Motherwell FC News

Today's match with Celtic ended in a 1-1 draw. This was a much better Motherwell performance than of late and with a bit of luck we could have sneaked a winner in the second half, although Celtic did miss some absolute sitters. The line-up saw Steve Hammell continue as left-back, but Simo was once again missing (see below) with Paul Harvey taking his place. John Spencer was restored to the starting eleven for the first time since his recent operation, and played up-front alongside Lee McCulloch. After a bright start, we gifted Celtic a lead after 15 mins when Steve Woods made a mess of dealing with a passback and allowed Burchill to nip in and score. However, the 'keeper redeemed himself shortly afterwards when he saved a Mark Viduka penalty, which was awarded after the Aussie striker went down rather easily under pressure from Benito Kemble. Celtic missed a few gilt-edged chances to increase their lead, and were punished in first-half injury time when Motherwell equalised thanks to a Ged Brannan free-kick which appeared to deceive Celtic goalie Kerr. 'Well definitely had the better of the second 45 mins and both Adams and Spencer went close to scoring, but in the end a draw was probably about right. Sadly, Hearts victory at Rugby Park means that the race for the UEFA Cup place is all but over.

A rumour on the Mailing List suggests that Simo Valakari has signed for Derby County for £300,000 a year, six times his current salary at Fir Park.

The kick-off time for the Rangers game on the last day of the season has been confirmed as 3pm on Sunday, May 21.

The club have announced plans to set-up a new Youth Academy. Pat Nevin says that no time-scale has been put on the venture, and he hopes to receive some funding from the Government. The full story is available from the Sporting Life web site.

Teamtalk reports that Andy Goram will retain his place in the side to face Celtic on Saturday, despite conceding five goals in two games since his return to the team. Apparently the state of the pitch is being blamed for Goram's recent blunder against Dundee Utd.

The game against Celtic will be Lee McCulloch's final appearance of the season before he begins a four-match suspension.

In today's Motherwell Times, Billy Davies says that he'll introduce even more youngsters to the first team before the end of the season.

Apparently the Rangers game on May 21 is live on Sky with a 6.05pm kick-off, although this has still to be confirmed.

A rumour on the Mailing List suggests that Kilmarnock's Ian Durrant could be on his way to Fir Park at the end of the season.

We lost 2-1 at Pittodrie on Saturday. I wasn't at the game so it's difficult to say too much, but apparently we were a little unfortunate not to pick up a point. However, after watching the highlights on TV, the two goals we conceded seemed very preventable and came about as a result of poor goalkeeping and defending. At least changes were made to the team that lost so disappointingly to Dundee Utd the previous midweek, with Woods, Hammel, Adams and Nicholas replacing Goram, McMillan, Kemble and Twaddle.

Celtic fans will be allocated their own family section for Saturday's game at Fir Park. An area of the main stand has been set aside for parent and child tickets.

Billy Davies says he will consider this season a success even if we don't qualify for Europe. He said:
"I've said from day one that improving on last season's league position would be another major step forward for this club. So far we've managed to do that although the lack of consistency is still a big problem and it's something we need to work on."

Lee McCulloch's booking last night means he is banned for the last three games of this season and the first one of next season.

The Sun reports that Greig Denham will play in a closed-door game during a short trial with Falkirk with a view to joining them on a free transfer.

According to the Motherwell Times, Simo Valakari is still considering the new two-year contract he has been offered, while other players out of contract at the end of the season include Jamie McGowan, Stephen Craigan, Greig Denham and Pat Nevin.

I'm taking a few well deserved days off over Easter, so I'm afraid there will be no updates over the holiday weekend. Of course, this also means that I'll miss Saturday's game at Pittodrie, but after last night's debacle perhaps this is no bad thing.

