star sail

What about Alan Pardew? He was on Radio 5 last week saying he was looking for a club and was welcome to offers. Don't think he would be as expensive as he would have been a few years back.

If this article is correct then it is very disappointing. Not because McGhee is going, although personally I think that is disappointing because he is an excellent manager, but because of the way he is doing it. To be in a Sunday paper talking in that way and already talking about taking players from Motherwell while still the Motherwell manager is shocking. I know that there are no quotes attributed to McGhee regarding the players so it may be sheer speculation on the journo's part but I don't think so. If McGhee is prepared to say what he has been quoted as saying then it shows a lack of respect for Well so it would be in character to go the extra step and mention the players he would take as well. I don't understand the criticism of John Boyle on here. It is only right that he stay silent untill there is something to say. We should not hear anything from Boyle untill McGhee puts pen to paper with Aberdeen. The mighty Mark could learn a few lessons in that respect. McGhee has been brilliant for Motherwell but his use of the press to further his own ambitions has been poor.

Was having a little look at one of the Celtic boards to gauge opinion and they have a poll running asking who would back McGhee if he was appointed. One third (33%) have voted that they would not back him. Best fans in the world! The funniest bit about it, is that those who have voted yes are blaming the no vote on lurking Gers fans trying to sabbotage the figures. AAAhhh made me chuckle on a Friday eve.

I don't think there is much doubt that he was a talanted player but the other aspects of his game were not there (workrate, pace etc). His passing ability was a joy to watch at times. It's strange because after the Said Cheba incident I was less than happy to see him arrive at Firpark but I did warm to the big guy and wish him well down under.

I am not liking the look of this. I think that article does strongly suggest McGhee for Aberdeen. After all I don't think Aberdeen are lining up Coyle, Mowbray, Bilic or Martinez. Also Aberdeen would not be waiting around unless they had been given the nod by McGhee. They must be waiting because they are fairly confident that McGhee will go if he does not get the Celtic job. Unfortunately as always it means Celtic get their man, Aberdeen get theirs and we are left scrambling around days before a Euro tie trying to find a manager. Let's hope JB has anticipated what may happen and is on the case. Love or loathe our Chairman you have to admit that he did ok last time round. He may have to do it all over again.

Unfortunately journalism tends to be more about opinion than fact. There is a priority with Football Writers to 1) Sell newspapers 2) Make a name for themselves 3) court the people who will provide them with future scoops. None of the above have the interests of Scottish Football at heart. Sensationalism, wild speculation and Old Firm bias all add up to meeting these objectives. What annoys me is that these same journalists bemoan a system that they have been heavily influencial in creating. I have not read one single article that promotes a case for Mark McGhee staying at Motherwell and yet for the interests of Scottish Football and in the interests of a competitive league this would be a good outcome. I know that Rangers and Celtic have historically had a bigger support however the gulf between the Old Firm and the rest could have been addressed somewhat over the years if the coverage of Scottish Football had been more even handed. Daryl Broadfoot is a perfect example for me of everything that is wrong with sports journalism in Scotland. How refreshing was it to see Graham Speirs stick up for Paul Le Guen during his time at Rangers. Yet looked what happened to him. His future in Scottish journalism ended there.

You might be right. I seem to remember that now. I always remember it as a goal. As I say my memory is a bit vague. Was the final score 2-1 and McCabes goal would have made it 3-1.

Dave McCabe was always a bit of a folk hero with me and my mates. He was a striker/winger playing about the same time as Dougie, Paul Kinnaird etc (late 80's/early 90's?). He floated in and out of the team and I don't remember him scoring much but we were always willing him to be on the team sheet. My best memory was when he scored in a 3-1 victory over Rangers at Fir Park. Seem to remember he had a moustache. All a bit vague in my memory but will never forget the name.

Enjoyed reading that. McGhee comes across as having a good sense of humour. He sounds like a nice guy. I remember seeing him at Glasgow Airport the Friday before the last Aberdeen game at FP and was going to go over and wish him luck but did not know how he would react. Based on that he seems very approachable. He is still talking positively about Motherwell so here's hoping he will still be with us going into Europe. Did not get the Hearts reference? What did he mean by that? Did he mean he would have been heavily constrained by Romanov?

I hope Mark McGhee is still our manager come the new season but incase something were to happen I would like to see Paul Lambert at FP. He was the kind of player you would want in your team hard working, team player, honest and he has excellent experience as a player. As a manager I don't think his record is that bad. Livingston was always going to be a difficult job and he got the players there fighting for every point. He had inherited a bad situation there. At Wycombe he only resigned because they lost out on promotion. No huge failure there. He may not set the heather on fire but I think he would be a safe pair of hands.

