David

Yeah, but the main sticking point with him was his injury problems, wasn't it? I think if he gets a run of games he'll do okay.

He looks to have decent credentials, it's just a shame that he probably won't be here beyond the summer.

He was seemingly a player in demand, and the fact that Notts County actually wanted to sign him but Forest didn't want to let him go hints at him being a quality player.

Pretty much. Once he has a solid idea of who's staying and going in the summer he'll have a better idea of the kind of budget he has to play with.

That's a positive then I guess, although a freezing night on top of ice & snow may prove to be an issue. Anyone been down at the stadium? How's the surrounding area looking?

Aye, he sounds like the kind of player who blows hot & cold. Not really surprising, as a player in his position who blows mainly hot would likely be outwith our reach. We'll just need to wait and see how he does.

What? I'm not sure what that even means? You made some points, I made some points, it's a discussion. Yeah, but circumstances play a part, don't they? It all depends on various factors as to how a new managerial appointment will affect a team. I don't think our squad now is anywhere close to having the quality that it had in it when Brown took over, and we were sitting higher up the table, so the threat of relegation wasn't quite as major an issue. What do you mean that a new broom should have swept clean? Are you meaning the staff who were there from McCall's era? If so, I'm not sure it's just as simple as telling them to hit the road, there are contracts that would need to be paid up I think, and I don't think we're in a position to do that at the moment. We'll maybe see a significant shift in the backroom staff come the summer. If you look back you'll actually see that I was an advocate of bringing someone in short-term until the summer, allowing us to bring someone in with a fresh slate. I'd mentioned the likes of Tommy McLean maybe doing the kind of job we initially brought in Craig Brown to do, or even leaving Black in charge. But we didn't do that, we appointment Baraclough so we really should be prepared to back him and give him a sufficient amount of time to do the job. Yeah, he's been here for less than two months, and in that time he's been working primarily with the squad of players that have gotten us into this mess. I'm not entirely sure what you expected him to do that McCall wasn't capable of? How many other companies would hire a new manager when they're experiencing an downturn in business and get rid of him when he didn't turn it around in less than two months? That's simply mental to be honest. Sorry mate, to come to the conclusion you have when the guy has been here for a grand total of 48 days is a bit off to be honest. I simply can't agree with it. I don't really think we are. We were a bit shit before he arrived, and we're still a bit shit. In order for that to change we need to offload some of the players who aren't performing and bring in replacements. He simply cannot do that to his full ability until the summer, can he? Really? From a period of 48 days and 7 games you've reached the conclusion that he doesn't have the aptitude to do the job? Despite him having a pretty poor squad to work with, and a decent amount of injuries to contend with as well? I guess everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I find that kind to be baffling if I'm honest. I'm not fighting any kind of fight, be it good or bad. All I'm doing is resisting the urge to allow my knees to jerk all over the shop. We're in a relegation battle, and we're trying to bring in some players during the window to help us consolidate our current position and stay ahead of the two teams below us. That's our main concern. Replacing the manager any time before the end of the season is simply mental in my opinion.

Anyone know if we're due more snow tonight?

The circumstances then were completely different to those that Baraclough has found himself in. Brown took over a side that was sitting in 6th place when Gannon was sacked, and he had players like Jennings, Hateley, Ruddy, Reynolds, Jutkiewicz and Murphy to see him through until the end of the season. Gannon was a bit mental, but we weren't in as bad shape playing-wise as we were when Baraclough joined us. McCall had more background knowledge on the current squad than anyone and he was at a loss to figure out what the fuck was going on, wasn't he? Just because Baraclough knew some of our players and had an idea of what they were capable of doesn't mean he was going to be able to come in and sprinkle some magic dust to turn around our fortunes. He's brought in two players thus far, and one of them is a quality midfielder that knows the Scottish game well. The other is a bit of an unknown, but we can't really judge him until we've seen him get some game time. Yeah, there is. Sack Baraclough after eight game or so, stick Kenny Black back in charge and proceed to go through the entire process of recruiting a manager again, all the while admitting that we didn't know what the fuck we were doing in the first place, because that's what such actions will suggest. Why any other manager worth his salt would take us seriously after that is beyond me to be honest. Would you risk your reputation on a club that fired a guy a few months after he was in the door? I know that I certainly wouldn't. If we're wanting to survive relegation the best thing to go for is continuity. That means keeping the guy you hired, especially when he's only just gotten started in the job and has signed a couple of players. Let him do his job for fuck sake man. If this team falls into the Championship the blame lies at the feet of the current playing staff and the former manager, not the guy who was brought in late on to try and mop up the mess. Am I suggesting that our new manager be given use of a budget to rectify mistakes and issues that the club had before he was appointed? Yes. That's how it works, isn't it? The new guy is appointed and is then given the funds to do his own thing with the team.

