10.30pm

MALPAS OUT!

Motherwell have parted company with manager Maurice Malpas and his No 2, Paul Hegarty.  It seems that Malpas quit when John Boyle announced plans to sack Hegarty and replace him with former captain Scott Leitch.  Hot favourite to take over as manager is Owen Coyle, with Stephen Kenny and Joe Miller(???) also believed to be in the running.  Leitch is not believed to be a contender, but is likely to be part of the backroom staff under the new management team.

John Boyle is quoted as saying:
"We wish Maurice and Paul the very best and appreciate their contribution to the club.  We will spare no effort in finding a new manager to lead the team on to success next season and we are delighted that Scott Leitch is returning to Fir Park.  He is hugely respected by supporters and players and will be a big influence in the dressing room.  Scott's first priority will be to secure players' contracts and pursue new signing targets."

In my opinion, this is a good move by the club.  We were going nowhere under Malpas (except maybe the First Division in a years' time), his signings were, on the whole, very poor, and perhaps most importantly of all, the standard of football we witnessed last season was absolutely abysmal.  I can barely recall a less entertaining campaign in my 20 years or so being a regular at Fir Park.

Ah well, looks like I might need to renew my season ticket after all!

It seems that Scott Leitch's first job will be to pursue the transfers of John Sutton and Craig Dargo.  Before today's events, Maurice Malpas revealed that he had made offers to both players, plus one other unnamed player.

Under-19 goalkeeper Alan Martin is set to leave the club to join Rangers.

The Official Site reports that the discount on season tickets will be available for a further week.

The new Bukta home kit is now available from the Well Shop.

Darren Smith scored for Scotland Under-19s in their defeat to Portugal last Monday after coming on as a second half substitute.