El Grew

My grandfather, father and uncles were all 'Well supporters. My grandfather saw them with the League and my dad and uncles the League Cup and Scottish Cup. It was in the blood as they say. Going to school at Knowetop and being so close to FP only made the heart grow fonder. Best years for me were the 70's when we were in the Texaco Cup - magic nights, looking forward all day at school in anticipation, walking up to the ground, seeing the floodlights, smelling the wintergreen, huge crowds and, strangely, the expectation that we would win. I remember one sneaking out of school early, to get into FP (the gates were open) to see the last 15 minutes of a Scottish Cup replay against Ayr Utd - played midweek with afternoon ko due to power cuts caused by miners strike - which we won and in front of a crowd of 12,000!! Eventually "kept up the bloodline" when we won the Cup in 1991.

Without wishing to get carried away because the opposition were (surprisingly) very poor considering their position, but yes a much better performance and result today. I've said for a long time that we would only see the best of Stephen Hughes when Keith Lasley played in midfield beside him and that Jamie Murphy is good enough to command a regular first team spot. And on today's performance this was proved right. Credit where credit's due but I wonder how much the possiblity of European footbal next season 'helped' the players 'get up' for the game. However, if we can keep Hughes and Klimpl for next season then IMO our midfield would look quite good with Lasley playing anchor man, Klimpl with a roaving role and Hughes playing as close to the strikers as possible where he is most effective. There is the nucleus of good team at FP it just needs MM to recognise that and build on it now.

More so after today, I just hope all the Clarkson doubters will start to appreciate how lucky we are to have a proven SPL striker that wants to play for us. There is no doubt that as a consistent goal scorer he will attract attention from other clubs both inside the SPL and from down south. Just remember the number of to class strikers we have lost in the past - McBride, Deans, Pettigrew, McClair, Walker, McDonald. I for one would hate to see Davie's name added to that list.

Daily Express reports that Dundee offered £75K for both Livi players but that the players can't agree personal terms and that Mark McGhee has been alerted and may seek to increase Motherwell's offer to get them both.

St Mirren 1 V Motherwell 3 = argument/discussion superflous.

I just hope that if the 3 'Well players get to play in the forthcoming International that we get a better outcome than the last time this happened. Wembley, 1961 and Ian St John, Pat Quinn and Bert McCann all played for Scotland against the Auld Enemy. The outcome was arguably the worst ever result in our International History --> 9-3 (mind you Iran and Costa Rica run it damned close). Pat Quinn actually scored Scotland's 4rd goal.

Ah..... Roger Hynd. Those were the days my friends!! Who can remember the chant from the Rangers fans of "Roger, Roger Shut Your Mouth" ? Yuk...!!! Still makes me cringe.

Well done to David. A great personal honour for him and a great honour for the club too. Good luck.

David Clarkson is certainly not the most skilful player we've ever had at FP but when it comes to playing for the jersey and putting his heart into things then IMO he's up there with the best of them. Remember this is a young man who came into the SPL to play for us at the lowest point in our history and due to circumstances, was over-played for someone as young. Although he's now still only 23 he could be regarded as a veteran and if every player that played in C&A put as much into every game as he does then I think we'd all be very happy.

This guy had more money to spend whilst manager at FP than anyone before or since, close to £1 Million if memory serves and blew it. Some of his purchases - Andy (he's my brother-in-law) Roddie...........£100,000 Sean McSkimming.....................................£150,000 Mitchel Van Der Gaag................................£500,000 I think we at least re-couped most of the Van Der Gaag money when he was transferred out.

This guy had more money to spend whilst manager at FP than anyone before or since - £1 Million if memory serves and blew it. Andy Roddie Sean McSkimming Mitchel Van Der Gaag

There has been much criticism aimed at the club, chairman, manager, players etc. this season, and I hold up my hands as one who has added his voice to this on occasions. Having been a supporter for more years than I care to admit, through thick and thin (more the latter than the former) I began asking myself, that all things considered, was I being over-critical of the club. We all obviously have a passion for MFC and want the very best for them but perhaps sometimes, we just expect too much given the limited resources available to them. A little research revealed an interesting, if perhaps already obvious fact which I use as supporting evidence. Since the Premier League came into being at the beginning of season 1975/76 (33 seasons now) the average finishing positions of the various clubs from that time up until the end of last season, have been as follows: 1. Rangers 2. Celtic 3. Aberdeen 4. Hearts 5. Dundee Utd 6. Hibs 7. Kilmarnock 8. Motherwell 9. St Mirren 10. Dundee 11. St Johnstone 12. Inverness ------------------ 13. Partick 14. Livingston 15. Dunfermline 16. Falkirk 17. Hamilton The 6 city clubs finishing 1 to 6. So, is this then the natural order of Scottish football? I suppose the only surprise for me was to discover that we were not 7th and that Kilmarnock occupied that place. Being realistic then, should we regard any finish we have in the SPL above 8th, as a successful season for us? Analysis revealed that we have only done this on 12 occasions out of 33. So I would argue that on the basis of this evidence, the answer would appear to be yes and, that if we manage to finish 7th this season then it really will have been a successful one for us and maybe we should look at things in this light.

