Ya Bezzer!

First half I think there was one meaningful shot and it went wide and it wasn't by us. Second half was much better, tempo was much better and we looked a lot more focused. I mean I don't like pointing out the same thing every match but we got so much better when Ebiye came on and Halliday came off. About 2 minutes after he came on Ebiye ran on to a ball through a gap between two defenders and it was almost like he'd reimagined football. It looked revolutionary in this team. The team that ended the match kind of gave you a bit more hope for the future than the one that started it - Maswanhise (good debut), Watt, Ebiye, Miller, Kaleta, a team with some actual mobility. Obviously a long way to go but a few clouds lifted in that second half.

This isn't a football match It's a science experiment entitled 'What happens in a footballing vacuum'. And the answer is of course, absolutely fuck all.

Ryan Jack is a non starter given the current composition of our squad. Maybe if we had a young team you could argue a case but we don't. It's just too big a risk. Given the amount of time he's been out you couldn't even guarantee he'd do a job for us if he was fit. He might well be done.

A winger apparently, so probably someone sitting on the bench waiting to come on for the last 7 minutes as we attempt to salvage something from a match.

We were also paying three managers wages last season because fans wanted a manager out that had delivered a Top 6 position and European football. Paton isn't even that bad if you have the right players around him, Callachan has one 17 minute sub appearance and you seem to have written him off and Nicholson is potentially decent but is injured. Fans need to have realistic expectations and the club needs a period of stability and building instead of the impatient hack and slash of recent times that has only put us further and further backwards.

Watt was already on the slide when he left us. He might be a decent addition but I'd temper my expectations.

I'm not saying it is bad luck....but it could be. You can't just 'rule out' bad luck. I don't know about all these injuries but I know at least a few of them are 'contact' injuries.

I actually think the Hampden chips are pretty good! 🤣

Lamie and Mugabi were both inconsistent but in their spells of good form I think they've both shown more than Blaney has up to now.

Nicky Devlin is at Aberdeen.

Our heatmap from the weekend kinda tells a story. Hmmm, what could be missing?

You can do the same with Paisley by including places like Linwood, Renfrew, Elderslie, Kilbarchan, Johnstone, Barrhead etc. The closest professional club is always going to attract supporters from outlying areas.

There is probably more scope for increasing attendances doing that than trying to get more home fans. Although it comes with a disadvantage if Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen fans are outnumbering us at home.

Kilmarnock have always been a slightly bigger club and Dundee are a city club. St. Mirren are having their best spell of form in decades, it remains to be seen what happens when they drop off but let's also remember that Paisley is a much bigger town than Motherwell.

Don't think any of those things are exclusive to Motherwell's support. Probably applies to all teams at all levels. We have a limited support but I don't think we are 'poorly' supported. In a Scottish context we are probably a Top 10 club and probably only Kilmarnock and Falkirk get slighlty better supports from all the non city clubs.

The fanbase isn't increasing. There have been times when we had excellent players, good form, good results and the home crowds never really change. We have limited appeal and that's what we have to work with. As a fan, I want to be entertained but let's be realistic everyone is happier with one point than none.

Alexander had us Top 6 and it wasn't good enough. Might be a while until we finish that high again. It's just what supporters do now. They have the power through social media so they are going to bash the big red button. However it's almost always a case of destruction rather than construction. Don't always agree with his choices but if we finish above our position last term Kettlewell will have done OK in my view.

We all know that but O'Donnell starts every game. Sometimes managers make things really hard for themselves.

People will exaggerate how bad we were because we didn't score and didn't win but I didn't think the performance was that bad. It was a game we should have won fairly easily. We've created 5 or 6 decent chances to score today and I've seen plenty Motherwell matches were we didn't create any or only 1 or 2. The problem was we didn't take the chances we made. We are basically playing three holding midfielders in a 5-3-2 with one inexperienced full back and O'Donnell who gives you absolutely nothing up the other side. Maybe O'Donnell works in a back four but in a back 5 he's not capable of the role. Lennon Miller had a poor match today and the other guys are a couple of traffic cones. We need full backs to get forward and two out the three midfielders to get into the box but the guys in those roles don't have the tools for the job.

Ross County are playing 3 at the back and always have a spare defender because we are essentially playing three holding midfielders and Stephen O'Donnell.

Think we've looked sharper than the cup matches. Better tempo. Still struggling to create chances but we've had two we really should score, so should be 2-0. We've been the better team and Riss County haven't really caused us any problems so far. However if you aren't clinical it can come back and bite you.

Maybe 5 of that line up isn''t good enough. Remains to be seen if it's injury/fitness influenced or if Kettlewell thinks that''s his team.

I agree and I also think that players who are great at youth level don't always make it at first team level and players who didn't stand out at youth level can sometimes go on and have very good careers as pros. The point is you have to give young players opportunities and stick by them. Football fans are so impatient these days but I think players like McFadden and Turnbull have give fans false ideas about what youth players should be. Those guys took to first team football straight away and left soon afterwards for big fees but that isn't exclusively what youth players should do. Sometimes youth players can be Lasley/Hammell types. Very good players that don't necessarily need to move on. They can be a Paul Quinn type. Some one that came in, made mistakes but with time became a decent player for us. They can be David Clarkson types, came in did well, had a bad spell, then came back better than ever. Or a Jamie Murphy, someone who struggled for a couple of seasons but eventually found his position and form. Another good example is Lee McCulloch who barely scored a goal for about 3 seasons then became our top scorer. Like I said, too many of us are looking for players who can come in and be sold immediately. That certainly helps the coffers but it's not the only reason for having youth players. There are guys out there that need two or three seasons of football to reach potential. We need to be patient, give opportunities and develop players who need development.

Good to see Stavros Tomatoapocalypse in the building. Hat trick v Ross County a cert.

For me you have to give the team a full round of matches before you start seriously trying to analyse it. Right now it's all preliminary findings.