Andy_P

Your thoughts and votes please...

All things being equal I'd tend to agree. But as has been proven time and time again when it comes to officiating and the decisions reached by the appeals panel it is blatantly obviously that things aren't equal. That being the case, if we can afford it and we aren't going to get hauled up for frivolous appeals if there's any dubiety whatsoever and the option is available to us, then we appeal. Simple as that.

I'm excited by this one. Maybe it's just me but I feel we've a lot of unfinished business with Aberdeen when it comes to Cup games and some redress is long overdue. From late equalisers, to goals not given to missed penalties there's a whole lot of making up for be done. And Thursday's just the night for it.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Your lack of belief in Bowman's abilities have been well stated but I don't think that when we finally get to the point after a year where any striker is in as good a place as he's ever been since arriving at the club and has just scored in consecutive games that papping him back on the bench is really the most clever thing to do.

Much of what I'd say about the game has already been well summarised by many posters. One thing I did have a wry smile about our opener was another team allowing one of our midfield to charge up the middle of the park unchallenged and a goal stemming from it. How unlike us was it for us to be the beneficiary of this backing off rather than being the ones to suffer as a consequence of it. Siebsbarmyarmy's old man (who sits in the row in front of us in the East Stand) spits feathers about this on a near weekly basis so it was lovely to see the roles reversed. And again as has been stated the pass from Bigi, touch and finish from Bowman is actually much more intricate and executed than it appeared at first glance yesterday.

For me the noticeable difference was being able to get to the turnstiles unimpeded by a yellowjaiket Take that element out of the equation and there's no need for any turnstile plan.

Your thoughts and votes please...

You sure? I briefly saw the goal on the red button thing on Sky Sports but don't remember hearing his name during the commentary. I'm sure my ears would have pricked up had I heard his name mentioned. Flashscores has it down as a goal for Kait

I still maintain a large part of the inclusion of U20 sides was about softening clubs and supporters up for the future attempt at the inclusion of both Rangers and Celtic U20 sides in the lower leagues in Scotland. Happily though for both of them it hasn't gone anywhere near as well as those in favour of their inclusion might have hoped. None of two of them have come close to winning the thing, the anticipated thronging crowds that their supports would bring failed to materialise and the viewing figures from the Celtic games Premier Sports featured last season were so poor they haven't even bothered this year.

Whaddya know? He's right. Fixed!

I'm delighted after that today as I believe it's a significant result in a couple of respects. It not only builds a bit of momentum in terms of the league campaign but I think it really sets a marker in terms of the progress of the development of this team. We have been eaten alive by Hearts teams in the past when our attitude, desire and physicality hasn't matched theirs. We most certainly matched them today and indeed bettered them in certain aspects. Sure there were some performances that were less convincing than others but collectively it was a joy to see us go about our business with the belief and assurance that we did, even after going a goal down. It wasn't all silky football first minute to last by any manner of means but you look at the team, go through the ages of them and you wonder at the potential of the group. Of course we run the risk of the heart being ripped out of it by this time next week but you think the oldest player who featured today is what 29? A central defensive trio aged 20,21 and 24. The oldest outfield players something like 27. Dare you allow yourself to think we might be on the cusp of something really good here? As for the game itself it was pleasing that the start we made was much more like it. It set the tone well. I didn't think there was much in it initially but felt we got better as the half wore on. They had a good opportunity minutes before but prior to that you were going back to early in the game when they had previously threatened. Good strike from Lafferty but you wonder with our plethora of midfielders just how he was able to find so much space and go so far unchallenged before shooting. Great recovery however. Chuffed to bits to see Bowman get that first goal at Fir Park and what of the sublime finish from Moult for the second. Absolute class. It was unfortunate the third didn't stand as who knows how the game could have gone on had we got two goals up at that stage but Carson's excellent tip round the post from Walker apart I thought we handled them pretty well. There were times certainly when we were hemmed in but I felt this was more a result of Hearts pressure rather than any desire to just sit in backs-to-the-wall style. There were some intelligent and clued up running down of the clock when we did clear our lines and break. It's a shame we have the international break but we can at least go into the down week on the back of a great result and go into the Killie full of belief and confidence. A very enjoyable afternoon indeed!

Your thoughts and votes please...

