Tweed

Last week Ross County looked as shambolic as I've seen them in losing 4-0 to Aberdeen. Another week on and their new players were able to help them to a win. We could potentially do the same with another week of training and knowing each other. Far too early to talk of throwing in the towel and not winning again this season.

I think at 11/5 outright given the fact we have brought some new faces in that could reenergise us and some of the injured ones could be back seems to be in the 'worth a punt' category.

We don't have a game, but Ross County are playing Aberdeen which was their fixture from the midweek card when we played Celtic. So they could be within touching distance by the time we play and potentially send us 12th. Just putting it out there.

On the drop ball - we really aren't very streetwise. I had no problem with us giving the ball back but why did we rattle it out the pitch and allow the goalie to waste time taking the goal kick. Surely you tap it back to the 'keeper so he can't waste time.

It absolutely cannot have been maybe a foul and never a red card. If it was a foul it was absolutely 100% a red card.

I didn't know it was the ref's job to help. I thought he was pretty good today minus a few harsh fouls in the midfield (both ways) but he was generally consistent. Didn't think it was a penalty and it was a clear red card. Thought Carswell got floored after a genuine collision and through nothing especially violent or dangerous. Think some people had decided he was a tit because of his performance last time we had him.

I kind of forgot to vote after posting that. I was critical of Baraclough deciding to go Ramsden midfield and Reid defence after the red card. But both did well and proved me wrong. The two of them and Erwin were the only ones who started who were close to being a candidate and like a few others, I think Erwin edged it.

Tend to agree. Decision making and finishing need a bit of work but all the hallmarks of a real good player are there.

I think Ainsworth would have got on if it hadn't been for us being forced to bring on Kerr for O'Brien. He had a decent cameo last week (as did Moore) so I can understand his frustration but sometimes you have to make decisions and Baraclough picked Moore today. The first half was disgraceful. Laing was all over the place, Straker didn't look like he had seen the ball before, Carswell and Ramsden barely had a touch, Law made a lot of unforced errors, Watt seemed to have no idea what Straker was doing and where he was meant to be and Sutton & Erwin couldn't get involved. The only positive was that we somehow came in within touching distance but if it had been 3 or 4, we could have had no complaints and I'd have been ensconced in Jack Daniels as there was precious little heart on show, Laing seemed favourite for the ball at the red card, then let it bounce, then ended up behind him before bundling him over when he was going to get a shot away. Absolutely cast iron DOGSO decision and we can have few complaints. The penalty claim looked outside the box from where I was and it hit the guy from close proximity. I'd be raging if that went against us and hard to grumble we didn't get it. Then the second half. What a difference. Undoubtedly we were helped because our opponent seemed absolutely happy to win 1-0 and invite us on to them. As we threw on younger guys through the middle and Straker and Law suddenly looked comfortable on the ball. By the time we equalised I thought we deserved it. It came from a great run by Thomas and Sutton showed he still knows where the goal is if you can work him in. We had no choice but to keep going with our offensive players as we had run out of changes and Wright by throwing on O'Halloran and Graham meant that there were about seven strikers on the pitch which meant an entertaining end. Should have been 0-4 at half time so the fact I think we deserved a draw by the end speaks volume for the way we improved. Hopefully a couple of weeks off on the back of a good finish today should mean there is a positive atmosphere in the camp and if we can get Pearson and a couple of others back, I think we can go up there with confidence.

If we're about to be gazumped by Albion Rovers I'm turning out the lights. Seriously though, it is good to be talking about new players. We need an injection of something unknown and a bit of competition. Only disappointment is it likely means Watt will miss out on Saturday and he hasn't let us down in the two games I've seen him.

Thought Carswell broke up lots of play and was a springboard to letting us be a bit more offensive. He just shaded it from Erwin, Pearson, Kerr and Watt for me.

If the referee misheard the shout of the assistant which is possible as the radio wasn't working then awarding the drop ball was correct. However, to not allow us to contest it was just plain bizarre. I've not watched the highlights but it did look like Fojut just pushed McManus out the road at the corner and it was a blatant foul. Not Craig Thomson's finest day. If he replicates the goal/no goal scenario next Sunday, all hell will break loose.

Good flashes from Moore I'd say, clearly lacking match practice and a bit guilty of being caught offside cheaply (as was Erwin). Few more games and he'll be for the watching too.

It looked like a penalty for a foul on Pearson but the tackle was kind of going the way we were facing so from where the Motherwell fans were it would be hard to be sure whether ball or man was played first. What I would say is that Pearson looked to be ahead so not sure why he would have gone down. Just before the disallowed goal I noticed Craig Thomson motioning to his assistant on our side that he couldn't hear him through the radio mic. My suspicion is there was a communication breakdown that led Thomson to think he had said goal hence he pointed to the circle and then when realising the error had to go for the drop ball. Whilst I can't be certain but it didn't look in. On the overall performance, I thought the worst Motherwell player was acceptable today where in some games that has been where our best player has been. Lets not kid ourselves we weren't brilliant but we lost three goals in the last quarter, two which were bang tidy finishes (one when we were chasing an equaliser) and the one from the corner looked like a clear push on McManus which let Fojut win the header. We competed well, our defending was much better organised, there was a rigid shape. The midfield retained the ball better. Carswell had his best game of the season and Pearson whilst clearly still adapting is a level above with ball retention. Erwin had his most promising game in a 'Well jersey and Ainsworth lively when he came on. With the decisions that went against us, the fact they are better than us this was a much more encouraging performance. I don't even think we deserved to lose. If that performance is par for the rest of the season, we'll stay up and I haven't said that often this season.

