southernsteel

Been buzzing all week. Waking up at 5.30 a.m. every day and thinking about formations, the '91 final, the buzz of standing with 17,000 fellow minded 'Well fans etc. Picking my son up from school in Sandhurst at mid day tomorrow and then hitting the road north with the better half and brother in law. Make the most of it lads and lasses. C'mon the 'Well.

Actual quote is: "MOTHERWELL TICKETS GO QUICK Motherwell have sold 7,500 Scottish Cup final tickets - almost half of their allocation - after putting them on sale on Monday morning. Season ticket holders have until the end of the week to snap up their seats for the Hampden clash against Celtic on May 21. The remaining tickets of Motherwell's 16,000 share of the crowd will be sold via a ballot."

I've got a double room booked at the Domir for the Thursday and Friday night but the missus can't get the time off work now. I'm travelling back straight after the game now and will be cancelling the room tonight so if anyone is looking for a double room there will be one coming free shortly.

4 of us arriving in Odense at 3.00 p.m. on the train from Copenhagen. With 5 hours to kill before the game Ryan's sounds like a good bet. You can count us in. See you all about 3.30 p.m.

+4 here = 90

Anyone seen the pitch lately or got any latest photographs? Hopefully it'll be looking the dogs b*llocks for our home tie which is only three weeks on Thursday.

It wasn't 100% clear. He just seemed to make a point of saying that contracts had been agreed in principle but nothing was yet signed. The way I'd read it I was under the impression that contracts had been signed and sealed a few weeks ago. Might take a trawl through some archive official team news to see exactly what was said at the time.

I was listening to Five Live this morning. Broony was on to talk about the League Cup Final. I was surprised to hear him say that Craig and Archie had only "agreed their extended contracts in principle but hadn't yet signed anything". I am maybe being a bit paranoid but there sounded like a very small element of doubt about signing and even a little bit of irritation that nothing was signed. Given that Gannon worked for several months without a written contract it's a slight worry that Craig and Archie seem to be in the same position. I'd be much happier to know that they'd both signed on the dotted line. C'mon Leanne - get the contract drafted - it can't take that long.

Hats off to my three mates- Gippo, Big Albie and Dave Waddell. All travelled up to Snecky even though the games off. Feckin nutters. Just had a call from Big Albie - been on the piss since 1.00 o'clock - mental local Snecky pubs with guys playing acoustic "smoke on the water" etc. and then heading off to Johnny Foxes for the rest of the night. Jammy gits. These boys are the salt of the Motherwell FC earth. Have a good night guys. Wish I was up there with you.

Might give it a go - always keen for inside info / gossip. P.S. Your twitter link - try spell check - "wandering" = "wondering".

Looks great but 6' x 10' ain't all that big. Not sure where you're thinking of putting the flag but I'd recommend you go for quite a bit larger for maximum effect.

I was listening to the game on BBC Sport down in Sandhurst and must admit the 'Well fans sounded amazing. Don't know if the mike was close to them or not but sounded like a lot more 'Well fans than I was expecting. Fantastic result. Performance isn't really all that important at the end of the day. Hard place to go and get three points and we did. Jim Gannon's Motherwell Army!!!

Apparently there are more germs to be found on a phone than on a chopping board. On that basis I have recently stopped wiping my arse with my mobile phone and stick to a quick once over with the old chopping board - which whilst reducing the chances of contracting a fungal infection on my forhead does tend to iritate the missus a little.

Away Days any day. From a couple of thousand at Nancy or Llanelli to about 70 at Inverness, the atmosphere with a band of loyal 'Well fans who rarely ever complain or get on the backs of the players beats Fir Park in my book. Also usually a good excuse for some "social networking" in a local hostelry somewhere - and most of them are preferable to the FPC. All in all Away for me.

Steaua only lost 2 - 1 against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium less than two years ago in the Champions League. This lot will be no mugs. If we're to get anything out of this tie we'll need to get an away goal and defend about ten times better than we did against Flamanturi and LLanelli. It's not impossible but we'd be best to be realistic as well as optimistic. Still - we can always dream.

800 mile round trip and 1 1/2 days off work for me. Find it hard to believe that anyone wouldn't go just because it's in Airdrie - unless you live in Albania perhaps - Albanian's have standards to maintain.

3 -1 to us in the return. The two new boys might get a run as well which could give us a lift. Need to really go for it though. A big tie in the next round could be worth a lot of cash to the club and give us all something to look forward to.

What would you recommend as the best way to get there? I live just south of London and at a push could set off on Wednesday. Should I fly to Corfu or Italy and get the ferry etc. or fly to Albania itself? All the London airports are within two hours drive for me. I'd prefer to keep the cost sensible in the hope of future European adventures later in the tournament. Any advice on routes / airlines / ferries etc. would be appreciated.

Got two nice Stella glasses out of the Beefeater next to PYS on the way back to the Premier Inn! Also a few tea bags and a few coffee sachets out of the hotel. Does that count?

Alfaman still at Southernsteels here:- Aye mate a wee scare, blowout at 90MPH just north of Killington Lake on the way down. The arse of the car was shakin aboot like Beyonce on crack! Anyhow went into Kendal and got a new tyre. Bet I'm the only well fan wi a nearside rear tyre that says " A present from the lakes" on it! . Hope you don't get points wee man, that would fekk yir insurance right up. Good tae see in the fanzone as a fully fledged euro member. All the best, I'm just off to a beer festival

Alfaman on Southernsteels laptop. Fantastic! Everything went like clockwork and everyone was so friendly, made for a perfect awayday. Locals came out and lined the streets as "The March" went past. All cheering and waving. Police stopped all traffic for half an hour, and those held up just got out of their cars and joined in. I'm sure there will be more soon, but here is a taste on youtube . A grand day out,thanks to all in Wales.

Two of us leaving Sandhurst at 8.00 a.m. tomorrow. Aim to get there by 11.00 a.m. to meet up with four more driving down from the 'Shire over night. Looking to get to the Fan Zone for about mid-day. A quick fifteen pints and then down to PYS for a pie - and a pint. Colours will be out the window for 170 miles down the M4. Jimbo Gannons barmy army!!

A six o'clock "march off" sounds good to me. By the time we get into the ground that'll give us half an hour or so for one last quick pint under the stand to lubricate the tonsils and then get into giving the team a good old fashioned welcome.

Mate of mine was in the ticket office at about three o'clock this afternoon and the girl said we'd sold almost 2,000! Perhaps a bit of exaggerating going on but sounds promising. Even though there's not been much of a queue most people seem to be picking up between 5 and 20 tickets at a time.

Anyone fancy a re-run of the famous "Nancy - March to the Ground" when down in Llanelli? I'm not sure how far it is from Stebonheath Park where the Fan Zone is going to be to Parc y Scarlets where the games taking place but I'm fairly sure it's under two miles. It's going to be difficult to get from one to the other by shuttle bus / taxi and a re-run of that famous night in France would be excellent. If it's an 8.05 p.m. kick off we could get things rolling about 6.00 p.m.