Cusack was sent off in his first game against them at Fir Park. That was the one he went for the facial reconstruction stuff. Stevie Kirk or A.N.Other might also have been sent off for us too. He was then latterly sent off at Tynecastle when Levein and McPherson took it in turns at winding him up before he lost it. If memory serves me right there was a photo that enraged many at the time where Cusack is in the process of being dismissed and McPherson is down on his knees laughing and applauding the referee. I think Cusack also got another red-card against Airdrie who it would surprise no-one to learn that Alex McDonald had subsequently taken charge of and whose immediate weeks were spent after his appointment recruiting of his most obnoxious former charges like Walter Kidd, Jimmy Sandison and Kenny Black to name but three. There has been some chat about our current naivety in recent weeks but by God Hearts or more particularly Alex McDonald had done us like a kipper game after game for about three or four seasons. Same tactics, same outcome. We never seemed to learn. Always fell for it and more often than came away with nothing but frustration and hard luck stories. The bastard!

I think the nationality element can be overplayed at times. It can be an eye catching statistic that you've little or no Scots in the team certainly but at the end of the day as long as they are doing the business on the park and they as people buy into the ethos of our club, nationality is not the be all and end all. It doesn't really matter if they were born in Bellshill, Belfast or Belgrade. I mean take Louis Moult for example. I bet Motherwell were just another football team that he saw when checking the tables in his paper or that happened be on Sky Sports News when he flicked through the channels. Yet without any previous affinity he's completely bought into the community aspect of the club and makes himself available to supporters, appears at events etc. Then there's the likes of Dijkstra doing podcasts for Motherwell fans 20 years after he last kicked a ball for us and he and Nijholt have come over for events on several occasions. That said, what I think you're also perhaps trying to get at - that an overly large group of fringe first team players blocking the route of progression of our U20's products isn't ideal, now that isn't an unreasonable point. But it is worthy of the debate we often have, of how many Craigan and Robinson believe are ready to contribute and to what degree, and how many are genuinely being held back. I think as Stu alludes to Robinson is entitled to build a first team core, particularly in his first full season in charge. Now that may initially be to detriment in the short term of some of our U20's but I think he's due the freedom to get a squad together and look to supplement that with our U20's rather than be expected to be solely reliant upon them. But by the same token it's also worth remembering though that despite quite a number of players coming in there aren't that many of them who are particularly old and have been brought in to supplement both the U20's and first team. Newell, our new Lithuanian signing (whose name I'm too lazy to cut and paste) and Cedric for example are what 20/21? It's not like we're talking older heads such as Craig Clay or Stephen Pearson being signed and blocking a pathway. At the moment I'm fairly comfortable with how things are set up. A decent sized first team core with a much reduced average age than in recent terms, supplemented by a mixture of young signings in the 20-22 age group in conjunction with our own youngsters already at the club providing depth, cover and competition. You may question the quality of the players but I don't think the make up of the squad is miles off the mark.

I'm pretty sure in Robinson's brief summing up on MFC TV he remarked that one or two weren't at 100% but had gone out and given their all nonetheless and Fisher's name was mentioned. May have played a part in his withdrawal at half-time.

Steelboy it doesn't surprise me you don't get it. Much of what you've written about him for a good bit now reads of the air of someone who has already made his mind up he's not good enough. You might not need to look too hard at times I grant you but you do seem to be defaulting to a negative view pretty much win, lose or draw. Time might well prove you correct,for me it's still too early to say but some of your posts this season have the feel of the Michael Higdon and Stuart McCall stuff from a couple of years ago where you've made up you're mind and nothing is going to change it regardless of what they may go on to achieve.

I don't know about that. There are a plenty things that you can level at McCulloch but to me he's in the Stephen Craigan mould of having got the very maximum out of his career he possibly could through hard work and a determined positive attitude. I can't really remember anything negative about his time with us. He was a hard working laddie who positively revelled in the opportunity of learning his trade alongside the likes of Spencer and Goodman,then earned us a fee when times were getting hard. That said I hope you're exactly right and they're right in the shit but other than some horrible memories of him in a Rangers shirt I can't say I've any grumble with McCulloch at all.

