Marinello

Hearing from a Celtic guy that Mikey Johnston is being linked with a loan move to us. Could do worse

If Mackay is viewed solely in football terms his record is highly impressive. Re his 'baggage' clearly this can't be minimised but surely his evidenced rehabilitation as per voluntarily undergoing a re education programme allows him some slack. Also need to remember that for us the sun didn't fall out the sky when we signed Gallagher .

Only 3 areas of consolation; * Goals away rule no longer applies. * We could/ should have lost by more . * Tie isn't dead Hopefully with another week's training and the benefit now of seeing Sligo close up we will see an improved performance. We surely can't be as ineffective as we were tonight. Can't we??

Always regarded their club and fans as decent. This increased one hundred fold when their fans unfurled a banner in tribute to Uncle Phil when he passed away. Class.

Seeing some speculation that Turnbull may be off to West Ham . 11 million being mentioned. What part of the sell on are we due?

Cptn Oates will I'm sure give you a fuller account but imho here goes; Donnelly would be the best of the ex 'Well cast of thousands at Paisley as he is very versatile whether as a midfielder, central defender or best of all sitting in front of the defence. Also capable of scoring goals. Downside is that he is injury prone. Grimshaw is less effective than he was. Can play RB or RWB but his overall form has diminished compared to when we first signed him on loan from Man Utd. Only runs in straight lines and has an utterly indecipherable Burnley accent!!

Now that Donnelly's departure is confirmed I wonder how his 4 year stay will be regarded by the fans . FWIW I'm left a bit sad that he has gone as I've always felt there was a player in him. Not just for his explosive goal scoring one season but his versatility. Even though I was never sure what his best position was I felt having been at Dingwall 2 weeks back that he may after all have found his niche as a right sided CD cum sweeper role. Now as a Motherwell player we will never know. Goes with my best wishes and with a wee feeling of ' the one that got away'.

Currently in baking hot Maspalomas. Between 3 and 5 pm tomorrow I intend to traverse the famous sand dunes occasionally looking for clues of the unfolding scoreline from the faces of each passer by. This will also include watching the world renowned camels who as my despair deepens will likely give a knowing nod that ' things ain't going well down Tannadice way'!!! By 5. 15 I will trudge into the Atlantic only for my certain drowning to be averted by the ' one whom I'm contracting to' shouting from afar that Tierney scored a last minute equaliser. And the sun keeps shining .

Amongst the many mysteries enveloping FP these days has to be that of Jordan Roberts. Where is he? Does he exist?

Good to see that a detectable air of promise is beginning to emerge re our euro hopes. Apart from having games to look forward to ( rather than the bottom 6 purgatory) we can genuinely feel that the games against the non Glesca lot are ' doable'. Utd shouldn't phase us and certainly County shouldnt---- moreso as we owe them one for the outright robbery (partly self inflicted) of our last 2 games against them. Also the fact that we are away from home may work in our favour as we can be a decent counter attacking team. As for Hearts. They will be I believe in cup final mood and therefore likely to field a weakened team. Am I getting the passport out just now? No, but I get the feeling I will come the summer . Believe.

Hearing that SOD could be out for the rest of season. Big blow for him and must place a question over his availability for WC play off.

Regarding Cadden . Anybody know if we are still pursuing Columbus Crew/ USA FA for monies ( believed)owed to the club or is it a lost cause?

Some suggest our problems have only arisen since the winter break. Cast our minds back to the first half of the season when we seriously lucked out at home to Dundee and RC. Also and again at home , other than a 15 minute spell we were also rans against St Mirren. What I feel we are now seeing is by and large the same team full of journeymen but now no longer getting the luck of before to shield us from your dreadfullness. Nor do we have TW to bail us out . As evidence look at our 2 recent shows vs County, our draw against a second string Dundee and yesterday when SJ played like a team drawn from the street In essence we are utterly dreadful compounded by tactical buffoonery , weekly tombola selections and a seemingly self defeating desire not to play our best players as per Woolery, Slattery and the seldom seen Shaw . Fortunately our points advantage over SJ and Dundee should spare us a relegation dog fight but as for next season

Suspect your right.

Not that I'm preoccupied with the prospect but was wondering if anyone knows if Mugabi is available this Saturday.

Reliably informed that in January St Johnstone enquired about O' Hara and that we we were willing to let him move . O'Hara rejected the move arguing that he wanted to fight for his place at FP . Whilst this attitude should endear him to the fan base it's a bit worrying that management are seemingly unconvinced re his future with us.

Apologies if stated elsewhere but a great quality of Robinson is his hard work. First guy in in the morning and last to leave.

Not sure if already mentioned but Tuesday night's edition ripped ma' nitten. There's me successfully staying away all night from commentaries , updates and keeping the mobile off so as not to hear the scores . Put on Sportscene only to be told after Aberdeen game (1 st match)that they are now 9 th in league----- meaning Livi and SM have picked up points before even watching them !! Then , holding out hope that my awful Motherwell might just get a draw in last game shown, we are told after the previous County game that they are 6 points behind 4th. A quick arithmetic check for a hawfwit like me tells me immediately that we have lost. Yeah, I'm a sad git but what amounted to a shitty night for a 'Well fan was made worse knowing the outcomes before watching C'mon Sportscene get yerselves sorted.

As we drop like a stone it's hard not to conclude a few things; * The first half of the season luck as per Dundee and RC at home has deserted us. * That we perhaps underestimated the importance of TW who consistently bailed us out with his goals . Not suggesting we should have tried harder to keep him as I believe the relationship between him and GA had broken down. * Having ditched our ' build from the back' approach to be replaced with long ball football is resulting in the most hard to watch dirge seen at FP for some time. Yes, fortunes can change quickly but it's difficult to see how. Only satisfaction currently is that we are unlikely to get caught up in a bottom 2 fight due mainly to Dundee and SJ being so far detached . Anyone offer me some hope?

Ta.

Is he available tomorrow? Work permit?

Cheers for that . On different theme I see , according to Maloney, that other than the ex Hearts guy who is expected to be on the bench , none of Hibs' new signings will be available tonight . Nice.

Anyone know if the new guy has a work permit yet and will be available for tonight?

GA indicates none of the missing will be back and that 2 who played on Tuesday will be out. Methinks those are Mugabi who was limping after his 'Bambi on ice' frolics and Maguire who was subbed despite being our best midfielder.