welldaft

I wonder which of Forfar or East Fife Rangers or Celtic will get at home ? A better draw would be Hearts v Rangers/Celtic. But fully expect the Well to draw Hearts away as rewards for 4 wins and zero goals conceded. Would like to get a different team. So anyone apart from Hamilton, Hearts and Dundee. Partick or Dunfermline home or away would make a decent game.

I hope the Pygmy escaped unscathed

I think McInstry was further away from a 1st team start than McAlear. I saw McAlear when over at Linfield and I was surprised how tall he was and well built for a teenager. If he is not going to sign an extension as was the gist of the clubs press release then there is not much we can do. Like most of us I feel it could quite possibly hamper his career in the short term v staying with us. But I have to suspect he has gone from £500 a week if he is lucky to £2000 or similar which would be more than most of our 1st team players. In many ways it is a huge compliment that we seem to have a conveyor belt of talent coming through at youth level. The combined fees for Hastie, McKinstry and Hastie will be circa £750k and we may even get a few pennies for Cadden if the yanks stop being wanks.

They're pish. Motherwell -2, 7/5. Easy money. That is what I thought v Dumbarton ! Still being the mug I am I have again backed -2. So if anyone is reading this now I would lump the mortgage on a 2-0 or 3-1 or 4-2 win for Motherwell. Any win where the margin is 2......as sure as night follows day. At least we will back on a billiard table pitch as oppose to the Amazon jungle from midweek. I swear I saw a Pygmy at one point fire an blow dart at Declan Gallagher.

To be honest I am not sure why Johnson never got more games. I firmly believed he would have been a better option than Curtis Main. Certainly in terms of scoring goals. Maybe his work ethic lets him down, but anytime I saw him and early on in his career with us I thought he would prove to be a very good signing. I hope he gets the chance to move on and prove his worth. I think he would perform well in the Championship.

Well I have put quite a few bob on Motherwell -2. Getting odds against given previous results in this group is quite something. But it is also a sure fire way to guarantee anything other than a Motherwell win by 3 goals. I will go for 4-1, but because I am betting for my team 3-1 or 2-0 Well win to have me despairing despite a win.......

Would be a decent signing for Perth Saints. Some players suit a club. In fact a lot do not seem to suit Aberdeen. Greg Stewart being another example. I would have though MOH would have fitted in that category but he does not seem to have (yet) hit the heights on his latest return ? No bitterness based on the fact we tried to sign him on a few occasions. Still I reckon Declan Gallagher will more than cover that upset. shite start to the season but still expect to see you battling with us top 6 or more likely winner of the bottom six once more.

I think the club are right to protect their interests and in doing so hopefully address a loophole that is being exploited. One wonders how Oxford were reputedly prepared to pay compensation to somehow end up in a loan deal with Columbus crew in the MLS. I mean they may have close relations but stinks to high heaven. And this could be exploited more and more. But what if any clout do UEFA hold over MLS, very little I would assume. This is probably not getting attention it normally would, because we seem to be in a good place at the moment in terms of money coming in through PP sponsorship and youth player sales in McAlear (tbc) and McKinstry with Hastie to add in to mix. I like most have a soft spot for Cadden and why not. He came through the system showed great promise and but for a number of injuries and loyalty to Motherwell could have got a much better and more lucrative move. I wish him all the best and if we lose out financially then hopefully we will make it up elsewhere.

The biggest compliment I could give to young Scott is that watching him on Friday night had me as excited as I was when Turnbull was strutting about tail end of last season. Everyone is rightly pointing out it was against a championship side, but he is only 18 so he has very little experience playing against senior sides. He will not find it easier against in the top flight but that goes for every striker and not just Scott. Early days but it was a v impressive performance. Possibly similar to Hastie and Turnbull in that he has given Robinson a dilemma. I am quite sure Long was going to be our starter up front - again depending on the one final transfer that he has discussed that seems to be another striker. That still may be the case and Long will no doubt play at some point against Dumbarton and / or Annan in final Betfred games. All in all it is a healthy situation that we are scratching our heads as to who our 1st choice 11 will be. I think we can bank on Gillespie, Tait, Gallagher, Dunne, Campbell as starters for start of the league season but then who knows. I have a feeling if he performs consistently like his 2nd half showing v Morton then Ilic will be a regular starter. The guy looked a class above and his work up to the 4th goal was as sublime as any other on the evening.

It was a good watch and you are right to caveat the fact that Morton were not up to much. I saw earlier post from Random Guy and like most fans of provincial clubs you should always keep expectations in check. It would not be the 1st time we have strolled through pre season only to have a poor league season. I will only say that if we can continue to improve and get our best 11 (whoever that may be) on the pitch and with Turnbull to come back then Top 6 is a realistic target. We have 2 v good goalkeepers. Declan Gallagher is really impressing and could prove to be our best summer capture. The wide men look every bit as good as Gboly and Ilic when he came on looked easy on the eye. Then to James Scott. Sure he is only 18 so to expect him to carry the burden of being leading striker is maybe too much but he is beginning to grow and become more confident. Long still to come also. Not forgetting Donnelly who most had written off but could be a find in midfield. Hell he has a better goal scoring record that Turnbull. 3 in last 3 competitive games. Exciting times but Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and probably Hibs and Hearts will have stronger squads. So decent cup runs with top 6 would exceed expectations for season 2019/20.

