The African

Brilliant! Congratulations to all involved.

Nothing against the players mentioned, but is it possible that we are repeating mistakes here? The transition/rebuilding should have started two or three seasons ago. Our squad core is now another year older and the cracks are becoming more and more obvious. For whatever reason, inept management, laziness, sentiment, we have stuck with "tried and tested" and regressed because of it. If our budget will allow us the luxury of keeping all of these older players on while bringing in the necessary new blood then okay, sign them up, but times are hard and money tight. Thes players will have to be replaced sooner rather than later and that process has to begin sometime.

Agreed. Surely it isn't beyond the realms of reasonableness that playing kit could last for two or even three seasons? Perhaps they could synchronise changing the second (and if necessary third) kit so that only one is changed each season? This could cause issues when we change kit supplier but it should not be too difficult an issue to overcome. The fact that we do not have a huge support and that shirt sales will not be a huge earner also makes a sensible move in that direction more possible.

My first game was a nil nil draw with Aberdeen in the early seventies. I am pretty sure it was a league cup match in the days when they had group stages. I must look it up when I finally get my books unpacked. Was brought up in Edinburgh but my Dad was a Motherwell man and he brought me up properly. My brother was weak and foolish and became a Hibs fan at seven. I suppose every family has one.

A pity that Europe is now beyond us. It might not be a great money spinner at our level, but I still get excited by the prospect of Motherwell in Europe, possibly because it remained out with our grasp for so long in the seventies and eighties, when it was worthwhile. Still, let's get as high a league finish as possible, and give a few youngsters a run when the chance presents itself. Good luck to the Hibees in the final.

Just out of interest, and with regard to European qualification, what is the scenario should New Rangers qualify by winning the cup? Are they in a position to take up the place? I am sure that there used to be rules concerning the amount of published accounts that a club possessed, before being allowed to compete on the European stage.

Seems a little unfair to criticise the club over transfer policy. If nobody offers the club a decent fee for a player then they are scarcely responsible for that fact. The whole system is against clubs of our size and situation (both financial and geographic) and, as such, we have tried to play by the rules and generally been screwed.

Ripley is in a situation where, if everyone is honest, it would be a no brainier that another season here would be in everyone's best interests. For himself, he is a young player with promise who is getting the necessary game time at a reasonable standard which he is unlikely to get elsewhere at present. He is by no means the finished article but the improvement seen over this season is obvious. For Middlesborough, he is a young player getting the chance to develop further in an environment that has, so far, done him a lot of good. He is getting valuable game time and is also not costing them so much as we will be paying a proportion of his wages(not that this will be a factor if they go up to the EPL). I trust that they will also have access to him, in an emergency, if required. For us, we get the use of a good young keeper who is improving and better than anything else that we have at the moment. The fact that he will go at the end of the season is the nature of loan signings and a bit of a bugger but it is something clubs like ourselves will have to live with in this day and age.

English lower league football, - mid level Championship and below, is certainly a fine example of the law of diminishing returns. The amount of money spent does not seem to increase the quality of the product exponentially. This is most probably due to the lack of sufficient talent. Great news for the less talented players who are obviously being overpaid. Not so great for the other markets in the vacinitty who suffer as the expanding English market soaks up all the available cash and resources.

Financially, this now becomes quite a significant fixture. If we can get something from it and secure a top six place, we will make a fair amount of money. It would guarantee at least sixth in the league and the possibility of better than that plus hopefully better gates at our remaining home fixtures. Lose, and we are relying on other results to get us there and the possibility of scrabbling with the other also ranks for seventh, eighth or ninth. Given where we were after the Killie defeat, top six would be some achievement and the extra cash it would generate would be very handy. Let's hope we can do the business ourselves and get over this initial finishing line without having to rely on other results.

Shows the folly in thinking that other results would get us there. We need to get a point at least on Sarurday, then the rest can do as they please. Celtic are the best team in the league, but we are on a good run and are at home. COYW!

Sod's law would be that we get fourth place and then Celtic lose the cup final. I would take that to be honest. We would get more money for the higher league finish a and while I like the idea of us playing European football, the truth is that it is so early in the season we have little chance of getting to the stages where we actually make some money out of it. One game at a time though. Let's fight and scrape for every point from now until the end of the season and see where it gets us.

