Reasons To Be Cheerful

Firstly it has to be stated that this year was not an unqualified failure.

Nearly everyone suggested it would be a 'transitional' year and that safety would be all we could reasonably expect. However, when you consider the injuries to key players that we have had to endure, Malpas deserves credit for having kept us so far ahead of the relegation fight. The simple truth is that any club who has three/four vital players out at the same time for long spells of the season will struggle.

The next point is that our youth conveyor belt is still churning away. This season we have seen the emergence of Mark Reynolds and he is undoubtedly a blue chip discovery. Darren Smith is probably not in the same class (yet) but he has shown some potential and is probably a solid SPL player in the making. While we obviously want players that are superstars and will make us money, producing solid players from our squad is also beneficial and not to be sniffed at.

We do have our problems but rather than worry, why don't we look at the positives for once? Graeme Smith seems to have overcome his shaky form and is a very promising young 'keeper. Corrigan at the back should benefit massively from a pre-season and McLean arriving back, gradually and at his own pace, should be like a new signing. Craigan is competent enough and we all know about Reynolds. Murphy appears to be settling down and is getting better game by game. Defensively we look alright.

The midfield is more of a concern but it seems apparent that Vadocz is ours if we want him and he is a good addition to the side. The returning Lasley is like another new signing and they should be competitive enough to compete with almost every midfield in the league, even if they sometimes come out second best. Kerr seems to be off but for whatever reason it hasn't really worked out for him at Fir Park and a changed could be good for both parties. The wings are more of a concern but Paterson is solid, if not spectacular, and Smith and McBride should be able to handle the right side between them. We also have the likes of McGarry and Molloy who, while not brilliant, will do a job. Teams like Motherwell can simply never have a store of quality players in reserve and in truth this pair are probably no worse than the reserves which occupy similar bench seats in Inverness, Falkirk etc.

It is in attack that we have our biggest concerns but it does seem as if Malpas is addressing the problem early. McCormack, if he is ever fit, could still do a job for us and Clarkson offers something useful from the bench, even if it is only running around like a lunatic. Craig Dargo seems a realistic target and if we can add him to our squad we are replacing one good goalscorer with another. However Dargo does seem to be more of a team player and while he perhaps doesn't have McDonald's flair, he could yet make us strong as a team.