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‘Well boss Stuart McCall reckons his side are in decent shape ahead of tomorrow’s SPL opener against Inverness Caley at Fir Park.

Gavin Gunning, Francis Jeffers, Maurice Ross, Steve Jones and John Sutton all departed during the summer with Nicky Law and Michael Higdon coming in.

But McCall has been encouraged by the emergence of some of the young talent who are likely to supplement what looks, on paper at least, a fairly strong starting eleven.

[pullquote]I think the squad is possibly better than last season. The younger lads are a year older, naturally, and I think they’re ready to step up[/pullquote]

“I said last season we had a good quality squad although it lacked strength in depth,” the former Scotland International said.

“This season we have lost more players than we’ve gained so we are going to have to be lucky with injuries. If you look at the basis of the squad, we’ve got a lot of young boys. Well, I keep saying young boys, I mean they are 20, 21; lads who should be forcing their way in.

“We’ve got Bob McHugh, Gary Smith and Steven Lawless in the striking department. We lost Maurice Ross and Gavin Gunning from the defensive area so we certainly need one in to opus the rest of the lads. At the moment we have Steven Sanders and Pagey (Jonathan Page), Jordan Halsman came on the other day at left-back.

“But I think the squad is possibly better than last season. The younger lads are a year older, naturally, and I think they’re ready to step up. Rather than me going out looking for loan lads from England, let’s give the lads here a chance.

“They showed in parts at the end of last season in reserve games that they can do it, they have started pre-season well. Hopefully they can step up to the mark and I’m sure one or two of them can do that. Even if one of them steps up and becomes a regular, it will be good.”

Talking of bringing a player in, much of the pre-season speculation has cantered around Blackburn Rovers’ young Irish defender Gavin Gunning, who spent six months on loan at Fir Park last season, and former ‘Well ace Mark Reynolds.

McCall was keen to reiterate his interest in Gunning but ruled out any return for Reynolds who will look to make a impact for Sheffield Wednesday this season after leaving Fir Park last January.

He continued, “There are still bits of wheeling and dealing to be done. We would have liked to have got Gavin in a couple of weeks ago, but financial implications mean that can’t happen.

“Whether we do that in the next couple of weeks, we’ll see. But we’re on the lookout for other players. A lot of the lads are back now in England playing so we can have a look at the reserve games and the lads coming through. We’re monitoring things but nothing to report at the moment.

“In terms of Mark Reynolds, I don’t know where that came from. There is no way we can match his wages. As good a servant Mark was, and we would welcome him back with open arms, but financially it’s just not viable and that won’t be happening.”

Motherwell Football Club are tonight delighted to showcase our new silver away kit for season 2011/2012.

It is Motherwell’s second year with manufacturing giants PUMA and the first with new principle sponsors Cash Converters.

The Steelmen have never previously played in silver and Retail Manager Alan Provan is hopeful ‘Well fans will respond to something different from the usual style of change kit.

He said: “When you think of a Motherwell away kit, it’s almost always white, claret or, on occasions, black. However, we were very keen to try out something a little different in this, our 125th anniversary year.

“The idea was actually initially suggested as a way to mark twenty years since the 1991 Cup win with the silver/silverware link.

“But it went beyond that when we were presented with the initial designs which were fantastic.

“I am absolutely delighted with how they have turned out and together with our new home kit; I think we have one of the best kit sets in the SPL this season.”

Both the home and away kits are available to pre-order now from motherwelldirect.co.uk.

The new PUMA 2011/2012 home kit will be released both in-store and online this coming Thursday (28th July) with the silver away kit set to follow in early August.

The new SPL season kicks-off tomorrow so don’t miss out on exceptional value by picking up your 2011/12 Season Ticket.

Former managers Terry Butcher and Maurice Malpas bring their Inverness side to Fir Park and we want you ‘Well fans to be there to roar on the team.

And what makes our tickets great value? Well, it’s not just the £118 pounds you could save over the course of the season as compared to paying at the gate, we have three more great reasons to be a Steelmen Season Ticket holder.

DAVIE COOPER OFFER

The fantastic “2 Kids go free in the Cooper” offer which kicked-off last season has returned once again. That means any adult or senior citizen purchasing a season ticket can claim up to two Juvenile / Young Adult Season Tickets absolutely free of charge.

We had a 13% increase in our Season Ticket base last year, the majority of which came from this offer, it’s little wonder given an adult and two juvenile’s ticket for the Davie Cooper Stand will cost just £300 – or just over £5 each per game!

WELLevate

With the Davie Cooper Stand offer proving so successful last season, the club have rolled this out to all home stands in a scheme we’re calling “WELLevate”. In a throw-back to an era where youngsters, the lifeblood of the club, were first introduced to the magic of Fir Park by being ‘lifted over the gate’.

