Ya Bezzer!

Ha! A few games back I was talking to someone at the game and I was saying that if you played Mugabi upfront as a striker he'd probably get you 10 goals a season at least. Someone that size that's good in the air, I reckon I wouldn't be far wrong!

Quite a few contenders today but there can only be one MOTM and I'll give it to Ricki Lamie.

I have it as a 4-3-1-2 formation Carson Tait - Kipre, Hartley - Dunne Grimshaw, McHugh, Rose Cadden Moult, Bowman

Don't know if the younger fans have quite the same level of animosity towards Hearts but I absolutely love beating them every bit as much as Rangers and Celtic. Best display of the season. Absolutely dominated from start to finish and should have probably won by quite a few more than we got. Was a 2-0 going on 5-0. The one thing I took away from the match today was the fantastic performances from some of the more 'unfashionable' players. Lamie, Maguire, Shields, Mugabi to name but four but everyone can be very pleased with their performance today.

Doesn't really narrow it down much!

Also has the best passing accuracy of any of our midfielders.

If you are playing 4 at the back full backs should be defenders first and foremost. You defend as four in a line and if the full backs are getting forward you are just asking for trouble because you are defeating the whole point of having a back four. If you want to play wing backs you go for 3 at the back. Like McLean did when we played Shannon and McKinnon.

I've said this before but when I was a school kid Stevie used to go to the same chippie at lunch time and he always got a bag of fritters! Must be some correlation between fritters and tap ins at the North Terrace end.

With 5 wins in 13, 18 points and a Top 6 spot someone needs to tell 'stubborn' Alexander 4-3-3 doesn't work.

Applause

It's greener than it was when we were 11th and sitting on 19 points in January '21. And Robinson had league runs of 1 win in 14 and another of 1 win in 13. Alexander longest run is 5. There is currently no comparison between Alexander and Robinsons performance. If at any point there is, I certainly won't be defending him.

Kelly came in on loan previous to Alexander so he obviously wasn't an 'Alexander' target. Likewise Roberts probably wasn't a Alexander target either. Count them if you wish though. Out of today's team Kelly, O'Donnell, Mugabi, McGinley, O'Hara, Watt all played previous to Alexander being manager so that's still more than half the team. Then you have others 'senior' players in the squad like Lamie, Donnelly, Grimshaw, Carroll, etc. He picks the XI and the tactics of course but I think it's misguided to say this is an 'Alexander' team in terms of personnel. And the idea that you can just get rid of players like it was a Football Manager games is rubbish. It's not that easy to move contracted players on or bring players in. I will say though that I think our transfer policy has been utter garbage but it goes way beyond the incumbent manager so I think it's unfair to blame Alexander for it.

At a stage of the season when only 33 points have been available in total. We are also only 6 points off a European place. Alexander has to be given more time and I'm afraid we just have to hunker down and deal with the situation that the club was left in. As you said you re-assess it after the 2nd round of matches are played.

This. The standard of player that's being brought in has stunk beyond this manager and even the previous manager. I've said for a while that our transfer policy needs looking at as we have often been linked with a player under one manager and then brought them in under a different manager. I also think our youth system has gone backwards but to be fair a lot of that is beyond Motherwell's control and much of the responsibility for that lies with the clowns that run Scottish football. I think we should still be doing better though.

Four of the team today were signed by Alexander and that's if you include Roberts. And three of the four of them have hardly had any game time - Goss (4 starts), Solholm (3 starts), Roberts (2 starts). There is still a major hang over lingering around this squad from the Robinson era.

