joewarkfanclub

Anyone know what the crowd was that night? Been trying to look it up today but cant see any mention of it....

Marshall and Gordon are stick ons. As would McGregor be if he hadnt "retired", but the 3rd place is up for grabs. I think Kelly has a right good shot at it.

I agree. Archer isnt playing so wont be in the mix. Similarly McLaughlan. I am not aware of any other good Scottish keepers playing at a decent level that would be considered. Bain maybe?

Whats the point of a message board if not to pontificate?

Good point. I think we forget at times that footballers arent robots. They are human beings who have all gone through the same emotional roller coaster as the rest of us in the last year.

Kelly must be in with a real shout of that Euro spot, which would be another massive feather in the cap for the club. The only other contenders for me would be Xander Clarke or Robbie McCrorie, but I think Kelly is better than both of them.

Livingston losing today should help us. They should be drained emotionally from losing a cup final and the physical energy expended will have been tough. Bartley looks like he picked up a knock and could be doubtful. He was struggling towards the end. The fact that they have a game midweek against Rangers means they wont have any time to recuperate. A heavy defeat on top of all that could play into our hands. All that said, we need to ignore that and focus on getting the same level of performance we showed against St Mirren and Hibs. If we do that we have a right good chance to win the game.

I hadnt considered this, but I suppose it is a possibility. If that is the case then it would be good to see that the club have shown the backbone that others have alleged is missing from our board, despite the fact that, from a playing sense, it did weaken us on the field. Given our performances after GA arrived, does this explain the drop in levels in the Hamilton and St Johnstone games and why they have improved now it has been sorted? All conjecture. I just hope if it was a problem, it is now behind us and we can move on.

Very tempted to go for Lamie as he had an excellent game today and has had his detractors on here. If he can keep up that level of performance then he may prove himself to be more than just a squad player and will make himself very difficult to drop. I went for Roberts for the 2nd game in a row. I dont think its any coincidence that the energy he has brought to the front line has coincided with an upturn in our fortunes. Took his goal very well and good assist for the 2nd. However, the most impressive thing for me was his desire to work back after he lost the ball. His work rate was phenomenal. Chris Long take note. Honourable mentions for Crawford whonwas excellent, Alan Campbell who looked a lot more like his old self, Tony Watt whose close control and hold up play is a joy to watch at times, McGinley did a great job coping with Boyle when he came on and the mythical Magliore pace finally made an appearance accompanied by a very steady performance from young Tyler. Great day at the office all round.

What a difference a week makes! That was as complete a performance as last week was shocking. Discipline, effort, commitment and no little skill in very tight areas. Not a failure on the park. 2 good goals and a clean sheet! Thought the first half was a fairly even and open affair with us giving at least as good as we got and actually creating the better chances. For all Hibs menace we defended well and limited them mostly to cross balls. Getting the early goal in the 2nd half was fantastic, but naturally it caused us to quickly look to protect what we had. Once Watt and Roberts legs went it was clearly a case of shutting up shop and we did that very well forbthe most part despite Hibs having all the play by that stage. A thoroughly impressive days work against a very decent Hibs side that I dont think anyone could honestly say they saw coming! Morenof the same next week please!

Hibs are a decent side so its hard to see us winning this one away from home. It would be nice to see another solid hard working display and if we could take a point it would be a very good days work. 3 points would be magnificent in the circumstances but I cant see it.

Sorry, Andy/Fizoxy, I should have perhaps clarified my own position before posing the question. I dont really care whether Chris Long never ever smiles in a Motherwell shirt, and Im not that bothered about him not being a badge kisser. For me actions speak louder than anything and for me his body language and work rate on the pitch leaves a lot to be desired. Ive no doubt that there is a player in there somewhere and I thought when he returned we could get the best out of him. You get brief flashes of it every now and again like his goal against Dundee United. However these are just that, flashes. We are in a relegation battle and I want to see all of our players roll up their sleaves and do whatever it takes to secure our premiership status, regardless of whether they are being played out of position or not. For me Long just doesnt do enough and doesnt look as if he cares enough to put in the hard yards. It speaks volumes for me that a guy plucked from Hearts reserves can show more desire in 90 mins than Long has all season. Id love to be proved wrong with him (like I was with Tony Watt) but Im not sure we can afford the luxury of finding out right now.

