Lobey_Dosser

So the hunch is no compensation...

Do we know if we offered Robbie Leitch a contract in sufficient time in order to qualify for compensation?

I'd agree. Far to much risk attached to El Bakhtaoui to consider him as a replacement for McDonald. I'd consider him to be a more appropriate replacement for Ainsworth, should he move on.

Hopefully the Skippy situation can be concluded this week, Unless Hibs are offering substantially more money, which I doubt, I struggle why he opt to step down to the Championship. Particularly at a time when the Premier League is boosting its profile with the arrival of some decent players. Regarding the Dunfermline boy, an offer is on the table and he is considering his options.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Pearson back in January. If we are looking for a direct replacement, we could do worse than sounding out Celtic about Liam Henderson who impressed at Hins last season. He may well be in Celtic's first team plans though.

Happy if the news about Hammell is true. I imagine a 2 year deal is partly a trade off for taking a wage cut. Hopefully he can get a good pre-season under his best and shake off the knocks and strains that have dogged him since Starjnan. The relatively sudden loss of Pearson and McDonald worries me somewhat, They are 2 of the best players in the league. Hopefully McGhee gets suitable funds to replace adequately but it won't be easy. The mention of an attacking midfielder had me thinking about Stefan Scougall. Don't think he's in Sheffield United's plans and there was talk in January about a return to Scotland.

See Burrows has tweeted its public knowledge an offer is on the table for the Dunfermline boy. Keeping his options open at the moment.

I imagine the cut-off period should kick in now. Interesting to see who reports for training today. I'm still confused who holds the balance of power regarding McDonalds option. The free agent chat in the papers is in conflict with McGhees interview a few weeks back.

Disappointed to hear Pearson is going but it's hard to stand in his way if he's being offered decent money. Hopefully we are compensated accordingly. If we lose McDonald as well, McGhee will have his work cut out finding suitable replacements for two of the best players in the league.

Sun running with story that Hibs are in for Skippy.

Pleased to see us sign a proper right back. A 3 year deal for a 26 year old suggests we really rate him. The other 2 boys fit into our blueprint. Fingers crossed they can make a similar impact to Johnson and Moult. Also hope there is something in the Bannigan chat.

And same time as Wimbledon final.

Aye? It was a cracking game.

Good news about Keith. Strange time to release the news mind you when most of us are caught up in the Ireland game.

In Motherwell Times article about Ben Hall's lack of courtesy, McGhee quoted as offering Brill a deal. There is also the suggestion that Pearson could indeed be away.

Bannigan would be an ambitious and high quality signing. No idea if you should read into who Burrows follows on Twitter but a couple of names mentioned earlier, Irvine and Vuckic, are definitely players we've approached in the past.

Hopefully he's a proper right back. Been a while since we have hadn't to covert someone to right back.

My mistake. So we were due 2 against Accies but only 1 against Dundee. For whatever reason, that was reversed with United. I'm sure other anomalies could be found over the years. It's a shame the situation couldn't have been handled by Motherwell with greater dignity.m, possibly debating their point outwith the public glare. Listening to Radio Scotland the reaction was that this is a consequence of the 12 team league. If you want fairness then move to 16, a view that has been reflected by a few on here.

All stored in a cupboard until we are ready to unveil the new strips.

Dundee would have been club 11 and Accies club 12. So Accies would have took on Hearts fixtures, not Dundee. This seems to have worked out when you look at Motherwell fixtures. The Tannadice scenario is a valid point. I'd guess that this relates to the number of times the two Dundee teams play at home on the same weekend, iis kept to a minimum.

According to the Sunday Herald, a Qatari group are looking to gazump the imminent fan takeover at St Mirren. Wonder if they many any approach to Motherwell...

My views are clear and believe the club are in the wrong for not clarifying the situation before setting budgets and writing up the sales pitch for season tickets. The statement issued is an utter embarrassment and the sooner we move on the better. I understand the financial 'fair play' argument but where does the sporting disadvantage stem from?

It wasn't a rule though, it was an unwritten agreement. An agreement that evaporated the day we rightly deemed Rangers not to be a special case.

Precisely, I struggle to comprehend how anyone can read this any other way. Since Rangers were liquidated in 2012 a number of things have changed. The SPL joined ranks with the lower league clubs to become the SPFL. A number of rules would have been tweaked accordingly. Surely all clubs should have checked that the unwritten rules remained in place. Even if it were the same governing body as 5 years ago, Motherwell have went through a takeover and now have a very different board. Surely you clarify any areas of doubt when income is at stake? It would appear that Burrows lead on the ST increase to accommodate 3 'category A' games. So he's assumed this based on an unwritten rule that was last in place when he was head of comms. Really poor planning in my opinion.

The way to restore parity is to move to a 10 or 16 team league and play each team the same number of times home and away. A change that Motherwell, Accies and Thistle are unlikely to vote in favour of.