I know we are rank at present and a lot of different players have been getting pelters but having watched the highlights of the Falkirk game, we seem to have lost another two poor goals from a defensive standpoint. IMO, one player who should be getting pelters but seems to mainly avoid them, is Mark Reynolds who if memory serves, hasn't missed a game this season. His performances this season for me have underlined that whatever his best position turns out to be, it most certainly is not a centre-back. I believe he was originally a left-back before being asked to fill in at centre-back a couple of seasons ago and has perhaps gained the position by default. He has pluses and minuses. Pluses - he's quite pacy and a decent tackler. Minuses - useless in the air, lacks physical strength and can't pass (not the only one). I truly think MM has to re-think his defence and consider Reynolds for either left back or defensive midfield.

Rumour has it the pitch was to blame - it had grass on it.

I think the silence speaks volumes! Either that or there were not many of C&A persuasion present.

Sorry Jam 20 but I can't agree with you on this one. I really think that those players who won't re-sign with the club's best offer and a reasonable deadline for doing so (one month) should be told to exit stage left so that the manager can then move on and consider other candidates either already at the club or from other clubs. Anyway, I forecast right now, that there won't exactly be a plethora of clubs waiting to take them on with better terms.

Spot on Melvin. Smith wants to play at a higher level and/or with a team that is regularly challenging the OF. Well that means who.... Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee Utd, Hibs I assume. But I don't see any of these clubs exactly falling over themselves to avail themselves of his services given that they would get him for nada. The only way these guys will re-sign at FP is if they don't get better offers. Well, as I said earlier, I wouldn't wait to be pissed around by them. Offer them the best we can, set a deadline for signing then if they haven't signed ...adios. Put the pressure on them. However, they would do well to remember what happened to Brian Kerr.....

I said it before earlier. The first team players get away with poor performances because they know that there is nobody among the rest of the squad going to oust them. MM knows this and worse the players know that MM knows this. All this pontificating about only wanting players who want to play for the club etc. etc. is just bullshit of the highest order. Every player that is currently or soon to be out of contract should be given a contract offer with the club's absolute best offer, given one month to consider it and sign it and if they haven't done so by the end of that time then they should be told to pack-up and move out pdq. By doing this he will then know the extent of the team re-building that's in front of him. He will to tackle this fast for next season and cannot afford to piss about. Now is the time for actions, after all its not as if he or us didn't know this was coming. Leave Leitch in charge of the team until the end of the season and get out and about and suss out if there's anybody worth picking up from the sides that are destined for another season in Division 1 (Dundee, Dunfermline, Partick, Morton, Livingston) and interested in playing SPL for us. Get in a few hard working reliable pros that can reproduce solid performances on a regular basis - particularly defenders a la Joe Wark/Brian Martin.

To Gazzy B. Go forth and multiply. Meaningless games? - Then why are the fans not being allowed in for free. - Tell the chairman, because every point gained earns the club money. - The club owe it to other clubs in the relegation zone to put up serious performances. - Fans will hardly be swayed into renewing season tickets with kind of garbage served-up. No, this just goes to show Mark McGhee that there is a clear-out needed at FP. Too many players have been getting it too easy for too long now. There is no pressure being put on the first team squad by the fringe players so they know they can get away with this kind of shite.

Wow massive changes in team selection!!! Smith, Lasley, Hammell, Reynolds, McLean, Hughes, Fitzpatrick, Klimpl, McGarry, Clarkson, Sutton. Subs: Krysiak, Malcolm, Sheridan, Murphy, McHugh, Hutchinson, Page. Lets be honest the only reason the youngsters are on the bench is to fulfill the commitment required under SPL rules. Questions 1. Why are Malcolm and Sheridan still be considered for selection? 2. Can we take it from this that Hughes and Klimpl will be staying on then? 3. Why are McGarry and Fitzpatrick still being considered? 4. What happened to O'Brien - not even on bench, on his way? 5. Where's Quinn - also not on even on bench, also on his way?

I wholeheartedly agree - far too much substance abuse going on here. Paul Quinn for (in no particular order) Celtic/the Premiership (Everton)/The Championship (Birmingham)/Russia.

Don't know about a new stand but I had heard a couple of months back that the club might be having to spend around £500K on 'upgrading' the current main stand. Not exactly sure why this was but it may have been a safety issue.

Given the quality of Scottish football these days its good to see four Motherwell players in ANY Scotland squad. Well done to all four of our guys. They are probably our four best, most consistent, and most reliable players. Also our most saleable assets.

Headline in Gazetto dello Sport tomorrow - "El Buzz concorda contratto con AC" Well its about as believeable as him going anywhere.