There is an expression that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Alexander inherited a sow's ear. People forget we were genuine relegation candidates when he came in and he's turned us into a mid table side. Has it been pretty? Certainly not but there is only so much you can do with the players we have. The standard of the player in the squad has been very poor for a long, long time and you don't turn that round in one transfer window. We have to play a certain style of football with the players we have. We are never going to play football that's easy on the eye with what's available. It's a totally different situation from when Robinson had class players on the sidelines and then brought them in. Pretty much everyone, especially in midfield, is much of a muchness. Until we improve the quality of player at the club it's not going to be pretty but let's just all remember were we've come from. And just for clarification there are definitely things I'd do differently from Alexander but overall I don't see a huge number of game changing options open to him. Right now we are 9 points clear of the relegation place and we are equalling or bettering Hibs, Aberdeen and St Johnstone's points tally. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water here.

That happens every week. I think our team selection and set up is more worthy of investigating rather who we are playing.

First 5 matches of the season we conceded 5 goals with (mostly) Mugabi at right back and Carroll at left back. Last 5 matches of the season we conceded 14 goals with O'Donnell at right back and McGinley at left back. What changed?

We've won 4 games this season and O'Donnell missed 3 of them. Coincidence? EDIT - Oh and Mugabi was right back for all of them.

I'm against VAR but I'm under no illusion that eventually it will be adopted. I have absolutely no faith in it to make the game fairer. Just look at English football where it's pretty much been a farce and no doubt we'll make an even bigger hash of it. At the end of the day it still comes down good officiating and we don't have the officials. VAR will simply make bad and controversial decisions even worse than they are already.

The score line alone makes that one of our worst ever defeats to Rangers but the context of the game is actually even worse. Take the lead, have a great chance to make it 2-0 and miss it. Then we only have 5 minutes to defend well and go in at HT 1-0 and what do we do? We leave Rangers most dangerous player completely free to score and assist a goal. The first goal in particular I didn't see any reason why McGinley isn't right on Tavernier but he isn't even looking the right way never mind getting touch tight. McGinley is watching the game instead of doing his job. Might as well come up into the stand and have a seat. So we completely blow a lead with a couple of minutes of madness and then O'Donnell, just bails out and gets sent off. Idiotic. Pathetic. Garbage. He just wanted off and that was his excuse to get out of there. What a captain. Both our full backs today were absolutely atrocious. After that the collapse was inevitable. I left at 5 and there has only been a handful of games that I've left before the final whistle and that was one of them. Full backs and midfield are not fit for purpose. Could be a long, long wait for the next transfer window because we barely have a player than can place a simple pass. That break forward when O'Hara burst up the field absolutely begging to be played in and I think it was Slattery couldn't make the simple pass, that's our season in a nutshell. No doubt Alexander will get a battering today but if you ask me he's worked wonders with a very low standard of player. It's our transfer policy that needs a kick up the backside because the quality of player we've had at this club for far too long just isn't good enough. If you exclude the brief Turnbull renaissance, where we actually had an exceptional player in the heart of the team, we've basic had a squad of players that can't do basics for about 4 seasons. Go and look at Barraclough's relegation play off team and it looks like a world XI in terms of ability compared with what we've watched since.

I dunno. But I don't think you judge a player on 3 matches. And you said you watch him 'every week' like he's been a first choice player for a long time.

Goss has started 3 times this season or to put it any other way he's been in the team since the 16th October. Maybe we need to give the guy a chance.

I'm going to agree and disagree with you here. I don't think Celtic did get joy swinging in crosses. We defended them and Celtic's goals didn't come from crosses. On the other hand Rangers have the joint best record (with us) for headed goals this season and I think they are stronger in the air than Celtic. Morelos gets a lot of headed goals and Goldson is a big danger as well. I think it is less advisable to let as many crosses come in against Rangers, they are stronger than Celtic in that department.

I think some of the criticism of Kelly has been on the harsh side, while accepting he's not been in his best form. He did very well last night, good handling on a slippy night, looked confident, saved the penalty and then got us a point with that magnificent save at the end. However I do think he got it wrong for the 1st goal. Therefore I have to give it to Tony Watt. Did the work of 4 or 5 of his team mates, scored, tucked the penalty away.