David

It's that time again, and as we head towards the end of the season, we have the following player's loans ending or out of contract unless I'm mistaken (please let me know if any of these have changed): End of loan deals Jili Buyabu Georgie Gent Adam Devine Jack Vale Oli Shaw Out of contract (1st team squad) Liam Kelly Aston Oxborough Bevis Mugabi Ricki Lamie Stephen O'Donnell Callan Elliot Paul McGinn Barry Maguire Calum Butcher Callum Slattery Sam Nicholson Blair Spittal Jonathan Obika Mark Ferrie The players who we'd still have under contract are as follows: Dan Casey (under contract until May 2025) Shane Blaney (under contract until May 2025) Davor Zdravkovski (under contract until May 2025) Lennon Miller (under contract until May 2025) Harry Paton (under contract until May 2025) Andy Halliday (under contract until May 2025) Theo Bair (under contract until May 2025) Ross Tierney (under contract until May 2025) There's a whole load of youth players who's contracts are up as well, and who have been out on loan. I'm not going to add them to this discussion. Wider squad discussions Goalkeeper - Unless we re-sign one of the current goalkeepers, we'll be going into next season with a brand new goalkeeper and backup. Both of our first-team keepers are out of contract, and so are Matthew Connelly and Josh Bogan. I don't think we'll re-sign Liam Kelly. I reckon it's reached the stage now where it's probably best for all parties if we move on. He could do with a fresh environment, and we could probably do with someone else. Will be interesting to see what happens here. Defence - With Mugabi, O'Donnell, McGinn and Butcher all out of contract, there could be a relatively new-look defence for next season. As tempting as it may be for the club, the only player I'd retain from our out-of-contract list is McGinn. I think we need a change. Gent is out of contract at the end of this season, I think, but I doubt we'll see him again. We'd also be losing Lamie, although he's been out of the picture for a while. Casey and Blaney will be retained unless we decide to move them on. Midfield - Priority here has to be Spittal. I'd be looking to match whatever St Mirren or anyone else is offering unless it gets daft. He's a quality operator and is probably at the ceiling of the kind of quality a club like us can hope to attract. We retain Miller for another season, although I think we'll look to sell this season unless he signs for another year. That might not be as crazy as it sounds, as he's not featured much this season. A full season with us next year and a move next summer might be for the best, but I guess we'll see. I'd let Maguire move on, but have a feeling the club will offer Slattery a deal. I'm not fussed either way really. Davor I'm happy to keep, Paton likely won't be going anywhere if Kettlewell is retained. Forwards - Obika has to be let go. I'm not sure Nicholson warrants being kept around, so we likely head into the summer with one recognised striker in Bair. We need to make some proper moves in this department. So, that's the squad for next season as things stand. I'll be honest, going into the summer with all of the above and having Nick Daws in charge of recruitment gives me the fear.

Here's my question to those talking about us "sleepwalking our way to disaster." The consensus is that this term means someone or an organisation "proceeding towards a negative outcome or catastrophe without being fully aware of the consequences or taking appropriate action to prevent it. It suggests a state of being unaware, passive, or complacent in the face of impending danger or trouble, much like someone who is sleepwalking is unaware of their surroundings or actions." Yet we see the same people using this term on this forum openly admitting that the club has been "seeking a beneficiary that can provide shortfall funding when we are not self-sustainable/propped up by the society for approximately 18 months now." This would suggest that we're not "sleepwalking our way to disaster." The club is making plans and moves to bring in external funding. We need to realise, though, that it's not easy to do that. Companies that can claim to offer a solid business plan and a good chance of a decent return on investment find it difficult to bring in funding. A small Scottish football club that can offer a slim opportunity to make a profit on investment will find it incredibly hard.

It's worth remembering that when you say "people" what you're talking about are a handful of trolls, basically. The same "people" who are nowhere to be seen when we win, yet are logged in the minute the final whistle is blown on a defeat. They're given the opportunity to post their nonsense on this forum because it's a place for opinions, and unless they're being way over the top (as one was and has since been put on post-approval) or outright nasty, they're allowed their views. But don't mistake that for them or their views being taken seriously.

Honestly, if you " have the fear" after we just scudded a rival 5-0 and played some really good football, and are playing against a team that is 4th in the Championship, then when exactly would you ever be confident?

I'm not sure what kind of player is going to be sold on coming in as a third-choice striker at Motherwell. Our options are limited there.

Thing is, if they only show up to wind people up when we lose, that could be classified as trolling. And trolling is worthy of a ban, some might say. Maybe a three-day ban after we next lose a game? Would be a shame, eh?

I guess it depends on what you mean by "stick." For example, whenever I was in the stadium watching the team, I never booed the guy. Or anyone on our team actually, as it's never productive. I always showed him support when the team were playing. I guess all I did was question his signing and what he'd shown to that point to warrant being signed. But I always said that I'd love nothing more than him coming in and being one of the few who take his stats and turn them on their head. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it really is a beautiful thing.

Exactly. If Shaw managed to turn the corner and start scoring as well? Happy days for sure.

As harsh as it might sound, you must be able to deal with stick when you're a footballer at any reasonable level. It's going to be coming at you at some point. Messi, Maradona, and Ronaldo have been criticised over the years. It happens to the best of them. How they deal with it will determine how successful they go on to be. Bair has taken the stick and the doubts about his ability and worked hard regardless, rising above it.