I hope the board and management of the club in the non-playing side are preparing for relegation. Not that it is a certainty, football has a habit of changing. Who would have seen West Brom surviving that year? Who would have seen Palace doing what they did last year? Sometimes things just click. But at the moment we look dismal. But if we do go down, the fans will go one of two ways. We will either look like midtable dross in which case they will dwindle or we will start in a positive manner and the fans will come out if there is a title race. So by being ready we could influence it a bit. Fingers crossed it doesn't come to pass!

United aren't blessed with numbers up top so I can completely understand why they would be in for Anier. GMS and Armstrong are better wide and with Bilate out if Ciftci is off they need another out and out forward. He's a good player and with the pace already in the United team, you can only imagine him scoring a few goals.

In which case it was a straight red.

No. The Malpas team was a mid-table team who were comfortably there until they downed tools when they got put out the cup and then couldn't reverse the momentum when the others caught us. I was taken home from work ill yesterday and despite being a lot better today didn't think sitting out in the cold for a couple of hours would be particularly bright so didn't bother heading up today. Rare at 15:08 have I ever been so delighted with a decision I made. From everything I read that sounds like an absolutely desperate and lethargic performance.

I think underpinning all our problems is the centre of midfield. Without wanting to get into a debate who is best of the following, but the first six we'd pick central midfielders from are Lasley, Leitch, Vigurs, Lawson, Carswell and Ramsden. Recurring theme - five of them are injured or in Carswell's case, recovering from injury. This in turn means we lose the midfield and a whack of pressure ends up on our defence. Considering how much pressure was on us I think our defence coped reasonably well but sadly all of them minus Watt were at fault for the first goal. Kerr's ball was dismal and McManus and O'Brien got into a right fankle defending the ball played to Rooney. The second goal was a refereeing masterclass in how not to do it. The whole attack happened because we were pushing. I'd have been annoyed at how open we were if it was 0-0 or in the first half but at 88 minutes I have no complaints. Smith's shot was an absolute bullet, it brushed Law as well and whacked McManus's (down) elbow from point black range. Even if it was handball, it certainly wasn't deliberate and even from the stand I knew it wasn't handball. The ball rocketed upwards at such ferocity it was obvious it must have hit bone and not hand. For a FIFA referee to get that so badly wrong is deplorable. Of course Aberdeen had other chances and deserved to win, and we created little. AInsworth offered nothing today having been the one beacon who started at Hamilton. Ojamaa's endeavour is unquestioned but his decision making is shocking. Thomas and Erwin did well when coming on and I thought Sutton was excellent working off scraps and being fouled constantly by Ash Taylor yet never won a free kick from Collum until the second half.

Ditto

Think it is quite likely this will be tougher than the previous two games but it certainly it isn't a game that is beyond us winning. Hamilton had a wobble but had seemed to turn it round again with wins against Dundee and Ross County. I'm a bit surprised that they lost to Kilmarnock. What is undoubted is that McManus and O'Brien will have to stand up the way they did yesterday and they might have more defending to do with their feet on Thursday as opposed to their heads on Saturday. We need to try and utilise Ojamaa and Ainsworthto keep them pinned back, do that and we have every chance.

To be fair, that was a quick ball that he had to deal with and it was better he over angled it for the corner rather than the net. Thought he and O'Brien were superb yesterday but everything we did that was positive came through Ainsworth so on balance, I'd give it to him. However it was a game where picking a MOTM was not easy because most players did their jobs very well wit very few doing much above that.

Thought the first half performance was really good, especially after we scored the goal. Josh Law has changed from being an anonymous waste of a shirt to a really useful utiity man and is actually like a new signing. Thistle struggled to cope with us in the game yesterday and made a tactical switch at half time and I was a bit surprised Baraclough, given how quick he adapted last week, didn't try and change the shape of our midfield. However, I do appreciate with Carswell, Lawson and Vigurs all out changing how our midfield looks wasn't all that easy. We did defend stoutly however and for all Thistle had lots of territory and pot shots, they never really looked like they were going to score. Erwin's play off the ball is excellent and he seems to read the game well but when he is on the ball he does seem to take a lot of wrong options. He looks like a guy crying out for one to go in scrappily to give him a lift. However, 7 points from 9 is a good run. I felt 8 from the three games we played plus Hamilton would give us a good foundation for the second half of the season and I see no reason why that shouldn't be possible.

It's a new website called mentalbetsforoverlyexcitedmotherwellfans.com

I don't know the inner workings of the club to know how much a credit Kenny Black is due for the last three years or how culpable he is for the last six months but he does seem very naive and immature as a manager. Personally I'm not going to be gutted whatever happens as long as the man we are employing to manage can make his own decision.