Swello

On the point of "good writers" vs "people who can sniff out a story" - there should be room for both as they are different and there is a market for both styles. I personally enjoy reading decent comment pieces more than transfer gossip or old firm puff - but in place of decent commentary, a lot of the papers go with partisan pish (yer Chris Jack type of thing) or cliche ridden ex-player stuff (probably ghosted). It would be good if more space was given to the ones that can write - and there are lots of good writers out there...

It sums up perfectly how low the bar is to be seen as a decent pundit in the Scottish media (as Hartson mystifyingly is) - and as long as you are ex-OF, you can seemingly get away with trotting out any old uninformed pish. In the coming week, folk like Hartson or Bonner will be getting paid *actual money* for gems like "the formbook goes out the window on Old Firm day" or "It will be tight but the green/blue half of the city will be the happier at the full time whistle" or "millions are watching round the world"....

To answer a 2 and a half year old question - yes! Davie Cooper got a fucking *carpet burn* that kept him out for a few games - IIRC, he missed a game at Parkhead because of it

That certainly puts paid to the myth that Traynor was some kind of great writer who only lost it at the end - utter drivel. I love the fact that section headings have obviously been put in place by a disgruntled Sub who loathes the fat w**k as they describe his output perfectly...

If we want to make comparisons to English football, why not look at some of the midweek journeys that are required there - a lot worse than Glasgow to Dingwall. I've been guilty myself of moaning when we have a midweek game in Inverness or Dingwall but that is more because I can't make it to the game after work. I guess there is still an attitude based on the old situation where Aberdeen was the outer limit for central belt teams and so practically every away game was do-able midweek - we need to accept that the Highland teams are an integral part of the league now and that there are longer trips as a consequence. The one exception to the rule (IMO) is over the festive period, where an effort should be made to avoid the longest trips and to try to keep games as local as possible, which is perfectly achievable. On the fawning over the money spent in England - I watched a bit of the deadline day programme on SSN the other night and the wee counter showing the transfer window total of over £1bn just looked fucking ridiculous. I can't see how the bubble down there can be sustained - I think there will be a big crash in the next 10 years..

Fixed

Given that most of those clips looked like Junior Cup ties played on muck and nettles, I'd say so

Here is some footage of Belic, when he is younger - difficult to tell much from it though other than judging by some of the shitey grounds he's played at in Serbia, he won't be intimidated by the Curva Sainsburys at New Douglas Park.

I didn't remember it being that high- you could be right though Grimshaw was decent also - but the good:dreck ratio was near Kampmann levels...

Even if it's closer to 750k - in a historical sense, that's massive for us - Am I right in saying that only McFadden and O'Donnell went for over a million? McDonald was 750k to Celtic and I think he is 3rd highest fee we've got (although I've got some memory that when McCulloch and McMillan went to Wigan, there was a combined fee of something like 900k, so that would have been another big year for us). Any others that I've completely forgotten about?

If it was 650k (and 'Flow mentioned on twitter that the deal would "benefit us in the future", so we can assume some sort of add-on), then it'll be in our top 10 of transfer fees received, even going back to pre-bosman days when fees were the norm - so that has to be seen as a great bit of business as we've lost *far* better players for far less over the years.

Overall, I think the last day of the window worked out well for us. Firstly (and most importantly) - our transfer policy actually worked! We bought a promising player from non-league football, got a year and half out of him and sold him on at a considerable profit - and the club's ability to turn down offers showed the difference it can make to have decent contracts. Secondly, we got (on paper obviously) a quality replacement on loan from the EPL, although I hope we're not spending too much to do so as it's a fairly unproductive use of cash..Thirdly, we got another "promising" player from non-league football with eye to doing to all again - although his arrival possibly means Blyth is a dud or that Moult is projected to leave in the next window and they are getting the replacement bedded in early.. Lastly - I wonder how much influence our ex-players at West Ham and Gateshead had on proceedings? It would be nice to think that we've got a network of players that have enjoyed their time and were well treated and will talk the club up when needed....

a 6ft2 striker? I assume Blyth is either crocked or a total dud if we're bringing in another big striker....

Not a world-beater but I did enjoy watching him when he was on his game - and in this (flukey) goal, he gave me one of the best jumps I've ever had a Fir Park, so good luck to him....

@Marvinjohnson28 set to sign for @OUFCOfficial after @motherwell accepted a hugely improved offer. Scott burns who is usually accurate ETA: I like the sound of "hugely"

Mcdonald's also good at badly engineered transfers

I think this is true - but it's not always straight forward. You are right in that in this case, Johnson would likely have said "I want a move back down south summer 2016" and then it's up to big Gino to do whatever needs to be done to make it happen (and in this case, the club are pretty much lined up with this objective even if they differ on the fee). On the other hand, there have been plenty of examples of agents unsettling players and engineering moves to suit themselves more than the player - and so I would be hesitant to always judge a player based on his agents actions or methods....

I'm an east stand moron and as long as he was still trying, I'd be fine with him - and there would be no sense in him being in the huff if he wanted out in January. On Ainsworth - I'd imagine that his stats would be miles ahead of Johnson in terms of end product even if his general play/effort level is lower - If Johnson was away and the problem of trying to accommodate them both had gone, then he would be worth another run as a starter.

However much a taxi driver earns - big Gino could get them five times more with his special statement.

'sake - I'm going to have to go and read that now as I'm interested to see how the impending sale of a guy signed before McGhee took over - who was signed with the express intention of moving him on at a profit when the time was right - is McGhee's fault....

The most interesting thing for me is that we usually don't have to deal with all this tiresome agent shite - our best players in recent years have all been on short term deals and so the situation of an agent maneuvering his client out the door with a couple of years on his contract just hasn't arisen. It's a sign that the transfer policy is finally functioning as intended. I get the argument about market value - but the club and the agent have a role in attempting to manipulate the value of a player in opposite directions - and this is just the agent trying to work the valuation downwards to open up more potential moves for the player and ultimately get more money for himself. I've been resigned to Marvin leaving this window anyway - how effective his agent is will be all too apparent by the end of tomorrow...

I also get the impression that we use 2 year deals to make up for a relatively shite wage. We are light in midfield, so this is a sensible (if not very exciting) signing...

Just some pitch porn for use next time our pitch is lazily referred to as an example of a shite surface because it was shite 5 years ago. It's actually frightening how much better it's got recently - I can see our groundsman getting a move to the Championship...

It all helps generate a rare bit of hype for a Motherwell player - Johnson himself seems unaffected so far, so it's all good. I genuinely can't see him being at the club on Sept 1st, I just hope it doesn't all happen too late to get his replacement in....

It's interesting to see just how much contempt english clubs with Murdoch's grubby pound in their back pocket have for scottish clubs. On the way home from the game, I heard on Sportsound that Killie had turned down Charlton's (?) third bid for Magennis which amounted to the vast sum of £100k. Down south, clubs are now paying more than that for the guy who picks up the pants in the dressing room.