David

Well, Brighton saw enough to take up that extra year option on Hall's deal, and Kennedy got a move to Cardiff, which likely brought a decent wage and a nice signing bonus as well. And if we're honest, for most players being richer when they call time on their career is all that really matters.

Ben Hall? Isn't he out on loan while having renewed his deal with Brighton for another year in 2018? He's most likely doing very well financially in comparison to what we could offer him, and he's still on the books of a Premiership club. Matt Kennedy left St Johnstone because Everton came calling. Very few footballers worth their salt would turn down a move like that, unless they thought they weren't actually good enough of course. He signed on a three year deal, guaranteeing him three years of decent cash most likely, while allowing him to learn the game at a higher level. He then went to Cardiff on a 3 and a half year deal, where I doubt the wages were pocket change. Now he's back in Scotland with St Johnstone, still only 24 years old, has a shitload more experience than he would have had if he hadn't left, and his bank account is probably healthier as well. Than make money? Probably not. Last I checked I couldn't pay my mortgage or help put my kids through school on my reputation. For some reason many football fans don't seem to realise that this is these guys jobs. It's what they do for a living. If a company came along to us in our job and offered us far more money to do the same job for them we'd be offski in a heartbeat. No nonsense about staying at the smaller company to "learn the trade" or to "build a reputation." You're in the game to make money and win things, in that order most of the time. We see plenty of legends hawking their medals and trinkets to raise money for themselves, but very rarely do we see a retired multi-millionaire footballer crying into his versace pillowcase about not winning a few more Scottish cups or a league title. You get in, make as much money as you can at the highest level possible before you're old and broken down and have to retire.

Some people are glass half full, and some are glass half empty. When it comes to Yodo he doesn't even have a fucking glass to begin with.

I think it's sometimes easy to forget that just like the young players coming into the first team, Robinson is very much a beginner in the management game. Aside from a strange six month period at Oldham where he started pre-season with a grand total of seven contracted players and was hit with a transfer embargo in the November following his appointment he'd only ever been an assistant. He's learning the game, and much like his time at Oldham he's operating under pretty restrictive financial constraints. I know some don't like it when this is brought up, but it's true. When you're spending what we are you have a very limited pool of quality players to choose from, and if you reach a transfer window and there's no one that you like the look of in your price range or who's interested in coming to Motherwell you can find yourself with some problems. And that's not to mention the amount of times we'll have identified a player, made contact and gotten a verbal sign of interest only for another club with better finances to come in and take him instead. It's easy to say that the punter in the stand knew long before that the changes he's making now needed to be made, but it's one thing to see that changes are required, and a totally different matter being able to bring in the players on our budget to do so. Fans tend to say shit like "we need to bring in a winger," which is all well & good, but what if there's no decent wingers available who would want to come here, or who would be willing to accept the money we can offer? What then? Honestly, if football management was that easy then the clubs wouldn't be paying their managers as much as they do across the board, would they? They'd just get some fan in for a few hundred quid a week. It looks like we're starting to reap the benefits of Craigan's influence in the youth set up, which is fantastic. A club our size needs to have those players coming through. Let's just hope that we can continue in that vein with Craigan gone.

Another aspect of our young players coming through is the message it sends to the parents and advisors of the young kids out there today, those who are weighing up their options. If we can start to cultivate a reputation as a club that gives youth a proper chance it could benefit us down the road.

It looks as though the signing of McCormack is going to be a bit of a bust unfortunately. I was excited when I heard he was signing, but it seems he'll be spending much of the rest of the season trying to get fit, and will get a few cameo appearances at best before his loan deal finishes and he leaves quietly at the end of the season.

He's the best we have in that role at the moment I think, and as long as we keep getting results and looking half decent I'm happy enough.

I actually think the manager will have been quite happy with Main's contribution the past few games. Sure, he's not scored, but his holding up of the ball, tireless running, pressuring of defenders and suchlike has allowed the midfield more space to do their thing. If he can add a few goals to his game then that would obviously be awesome, but I think he'd done the job asked lately.

This game, for me, represents the first where we now turn our attention to seeing if we can catch any of the sides above us. Even if we don't manage to do that, it's still refreshing.

It's just started working after about ten minutes.

Even the official club TV streaming link isn't working at the moment.

Every game we play at home, with the possible exception of Rangers and Celtic, is winnable though, isn't it? My main point is that a loss to Hibs, which is a real possibility considering our current form, won't be all that bad if the three teams below us don't make up any ground on us.

Yeah, I'm basing my view on us losing the game against Hibs. On current form I'd be pleasantly surprised if we can take anything from it, so I'm hoping that none of the sides below us manage to gain any ground on us.

