Ya Bezzer!

We need someone new coming in. No reflection on Ramsden's ability but he's 33 next season and he's injured half the time. We need new blood coming in anyway with this seasons record back there.

I've also noticed that Hammell often has to cover for a midfielder or central defender and has to play centrally, leaving a gap down the wing that isn't filled by a midfielder. The centre backs also fail to hold a line, usually Hutchinson is the culprit rushing out of defence to lunge into a tackle. We've also missed Ramsden who is a good solid defender.

I think there are probably three or four reasons why we have conceded so many goals this season and it shouldn't be reduced to something simplistic. That said considering we have 6'3 goalkeeper and Hutchinson and McManus at centre half we lose a hell of a lot of high balls in the box.

Expectations change throughout the season. Also not having a 'successful' season does not necessarily mean having a 'disasterous' season or even a 'poor' season. Back in August we had no idea what kind of team we'd have or what kind of teams our opponents would have. Generally I think any kind of Top 6 finish shouldn't be sniffed at but with Rangers out the league, Hearts rooted to the bottom and Hibs in disarray that's three of the teams that should outperform us out of the running. We are the 'biggest' of the provincial clubs and therefore I think we should have looking really for a top 4 place this season. However as I said expectations change throughout the season. Normally 4th place would be a strong league placing but to fall out of the top 3 now and potentially miss out on Europe at this stage in the season would, I think, have to be looked upon as something of a failure, especially as 2nd should have been in our grasp, never mind 3rd. Right now 3rd and guarenteed European qualification is my demarcation line of a successful season. If we don't achieve that it doesn't mean we had a terrible season, it just means overall we didn't achieve what I think we should have done going into the top 6 split and therefore I will be a little disappointed.

If we don't tighten up at the back we will finish 4th lose a fortune in prize money and potentially miss out on Europe. 1 clean sheet in 13 matches says we have a problem to address in the coming matches. 14 goals conceded in the last 5 matches is dire anyway you slice it.

I'm all for an attacking, entertaining team and I don't want to see us grinding out results but you can't have a situation where we are conceding over 2 goals a match on average. The number of times we have conceded 3 or more goals in the last couple of months is shocking and it simply cannot continue. I don't think today was, as some have said, about playing Dundee Utd. In recent times we've conceded 3 goals to St. Mirren, Hibs, Partick Thistle, all times scrapping against relegation. This goes much deeper than simply one team having a sign over us this term. This is something that is happening week in and week out. There must be reasons for us conceding so many goals and McCall really need to address these because it should not be happening with the players we have available. As for 2nd, I think we can still do it if we win the final three matches, so we just have to take each game at a time and try and take it to the final day. However we are going to have to defend a lot better than we have been doing to have any chance.

Northern Premier League Division One North. Barely back in football.

ARRGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Teams mentioned above are the teams that played in this seasons competition. I'd assume teams of similar standard will come in at the same stages. The best chance of progressing is if you are either seeded or manage to beat one of the weaker seeds in which case I believe you take their seeded status into the next round (might be wrong about that). This season Of 76 that entered at the 1st Round Qualifying stage 0 teams (0%) made it to the group stages. Of 42 that entered at the 2nd Round Qualifying stage 9 teams (21%) made it to the group stages. Of 18 that entered at the 3rd Round Qualifying stage 6 teams (33%) made it to the group stages. Of 33 that entered at the P.O Round Qualifying stage 15 teams(45%) made it to the group stages. So the odds are certainly staked against anyone coming out of the first two rounds of fixtures, in terms of getting to the group stages. We actually came in at the 3rd Round Qualifying but weren't seeded and got a one of the bigger teams in the draw.

At Q1 you can end up anywhere from Iceland to Kazhakstan. The latter probably being a worst case scenario! Looking at this seasons 1st rnd qualifiers I reckon we would be probably negotiate past most of the teams but there were a sprinkling of decent teams in there - Malmo, Rosenborg, Honved, Videoton, Levski Sofia, Sarajevo etc. 2nd round qualifiers mostly teams of at least our level if not above and most would be tough ties - Sparta Prague, Strum Graz, Anorthosis, Lech Poznan, Hadjuk Split, Gothenburg, Red Star Belgrade, Rubin Kazan etc...

