Joeboy

I used to play football with Garry Fleming of Dumbarton's brother and at the time Ian Murray got the St. Mirren job, the chat was that he wanted to take him with him, but Fleming couldn't afford to give up his day job and go full-time with St. Mirren. The wages he earned from working, supplemented by his part time Dumbarton wages were far greater than what St. Mirren would pay. Same with Rory McAllister, the lower league goalscorer. He's been offered a few deals full-time and he turned them down initially to finish his apprenticeship (unusually sensible for a footballer) but is now probably on the same boat. Seems it difficult to make a living from full-time football outside of the top flight.

He turned at a similar pace to full fat milk I remember......slowest centre half I think I've ever seen. As for Reynolds, debut was at left midfield as previously mentioned. After that I'm sure he only played centre half until the penultimate game of the 2008/09 season against Accies, when he played left back when Hammell was suspended. The 2009/10 season under Gannon, he was played as a holding midfielder at the very start of the season and was often preferred to Hammell at left back under Gannon, but after he left he reverted back to centre half under Craig Brown. I think the only time he's had a run of games at left back was Sheffield Wednesday and I suppose that didn't go too well for him. I see Desp's argument about every left sided centre half gets touted as being able to do a job at left back, although I see Reynolds' attributes being a lot more suited to it than McManus. I'd still much rather we addressed the left back situation with a proper left back (of which an available one I couldn't name you), but if we did bring Reynolds in (hypothetically speaking as I reckon there's little to no chance of it) then given our best left back option is currently a rookie 18 year old right back, who I do rate I might add, then it's not that crazy to suggest he might be an option there for us.

I don't think he's played at left back for years. I think at Aberdeen he's been exclusively a centre back, if they move a centre back out there it tends to be Considine. However, if we were to sign him, he would no doubt be the best option at left back in our squad. If there is any substance to the chat (which I don't think there is) I think it would be more likely to be in the summer, rather than in January. Unless the player himself is kicking his heels for a move, which doesn't seem his style, I don't think they'd be willing to shelf him half way through a season.

I don't know if this is counting all competitions, but he was also rested for the East Fife cup tie. The only game which I think he has missed through injury was against Aberdeen on Boxing Day 2013. While I have had a gripe or two with his performances in his time with us (particularly the playoff season) none of them have been down to fitness. He seems to be one of the oldies in the squad who actually are still able bodied to do their job.

McManus is on a two year deal, so I don't think there's any chance whatsoever of him going in the summer. Wouldn't be averse to a Reynolds return but as far as this window goes I wouldn't see centre back as a priority.

I think for the same reasons as this we might end up saying the same about Bowman (and possibly even Blyth if that mystery is ever uncovered) come the end of the season. McDonald and Moult are two established and very important players, who will very rarely get dropped and as well as this, very rarely be substituted.

Don't know about the ins and outs of the eligibility of this squad, but Cadden isn't actually eligible to play with our under 20s. Players born 1997 or later this year. When Thomas and Ferguson feature for the 20s, they do so as part of the five allowed overage players.

I agree with you to an extent. I was actually pleasantly surprised by his pedigree when we signed him at first, scored a decent amount of goals in the Championship for Derby, but in any run out he had I must say he didn't impress me. I think the fact that he arrived at the time where Baraclough was chucking money at anyone to sign went against him. It gave off the impression that he must clearly have had something about him, or that Baraclough didn't have enough conviction in the three strikers he'd already signed that summer. Unfortunately it seemed to be the latter. Might be worth that noting that amidst his cup form, he's only scored once in eleven games in the league.

I heard £30k quoted as what we paid, it's probably closer to that. Since Faddy went to Everton, I can only really think of Goodwillie, Robertson and strangely Russell Anderson who have gone straight from non Old Firm sides to Premier League clubs. That's obviously not including the likes of Fyvie, Kingsley and Fulton who have went down to development squads, so it's not exactly common place. For a player to go to the Premier League straight from us would need to be an exceptional case. Whilst I think Moult has been a terrific signing and his goals and work rate have put him up there with my favourite players I've seen with us, being realistic I admit he's not that exceptional case. Whilst scoring in the cup against East Fife, Cove Rangers, Morton and Annan won't go against him, the scouts would be looking primarily at how he does in the league against like for like sides. Last season he scored 15 in 38 league appearances, two doubles meaning he scored in 13 of the 38 games, roughly a third of the games. I don't think that's enough to make the step up. Especially when Palace have Christian Benteke, Frazier Campbell, Loic Remy and Connor Wickham as their strikers, he's not going there to compete. He seems to score his goals in streak. Which there's no harm in, I think in my time supporting Motherwell you could only really say that Michael Higdon in 12/13 and John Sutton in 13/14 have consistently scored goals over the course of the season. The majority of strikers we have will go through droughts and dry spells, which is fine. Moult had four extended periods without a goal last season and has had two already this season, which although he is a fantastic player for us and I am absolutely delighted with his contribution since he signed for us, I reckon that probably stops him being that exceptional case that goes to the EPL. I actually didn't think we would have sold him this window, who knows with all these rumours, but for me he would go to be a top striker at a League One club (where Kane Hemmings went after his wonder season at Dundee last year) or a striker going to a Championship club going trying to provide competition and eventually displace the strikers already there.

