Kmcalpin

Maybe an element of truth in that I don't know but neither Hammell nor Law possess much positional sense defensively. This causes us problems and goals game after game. As Superward says though it was more like the width of the 6 yard box on Saturday.

In terms of goalkeepers, absolutely. That in itself though doesn't guarantee success in the position.

My thoughts exactly. Yes, he was reasonable going forward yesterday but was caught out again by being too far infield on several occasions. This happens time after time. It places unwanted additional pressure on the central defence and goalie.

I think your post split fixture prediction looks about right Iain. Two homes and three aways. I reckon we're capable of beating st Johnstone at home and drawing with Hearts. The game against Ross County (at Dingwall?) looks tricky.

Back on topic guys. Just watched the TV highlights. MacDonald's goal that was chalked off was a very close call. Although I'm biased I tend to say he was in line. Celtic's first goal was a defensive disaster. Law was caught badly out of position but the covering in the middle was diabolical. Many of Celtic's on target efforts were the result of their players being in unmarked positions 6/7/8 yards from goal. Yes, you can say that this was down down to good forward play, and it was to an extent, but our defending was pretty poor. Still we move on now and look forward to atop six finish. Its going to be a balancing act between blooding a good few youngsters and trying to secure a higher place for more cash. I wonder if the club accountant will advise Mark McGhee as to important the extra cash will be in the short term as that will have to be balanced against developing youth and long term income. Maybe youngsters like Watt, McLean, Mackin and Campbell will be given game time. Will Craig Samson be given a chance to show what he can do?

Not a great performance today especially in the first half when we defended far too deep and showed lack of belief. Celtic could easily have been 4 goals ahead by the break if it wasn't for their amateurish finishing and a great display of goalkeeping by Ripley, who was badly let down by his colleagues. There was no-one in central midfield capable of taking the the game to Celtic just as a few of us thought beforehand. We were second to every ball and just didn't compete. There was an improved performance in the second half but again defensive frailties cost us. Sad to see Ripley lose a silly goal but overall he played very well. Very few pass marks today Ripley being one of them. I'd exempt Moult, MacDonald and Johnson from any criticism as they received very poor ammunition but worked hard. Cadden also tried his best and deserved pass marks. Gomis had a real off day and Lasley wasn't an awful lot better. Both looked yards off the pace. In short our central midfield was non-existent. This left the central defence and Ripley badly exposed. Both Hammell and Law had a poor day defensively being caught out of position time and again, although Law did look better going forward. McManus and Kennedy struggled too but in fairness received little protection. I thought Collum had a poor game with a string of questionable decisions. Both Kazim-Richards and Scott Brown were very fortunate not to receive red cards for lifting their hands and a deliberate off the ball elbow. Still alls well that ends well and we'll finish in the top six which looked very unlikely a few months ago. Maybe today wasn't a good day to judge the players - they have taken us to a top six place after all.

Very much so Iain. The first advantage of finishing in the top six is certainty, which is always important in a business context. There is no threat of relegation now and the lowest we can finish is sixth - the club will know the prize money on offer for that. Compare this to last season where we didn't even know what league we'd be playing in until the end of May. This will allow us to crack on with signing plans for next season, stealing a march on bottom six clubs. Secondly, cashflow. Bottom six clubs don't receive their payout until about August due to the uncertainty of their final league position. Top six clubs receive a partial payout in the next few weeks (based on finishing 6th/7th as a minimum) with the residual amount being paid in August. Thirdly, total income. I think a place is worth £80 - £100k. Ok we deduct an amount for bonuses, but even assuming the most pessimistic scenario of finishing 6th that should give us a wee bit more. In terms of games, we don't yet know how the fixtures will pan out. However although St Johnstone and Ross County won't bring many to Fir Park neither would Inverness or Accies. Aberdeen or Hearts will bring more than Dundee, Partick or certainly Dundee United now. I'm sure there are also other financial advantages.

Well done to players and management of MFC. A good afternoon in terms of our top six place. This should mean a bit of a windfall for the club.

A few other thoughts. David Ferguson: has he done enough to warrant a contract extension? I genuinely don't know much about his progress this year. Jack Leitch: he'll be 21 in July. Has he done enough to earn a new deal? I would tend to say no. Ben Hall: whats happening with his contract offer? Louis Moult: will he still be with us next season? Marvin Johnson: ditto In general we'll need a new keeper either first choice or back up. We may need to replace Lasley and Hammell depending on whether they move on. We'll need at least another central midfielder to replace Gomis/Lasley Do we need an attacking midfielder? As I see it, and without taking into account transfers out, we'll be looking at a goalie, left back, and at least one central midfielder.

