Andy_P

I didn't catch that interview but if that is indeed, and always has been the case, then fair enough. I remember from the Well Society AGM and subsequent Q&A getting the impression that financially this season would be much about things ticking over until next season brought in an increased financial rewards package from the SPFL coupled with a greater opportunity to review the playing budget. That would I guess tie in with the target mentioned in McGhee's interview pre-ICT and the one you've alluded to.

I was away and missed this (fortunately?). The old man and Big Stall had been keeping me up to speed with texts until our flight left and having heard it was 0-0 at half-time with us perhaps slightly on top certainly didn't expect to read we'd been pumped 3-0 when I turned the phone back on a few hours later. I don't particularly like the abuse and name calling but there are so many good points raised by different posters across the thread. Picking up on one Desp makes a really good point above about hitting a low that simply demands a reaction, involves some serious soul searching and hopefully is the catalyst to make amends. He mentioned Kilmarnock in February and there was another after the Albion Rovers and Celtic debacles that springs to mind also. This has that feel same about. Not so much fight or flight, more fight or it's going to be utter shite. It has been frustrating reading of another square pegs into round holes "experiment" that in light of form suggests a more back to basics approach is required in the immediate future. Quite whether that equates to our "best" team is up for debate but as much as availability allows it would seem sensible to play your strike-force that have generally delivered over the last year together up front and you play the players most suited to the wide areas of midfield simply to give the team as much of a natural balance as you can. I have enjoyed seeing Ross MacLean get game time and I am a fan of Lionel Ainsworth but since we've been seeking a naturally left-sided midfielder/winger as a replacement for Johnson and over the last 18 months have been crying out for Dom Thomas to have an extended run to see what he can do over a period, then that strikes me as a fairly obvious solution to providing some of the balance that has been missing - at least until the transfer window. When we have one win in 9 or 10 it is surely worth a try. I was one who was happy that the senior players were all retained in the summer and still believe that over the piece the presence of Hammell in the squad can be beneficial for the likes of Watt and McMillan, that McManus can assist in the development of Heneghan and Ferguson, Lasley with Cadden and Campbell and McDonald with Mackin and so on. Clearly though as our senior players they should be the ones driving us forward (I know, I know....) and like in those scenarios mentioned before there is a strong onus on them to deliver in these immediate games ahead. More generally I once read an article in The Absolute Game (a sadly missed absolutely quality fanzine from back in the day) where a writer made the point that time in football is circular. Sooner or later you'll end up back at the same point you are now. It's just a case of how long it takes. And here we are in not too dis-similar position from the one McGhee inherited - and curiously a similar position to where we were at a point during his second season in charge last time around He turned that around to an extent then and I believe he'll do likewise this time but I do sometimes wonder at the lack of a figurehead driving things behind the scenes. I noted in his presser pre-Inverness McGhee stating his objectives were keeping the club in the division and developing players. This caught my attention. Perhaps true but it seemed quite a modest goal given the general similarity of everyone from about 4th please downwards. Acknowledging of course that what is said in a press conference is not always what is the true intention I might have expected the line to be about pushing for top six, particularly when there was chat about possibly going second before the Hearts game. He had his critics but Hutchison was pretty clear in his belief that we should be aiming for top last season for example. Looking forward to the reaction on Saturday (he said hopefully!)

Was he not particularly successful at Morton Benny Rooney?

Positives and negatives. I was apprehensive beforehand, and a little more so when seeing the youthful look of some of the team but it was far from the worst performance of the season. They could have scored a few more but we were never out of it, well until they got the second, and even though it was still a defeat it was night and day to our last visit there. Moult had one chance in the second half that I would have expected a player of his calibre to have done much better with but nothing really quite clear cut otherwise. The main point of discussion for me from the game was the younger guys. I'm presuming the inclusion of McMillan and MacLean in the starting eleven and Hastie on the bench were through necessity for on the face of it would seem quite an odd place to chuck young players in for their first starts. There's an argument that if they play at Parkhead there is no level of expectation placed upon them as you expect to lose anyway, but what if we'd been toed and say McMillan had been utterly destroyed at full-back? It could have had a really negative effect on the guy's confidence. But the flip side to that of course us that if you are willing to start them at arguably the most difficult venue you can play at in the country and they've done themselves no harm whatsoever with their performances, then there really should be no reason why they shouldn't be considered against the rank and file of the division. Whatever the reasoning it was pleasing to see them involved and I hope we'll see more of them in future games.

Your thoughts and votes please...