I certainly didn't foresee that outcome when the teams headed down the tunnel that's for sure. As has been said already it was awful stuff and we were fortunate not to be behind. In the grand scheme of things we're still in early days territory as to how we'll fare this season but that first half display did set some alarm bells ringing. Some bold changes by Robinson at the break, in particular Tait to left-wing back switch. I did have a wry smile as the guys behind us demanded changes at the interval only to become incredulous at the sight of Tait on the left. But it was night and day. It allowed Cadden to do what he does best and these days if Cadden plays, generally Motherwell play. It swung the midfield battle our way and Campbell had a terrific impact on proceedings with his determination to close players down, energy and Moult looked much more at ease with support rather than being the rather isolated soul he was in the first half. Our first was slightly fortuitous in the sense that fell perfectly for Tait after Davies missed but not so much given the balance of play was moving more and more to us. The second significant in that it pretty much sealed the win, particularly with the accompanying red card, and for Moult to get a goal. You could almost see the tension and frustration he has been playing with lift from his shoulders after he tucked the penalty away. Just really pleasing to get off the mark. No matter how you've been playing the longer you go without winning the more pressure is likely to inhibit the players and make them even more edgy and cautious so it's good we've got that monkey off our backs. Now to build on it!

Your thoughts and votes please...

Without having watched it yet presumably it'll be in relation to the weekly "Any transfer business" questions from the press conference.

Didnae say he wisnae! As fergi4 alludes to Buff was far from an overnight success at Fir Park, as he's stated himself on the podcast and at Q&A's. There was certainly a progression throughout his Motherwell career but the player we all remember when we think of Brian Martin is not the player of at that first season and a half filling across three or four positions, but the player who reached the heights he did having benefited from having the likes of excellent passers of the ball such as Lambert, Davies and of course Krivokapic alongside him. Not to say he wasn't a cracking footballer, but to me if you're talking about ball playing centre-halves Mio is the one that would come to my mind first. He was unfortunate and should have had more caps. I remember Brown contradicting himself in his actions when he often selected Brian for squads then didn't play him going between a "we know what he can do" approach when overlooking him in some games and then a "you don't have the experience" in others. Won't have been too many times in the last 30 or 40 years we'll have had three players in the same Scotland squad! I have fond memories of seeing him at Villa Park for Scotland v Holland at Euro '96 resplendent in one of his Scotland tops complete with Martin and whatever number it was emblazoned on the back.

Without wanting to go down the whole should they be in or not debate argument whilst not supporting the presence of the U20 teams in the competition I think there was a fair amount of pride to be taken by Motherwell in last year's competition. The U20's performed very creditably beating a Third Division side and then running a team that made it to the Second Division play-offs close in the next round. I think our attendances were amongst some of the highest in each of the rounds we featured in to, obviously on the back of folk thoroughly enjoying watching the Cup winning 20's team of the season before. It's a wee bit of shame then that the team won't have the same backing tonight as they might got had it been played at Fir Park tonight, though I obviously understand the reasons for it. As for the tie I'm sure we will benefit from the senior team having played Queen's Park already but it appears a difficult one to call without knowing much of the strength our U20's this year, the fact this must be one of their first competitive fixtures, that Queen's Park will have had half a dozen games behind them and the aforementioned change of venue. Fingers crossed that even if the result doesn't go their way the team benefit from a game against League opposition.

I don't know what costs are involved but as regards any red card we get if we believe if it's affordable, there's no penalty for the volume of appeals lodged and there's a possibility of the cards being rescinded then if they genuinely believe the referee has erred then it's worth the appeal. Despite the talk from the club last year about appealing Carl McHugh's red-card being futile after McDonald's appeal being dismissed they must surely have been privately irked when they've seen some of the stuff subsequently reversed. There is patently no consistency of approach by those who do these reviews so it's worth a pop.

There was the post about mercenary footballers recently and you would have to concede the tag suits Marvin fairly well. If I remember rightly he was en route to sign for Yeovil before about turning and heading to us. And within eighteen months of arriving at both Motherwell and Oxford he's handed in transfer requests. Not exactly one you'd build a team around on that evidence! That said, Oxford can speak for themselves (personally I think they've bit of a fucking cheek asking for £3m for a player a year ago they were bartering to try to pay less than £500k)on what they anticipated when they signed him but as long as you know what the arrangement is as I think was the case at Fir Park even in the short term a signing like him can be mutually beneficial. We benefited when we was playing us, we'll benefit from him in the future through add-ons and we'll benefit for a good while beyond that as we can point to him when considering all these English non-leaguers and say look at the potential platform signing for Motherwell gives you.