I've a feeling it is serious foul play or violent conduct. Not 100% sure though. Lucas' red card would be categorised as the former I'd guess!

What's everyone's thoughts on Lucas now? I would definitely welcome Pearson back and if we do sign him, I'd say we have a surplus of central midfielders. From what I have seen from McHugh so far (albeit from a limited number of games) it suggests to me that he could be a better version of Lucas. Good passing ability, but with a bit more dig and know how in terms of how to break up the play. Sad that Lucas' last offering may have been that red card on Saturday, but I think when there are gaps elsewhere in the squad, keeping on a guy who had three months between his first and second start and six weeks between his second and third start due to injuries doesn't add up. Campbell's performance on Saturday would also lend to saying thanks and bye to Lucas. Genuinely feel for how much his career has suffered due to injury, but on a limited budget I don't think we can be too charitable here. If letting him go increased the possibility of getting a natural left back, or left winger in, I'd let him go. Those two positions are more of a priority, I'd say.

Wasn't so bad last week when Moult scored from it!

I've been a big critic of Thomas whenever he has come on of late but I actually thought Saturday was his most encouraging cameo for a while, albeit he still wasn't setting the world alight. Tait, Heneghan and McManus all had very good games and although Ferguson didn't particularly stand out, in an unfamiliar position he coped with everything that came at him. Tait seems to be a very good attacking outlet and seems to have the engine to get up and down and his defensive side does seem to be getting gradually better, one time on Saturday he lost the ball high up the pitch but made a great run to recover it. The most guilt edged chance for me was Ainsworth's in the first half, particularly after watching back and seeing it on the highlights, I really think he should have done better. Moult and McDonald are undoubtedly our best front pairing, but I don't see why we didn't use Bowman for twenty minutes or so to try and change it up. Can only echo what people have said about Lasley, his days of being effective seem to be drawing to a close, particularly in a midfield two. Clay put in an honest shift as always, but I don't think he has quality in abundance, which there's no shame in and that we can't expect every one of our players to have, but he may be put to better use if he wasn't playing alongside a 37 year old with limited ability. I think the main issue with Lasley is positional discipline, he still runs into the attacking areas he did five years ago, but his lack of legs to get back mean there is either a massive gap left, or he commits fouls, such as the one he got booked for on Saturday. As much as McManus as had faults and mistakes over the past couple of years, I still think he is more than able bodied to do the job asked of him. It's unfortunate, but it seems it's getting to the stage where you can't say the same about Hammell or Lasley.

With all the teams interested in him now, the importance of his contract extension are becoming clear. Both the club putting the word in to tie him down and his willingness to sign. Kudos to all involved there. On a side note, given our midfield problems this season, a combination of Pearson and McHugh in there in the new year does sound promising.

We had a massively reduced budget in the summer and I think at times that tells. Had we not retained Hammell and Lasley, we would probably have been trying to replace them with guys coming from conference level or similar (as tends to be where most of our signings come from these days). I guess McGhee has opted for a "better the devil you know" option there, as the new signings would have been a gamble, but that's obviously backfired. For me, Hammell's main issue now is his fitness, which is a shame as he's gone through most of his career barely missing any games and over the past three seasons he's been unable to stay fit. Lasley's main issue seems to be his mobility. He always gets drawn to the ball and leaves big gaps that he can't get back to exposed. I suppose you could argue that Lasley might not have played all the time had McHugh and/or Lucas been fit (it's possible we wouldn't have signed Lucas had McHugh been fit, so having both of them may not be a debate). Recruitment has undoubtedly been poor this season, but luck and some gambles have come into it as well. McHugh's injury obviously a freak and when covering for that we have signed Lucas, a player who obviously has a bit of quality, but represented a gamble given his fitness history. McGhee could easily have replaced him with a guy with no injury history and we could be sitting here bemoaning how he offered nothing different from Lasley can at 37 and how he wasn't good enough. I guess those are the gambles taken in football, some pay off, some don't. The problem with getting Hammell out of the team is that his understudy appears to be just as injury prone as him, whilst being unproven. McMillan has done well and I would pursue playing him, but playing him at left back when he's not totally comfortable on his left foot isn't a long term solution.

