Joeboy

Aye, that's a fantastic idea. Use the close season when they are resting, to burn them out ahead of the season. Flawless indeed. I don't see much truth in the Johnson story. I doubt Rangers and Hearts would have the funds to bid what I would deem acceptable and Celtic already have an surplus of attacking midfielders acquired from clubs in the division.

Taking his Scotland under 21 reference with a pinch of salt, given we signed a left back with that tag this time last year...

That summer and the beginning of that season signified McCall's heavy "one of the lads" culture coming back to bite him. He was overall still a fantastic manager for us right enough.

I can see both sides of any argument with Hammell and Lasley. Rumour has it that they both turned down pay rises with Hibs in 2012, to take pay cuts with us. I don't know if when they both signed new deals in 2014 it was a cut again, but being asked to take a 30% cut, if those figures are true, may seem like a slap in the face, with them having turned down more money previously. However, on the flip side, you could argue both are being offered less money, partly due to budget constraints and partly due to their diminishing influence on the team. I thought we were daft giving Lasley a two year deal in 2014, thinking with him spending the last season being 36 it might not be wise, but fair play to him, he did prove to be an effective last season. But his wage probably reflects that of a first pick. Do we really want to go into a season with a first pick aged 37? Same with Hammell, his new deal in 2014 would have been on first pick wages. Since then he's had a season where he played eight league games and one where he was out from August till November. I love Hammell but you have to be sensible and not give him a wage where you're ploughing your faith into him playing 40 games next season. Both would have to concede their influence is less than it was when they signed their previous deals, granted, but both will probably argue not 30% less. I guess I'm on the fence with this one.

I think between Louis Laing and Josh Law we have right back covered. I thought Laing looked promising there pre injury and Law is also a decent full back- I know many on the forums disagree with that. Also, I agree regarding Ainsworth. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go. What I'm saying is that if we do sell him/get rid of him, if the accounts suggested that we need transfer revenue, then we may need to sell a further player.

I agree, however it does worry me with Cadden only having a two year deal, that next summer will be probably be the only point we could make decent money from him. I'm a bit sceptical about an extension being signed in this period, especially if he continues to perform.

If we've to sell a player, I don't think Ainsworth going for a pittance will solve that. The only players in our team that could go for a reasonable fee this summer would be Moult and Johnson.

I couldn't tell you the last time we sold a player in his 29th year for £500k. The only way a team would pay us that amount of money would be for a young player, who had the potential to become significantly better than Motherwell standard. He falls into the category of a player who has shown glimpses of ability throughout his career without ever reaching consistency, hence the fourteen clubs. A club would take a punt on a player like that for a nominal fee, or for free, but definitely wouldn't splash out anywhere near £500k on him. I said a six figure fee on my last post, but even then I think I was a tad ambitious in saying that- we might just be happy enough to get him off the wage bill. If Ainsworth continues to be on the fringes of next season, we'll probably have a guy on the bench earning more than the new deals for the likes of McManus, Hammell and Lasley.

Don't know how I feel about Ainsworth to be honest. In his first season, I thought he was a joy to watch with all the screamers he was scoring. However, his second season, the poor players around him really accentuated his poor work rate and application at times. There was a point, probably January-March, where I'd have gladly driven him to somewhere like Plymouth. However, he then came back with a bang and was really crucial in us staying up and gave me what was one of, if the not the most enjoyable goals supporting Motherwell in my time at Ibrox. I thought this season we might see the best of him and even when it was clear he wasn't in McGhee's first eleven I thought he was a great substitute to have. Taking aside perhaps Inverness away and Aberdeen at home, I can't really remember him coming on and turning the game or anything. On the flip side to that though, I have him on eight assists for the season, only second to McDonald on nine and equal with Johnson, despite playing much fewer minutes. Despite the fact he has possibly the best technical ability in the team and he is capable of that moment of magic, especially on a big occasion, I would say that if we could get a six figure transfer fee and save the wages of one of our highest earners, who is becoming more and more of a peripheral figure, it would benefit us on the whole, especially with things as tight as they are.

