Ya Bezzer!

Oh it will be playing....in my head!

I have a very vague recollection of Hammell 'scoring' a header which was disallowed at the South Stand end. Is this what you are thinking of?

It wasn't until I had the ticket in my hand that I realised just what an achievement this is. I am SO excited and I can't wait for the match. I think I will probably start greetin' when the team comes out the tunnel to the Champions League tune!

Got my holiday request authorized today. I'm going to the Champions League!

When Saunders and Hateley were both available at the beginning of last season, Saunders didn't get a look in. I don't see anything to suggest McCall has changed his mind. Ramsden and Hutchinson will be the centre backs and if Hutchinson is injured I can see Page or Cummins playing at centre back before Saunders. I'm afraid I see Saunders withering on the vine which is a shame because I think he has potential.

ALthough it's not the strongest Panathinaikos side they have ever had the chances are they would be good a bet to win the Scottish Premier League. The side is mainly made up of internationals, albeit not glamourous star names, and they have a lot of experience. Even at 35 Giorgos Karagounis is the kind of quality that we can't even approach. If we win at Fir Park it will surely rank among our greatest ever results. Now I just have to try and get the night off work!

It's hard to tell at this stage. The squad is very small and we have lost some quality players. I suspect others will go before or just after the start of the season, specifically Randolph and/or Murphy. I think how we will do will come down to the young players. It's inevitable guys like McHugh, Page and Carswell are going to have to step up to the plate this season instead of being bit part players and we will probably need a couple of others to come in from the U19's and show they are good enough to play at the top level. If either of these groups aren't up to the task then I seriously doubt we will be Top 6 challengers and it could even be a bit of a struggle. Right now I don't know what the answer to those questions will be.

Nice to see someone actually understands what is going on right now. In the end this will come down to numbers that only Sky know about. How much is Scottish football worth to them without OF matches or Rangers generally? I have no idea what kind of audience figures and advertising revenue a St. Johnstone v Kilmarnock live match draws in but I can't imagine it's a great deal. Perhaps it will come down to PR, Sky won't want to go down as the destroyer of professional football in Scotland, and it might be in it's long term interests to a) keep involved in Scottish football, after all Rangers will be back eventually, and b) to finance the current league to a level that it provides a degree of quality for its television audience. Alternatively they may just make a cut throat business decision and say "the SPL isn't worth it without Rangers".

The SPL is dead. The next few years should see our club downsize and once the adjustment is made from last seasons income to what we can expect in the future the SPL should be wound up with the Scottish League taking over once again. We can't do it right away because we have commitments and contracts to keep but I don't really see any option in the medium future provided SPL 2 is a red herring. And let's hope to god that it is. It's back to the Motherwell I first started supporting that basically survived on gate money although of course Bosman wasn't around back then so we will have less transfer money coming in (most players will be on 1 year contracts from now on) and banks won't allow the sort of debt we carried back then. Which means its going to be even tougher than the early to mid eighties period when I first started watching us. The ironic thing is the SPL was pretty good to clubs like Motherwell, Kilmarnock, St. Johnstone. We competed and often bettered the city clubs. That's probably coming to an end now, not necessarily next season or the season after but in the general future when denied TV money, gate money is king.

I don't see McCall changes things radically next season. We will bring in a central defender and a central midfielder to replace Clancy/Craigan and Jennings and that will be it. The team will line up more or less the same as last season and I don't see Steven Saunders getting into the first XI unless someone is injured. Remember last season Saunders wasn't getting a look in and was injured on international duty. Randolph Hateley - Hutchinson, New Defender - Hammell Humphrey - Lasley, Law (or New Midfielder) - Law or Murphy Higdon, Ojamaa I also suspect Jamie Murphy will be sold on at a cut down price much like Reynolds was, perhaps £100,000 - £150,000 early next season if nothing happens before then and I'll be amazed if no one makes a bid on Randolph. If not English clubs really need to have a word with their scouts. As with most seasons I would be very happy with Top Six but I think it will be a struggle this term, not impossible but certainly not something that should be taken for granted. A couple of injuries to key players and I think we could struggle a bit. Our league position is probably going to be in the lap of the gods.