It takes more than the time he's had for him to come in and basically change up the way we play the game I think, especially when I'm not all that sure he has the players to carry out the kind of football he wants to play at the moment either. Come the summer we'll have a whole host of players out of contract, with a lot of them moving on. He'll then be given the time and freed up wages to bring in some players that he believes will deliver his style and will get the job done. That's the point where I'll judge him. There really isn't any alternative to that, is there? Unless we want to pay the money to release him from his contract and begin the whole process again? All the while we'll be dropping points and all over the place.

What exactly were you wanting from him this early into his reign as manager? He's operating with the same players that McCall couldn't get fuck all out of, isn't he? He deserves at least this window and the summer to put his own stamp on the side. Judge him after he's had some time to do his own thing, not a few months into the job.

Ojamaa's full statement on social media;

Yeah, there's no way Baraclough drops Sutton in favour of Erwin.

When was the last time Gunnar actually played a competitive game for us? Wasn't it like April of last year?

One thing that I'm fairly certain of (I think it was mentioned in the lads podcast) is that if we're not relegated this year, we'll most likely be looking at it within the next few seasons, especially if we're cutting our cloth accordingly this summer. I think we bear all the hallmarks of a Championship level club unfortunately, and it's really only a matter of time before we go down.

The worst team in the league is the team with the least points, which isn't us.

I'd said what I say every season. Hopefully a top six finish and a decent cup run. To be fair, we're only fifteen points away from the top six, so it's still a possibility

Outside of Aberdeen and Dundee United most of the other clubs in the SPFL are pretty similar in size and resources, aren't they? On any given season we can see a side bounce from 4th or 5th to 12th. Case in point, Accies beat us 5-0, then went on to lose 5-0 to Thistle. Is our current squad not performing? Yes. It happens though, and we'll just have to deal with it. I've spent many a year supporting Motherwell as we battle relegation, so this is nothing new. The years we finished in the top three or four are actually the exception as far as i'm concerned. The way some people are reacting is mental though. We're a small club fighting relegation.

Are you actually being serious? You'd think we were ten points adrift at the bottom of the table the way some folk are going on. We're sitting in tenth place, and we've not lost to either of the sides below us this season. We beat St Mirren twice, and we've drawn with and beaten County. Aye, we're not doing too great this year, but fucking hell, come on, eh? Aye, and I'll bet there were people over on their forums saying the exact same thing about us last month. Remember? When we were taking seven points from a possible nine from three clubs around us in the table? I'm willing to bet you all sorts of mental monopoly money that both St Mirren and Ross County will see themselves go on three and four game losing streaks before the season is over. They'll drop points.

Is that belief really forlorn when we've played St midden twice this season and taken six points from them, and Ross County twice and taken four points from them? I'd say that we have a slightly better side than both of them. I get that we're far from impressive this season, but we took seven points from a possible twelve last month, including three from a possible nine from teams around us in the league. I think the time we've spent swanning around at the top end of the table has created some overreaction to us no longer being there. Hard as it is to admit, this is our level unfortunately. We have fuck all money and a crowd that rarely rises above 5,000. Through the years we've seen the various sides in Scottish football who are of a similar size to us face this predicament. Now it's our turn.

Has it been mentioned anywhere how long Baraclough's contract with us is? Obviously removing him will require a payoff, won't it?

I'd happily take a point in a shite, 0-0 game. We'll likely lose though. I just hope it won't be a bad beating.

He looks to be playing well the past few years. At CSKA Sofia he was their first choice goalie for over a year, with 32 clean sheets in 57 games. He moved to Greece due to CSKA not paying his wages. Only signed a 2 year contract with Ergotelis in July last year though. If he's available and we can afford him, I'd be fucking ecstatic to have him to be honest.

Still no Steel Boy, eh? Or are you saving his appearance for a special paid edition?

So, Daniels, the Electric bar and the Fir park club are awash with "h**s". What exactly are we talking about here? I always assumed the term "h**s" was what Celtic fans accused any cunt who didn't agree with their skewed views of being? ie; Everyone else.