steelboy

our ex managers have generally done very well, particularly ex Eck and BD. eric black has managed coventry and assisted in the premiership since he left us. mcghee has done very well out his time here. big tel got a dream job in oz (fair enough it turned into a nightmare). even the worst manager ever pulled a decent job at swindon after leaving here. guys like sanchez and staunton probably want to "do a mcghee" and rebuild their reps here.

i kind of forgot about that. i suppose i'm still living in a bit of hope that we might keep hughes (and buzz and mclean). we did need cover at left back though. patrick joseph gerrard boyle might come in handy next season.

left back is probably where we are shortest. reynolds isn't good enough on the ball to play fullback and paul quinn will probably be playing up front at some point next season so a bit of cheap cover will be handy. doesn't say much for our LB in the u19s though.

of course folk are looking forward to the new season. today - i cut our fixtures out the paper and put them in my wallet. monday - european draw, the board will go mental hopefully sometime in the next week - new boss, again expect a frenzy on here two weeks today - our first game which could be almost anywhere between iceland and china but definitely not in motherwell. at some point in the future - we will sign a player (i hope). this is the best close season ever. normally you get at least a month without much happening and the only chat on here is who smashed what at the masters. right now the telly's hoaching with sport - two fitba tournaments, lions, 20/20, us open and wimbledon soon - plus we've got all this going on. nae withdrawal symptons this year.

i'd be happy with eduaord malofeev. he was mental.

a couple is probably bang on. i remember him scoring a screamer once (maybe in the 5-1 win against raith?) and having a good game against rangers once (but he was up against staale steenas). on the other hand ange was never a football player but he did seem to spend 4 or 5 hours a day aimlessy wandering around north lodge so you've got to pick him.

we had a couple of quality black away kits about ten years ago, it would be be a decent change to go back to that. anyway i've heard claret and amber are popular colours in kazakhstan so we could well be seeing one in the next few weeks.

the staunton thing seems real enough. whether or not he's going to get the job he's definitely involved. scenario - gary mac gets interviewed, hears what boyle has to say doesn't fancy the job but recomends his ex assistant stan staunton. i said earlier in the week it's time to be patient and i'm going to try to stick by that. it's better that we spend a bit of time getting the right man than rushing and fucking it up.

you can bet on anything. if they don't have odds they just phone up the head office and get some. the only reason a bookie won't take your money is if they think there is insider info going about.

if the away leg of the first tie was on the 9th and then we had a game in kazakhstan on the 16th it'd be near enough impossible to get a visa unless your able to swing by a kazakh embassay in person. it would also cost a fortune. if we draw a team from kazakhstan or the caucas anyone who makes it should get free beer in the cooper suite for the rest of the season.

i had completely forgotten about alex burns' second spell here. he was shite.

i didn't think "europe if we do" could be beaten as a thread title but you managed it.

i agree. but he looked like desperate dan so he's going in my comedy XI. i'd be particularly entertained by the little and large davide ferrere (5 foot 4) steve mcdonald (6 foot 7) up front.

comedy XI andy goram gary bollan rob newman ange oueifo james okoli eliphas shivute boab malcolm sasa ciric derek townsley david ferre steve mcdonald

apparently there have been quite a few different interviews at boyle's office at glasgow so if staunton get's the job it won't be because he's the only man we looked at.

on a similar theme. if you had to play 2001 ange oefiou or 1997 kevin christie at right back for the well in the 2010 scottish cup final who would you choose.

maybe. i've got good reasons to think they won't be though.

the infamous lazio flag. burn broomfield is probably strolling about holland with it the now.

whoever gets it we need to get behind them. and that even goes for folk in america no bad vibes! whoever it is in the dug out two weeks tomorrow will be getting a good reception from me. although i only waited 160 minutes to shout maplas must go.

apparently you cannae get a bet on staunton anymore either now.

we've just had a phonecall at the house from someone (who definitely doesn't post on here) with good contacts inside fir park saying it's going to be staunton. i remain sceptical but i wouldn't rule it out.

aye the cardboard cut outs will be right up for it. last time a motherwell manager made his debut there things did not go well. micheal fraser better not get chipped from the halfway line. some decent memories there as well. obviously the scottish cup game but also spencer's solo 30 yarder.

all indicators point to him being a shite manager but having a manager called stan appeals to me. we could maybe bring him in a dream team with ron atkison. we don't have any black players so it should be cool.

joe ledley isn't a striker. ross gets stuck out on the wing as well. i only mentioned scotland and hunt because they were better than average spl players who had better seasons in that league than faddy. he's never a midfielder he just get stuck out there because he doesn't have the athelticism to play up front in england. he's got the same problems jamie murphy has at the moment only jamie is 19 and faddy is 26. since scott mcdonald left he's scored more goals, won more medals and played in more european games than faddy has in his entire career. he's a motherwell legend and a scotland legend but in english football he's done nothing. if he doesn't succeed in the premiership this season he should try and get a move to one of the OF just for the opportunity to show what he can do.

well if someone said it on a forum...... everytime i saw birmingham last season they were gash. the times i saw faddy playing he didn't stand out as being a cut above in the same way ebanks-blake, joe ledley or even rossco did. only scoring 4 goals in the championship says it all. noel hunt and jason scotland are banging them in that league. a wee check on soccerbase shows that in the six seasons since he left the ark he's started 85 league games. birmingham have just signed a 6 million quid ecoudarian who seems like a similar type of player, our james could be looking at another season of sitting on the bench.