The African

The issue with resigning someone like Frear is that it makes our recruitment look pretty flawed. If the best that we can do is a player who we were, only a few weeks ago, happy enough to see leave the club, what does that say about our squad? If he wasn’t really considered good enough before, what does he offer now? If it is a question of numbers, perhaps we should be bold and look to give a youngster the opportunity.

Turnbull now has a decision to make regarding a new deal. He can see from what has just transpired that the club are not going to stand in his way when the next big offer comes along. A new longer deal will simply give him a deserved wage increase while we go through the process of getting him fit and healthy before showing what he can do when back in the first team. The deal means that we do not have to rush anything in that process. It basically gives us the upcoming season to get through the operation and get back up to speed. It is also worthwhile noting that he is still only 19. After the disappointment of the deal falling rough, it will do him no harm to realise that there is a club that still wants him and is prepared to put our time and money where our mouth is, and support him as his career develops.

Understandable that there is interest from other clubs. Robinson has done a decent job at Fir Park. You just have to wonder how he sees his career developing and whether a League One side is the next stop for him.

Interesting. Thanks for posting. I like the cut of his jib, that Mr Webster. Don’t really follow an English team, but might keep an eye out for Norwich next season. As. For this whole saga, I really don’t get the perceived criticism of our club over any of it. We agreed a fee with clubs that were wanting to sign the lad and now we are waiting for that to happen. It is obviously dependent on a medical and thatis nothing to do with us. If Celtic come back and say they want to pullout because he failed the medical, fair enough. If they want to renegotiate based on the medical, they should be told that we already have a deal and that any further talks would be along the lines of “take it or leave it”. We should then contact the player and his representatives to see where we go from there. The two issues then would be to help the player get over the disappointment at the proposed move falling through and, most importantly, getting the required medical procedures in place as quickly as possible to help the lad get his career back on track. He is our player and,as such, he is our responsibility until he signs for someone else.

Enough! Or I may have to rethink my prejudices.

This, though in my defence, I'd still contend that very little good can come out of St Mirren. Paul Lambert and John Sutton also notable exceptions to this rule.

Okay, so feel free to step in and tell me if I am talking rubbish because it is Friday night here in NZ and I have been drinking, but joining them, and they are a rival however you wish to spin it, is just sh*t when there are options to go elsewhere, as he will come back to show us how good he has become with monotonous regularity and there is something distasteful in hoping that a guy you loved watching turns out to be cr@p. We really just shouldn’t do it.

Polo shirt idea is inspired. A football shirt on someone my age looks a bit desperate. Of course, I suppose I could always go on a diet.

As other have said, the way kit is simply splendid. I would have said magnificent but the meaning of that word has been sullied in the last few days. My one quibble would be that, in my opinion, the band would look better if it were claret above amber rather than amber above claret. The home kit looks good too. I’d prefer to see a hoop rather than a band, but appreciate that the rules regarding numbering would ruin this on the match day shirt.

Took a little while for Gorrin to adapt to the speed of the game here, which is hardly surprising given the change from the A-League. Once he found his feet though, and stayed injury free, the only thing you could criticise him for was the regularity of mistiming in the tackle which resulted in too many bookings. Pity he couldn’t be persuaded to hang around for another season. He will be hard to replace. Cadden is a tough one. Great servant to the club, and a decent player. However, injuries at the wrong time and his versatility leading to him not having a settled position in the side conspired against him and he consequently hasn’t got the move up in the game that he deserves. Best of luck to the both of them

I used to love Joe Miller. When I say Joe Miller, I obviously refer to his childlike persona which used to appear regularly on Off The Ball. Right up there with Barry “ the bully” Ferguson and the Frankie Howardesque rendition of our own John Boyle. Happy days. The real Joe Miller was shite.

I suppose that, should any club fail to meet our valuation, then we would decline permission for them to talk to the player and his agent. He is still currently contracted to Motherwell FC.

Am I alone in thinking that a “bidding war” is now unlikely. Given that all and sundry are now fully aware at what price we are prepared to deal?

I suppose it depends when the madness begins. You can either swim against the tide or join in the flow of general nonsense. I would add that I am a big fan of the theatre of the absurd and have also just returned from a funeral where I may have partaken of a little too much whisky.

Cillian has just finished with the Wellington Phoenix in the A League this season. He was sensational. okay, he was pretty shite, but that is the standard here.

Sometimes you have to be ridiculous to make your point.

Of course it is possible to plan for an eventuality before it actually happens.

If we can get £3 million from Celtic, surely to God we could get it from someone down south?

Didn’t see the Cyprus game, but watched the Belgium match. I thought that we were organised but offered little going forward. Turnbull probably better off not being included at this stage really.

I agree with what you are saying. It cannot be just about the money. We also should be taking into considering what is best for the career development of the player involved. He is only nineteen and, depending on his maturity, then each specific option offers him different challenges and opportunities. It would also be wise to take into account what the player wants to do. Yes, these are important decisions for our club, and making any move will have consequences, good and bad, but their will be other players. Turnbull has one career, and while the wrong move now may not be a catastrophe, making the right move could see him go all the way to the top. I do hope that, as a club, we see the mutual benefit in helping Turnbull on his career path. Players are more than just assets, to be used and traded.

No point in getting too excited about the possibility of Tom Boyd being inducted. He probably wouldn't want it anyway. A simple " No arseholes " rule should suffice in this instance.

I hope you are right. But standing still or going backwards is taking a chance.

The capped for Scotland thing is probably not relevant, as there seem to have been times when it has been seriously difficult for 'well players to get capped. From the early 1979s, when Scotland started using a squad system which, to be fair, was pretty successful, it seemed almost impossible for a Motherwell players get a look in. Was anyone capped in the seventies before Willie P? And even after him, who was the next 'well player to be capped? Tom Boyd? So not ,perhaps,the best criteria for Hall of Fame membership?

Just something to consider before we take the cash. What would be the cost of getting relegated and spending a few years in the Championship? If we struggle next season and the rebuild does not go as well as planned, a quality player like Turnbull could make all the difference between tenth and survival and the play offs or the dreaded drop. Dundee United are currently proving that the Championship is a seriously difficult league to get out of.

Joe Wark.