A couple of brief things spring to mind. Crowds have gone up and down but there are many factors involved that can skew things. For example you take the £5 entry fee for a game against Dundee Utd under John Boyle, 11,000 or something like that. Might be have been around 9000 for Dunfermline around the same time. That's going to play with your averages. Then there are things like capacities and how well the opposition are doing when they are scheduled to visit. In my lifetime without checking I reckon our crowds dipped in the early-mid 1980's then grew again only to tail back off in the recent decade or so. I remember reading for example that when we played our first home game back in the top flight in 1985 there were little more than 2000 at it. At points since we've probably had those 4000 regulars you mention that helped take crowds regularly above the 5000 or 6000 mark. In terms of the Old Firm games there has always been a perception that many don't go but again crowds have fluctuated. There were times in the past that we were almost an unwelcome presence in our home ground given so much of the ground was given over to the Old Firm. But again in the late 1980's a fightback began. Ground was won back where we had half of our half of the covered terracing, then the full half (if that makes sense) and eventually (barring around the No Means No times) you had potentially two and a half stands for Motherwell fans at these games. As for away games. There were points in the past where it would take us three or four visits in current times to number the volume who sometimes went to Celtic Park and Ibrox. Look at some of the highlights where we beat them 1-0 with Arnott scoring, or the same man scoring twice at Ibrox in 1993'94 to get a feel for some of the crowds we used to take.

There is the potential for Celtic for rest some of their players on the back of international duty and ahead of their Champions League game next midweek which if they did could weaken them to a slight extent. I've little doubt though it'll be much the same tactics deployed by McGhee in almost all our games against Celtic since he took charge namely an attempt (key word: attempt) to keep them out long enough that they run out of ideas; and hope that, even if they are a single goal up they become so complacent at our inability to do absolutely anything they lose focus and we catch them on the hop. As soon as the second goal goes in however we're fucked and it's how many, particularly if that second goal comes in the first half.

Ayr fan that goes to the Scotland games with us suggests Dom Thomas is headed to Somerset Park. Presumably this will be on loan to January with the option to review. Overdue but very necessary I'd say. They should benefit from a hungry player with lots to prove.

Mind the Aberdeen game has been postponed though so not clear when or in what form each of the two teams will be in when it comes around.

A frustrating night in many respects. I thought the scoreline was harsh on us and we weren't a million miles away from deserving a share of the spoils but we did little to help ourselves throughout. Thought apart from the really dull fifteen-twenty minute spell after Cadden went off injured where we seemed to sit back, give them the ball and allow them to find new ways of doing nothing with it, the game ebbed and flowed quite nicely. It was annoying to go behind on the stroke of half-time and in the manner it was conceded. It did however serve to give us something of a kick up the backside and I felt we were much better in the second half. But we didn't take our chances when they came and whilst the finish for their second was good once more we were culpable for passing up opportunities to clear our lines. The third just kind of confirmed of it wasn't our night although seeing McFadden find the back of the net in claret and amber fair warmed the heart, if only for a little while. We all know how important he's become to the team for the drive and energy he brings but we really missed Cadds when we went off. The other obvious talking point about the team is the front three. If anything the attempts to find the right balance appeared to have gone backwards last night. McGhee certainly got the workrate and defending from the front mentality he sought but at what cost? It was painful stuff seeing your top scorer filling in at right back and putting in crosses to the area of the field he would normally be waiting to take advantage of them. For all that there were some positives. We did stick at it even when it was clear the game was gone which is never a bad attribute for a team to have but all in all a pretty disappointing night,

Your thoughts and votes please...

Black was someone I never really warmed to when he was at Fir Park. He came with a great reputation but never seemed to be particularly happy when he was here. What truth is in it I don't know but I mind after he went he claimed he'd been assured of various resources to build the team that never materialised when he took the job, so much so he'd underspent his current budget to make a better fist of the following season. I remember the AGM shortly before we went into administration and he sat there with his fact tripping him the whole night and when asked to speak was hardly full of boundless enthusiasm. Perhaps that was just his demeanour and might explain the wholly different type of character he brought in as his assistant in Terry Butcher, but I have wondered if privately he might not have been that upset at the administration process giving him an exit route with his reputation then untouched.

I'm sure Frazzle dipped his toe in the water with these a wee while back. If not the same company certainly the same shirt. His first impression was a positive one if I recall correctly.

