sinjy

Very pleased that McManus has resigned. He missed one game last season at Ross County where Laing and Kennedy played centre defence and we were awful. Fans often do not appreciate the influence certain players have. McManus came to us as a past Celtic and Scotland captain and maybe has not lived up to that level. However I believe he is probably the most important player in our squad. Hall Kennedy and Laing will all develop under his influence. I now hope McDonald resigns. As for Hammell and Lasley I am neutral. They have been great servants but they did leave for better money in England before and will have done well out of the game. McGhee will have had some say on the level of money offered to them and this will reflect how important he sees them being next year. As others have said Hammell is injury prone and Las is 37. They are getting some coaching experience with the 20s so they may want to stay because of this. But if a middle level championship club wants to offer them more than us then let them go with our best wishes and thanks.

That doesn't half put the SFA in a spot. Weren't we responsible for the trouble at the end of the play off game as we were the home team and had responsibility for stewarding and safety. It was our fault fans got on the pitch and we were severely warned that there would be serious consequences if it happened again. Hence the huge steward presence and big bill for us at the St Johnstone game. So I take it the SFA will take full responsibility for everything that happened after the game today. Will they fine themselves?

I have a vague memory of a game at Montrose in the League Cup in the late 60s. In the days of only one substitute we named goalie Peter McCloy as sub. During the game he came on and Keith McCrae who started in goals went outfield and scored a goal. McCrae played quite a few games outfield during his time at Fir Park. Can anyone else remember this game or I am I mistaken.

I agree with bigweegiedosser. McManus talks the young centre backs through games. He had played for Celtic, had umpteen Scotland caps and a good career in England. This raised the expectations among our support. His performances on the park have been quite good but maybe not as good as we all expected with his history. However I doubt if we could get a player with his experience with the money we offer. His influence on and off the park is only something we fans can guess about but McGhee speaks very highly of him and that is good enough for me. He is for me number one priority to resign from the 5 who are out of contract.

Does anyone know how we lined up. The BBC web site (I Know) had us with a back four of Hammell Hall McManus Johnston Midfield of Cadden Lasley Gomis Pearson and Moult McDonald up front Surely McGhee did not play Hammell at right back after Tyncastle.

Of the 5 my number one priority would be McManus. I think he has a big influence on the young defenders. He is also younger than Las and Hammell. Next I'd take Hammell. As for Keith he will be 37 and I think he will only be a bit part player next year. He could maybe get a job as player coach at a championship club and if he did should go with our best wishes. Not too worried about Samson one way or another and as for McFadden if he is on any more than washers I would not be signing him. McGhee said in his press conference today that all the out of contract players had been offered deals. Does this include Jack Leitch?

As an aside, if we've offered him a deal and he opts to move on I guess we'd be entitled to compensation. This may be exactly why we have offered him a deal. If we don't he will leave for nothing. It might be a minimal offer that he won't accept but allows us to claim compensation.

I thought Ripley, McManus, Kennedy, Cadden, Johnston and McDonald were all in the hunt for MOM. However every one of them made a mistake, a bad pass or a wrong decision at some point in the game. However Connor made only one error and it was costly. Despite this I still give him man of the match. And how about Johnston and then Cadden ripping the piss out of the latest over hyped Old Firm player Tierney. A dozen games for Celtic playing in the least pressurised defence in the league and he gets a Scotland cap. Joe Wark will be turning in his grave

I don't think Gomis should play again unless Lasley is unavailable. He will probably go back to Hearts at the end of the season. As Milo says Leitch or any other young player Campbell?? should be given their chance between now and the end of the season to see what they can do.

The club can now start financial planning for next season. Even if we lose all five games we will get no less than the sixth place prize money. If we had ended up in the bottom six we could have been looking at the prize money for seventh to tenth. Hopefully this will allow us to keep the players we want and replace those we don't with a good standard of player. Onwards and upwards.

Well that was relatively painless after the worry of the defeat earlier. Perfect set of results. Well done everyone at Fir Park.

A managers time is for the present. Listened to Off the ball at 5.30. Inverness fans were calling for Hughes to go less than a year since they finished third and won the cup. I like McGhee and hope that he has success and stays. If he keeps his job at Scotland and continues to do well here he may be more likely to stay than a young ambitious manager with his career in front of him would. He left us before and failed so he might realise that he is a fit for this club and stay. As for young players he said that once w e were free from relegation he would play young players. After next week we will be safe from relegation whether we are in the top six or not so lets see what he does. However if we get into top six and lose all five games just wait for the McGhee out calls on this forum.

