'WELL SUNGLASSES
Buy on-line for just £6.00

6pm

Well folks, I'm just back after a brilliant two-week holiday in New York and Orlando.  And whadaya know,  I made it home just in time for this afternoon's pre-season friendly against Hamilton Accies at Douglas Park!

Well, perhaps I shouldn't have bothered.  The game ended 1-1, with only a late equaliser from Derek Adams sparing our blushes against the Division Two side.  I know that you're not supposed to read too much into friendly matches, but this was poor, poor stuff and we struggled badly to create anything at all by way of goal attempts.

Hamilton took the lead after around 25 mins, when Thompson was given a free header from a corner kick with Gordon Marshall looking a bit suspect. The home side were easier the better side in the first half, and our only efforts on goal of note were two Alex Burns free-kicks which didn't trouble the Accies goalkeeper.  For some reason, our tactics seemed to consist of lumping high balls up the park in the general direction of our strikers, but without a target man our "attacks" were easily mopped up by the Hamilton defence.

The second half was little better, but the introduction of substitute Derek Adams seemed to finally spark the side into life (yes, I did say Derek Adams).  We carved out a couple of decent chances, but had to wait until 85 mins for the equaliser when that man Adams scored from long range with the Accies 'keeper looking none too clever.

Again, I know you can't read too much into friendlies, but if this performance is anything to go by then another long, hard season lies ahead...

Team (4-4-2): Marshall, Corrigan, Craigan, Partridge, Hammell, Lasley, McDonald (Adams), Leitch, Pearson (Craig), Clarkson, Burns.

The other main item of news while I've been away is that Stephen Pearson is almost certainly on his way out of Fir Park.  The 20-year-old handed in a transfer request yesterday, and then today the club turned down an offer from him from Leicester City as it was "way short of Motherwell's valuation of the player".  However, it seems only a matter of time before he leaves.  Leicester's bid was apparently in the region of £250,000 and they'll have to up that figure substantially if they want to land Pearo.

A few other snippets of news from the past couple of weeks:

• In a bounce game at Dalziel Park on Tuesday, Motherwell defeated Airdrie 2-1 with Derek Adams scoring both goals.  A total of twenty-two players were used in the course of the game, with eleven substitutions at half-time!

• Leg-break victim David Cowan is about six to eight weeks ahead of schedule with his comeback, and will be able to begin light training shortly.  James McFadden has yet to start pre-season training as a result of his foot injury, but says he won't miss any competitive games. 

• Newcastle's Jamie McClen has dismissed the rumours linking him with a move to Fir Park.

• The new away strip for season 2003/04 is now available from the Well Shop.  A photo of it is available here.

Cast your vote in our TWO new Opinion Polls:

Which area of the team most needs strengthening over the close season?

and

Who is your Player of the Year?