Not the perfect pairing but if anyone can keep the Celtic midfield quiet they can. However thats only half a job - they have to support our strikers as well.

Rumours of Bannigan going to Aberdeen and Osman attracting interest from other Premiership clubs. I think McGovern is Easter Road bound. Almost every decent Premiership out of contract player has either signed a pre contract or is attracting the attention of several other clubs. I doubt if Ryan Dow would have much to offer us - never impressed me. Stevie Hammell's pace is going and his defensive capabilities are not improving. At his age he'll be looking for a 2 year deal. As some others have said I suspect we'll target some lower league players from south of the border.

If they draw we will finish 6th.

A few interesting names but maybe not that many. In terms of our own squad I think its time for Stevie Hammell to move on. He's now 34, losing a bit of pace and costing us a few goals this season. A good servant to the club but everyone has their time.

Good post. I'm not a fan of English football but the last time I checked (about 2 years ago) the amount of debt in the Championship was staggering. Even English League two clubs receive far more in TV cash than most Scottish Premiership clubs do.

I'm perfectly sane thank you and I'd question your right to say that without ever having met me and on the basis of a single comment. Presumably you're not a qualified psychiatrist? I don't know about you but I never want to go through last season's experience ever again. In the early part of the season we signed quite a few duff players, looked to be heading for the relegation zone again (don't forget that) and were lumbered with a manager clearly out of his depth. This was only a few months ago and thats where I'm coming from. We've had a huge turnaround this season and are now safe from relegation worries. Although I'd be relieved to finish in 10th spot I do think we'll finish higher, possibly even in the top six. First and foremost this season improvement, safety and stabilisation should be our aims and I reckon we'll achieve that.

It would be nice to make the top six, and its not impossible we might still do, but overall I'd be happy with 10th place this season given our recent history. Until last Saturday a top six spot was pie in the sky for us.

As far as I'm led to believe, the still anonymous investors who generously paid off United's debts were given a substantial slice of the transfer income. United were, and may still be, paying out 6 figure sums in interest every year.

Our home support for these games is usually about 500-1,000 less than for a normal game at Fir Park and I don't expect anything different on Saturday.

Yes, but how much of the transfer income did the club, as opposed to third parties, actually see? The secretive deals were nowhere near as beneficial as many would have you believe.

Looking forward we do need continuity. In recent years we've witnessed a few radical changes of direction as new managers have come in, not all successfully. The club is changing direction with the prospect of fan ownership and more emphasis on youth. Good youth systems don't come cheap though. There's no doubt that at our level Mark McGhee is a good manager. He took over a dispirited, poor team at a difficult time with no money to splash out on new players. So, he has what it takes. He has never doubted his own ability and some didn't like the way he left last time around and I accept that. Personally, I had no trouble with him coming back, or in the way he and Scott Leitch left. As for his handling of players in recent months I can't see much wrong with that. The Lionel Ainsworth/Partick aftermatch - we just don't know what took place behind closed doors. My yardstick is "Has there been evidence of players downing tools and not playing for him?" That would indicate poor man management skills. I can see no basis for that. His knowledge of football is very impressive. In principle I would agree Al and I think your idea is worth pursuing to give us some stability but would he agree? He's 58 and may still feel he has other challenges but how much higher is he going to go in the game? I wouldn't hold it against him if he wanted another change but no harm in trying.

Do the tractormen not play their final pre split game against Killie at Rugby Park? Your point is well taken though.

Hopefully we'll only need to field 11 players at KO time, play Celtic as required by the SPFL and no more. A win would be nice though.

Yes, forget Europe just now. I'd be quite happy if Thistle and Dundee United drew - that would be sufficient to put Partick out of the running and ensure United remain firmly in 12th spot. United have annoyed me greatly this season for their ruffian like behaviour more suited to bar room brawling and they don't deserve to remain in the top league for that reason. By all accounts they beat up a very physical St Johnstone side yesterday. Still back to us and a draw or United win would serve our purposes.

In fairness he was returning from injury and the players had had a few days off.

A very important win yesterday for us although the performance wasn't that impressive. We were and still are due a bit of good luck and Inverness will rue missing their chances. Marvin's goal was fit to win any game and coming as it did at the death made it all the more enjoyable for those who travelled. I wasn't at the game but based on comments on this board and from those who did go it seems it we lacked creativity in the central midfield and that maybe wasn't surprising given the combination of Gomis & Lasley. We also seemed to allow Inverness a lot of freedom down our flanks. However the team won and credit should go to Mark McGhee and the management team and of course the players. Make no mistake it was a big result.