MFCL84

Tough one tonight. Many good performances but Marv just gets it for an strong 2nd half performance.

Some good performances out there today. Scott McDonald takes top position, with Lasley and McManus also dominant.

Play off spot is between Motherwell, Hamilton and Killie. St Johnstone have had a really bad run but are 6pts ahead of us. We won't catch them. ICT are 3pts ahead with 2 games in hand. We won't catch them. Patrick are a point behind, but with 4 games in hand. They'll get enough points to stay clear. Dundee 5pts clear of us with a game in hand. We won't catch them either. So, our realistic aim is to stay ahead of Hamilton or Killie,and hope that Dundee Utd don't perform some kind of miracle.

Scott McDonald for his effort.

For me, there wasn't much between the teams today. I actually feel that Motherwell were the slightly better side. It is worrying that in a Scottish cup tie we seemed to set out to stifle the opposition rather than impose our own game on them. The result was that we didn't have any threat. It seemed like we were playing for a draw for most of the game. Even when we got back to 1-1 there was an opportunity to use the momentum and drive on to try to win it, but it was decided to stick rather than twist. Just a very disappointing day.

So any news on potential signings?

I reckon that if he gets his move to the US we might see him sign a 4th time. It'll still make me smile.

A great early Christmas present. Nothing to lose by giving him 5 or 6 weeks. If he is back to anything like his best he'll be a great asset to have on the pitch, if not it is still great to have him officially part of the club again. I for one will always welcome him back to Fir Park.

Pushing the times and dates of games around for years now to suit TV is finally hurting the game more than the TV money helps. Football is a 3pm Saturday habit. When it is a habit it doesn't matter whether the team is playing badly or not, you turn up on the Saturday. That and the fixture lists where there can be only a single home game in a month followed by 3 homes games the next month is just plain stupid. How do you budget for that?

I've said it before, but I'll say it again, we need a central midfield playmaker. I also think that if the team start to think about supporting the guy on the ball by providing movement, then guys like Chalmers and Grimshaw will look a lot better. Half the problem with these guys is that they don't want to give the ball away, but have few, if any options in front of them. Hence, they invariably go sideways or backwards.

Since day one I've thought that Josh Law was out of his depth. I agree that he gives 100% every game and doesn't hide at any time. However, his distribution down the line generally finds touch and his positional sense is poor. He certainly seems to have improved recently and I hope that he continues to do so. I voted him our MotM yesterday.

A real sense of disappointment today. For some reason I went to the game a little excited and hopeful of taking the points. I don't think there was a lot between the teams. Yes, Motherwell were really poor to start with, but I felt that at 1-0 down they weren't really under any threat. The second was really poor defensively and seemed to take a massive deflection to take it beyond Ripley. Going in 2-0 down was harsh. When Vigurs got the third I thought there was danger that we'd cave, but they kept going and Moult's goal really seemed to give the team belief. A better rub of the green, better final ball, better finishing, and/or composure and we might have got a second and then the game would have been on. Performance wasn't that bad. My biggest criticism of the team would be the lack of movement in front of the ball and lack of close support for the guy on the ball. Chalmers, who was poor today, was often left isolated with the only option being to hoof it or go backwards. Mostly he decided to go backward and keep the ball. Still neednsome creativity in the team.

Great player and my hero as a young lad who started watching Motherwell around the time that Joe signed.

Ainsworth, but only just over Kennedy. Both were very good in the second half. Now if Kennedy can just sort out his distribution.

Has to be Moult for me. Ran his socks off and scored. Ainsworth did well in the second half, and big Mick had a decent game.

Again, another decent performance but not the result that we'd all have liked. Our usual failings shone through. Too many goals given away, and not enough threat going forward. The back line seem to be a more cohesive unit this season, teams aren't running riot like the early part of last season. Just need to stop giving away soft goals. I know that sounds contradictory, but I'm sure those of you that have seen the goals we've conceded know what I mean. However, I'm sorry to say, for me Josh Law just isn't good enough for this league. Positionally he is frequently caught out, his passing up the line frequently finds touch, and as someone posted earlier, he failed to support Thomas out wide in the final 20 minutes. Like others I would be tempted to try Kennedy at right back. In midfield today Taylor was anonymous. Maybe not match fit, but on that showing her isn't going to improve the starting 11. I've said it before, but we need creativity in midfield, and we need someone from midfield willing to run through the lines to breakdown defences. Relying on the wide men won't always work. Not many clear chances being created at the moment. Up top I was really impressed by Moult. He is a willing worker, makes intelligent runs and had an all round good performance. Skippy's touch is still poor. Too many times the ball ran away and allowed the opponent an opportunity to get a challenge in. He needs to tighten that up. However, there was enough there to suggest to me that a Moult and McDonald partnership could work. Decent performance, just need to start getting points.

All in all the performance wasn't too bad. Certainly much better than the early season matches last year. A draw would have been fair. For me the problem is that the centre of midfield does nothing in a forward sense. Everything has to go wide, and with only one wide player on the pitch it meant that Marv was going to have to be exceptional today, because United could focus on nullifying his threat. We do need an alternative to the flying wingers, and there just isn't that option right now. Pearson would have helped by giving us forward runs, but we really need someone to make that telling pass from the central area. Did well defensively today. Hard luck on Laing who was excellent.

The team were very poor, very few get pass marks. However, I don't like the null vote so I'm going for Long. He had very little to do, but made a tremendous save to put one over the bar when the forward was clean through on goal, and he also made a fantastic save at the second goal. So, well played and hard luck George.

Absolutely fuming as a result of that performance today. The performances over the past few weeks had raised my expectations, and this game was of such importance that I decided to go along to an away game for the first time in a long time. I feel it was such a waste of time. Is it only Motherwell that these things happen to? Raise expectations, support responds and the team let us down hard! 1626 of an away support for a team in Motherwell's position is superb. It is a pity that the support wasn't rewarded. As for the game, I was worried as soon as I saw that Johnson was missing. Big John just doesn't have any mobility, he is a penalty box goal scorer. If he doesn't get service he is an empty jersey. I'll never agree with changing a winning formation unless it is absolutely necessary. McColl did it far too often, and it very seldom worked. Moving Erwin away from McDonald today to accommodate Big John just compounded our problems. No central movement and no delivery from the flanks. We may have got away with it if Ainsworth had been on top of his game, but that didn't materialise. Thistle out fought us all over the pitch. They looked hungrier and stronger. Consequently, as soon as the first went in it looked like a very long way back. They deserved the points. It isn't over yet, but avoiding the play-off is a hell of a big ask now.

When he arrived, and right through most of that horrendous run of results I thought he'd get it right. I was just beginning to lose faith when it all turned good. I'm glad it has. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be too late. Must keep winning!

All round superb display tonight. Many top notch performances, but I'm going to give special praise to McManus who had a flawless performance. That said, going forward that team is frightening. If for a bit more composure it would have been double figures tonight. Well done to everyone on the squad, and the manager and backroom staff for the recent turn around.

When are membership fees meant to be renewed? I've been a member since very early on, but have never been reminded that it is time to renew. Consequently I've defaulted to renewing at the start of the season, though I have no idea if that is when I should. A simple letter or e-mail reminder would seem sensible.

Vast improvement over what we have been watching for most of this season. Johnson provides a terrific delivery, but seldom look like we'll get anyone on the end of it. For all our possession, and balls into the box, I don't recall us making a clear cut chance. Something to work on at training. Still, another good performance. Things are certainly improving. Though still some way to go.

Johnson for me. Crosses into dangerous areas all day long.

I have to agree, exciting time at Fir Park. If only we can get it right on the pitch.