Our faint European hopes were finally killed off tonight when we were beaten 3-1 by a very poor Dundee United side who hadn't won in months. This was a desperately disappointing performance from Motherwell, especially coming just days after the encouraging win over Kilmarnock. Andy Goram returned to the side after injury, but had very little to do early on as Motherwell dominated the early proceedings. Goodman was unlucky to see his shot come back off the post, but the fans didn't have long to wait for the opening goal. United 'keeper Combe made a mess of dealing with a pass back and Lee McCulloch took full advantage to give 'Well the lead. Brannan went close with a free-kick just before the interval, but we had to settle for a 1-0 lead at half-time. Although everything was going to plan, Billy Davies decided to make a seemingly unnecessary change when he replaced Kevin Twaddle with John Spencer and moved him upfront in place of Don Goodman. It all started to go wrong just one minute into the second-half when an Alex Mathie shot appeared to be deflected past Andy Goram. This seemed to knock the stuffing out of Motherwell and we failed to recover from it. Once Derek Townsley was substituted we lost any width we had, and instead resorted to punting high balls over the top of the defence. With Motherwell pushing forward, United hit us on the break twice in the closing 10 mins to snatch victory, the first of their goals coming after Spencer had lost possession in the middle of the park and both Corrigan and Strong failed to cut out the through ball, the other coming after the defence failed to clear a corner. The way we collapsed after United's equaliser was unacceptable, and certain players on hugely inflated salaries need to take a good look at themselves.

Team news ahead of tonight's game: Andy Goram is still out with an ankle injury, as is John Davies with a hamstring strain (aww, shame). Don Goodman and Ged Brannan are struggling, but Jamie McGowan returns after suspension.

It has been revealed that Guus Hiddink, the man who Celtic are willing to pay £1.5m per year to become their new head coach, applied for the Motherwell manager's job in June 1994 following Tommy McLean's resignation. However, the board turned him down in favour of Alex McLeish! Hiddink, who guided PSV Eindhoven to the European Cup in 1988, went on to boss the Dutch national team while McLeish went on to ruin McLean's side and take us to the brink of relegation on several occasions, signing players such as Andy Roddie and Eddie May in the process. Good choice, huh?

Motherwell defeated Kilmarnock 2-0 in tonight's live SKY game, a win which was much more convincing that the scoreline suggests. The match saw the welcome return of both Greg Strong and Simo Valakari, while John Spencer was fit enough to take a place on the bench. Billy Davies also reverted to playing two wingers, a tactic which served us well earlier in the season. We dominated right from the start and took the lead courtesy of a 25-yard screamer from Ged Brannan. Derek Townsley then passed up two great chances to increase our lead when he brought a couple of great saves out of Killie 'keeper Marshall, but both times he really should have scored. Killie's best spell came at the beginning of the second half, but any chance they had of salvaging something from the game was virtually killed off after 56mins when Lee McCulloch headed over Marshall to make it 2-0. Stevie McMillan then failed to finish off a wonderful passing move which saw him with a clear run in on goal, but in the end it didn't matter and Motherwell held for a comfortable win against a Kilmarnock team which rarely threatened. Three points against Dundee Utd on Wednesday will move us to within a couple of points of Hearts in the battle for third place.

The following text is taken from an email I received yesterday from Lazarus Lapis, who is working on improving the Official MFC Site:

"As you know, the flow of news & information, from the club, to the fans and supporters through the official web site has not worked out as expected. I am currently at the early stages of dealing with an overhaul of the official site and building in some mechanisms so that it 'freshens up'.
Until then, I have set up a mailing list so that subscribers can receive info, news, match reports etc. via e-mail.
I would very much appreciate it if you could include a link and some info on your pages so that more of the supporters are aware. Further info, a link button and a sliver of html is available at http://www.lapis.co.uk/mfctemp
The list is 'motherwellfc' and is hosted at http://www.onelist.com"

Lee McCulloch is one of four SPL players nominated for the young player of the year award.

Hearts won 2-1 at Pittodrie this afternoon to stretch 8 points clear of Motherwell, although we now of course have two games in hand. Hibs could only draw with St Johnstone which at least means we remain in 4th position.

Don Goodman says he wants to help Motherwell into Europe before he retires:
"Every time I speak to former Rangers player Stuart McCall on the phone, he goes on about playing in Europe and Andy Goram says the same thing in training. This is my last chance to have a go as my contract runs out in May next season, and that's when I will hang up my boots for good. Much of my playing career I've played alongside guys who are old hands at European football and here is me, nearly at retirement age and never having tasted it. In my mind that isn't the way to bow out. Someday I want to be able to tell the grandchildren that I played in at least one European competition."

