JFK-1

Hartson, "Sellik will beat this mob 5-0 in the home game" Funny, I remember him saying something similar before the SC semi.

But isn't it maybe the case that they need to offload before bringing more in? And after watching that who will be intrested in anything they want to offload at anything like the wages they will be on?

We can seriously take this mob. We played them off the park at Hampden with a weakened side and in that match if we had just a little more quality in the side we could have been 3-0 up at half time. This time round we do have that bit more quality. We can take them and they know it.

Imps 1 - Sellik 0 An indication of how amateur the imps actually are. Saw a couple of them go down with cramp in a 90 minute match.

The imps have had a number of chances second half. The crowd is booing every touch of the ball by "Broony" for some reason.

I'm watching it on a streaming link and laughing my socks off. We have to appreciate that though the imps aren't quite Molde (ground capacity 11,300) they are still a Euro force with a ground capacity of 5,000 And i saw them mock our victory away to Charelston Battery? Hilarious.

Even if this game were a loss for us there is no way it will be anything approaching "gubbed" All the manager said about who will be playing is that some of the new signings notably Rossiter, Barton, and Kranjcar wont play but I expect this will still be as potent a team as we typically fielded last season and all things being equal if hibs can walk over them so easily I would think we can win this. Ideally even comfortably like our first competitive match of last season and while such a walkover is not a neccessity it would indeed be nice to punish them with a good hiding while terrorising future opposition who could only be intimidated by the thought that this wasn't even the first choice 11 and maybe not even the final squad yet with talk of further signings to come still doing the rounds.

Good news, he can do some fantastic work with another 3 years. As for Waghorn and Tavernier that's irrelevant at this point. If they feel the same way this time next year then it may be relevant but right now it means nothing to the season ahead.

Tasty earner for Motherwell and they're taking full advantage. The match with Rangers is on TV but despite that is advertised as all ticket so presumably a sell out even though the match is on TV and an adult ticket costs £15 while a concession is £10 Contrast that with their next home match in the group against East Stirlingshire which is NOT on TV and NOT all ticket and prices are £10 for an adult ticket and £7 for a concession. Of course they don't need Rangers, no one does. There must be a strange difference in their world between what they appear to really like and what they don't need.

Gazza came from a heavy drinking environment and always had something of a problem with it ven while playing but playing did at least help keep it in check. Once that was gone this was always likely to happen to such a personality. What makes it all the worse is that it's becoming a far more undignified spectacle than anything we ever saw from Baxter or Best.

I think aside from anything else they would surely be expecting to beat everyone else in the group to qualify even if this game were a loss. May as well try to play rather than bore their fans. At least try to win.

Yes I think he is beyond help. It's a far more precipitous slide than anything even George Best ever went through.

They look ripe for the taking, this is the team listed as having being fielded yesterday with squad number beside each name which I got from the official Motherwell website. McHugh was not listed on their site so had no squad number but it looks like they fielded pretty much their first choice defence and were slaughtered. In this type of match there is no point in Motherwell "parking the bus" as so many do against Rangers and I'm confident we will score probably more than once so if we can prevent them scoring it should be a win. Samson 1 Tait 2 Hammell 3 Heneghan 4 McManus 6 Cadden 12 McDonald 77 McHugh ? Blyth 19 Johnson 11 Lasley 14

So is he supposed to be a transfer or a loan? The manager already said that it's becoming harder to bring in suitable loans because the parent club expects them to play so anything coming on loan has to be better than anything we have in his position. If not then he wont play.

I would be more than surprised if we didn't qualify from the group. The team he fields wont be the new first 11 as he has already stated but is likely to be at least as strong as last years first 11 and may even be stronger in each succeeding match as he gives everyone a run.

I would pretty much agree with you but it is what it is and it is and it is what we have to contend with. And given that it is what it is and it's what we have to work with don't you think that it then may be argued that competitive matches are ideal preparation for the priority of the first league match?

I think it's somewhat ironic that if it weren't for the new 24 team format European champions Portugal wouldn't even have got beyond the group stage.

Because if they win it was actually him who won it even from the bench. That's how great he is.

Be a travesty if Portugal win this. They're far from being the best international team in Europe. Probably not even top four.

Well if that's what you read into it i'm surprised thay anyone would think that anyone at all would suggest a pre season is all about preparation for a friendly. But if to you it appears to be that way I apologise for not being succinct enough. If I must clarify here it is. I don't give a toss about any friendly match beyond perhaps ramifications regarding confidence/morale. It's ALL about preparation for the league.

Where does it say that? It says as preparation for the opening league match. The priority for the season is the league.

Doesn't Klopp favour a similar style to our manager?

I think as far as the manager is concerned this league cup thing is our pre season matches and when you look at it from that perspective it can't get any better because instead of being a mere friendly it is competitive. The priority for the manager is the league and I don't think any of us would disagree with him on that? A large part of his pre season has been taken up by assembling almost an entire new team and until all these recruits were in place any pre season matches weren't really of much use to him. I think we can still beat Motherwell and even if we don't we will beat the others in the group to qualify for the last 16. If hibs can knock 4 past them we're defintely going to score probably more than once. In some ways this may actually be an ideal situation for his preparation given that these league cup matches have a competitive edge leading up to a match with Burnley who are EPL opposition and when we are likely to see the full first 11 before our opening league game.

Been fluctuating between 3/1 and 4/1 and i'm guessing it may fall if we get a good start with some impressive preformaces and a good harvest of goals which I would say isn't beyone the realms of possibility. With a good goal scoring performance against Hamilton in the first match we might even top the league at the end of the first day. In an ideal world i'm looking to win the first 4 matches then go to parkhead for the 5th match and snatch an away win to demoralise the contenders and make them dread their visit to Ibrox and establish a lead that may be difficult to erode once we're riding the crest of a wave so to speak. Also Joey Barton humiliates "Broony" and the frustrated Broony is red carded and trudges off with his baldy heid in his hands while whimpering "ahm better than him ahv goat 50 caps" I would guess that the hibs match will mark the compeletion of Motherwells pre season with 5 matches under their belts so they are likely to be fielding their first 11 and if we can beat them with a side that is far from our first 11 we will be setting down a marker that will send fear throughout the league as they all begin wondering what the first 11 can do. Then a total crushing of Hamilton and the fear becomes terror. All of the above is our ideal outcome for the start of this campaign.