Stu

So how are we lining up? 4-4-2?

Seemed purely tactical. Gannon wanted two up front, so hooked Hammell and brought Reynolds back to left-back. I thought Hammell had a good start...

Was that not from Hateley trying to clear? Does that count as a shot on target?

Personally thought he did alright. Put himself about and put in a decent shift. He did miss our best chance, however. Putting a glancing header wide which he probably should have put away...

Craigan, just, for me. Coke a very close second. Coke looked calm and collected throughout and was easily the stand-out in our midfield. However, with the 2nd half belonging to Aberdeen, Craigan did excellently to clear the lines time after time.

Right, first of all, I'm just back from the game and was listening to the radio while there. I had to pull my earphones out just before half time because I was watching a completely different game from them. The Sutton header that the radio claimed was a sitter was nothing of the kind IMO. The crossed ball was behind him and I thought he did well just to get a head on it. The fan being tended to in the stands was actually an Aberdeen fan in the Main Stand. He got wheeled out on a stretcher at half-time. The near-side linesman had an absolute shocker, giving us absolutely nothing - including what looked like a stonewall penalty for us early on in the first half. Hammell definitely didn't deserve to be hooked. Craigan and Coke stood out for me. Craigan won everything and Coke never gave the ball away once. Miller's dive was worse than Eduardos. Wonder what the SFA will say? Anything else?

Wait, who says we're signing a former player?

Fair point. I did say 'maybe'.

I would imagine the fans who just simply want Motherwell to win, no matter how dire the game itself is, go to Fir Park regularly. The hardcore, if you like. If we won ugly, they'd be there next week. If we lost ugly, they'd be there next week. However, there are another group, who still support Motherwell and should still be classed equally as fans, who want to see exciting, flowing football. With the quality of football, conditions and extortionate prices, they don't want to pay £20+ to watch a boring game of football in the freezing rain for two hours. If teams did try to entertain, more of these fans may be interested in returning more regularly. Scottish football is in real financial difficulties. Maybe these are the types of fans the 12 clubs of the SPL need to be trying to attract...

It was a half hour programme on Sky. We got about three minutes worth probably. Showed the four goals, Deuchar's blaze over the bar and O'Brien's shot off the post, if I recall correctly. Was decent enough. No analysis or managerial interviews. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Maybe, just maybe, after only seeing him play in one game... an over-reaction?

I'd much prefer it if you just be quiet. We know you don't like Canterbury tops, you've already had posters reacting to your continuous negative criticism of Canterbury, so you must have known posting again in this thread would 'hook' someone in. You've made your point, you don't like the tops. Move on. To get back on topic, the design of the new away top is very impressive. However, I'll wait and see the comments on the quality of the fabric before I part with my money. If I wasn't scared that they would begin to fall apart, I'd probably order both tops!

He's still a young kid. Gannon's not come out and said Hateley's going to be our key player in midfield this season. Let's wait and see what team Gannon puts out in the next couple of weeks, then we can start moaning about signings. Maybe I'm naive, but I like to think of this as long-term planning by Gannon. I'm hoping he sees something in Hateley that he believes he can coach him into being a first-team player for Motherwell in a season or two's time. Gannon's not stupid enough to believe that every young player with potential will develop, so between all the young midfielders we've got, he's improving his chances of having enough to create a strong midfield unit over more than just one season. Isn't long-term planning something we were missing under our previous incumbent?

Hmm, not quite the same anticipation for the away launch then...

Wouldn't it be great if our fans went to games with this attitude...?

Cheers. Interesting to see players being asked to play in different positions. Reynolds: CB, LB, DM; O'Brien: RB, LW, RW; Fraser: GK, BENCH. It's good to see Gannon's wanting to improve the versatility of the team, but also that he's willing to try new things. I know it's ridiculously early in the season to judge, but I had a slight fear that the new signings would be guaranteed starts just because they are his signings. However, Gannon's proved me wrong by bringing Hammell and Murphy back in and leaving out The Hump and Jennings. Although our squad is paper thin, it appears they may (in some positions at least) be more genuine competition for places than last season.

For those of us who couldn't get to the game, or find a decent online stream, what formation did our starting XI line up in?

I love the fact that the manager keeps things so close to his chest that neither the media or people on here know who's coming in next. Far better than being told: "We will be signing Reda Johnson...We are hopeful of signing Reda Johnson...We are waiting to hear back from Reda Johnson...Oh, he's signed for Plymouth."

It was tongue in cheek, Gazzy, don't worry. Perhaps I was being a bit anal with the wording. To me, there's a big difference between "He'll no dae" and "Not really seen much from him so far, will be interesting to see if/when he improves". No offense meant by quoting you there, Frazzle. I think discussing the merits of the new signings is a great idea. It's what being a fan's all about. I'm happy to discuss who's looked good, who needs to lose weight, etc. Let's just wait before we make absolute definitive decisions on whether or not they're good players or not. Remember, a certain Fitzpatrick was considered a hero after a certain cup-tie. Wonder what ever happened to him... To get back on topic, Ruddy looks like he's got all the attributes to be a great keeper for us. I've not seen enough at all to comment on the other three, but I'm looking forward to finding out!

Coke, Hump, Ruddy, Jennings, welcome to Motherwell FC... Season hasn't even started yet, and already some of you are cult heroes, some of you simply aren't good enough to ever play for us again. Bit like how the whole team were brilliant and a shoe-in for top six, perhaps even third, after beating a wee team from Albania...yet, are a bunch of wasters, terrible defenders, poor crossers and will need numerous new signings to succeed after being defeated by a team with true European pedigree. It surely won't be long before we have threads on here demanding a player be put on the transfer list during half time of a game...

I hope they get through. The more Scottish teams progressing, the better. 6-0!

How many people complain that Old Firm loving journalists don't write enough about the despicable behaviour of their fans? Bit of hypocrisy here, in my opinion. Can't believe people are so outraged at what's been written. One of our most loyal supporters has been viciously assaulted, and we're supposed to sweep it under the carpet and keep it hush-hush?! The only guilty party in this whole sorry fiasco are the two scum who initiated the assault. He reported the truth, which is pretty uncommon it appears. He reported that the club have shown care and condolence for one of their most loyal supporters. Exactly what problem has Scott caused here?

Quite sad that you appear to be taking joy at others' misfortune...

I know I'm in the minority here, but if we do bring in a new centre-back, it wouldn't be Craigan that I'd be replacing...