I thought Moore had been dealt a harsh hand being sent out on loan last season whilst we signed every striker under the sun, but now I think about it, it actually probably benefits us, with him now having a season of playing regularly under his belt. I think he has the potential to be a guy who could grab a goal off the bench. A one year deal is right there. Reasonably happy with Samson signing on. Not a marquee signing, but he'll be steady enough and I'd fear us ending up with a Gunnar Nielsen type if we kept looking. As for Ferguson, I thought he looked really out of his depth in his first team outings season before last and hadn't heard rave reviews about his loan spells, but that said, I thought he looked by far our most accomplished player in the youth cup final. Happy to trust McGhee on this one. Not too fussed about the guy from Dunfermline, not going to try and spell his name! He would have been an exciting signing and the lower leagues is a market we have perhaps been guilty of underusing in the past, but there is no guarantee he would have done the business two divisions up and having him as one of two main strikers could end up badly if he doesn't hit the ground running. Would be far happier to see Skippy sign on, when we know how influential he is to the team. Edit- meant accomplished defender, not player.

I think Goodwillie did look a more physically complete player back then, not necessarily technically better than Murphy, but I do concede he was worth more. However, nowhere near 2 million more...

I'll be honest and say that I think the Anier deal was one of the best we have done in years. Sign a guy on loan who does well, get him permanently on a free, then punt him for a decent profit in the summer when his form had ran out. If there was one winner out of Henri Anier's career, it was Motherwell!

I guess what people may find possibly to be quite annoying is how little we put our players in the shop window. We don't seem to draw bids that teams of other players do. Comparing Jamie Murphy and David Goodwillie does it for me. Dundee Utd were constantly talking up his ability and managed to get £2.8 million for him. Whereas, we sold Murphy for £110k for fear of losing him for nothing and throughout his time at the club, I think the biggest bid was £400k from Blackpool, which Murphy himself rejected. I know other factors, such as life choices, play a significant part, but look at the direction each's career has gone since then. Part of me think we could have used better business sense to get a good deal from that. However, on the other hand, we rejected a bid from Rangers for Mark Reynolds (750k-1m based on reports) thinking we were selling ourselves short, yet another big offer didn't come in. Sometimes it's tough to call I suppose.

I can't process how we allowed Baraclough to sign so many players. Surely the money spent then when we were signing every man and his dug is hampering our chances now. I'm obviously glad that we are budgeting sensibly now, but it was lunacy whoever was sanctioning these decisions. For starters, looking at our season as a whole, we could definitely have gone without Joe Chalmers, Craig Samson, Wes Fletcher, Theo Robinson, Jake Taylor and David Clarkson. On the face of it, discounting Fletcher's winner on day one, these guys added little to our season. I'd even chuck Morgaro Gomis into the mix as well. It's frustrating that we are trying to make a tiny budget stretch just now, when last season we wasted at least six wages pre-Christmas and four post-Christmas in my eyes.

United will consider that one a success, considering he didn't set the heather on fire even when farmed out on loan to Livi.... Nicky Clark is one of those guys who'll get a premier club, purely based on the fact he is coming from Rangers. He's struggled to make an impact there and has never actually played in the top flight before. Not for me. Templeton, perhaps he could be a player McGhee could reinvigorate, but with Ainsworth, Johnson, Thomas, Cadden and even MacLean capable of playing out wide, our tight budget should be looking at other areas. As for Law, at the time he left it probably was so raw for most of us, because it was Rangers he joined. Had he gone to abroad for financial reasons, we probably wouldn't have cared as much. He'll have got a few quid out of his move to Rangers but it was undoubtedly a terrible career move. It would be a tough one for our fans to bury the hatchet with him, but hypothetically speaking he could probably come back and make a difference. However, if our budget is as tight as we're being led to believe, the chances of bringing back a guy who left us purely for money are slim to none. I would rather we focused our midfield attentions on a holding player to complement Cadden and Pearson anyway.

Perhaps there is a bit of ill-will from his time working with the club. I know his son well and see him in the East Stand most home games so if any bad feeling does exist, it's not spread to his son. He still owns The Wee Thackit up and Carluke and now drives a taxi up there too.

I think he came as a left back who said he could also play centre back if required. The writing is on the wall for him if we aren't even considering him second choice left-back. Say what you like about Baraclough, he definitely has an eye for a left back.

I think Leitch showed a lot of promise early on and had he avoided the serious injury when he did, who knows where we would be with him now. However, the harsh reality of it is that he is now 21 and he's not going to be first choice next season. So to keep him on as a backup, does he really have any stand out attribute to offer us that Lasley, Pearson, Cadden or Campbell can't? Unfortunately with the purse strings tightening, he'd be taking up a wage we could use elsewhere. It probably wouldn't benefit his career either to spend another season on the bench or on the fringes of our squad. He'd also be an overage player in the 20s next season, so he couldn't really rely on a game there either.

