MelvinBragg

Sadly loans rarely work like that. Players tend only to go on loan down the football pecking order. Clubs only loan out players who are not first picks, and it would be very unusual for someone who was out of the picture at a first division club to be sought after by an SPL club. If a minimal fee was involved, I don't imagine Buchanan would be asking the world in wages, it might be a gamble worth taking. All speculation of course, Gannon seems to have a habit of picking up players from sources you wouldn't expect. Other aspect is the fact that he did seem to be very specific that it was a young Premiership striker he was tracking. Not to say that, having possibly seen Buchanan against Liverpool and maybe being made aware that Thistle might need to sell cheap to raise cash (can't only be SPL clubs who need to do this at the moment) that he might not be willing to take a punt. I fully expect him to make good on his talk of bringing in a further two players before the deadline. And I fully expect not to have a clue who they're going to be til we've signed them. Which is the way it should be. Doesn't mean that all the speculation and guessing isn't highly entertaining though...

The thought strikes me that four of the most senior players should be able to tell the young players that the grass is not always greener elsewhere. Craigan, Lasley and Hammell all left Motherwell and ended up coming back for various reasons. Sutton went down to England for a bigger pay packet and it didn't work out and he found himself back in the SPL. Or is someone advising these guys to leave in order to safeguard their own place in the squad. Just a thought...

And many people drive from Motherwell, Wishaw and Hamilton when, quite frankly, there is ample public transport to get them to the game. Share a car with mates, get the bus. or is that too inconvenient for some people...?

Maybe Gannon is right to try and run some of the older players out of the club. Even if he's claiming that he's not...

I can see where you're coming from there, managers often take coaching staff with them when they go. The difference is that, like it or not, football players are assets as well as employees. if I was working for a company and sold an asset for much less than its market value to a company I was about to move to, I'm sure it would be described as underhand, possibly leading to legal action if it could be proved that I knew I was going to the new job and knew I was underselling my current employers' assets. As for McShovelface, he's a complete sCUNThorpe...

I'd like to say I'm surprised by the (alleged) behaviour of McShovelface but I'm not that good a liar...

Good to get a win today against a team that, as others have pointed out, we have struggled against no matter how good or bad their team is. I thought we started quite brightly today and once we got the first goal, the result was never really in doubt. Kilmarnock never offered much today but a lot of that can be put down to the fact we spotted where the threat would be and nullified it for the most part. Kyle got one free header all day, and the whole back four need to take a lot of credit for that. But for me, Hutchison was outstanding. Against a guy whose goalscoring record for Kilmarnock is phenomenal, he looked like he'd been playing in the SPL for years. And as for his goal, as Craig Paterson said on Radio Scotland "will give centre halves a bad name". Aye, other centre halves... Going forward, the emergence of Forbes and Slane has overshadowed a wee bit the fact that in Coke and O'Brien, we've got two guys who've been fantastic. Coke looks like a great acquisition, the only fear being that we should enjoy him as much as we can this season because if he keeps up his form, he'll be hard to keep a hold of. O'Brien has done well this season, having been asked to play in a couple of different positions. Today, he was immense. He seems determined to score a goal with one touch from a throw in, similar to that effort he had against the post last week. He tried it twice today and went close again on both occasions. Strange to think that at 22 and 23, O'Brien and Coke are the senior men in our midfield at the moment. O'Brien is another guy whose contract is up next summer. Maybe time to start talking to him now? All in all a lot to be positive about today. As someone else stated, we never hit the heights we did against Bucharest (1st half in Airdrie) and in the second half last week, but still dealt with Kilmarnock with little trouble. They had a 15-20 minute spell in the second half where they had a lot of the ball, but we limited them to playing in front of us. All I know is that I saw more smiling faces leaving Fir Park today than I had in a while...

While I'd be overjoyed to see us sign another striker, am I the only one who thinks that the right back is the more pressing need right now? We have shown in every game since Llanelli at home the ability to score goals (a missed pen and woodwork struck in Albania, a missed sitter in Bucharest the only reasons for blanks in those games) from various areas in the team. Unfortunately, in every game we have also shown a real inability to defend properly for 90 minutes. I know Gannon is aware of this and is working towards remedying it, but if I was breaking my neck to get a player in this week, it would have been the defender. Don't get me wrong, I don't want the window to close with Sutton as our only recognised striker. But my main concern is the defence at the moment. We have over a week so I'm not concerned. Yet. Although it does seem different to the first couple of weeks when Gannon was quickly identifying people and bringing them in...

Fixed...

I'm sure that was an equaliser in a 2-2. I remember saying when we got the corner that whoever scored, I'd have their children. Mitch (I think) said to me "What even Pearson? Ginger weans??" I think I said aye. The goal celebrations where we were consisted of several people piling on top on me shouting "GINGER WEANS!!!"...

Aye, come on Gannon, this is two weeks in a row you've promised us a striker and still no sign of one. Who do you think you are?? McShovelface...?? PS Large wink, just in case anyone thinks I'm being serious...

If we're going as far back as Philliben, we have to mention Ian Ross vs Celtic...

Unless Gannon believes that he can turn McHugh into an SPL ready striker in six months...

Craigan? Reynolds? Just a thought...

£1.5mill each or combined??? I had heard Boro were looking at Miller. As Frazzle says, hard to believe that Lambert has identified targets already...

Given I've never stood next to him, you'll know better than me, but the first time I saw Forbes (vs Llanelli), my first instinct was "Well, he's a good bit taller than Fitzpatrick and Lasley". Not put together obviously...

According to the official site, he's 6ft1...

So, a traditional Hearts team then?

Fact is that both Coke and Forbes are both over 6ft tall. As is Hately. And Hutchison is quite a powerful big lad. And then there's Ruddy. And I don't think Jennings will be easily bullied. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Gannon seems to be addressing the issue...

Let's hope so. Although if his new contract includes a bonus for goals scored, we could be in administration again...

It's my understanding that Lasley is carrying a knock. Whether he gets back into the 18 when that clears up, never mind the first 11 is another matter. Personally I'd struggle to think of 18 players I'd have in the matchday squad ahead of him, but I'm not Jim Gannon...

You are correct, sir. But he's the kind of big diddy we struggle against. How many headers did Deuchar win on Saturday...?

The good thing is that I reckon only six players are guaranteed to start for us on Saturday(Ruddy, Hutchison, Reynolds, Forbes, Coke and O'Brien), the rest of the team is anybody's guess. What formation will we play? Who knows. Yes, we'll probably struggle a bit with Kyle, but at least Kilmarnock will be scratching their head until Saturday afternoon as to what our team will be. Hamstrings their preparations a wee bit...

I suspect your hunch might be right. The moving on of Darren Smith and Fitzpatrick seems inevitable at the moment, there may be others who leave before the end of August. Irrespective of any players leaving though, there should be some scope in the wage bill for giving some of these guys improved deals. Just don't know how much the wage bill has had to be reduced by due to the Setanta debacle...

Every club loses a fair few of their former players. But normally these will be guys who played in the 1950s and 1960s, guys of advancing years. The number of former Motherwell players who have died so young recently beggars belief... Tragic...