MelvinBragg

Tinfoil hat on. Wouldn't surprise to Celtic come back in 2 or 3 weeks if there's no other offer, offering far less than £3m hoping that we panic and also that Turnbull drops his demands due to lack of concrete interest elsewhere.. Obviously hoping this isn't true but would be a kick in the balls...

I suspect he'll end up at Celtic but it does make me laugh that Scott Brown saying how great a place Celtic would be to play his football is him 'welcoming' Turnbull to Celtic...

Getting the impression that not many Motherwell fans want a 'bidding war'. They simply would rather he didn't sign for Celtic. Whether that's because they don't want to see him sign for another Scottish club or they feel a move down South or abroad would be better for his development or that they feel a sell on from another club would be more lucrative, I don't know. I suspect it's a combination of all those reasons...

I suspect that even with the money available down South, the fact that he'd not be seen as first team ready might mean a fee of less than £3m. Particularly if we are then getting him back on loan. Whether £2.25m with an increased chance of a decent sell on bonus later on (his value will grow ridiculously quickly if successful in England - or even if unsuccessful, look at Solanke) might be better long term than getting nearer £3m now and a smaller sell on when he leaves Celtic? That's a separate question. There may be interest elsewhere but it may be that Burrows is right when he says that only Celtic are offering the larger fee for the initial sale with other bids perhaps promising more further down the line. Are we willing to roll the dice and gamble on more money down the line. .?

I had heard £20k a week was on offer. Don't believe that, suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle...

Trying to think of players we have had on loan from other Scottish clubs. Sheridan Elliot Gomis McBride Sammon Can't think of any more right now (red wine a factor? ) but those names are hardly a ringing endorsement...

Not saying it would be the case but given how 'transformative' the sum of money was, if a player decides he wants to go to a club offering a £1m lower transfer fee, how popular is that player going to be with the board? It's a possibility, that's all...

Likewise. No other club matches the fee, he's made persona non grata at Fir Park so ends up at Parkhead. That's what my gut is telling me...

Wouldn't go as far as a disaster but £3m would make a huge difference to a club our size so it puts us in a tricky situation. Interesting times...

Interesting. Could put the club and Turnbull at odds. What happens in the situation if Turnbull says 'I want to go to Southampton/Bournemouth/Everton' but the club he wants to go to only offers £2m? Easy answer is he stays but unhappily and club maybe pissed off at missing out on a huge amount of cash. Not an ideal situation. If this costs the club £1m+, is he still a hero?

Are we to assume that a new centre midfielder is on the shopping list now in addition to wingers and strikers? By my reckoning we've lost (or are losing) McHugh, Gorrin, Turnbull, Rose and Bigirimana from midfield in the last year and added Sloth. Do we reckon Polworth will play in centre midfield with Hylton and A.N. Other on the wings? Or are we banking on the left back being up to the task and Grimshaw going in at number 6? Or Liam Donnelly? Someone on here recently said that we had plenty of cover in centre midfield. Sloth, Campbell, Grimshaw and Donnelly is not plenty of cover. Unless we are banking on Semple making a huge impact, I'd say a centre midfielder should be quite high up on our list of priorities...

Not really sure if I can ever recall it happening before. What did Scott Brown cost?

No one on loan from teams in the same league please...

My response to those who say that the club could have waited is simple: losing Turnbull now allows us time to plan for life without him. Lose him two days before the window closes suddenly planning becomes much more difficult. Club are often praised for getting their business done early so we can prepare for next season. That works both ways..

When the Chief Executive, who is a Motherwell fan, says that the club have been working for weeks for the best offer they can get for Turnbull and this is it and some fans think there is a better offer out there, I despair. Do I want it to be Celtic who offered most for Turnbull? Not at all. Do I believe the club when they say it's the best deal on offer? Why would they lie? Why would Motherwell fans on the board accept a deal that wasn't the best on offer? If we receive £3m for a guy that has started 30 games for Motherwell, that has to be a good deal...

Couple of things about this signing. He can play across the front three so maybe not necessarily planned to be the central striker. His record of 2 goals in 17 for Blackpool looks poor until you consider only he only started 8 of those games. Louis Moult was signed from non league. Ojaama had a checkered career before coming here. Scott McDonald was one unsuccessful trial away from flying back to Australia. Sometimes players just need the right environment. In short, give the guy a fucking chance...

I reckon if compensation wasn't due then Cadden would have more offers. Given the length of time he's been with us and number of games played, it would be a decent amount. Cadden on a free would, I imagine, attract the interest of the likes of Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and a few league one clubs down South....

His last few games have been as a winger...

In terms of simply numbers, we're still pretty short. Even if you consider that our squad was perhaps slightly bloated, we've lost quite a few players. GK Sorted. If we move a goalkeeper on, it's a different story. Don't know if Ferguson is rated by the coaching staff. DF Four first choice centre backs, but that includes an untested Maguire and a Hartley that has been so far out of the picture since January, many expected him to move on this summer. We have two untested left backs and as far as right backs go, we're probably ok. MID Losing McHugh and Rodriguez-Gorrin means we've lost both our recognised defensive midfielders. Is Sloth a direct replacement for one of them? Obviously Donnelly played there last game of the season, is this something we might look at for next season? Does Polworth fit in here or on the wings? To me, we look short of numbers here. FW Two strikers, one relatively untested and the other not entirely suited to the way we've been playing the last six months. One winger confirmed, possibly two if Polworth plays there. Cadden might be here, might not be. I reckon, even allowing for the possibility that Semple or others might have a breakthrough season, we need at least another four signings, possibly more...

Funnily enough, I was saying to someone this morning that Bournemouth would be the best fit for him in the EPL...

Probably Celtic would offer £400k up front with the remainder related to number of appearances...

£1.2m? Swap the 1 and the 2 around and come back to us....

Formation isn't in itself the problem. Best Motherwell team I've ever seen was a 352 team. It's a case of finding the formation that best suits the players at your disposal...

Watched the Ibrox game in Jack Daniels. Felt like I was an expectant father, the amount of pacing I did. I remember at the full time whistle turning to my mate and saying that I'd give my left kidney for the first goal on the Sunday. In terms of memorable games, the 4-1 win over Hibs under McCall with McFadden's first goal in his second spell and Higginbotham's ridiculous effort is a game I remember particularly fondly. We were right behind McFadden when he cut inside Lewis Stevenson and you could feel everyone suddenly anticipate what was going to happen. Not the most important goal, not the best but it was a special celebration. It was like 'He's back!!!'....

Someone want to enlighten me as to what this means..?