star sail

Says on BBC Sport Scotland page that we host Odense and that Utd travel to AEK. Is this just misleading or does it imply that the home leg is first? If so much just be a mistake I assume? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/default.stm

Just happy to have another Euro game at Fir Park. Can we get a sell out this time? Fill the South Stand as well. I just sense this might be our moment. Three Scandinavian teams getting progressivly more difficult but not the near impossible task it could have been. Its all good.

That is why the circumstances have to be right. You are right, watching Motherwell v St Mirren up to 6 times a year does not work. It will take a whole raft of change, summer football being one possibility, decent playing surfaces being another, pricing another. I just felt that last night was a glimpse of how it could be and Scottish Football cannot afford not to try.

You don't know till you try. The fact is that our attendances are in freefall. Last night showed that 8000 are willing to come to a game if the circumstances are right. Walking up to Fir Park on a summers eve was a really positive feeling. Even 6000 a week would be a step in the right direction at the moment. Think positive.

and yet the powers that be think that winter football is still the way to go and that the 12 team SPL is fit for purpose. Last night gave us a glimpse of how it could be. Will never change though.

Agree 100%. Norwegians were fantastic but there was a funearial hush about the Well support at times. Even when the songs did start they would apologetically die out after one verse. I thought that when the support finally got going in the last 10 mins it had an immediate calming effect on the team. The fans really can be the 12th man. I just wish the penny would drop.

At the time Gannon was right to drop him and Craigan has had some poor spells in the last few seasons (as well as a World beating OG record). Having said that he was superb last night and showed what he can do. Lets hope we see it on a regular basis this year.

I just got a vision of a huge cock sticking out of Fir Park. That would be something for the Aalusund fans if they come all the way from Norway and as they turn the corner to see the stadium all they see is a big cock. How is Casagolda going to react to that? How do you say 'What's the big cock for?' in Spanish. My dreams are going to be weird tonight.

I get a real feeling of importance about this game. Could well be the difference between the makings of another good season, or scrapping it out with the Killie's, St Mirrens etc due to a lack of finance. Like others have said when it gets this important Well have the ability to mess it up, particularly if there is a big crowd but I think it's going to be different this time. Motherwell have went about there business (a little Gannonism there) very professionally so far and I don't think they are going to slip up tomorrow night. Expecting it to be very tight but we will get there in the end. Only question mark over the team for me will be Saunders inclusion. Will Brown stick with him and be mindful not to knock his confidence or will he feel that he needs to strengthen the right back area? I think and hope Brown will stick with him. Can't see Humphrey starting but would not be too dispondant if he did. Nervous but excited. Mon the Well !!!

It is not necessarily the budget goalposts that are moving though. It may be players/agents who have made wage demands that Brown was not expecting. If he had a budget and a shopping list for players at the end of May and is now discovering that the two don't match up then the message we get now would be pretty much the same. I would guess that when looking back to May the budget was possibly, the budget + sale of Mark Reynolds. It may be the case that as yet nobody has come in for Mark, or if they have the figures are below the clubs expectations. I don't know why we are surprised however. Those of us who are regular attenders at FP must be worried about the size of the crowds. Last season was the worst I can remember and it is only going to go one way from here. We are now struggling to get attendences above 5000 for most games. How can there be money for players when you look at the overheads the club has? Also I am sure that much of the (£90,000)? the club won for beating Breadalblik will have been spent on the costs for the Norway trip. When you hear comments from people like Flow saying that at points in the season the club lives 'hand to mouth' in terms of finance and when you think of the panic that set in when the club realised they were going to miss out on the revenue from an Old Firm game at the end of the season it does not take a genius to realise that there is no money. Lets see how loyal Estaban Casagolda really is when he realises that he is going to be paid in coupons for Chapmans pies.

Great result and possibly Motherwells best result in Europe to date. Circumstances of their goal was disappointing but as many have said would have taken the result before the game. Away goal is so important.

Superb links. Thanks. Reminds me of watching the town square in Nancy and watching the Well fans gather as the day progressed. Cheers!!

Agreed. Think he would have been a luxury for us and given that Steve Jennings is fast becoming a dead cert for a starting place in the team we need to be looking at other areas of the park. Great signing for the Dons though.

Hartley has just signed for Aberdeen. That 'no money' that McGhee bleets on about goes a long way.

Was thinking the same thing myself. Nice wee stadium. It is hard to tell but they look decent enough going by this footage.

Have a great time. Bring back an away goal or two.

yes but it is not a case of blasting Motherwell, it's a case of giving respect too and having an understanding of the strength of the opposition. I am enjoying every minute of the Euro experience and in some ways our Euro adventures over the last few seasons have re-ignited my passion for the Well but that does not go hand in hand with having a false impression of our chances of progression in this tie.

This guy is bound to meet a sad and sinister end at the hands of Columbian Drug Lords after he sclafs one over the bar in his debut. I miss him already.

I actually find it more refreshing to hear Scottish football fans speaking realistically about our teams chances rather than the 'we have not heard of them so they must be rubbish' dross we have been used to in the past. This team have Swedish and Norwegian first team internationalists playing for them so apart from anything else it would be arrogant and disrespectful to assume that the result is a foregone conclusion. I think all we can say with any confidence is that if Well do progress in this tie it will be the best European result to date. Hopefully not being disrespectful to the likes of Llannelli, Flamurtari and Breadablik but this will be a step up in the standard of opposition. I admire Motherwell89's enthusiasm and optimism and wish I was the same but experiencing the defeat's by My Pa 47 and Katowice as well as watching other Scottish teams in Europe really struggle at this time (eg Rangers v Kaunas) makes me very wary.

The Juke, Scott MacDonald, David Clarkson, Ross McCormick and Chris Porter off the top of my head. Add in Paul Quinn, John Ruddy, Coke and Stephen Hughes from other areas of the park and it's not a bad tally. Sure i will have missed someone.

This makes for very interesting reading Steelboy and actually shatters some of my preconceptions about other leagues in Europe. Will it not be the case however that the Old Firm attendances give a false impression of the health of Scottish attendances? I suppose the same could be said however of the two Lisbon teams in Portugal so it may not be such a big contributing factor. The other issue that is hidden by these figures is that the fact that the Russian, Portugese, Croation and possibly Swedish leagues produce a better standard of player (judging by National sides). This may be down to have a bigger gene pool to pick from however.

He may have. Just remember leaving Fir Park buzzing, thinking we had found the next Esteban Casagolda.

That's him. Think it was maybe actually season 2001/2002 so before Terry Butcher.

No. I don't remember this boy at all. From memory the boy I'm thinking of was small and stocky. A bit like Tattoo from Fantasy Island.

Not really that relevant to the thread but it reminded me about that guy (think he was French) who scored a hat trick against Hibs on his debut then did nothing for the rest of the season. What was his name again? Think it was during Butchers time, maybe before?