I always find your input balanced and inciteful Andy, so Im curious re your response here. Do you think Chris Long has shown enough at his time at the club and do you think his attitude is good?

You could say the same about Long who is our player and has way more opportunities than Hastie to show what he has got....

I would expect our captain to be watching the game and willing us on to victory the same as the rest of us.....

Jordan Roberts for me. First start, took his chance and put in a display that got him noticed. Did more in 90 mins than Long has done most of the season. Thought the defence were all very solid. Crawford had a very good game and Watt kept up his excellent workrate.

Much better. Body language was very good from the start. Was a bit concerned to see it was still a 4-3-3 but the return of SOD, Campbell and the introduction of Roberts appeared to give us more energy. I thought it was a fairly even first half albeit we offered more in the final third than they did. However, 2nd half we were the better team without carving them open. All in all a good point. Coulda been 3, but nice to stop the rot and see a reaction from the players after the last 2 very disappointing showings.

If you dont mind me asking, what are battling qualities if its not "getting stuck in"? Are you seriously saying having O'Hara available on Saturday with all the players we have out would not have improved our chances? Whether it be playing him at centre back or in midfield it would undoubtedly provided us with more bite than we had, particularly with the absence of Campbell at the same time. These guys may not be having good seasons, but by god we miss them when they arent available. Im not saying for a minute its about individual players, but all these little things are what makes the difference to the collective. GA needs to find out who are the players he can trust and get them all on the field in whatever formation will work and stop us being so easy to beat.

Discipline and battling qualities arent the same thing though surely? The last game at St Mirren Park, O'Hara was pivotal in us getting something out of the game. He got stuck in despite getting an early yellow card. If he had been in the team on Saturday I dont believe we would have capitulated the way we did. He, Campbell and Watt are the only 3 players we have who I would trust not to hide when we are up against it. Id maybe add Maguire to that despite his detractors. He should never have been subbed on Saturday.

Yes. Whilst we all know Lamie is limited and a squad player at best, he does a job for the most part. Ive seen nothing from Magliore to suggest that he is fast, can jump and head the ball or defend. He is young inexperienced and looks well short of fitness. For all Polworth is our best passer of the ball (in forward areas) his head appears to be all over the place right now and he is not making good decisions. Id go as far as to say he is a liability. That would leave us Kelly SOD Lamie McGinley Carroll Johnstone Maguire Crawford Watt Long Cole Or some variant of that.

Wednesday was already a huge game for us. It just got huger!

Its actually quite a good tactic if you are a decent team who are all comfortable on the ball and struggling to break down a compact defence, as inviting them forward opens up space further back which can be exploited. Unfortunately we are far from being a decent team who are all comfortable on the ball.....

Very few got pass marks let alone MOTM. The only candidate is Max Johnston, who somehow managed to look like a competent right back given all the carnage going on around him. Quite a feet for a 17 year old. Well done young man.

Yesterday was an utter clusterfuck. Most of it has been covered already, but if there was any doubt to the gravity of our situation, it has certainly been dispelled now. The manager has been dealt a heavy blow with the number of injuries and suspensions he has had to deal with, and I would be very disappointed if the players have downed tools because he is trying to implement higher standards in training etc as seems to be being inferred, however he didnt help himself yesterday with his formation. The 4-3-3 has left our midfield being overun week after week already, so to employ it again with a severely weakened back 4 was just suicide. There are already question marks being raised regarding the way we defend ( or dont as the case may be) the wide areas, and the goal kick set plays, if he lines up with the same formation on Wednesday night demonstrating he hasnt learned anything from the last 2 games, he is going to start raising serious questions as to whether he is the man for the job. I really want him to be a success, and I believe if he can get to the summer with us still in the Premiership, then we may see a very different squad next season and the real Graham Alexander. However, he has to earn the right to rebuild this team by keeping us in the topflight. Time to face reality. We are in a relegation battle. We need to get hard to beat and win ugly if required. But just win.

St Johnstone 1-0 win St Mirren 1-1 draw Hibs 2-1 defeat Livvy 0 - 0 draw Killie 1-1 draw 6 points. Any advance on that with our injury list will be remarkable.