Teamtalk reports that Andy Goram and John Spencer are back in the squad for Sunday's match against Killie.

The Motherwell Times reports that Greg Strong is set to return to the side for Sunday's game against Killie, while Stevie McMillan and Simo Valakari should also be available for selection. However, Jamie McGowan is suspended following his red card last week while Andy Goram and John Spencer remain unlikely to be fit in time.

Don Goodman has announced that he will probably retire when his contract expires at the end of next season. Don will be 35 when his present deal runs out and says that a decision will be based entirely on financial reasons.

Jamie McGowan will not be fined by the club following his sending-off against Dundee on Saturday. After viewing TV evidence of the foul, Billy Davies has decided that the referee's decision was harsh.

The club have dismissed speculation linking Celtic with a £1.2 million bid for Lee McCulloch.

Andy Goram, John Spencer, Simo Valakari, Derek Townsley and Greig Strong have all returned to training and could feature against Killie on Sunday. Stevie McMillan is expected to be back in training within a couple of days.

Stevie McMillan's injury isn't as serious as was at first feared. He suffered from a trapped nerve in his arm, but will be fit for Sunday's game against Killie.

Well, what can I say about today's 4-1 gubbing at Dens Park? Motherwell went into the game still without Simo Valakari (apparently suffering from 'flu), Andy Goram, John Spencer and Greig Strong, and with Sasa Curcic surprisingly dropped to the bench. We actually started quite well and took the lead after 15 mins, when Don Goodman's low shot went straight under the body of Dundee goalie Robert Douglas and into the net. The home side came back into the game after that, and we had a remarkable escape when a mix-up over a free-kick gave Grady a clean run in on goal, but he was denied firstly by Steve Woods and then his follow-up was cleared off the line by Jamie McGowan. We survived until half-time with our narrow lead intact, but with Dundee well on top I had my doubts if our much maligned defence would be able to keep it together in the second-half. It didn't take long to find out, and in a nightmare few minutes we suddenly found ourselves 2-1 down and reduced to 10 men. Firstly, Grady equalized after 52 mins and then Jamie McGowan was dismissed a minute later for hauling down a Dundee attacker. The referee adjudged him to be the last man, but from my position it was unclear if he had denied the home side a clear goalscoring opportunity. Before we knew what had hit us, Dundee took the lead from the resulting free-kick and from then on it was always going to be an uphill struggle. We were given a glimmer of hope when Grady was himself dismissed after 61 mins for diving, but a couple of bizarre substitutions (including replacing Don Goodman instead of John Davies or the equally ineffective Kevin Twaddle) handed the impetus back to the home side, and they sealed the win with two late goals, one of which came from the penalty spot. In fact, substitute Stephen Craigan was probably fortunate to stay on the field following his foul to concede the penalty as it looked a far more serious offence than that committed by McGowan. To make matters even worse, Stevie McMillan was stretchered off with a serious looking injury, so we may well have a makeshift defence for our next game against Killie. Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse, upon leaving the ground we heard that Hearts had beaten Celtic to open up a 5-point gap in the race for third place. However, with performances like today's we really don't deserve to be in Europe anyway. It will be interesting to see if Billy Davies has another go at the fans for being critical after they've endured yet another humping to a far inferior side.

Team news for tomorrow's game at Dens Park: Andy Goram is still out and there's no news yet on Greig Strong, but Don Goodman should be ok after recovering from his injury scare against Celtic. Click here for the Daily Record's story on Don's injury.

Today's tabloids all carry features on Andy Goram, after The Goalie revealed the real reasons why he twice turned his back on the Scotland international team. Goram claimed he wasn't "mentally attuned" when he quit the national squad before a Euro 96 qualifier in August 1995, then then three years later he blamed the media for intruding on his private life when walked out of the Scotland World Cup squad. However, he now admits the real reason was a fear of picking up injuries which could have wrecked his club career. He also admits he was told by a member of the Scotland management team that he wouldn't be picked for the opening World Cup 98 match against Brazil.

Don Goodman has been given the all-clear by medics after collapsing during the first-half of last night's game at Parkhead. It has been revealed that Don fractured his skull several years ago.

