Kmcalpin

He has a degree in civil engineering.

Not my fault guv, I don't subscribe to TV sports packages Wouldn't give them a penny. Absurd KO time.

Probably quite a few, in broad terms. Brian McLair for example went south too early to aston Villa and ended up back with us. Alan Martin thought he was a much better keeper than he actually was and after hawking himself around English clubs he ended up at Ayr and now QoS. More recently, Fraser Kerr, came back to us from a stint at Birmingham City. Another example is Robbie Leitch - where is he now? Going back to the original question of whether its better to jump ship early for big money or to wait, a year or two, to mature, posters on this board have already answered that. Some good posts, but it depends entirely on the individual. For some, leaving early is good for others its a bad move. It depends on a young lad's maturity, character and personal circumstances. Leaving home at 16, 17, 18 or even 19 is a big move for anyone and some can't wait whilst others are very loathe to leave home and familiar surroundings. For some money is god, for others there's more important things in life. I've known several excellent and very well thought of colleagues in my career, who could easily have risen up the career ladder but had no interest in doing so because they didn't want extra responsibility, pressure or to move away. At the other extreme I've come across others, with lesser talent, who didn't care who they trampled over to gain a few extra pounds. In short each to their own. For some young lads its better to stay a year or two; for others its better to leave early for more money down south. I'll end with advice I was given and many of you may have been given also "Be nice to folk on the way up as you might meet them again on the way back down."

Yes, those were the days. Great to see the likes of Gordon Banks, Martin Peters (both World Cup winners), Alan Mullery, Martin Chivers, Jimmy Neighbour, Harry Burrows and other giants of that era play at Fir Park

I'm sure we have offered him a first team wage; but it also depends on how realistic his demands are. No doubt negotiation tactics are clouding the discussions for ordinary fans like us. Are you saying that if the club says it can't afford to meet his wage demands, whatever they are, then questions need to be asked?

Adam Livingston was loaned out last season to East Fife and their supporters that I know rated him. Hopefully he'll get his chance soon, as we're no longer in a relegation scrap.

Conflicting rumours on Pie and Bovril this morning. Mitch claims that he'll sign a Pre Contract Agreement with us this week; a St Johnstone fan says he'll sign for them; and a third poster says there's several offers on his table. Without being party to inside knowledge its impossible to say which one is right. Add to that, Stephen Robinson quoted as saying PCAs aren't worth the paper they're written on, and everything is as clear as mud.

No surprise there then. Hastie's agent will be well aware of our wage structure and what we, as a club, can afford. He / she is at it and knows full well that we cannot meet their demands. Maybe a negotiating tactic maybe not. Although very promising, Hastie has yet to be tested against top six opposition and they should not be allowed to ignore that.

Like a few others I was beginning to lose faith in Robbo going into the winter shutdown. We failed to kick on after last season and the summer recruitment drive was less than successful. I didn't like the longball style of footie we played but was lesss concerned than many others about that. What concerned me most was our poor results. However Robbo has turned it around suddenly and dramatically. We're now winning gmaes albeit against bottom 6 opposition but we're also playing attractive footie with home grown talent featuring prominently. So, I take my C&A hat off to him. What he has done, unlike many others before him, such as Maurice Malpas, is acknowledge he had made mistakes and change things. Thats why I've really warmed to him in the last month or so. No manager is going to get things 100% right be it tactics or signings. He's really turned things around and deserves credit for that. I'm happy to say that my opinion of him was wrong.

Is anyone surprised? No doubt the youngster's agent has been trying to stoke up a bidding war using a friendly journalist to publicise it. We'll wait and see.

I think the Motherwell Times suggested that we received a modest/nominal fee, which would seem reasonable in the circumstances.

You have to ask what the future holds for Peter Hartley. He's 31 and not getting any younger.

Yes, during his time at Fir Park he always gave the impression of being a bit lazy. If he lost the ball he had a tendency to just shrug his shoulders.

Thats my view too.

No reason to be pessimistic tonight given our recent form but our team is fairly young and prone to inconsistency. It'll be a hard game. Wouldn't surprise me if Ariyib4gi is dropped to the bench tonight as he isn't fully fit and may struggle to play 2 games a week right now. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

I think his contract was due to end in June of this year but very recently the club awarded him an extra 12 months to get himslef fit.

I think Gorrin is certainly worth another deal as is Grimshaw. I'd like to see Aldred signed on a permanent deal. McHugh is an interesting one - what do posters think about him?

Good news. Also hints they have agreed although thats not clear.

Its not quite the same though. Craig Tanner was injured whilst carrying out his agreed duties at work. It wasn't an injury sustained whilst away from his workplace or an unrelated illness.

Piffle. What part of the ground were you sitting in?

As far as I know he had his contract extended recently by a year to take him up until summer 2020. Our club , unlike some others in Scotland, believes that a player should leave in the same medical condition in which he arrived. He was injured playing for us and we're doing the decent thing by him. Apart from anything else that will promote the club's image to players. He was sat in front of us at NDP at the back end of last year. I hope he returns to full fitness with us - good luck to him. Its good to see MFC stick by him.

Yes some good news which should help the Club and Society's finances.

For a good part of the first half...yes. You'll recall that Bigi was subbed at half time due to his inability to create anything and also for a poor defensive performance. Livvy sat deep in the first half and played the long ball. His colleagues were looking to him to create something and provide a spark but he just didn't produce the goods. He reminded me of Brian Kerr that day. Typically a defender or less gifted midfield colleague would feed him the ball only for him to stop when a defender confronted him and make a sideways pass or back to a defender who had to then lump it up the pitch. This happened ad nauseum. In the interests of accuracy we reverted to the long ball even more after the break.

Two games I was at immediately spring to mind. The 1-0 home loss to Hearts in September and the 2-0 away defeat to Livingston in December. On both occasions Bigi started and we tried to play a bit of football on the deck through him. On both occasions he failed to live up to expectations and simply did nothing. There are more examples. Probably his best game was at Dundee this season when we won 3-1 but that was an exception. The less said about his defending the better. In short if he was performing he would have started in far more games than he did. As Yorkyred says above he was a luxury player probably not suited to playing in Scotland's top flight.

Yes. When given his chance and when we tried to play it on the deck he was largely anonymous and didn't show the creativity of which he he was capable. No doubt he would have been one of the higher wage earners and perhaps that cash will be better put to securing Hastie and Maguire on new deals. From the little I've been able to glean it seems that we did receive a modest fee for him, which is only right.