The Aberdeen fans seem to want Darren Ferguson or Eric Black based on what they are saying on their boards.

and your username is Easy Target. Brilliant friend!!

Totally agree. Mark McGhee has been excellent for us and I don't think there is anyone out there (given our lack of pulling power) that could do better. I think he is the best manager in the SPL, hence the speculation about Aberdeen/Celtic. If he goes it's bad news. As far as the Hearts thing is concerned I can't believe Well fans are still bitter about that. He was offered a job at a bigger club with more money and he turned it down to stay with us. His only crime was that he thought about it. I am a Well fan but in my view if he does get offered the Dons job he would be making a mistake not to take it (he should have taken the Hearts). He would leave with my best wishes. As far as who would take over, I have no idea. My only hope would be that JB pulls a rabbit out the hat again. We may need it.

I am all for conspiracy theories so what about this as an idea? Maybe the Scottish Fair Play rules are purposefully difficult to understand so that they can just pick who they like. After all if it was just based on red/yellow it would be totally transparent and when have the football authorities ever thought that was a good idea. Hibs are being mentioned as contenders yet nobody knows why. Maybe it is simply because Hibs are currently the highest placed team most likely to miss out on Europe. As it stands Aberdeen, D Utd and Hearts still have a good chance at third and fourth place so no need to mention them,for now, as contenders for Fair Play. Lets say Aberdeen are the one's who miss out and finish 5th. Could it be that suddenly on the last day of the season one of their fan's performs an act of Noble Peace Prize Winning proportions and they rocket to the top of the Fair Play league. The point is that nobody can question it because nobody knows what is going on. Far fetched, but you just never know.

This may have been asked already but last week we got 4 yellow cards against Falkirk. Have they been added in? Last weekend goes to show that playing a meaningless game does not necessarily mean that you can get through 90 mins without a booking. It would be a shame if we lost out on this because of some unnecessary tackles. I wonder also if this is good news for the players? There was talk of them missing out on holidays if this scenario happened. Any thoughts on how the players will view it?

Not a big fan of McLeish and have been amazed at his good fortune, largely due to getting more than a fair crack of the whip by the Scottish media (mafia), however getting Birmingham out of the Championship is a good achievement. That is a tough league so credit where credit is due. To put a positive spin on his time at Motherwell, I thought Van Der Gaag was a good signing (he scored that belter against Dunfermline to save us from relegation) and Scott Howie also did a job. The rest was mind blowing in it's ineptitude. Andy Roddie was the worst for me. That was a boy McLeish knew from his time at Aberdeen and he still signed him. Walter Smith is the only other Scottish manager that gets that kind of lee-way to make mistakes by the press.

Hughes will be a big loss if he goes in the summer. I can't see us having the money to replace him and without him we get dragged back down to the level of Falkirk, St Mirren, ICT etc. Last seasons good football happened because we had three better than average players at the club Hughes, Porter, McCormack, (four if including Phil). We have seen what has happened having lost these players. Loosing Hughes will take us back to square one. It is a bit like when we lost Paul Lambert. I don't think anybody realised how good he was till he was gone. I'm all for remaining positive but I think we have to be realistic as well. On the point of bringing in young boy's, I think that is false hope. The best young prospect at the club was/is young Jamie Murphy. He has been disappointing and at times out of his depth. Let's hope McGhee can replace these players because for me pinning our hopes on Klimpl in the centre just won't cut it.

I don't subscribe to this idea of support the team at all cost and keep your mouth shut. It's seems to me that when people aim high (including Mark McGhee) they get shot down for being unrealistic. Having high expectations is not a crime. MFC are a professional club and charge professional prices to their fans to go and watch. Those fans have a right to expect entertainment and ambition from the club for their money. Finishing 11th every season doesn't do it for me and I don't need to feel ashamed about saying it. Saturday was a huge game for our club, and the players did not perform. That people have vented their frustrations is no crime. I have not read any resign McGhee posts on here, just a slighty misleading thread heading. I am gutted that we did not finish top 6. We should have. I want us to finish top six next year and will be equally frustrated if we go back still further. If the quality of football is awful next year I will not feel guilty about spending my money on other things. Still a Well fan though, just like everyone else. Always will be!

