star sail

May we have a slight advantage in that we have played two competive games already? It certainly is given as a reason why we don't do well at other times. I agree though it's all guess work really.

You seem like quite a hostile fellow. Are you sure your not an Old Firm fan? Makes a change from the good vibes of Nancy and Llanelli. Welcome to Albania indeed!

Ok take him out and it is still a fairly impressive list. Makes you wonder what they have been doing at Murray Park. I suppose to be fair they are possibly producing good players, but unfortunately they never see the light of day because they can't get into the first team and if they do they are immediately too expensive for most other clubs in Britian to afford. Anyway the point was I think that it is something our wee club should be proud of.

This seems like an unconventional step for a Football Coach but from what we have seen so far Gannon is his own man. It's shows the affinity he had with Stockport fans though. I hope in a couple of years we have the same affinity for our man at the top.

I may be misunderstanding the official site but does it mean that although the paperwork was not completed in time for him to travel he will still be available for the home leg next week? In other words can he still be used as our wildcard?

These players have to start somewhere. I think we are buying potential rather than a fully developed player. I think he should be judged by the interest he was attracting eg Aston Villa. The harsh reality is that we have been priced out of Championship players. That is not neccesarily an indication of quality in that league.

Makes you wonder if there has been any other Scottish team that has been as successful at bringing on young players in recent years. Off the top of my head: Faddy Pearson Reynolds Roscoe Clarky Quinn and some of the emerging talent Murphy, Slane, Forbes etc I would think that record is better than the Old Firms

I am just remembering that the Open is on this weekend. That takes up one BBC channel, all day pretty much. Would doubt that they would put football on the other channel.

MarcC, what makes you a Well fan? Interesting to have someone from Germany show an interest in us.

Ya Beauty! He's brilliant! A real prospect! Jonny have a look at the In's and Out's thread. Being discussed there but nothing much to report I'm afraid.

Do you mean doesn't want to move from Motherwell (the club) or doesn't want to move from Scotland?

I think we will see one more player by Thursday, using this wildcard option and it will probably be in the area needing the quickest fix (Goalkeeper?). Most of the activity does not happen untill the end of the transfer window when players/clubs have had the chance to assess their options.

Have to be careful about building Forbes up too much. I thought he looked good against Llanelli and if he could produce performances like that in the SPL he would be a revelation but we have to remember the standard of the opposition. Also we have not seen our new signing in action yet so will have to wait and see. As for Brian Kerr, remember he was too good for us.

Excellent first touch, could give himself time because of his ability to control the ball, everything went through him in the midfield. His good 6 months was the teams good six months. It's a team game. One player cannot do it on his own. It's all about opinion but in my opinion he was a class apart.

Would be sad to see him play for the opposition next year, particularly Hearts. He is one of the better players we have had in recent years. I had hoped he would stay but at the reported £7000 a week it was never really going to happen. Have to say though that it is mildly satisfying that Aberdeen can't afford him either. Funny how Jim Paterson and Stephen Hughes have not jumped at the chance to be reunited with their old manager.

Dykstra Nijholt Martin Teale McKinnon Cooper McFadden Lambert O Donnell Coyne Arnott Subs: Maxwell, McCart, Van der Gaag, Hughes, Porter Edit: I forgot about Mio. Replace him with Teale.

I am not going to try and argue that Harri Kampman's time was a success but I knew people who worked at the club at the time he took over and they were impressed by some of the things he tried to do. McLeish (apparantly) ran a fairly relaxed ship and when Harri came in he insisted on better discipline from the players (better time keeping etc), controlled the players diets better and gave catering staff a programme of training a month in advance so that they could help with nutrition. For what ever reason it did not work but we have to remember he was given very little time to make it work.

The problem is the same in Scotland I'm afraid. I have a mate who comes over from Northern Ireland and he has real problems getting Scottish shops to accept Ulster Bank notes.

McFadden by a country mile. Everytime he got the ball the excitement level would rise. That still happens now when he is playing for Scotland. Great player who scored one of the most memorable goals in Scottish Football history.