I wouldn't. He hasn't proved himself in the top flight. Other than a couple of goals against Rangers, which many lower league strikers have got in the past few years, he has largely been playing against lesser opposition. He fluffed his lines in his big moment in the semi-final as well. Whereas Johnson this season has proved to be a matchwinner in the top flight time and time again this season. In our unthinkable rise to the top six, every single game we have got something from he has been key in. Sure, he's had his inconsistent spells but when he doesn't play well, neither do we. He has the attributes to go a lot further than Motherwell for me. I think you'd have to consider his stock higher than Cummings'. I don't think it's coincidental McGhee has praised him in the press at any given opportunity.

I'd obviously rather we had a bigger budget, but I must admit to being encouraged in a way by the wage cut news. One of the things that has stopped me joining the Well Society thus far is the fact that we seemed to show no evidence of how we were going to become self sufficient, so this is progress in that aspect. Given we do seem to have promise in the ranks just now, I'd be happy to see a smaller core of players supplemented by youngsters getting their chance. Of all the players offered new deals, I don't think many of them could have too much issue about a slight pay cut. Lasley is going to be 37 most of next season, although Hammell has proved to be our best left back time and time again, who's to say he won't miss a lot of next season injured and McManus has under performed for large spells of the last two seasons. Of all of them, Scott McDonald is probably the most entitled to be aggrieved at reduced terms, such is his influence on the team overall and I think there's a chance he probably will. I expect him to be here next season, but I wouldn't put it past him using interest from other clubs as a point of negotiation. On a side note, we were once linked with Osman of Partick Thistle for next season. He has just signed a new deal.

I had a quick glance at past tables on statto.com. As far as I can see, of the 16 seasons of the split: 15 out of the 16 seasons we have had 19 homes and 19 aways One season (2009/10) we had 18 homes and 20 aways It was a quick glance so it may be slightly different. I think PATG is £19 East/£23 elsewhere but they will no doubt bump that up for these much heralded "premium games".

Under 20s are playing this morning. Luke Watt, Dylan Mackin (now returned from his loan) and Ben Hall aren't in the squad at all. Ross MacLean is one of only two subs, but Dom Thomas starts. I wonder if that tells us anything about selection tomorrow.

An extra fifteen quid isn't a huge amount, you're right, but the increase is subjective. There's a fair chance people who managed to take the early bird offer last year (£295) may have personal circumstances that dictate they don't have the money in June this year to do so, so it's a £30 increase for them. That's a lot of money on the basis that it costs £19 to get into a game, so the season ticket is working out at one and a half games more than they paid this season. I have always thought the season ticket is something that should be heavily incentivised but let's be honest it's not. The club rewarding fans with a fair per game value for supporting the club with money up front in the summer, not saving less than £2 per game. Circumstances have seen me miss a few games this season and I predict similar next season. Previously, had I even thought I was missing 2-3 games I still wouldn't have thought twice about a renewal. Partially, because it would work out cheaper overall and partially as I liked the idea of giving the club my money. However, this season I have struggled to find value in my season ticket and with the hike I would struggle more so. At the end of the day, taking away any loyalty, Motherwell are a company, games are a product and I am a customer. I wouldn't take out a £30 a month phone contract if all I was spending was the equivalent of £10 pay as you go. Don't get me wrong, there is a chance I'll get itchy feet as the season starts and buy one out of blind loyalty. But the worry is that's what the club are banking on. With my current stance, I predict I'll be there for 15 or 16 out of our 19 home games next season, supporting the team in the exact same manner I have this season, only paying at the gate and saving myself money. £15 is a small increase on one hand, yes, but on the other hand, how many of our season ticket holders have had a 4.8% wage increase since they bought a season ticket last year?

Dow has been offered a deal by St. Johnstone and Tommy Wright is after a quick response from him. He's a player I've seen have decent games but a goal ratio of 1 in 10 games isn't fantastic and I don't know where I would put him. I've seen elsewhere that people would sign Rankin, but definitely not for me. Competent midfielder at this level, but not really much view to the future at 32, especially when our other two central midfielders will be 34 and 37 come October. If we're going for a midfielder, I'd hope for one who brought down the average age a bit more than that. Then of course we may sign Anier, if we run out of ideas for this summer's standard player returning for a second spell.

You're right. His wiki said he was only signed till May 2016, hence why I thought there might be something in it. But a quick google returned an article from Falkirk's official site with the one year extension.