The African

Cerny would have been a decent option. I have always thought that he was a better than average goalie at SPL level. I am sure that the time wasting could have been coached out of him. Whoever replaces Trevor will have a difficult job. He will be a tough act to follow.

If someone plays an entire season up front, it is not unreasonable to expect them tobe in double figures for goals scored. As such, it is something that needs to be addressed in this transfer window. Unfortunately, we are not in the position to be able to buy such a playeroff the shelf. A bit of a punt is required and, as such, I would not be surprised to see a couple of forwards signed on.

Agreed on all counts. As someone who is self-employed, the first thing I do when any cash or payment comes in is ringfence what I am going to have to pay in tax and then pay it ASAP. Now I have never been on EPL footballermoney, and itmust be mildly frustrating to be paying around half your income in tax, but there is not much that you can do about it. Howthelikes of Derek Ferguson can end up owing well over a million quid beggars belief. Good luck to Faddy in sorting his financial mess out.

Could we not just borrow the dodgy burds that St Mirren used to always use?

Love both of the mock ups. Personally I am a fan of keeping things simple. A claret band is desirable. Claret shorts, always like hooped socks. Mainly white away kit, though the reverse claretwith an amber hoop mock ups have also appealed. I used to think it would be cool if we went down the route of copying Sampdoria from the eighties and have three kits- first kit being mainly amber, with a claret and white band, second kit being mainly white with a claret and amber band and the third kit being mainly claret with an amber and white band. The various elements could be interchanged to meanwe never have a colour clash. Would involve bringing in more white than traditional,

Well I’ll have to say that I got more than I wished for this season. Whether this was down to a higher standard of player or down to a combination of factors (better fitness, better organisation) is a moot point, but the significant contributions of the likes of Kipre and Carson in particular cannot be ignored. When we lose these players, the pressure will be on to find replacements who can make a similar impact. For next season the priority will once again be to stay in the division.

I would suggest the “ Stevenson and Ferrier” Stand. They were some double act by all accounts. Previously, the argument against has been the money we can make by adding a sponsors name, the Motorola Stand etc. I can see the point if we are making enough money out of it, but I do like the idea of honouring the great servants of our club.

I’d agree with that. And a couple of days to draw breath. I hope that is what the club is doing.

Form is temporary, class is permanent. And that gentleman is pure class. Someone who genuinely realises that the relationship between players and supporters is a two way street. probably a little too late, but Tom Boyd, please take note.

The yellow and burgundy line told me early on that he was going to be talking out of his arse. Wasn’t too chilly here. Anything in single figures and the locals start to moan. Strangely, I still miss a proper winter.

Well said. No pun intended.

Smoke bombs and flares are banned. Anyone who takes one along and then sets it off is an eejit anddeserving ofwhat they get.

Indeed. Not a fan of twitter and social media for players , it simply causes more problems than it is worth imho, but that was a nice message from Trevor Carson. If and when he moves on to bigger and better things, it will be very well deserved. He has been nothing short of magnificent for us.

Would add that after a fall in the first half he looked to be in a serious amount of pain after landing on his injured wrist. He got up and played through it. Wasn’t a pretty performance, but his attitude was spot on.

Was able to go back to bed after the final whistle. Probably did me good to get a couple of hours sleep. Disappointed with the way it went obviously. Unfortunately we lost goals at bad times and the game was pretty much over when the second one went in. Cannot agree with anyone putting the boot into McHugh. The guy looked utterly dejected. At our level you win as a team and you lose as a team. Also felt that, while we did improve when Bigi came on, he benefitted from the state of the game at the time. Celtic had taken the foot off the gas and the midfield opened up nicely for him to show his abilities. Absolutely no guarantee that he could have done that from the outset. Cannot fault them on effort and attitude. as I sat watching, alone in the dark at 2am on a cold Kiwi morning, trying to ignore the shite commentary on BEIN sport’s covera, I was sure I heard the applause at 19 minutes for the lad who passed away a day or so before the final. I felt a shiver down my spine and stood for a moment, holding my late father’s scarf just a little tighter. At the end of the game, watching their players and support celebrate, I immediately realised that I could never support a team like that. If you are a Motherwell fan, you are in it for the long haul. No religion, no politics, no “we won and that makes me better than you because you lost”. Just a sense of the place from where we or our families came from and a love of the game and trying to play it the right way. Today my team gave their all and behaved with dignity when it wasn’t enough to win the prize. I can live with that. And so the story continues.

Good luck to Luke Watt. He was talked up as a talent, but hasn’t taken his chance to show it with us.

Not even with direct flights from Auckland to Dubai. Think it is about 23 hours in the air from New Plymouth to Glasgow. When you mentioned it, I did briefly consider it. My wife is at the gym. I could have just left her a note.

Well that is Cup Final Saturday dawned in New Zealand*. Good luck and best wishes to all in Claret and Amber. Give your all, do us proud, and ,win or lose, have a great day. * Technically the final isn’t until 2am tomorrow. I shall be sitting in front of the TV with my Dad’s scarf, wishing I was there for our victory.

Indeed. Must be completely shattering for the young lad’s family and friends. My thoughts and prayers are with them. Puts the result of a football match into perspective.

Always delighted when one of our players gets international recognition. We have had plenty in the past who have deserved it and yet somehow missed out, so it would be churlish not to be pleased for the lad. Hopefully he does well, gets a cap or two and adds a couple of hundred grand to his value.

Don’t think there was much of that. He was pretty realistic about where Airdrie are at present. Just happy that he still had his team to follow.

Second hand info. I have a former colleague who is a lifelong Airdrie fan who has kept in touch after I moved away from Scotland. They have been very positive about Ferguson, though phrases like “ not the finished article” and “still needs to work on his weaknesses “ have appeared in the last season. He does know his football though and I would generally trust his judgement. He was genuinely upset when we signed Ferguson, as he thought he was bound for bigger and better things.

Is he flying up after doing the royal wedding?

Or alternatively, win or lose, we could hope that our team display sportsmanship and class throughout the day.

Au contraire. We have earned the right to turn up. Sadly, that is no guarantee of getting a fair crack of the whip regarding the big decisions on the day. To assume so would be folly.