David

Only on a Motherwell forum could such a thread be started on the same week that we're looking virtual certs for the Champions League qualifiers!

If there's any justice in the game Stuart McCall should get it, simple as that. Especially if we get to the Champions League. If that nugget Lennon gets it I'm going to cry.

You'd be down in the dumps if your big team were staring into the abyss as well mate.

An absolute joke if we get into the Champions League and McCall doesn't get the award.

I know it may be taken as a reaction to todays game, but could McCall be considered the best manager in the league at the moment? I think he has to be in with a shout. I know that Celtic fans will point their grubby little fingers in the direction of Neil Lennon, but when you consider the resources available to both managers you really have to say that McCall is "pound for pound" the best in the country!

We couldn't be going into this game in a better position really, having seen United drop points and putting five past St Johnstone. I don't think there'll be much for McCall to do as far as team selection goes, as it has to be the same eleven who started today. Just a case of keeping things ticking over until Tuesday I reckon.

I don't know if there's much point in making a poll this week, it's Humphrey all the way. He was easily our best player today.

Best of all is the fact that it was the same person who started both threads!

You can't complain too much? We've just cuffed a team who were challenging us for third a few weeks ago 5-1! You can't complain at all!

Maybe best to avoid an internet message board then.

We haven't been relegated in almost 30 years. I said it was the best football I'd seen in years, not decades.

I'm talking about the people who have us finishing fourth behind United before we even kick a ball this weekend. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm looking forward to the run-in this season

I didn't quote your post Finlay, as I wasn't meaning you.

I'd rather be sitting three points clear, with only one Old Firm team to play than sitting three behind with both Celtic and Rangers still to play, that's for sure. We're in the driving seat, simple as that. Enough of the negativity, this is the kind of season finish that football was made for.

A non-story really. Let them get on with making fools of themselves like their manager does on a regular basis. I did have to laugh at one of their chants right enough. The old "Champions League, you're having a laugh" ditty seemed hilarious considering their recent record in Europe.

I'm willing to bet that the moaning-faced characters we're hearing from now will be the same folk looking back with fondness at this era with tears in their beady eyes!

Given that we have two home games left this season, and that both are vital in our race for a Champions League place (I still can't get used to saying that), what do we think the chances of bigger crowds are? The reason I ask is because it seems that short of the odd occasion when the club drop prices or put on a promotion we always seem to hit roughly the same numbers. Considering we've been sitting third virtually all season, and playing some of the best stuff seen at Fir Park in years, why is this the case? Is it simply a case of the people who get along most weeks being the best we can get? Are we destined to hover around the 4,000 mark regardless of how well we do? I shudder to think what we'd get if we were in Hibs position right now.

You don't need to tell me, I've been following Motherwell for almost 26 years now and I've seen some of the darker days you are thinking about. If we make the Champions League I'd be more worried about time running out for us as far as McCall goes. Him taking a club our size to such a stage, ahead of the likes of Hearts, Hibs & Dundee United won't go unnoticed down south, or even (whisper it) in the blue side of Glasgow. He's done a hell of a job since arriving, and if eventually finishing fourth and qualifying for the Europa league is failure, then long may it continue!

No mention of the north stand belting out a rendition of that old "folk ballad" The Boys Of The Old Brigade? Nah, didn't think so.

Jennings all the way for me.

To be fair to McCall, it wasn't that long ago that everyone was clamouring for Murphy to get some benchtime. He looked jaded and out of sorts. Now we lose a few games against the Old Firm and it was a mistake to drop him? It was a mistake setting up camp to get a point from this game. The players were obivously under instruction to play on the counter and look to defend, which they never do, so it's harsh to blame them for the result. Such a gameplan may be the reason why so many of them looked out of sorts.

If I was there without kids? I'd have hung on until the end. If I'd had any kids with me? Without a doubt. Regardless, it's simply an atmosphere and situation that I don't like. Others can feel free to disagree of course.

I think it's a mixture of all of the above really. We never play well, their fans are usually scum, and the games are on television.

In my opinion we'll continue to have problems selling seats when either of them come to visit. A lot of people simply don't see the point when they can sit in their own home and watch the game on TV. Today for example, I saw three or four grown adult men in Celtic colours pissing in the street next to the police station with no regard for the fact that there are people with kids walking past. We also had the pleasure of a few of them hammering on our bus window when we were stuck in traffic. I've heard other fans mention similar and in a lot of cases worse. We got just over 8,500 fans today. We managed to get over 7,500 for the cup game with Aberdeen & over 8,000 for our game with Hibs recently, so it's not as if this lot are packing in the numbers that we never see any other time. They brought a little more supporters than both those games I mentioned, yet we see twice the policing and personally I've seen twice the grief in the street afterwards. If the club want to "take their gold" then that's entirely up to them. I certainly won't be back for the Rangers game next month, or any other time the Old Firm visit. Judging by the spaces in the home support I'm not the only one who thinks it'll be a bit easier and less hassle to simply sit at home and watch the game on the telly.

Perhaps not the best time to bump this thread, given that a few fans on here sound as though they're ready to burn their current season tickets, but with renewal time fast approaching I thought it'd be interesting to see how many are looking at doing just that? With European football a distinct possibility next season I'm certainly renewing (unless we rubber stamp a NEWCO into the SPL of course).