10pm

Today's result: Motherwell 2, Dunfermline 3.

Shockeroonie!  I actually went to the game today!  And guess what?  I probably now wish I hadn't bothered.

Yip, we went down 3-2 to a Dunfermline side who could at best be described as mediocre.  Jim Paterson put us ahead early on with a cracking strike into the top corner, but the Pars equalised after 21 mins when Tarachulski took advantage of our defence's inability to clear the ball by crossing for Campbell to volley beyond Smith.  Shortly afterwards, the visitors took the lead when Burchill scored from the penalty spot after he'd been shoved by Craigan in the box.

A comic cut goal shortly after half time put the Pars 3-1 ahead.  Not sure exactly what happened, but a harmless looking shot from Mason somehow evaded both Smith and his defence and ended up in the back of the net.  This finally sparked Motherwell into some sort of response, and Craigan pulled a goal back when he thundered the ball home from the edge of the box after 65 mins.  We pressed for an equaliser, but were denied repeatedly by the Pars's goalkeeper as the visitor's hung on for an unlikely 3 points.

Although there was nothing much at stake today, that doesn't mitigate such a truly woeful Motherwell performance. The players just didn't seem interested, in fact some of them appear to have started their summer holidays early, with the likes of Foran, Hamilton, Clarkson, O'Donnell, Kerr and McBride little more than passengers.

At least there's only two more games to suffer before the season is over.

Team (4-4-2): Smith, Corrigan, Craigan, McLean, Hammell, Paterson, Kerr, O'Donnell, Foran (McBride 54), Hamilton, Clarkson (McDonald 54 (McGarry 86)).
Subs Not Used: Meldrum, Paul Quinn, Fitzpatrick, Reynolds.

Scorers: Paterson (7), Craigan (65).

Booked: none.

Attendance: 3,621.

Terry Butcher's was understandably not a happy man after the match:
"I'm very disappointed about some of the players' attitudes and performances. Some players have certainly played themselves out of the team and perhaps out of the club. There will be big changes for the team on Wednesday against Livingston.

"A lot of the players are talking to agents who tell them how good they are and what they can do and what moves they can get and a lot of them believe that. A lot of them believe they are better players than what they are.

"I want players who want to play for Motherwell Football Club and if they don't want to then they can push off. That was not acceptable to me, whether it be the end of season, a pre-season friendly game or the first game of the season.

"The fans are quite right to voice their opinion because it was simply not good enough. There's no excuse for that poor attitude on the pitch, no matter what circumstances are or what level you play at. I don't go in for meaningless games, no game is meaningless. It reinforces what I think about some of them anyway and there will be changes on Wednesday."

Newspaper reports suggest that we've taken Preston youngster Mark Jackson on trial, while the Daily Express reports that freed Charlton defender Mark Ricketts is also at Fir Park.  Meanwhile, the Daily Record claims that we are interested in ICT defender Stuart McCaffrey.

However, TB has apparently ruled out a move for either Derek McInnes (Dundee Utd) or Alex Rae (Rangers), and says he won't be signing anyone until his out-of-contact players decide where their futures lie (it seems they were given 14 days to make up their minds).

One player who is definitely staying at Fir Park is Graeme Smith, who has signed an extension to his contact which now ties him to the club until 2009.

Maurice Malpas has named David Clarkson and William Kinniburgh in his Scotland Under-21 squad for the end of season matches in Northern Ireland and Turkey.

The club have cut admission prices for the Dundee Utd game next Saturday to £8 for adults and £2 for concessions.  These prices apply to all areas of the ground.

Season Ticket prices for 2007/07 have been announced.

It's been a while since we had an opinion poll.  So here goes?

Who is your Player of the Year?