Looks like most of the teams are limping over the line at the moment. We've only won 1 in 4. Dundee Utd have only 1 point from their last 9. Aberdeen have 1 win from their last 5 plus a semi final defeat. At this stage in the season it's about 2 or 3 more performances out of weary legs. Focus, determination, resolve.

I think holding on to kids is a big problem and you've mentioned one of the reasons. Another is that, generally, populations are much more mobile now than they were in the past. It used to be if you were born in Motherwell you lived in Motherwell all your days. Now, for a whole host of reasons, people move around a lot more, especially young people due to employment and education. A lot of the kids going to Fir Park now probably have futures away from the area. However it is good to see a lot more kids at the games. At one time, not so long ago, the support base was becoming virtually middle aged.

Even if no contracts have been offered at this stage I'm sure McCall has talked to the players he wants to keep and intimated that the contract offer will be forthcoming. In the mean time I think it's only right that we concentrate on the football for now. Success on the field will mean a lot more money available for the player budget especially if we can overtake Aberdeen.

McMillan was a favourite of mine and a decent left back but I always felt he had a midfield role in him. He played there a few times, wide and central and always did well. I seem to remember him having a cracking match in central midfield away to Dunfermline. For a while we also played McMillan at centre back to accommodate Hammell at left back and that wasn't as successful.

I thought it was a cracking save at the game but watching the highlights has only confirmed that. Nielsen did well on Saturday but he would have a far higher reputation with our fans if he had that level of performance every week.

Falkirk are the form side right now so if Accies stay top I'd expect them to be the team that comes through to the play off final. I don't see them of course but I don't think Dundee are a particularly good team. They have more or less the same side that got relegated last season and their results haven't been great under Hartley. They score very few goals for a team at the top of the division. I was looking at the fixture list and Kilmarnock have 3 out of 4 away from home so they might struggle a bit as they have a poor away record. The only team they have beaten on the road lately is us!

Right, we could always play Celtic again. Guaranteed at least a point.

Funnily enough the first real memory I have of Stevie Hammell was playing an absolute stormer against Celtic as an 18 year old, so it was fitting that he made it 500 appearances against the same opponents.

Pretty much the case. Stokes played for it but as a defender you cannot put your leg out like that.

I think these kind of threads are a bit "weren't the old days great" rosy tinted glasses affairs. I've been going to Fir Park since 1982 and in that time we've nearly always been a 4,000 - 5,000 type team. Our current average attendance is just over 5,000 so it's not much different from what you'd expect. The only time I really remember when we were regularly attracting more than that was the late 90's, early 00's when the economy was booming, the SPL had re-branded Scottish football and John Boyle was promising to make Motherwell the third force. When all those things were exposed as illusions crowds normalized again. We actually have the highest average attendance of any provincial club in the SPFL and it is up, marginally, on last season at the moment although that might change depending on the turn out for the next two matches. Attendances may have gone down overall but they have not collapsed. Our core support has probably gone down by about 500. All things considered we aren't doing to badly.

Pretty much. Nielsen had a good save from Samaras in the 2nd half but as I remember it that was it apart from the goals. It's not like they cracked a few off the bar and post, had others cleared off the line or our goalkeepers had to pull off worldies. Everything else was high, wide, defended or routine for the keeper and we could easily have scored four in the second half ourselves including the one we did get. Think over the course of the match we were the better team, Celtic dominated between half time and their equalizer but we came more into again after that. Not been many times recently I've seen us create so many genuine chances to score against Celtic.

Very strong team performance. Nielsen had a couple of excellent saves and no hairy moments. I thought Anier worked his socks off giving van Dijk one of the toughest matches he must have had this season as well as tracking back really well. Must have run miles. Angol had a good game today as well. Reid did well in front of the back four. Sutton got two goals. Man of the Match though has to be Jack Leitch. Superb performance for the young man. If he can keep that level of performance up he's going to go places.

The corresponding fixture last season had 7,503. Not much difference. Probably the other 10 were banned!

Higdon got 26 in the league and scored the penalty against Aberdeen in the Scottish cup. Sutton needs 5 more to equal Higdon or 6 to beat it. Bit of an ask but he's got 12 goals in the last 15 matches so he's finishing the season in good form but even if he doesn't score again he's had a great season.

Celtic were dodgy at the back all day. We created a lot of chances and could have scored 6 or 7 with a bit more composure. Not often you can say that after a match against the OF.