Six members of my family died in the First World War, a number at the Battle of Arras, others at Ypres and the Somme. Madness.

OK, maybe 'punishment' may not be the right word to use but that still doesn't address my points. There is a reason why the new Rangers might not use the same route as any other new team and that relates to the my post above. This is not ABOUT Rangers any more. If it was this situation would be a lot more straight forward.

I've said it all along that Rangers deserve punishment but this is a bigger question than just punishing Rangers. There might be people gleefully digging a grave for Rangers but WE could be going in right after them. Are alarm bells not ringing when £200,000 is cut from the player budget over one close season? When the manager says we cannot even compete at English non league level for wages? When we have probably the smallest squad we have ever had and can't add to it unless we sell our good players? When the club claims we could lose almost £1 million pounds income on last season and that the club could be facing an insolvency event? There is no rich owner in place and one bad year could see us in a perilous financial position. This time next year without any exaggeration it's possible we could be going out of business. When people talk about Rangers getting off 'scot free' they should do well to remember Motherwell already have an administration behind us when we really did get off scot free with not so much as a point deduction and of course we were saved from relegation by SPL rules which others might interpret as 'preferential treatment'. If we are ever forced into that situation for a second time we would most likely not get much sympathy across Scottish football, much like happened to Dundee. I don't contribute to these threads very often because most people seem to have unalterable options but please read these words and really think about it. This is not about Rangers this is about THE FUTURE OF MOTHERWELL FC. If Rangers can be punished to the degree they deserve then good. If that is impossible to achieve given the financial situation then that's the bitter pill you swallow, to ensure survival and I trust the people at the club to do the right thing which ever way it goes. I hope Rangers end up in the 3rd division, but not at the expense of possible liquidation of my club and I'm certainly not going to condemn anyone who puts the survival of my club over the punishment of an other.

Jones. Our priorities, putting aside money considerations, should be an experienced centre half and a midfielder. Looks like if Ramsden did sign he would be used at centre half, the article alludes to that and I can't see Hateley being shifted from his right back position.

That points penalty could easily lead to relegation for Rangers if they don't hang on their stars. Would be kinda funny to see them marooned at the bottom of the league for an entire season.

I'm not someone who has been clambering for Rangers to be thrown out of the SPL but I think if ANY club cannot guarentee that it can fulfill the season 2012/13 fixtures which are due to be released 18th June then they should not be allowed to compete in the league. Therefore as far as I am concerned Rangers have 5 days to sort themselves out and it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

I need to wait until the new season's fixtures come out to decide if I get a season ticket. Then I can put in all my holiday requests for the home Saturdays! Does anyone know when they are published?

Yes but I do think there is some truth in the idea that squads go stale when you don't add a few new faces each season. I know we have very little money and we've had to sign up some of the top earners on new contracts but I think it will be to our own detriment if we don't bring in a couple of new signings regardless of the Jennings situation.

Looks Photoshopped to me.

If someone offered you a better paid job would you turn it down because a couple of people had previously failed to make the grade there? I think you make that decision on your own circumstances and belief in yourself that you can be a successful.

Good news on Las. He'll need a new nemesis now that Black's away down south though!

Neither like or dislike a lot. It's fine, OK, will do.

Why do you say that? He's looked good any time he was at Fir Park and hardly missed a game for Inverness which suggests he was one of their best players. Also scored 4 league goals which isn't bad for a midfielder.

I don't think any one is saying professional football would be in danger but standards would drop. Did you see us beat full time first division side Morton 6-0 with out hardly lifting a finger? I actually went to 1st division games last season and I think people would get a bit of a rude awakening at the standard of football played compared to the SPL. It is nowhere near SPL level for the most part. Dunfermline Athletic won the First Division by 10 clear points and look how badly they fared this season.

I've heard we are interested in one of Ojamaa's team mates in the Estonia national team squad for the match against Croatia who is a free agent. Tarmo Kink, left footed winger or striker. Played for Spartak Moscow and Middlesbrough. Let's see if a journalist picks this up and runs with it