MFCL84

Indeed and Davor does not too bad a job. However, he seems to be being asked to take more of a creative role. A large proportion of the play through midfield seems to go through Davor. This is something that, in the current setup, Halliday should be doing.

Interesting stats. They certainly don't reflect my perception of what Davor does for the team. Those stats would suggest that Davor is the most effective midfielder that we have. His pass accuracy is better than Miller's across the board. Maybe we should be asking big money for Davor. Davor is decent at breaking up play and retaining possession by going sideways and back. It would be interesting to understand what constitutes a forward pass in this context.

I have to agree with this. Davor is a breaker of play, not a play maker. That said, the way that we currently setup in midfield means that Davor frequently has to become a bit of a play maker. His tendency to turn back means that opportunities to make something happen in the final third are often lost, and we make so few chances from open play. That may be where some of the fan frustraion comes from.

A great result. Three points very welcome. I'm very happy with the way the league is shaping up. Well done to the team and management on getting the hard earned points. However, I'm not going to get carried away, the general level of team performance was very poor. No team can continue winning games when they give up so much territory, give the opposition so many chances and lose possession so easily. The stats today show that we managed only 37% possession. We must get better at ball retention or there won't be too many games where we get the 3 points.

I gave it to Wilson over O'Donnell, though both deserve it.

Yes, Sparrow was fully committed in the lead up to it also.

That was a hugely enjoyable game today. There were no failures in a Motherwell Jersey, with SOD and Wilson both being excellent. The defence looked very comfortable for most of the game. Our set pieces were very dangerous thanks to Miller's first class deliveries. On the whole a thoroughly deserved 3 points. I thought that we started very slowly, allowing Hearts far too much time and space, but after the initial 15 minutes we seemed to up the tempo, create a few things and gain the confidence that allowed the team to drive on to a deserved first half lead. A great, high energy start to the second half earned us a very much deserved 2-0 lead. At this point, we could have gone on and seriously damaged Hearts, but we lost a bit of discipline and shape. The team seemed to get caught up in the emotion and excitement being generated in the stands. I think that is what led to the loss of the goal as players chased the opposition in areas of the park that they should not have been dragged into. The loss of the goal led to a bit of a wobble, but I felt that we had settled again just as SK decided to take Robinson and Maswanhise off for Seddon and Sparrow. I felt that this was too negative a change that was intended to shore up the midfield and defence to try to see out the game at 2-1. A tactic that hasn't worked well for us in the past. However, thanks to Salazar, we'll never know whether we would have held out as Tom Sparow did very well to get on to his short backpass and make the game safe at 3-1. A thoroughly enjoyable Sunday afternoon.

I think that the first goal will be crucial in this one. If Motherwell go behind I can't see us being able to claw back a Hearts team that will get a boost from going ahead and be able to sit on the lead and pick Motherwell off as we'd have to chase the game. We need to get the first goal to give us something to hang on to or build on. Our chances of getting the first goal are hugely influenced by how SK sets the team out. Another negative, defensive first half is likely to see us behind at the interval with the game probably lost. We need to be getting at Hearts and pushing for the first goal.

Difficult to choose today. Nobody was outstanding for the whole game, but there were a lot of solid performances. In the end, I've gone for Miller over Maswanhise.

A bit of a struggle, but Lennon Miller because if his first half influence.

100% this. Doesn't look, like a football shirt.

I think Slattery is a very capable player, and when fit and on his game, he is very effective. My main concern with Slattery is his obsession with looking for soft fouls by going to ground far too easily. His game would Improve immensely if he'd stay on his feet whenever he can. I'm happy to retain his services at the club, but I hope that when he does get back that it is the player that we saw early last season and not the shadow of himself that he can became.

Well that's the season over and like a number of others, I'm glad to see the back of it. A season that started brightly, sank to unbelievable depths in the over-long winless run and then recovered enough to see us safe from relegation and play-off places. The 9th place finish is about right. I don't believe that we are better than any of the teams that finished above us and only 3 points taken from St.Johnstone might suggest that we are lucky not to be 10th. As for the football, in my opinion, it has generally been dreadful to watch; our ball retention is very poor and defensive organisation is awful, but we do seem to be able to score goals. Someone will have to explain to me how we manage the goal-scoring, because I don't see a creative pattern to our play. There have been some worldies this season, maybe more than we are used to (thanks Blair Spittal), but that doesn't explain why we are so high in the goal-scoring chart. I have no idea what we'll get next season. Another close season with a huge rebuild required. I'll be there though, like so many others that contribute to this forum. COYW

Yeah, just saying that it is a game of differing opinions. I agree that Gent and Davor got pass marks. In fact, i gave my vote to Gent. I don't really remember SODs doing much wrong and he did have a nice assist for the goal, but not enough for my vote.

It's all about opinions.

Gent for me, but mention for Casey who was solid today.

Yeah, that isn't the point that I'm making. We can score against teams that open up a bit. Especially those that play high and leave space behind. What we are not good at is taking penalty box chances. There were multiple half chances today that were not finished because we don't have an instinctive or natural striker.

I understand the point that you are making, but it is a very black and white view of things. By that logic every team that loses any match deserves to lose, regardless of the circumstances. I'll view it on the balance of play, chances created, etc. and let's agree to differ. A draw would have seemed a fair result to me.

I can't agree with that. We weren't good enough to win, but we certainly didn't deserve to lose. Far too passive in the game in the first half, better in the second, but no real goal-scoring forwards is a problem. We don't have anyone that can convert half chances. A draw would probably have been the right result.

Exactly this. We give too many teams the initiative in games.

Exactly this for me. Vale's energy and pace disrupted the Livingston lines. Something that we were incapable in the first half when we consistently played sideways and back.

Well, that was a surprise and a very well worked goal. COYW.

Strolling about the back doing nothing to try to unlock Morton. Disgraceful application and performance.

Why does Paton try to pass there. 2-0 down and we still won't shoot when we get to the edge of the box.

Dreadful by McGinn in the middle left us wide open. Absolutely done now.