We were gubbed 4-0 tonight at Parkhead. Another unusual team selection saw us line-up without either Derek Adams or Simo Valakari, with Lee McCulloch playing on his own up-front. The worst possible thing to do when visiting a place like Celtic Park is to lose an early goal, and that's exactly what we did when Tommy Johnston scored direct from a free-kick that appeared to go straight through the defensive wall. It was always going to be an uphill struggle after that, and further indication that it wasn't going to be our night came when Greg Strong and then Don Goodman were injured and had to be replaced. In fact, Don was lying injured near the half-way line and receiving treatment from the physio when the referee inexplicably allowed play to continue, and Eyal Berkovic took advantage to slack defending to put Celtic 2-0 up. Right at the start of the second half, Kevin Twaddle had probably Motherwell's best chance of the night and was unlucky with an angled shot that just went past the far post. However, the game was dead and buried not long after when Benito Kemble was woefully short with a back-header to the goalkeeper, allowing Johnston to score his second of the night. Regi Blinker made it 4-0 when he beat Woods at his near post shortly afterwards to complete the scoring and round off a miserable night for Motherwell. Apart from Twaddle's shot, the only other attempt on goal I can remember is when Ged Brannan headed just over from a first-half corner, but apart from that we rarely threatened. I wish I'd stayed in and watched the Chelsea v Barcelona game instead.

Andy Goram's calf injury is likely to keep him out of action for another fortnight.

The club are running a "treat a friend for free" scheme, where season ticket holders will be allowed to bring a guest to the Kilmarnock game on Sunday 16th April.

Billy Davies had blamed the pressures of the current SPL set-up for Saturday's touchline confrontation with Sandy Clark. The Motherwell boss said:
"I think the nature of the game in Scotland and the pressure that it puts on managers means things get a little bit out of control at times. It's something that's there in Scottish football and we really have to look at it."

Billy Davies has criticized 'Well fans for getting on the player's backs during Saturday's win over St Johnstone. Davies, who was himself barracked when he made a triple substitution in the second half said:
"Our supporters have to understand we won't be able to play pretty football all the time, especially at this stage of the season. They have to be more patient and give us more encouragement. Some of the lads got it today, but that is the usual for us at home. It's time the fans started to have realistic expectations."

Former Motherwell trialist Nicola Innocentin has signed for St Johnstone on a short-term contract.

Kevin Twaddle has apologised for hitting a pregnant woman with the ball on Saturday. The 'Well substitute was warming up during the half-time interval when his volley missed the goal and accidentally struck the spectator. The lady recovered after treatment from medics and was able to watch the second half of the game.

The SFA have announced that no action will be taken against Sasa Curcic following the revelations in yesterday's "newspaper" (see below).

A somewhat interesting article on Sasa Curcic appeared in today's News of the World.

We defeated St Johnstone 2-1 at Fir Park this afternoon. It was a poor performance by Motherwell, especially in the first half, and we definitely rode our luck. A strange team selection saw Ged Brannan start the match at centre-half, but at least Sasa Curcic was back after missing last week's game at Tynecastle. The first 45 mins were dire and passed without any real incident of note, with neither goalkeeper being called into action much. It looked as though the game had 0-0 written all over it, but such fears were dispelled just a minute into the second half, when slack defending allowed Craig Russell to give Saints the lead. Motherwell rarely threatened and it seemed Saints would hold for for victory, until the 76th minute when we were awarded a penalty after Don Goodman was bundled over in the box. This was the only way we were going to make the breakthrough, and Ged Brannan made no mistake from the spot. We received another boost shortly afterwards when St Johnstone were reduced to 10 men, Graeme Jones deservedly getting his marching orders for retaliating against Lee McCulloch The shocking challenge provoked an angry reaction from the Motherwell players, and we were treated to the sight of a near free-for-all in the middle of the park, although the ref soon restored order among the 18 or so players involved. We pushed for the winner and when a Greg Strong punt into the box landed at the feet of Martyn Corrigan, he fired home into the bottom corner to give 'Well the three points. We probably deserved a draw at most, but with Hearts dropping two points at Dens this result keeps us right in with a shout of Europe next season.