MJC

The draw for the 4th Round takes place tonight after the Ayr Utd v Pollok tie live on the BBC Scotland channel. Hopefully a kind draw to give us at least something to look forward to this season.

I hope so too, because a fit Louis Moult will be invaluable to us this season but sadly so far the signs regarding his fitness aren’t promising.

It’s a good suggestion but there’s been nothing from the club as yet that suggests we’re even looking at this as an option. With the injury/potential injury list we have I reckon there will be more of a focus on getting everyone fit for the restart. I would say that a training camp abroad is more likely than us arranging a series of bounce games.

Aberdeen beat Dundee Utd which is a plus point for us as it keeps Utd five points behind us.

We haven’t beaten Rangers in the league since 2002 and we haven’t beaten them in any competition since 2017. We have lost our last 15 straight matches against Celtic and haven’t beaten them since 2015. If there is another top flight side who has as bad a record against them both as that in recent times I’d be amazed, especially so seeing as I know for a fact that there isn’t one. Even Accies have managed to beat Rangers twice in the league at Ibrox since we last managed it in the 2017 LCSF.

Perhaps but I would imagine that the TV money from SKY covering the game would have been the main factor.

Well let’s hope so. He clearly still has ability and his workrate is first class but his injury record and fitness are the big concern.

Apparently both clubs requested this a while ago, it says as much on that link.

I hope you’re both right about Moult, but so far the signs aren’t good.

They are different types of players though. Phil O’Donnell was able to adapt to being a kind of holding midfielder or lynchpin type middle player and that eventually came good for him and us. He was never going to be the energetic box to box player that he had been in his first spell but it was clear that he was able to fit into his new role in that team. It’s different for a player like Moult who is a striker and a goalscorer by nature. He relies on his fitness and his instinct and from what we’ve seen so far he just doesn’t have that anymore.

I know that. But I also know that he has been here since September and is still nowhere near the required fitness that we need to make a meaningful contribution. Like others have said he worked his arse off today, his effort isn’t in question but sadly he just doesn’t have the fitness, the endurance to do what we need him to do anymore.

Sadly true. Moult, like McFadden is one of my all time favourite Motherwell players from his first spell with us and like Faddy I was excited to see him back, but hoping that he would be fit enough to actually make a meaningful contribution. The sad reality is that he has been here over two months, has started one game (today) and contributed very little when he has actually made an appearance. His only goal came from a penalty. As I said he still shows flashes of his old self and he clearly has ability, but he is done.

Well a point isn’t a disaster but with Killie beating Hibs we are now only two points above the playoff spot. The first two games after the break are absolutely massive for us.

He’s not far off it. This is what I mean about his Faddy-esq cult status with the support giving him far more time than he would otherwise have got if he were anyone else. Had we signed Leigh Griffiths, for example, and he had contributed what Moult has so far in two months then he would be getting slaughtered.

He is fucked. It’s like Faddy 2014 onwards, occasion flashes of his old self but no longer has the fitness to make a serious impact but his cult status with the support means he’s basically immune to criticism.

Kilmarnock beating Hibs so we really need to win here otherwise they are just two behind us.

I’m not expecting us to do consistently well against them but it’d just be nice to get an unexpected win/draw that other teams get against them every season that we never get.

No arguments there but we need all the points we can get the now so I don’t care if we shitfest our way to it, if it keeps us in the league this season I’ll be happy.

Perfect time to score, hopefully that’ll be a game changing moment!

Starting to think is finally our year for the drop. We have nothing about us, very little quality and zero character.

Unless we break our season long habit of losing every game where we lose the first goal then you’re right. Yer again basic, basic stuff costing us in losing that goal.

Not for a long time we haven’t though and that’s my point.

Moult starts up front with KvV.

Robinson and his ‘Well old boys on course to do the Old Firm double in just a couple of months as they’re leading Rangers 1-0 in Paisley. Again sickening to see another provincial side doing to one of the OF what we could only dream of.

It’s starting to feel like a bit of a ‘perfect storm’ for us this season with a shite squad, rookie manager, can’t do the basics and now injuries mounting up. Whatever team we are able to put out on Saturday it is a massive game for us and we need to win it. We’ll have a better idea after the next three games where we are at but we really need to get points on the board otherwise relegation is a distinct possibility. I wouldn’t fancy this team in a proper all out relegation scrap towards the end of the season so we need to avoid that if atall possible.