Modern Health and Safety regulations would hamper any replication but in 2011, ‘WELLevate’ is the closest you’re going to get. An entirely new initiative whereby if you buy and adult or senior citizen season ticket, you can bring along any kid aged 12 or under for free all season (season ticket book will be issued). We have also reduced the prices of ALL Juvenile and Young Adult season tickets throughout the stadium. An adult

SPECIAL OFFERS

In an exciting new scheme, Motherwell Season Ticket holders will benefit from a range of discounts and offers from a range of companies throughout Lanarkshire and beyond.

Take advantage of any one of these terrific offers from such names as McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, Brewers Fayre, Access NL, LivingWell Health Club and Evans Halshaw.

For a full list of what is available, CLICK HERE.

Motherwell FC can confirm that young midfielder Peter Innes has left the club to join Third Division side Alloa Athletic.

Innes, 20, came through the Youth Development programme and won the 2009/10 Under 19’s Player of the Year (pictured above) before signing professional terms twelve months ago.

The former Scotland youth International spent the majority of last season on loan at Albion Rovers, helping the Cliftonhill side to promotion to the Second Division.

Motherwell Football Club would like to thank Peter for all his effort during his time at Fir Park and wish him every success in his future career.

Motherwell will have to do without Ross Forbes this Saturday as the midfielder serves a one match ban carried over from last season.

Forbes, 22, will sit out the SPL opener with Inverness Caley Thistle at Fir Park after going over the disciplinary points threshold following a booking at Tannadice on May 7th.

[pullquote]The rest of the boys have been planning for Inverness but my focus is on Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday week.[/pullquote]

The former Scotland U21 star admits missing out is a disappointment but has already set his sights on the Kilmarnock game on July 30th.

“I knew about the suspension at the end of last season but, as the Inverness game gets closer, you become a little disappointed to miss out on the opening fixture,” he admitted.

“Along with the rest of the squad, we’ve been working hard to prepare for the new season. The rest of the boys have been planning for Inverness but my focus is on Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday week.”

Motherwell boss Stuart McCall along with Keith Lasley and Jamie Murphy will meet the media tomorrow to preview Saturday’s league opener. The best will appear on the Official site later in the afternoon.

With competitive SPL action just two days away, cbfootball.co.uk is delighted to announce that Score Selector is back and ready for you to enter your first set of scores.

This is your opportunity to show off your SPL knowledge by predicting scores for each SPL fixture throughout the 2011/12 campaign. 

You can create your own mini leagues to see how you compare against friends, family and workmates, as well as measuring up how you perform amongst your fellow supporters.

As well as the grand prize of £10,000 for the overall winner, we have a weekly prize of an iPod shuffle, and a monthly prize of £500 for the person with the most points over the month. There is also £5000 up for grabs for the first person to correctly guess all 6 scores in a fixture group – remember this is a one off, when it’s won, it’s gone. 

Accounts and mini leagues from last year are still valid, and you have the opportunity to change your screen name up until the first day of the new season. 

So check out the Score Selector section at www.cbfootball.co.uk and enter your predictions for the first set of fixtures for this season, or register if you’re a newcomer.  Good luck for the season ahead!

Score Selector is open to over 18s only. Terms and Conditions apply, see www.cbfootball.co.uk for full details.

As an introductory offer, and to allow you to try our new hospitality menu, we are offering a much reduced meal package for two this Saturday vs Inverness CT. 

Start the season in style with a two person hospitality package for just £118.

We would like to introduce our facilities and great match day atmosphere to as many potential new clients as possible with a view to driving membership. Therefore, members are welcome to bring along someone that could be interested in a joining the club or indeed individual match day tickets throughout the season.  

As a Centenary or Millennium Club member you may purchase two meals for the combined price of £49. 

Thursday 21st July is the final booking date for this offer to allow time to finalise seating and catering.

Referee for this Saturuday’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League opener with Inverness Caley Thistle at Fir Park will be Steven McLean.

The 30-year old will be a familiar face to ‘Well fans having overseen three matches during the 2010/11 campaign.

His first was his Motherwell ‘debut’ – a 2-1 win over Dundee United at Fir Park last October. A couple of own goals gave The Steelmen the points despite David Goodwillie slamming home a penalty after McLean had adjudged Stephen Craigan to have handled inside the area.

His next was at Pittodrie when Motherwell took on Aberdeen for the first time since Craig Brown’s departure. A scintillating display from Stuart McCall’s men gave the Steelmen all three points after coming from behind to win 2-1.

It was a difficult game for McLean to handle but, despite howls of protest from the home stands, the young official had an excellent evening and showed composure in the face of difficult circumstances.

Most recently he was the man in the middle for another clash against Aberdeen, this time at Fir Park. A game more remembered for things that happened off the park after the final whistle; on the park the Steelmen won 2-1 again thanks to goals from Chris Humphrey and Shaun Hutchinson.

