MJC

Petty much this. Losing McDonald will be a massive blow and anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves on, but at the end of the day no player is bigger than the club and if he is not prepared to commit then we should move on to other targets Asap.

You'll be nowhere near the league title but I reckon you'll do well enough to have the haters and the obsessed frothing at the mouth with anger. Which will be highly amusing.

I'm pleased that Lasley has been retained as he has single handedly carried our midfield for the past four years now and he is a real 'club man' whom having around the place is nothing but a positive. I do however hope that we bring in at least one other player to challenge his position with a view to replacing him as we can't expect him to do it all forever.

No it isn't. There are plenty of Motherwell fans out there who won't to this day hear a bad word said about Woods, they're not hard to find. I remember that day well, it was scorching hot as well if my memory serves me correctly and Woods coming on at right wing made him look no more out of place than he did in goal. That was one of the lighter moments in what was mostly a horror show of a time with us. You always knew with Woods that a f**k up was just around the corner, even his decent games and when he fucked up, he fucked up spectacularly and it always managed to cost us big time. The Rangers cup tie in 1998 was his worst moment in a Motherwell jersey and I said at the time and still do that he should never have played for Motherwell again after that display of sheer incompetence, yet he managed to hang around for another five years afterwards.

I don't doubt Woods is a good goalkeeping coach, indeed he has a very good reputation as such, but he was hopelessly out of his depth playing for us in the top flight. He's still got a big army of fanboys at Fir Park mind you, usually made up of the "punching waaaay above our weight" and "Mark Reynolds for Scotland" branch of our support. Samson, like Woods, like Meldrum, like Nielsen just won't do and a competent and reliable goalkeeper is a must for us.

Samson should not and cannot be our No.1 next season, he's done nothing at any club to suggest that he's got what it takes. There are some goalkeepers who just aren't first choice picks in a top flight team and Samson is one of them, just like goalkeeping dud-in-chief Stevie Woods wasn't one of them.

Ryan Stevenson.

My thoughts exactly. Erwin, for all he played his part in the playoff humbling of 'Rangers' he often flattered to deceive during his time here. For that reason, plus the fact that I really want us to move away from this policy of signing ex players, then I think Lee Erwin should be avoided.

Yip, that's exactly what I am.A Motherwell fan, with common sense and an ability to think for myself and form my opinions.

Good luck to the lad, it's a shame to lose him but no one can blame him for taking the chance of more money. It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks to see what we do transfer wise as there are a number of positions we need to address.

Shut up See this is part of the problem we've got with football nowadays, and why we've got this nonsensical "Offensive Behaviour at Football" act....football fans aren't angels, they never have been and nor have they been bastions of political correctness and righteousness. When you go to football, you know you're going to hear things sung or shouted that aren't very nice, regardless of the team and support. Up until about ten years ago most football fans were able to accept this. And violence? The only violence and seriously hostile behaviour I've seen in Scottish football recently was caused by Hibs fans invading the park and attacking opposition players, and Celtic fans in and around Fir Park at a Friday night fixture a couple of years back. I can honestly say that I've never found the Rangers support particularly violent during my time watching football going back to the early 1990s, although perhaps older posters who encountered them in the 70s and 80s will have had different experiences. And I know, I know, Manchester etc...but even then I suspect that they weren't entirely at fault there, but that's another story. And...what? I think most football fans agree that it's a ridiculous piece of legislation which stops just short of getting football fans jailed for farting the wrong way if a police officer deems it offensive. So Rangers fans sing some naughty songs? Boo Hoo!

It's hardly brown nosing, it's just voicing an opinion, not a popular one by all means, but an opinion. And in my opinion, there are worst sets of fans out there than those of Rangers and I find it amusing how they are seen as the pantomime villain by so many and the mention of their name gets some folk so infuriated and insecure.

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.