Nearly in the top six. Who would have believed that three months ago. A draw against Celtic and we are in it. If we lose I think it needs a whole set of results to pip us. Dundee need four points from Celtic H and Hamilton A Partick need six points from Dundee Un H and Ross Co A and St Johnstone need a draw with Kilmarnock A

Thank goodness the footballs back. Whoever thought that it was a good idea to have internationals seven weeks from the end of the season and cancel league football should be ball whipped. We were on a great run so heres hoping we have not lost momentum. Win on Saturday and we are almost in the top six. Oh and when is the manager of the month for March announced? Hopefully McGhee doesn't get it. We all know what happened the last time he won it.

Yes he's a pain in the arse at times. How many of us actually know the personality and character of our heroes? We might clap, cheer and hero worship certain players but in reality might not want to share a pint with them if we really knew them. How many of us who were doing a good job at our work and knew that there were others out there who would pay more and might employ us would let it be known that we would be interested in changing jobs? That's what he did when he as here before. I even thought that his post match interview today was a load of guff. He said we were second best and were at least a goal worse than Aberdeen in the first half. But he changed things at half time and we went on and won the game. I thought we were unlucky to be a goal down at half time and he was taking the credit for some magical managerial input that change the game. When in fact it was terrible defending from Aberdeen. Having said all that I was pleased to see him return to Fir Park. I thought we needed an experienced manager to manage McManus, Lasley, Hammell, Pearson and McDonald. He has sorted the team out found a winning formula and as someone else has said now that he is older and wiser he might not be so quick to look for a bigger job and with his Scotland gig might be more content with us. Also lots of fans seem to have forgotten how dignified he was during the Phil O'Donnell tragedy which he handled brilliantly. After the Kilmarnock game he was shite. After five wins out of six he is great. The truth is he is neither, He is our manager and every Well fan should get behind him and whatever team he sends out.

While McGhee has made some selection mistakes and strange tactical decisions I don't see the blame being laid at his door. Maybe he has swapped things around to try and get a formula that will work. We have virtually the same squad as finished 11th last season so it should be no surprise where we are. We have swapped one rookie keeper for another and have brought in a seventeen year old at centre half. Moult has replaced Erwin. Gomis has joined but is still to settle. Other than that it is the same group of players except that Hammell, Lasley Pearson McDonald and McManus are a year older. The recruitment in the summer was a disgrace. Four players that we signed then have been moved on with only Grimshaw making any impact. Kennedy, Fletcher and Chalmers are still here but have contributed very little. McGhee seems to have been told to reduce the wage bill so he could not bring in the two or three players we needed. Bringing in McFadden seemed desperation as he was done two seasons ago when we got rid. While McGhee makes all the positive noises about the squad I wonder if deep down he realises just how bad we are. On a side issue did anyone notice in his after match interview what looked like hearing aids in his ears?

Please please not Johnston at left back.

I don't really why people are surprised at our predicament. We have virtually the same squad/team as last season and look where they got us. Ripley for Long, Kennedy for Laing and Moult for Erwin are the only real changes. McManus, Hammell, Pearson, Lasley and McDonald are all a year older. Summer recruits Grimshaw, Taylor, Clarkson and Robinson moved on already. Something is very wrong at our club and I fear we will not survive if we get into the play off which on todays performance is the best we can hope for.

Just watched Gomis interview. He seems shocked that he has been let go by Hearts. Hopefully this fires him up and he feels he has a point to prove.

Dan was not rated by four managers. Brown and Hartley at Dundee did not play him. One of the first things Baraclough did was replace him. McGhee even signed a new back up in Samson. His time was clearly up. Good luck to him but he was not good enough for the SPL.

That's the point I was trying to make K McA

I don't think Reid will play for us again until February if he is still here. If he plays before then he will be playing for his second club and will not be available for loan or transfer until next season. I am sure we want him off the payroll this January

McGhee has always said he needs to assess the squad. Yesterday he played Chalmers I think for the first time. Now he knows about him. I also wonder if he was making a point to the money men at the club. He played Law in midfield where he is not very good. So now he can go to them and say look I need two midfielders because Law is no use there Cadden and Leitch are not ready and we could be in trouble again this season if we do not get people in.

I cant fathom McGhee's thinking today. It is not as if Chalmers is a star who has been injured and deserved to return immediately to the team as soon as he was fit. Yet McGhee makes two positional switches so that he can be brought back. Chalmers is a poorer left back than Hammell. Hammell is poorer than Law at right back and Law is a poor midfielder. If we do not have a centre midfielder who can come into the side in these circumstances then it is vital we get at least one and preferably two in during the window. Las is 35 and Pearson is injury prone. We cant expect them both to play well and fit for the next five months. I hope McGhee was playing it cool in his post match interview when he did not seem enthusiastic when he was asked about any new arrivals before the Ross County game.

100% agree with this,mio