A week is certainly a long time in football. Last Monday the sun was shining, we were getting excited about our new manager, Stockport fans were telling us about his qualities and we were excited about the new players coming in. Reading through this thread the mood has changed somewhat. Concerns about Gannon's man management, concerns about English players fitting in to the Scottish game, Clarkson and Quinn sounding more like superstars with every passing day. In reality nothing has changed since last Monday, except that we lost 1-0 to Llanelli, a game that Gannon cannot be judged on and Gannon has commented on our captain's lack of command at the corner that led to the goal. Before we start talking about the drive and determination of Quinn/Clarkson lets remember they were both playing in the two defeats by St Mirren (cup and top six game). They also played against Nancy and were somewhat out of there depth along with the rest of the team admittedly. Stephen Hughes is not an 'SPL type' player and yet he has been Motherwell's best player over the last couple of seasons. I also remember a midfield player McCormack? (excuse my memory) who played with us (possibly under Billy Davies). He came from the English lower divisions and more that held his own, infact if we get players of his quality we will be laughing. If the comment's about Craigan causes problems then that says more about Craigan than Gannon. The comments were right so hopefully Craigan will use any anger to channel it into aggression on the pitch. To be fair, I heard Craigan on the radio on Saturday and he was talking very positively so it should not be an issue. That Gannon spoke out in public may cause some unease but again go back a week and we were all applauding that very style (Sky box etc). I can understand the unease but we have to keep things in perspective. We need to give the new man a chance and yet I sense that even after one week his honeymoon period is over.

I would like to hope that was the case but unfortunately it does not seem to work out that way. Supporters tend to make excuses for players (unless it's Marc Fitzpatrick) blaming the board or the manager for a teams dip in form. I would guess that if the form of Craigan, O Brien etc drops because they do take the huff most supporters will turn on Gannon saying he can't motivate the players etc. I hope I am wrong but I have seen it to often before to be confident (Barry Feruson, Kris Boyd v Paul Le Guen) being the perfect example.

I think I am just letting out frustrations that have been building for some time about the professional game in Scotland. I hope that it is the transition that is the problem and that after next Thursday I can laugh at my misplaced angst when we come out comfortably on top. I suppose I should wait untill then before being too critical.

11 Full Time Players v 11 Part Time Players. Should have won regardless of circumstances.

Really pleased to hear Gannon speak honestly. He was absolutely spot on. I am really surprised that people on here are defending the players for what happened last night. I understand the need to support the team but there comes a point when a situation or performance becomes unacceptable and last night was one such example. How often over the last few years have we lost goals at corners? How often have we lost games because of poor defending at corners? The conclusion you come to is that our Central Defenders are poor at defending corners, regardless of whether or not one of them has played for Northern Ireland. The manager says we should be doing better at corners. He is absolutely right and should not need to apologise for saying so. The important point is will the manager fix the problem or just talk about it for two years like our previous manager. Laslay was not interested last night so was replaced at half time. Spot on. Jim O Brien was ineffectual so was replaced. Spot on. The senior players took no responsibility last night and the manager realised this and said so. Spot on. Could Motherwell go to the San Siro and beat Milan 1-0 in the Europa Cup? I don't think that would ever, ever happen and yet Motherwell are a professional team. A Part Time team comes to Scotland and beats Motherwell 1-0 and some people are making excuses for the players. 'It's the first game of the season' ,'It was the wrong formation','the manager got the tactics wrong' etc. Defenders played in defense, midfielders played in midfield and strikers played up front from where I was sitting and collectively they managed 2/3 attempts on goal the whole night. Is the manager to blame for that? If last night is in some way acceptable, because we are Motherwell and because we lose these types of games fairly regularly, then why not go Part Time? That way the next time we lose to a Division 1 team' or Division 3 team or a Welsh team at least we would not have payed these players a decent wage for the privilege. I am really excited so see what Jim Gannon does at Motherwell. He may just be the man who finally shakes things up a bit in the SPL.

No.