If you get your knickers in a twist over tenuous comments a guy who worked in Greece for a few years made, then that's a bit absurd. If we were offered a choice between the two, I'd imagine we went for Cillian Sheridan based on the fact that he had already scored four times for Celtic's first team that season. Efrem never made an appearance for Rangers before, or after his loan spell at Dundee (a division below us at the time).

Have done, apologies. Jay let me know about the slight oversight. Hope it wasn't the difference between 5th and 1st for you.

If you PM me your e-mail address I could sort that out for you mate.

Perhaps going off topic a bit, but would the reintroduction of a reserve league really help? You're allowed five overrage in the 20s as it is, how many Premiership teams have more than five spare over 20s who didn't play at the weekend? And even if they did, it would just restrict the chances of young players progressing.

He's probably fortunate in that right back is such a problem position, but I still can't see it. Whittaker, Hutton and Bardsley are all missing for various reasons, but even with that Paterson and Anya seem to be preferred and I'm sure if the push came to the shove, Paul Caddis of Birmingham would edge into the squad before him. Even then I think Russell Martin being played as a right back is also more likely. I think Tait still looks a bit suspect defensively, but I think he has came on leaps and bounds for us in recent weeks. Maybe international football could have been in his sights had he been the same age as Paterson, but the fact he is almost 27, and probably close to as good as he'll ever be, will count against him. For what it's worth, in my time going to Motherwell games I've shouted for this player to be called up and that player to be called up, but looking back rationally, I would say that Martyn Corrigan is the only one of those who actually deserved a cap. Edit- seems Caddis has only played one game for Birmingham this season, so maybe not!

He'll be away permanently in January if he doesn't kick his heels about a pay off. Either that or his loan will get extended till his contract expires. Shame that, I thought he was a player of decent potential at first, but he's definitely never fulfilled it.

I might be wrong here, given I don't know him or the rest personally, but given he was lauded as the great hope from the 20s during Baraclough's reign, it seems to me that he kinda played to that tag and enjoyed being the big personality and the star man in the squad. I think the fact that he was expected to be the one that made the step up, his pride has probably taken a bashing in that Cadden has managed to break into the first team ahead of him and he's been left behind. I also think that he seems to have a cocky and gallus streak when you see him when he's playing with the 20s, but it's almost as if that disappears when he is in the first team alongside bigger characters, McDonald for example.

Hopefully Lucas is fit and can come back in for Lasley and I hope we opt for McMillan at left back. I'd essentially just go for the same team that played against Ross County. Boost today hearing that Carl McHugh has returned to the club, I suspect it will still be some time before we see him back playing though.

I have been a Lasley fan and it's only really the past two or three seasons he's been on the decline visibly in my opinion. Although maybe not quite a box-to-box midfielder, when he was more in his prime I always felt like he played better with a defensive midfielder beside him. For example, I think he had a great season alongside Jennings in 11/12 and a great one alongside mainly Carswell in 13/14, but wasn't quite as good alongside Law in 12/13 as the midfield lacked balance. I thought in the second half of last season he had realised that he couldn't get about as much anymore and as such had reverted to being the holding player, much like Gerrard did latterly at Liverpool, but this season he seems to have abandoned that again. Whether that's more dictated with who he is playing beside I don't know. As for Hammell, even in his two and a half seasons where his injuries have hampered him, we have always seemed a better team with him in it. The main reason for that for me is his touch and comfortability on the ball, which allows us to play out from the back. Any other options we have tried there have generally treated the ball like a hot tatty and after just getting rid of it, it just started the process of defending all over again. However, Saturday was perhaps a wake up call for me regarding him, it was sad to see him beaten so easily. I think the argument that we are still a better team with him in it than out it is largely based on the fact we have been inefficient in our attempts to replace him long term in recent years. It pains me to say it, as he has been a magnificent servant and is one of my all time favourite players, but calling it as I see it, that seems to be the way it is.

Last season was the time to send him on loan. I think it was seven sub appearances he got under McGhee last season, only one of them eclipsing half an hour. I'd actually say he's gone backwards now, might be confidence related, but the gallus streak which seemed to be in his play when he first broke through just doesn't seem to be there anymore. Part of me actually thinks he was only in the squad on Saturday because Hastie was needed for the 20s on Sunday.