gallagher is club captain and the most experienced centre half we have. The club could easily have made an example of him by stripping the captaincy if they wanted to go down that route but didnt. Given Gallagher is the best header of the ball we have and considering who the opposition is, I dont see GA not picking him. I do agree though that is terribly harsh on Lamie or Magliore after last week and if we were safe, maybe the same decision isnt taken.

I think we will line up...... Kelly SOD Magliore Deccy McGinley Campbell Crawford Maguire Roberts Cole Watt

Cant see Roberts being dropped at all. He has been a shining example in our last 2 games of everything we didnt do against Hamilton and St Johnstone. Dont get me wrong, I dont think Watt or Cole deserved to be dropped either, but Iif I had to pick one, it wouldnt be Roberts. Personally, I think a straight swap of Gallagher for Lamie or Magliore makes more sense and whilst Lamie has improved significantly the last couple of games and would be very unlucky to be the fall guy, I think Magliore's fabled pace might tip the balance in his favour.

A mate sent me this. It made me laugh. Apologies to whoever it was stolen from.... A man from Liverpool, England was touring the USA on holiday and stopped in a remote bar in the hills of Nevada. He was chatting to the bartender when he spied an old Native American man sitting in the corner. He had tribal gear on, long white plaits, wrinkled face. "Who's he?" asked the Liverpudlian. "That's the Memory Man." said the bartender. "He knows everything, remembers everything. He can remember every face he's ever seen. He can remember any fact he hears or reads. Go and try him out." So the Liverpudlian goes over, and thinking he won't know about English football, asks "Who won the 1965 FA Cup Final?". "Liverpool" replies the Memory Man. "Who did they beat?" "Leeds" was the instant reply. "And the score?" "2-1." "Who scored the winning goal?" "Ian St. John" said the old man, without a hint of hesitation. The Liverpudlian was knocked out by this and told everyone back home about the Memory Man when he got back. Many years later he went back to the USA and tried to find the impressive Memory Man. Eventually he found the bar and sitting in the same seat was the old Native American, only this time he was older and even more wrinkled. The Liverpudlian approached him with the greeting "How". The Memory man looked up and said, "Diving header in the six yard box".

Im too you to remember him as a player. But his reputation at Fir Park is well known. I dont remember his managerial stint but he was responsible for a huge part of "my first Motherwell". If all he ever did was pair Wullie P and Bobby Graham together he would be a hero to me. Thankfully he did so much more. A fantastic career as a player and you have to think he would have earned many more Scotland caps if he hadnt been born in the same era as Denis Law. What Scotland would give to have someone like that available this summer. RIP SAINT.

Anyone know what the crowd was that night? Been trying to look it up today but cant see any mention of it....

Marshall and Gordon are stick ons. As would McGregor be if he hadnt "retired", but the 3rd place is up for grabs. I think Kelly has a right good shot at it.

I agree. Archer isnt playing so wont be in the mix. Similarly McLaughlan. I am not aware of any other good Scottish keepers playing at a decent level that would be considered. Bain maybe?

Whats the point of a message board if not to pontificate?

Good point. I think we forget at times that footballers arent robots. They are human beings who have all gone through the same emotional roller coaster as the rest of us in the last year.

Kelly must be in with a real shout of that Euro spot, which would be another massive feather in the cap for the club. The only other contenders for me would be Xander Clarke or Robbie McCrorie, but I think Kelly is better than both of them.

Livingston losing today should help us. They should be drained emotionally from losing a cup final and the physical energy expended will have been tough. Bartley looks like he picked up a knock and could be doubtful. He was struggling towards the end. The fact that they have a game midweek against Rangers means they wont have any time to recuperate. A heavy defeat on top of all that could play into our hands. All that said, we need to ignore that and focus on getting the same level of performance we showed against St Mirren and Hibs. If we do that we have a right good chance to win the game.

I hadnt considered this, but I suppose it is a possibility. If that is the case then it would be good to see that the club have shown the backbone that others have alleged is missing from our board, despite the fact that, from a playing sense, it did weaken us on the field. Given our performances after GA arrived, does this explain the drop in levels in the Hamilton and St Johnstone games and why they have improved now it has been sorted? All conjecture. I just hope if it was a problem, it is now behind us and we can move on.

Very tempted to go for Lamie as he had an excellent game today and has had his detractors on here. If he can keep up that level of performance then he may prove himself to be more than just a squad player and will make himself very difficult to drop. I went for Roberts for the 2nd game in a row. I dont think its any coincidence that the energy he has brought to the front line has coincided with an upturn in our fortunes. Took his goal very well and good assist for the 2nd. However, the most impressive thing for me was his desire to work back after he lost the ball. His work rate was phenomenal. Chris Long take note. Honourable mentions for Crawford whonwas excellent, Alan Campbell who looked a lot more like his old self, Tony Watt whose close control and hold up play is a joy to watch at times, McGinley did a great job coping with Boyle when he came on and the mythical Magliore pace finally made an appearance accompanied by a very steady performance from young Tyler. Great day at the office all round.

What a difference a week makes! That was as complete a performance as last week was shocking. Discipline, effort, commitment and no little skill in very tight areas. Not a failure on the park. 2 good goals and a clean sheet! Thought the first half was a fairly even and open affair with us giving at least as good as we got and actually creating the better chances. For all Hibs menace we defended well and limited them mostly to cross balls. Getting the early goal in the 2nd half was fantastic, but naturally it caused us to quickly look to protect what we had. Once Watt and Roberts legs went it was clearly a case of shutting up shop and we did that very well forbthe most part despite Hibs having all the play by that stage. A thoroughly impressive days work against a very decent Hibs side that I dont think anyone could honestly say they saw coming! Morenof the same next week please!

Hibs are a decent side so its hard to see us winning this one away from home. It would be nice to see another solid hard working display and if we could take a point it would be a very good days work. 3 points would be magnificent in the circumstances but I cant see it.

Sorry, Andy/Fizoxy, I should have perhaps clarified my own position before posing the question. I dont really care whether Chris Long never ever smiles in a Motherwell shirt, and Im not that bothered about him not being a badge kisser. For me actions speak louder than anything and for me his body language and work rate on the pitch leaves a lot to be desired. Ive no doubt that there is a player in there somewhere and I thought when he returned we could get the best out of him. You get brief flashes of it every now and again like his goal against Dundee United. However these are just that, flashes. We are in a relegation battle and I want to see all of our players roll up their sleaves and do whatever it takes to secure our premiership status, regardless of whether they are being played out of position or not. For me Long just doesnt do enough and doesnt look as if he cares enough to put in the hard yards. It speaks volumes for me that a guy plucked from Hearts reserves can show more desire in 90 mins than Long has all season. Id love to be proved wrong with him (like I was with Tony Watt) but Im not sure we can afford the luxury of finding out right now.