RabiDuck

Dave King needs to have secured funds to cover his liability in the event all offers are taken up when he makes his mandated offer required by the TOP. C1872 are suggesting they offer a secured promise not to take up the offer, meaning that King wouldn't need to secure funds for that element of the offer (if the TOP agreed) meaning he'd need to have a lower level of secured funds. Seems a sensible move but unlikely to make too much difference in the long run. It might make the provision of those secured funds easier so the whole situation can be put to rest. That would be a good thing.

Also worth considering that despite having a great start to the season, if the call up didn't come would he hang around too long or look to move on and raise his profile and chances? Call up is great news as he seems happy to be here and if he's getting into the international picture with us, he's got less reason to look elsewhere.

Even the SPFL couldn't have us play at CP 3 times in the league in a season, could they??

Perhaps we need to take a leaf out of Celtic's book with regards certain matters (I know it's not a popular suggestion, we hold ourselves to a higher standard and all that, but it's not working!) The club should be using statements like this to put pressure on the refs to keep a close eye on the behaviour of Motherwell players. Given that causing injury to our players is considered funny (or to any other players, but we're only interested in our own), there's a big argument to be made that a heavy tackle that results in injury can be considered to be pre-meditated which, I believe, is a mandatory red card offence...

Lafferty has 78 goals in 343 games in his club career to date, a strike rate of 0.22 goals per game. Mark Hately played 500 club goals and scored 182 goals for a strike rate of .036 goals per game. Duncan Ferguson has 98 in 360, SR 0.27 Laff isn't a prolific scorer, but then again not all strikers are, they bring other things to the team...

Laughing at a fellow player getting injured like that? Surely the SFA should be looking at a disrepute charge? What's the reaction going to be if there's another broken nose (or worse) in the match? No wonder we don't feel there's any protection for our players when comments like this go unpunished.

I wondered if the offering might have excluded Dave King to drop him below the TOP threshold and get rid of that problem but doesn't look like it is!

Would there perhaps be some merit in asking for an explanation of the different penalties awarded in both instances? If the decision is that Ross deserved his red (and I think he did) then is there not an argument of a retrospective red for Ball? If we consider that both deserved the same penalty (the comments about double penalty not withstanding) asking for the two to be reviewed side by side should result in some kind of movement somewhere and continue the highlighting of instances where we're treated differently?

Gerrard as manager... Can he bring some boots with him??

Is it just me or doe the Hibs defeat for Celtic look just a little suspicious?

Slightly off topic here, but I don't really listen to the crowd in detail on the tele (England based supporter!), how was the behaviour at this one? Did we manage to stay away from the "bad songs" list. I've not seen much in the way of complaints on BBC so I'm guessing we behaved well?

A few thoughts on this one. Firstly it's the first time in a while that I've had any level of optimism going into a game with them and that's a sign of progress that we've made. We're still behind them, can't match their financial clout and there is a gulf in class and quality. The mangerial situation between the two clubs is evidnece of this. We have Murty, doing a great job and I'm a fan of his, who has no previous mangaerial experience, and with the exception of a few international caps his main playing experience was with York City (my home team!), by contrast Celtic have a manger with Premier League credentials. There is a vast difference still between the two clubs, but it's narrowing and the players have the confidence to go for it. Had it not been for a cruel miss at the end, we'd have taken a draw from this one. It also occurs to me that, although we did put 2 goals past them, it was against their 3rd choice keeper, given the nature of the goals I don't think it would have mattered much who was in goal, but the organisation of the defence under Gordon or De Vries. Overall, it was a big statement of how far we've come, but was a bridge to far just now. It does suggest, however, that a realistic title challenge next year is the expectation. That's possibly a year or two ahead of where I thought we might be. They'll get number 7 this year, but we should be in a strong fight to prevent number 8 or number 9...

Pressure entirely on them. They're going to go on and win the league and they're financially so far ahead of us it's insane. That said, there's cause for optimism, they've faltered lately and aren't as invincible as some would have us believe. Not sure about anyone else but I've got a cheeky £5 on us to win the league at 66/1 giving me a nice £335 if we can do it! Just imagine the melt down across the city (and in the media) if we managed to beat them in both legs of the double header, it could be spectacular!

On the banking facility, I think the absence of the facility would be more of a statement than having one. If we were unable to get one previously and now we are, the risk we're viewed as within the banking industry has shifted, this has to be a good thing. The fact we have one is neither here nor there, it's the fact that we can get one that's the important thing and shows that we're moving in the right direction.

Looking at the table and results, it's a bit sickening that we're 11 points behind Celtic currently and have lost what should have been winning games against Killie, St J (at home!), Dundee and Hamilton (again at home!) in Nov\Dec. If we'd done the business against those teams (currently 7th-10th in the league) we'd be top of the table right now. We're behaving a little bit like the smaller clubs (no disrespect intended) in that we turn up for the big games (Aberdeen, Celtic etc) but throw away our opportunities against he smaller clubs. That needs to be resolved pronto!

I think it depends on the circumstances. If Ashley rolled up to Ibrox and said "here's £100mill, off you go" then turned round and went home. I'd take his investment. As and when the club finances permitted it, he'd be welcome to take his money back with a small rate of returned based on the performance of the overall figures. I don't think there's a problem there. If that investment was tied to a say in the running of the club or any level of influence or involvement, then it becomes a non-starter, but I'd certainly take his money if it was offered without strings!

New manager named on 3rd of March surely on that logic?

The reason it's taken so long was so we could beat them in this double header

Alternatively, deal for McInnes already done and dusted, to be announced shortly and chance for him to boost the chances of his new club? Just imagine, Rangers beat Aberdeen twice in 5 days to leapfrog them int he league and the next day the Aberdeen manager is appointed manger of Rangers...

Graham Potter? Well, keeps a connection with Murty as another ex-York City player... Good to have a link with my home town!

Looking at the current odds on Sky Bet... Paul Lambert, 33/1???

Actually, was it not the invasion of Belgium that triggered it? Poland put everyone on watch, but it was the move into Belgium and the Treaty of London (the famous "scrap of paper") that actually prompted action?

What about someone like Chris Coleman? Wales future undecided currently, has spoken about wanting to be involved in Champions League football at some point and unsure he can manage that in the EPL?

If we didn't already have the position filled, I'd possibly consider him in a DoF position... I don't think his tactics quite work for how we would like to see the team playing. It would be a short term fix though and if he can shore up the defence (we have the quality there...) it would go along way to turning our fortunes around. Negative football is negative football but it did get us to a European final...

As we turn conversations, naturally, towards the next manager we have to consider what is needed. Before the shouting starts, hear me out! What we need as a club is a Walter type manager. Not tactically (too defensive for my taste, but there's an argument it might not be bad in that respect) but a manger who can run the club. As many have said, we seem to lack leadership from the boardroom, and having a statesman type manger in post would help with that. Someone who can control the dressing room and has the respect of the players, who can manage the media and the politicking that goes with Scottish football, and someone who can change things up tactically when needed. Walter is perfectly suited for two of those threads, if we can find someone to match all three we're moving in the right direction...