star sail

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?

. Nice one.

Maybe read what is being said more carefully before getting all aggresive. The respect aspect was in relation to the comments by Ewing Graeme regarding the up and coming Well game. I did also say that we all know the reasons why the McGeady story gets put on the back page, particularly if it's the aquatic deal of the century. Pond Weekly would no doubt go nuts over it. To continue the theme of missing the point completly however, I will agree with you, that printing the McGeady story has fuck all to do with showing disrespect for the game. It is simply a shit story and sensationalism untill such times as there is any substance to the fact that McGeady is going to Villa.

Agreed, I think Radio Scotland do a good job but as an example of where they too get it wrong, I remember driving up to the first Aberdeen v Well game at Pittodrie last season and from 1pm untill we got out the car at 2.50pm they talked exclusively about a takeover at Rangers, a takeover that at the time did not even have any faces associated with it (ie a non story). We had been listening to hear team news of a game that was happening that afternoon and were still waiting as we got out the car. Having said that it is more the written press I would criticise when in comes to so called bad press.

A brilliant example and in todays papers too. This shows in a nutshell the disrespect journalists show to the teams outwith the Old Firm. Over the last few days we have seen the papers full of Martin O Neils comment that Aiden McGeady is a Preimiership standard player. This is a complete non story and yet it is given much more significance than two of the Scottish teams playing in Europe this week. We all know the reasons for it but it is slowly killing the Scottish game. I am sure that Ewing Grahame is much too full of self importance to worry about that.

Agreed but it's not just the SPL and SFA that seem to think that change is bad. Remember Graeme Spiers article not so long ago speaking of Motherwell as a yo-yo club with nothing but self interest regarding league reconstruction. I think it was an article in response to Craig Browns comments on league reconstruction. The press in Scotland have possibly the greatest power in our game (as regards creating the atmosphere in which our game operates) and could if they were responsible enough have an influence on the future of the game in this country. Unfortunately they are so obsessed with stories (or non stories) regarding the Old Firm that they completely ignore the bigger picture.