Mike's Moan: New Year Surgery Needed

Last updated : 15 December 2006 By Mike

Our team is in need of drastic surgery in the January sales and I hope that Maurice Malpas can prove that he is up to the job.

The gorgie band of East European mercenaries were simply too strong for us on Saturday and were quicker to every ball. I don't necessarily think we played that poorly with the players we had available but it did highlight the fact that we have an horrendously thin squad. Some of the players we are relying on this season simply are not good enough, and MM has to find replacements in January.


In my eyes we have four key players this season, who need to be playing in every game for us to be any good. Regrettably all of them have been injured at one point or another, and one of them has just been ruled out for the rest of the season.

1 - Craigan

2 - Corrigan

3 - Lasley

4 - Skippy

Other players could be counted as crucial as well, such as Foran, Kerr and Paterson, but these players seem only to play well when the team plays well but do very little when things are going against us.


MM must find players in January who can join this list. We desperately need a central midfielder, a wide midfielder and a target man up front. We have already lost out on Alan McCormack who would have fitted the bill perfectly but we can only hope that Malpas has other avenues to follow. We have had a few players over from Ireland to have a look at, but whether anything will come from this is anyone's guess. At least we have definitely signed Murphy who by all accounts is a quick, strong left back - so one down and only three more signings to be made!!?


Its hard to recommend anyone who we can sign but there must be a good few who are either coming to the end of their contracts or are out in the cold at their teams. Alan Gow from Falkirk would be a decent signing, he has just turned down a contract offer, so he must be considering a move. He has been linked with bigger clubs, but that would probably be a mistake for him at the present time as he is still inconsistent and unpredictable. I would imagine we could offer slightly more than the Bairns in terms of salary especially as we did not replace the players we lost in the summer, but who knows when it comes to the Fir Park purse strings.

We have to play the next four fixtures with the squad we have, with the next two games in particular vital to our SPL survival. Both are against teams that are around us in the league and both are very winnable matches.

Dundee Utd have had an upturn in fortune since Levein took over but they still can't be classified as a decent team. They are better organised and more motivated but we should still beat them at Fir Park. So we need are best team possible on the park on Saturday, and that means MM needs to make a couple of changes from last week. Smith has to be reinstated in goals, with McGarry and Clarkson dropping out for Fitz and Elliot.

The game at Dunfermline on Boxing Day is also vital, and a must win. New Pars boss Stephen Kenny is yet to get a win - what's the odds that the mighty ‘Well are the first team to be conquered…. NEVER!!!


Predictions:

Motherwell 2 Dundee Utd 0

Dunfermline 1 Motherwell 1


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