Just as important as the Hibs result for us is how Accies do at home against Aberdeen, how St Mirren do away to Celtic, and how Dundee do away to Hearts. If all three lose their games then this result won't really matter for us in the grand scheme of things.

Not really. The upside for me is maintaining a reasonably steady ship to try and secure SPFL status. Sacking a manager can have a detrimental effect on a squad, which could lead us to go into a bit of a tailspin while the new guy finds his feet. There's also the potential upside of the new manager surge, and if we were in a realistic position of challenging for top six or even for 8th then I'd consider that to be a factor. But we aren't, so I don't. The downside of bringing a new manager in now is potentially falling into the relegation battle from the relatively safe position we're in at the moment. The upside is closing the gap on Hibs and still finishing 9th, but closer to them. I doubt the board would be mental enough to look at that and think the potential upside outweighs the potential downside.

Is it really a choice though? Are many players with genuine ability within our price range? I've found that most of the players we sign who are regarded as "proper" footballers are extremely erratic and usually come in for a world of abuse from fans who bemoan their ability to track back and "get stuck in."

The one hole in that viewpoint for me is that the new management team may not actually be available right now. There's usually pretty slim pickings available at this time of year, which is another reason to wait until the summer. If I was the man making the decisions I'd already be quietly looking for Robinson's replacement. I wouldn't disrespect him or Lasley by actually sounding anyone out, but I'd be drawing up a shortlist of who I think would be available in the summer and who'd fit the bill. Come seasons end we thank Robinson for his efforts and move quickly for a new manager, who will have a good budget to play with as there's quite a few players due to move on I think.

It's easy for the fans to just say "bin him, get him tae fuck," but the club actually have to weigh up the very serious pros and cons of sacking a manager at this stage of the season. Look at the facts. We're 9th. We're 7 clear of Accies, we're 9 clear of St Mirren, and we're 11 clear of Dundee. For St Mirren to catch us we'd need to drop 3 games while they win 3 games. They've won 3 games all season. For Dundee to catch us we'd need to drop 3 games, draw 2 and they'd need to double the amount of points they've won all season. Dundee have won twice this season. We're 8 points behind Hibs in 8th. We're not catching them. At worst we're looking at a 10th finish, if somehow Accies manage to suddenly go on a run while we lose. Granted, we're poor, but we're still better than the clubs below us, which is all that matters for now. Robinson knows the players, and can get the minimum that he needs from them. We're out of both cups. If any club happens to be sniffing around Robinson, there's a better chance he moves in the summer. We waive the compensation we'd be due, we part ways. We could then bring a new manager in with a clean slate. We have a fair amount of players out of contract this summer, so there's going to be the chance to make big changes. There's also a wider range of choice in the summer as far as managers go. Or, we could roll the dice and bump the manager just now. We'd likely need to pay him off. He's got a contract until May 2020, so unless he's secretly loaded I don't see him walking away from a contract without another job to go to. We either appoint someone on an interim basis, or we grab someone from the slim pickings that's available at this time of year. The new manager comes in and has to hit the ground running. These aren't his players, and chances are we can't shift many until the summer. We run the risk of total collapse, which we've seen happen elsewhere. I know this isn't the answer folk want to hear, but the smart choice is riding this wave of mediocrity until the summer. At that point we can reassess, we've got a lot of players with contracts up so if a new manager is coming in he gets a clean slate to work with. The only way I see Robbo going before the summer is if we get another club wanting him this season, or if we collapse and end up in danger of the drop. Bearing in mind that this would also involve one or both clubs at the bottom seriously getting their act together as well.

I was under the impression his deal was until May 2020, but I could be wrong.

No, "we" don't. The authorities do. Big difference. "We" get to sit on our hands and murmur quietly when the team isn't playing well.

Someone get these two scamps a knife and fork, eh?

Problem is, it doesn't quite work like that. We don't get to ask a small group of lads to provide the atmosphere for the entire stadium, but to only do so on terms that we find acceptable. We're talking about a group of individuals here, not a division of the boy scouts. Like loose groups of lads up and down the country (and all over the world) who go to football games you're going to see some undesirable actions, usually committed by a minority. That's how it goes.

Something being wrong with his knee that would keep him out for a large chunk of time is the only thing that could scupper it I think. Obviously if he can't play that changes everything. But as far as another team coming in and beating us to him or whatever, that won't happen. The deal is done on that front, he's coming to us.

For fuck sake, would you rather that if someone hears some transfer news they just don't mention it? Choose to believe or not, it's your choice, but there's paperwork that still needs sorted and suchlike, just minor stuff really, but there's no other club in the running from what I've heard.

Deal is done lads, chill out. Announcement once the window is officially open.