Ya Bezzer!

If we can beat Accies and go on to 27 points we probably only need a season total of 41 points to stay up meaning we only require 14 points from the rest of the season. So we'd probably stay up although in current form 14 points is no easy matter, and its probably going to be a tough and nervy watch. If we lose against Accies there is a real danger the arse could completely fall out the season. We must beat Accies or I'm afraid someone has to set off a siren.

Rangers are coming off of two defeats. The Govanite tribes will not be happy. If we can start the game well the crowd are bound to get on Rangers back and this Rangers team cannot cope with pressure. It's been proven time and time again. In fact Rangers have only won 3 out of 9 home league matches, two were against the bottom two teams in the league and one of them was flukey. Despite our poor run I think we can get something out of this match.

Robinson has 3 months, not 3 years. Another round like the last one and we will be battling relegation and the club cannot be relegated. That's not even my personal opinion but a copper bottomed fact. 2 wins in 18 and he'd be out of a job. The two matches against Accies will be huge. Not getting 3 points in the league would be bad enough but if we were to lose the cup match I think you are going to see a major shift in supporter attitude. He has to improve starting tomorrow night or it is only going to get more and more difficult to get out of this rut. In fact 'improve' only hints at what he has to do, we could technically improve and still be in big trouble. We need a defender, a creative midfielder and a goalscorer so I hope Robinson has a good contact book and some of the cash brought in recently.

Tanner with mentions for Tait and Carson.

In the age of sports science is the best way to assess a players fitness to ask them if they are fit?

I said it during the game but there is no over lap in the wide positions because of the formation we play. When Tait or Cadden got the ball they were basically on their own with 30/40/50 yards to get into a crossing position. If only we had an option there for the guy on the ball it would make all the difference - harder to defend, better to attack with.

Just about deserved a point but I think Dundee will be more disappointed with the result that we were - there was a few heart attack moments in the last 10 - 15 minutes.. The first half was pretty poor fair, Dundee started better, we came into it more towards HT but you felt at that stage you could be sitting a while to see a goal from either team. The second half was more enjoyable in that scrappy, gale blowing kind of way that is unique to Scottish football. Poor goal to give away, 46 minutes, straight through the middle of the defence but it was a great finish from McGowan to be fair. Again we came more into the game but I always felt we were blunt up front and Dundee had more cutting edge that us, if we hadn't got a penalty I'm not sure we would have scored today. With Carson, Frear and Cadden all struggling with injury you have to ask a few question whether players were rushed back too quickly today. Dundee dominated in the later stages and our goal mouth enjoyed a bit of a charmed life, Carson saved the points in the final minutes. Tanner and Tait were the best players, Carson did his bit at the end but overall we were lacking creative spark and a goal scoring edge up front.

Me too but at least NDP has a roof. Remember a 1990's hounding at Tynecastle on the open terrace in similar weather to the Accies match.

Took a quick look back the only worst 8 game league run we've had recently was when Barraclough picked up a whopping 1 point from 24 between 1st January and 21st February 2015. A lose against Dundee would equal our worst 9 game run since then, the above mentioned Barraclough run (he beat Inverness in the next match) and the run that lead to McCall's resignation which took 4 points from 27 between 22 August 2014 and 31 October 2014.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Even when we were winning our actual performances were mediocre/poor with a couple of notable exceptions. But then there were a couple of notable exceptions last season too. We've lost 9 out of 18 league matches this season, the same number as this time last season. I think Robinson, like any Motherwell manager, has a hard job to do and I wouldn't even blame him because I think a lot of players, players who have played most weeks, have not been good enough most weeks. However a lot of our support has got a little bit over enthusiastic about the start of the season. Maybe that was understandable since we've endured some poor times recently but the signs were there almost from the beginning. For instance, while you can perhaps get a couple of slightly lucky wins over Ross County and Kilmarnock but you can't perform over a season with a non functioning midfield. Take Hartley out the back line, and he might not be there much longer, and we look as dodgy at the back as we were last season. The midfield is a complete wash out. And up front it looks bleak without Moult there. Have we improved? I think we have, just a little, but it remains to see if those gains hold or fall by the wayside. When you go into a rut, as we undoubtedly are now, it can sometimes be very hard to get out of it. The Dundee match is huge. If we lose this one the whole arse could fall out of the season yet I still believe we have three winnable games taking us up to the break. Those games will probably define the rest of the season. We need players to stand up and be counted now in this run up to the break. If we lose those perhaps you can start looking at the manager but right now a lot of guys are drawing a wage for not much return.

Not saying we should or will but it's possible to win all of these games. I don't think Accies season is inexplicable. They have some decent players at this level - Skondras, Docherty, Templeton, Crawford etc. Those guys would play in most teams in this league.

