MJC

Agree with that, if we are offered any sort of money for Pearson then we should take it. He's a good player when he's on his game but unfortunately he is a one good game in five type player and that goes back to his first spell when he was in his early 20s. Now in his mid 30s, he's lost a good few yards of pace and is extremely injury prone. If anyone is willing to pay money for him we should rip their arm off for it.

On a serious note, I'm looking forward to 'Rangers' being in the top flight this coming season as I think it'll add more than a bit of spice to the proceedings. I'm especially looking forward to the mouth foaming rage that will ensue as a result, which will probably help to burst the banks of the Clyde and the Kelvin for the first time in 20 odd years, every time they get a positive result. Aaannd....those Blue Pounds will come in handy for us I'm sure. So, all in all, welcome 'Rangers' to the top flight and welcome back to the fans of the old Rangers. I look forward to you getting under the skin of many next season

So, you don't like Sevco then?

It's a shame to see Hall as he made a really good account of himself last season. We need to see some transfers IN very soon or it might be time to hit the panic button.

Something tells me that come next May this thread will be by far and away the most popular one on this forum and a hotbed of mock outrage and anger.

Really? I'd have thought that given that I'm a Rangers/Sevco fan, according to you and the other moon howlers on here that I'd naturally be cheering on Rangers? But now I'll be torn between them and Motherwell? Make yer bloody minds up

Ideally that's exactly what should happen. It's our home game and we should be looking to get as many advantages as possible and the more of us and less of them the better. However I suspect we'll give them the entire South for this one.

I think the security and police presence for this one will be off the scale so I don't see any repeat of last May's pitch invasion or any serious bother.

I don't doubt that to be honest and that's why I always ridicule other 'Well fans when they claim that our support is the worst in the country for getting on players backs, picking fights amongst themselves etc. It's not a Motherwell thing, it's more a football thing, especially the getting on players backs bit anyway. The infighting and squabbling I would say is more of a Scottish thing, as let's face it, Scotland is a fairly angry and petty wee country at the best of times so it's only natural that some of that seeps into football in the same way as it does with...just about everything else.

There's a few roasters on here as well of the Motherwell persuasion, admittedly not anywhere near Steelmenonline levels, but there's still the odd one or two who are more interested in picking daft wee arguments over absolutely nothing than discussing Motherwell FC. Unfortunately our support has its fair share of this type and all you need to do is sit in the centre section of the East stand or virtually anywhere in the Cooper to realise this.

Steelmenonline has went way downhill from what I've read of late. I might start posting on there again in the new season, bring some sensible debate back to the table.

He's had his critics but McManus has always done at the very worst a reasonable job for us at the back and it can't hurt having an experienced player in that position. If we tie up Hall and McDonald next it'll be a good bit of business by the club.

This. To be honest, we have never really replaced Steve Jennings or filled that 'Jennings role' since he left. Basically someone to to the very simplest of things, hold possession in the middle and protect the backline. Nothing spectacular but did the job that was asked of them.

I liked Nicky Law when he was here but his time has come and gone and as I've said before, we need to move away from this policy of re-signing popular ex players and start looking to the future and showing a bit more vision when recruiting players. That said though we do need to recruit for central midfield, but it would be nice if just for once we looked forward and not backwards when doing so.

Yes. But were the Kilmarnock fans right up at the away stand goading the Falkirk support? Were any Falkirk players assaulted by Kilmarnock supporters on the park? If the answer is no to both of those questions then it isn't really a comparison.

Apart from three photos of a fan assaulting Lee Wallace and a video of the goalkeeper being goaded then shoved by a supporter that is...

So the fact that players were assaulted by Hibs fans was not a problem then was it? The Hibs fans were 100% to blame for what happened yesterday and it was understandable that some from the Rangers end reacted. Do you seriously think that no Aberdeen fans would have done the same had they been in Rangers' position yesterday? This is yet another laughable example of how folk void all reason, logic and even what is right in front of them when Rangers are concerned. Anyway, congratulations to Hibs on finally winning it, there's hope for us yet.

Hammell and Lasley have been worth their weight in gold for us for years now but we simply cannot afford not to at least look to replace them for the new season. Lasley will be 37 in September and it is just unrealistic and unfair to expect him to continue carrying our entire midfield as let's face it, that's what he's done now since Steve Jennings left in 2012. Hammell is now 34 years old and injuries have hampered him in the last two years, yet he's still by far and away the best left back we have had during that same time and that's worrying. I wouldn't be disappointed to see both retained but we need to look to bring in players to at the very least challenge their positions and eventually replace them.

Neil Alexander would be a very good signing for us IMO. A very reliable and experienced goalkeeper and his age wouldn't be an issue as we signed Marshall at 38 and he did well enough at FP.

Could it be that we are finally going to reap the benefits of his German contacts eight years on???

Depends if Hall stays or not I suppose but it wouldn't hurt to have another option at the back.

Wouldn't surprise me. Former players and their agents will be well aware of our policy of retracing footsteps so if they are looking for a club then I've no doubt they'll be only too happy to make us aware of their availability.

I see we're trying to retain Lasley, Hammell and McFadden(!) In the cases of Las and Hammell I can see why we're doing so as despite their advancing years we still struggle badly without them in the side, worrying as that is. I would hope though that we will be actively actively seeking to replace both in the side though and have both playing slightly lesser roles in the coming season as we simply cannot rely on a 34 and a 37 year old to drag us through another campaign. The fact though that we are trying to persuade Faddy to sign a new deal is highly worrying though. The need to move away from this backward looking, short sighted policy of signing popular ex players and trying to keep hold of McFadden just takes the biscuit. We need to let go of the past and stop pandering to his misty eyed fanboys who seem to love him more than the club itself as we are talking about a 33 year old crock with his best days long gone and the only reason I can see for us having him at the club is because he is who he is and half the support have a hard on for him. It's time to look forward,not back and personally, the only players I would be offering a new contract to is Scott McDonald and Bell Hall.

3-0 Celtic in the final. That sounds about standard does it not?

Perhaps, though my impression of him was that he was always able to get the best out of what he had. Whether he spent a lot of money to get 'what was at his disposal' is another matter, as I remember he did a superb job at Dunfermline, got them promoted and built a very good team which consistently challenged in the top six and got them to a Cup Final. He then moved to Aberdeen where he consistently finished top six, qualified for Europe and even made it out of the group stages and then drew with Bayern Munich. Aberdeen never achieved even a top six finish for something like four years between him leaving and McInnes arriving, so that points to a fine job from Calderwood. I can understand why folk see him as a bit of a joke figure with the walk and the voice of the vocal 'know all' down the local, but he knows the Scottish game well and picked up valuable experience, not to mention contacts during his time in Holland. He wouldn't be popular for various reasons, but I think he would be a perfect fit for Motherwell.