Lobey_Dosser

White shorts would have finished the kit off nice, like it did with the petrol blue effort. IIRC, there was discussion around Fifa's one colour kit 'rule' before the 2014 WC, which seen the likes of Spain and Germany coming away from decades of tradition. This will have contributed to the current trend. Anyway, I think I like the denim effort. No idea why we needed 3 kits mind you.

I don't mind us taking a risk with an away kit and I like this. Out of the 3 efforts, this is the one I'm most likely to buy.

McGhee is no doubt playing the media and possibly, the Board. As soon as Pearson was out the door, McGhee said an attacking midfielder was a priority. He then pointed out that the player(s) he's interested in are waiting to find out if the are in first team plans of existing clubs. Would still like to think Henderson and/or Scougall are on the radar.

I've always been an advocate of Skippy playing in midfield when we are toiling for options. My concern would be a potential lack of fitness. The odds are stacked against Motherwell on Saturday with a number of events going against us this summer. We've lost our physio, assistant manager and Pearson at a time when preparation is key. Our woes will be exacerbated by the absence of Lasley, Laing and Moult. Meanwhile all of our new signings are all stepping up a few levels and will need time to get up to speed. So it's a far from ideal time to be playing a premier league club. I've no idea what state Rangers are in but if I recall Warburton's preperation last season, they put 6 past Hibs in July. So full credit to McGhee and the squad if we can get a result here. The priority though is to be competitive and hope that a few young/new players benefit from a confidence boosting performance.

The thing with Johnson is he's developed into a proper athlete, which is an added attraction for clubs down South.

Lasley has confirmed he is suspended.

McGhee quotes on Moult here. His form undoubtedly tapered off towards the end of the season but I had hoped it was down to fatigue. http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2016/07/11/motherwell-manager-mark-mcghee-admits-louis-moult-facing-tests-groin-complaint/

Given the amount of money going into English football this year (£30mil bids for Troy Deeney FFS) hopefully Scottish clubs as a whole hold out for better deals.

That'll be the debt to Les cleared...

3/1 to beat Rangers with the bookies. Looking at the coupon actually, in all 16 LC games this weekend, the away team is odds on i.e. All higher seed teams with the exception of Motherwell seem to be playing away.

QPR interested in Johnson according to Daily Mail.

McCall bemoaned it, wrongly in my eyes. A European qualifier carries far more prestige and financial reward than a League cup group game, as I imagine will be reflected in the home crowd on Saturday. If McGhee doesn't have us up to speed by August then he'll have a few questions to answer. It's not been an easy summer though losing our assistant manager and physio with little notice.

The timing of the group stages is far from ideal, both Warburton and McGhee have suggested so. If we were to be fully up to speed for the Rangers game, it would likely have a detrimental effect on our overall season.

Hibs are geared up for a big game on Thursday so it's unsurprising they are fitter and sharper. McGhee has indicated all along he's working towards the Kilmarnock game on 6th August and rightly so imo.

Thank fuck for Andy Murray or I could have been there today. Hopefully the league cup games will get us up to speed for the start of the season. We've signed a number of players who will take some time to adjust to the speed and quality of Scottish football. Hopefully an established midfielder is just around the corner.

Interestingly, it was Robinson who got him talking to Motherwell...

This is non-Motherwell related but seemingly Neil Lennon is not going to be at Easter Road today, presumably due to media commitments in Paris. This morning he's tweeted about the great day of sport in prospect (granted). Not what you'd expect from a new manager 4 days before a European tie.

If Erwin has his head screwed on, you'll have your best striker since Chris Porter. Ripley is a solid keeper with plenty of scope for development. Law will try his best. Robinson could prove to be a very shrewd appointment if he can manage the transition from assistant to manager. Undoubtedly a good coach.

I think if there was any money coming from Leitch we'd know about it by now. Hopefully however we've took in a modest lump sum for Pearson, topped up by the departure of Robinson. I'm hoping the wheeling and dealing required to recruit a quality midfielder doesn't involve the departure of Ainsworth. As for this Lee Lucas boy, if his ongoing trial warrants interest, I'm assuming he'd be a low cost 3rd midfield signing given his unfortunate injury record.

From just watching the highlights there looked to be a few positives to pick up from yesterday. First and foremost, the lineup underlined that we have great depth in our attacking options. It's good to see that Moore appears to be regaining his sharpness again. And he may get a chance in the league cup games as it sounds like Louis Moult hasn't trained as much as the rest. It's also good to see Ross McLean heavily involved. Fingers crossed he can steer clear of injury and maybe get a run of 10/15 games under his belt at a lower level. Another observation is in the lineups. It will become clearer in the weeks to come but is Jack McMillian moving ahead of Luke Watt in the pecking order?

Sad to see Robinson go, pleased to see Law go.

Don't usually get caught up on the badge debate but that's a shocker.

Going off on a tangent slightly, the assumption seems to be that the lack of sponsor on the replica kit is due to modest investment from Motorpoint. If that's true, then it's not great news. Do we still have some marketing guru working for us?

Removal of the sponsor makes such an improvement to the home shirt. As an overall kit though, I don't really like the team playing in amber shorts. Hopefully the petrol blue effort is special. Macron have some decent templates kicking about.

Not particularly keen on these kits after last years crackers. The shorts ruin the home one while the away one with the 91 squad is naff. Interesting to hear the strips will be sold without motor point on them. What's the reasoning there?