Lobey_Dosser

Gave tonight a miss but the only surprise is the margin of St Mirrens lead. Our lofty position at the turn of the year was flattering in the extreme and a reflection of how poor the rest of the league was. After a really poor January window, there was potential for our season to go into freefall and so it’s proving.

Giving Hartley plenty time on the ball is a tactic most opposing teams are employing and understandably so.

Fair enjoyed that today. Hard to judge the level of performance given the conditions but a draw felt like a fair result. Promising glimpses from Rolando and O’Hara had a very decent game. Hopefully our home form can pick up...

The signing makes perfect sense at this moment in time, assuming he’s fairly fit. Having a striker that can hold the ball and link the play will make the world of difference to our team.

While the first half performance was significantly better than Saturday, I’d struggle to give anyone motm over the course of 90 mins. There is no confidence in our end product, the imbalance in the midfield has caught up with us and the fullbacks are off form, leaving the centre halves horribly exposed.

We gave it a right good go in the first half but inevitably got ripped apart. I questioned Robinson’s approach pre-match and while I admire his bravery to try and attack Celtic, we simply don’t have the quality to go toe to toe at present. Credit to Celtic, that’s the best I’ve seen McGregor in a long time and Edouard is just on an entirely different level.

Given the doings Rangers and Celtic have handed out at Fir Park since we went 433, I’m surprised that we haven’t went more defensive tonight. I thought we’d have sacrificed a forward for O’Hara or Mugabi.

Precisely. The only doubt over Murphy is/was his fitness. We may have invested in a plethora of wingers but two have failed to make much of an impression and the two just through the door arrive with big question marks (as do many of our signings to be fair). A fit Jamie Murphy guarantees you goals, assists and character. As for a centre forward, we’ve struggled since the departure of Moult to find the right fit.

Wigan winning at Elland Road for the 2nd season in a row. Last season, Kipre got sent off. Reports from today suggest he was outstanding.

Awful performance and there would have been no complaints had Livi put 4 or 5 past the excellent Gillespie. Worryingly, there were no lessons learned from the opening game of the season and the likes of Hylton and Illic look as unconvincing now as they did back in August. For the last 15/20 mins we had the pleasure of watching Mugabi upfront but at least we can go home happy knowing the club banked a £1m over the weekend, that’s the priority afterall.

I take back the point that Scott isn’t ready for Championship football. First time I’ve watched a game for a while and the standard is comical.

For whatever reason, Robinson seems to be obsessed with forwards that can play across the front 3. Really disappointing that we’ve failed to acquire a number 9. Having said that, strikers appear to be on short supply at all levels when you consider the top English teams that have been scrambling about this week. Regarding Rolando, approximately 60 appearances at the age of 24 and seemingly injury prone. Doubt he was near the top of our list.

Outwith our control to an extent but we are approaching a tipping point where fan enthusiasm for youth development will diminish if we continue to lose our top products after limited or no first team appearances. Regarding James Scott, I like him a lot and was looking forward to watching him develop into a goalscoring Motherwell number 9 over the next 6-12 months. The offer from Hull may prove too good for club and player to turn down but I fear a move at this point will be detrimental to his development. Despite his genuine talent, I don’t think he is ready for Championship football. In the interest of the boy and the national team, hopefully he is good enough to adapt quickly and avoid a Erwin/Hastie scenario.

Other then Dundee in the Ciftci season, it feels like a while since we last had a 3pm cup away day. Think we’ll take well in excess of 2,000 if we get the allocation.

Maybe go with a back three today? Boyle appears to be in a rich vein of form and has caused us issues in the past. Wouldn’t fancy him running at Hartley.

Outstanding result, I really didn’t fancy us tonight so credit to Robinson and the players. I reckon we are 6/7 wins away from finishing 4th at worst. Hopefully we can tick one off this Saturday.

Gallagher. Campbell and Long all very good. Motm has to go Long though, his movement is excellent and that 2nd goal was an excellent bit of technique to get the ball out his feet. Shame he didn’t net a 4th at the end. Tait unfortunately showing no sign of finding his legs again. It’s been a really tough 12-18 months for him.

Watching Sportscene last night, our former youth prospect Kieran McGachie was quite prominent in the Bonnyrigg highlights, wearing the number 9. Lee Erwin meanwhile fluffed a number of chances for Ross County at Somerset Park. However his general play was pretty decent, showing glimpses of his Motherwell form. I wonder if he’ll ever get another chance at Fir Park...

I’m sure we were heavily linked with Jordan White the summer we ended up with Jacob Blythe. Jordan went on to Wrexham instead and soon after encountered some serious health issues soon after. From the odd time I’ve seen Inverness on the tv, he does look a handful but possibly not as refined as you’d like for a 27 year old striker.

If a reasonably fit and well Griffiths is available for loan, surely he’d be Hibs bound? I’d love him at Motherwell but I’d be amazed if this was a genuine option.

Randolph Hateley Aldred Hutchinson Hammell Ainsworth Turnbull Lasley Law Higdon Moult

Today was an opportunity to test Rangers on the back of a tiring week but we never got near them. Our creative players, Polworth and Hylton, offered little while Mugabi was far too naive for my liking. Will be interesting to see if we return to picking up the points against the lesser teams. My hunch is that we need to freshen up the shape and/or personnel in the midfield. Long and Gillespie the plus points for today.

Solid debut from Gallagher, he looked far more comfortable than McKenna. If Declan can keep his form and fitness, he’ll be in with a shout of starting come March.

Should it be finalised, O’Neill to Stoke is a bit of a shocker for me. They are such a grim club. What an opportunity for Robinson though if his country come calling.

After a shaky start, Celtic were very impressive tonight. Dominated large spells of the 2nd half. Hopefully they are a tad jaded and complacent come Sunday. When did we last go 4 years without beating them?