McLean began his refereeing career back in 1997, aged just 16, but had to wait six years before being promoted to the SFA Senior List. It took him a further four years (June 2007) to get promoted to a Category 1 where he has spent the last three years handling SFL and ALBA Challenge Cup games as well as gaining experience as a fourth official at SPL matches.

He eventually made his bow in Scotland’s top league when he took charge of Aberdeen’s 1-0 away win at McDiarmid Park almost one year ago.  A late Darren Mackie goal was enough to give the Dons all three points and McLean had a good afternoon, booking five players in a competitive contest.

He quickly followed that with another SPL match, this time the six-pointer between Kilmarnock and St Mirren at Rugby Park. A slightly more eventful outing for the young referee with Paul McGowan shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident. Killie eventually won the game 2-1; goals from Dayton and Eremenko cancelling out Steven Thomson’s leveller just after the interval.

A busy debut season; Steven handled ten Scottish Premier League games and is on course to become one of Scotland’s top officials.

McLean will be ably assisted by John Gilmour and Lawrence Kerrigan with Iain Brines on fourth official duties.

Motherwell skipper Stephen Craigan has announced his retirement from International football after picking up 54 caps for Northern Ireland.

The 34-year old has been a mainstay for Nigel Worthington’s side over the past five years and was captain for his 50th cap last year.

But the Newtonards-born defender, who played a total of 54 games for club and country last season, has opted to try and extend his club career but reducing his schedule.

[pullquote]I’ve punched above my weight but I’ve enjoyed that challenge. People have been asking me when I’ve been going to retire since I turned 30.[/pullquote]

“To be honest I’m giving up international football with a heavy heart,” Craigan told BBC Scotland.

“It’s harder to recover between games and I thought for the benefit of Motherwell and my club career I had to give myself more of a chance. This definitely isn’t about my career winding down – in fact it is the opposite.

“The reason for coming away is to try and extend my playing career as much as I can. i’ve been vigilant with regards to looking after myself. I’ve spent loads of money over the years on diets and supplements and sprint coaches and sport psychologists.

“I’ve gone to all extremes to try and extend my career and this is just another way of trying to do it. It hasn’t cost me financially this time, but it has cost me in terms of playing for my country.”

‘Well legend Craigan, who was rewarded with a testimonial last season, admits that playing for his country was amongst his proudest moments.

Northern Ireland have achieved some incredible success over the past few years including beating England and turning up positives results against Italy and World and European Champions Spain.

“Until you stand there and hear your national anthem and see your family you can’t explain what it means,” he said.

“I’ve achieved far more than I ever thought I would. When you do get a little bit down or things get on top of you it’s nice to go and look at some jerseys that you’ve collected over the years. I’m lucky enough to have them from Andreas Pirlo, Dmitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

“For me to be on the same pitch as these guys, I’ve punched above my weight but I’ve enjoyed that challenge. People have been asking me when I’ve been going to retire since I turned 30.

“I think we have a habit of ruling people out in football. David Weir has broken that barrier by playing on past the age of 40. We need more players who play beyond their mid thirties to lift that stigma that comes once you reach a certain age.

“The hardest thing I’ve had to do was to tell my mum and dad that I was giving up. I texted my brothers; I didnt’ have the heart to phone them because I know how much they enjoyed going along and supporting me and the team. That was the hard part for me. But everything was a high for me playing for Northern Ireland. I’ve been lucky, but I’ve worked hard for it.

“But I haven’t just dedicated myself to football for my country, I’ve dedicated myself to football in general, and for the last 7 or 8 years that’s been for Motherwell.

“We’ve got a tough season ahead of us and have an obligation as players to respect the game and respect the clubs that we play for so we’ll be doing our best to have a good season. Anything you get in the SPL you have to work hard for and we’re prepared to do that.”

His National manager Nigel Worthington added: “Northern Ireland is losing a very experienced player and a truly excellent professional.

“Stephen has been a great servant for Northern Ireland and a fantastic ambassador for the country.

“It is sad to see a player like Stephen retire but I wish him all the very best in his career which lies ahead.”

At today’s SPL AGM, Derek Weir was elected following nomination to form part of the five-man Board of Directors.

Ralph Topping was also elected for the third time as Chairman of the Scottish Premier League.

Derek, Ralph and the Chief Executive, Neil Doncaster, will be joined by Eric Riley (Celtic FC) and Steven Brown (St Johnstone FC) who were re-elected by the clubs to complete the SPL Board.

Rod Petrie (Hibernian FC) and Stewart Gilmour (St Mirren FC) stepped down from the Board today after eight and two years’ service respectively.

Ralph Topping, Chairman, said: “On behalf of the Board and the Clubs I would like to thank Rod Petrie and Stewart Gilmour for their time and valued input during their terms; and welcome Derek Weir to the Board.”