And the 'Well roll on

It would appear this blog is turning into one almost solely focused on Motherwell Football Club but there is a school of thought that says if you write about what you know and love then your writing will be all the better for it. Perhaps it's just because we're in the middle of such a good run and once we start to lose again I'll switch the attention of my blogs to happier things but for now, the 'Well are on a storming run which has taken us from the brink of the relegation zone to genuine contenders for a second successive season ending with a European place.

On Friday you may recall I tipped Cillian Sheridan to score first in the match and his first for the 'Well. I was half right, with the loan-man's winner in the second half enough to see off a spirited Inverness side 2-1 and consolidate our position in 6th place. It was the first defeat inflicted on Terry Butcher since he took over the reins at Caley Thistle and makes it 5 wins and 4 draws in the last 9 league games for the Steelmen. Aberdeen must be looking nervously over their shoulders now, with the gap at only 3 points after the Dons drew 0-0 at home with Kilmarnock. With only 6 games left to the split, Motherwell seem to have a somewhat tougher fixture list than the teams above us but with the unique way our league works in Scotland, just getting into the top 6 will mean that the last 5 games of the season will undoubtedly decide everything. If we win half of the games before the split I think that will probably be enough to ensure top 6. Failure to do that now would be devastating after such a poor start to the season, where at times we had 12 fit first-team players. Now that we have the full complement again (including Brian McLean who has recovered from his horrendous injury and started at the weekend in the absence of the supended Paul Quinn) McGhee can put the same team out, more or less, every week which is really helping the team maintain the consistency which was the bedrock of our success last season. Next up is a tricky tie away to high-flying Hearts in midweek, who themselves consolidated their grip on third spot with a crucial away victory to rivals Dundee United on Saturday. It wont be easy, that's for sure, but with a little luck, who knows? I'm tipping the 'Well to sneak a point with a late penalty.

Fantasy football was a mixed bag. My super secret star signing was Lampard who, as captain, netted me a fat 20 points. The only problem being it would seem my fellow managers also had the same flash of inspiration with Lampard suddenly captain in half a dozen teams, and pretty much all my rivals for 4th spot. Still, some daylight is appearing between myself and the teams below me which is encouraging given that 6 of the 15-man squad were either injured, suspended or on Carling Cup duty. With at least 4 of that cadre due back for the midweek fixtures things are perhaps looking up...?

I'll post later regarding my weekend experiences with GTA4: The Lost & The Damned.

Jode out.