Well, he had spent an entire season previously in our league, playing over thirty games and accomplishing pretty much the same as he had previously in his career, save for a stint in the lower leagues of Norway. Absolutely nothing of note. So, the stick was entirely warranted. I'm sure he'd admit that. But just as much as the stick was warranted on his numbers before signing for us, so is the praise he's getting now. It works both ways.

Do you know what kind of striker scores all of those chances, though? Erling Haaland. The thing is, he is putting away almost 1 in 3, but the most important stat is his goals-per-game ratio. 0.3 goals per game, so almost a 1 in 3 ratio. That's almost the exact same as Kyogo, Luis Palma, and Cyriel Dessers this season, and is better than Maeda. That's a remarkable stat considering his previous season at St Johnstone was laughable in terms of goals per game. If you're looking for a striker who has a ratio of scoring 1 in 3 chances, then you're really looking at elite level strikers. I don't agree. I think the fact he's getting chances and scoring them of late is really all we can ask. Anyone who's saying, "Yeah, well, he scored five in his last four or whatever is fine, but he should be scoring three goals per game", is mental.

100%. Bair should see a fair amount of success against Morton. Let's hope he can convert some of the chances.

That was the main criticism of him when he arrived, and it was my primary concern. Up until this season, he didn't look like a striker. His xG and so on suggested that he simply did not get into the positions that strikers need to get into. All credit goes to Kettlewell and the coaching team, who have given him simple instructions to follow, which are proving effective. You'll notice that his chances all kind of look similar, which is why he's scoring. He's still incredibly limited but has the sheer athleticism and size to allow him to take advantage of those limited abilities. Basically, focus on what you can do, make sure you do it very well, and forget what you can't because at the age he's at now, he's likely not going to develop those skills anyway. An example would be his running in behind the defence. We saw him do that multiple times last night. It's a simple enough instruction, but it takes someone with size and speed to carry it out. It also requires a level of defensive intelligence and physical ability to stop, and we don't see that much in the Scottish league. I'm sure Bair would run into issues at a higher level, but that doesn't matter to us.

It also means that if Obika can stay fit (a huge if), then we're well served in that area. Plus, Kettlewell's plan at the start of the season of getting goals from midfield is working just fine. 9 goals from Spittal, 3 from Slattery, 2 from Miller and 1 from Paton. Slattery is gone, but we've now got Halliday and Nicholson, plus Davor is getting a run in the team. Add in the fact that the likes of Mugabi are always good for a goal or three, and we're okay in that area, I think. Most teams that run into proper relegation problems are the sides that find it difficult to score goals. With that said, the statistics show that we've scored double the number of goals that Livingston and St Johnstone have, and scored more goals than Aberdeen, Ross County, Hibs, Dundee, St Mirren, and Killie. On goals conceded, it's a different matter, but as I said, you generally find that the teams who run into relegation issues are the ones who can't score.

At this stage it's clear that Bair is the first choice (and rightfully so), with Vale pushing for that position as well. Having Shaw back as an extra body? I wouldn't be against it. He'd be the third choice for sure unless he proved us wrong.

Not quite.

Nah, he knew exactly where he was coming to. He didn't leave us because he arrived at Fir Park to be dismayed at how we were playing. He left because he got a chance to test himself and get some more experience at a higher level.

True, he was likely under the impression that he was coming to Fir Park to play total football, with a wee bit of tika taka on the side, right? Sold a bill of goods for sure.

Bang on. A win provides some breathing room. A defeat would drag us right into the play-off battle. Neither result would define our season as yet, but it's pretty clear which option we'd all prefer.

Your post was fine, there was no personal attack. You posted your opinion, which is perfectly acceptable. Not everyone is going to agree with each other, but as long as it's kept within a certain level of respect and decent discussion then there isn't a problem. This is a football forum. It's going to get heated, and there will be a robust exchange of views. The admin and moderators keep an eye on what's being said, and if it crosses the line we deal with it.

Because the people in charge of the club don't think Van Veen was worth the outlay. We offered what we deemed to be what he's worth. Other clubs decided to offer more.

The same mob who are taking back Montgomery and have seemingly agreed to waive our obligation to pay a percentage of his wages until he's fully fit again? I mean, I know they're the nasty enemy, but I don't think they're at the level where they'd try to do us out of what we're legally owed.

I don't think it was as bad as some do, but I don't see much rhyme or reason to our signings. I'm sure the manager was keen on bringing players in, but beyond handing the recruitment team his requirements, I don't know if there's much more he can do. It's not his job to sift through the available players on the market and ring their agent or parent club. It's his job to identify where we need players and then coach the team he's given.

If you see something that you feel oversteps the line, report it. We don't always catch everything.

I seriously doubt it. I've worked with marketing firms in London for public transport campaigns that didn't cost that much. After the transfer window we've had, I can't really blame them. I doubt we're the only club whose fans will be pissed off, though. A certain team from the east end of Glasgow springs to mind. To each their own I guess. I've posted a few times over there, but a forum with only one thread on Motherwell doesn't hold much appeal for me. I actually prefer it here. And even our regular moaners tend to at least have a coherent reason for their thinking, even if I don't agree with them often.