9 points before the break is more than achievable but we need to get this monkey off our back against Dundee, get a wee confidence boast and find a winning set up. Rangers home form this season is absolutely abysmal so I think it would be a poor result to go there and lose. At home to Hamilton you are always looking to win although if you take Moult out of our team I think the quality gulf between the teams is fairly narrow.

Dundee are in much better overall form but they have still only won once away this season so I'd still put us as favourites to take the three points. A defeat though would be a real hammer blow to the first half of the season. At least I will actually be there having missed our last 7 league matches for a variety of reasons.

Unfortunately the only team he can score against is Motherwell.

Are we going Kipre - Dunne as a central partnership in a 4-4-2? Fucking hell. Got to be a diamond in midfield as well as there is no width there.

I don't really think that is what most people are saying. Bowman can have a role to play but he's not going to step into Moult's shoes. Bowman is not an instinctive finisher, he's just not that kind of player.

We should have a half time substitute sweepstake.

There's no chance we have players on 3 grand a week plus bonuses. Absolutely no chance. I understood a couple of seasons ago the club put a cap in that no one was getting 2 grand and that players that were in the 100,000 bracket had to take a cut or skedaddle. Our very top paid players will be in the £70 - 80,000 region, max. I do think we should factor in a transfer fund into our seasonal budget. It doesn't have to be a huge amount but sometimes paying £50,000 or £75,000 to buy out a contract is the difference between bringing in some real quality that isn't available on the free contract circuit.

I don't mind Willie Miller either. In a world of Keith Jacksons, Derek Johnstones, Hugh Keevins, Murdo Macleods, Pat Bonners.....

Been going to Fir Park since 1982 and I'd consider him as a very strong contender for a place in my Motherwell All Time XI. Tommy Coyne is a lock but Moult would have a real good chance as the second striker. I'd have Darren Randolph in goals, would also consider Scott McDonald for the second striker but it's pretty tough for modern players to get into that side so for Moult to do that shows how highly I rate him. Hope he does really well for himself.

Having just seen the highlights I have to say I was expecting worse from Griffiths at the free kick. Could done better but why the free kick given away in the first place? Sammon is wide of the goal and 20 yards out, absolutely no need to charge in and go to ground in that situation. For me that's just as bad if not worse than the goalkeeping.

Tanner can play in a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1, but only if we change the style of football. I hope Robinson doesn't turn out to be a sort of inverse of Yogi Hughes who's stubbornness towards playing 'good' football and a passing game got him into all sorts of trouble at Falkirk. You cannot hitch every wagon to one style. Style wise Robinson has hitched his to the complete opposite brand of football but he also is getting to the stage where he needs to drop his ingrained coda of percentage football and prove he's more than a one idea coach. The worrying thing is Robinson looks like a rabbit in the head lights in that post match interview. He looks frightened and I've never seen him like that before.

Jones has been playing centrally recently, up front or just off the striker, don't know if that reassures you in anyway. My opinion on this is the one match this season where our performance levels were genuinely great was the League Cup match against Aberdeen and that was the only match Hammell has started this season. Of course we played 4-4-2 that night so we would have to abandon the three at the back set up but for me Dunne and McHugh have to drop out because they give the ball away almost every time, our possession retention is a disgrace for this level of football and it should be the absolute priority to fix that if we are looking to get out this hole we've found ourselves in. Given that Kilmarnock will line up Power, Dicker and Mulumbu in midfield I think there is almost no chance Robinson will stray from the 3-5-2, so it will be as you were.

I make it 13 in 17 league matches. There was also 2 against Edinburgh City in the League Cup.

We have a core of 4 players. The spine down the middle is decent - Carson, Hartley, Campbell, Moult. The truth is the rest are mediocre, out of form, inconsistent or just plain poor. Griffiths seems like a decent back up to Carson but if we lose Hartley at the back I think we are really struggling there with Kipre and Dunne. Campbell is the only performing midfielder we've had all season and the rest need to get the finger out, especially our club captain who I think has been abysmal this term. Moult is great, best striker in the league outwith Celtic, but he's not going to be around in 2018 if you believe what you read. That leaves us with a serious problem in terms of goal scoring because the other guys we have aren't up to it. Bowman can perform the foil role but he's not going to get 15 - 20 league goals a season. Might not even get 10. Says a lot that both Hearts and St. Johnstone can leap frog us this midweek if we lose. Hearts have 1 win in 7 and St. Johnstone 2 wins in 9, ie, they aren't that good. Overall I think the standard of the league this term has been pretty poor, even Celtic are on a downward trajectory.