First part ( not highlighted) correct - he got it completely wrong. We all know how it works but it remains kind of laughable given the scrutiny the "respectful" Mr Magic Hat has had over a mere foul that didn't go his team's way yesterday you do wonder if some of the press pack are even aware we've had two contestable goals disallowed in successive weekends, once of which cost us a win. The second part (highlighted) I'm not so sure the Thistle support have had much bearing there. I think, as they do, he's waited until the player connects with the ball before going to raise his flag. There won't be that much of a delay between the ball leaving McDonald's head and going into the net and him lifting his flag. Wrong decision clearly but if he's hesitated a second or two to confirm in his mind what he believed at the time was the correct decision before raising the flag then no issue with that. I don't believe he was influenced, he just made an arse of it.

Your thoughts and votes please...

One of those games that's sometimes difficult to define. Good point or a stolen a point? Robbed of victory or lucky not have lost? Or all of the above? What I can say with certainty was that for an hour we were dreadful. Utterly dreadful. Everything that was awful from that last tortuous trip to Firhill we'd somehow managed to recapture. And we even manage to make it worse with Hammell gifting their goal with a shockingly poor pass across the box. Not that Thistle were much better. I thought we had the bulk of the second half but were seriously prone to being ripped on the break and were fortunate that Thistle passed up two or three excellent opportunities. Credit to the team for sticking at it though. We appear to have been unfortunate with the decision as regards McDonald's first "goal" going by some tweets I've read after the game and after equalising we had one or two opportunities to win. Disappointing that we weren't able to show anything like the form of last week but I suppose a point at any away game in the top flight isn't to be sniffed at even if they were at the bottom of the table. And if you can take a point when you have been some way off your best then again that's far from the worst outcome.

And let's not discount the younger ones in the Cooper either who had a wee banner of their own on Saturday. Tricky to fully make out from the East Stand but appeared to say along the lines of 'This is our County'. Liked that.

Turned into a goal machine too. I noticed he scored late on against Airdrie then was almost immediately sent off. I have it in my minds eye him scoring for Stenny, running the length of the field to give the Section B a Higdonesque GIRUY before taking his leave to a standing ovation. Dare say in reality it was a shade more mundane...

There's a debate about attracting youngsters and keeping them as supporters of the club on another thread currently. Imagine you're that kid that gets to stand on the park and read the Motherwell team out. There's your emotional tie to the club sorted right there without a single penny of investment required. Might be pretty daft to you but what a fucking buzz for a six year old that must be and a story that will be recounted by that wean, his family and friends for God only knows how long. And besides I'd wager in this day and age it'll actually be a minority that are only finding out what the team is through the PA system.

Public transport is best....said the SPT employee!

Your thoughts and votes please...

What to make of that! Fantastic to win and a fantastic feat by Louis Moult yet it was still a game that rarely were you able to fully relax and enjoy it. The start was like a McGhee side of old. Cigars and brandy out by twenty-past three. Or so we thought. If not exactly dominant in terms of possession in the first half an hour or so we produced a clinical display o finishing. It was disappointing just how much we tailed off after that and they had already served notice a couple of times before their goal. It was vital that we didn't concede again before half-time and got the first goal of the second period. We managed to do both and that just about saw us through. Not particularly great after we went 4-1 up and we lost more than his goalscoring threat when Moult went off around the hour mark. Again we weren't able to relax and there was once or twice at 4-2 it got a little hairy. But we got there. Brilliant to win and beat them. There should be plenty for McGhee to work on before Thistle next week but when you've just won a derby game and seen your talismanic striker pop in a 13 minute hat-trick and go on to add another seems a bit churlish to get too wrapped up in our failings today. Well done Louis and well done Motherwell!

I'm not sure how much you can read into who is in charge but in the two games we've faced Accies since McGhee has been in charge the attitude and application on the park has been everything you would want it to be. Could we say that was the case under McCall and Barraclough? Open to debate. If that's the case again I would like to think that will put us in a strong position to win the game. Getting one over Motherwell is clearly a big thing for your average Accies fan and whilst I consider our games with them "a" Lanarkshire derby rather than "the" Lanarkshire derby I do think there's a wee nudge up on the importance level of a game against say a St Johnstone or Kilmarnock. Perhaps it is because our record in derby games is much poorer than it should be given the respective levels of all the Lanakrshire sides over the years but I must admit I do enjoy a derby win and putting whoever it is in their place. And in that respect much as I want three points it is always quite satisfying to see them trudge away in disappointment after a defeat. Make it so Motherwell!!

Your thoughts and votes please...

Connor Grant. Barraclough signing.