Sublime finish. We have had good pre seasons before only to underperform in the league. But quite excited by what I am watching.

Not here to gloat like very other bugger. Shite result and a big surprise in a way. But when you appoint foreign manager it is likely to end in tears. Killie still have a decent squad and he may turn it around but is a HUGE gamble and that is how I read into it. Feel sorry for Killie fans after all that effort to qualify for Europe. Tbh it is largely a waste of time these days. Drawn against random sides for places I have never heard of.

Really pleased with this news. As good as signing a star player.... Some wont but they will never be happy regardless and I am sure they will be trolling on Steelmen as I type

Absolutely this. He is a big unit of a lad and I would have liked to have seen him develop like Turnbull and potentially reap even bigger rewards down the line. However he only has a year left on his contract and he may well have intimated he will not sign an extension. Not saying that is the case but I guess the club cannot take the risk. Despite Turnbull deal falling through for now and reduced compensation for Cadden we still have Hastie money to come and McKinstry funds also which should add up to £500k+. We still have a buffer from the 2 cup finals so unless I am missing something we don’t need to sell. McAleer has at least been involved in 1st team squads in pre season. He is one I would like to stay.......

Rumours that Josh Magennis was spotted at Fir Park. Even seen a tweet saying we have agreed a fee with Bolton and are talking terms. That said there is the Northern Ireland connection. There were rumours of him interesting Rangers and I would imagine his wage demands would be above anything we could pay. That said the Bolton fans are ecstatic he is leaving and even said they would drive him north.... A big steaming pile of cowsh1t I would imagine.

Who knew the Seville calculator worked for transfers also. I rate Tierney and hope he does move south but £25m FFS. An injured Tierney at that. Maybe Arsenal should offer to take him on loan for the season for pennies until he proves his fitness Every Celtic player seems to carry a multiple v other Scottish Premiership teams. Q the outrage when we knock back a £2m offer from Celtic for Turnbull in January. Trust me they will try to offer less than before. All the while seeking anything up to £15m for Ntcham..... It is like it is some kind of parallel universe......

Celtic Rangers Aberdeen Hearts Hibs Motherwell Kilmarnock Ross County St Johnstone Livingston Hamilton St Mirren

I read in an online article in the Herald Robinson talking about looking to extend his contract beyond the end of the season, which I would be all in favour of. Also for the 1st time a direct quote stating that Gboly will not be returning as he has told Robinson he is looking at other options. Hope none of them involve a team in the same league. I liked Gboly but hopefully we have replaced him with other options.

So if Cadden goes to the US we get no compensation ? That would be a kick in the haw maws. Lets hope Sunderland is more than a rumour.

One way of summing it up is just our luck. We are about to double our record transfer fee and out of seemingly no where it transpires he needs significant knee surgery. You could not make it up. Sort term nobody wins. We lose out on significant chunk of cash and probably puts a huge dent in our transfer plans. Celtic miss out on the best young player in Scotland. Turnbull misses out on a career and life changing move. Out for 3 months is a long time and as easy as it would be to have a go at Celtic. What were they suppose to do. The loan suggestion if true is a brass neck and rightly they were told to do one. Nobody knows how serious this is. He may well come back to his normal self, he may well come back better. But there is also an outside chance this surgery does not address the issue and he is a lesser player and / or it reoccurs. I hope the surgery is a big success and he comes back as he finished last season and we and he realise his undoubted potential. Who knows we may end up getting more money, but right now £3m is the benchmark. The benefit is that Well fans will hopefully get to see him play in claret and amber for at least another 2-3 months.

Heading to Belfast tomorrow morning from Edinburgh. I will let you know. If I had to guess I would say the next player to bag us a £1 million transfer fee.

New rumours surfacing on Steelmen that neither Motherwell nor Davie T are in any panic. That in fact there are still plenty of suitors down south still actively interested while Celtic who appear to have found a minor issue with the medical and are faffing about. I hope this is true but still expect (sadly) for him to sign for Bhoys.

Don’t talk sh1te, but then why break the habit of a lifetime.

Needs to be sorted ASAP one way or another. Now news has broken all over media it is not helping Motherwell or more importantly Turnbull for all this conjecture. We need to act to ensure if the move to Celtic breaks down then if does not affect any future transfer. We should not budge on £3m+. If they want to delay a small % of that fee as an insurance then fine if he has got a problem. But if they are trying to reduce actual fee then we take him back now. Problem is the club will try to do right by Turnbull and won’t want an unhappy player on their books if it does not look like we tried to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. God knows which way it will go but I would like to see an outcome today as the silence is deafening and damaging in equal measure.

Which is why he is more likely to end up at Hearts rather than at Well. I very much doubt we could meet his wage demands and Hearts could and probably will. More likely Erwin and I would not be agin giving him another chance as I was sorry to see him leave.