You would have thought something would have been said if this were the case. A fine achievement whenever Hammell manages to break the record. Joe Wark is a true legend.

I think we all need to just calm down a little regarding talk of conspiracies and accept that, given his previous convictions, that Chris Sutton knows what he is talking about when it comes to assault. Best not to take any financial advice from him though.

The loss of Pearson and, you would think given the amount of whining from the media, McDonald will be a major issue for us. There is also the possibility that others may not make it, but with a longer break after this fixture we should not tKe too many chances with injured players. Our only option will be to see who is available and select accordingly, but please do not try anything too experimental with regard to formations and tactics. If we are going to give a couple of youngsters, then let's give them a chance of performing by playing them in positions and formations that they are comfortable with. We don't want to end up coping a hiding, but we can afford to give this one a real go and see where it gets us. A longer rest, albeit imposed by injured or suspension, for one or two of our older players, Lasley, McDonald, at this stage of the season, may pay dividends later in the run in. Right now, I'd settle for a decent performance and anything else is a bonus.

The key to his game may be who we have fit and available. If we are missing all of Lasley, Pearson, Law and Laingto injury and perhaps McDonald to a suspension, then we are going to struggle. While this is now not a fixture where we need a result, we all saw how the Hearts game arrested our promising run earlier in the season. We also saw in that game how making too many tactical changes, and dare I say tiring to be too clever for our own good, resulted in us shooting ourselves in the foot and taking a real humping. Hopefully we will have at least some of the above players available and any enforced changes can be handled without too much disruption. Right now I would take a decent performance and a point. I certainly wouldn't take any chances on the injured players. There are enough fixtures left where they can make a difference before the season's end so no need to take undue risks.

Don't remember him, though I recall MacRae. Did he get much of a chance after we lost MacRae? RIP and respectful condolences to his family and friends.

The first question for the manager with regard to the rebuilding process required in the summer is how many of the current squad will he keep? The undeniable and unmistakeable facts are that we have been in decline for the past two years and we have a squad with too many older players who are not going to be able to rediscover their past form. A such, even though there is a case for offering new deals to all of Hammell, Lasley and McManus, it would be churlish for a club with our budget and squad size to be able to keep all three. Perhaps the defining factor in the decision will be whether or not the management team can identify younger and cheaper alternatives both within and out with the current squad.

I'd keep McManus now, though may have said differently earlier in the season. I find him frustrating as a player as, when he screws the nut, he shows what he has to offer, but when he is disinterested he looks awful. If he is fit and wants to stay then he is better than anyone that we will have the money to replace him with. Having said that, if the management want shot of him it will free up a fair amount as he will be one of our higher earners, or if someone else comes in for him (doubtful) then I won't lose too much sleep.

Normally not a fan of this type of play, but the number of late goals we have shipped hopefully allows me a little hypocrisy, just this once.

A quick google throws up the fact that Colin McNair ended up in court for drugs offences in the early nineties. Looks like e was extremely lucky to avoid a custodial. I had a faint recollection that he was prosecuted for the assault on Jim Griffen, but that may be wrong, especially as the previous conviction would have stood against him for the latter conviction. Again purely from memory, I seem to recall him coming on as an early substitute in a game at Fir Park and giving an excellent account of himself, though I think we lost the game. It may have been as a replacement for Colin O'Neil who ad played on for a few minutes with what turned out to be a broken leg, but that could just be my memory mixing up events. He undoubtedly had talent and really hit the skids when things did not work out for him. Hopefully he has managed to come to terms with his demons and is in a better place today.

Only if Saints don't win on Wednesday.

Much more of a "must win" for United than us. Three points for them and they are right back in the mix. They would be five and seven points behind Killie and Accies respectively with each having nine games to play. It all comes down to how they cope with desperation. They have been awful all season, hence their league position, but are finally finding some sort of form. Right now, I'd take a point and move on.

A win and a clean sheet. That will do for now.

While I'd rather Thistle lost, this result would keep Saints in the mix. We really could do with a win on Saturday. Have to do the business ourselves, then anything that other results give us is a bonus.