Unfotunately few of the above combinations fill me with excitement suggesting that next season may be a struggle. Craigan has been a great servant to the club but I think we are seeing signs that he is now over the hill (injuries, lack of pace). If only we could put combine his brain with Mark Reynolds pace. We need to sign a Central Defender. I would be delighted if we kept Hughes. Unlike many on here I am not convinced by Klimpl. He gets booked too often and gives away too many fouls in danger positions. I also don't feel that he is that skillful however he is probably good enough to keep. Clarkson up front is not good enough to be the main goal threat. He makes a good number 2 up front i.e Porter, Clarkson but he needs to be playing with somebody better. Given that money is tight and Smith, Hughes stay, the best I would hope for is ----------Smith------------- Quinn----CD----(Reynolds or McLean)---- Hammell O Brien----Hughes----Klimpl----Lappin (wishful thinking) ---------Clarkson----CF (to replace Porter) This is harsh on Craigan but I just get the feeling we will see less and less of him.

Here is just three of about 30 differences between McGhee and Ferguson Sutton..........Berbatov Reynolds.......Vidic Clarkson........Rooney I agree McGhee is not Alex Ferguson but I don't think he thinks he is and it is an unfair comparison.

What responsibilty do the players take for yesterday. I am a big fan of Mcghee so maybe I cut him too much slack but lets say that Hammell and Quinn could be excused because of being out of position ( which in itself is a very lame excuse) what about the rest of them? Hughes and Smith got pass marks (just) for me. To say Clarkson tries hard, I don't think is good enough. I try hard but I am rubbish. I lost count of the number of times that Clarkson while in posession put his head down and ran straight into an opposition player hoping for some fortunate rebound, before going down looking for a foul. Thats a cop out. Yes it looks as if you are trying hard but nothing is actually happening. It is unfair to single Clarkson out because you could go through the whole team (defenders who lob balls forward in hope rather than expectation etc). The point is these players get paid to do more than they did yesterday. McGhee cannot be blamed for poor decision making, players shirking responsibility and at times a lack of energy. For me it was a team of 11 players who simply bottled it yesterday. On Mcghees qualities, I wondered what he would (or could) say in his post match interview yesterday and I thought he got it spot on. That for me is where McGhee is a class apart. For those who criticise saying he is all talk, communication is a big part of a managers skill, like it or not.

Mark McGhee is one of the few positives about Motherwell at the moment and in fact Scottish Football in general. Unfortunately he is working with players that are just not good enough in a league that is at best mediocre. So he moves his left back to left midfield. So what? Hammell is a profesional football player so it is up to him to go out and perform. That he can't just shows that he is not good enough. That Mark Reynolds makes the wrong decision under pressure is not McGhees fault it just means Reynolds is not good enough. Stephen Hughes is the only player in that team that deserves to play in a top league in a European country. That guys like John Sutton and Jim Hamilton (is there any difference in quality between these two players?) play in Scotland's top division shows how poor our league really is. The pitch thing has been talked about but again today it played a major part in what was a dreadful game of football. How can two professional teams be expected to play on that. It is a total embarrasment. Everything about what we watched today screams second rate. Mark McGhee and Stephen Hughes deserve something better. As for us supporters we deserve better too but unfortunately it's not going to change and we are all too loyal or stupid to simply walk away. St Mirrens second goal was one entertaining second in 5399 seconds of dross.

Enjoy the moment friend. Cracking second goal. However looking at the bigger picture your team are dreadful. That you walk away with a 2-0 win shows how bad Motherwell were. People have been saying St Mirren don't deserve to be where they are but you do. St Mirren are truely rubbish. Motherwell don't deserve to be in the top six because they can't beat a team like yours. It was like watching junior football. It's a Scottish Football thing. Hibs our rivals are equally poor. Aberdeen, rubbish, D Utd, hopeless. I am not feeling any disappointment today. That Well can't make it into a top six in a league as bad as the SPL just makes me think that there are better things I can do with my Saturdays.

I know that this is sheer speculation but here is how I think results could pan out before the split. Gives some idea the task in hand. Aberdeen currently 44pt v MWell (A) Well win 0pt v ICT (H) Dons win 3 pts v Celtic (H) Draw 1pt Finish 48 pts. D Utd currently 44 pts v Hibs (H) Draw 1pt v Ham (H) win 3 pts v Killie (H) win 3 pts Finish 51 pts Hibs currently 40pt v Utd (a) Draw 1 pt v St M (a) Win 3 pts v Rangers (h) Draw 1 pt Finish 45 pts Well currently 40 pts v Abdn (H) win 3 pts v Gers (A) lose 0 pts v St M (H) win 3 pts Finish 46 pts If this happened it wld finish at the split 4th DUtd 51 pt 5th Abn 48 pt 6th Well 46 pt 7th Hibs 45 pt Basically that wld mean at least 6 pts in the next three games. It will not work out exactly like this but I will not be far away. Two home wins and I think we will make it. C'mon the Well.

Any chance of Brian McLean coming in at right back or is it just too soon?