underboyleheating

I will be surprised if we lose this game over two legs and I don’t envisage anything other than a comfortable path through to the next round. I am sure there will be no excuses from McCall or the players if we fail. The bottom line is we should be too strong for this team.

Do you reckon Flow will ever be tempted by a big money move?

Shows how much I follow the English league I assumed they were still in the EPL. In that case we should have thumped them. Lol

I couldn't honestly tell you, however, they are a premiership team and will have a budget to buy decent enough players to compete in that league. In contrast we have a small budget and a team which consists of academy players, loan deals and frees.

Whilst this Icelandic team will be no push overs, I fully expect us to take a comfortable lead going into the second leg.

I wasn’t at the game, however, Fulham are a top league side with a squad budget far in excess of ours. It’s certainly no disgrace to lose 2-0 to an established premiership team.

You will have either loved or hated our recent petrol blue third top. Personally I liked it, and always championed the reasons behind it. With this in mind I see no reason why we shouldn't re-introduce another blue third kit sometime in the future in recognition of our historical kit roots. This photoshop mock up is how I envisage a future 'Back to Blue' kit may look like. No matter whether it's an away or third I always like to see a hint of claret and amber somewhere on the kit. It's also no secret that I prefer to see fully embroidered badges as I think they add a touch of quality care to any kit design (we appear to have drifted away from this practice on our recent kits). I also think clubs could experiment more with printing/stitching onto the material to help inject some club individuality to the standard manufacturer design template. The technology is available and I see no reason (cost dependent) not to embrace it.

You must have misheard him, as I would be shocked if McCall doesn’t know how this Icelandic team are currently performing in the league.

The club shop have experience in framing tops and maybe they will be able to advise you on the best place to get it done.

Yes that’s what adidas appear to call it in their team wear range.

Basic online team wear sometimes gets an unfair press, however, I was keen to see what can be achieved within it’s limitations (I did add a hoop to the home top). For this photoshop experiment, I opted for a basic adidas team wear template complete with classic sponsor. The home sees the return of our hooped sleeves, whilst the away pays homage to our 90s pinstriped away kit. The presentation suit is how I like to see all our training kit, decked out in claret and amber.

I see Stjarnan are famed for their goal celebrations. The toilet seat one in this top ten celebration clips is superb. http://youtu.be/OUkY59hIwYA

It can be a lottery, however, some sides appear to have a knack of appearing more than most. Since 2000... Hibernian have featured in 5 domestic finals. (winning 1) Dundee United have featured in 4 domestic finals. (winning 1) Hearts have featured in 4 domestic finals. (winning 2) Kilmarnock have featured in 3 domestic finals. (winning 1) Dunfermline have featured in 3 domestic finals. (winning 0) In contrast we have featured in 2 domestic finals. (winning 0) However, admittedly Hibernian, Hearts and Dundee United all have bigger budgets than us.

This would be a big ask and I suspect something will need to suffer in order for us to lift a domestic trophy. I personally don’t think we will reach the group stages of the Europa Cup. In my opinion a top six league finish combined with a domestic trophy will be the very best we can hope for.

Yes in an era where the domestic cups have been won by a number of clubs out with the old firm it is disappointing that we have only come close twice since 1991, and have ultimately fell short when it really mattered. You can also add Hibs to your list as they won the League Cup in 2007 when they beat Kilmarnock in the final.

Despite being crowned the best of the rest over the last two years domestic silverware eluded us again. McCall is without doubt one of our greatest ever managers and I sincerely hope that this will be the season we see claret and amber ribbons hanging from a domestic trophy. I personally would prefer a cup win over second spot in the league (both would be nice, although probably unrealistic). We are never going to win the league and I think our main focus should be on delivering silverware to the Fir Park trophy room. With that in mind we need to avoid a repeat of last years Albion Rovers performance and treat every game as if our life depended on it. Of the two the Scottish Cup is the one that every manager wants to get their hands on, however, I wouldn't say no to some Diddy Cup success as it has been so long since we last won it. If we stay focused a top six finish and a cup win are well within our squads capabilities. As big John said in a recent interview...

Certain kits are known by their sponsor and it would be difficult to imagine a 1980's Liverpool shirt without the Crown Paints or Hitachi logo. As for Motherwell tops Ian Skelly would probably be regarded as our classic sponsor and the tops would look odd without it.

The dreaded sponsors logo probably ruins 9 out of 10 kit releases. Unfortunately they are a necessity to raise income and few clubs can afford to have tops without one. It's only in recent years where we have witnessed a rise in gambling and payday loan sponsorship which usually devalues any design even more. Where possible clubs should try to offer an alternative to the sponsored shirt by having an option to buy a sponsor free retro top. In fairness to Motherwell/Provan they have been good at offering alternatives to the usual sponsored match day shirt.

The new Lazio Macron template would make a smart modern day adaption of the 1950s style shirts. I have championed the one off return of the black socks for some time and from a historical kit perspective they would work well with this style of top.

I like the French World Cup Away (edit 2012 Euro) Nike top and decided to see what it would look like in C&A. It reminds me a little of our 1950s rugby style top.

I don’t see a lot wrong with his reply, pretty straight to the point...

Any news yet?

As some have said re-signing Clarkson is a step in the wrong direction. I would prefer if we persevered with younger players with the view to selling them on for a profit. However, embarking on a European campaign with young inexperienced players could be viewed as a risk and McCall will be wary of going down that route.

Despite being only 29 I reckon Brian McLean’s stint playing in the Scottish Premiership could be at an end.

AS Roma kits are always very stylish and in my opinion set the benchmark for all that is good in football kit design. I was keen to see how their new home kit would look with the addition of an amber hoop. I usually favour white away kits, however, I am not adverse to the odd claret away as long as it contains some amber.