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6.50pm

Apologies for the lack of website updates recently, but I've been extremely busy at work.  Anyway, here's a roundup of 'Well related stories from the past week...

Stevie Hammell has signed an extension to his contract that will keep him at Fir Park until 2006.  'Well boss Terry Butcher is quoted on the Official Site as saying:
"We are absolutely delighted that Steven has committed himself to the club until at least 2006.  His talent has already brought him a host of international honours at under-21 level and I am convinced that he will go all way and win full international honours. He is respected by other players and managers.

"Steven has seen two of his best friends moving on to bigger clubs but he will keep improving as a player and can progress to the highest levels in the game. He is one of our longest serving players and proves that clubs in Scotland such as Motherwell can develop players of outstanding quality.  We've talked about the contract for some time and obviously the promise of a long-sleeved shirt swung it!"

Hammell himself said:
"I am delighted that my future has been settled and I hope that the fans keep getting behind us. We've got some great young players here who are showing they can compete with the very best."

I don't want to be a killjoy, but perhaps the possibility that no decent offers were made for Stevie might have influenced his decision to stay...

Young Motherwell defender has gone on loan to East Fife until the end of the season, while goalkeeper Jamie Ewings will spend the remainder of the campaign on loan at Thoniewood Juniors.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh this week ruled that the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise are preferred creditors who should be paid ahead of ordinary creditors when the club emerges from administration and a dividend is offered to creditors.  However, a spokesman for MFC said:
"This decision will not delay Motherwell emerging from interim administration. That will happen before the end of the season.  We had to wait until we received the decision from the Court of Session on the status of the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise before we could put a proposal to creditors but the administrator and directors are now exploring every way to maximise the dividend to creditors as a matter of urgency.

"The decision may affect the dividend and is at odds with what is happening in Scottish football now as a result of recent legislation being introduced. Clubs such as Dundee would not have to pay the Inland Revenue ahead of other creditors but Motherwell do. That said, the decision will not affect or delay the club’s progress in coming out of interim administration."

On a similar subject, reports suggest that we are appealing against the SPL's decision to uphold the 9 ex players' claims in full. The SPFA will shortly be going to the SPL to ask for a similar ruling against Dundee.

I can only assume that today was a quiet news day for the tabloids.  Both the Sun and the Daily Record carry large articles on something that many of us probably knew anyway, i.e. that the club had run out of long-sleeved jerseys for the players and was appealing to fans to donate their long-sleeved tops in exchange for a signed short-sleeved version.  Suffice to say our tabloid friends blew the story out of all proportion, in fact I even received an email from the BBC asking me to comment on the story on Radio 5 Live!

You can read the whole non-story on the Daily Record website.

Gordon Marshall is rated as touch-and-go for tomorrow's match against Aberdeen, with Terry Butcher quoted as saying:
"He has been having treatment so we will have to wait and see. We thought Gordon would be able to play last week but that turned out not to be the case."

David Partridge is still a couple of weeks away from resuming training, but the good news is that Steven Craig will recommence training on Monday after his thigh injury.

Watch out for a group of 'Well fans on BBC Lunchtime Sportscene tomorrow!

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