Lobey_Dosser

Could well be a loan deal? Murphy would jump at the chance.

Is Eoin Doyle too wild a call? On loan at Oldham from Preston due back on 1st Jan. Likely to be on very decent money though.

I mind nipping away from work to see Motherwell get pumped by Bradford at Grangemouth. The one highlight was Moults substitute appearance as he just looked like a proper striker. The memories and celebrations generated since (Parkhead a personal fav) in conjunction with his willingness to embrace the community spirit ensure he will be fondly remembered for a long time to come. I wish him all the best. From a Motherwell perspective, this deal has been in the mix for some time. I imagine when discussions started we were in a decent run of form and we would have therefore envisaged concluding the deal with a few more points in the bag. To therefore agree a deal in mid December with 1 win in 8, a deal that will see most of the money go to Wrexham/Boyle/Les, suggests we are very confident with the replacement(s) lined up.

McGarry in the Herald running with Moult to Preston for £450k done deal. That will be that.

Moult replacement and a proper left back would be ideal. Then its up to Robinson to utilise a relatively big squad to the best of its ability.

Agree with all that. He has signed a few tidy footballers so surely the intention was to come away from the percentage stuff at some point.

We expecting Hartley back? We have a very good record against Killie in recent times but Steve Clark has had the impact his reputation promised. For me, this is potentially our hardest fixture of the week but that doesnt mean we can pick up a result. Hopefully, Robinson is learning from his mistakes and we strike the right balance between destroyers/grafters and naturally gifted footballers.

From what Ive seen, McHugh is a slight cause for concern. Regardless of his position on the park, he somehow looks far less a captain that he did without the armband last year. Hopefully its just a loss of confidence.

Thanks for digging this out. While we all like a manager that implements change quickly, this stat doesnt reflect on Robinson. Really disappointing result tonight. December was always going to be a tough month and thats been compounded by the injury situation. However, if we fail to win a couple of games prior to Jan, we may not be able to risk selling Moult as the playoff position will close in on us.

Predicted this before kick off. Does anyone have a note of how many substitutions weve made at ht this season. For all the talk of meticulous preparation, the manager doesnt often get his starting lineup right.

Sounds a bit like Ross County away. Patrick Thistle arent as bad as the table suggests but when their renowned weakness is central midfield, similar to Hearts, its dispiriting to see Robbo select such a negative midfield.

If Bigi and Tanner cant get a start in our current predicament, you wonder when they will. Having said that, at least one will probably come on at ht.

Cheers, I now remember this spat. I did wonder what how the value of accreditation would be perceived by employers. Steelboys point on contractors may be a reason for bodyswerving the accreditation process.

Yeah interesting line on best paid players, presumably the Board or Burrows have provided that information. Must have been a very decent offer when you consider the likes of Porter, Hughes, Law and Randolph were presumably on very decent money (albeit a fair chunk of that would be down to bonuses for the latter 2).

No sure I would go that far but from the snippets Ive heard third hand, I get the impression a deal was all but agreed after the semi.

Agreed but its the way the game has gone. When listening to various pundits reviewing such decisions, the consensus seems to be if a defender gives the referee a decision to make, then he is entitled to award a soft pen.

No doubt that was a pen, the stupidity of Lovern deserved to be punished.

Id hope so, nowhere near productive enough imo. We have better players to build the team around.

We dont have a good recent record at Firhill do we? Struggling to think of a good performance other than the Faddy inspired 5-1one Christmas. Id like to see us switch approach and give more game time to our ball players as Robinson would put it. Depending on the scale of our injury situation, we should see much more of Bigi, Tanner, Frear, Grimshaw, MacLean and Dimi in the coming weeks. Time to go 4231 or 433 and try and play through teams with decent movement.

When we do replace Moult, I hope its with a striker that can play upfront on his own. This would fit better with our current midfield and wide options.

According to radio, we had no quality on ball which is hardly surprising when you see lineup.

Sounded like another shitfest. Looking at our starting midfield, we had no intention of exploiting their weaknesses. Having said that, we are always going to struggle without Carson, Hartley, Cadden and Moult. Tough few weeks ahead.

I think the sale of Moult in Jan will hinge on how many points we are clear of 11th position at the end of this month. Get to 30 points and well probably accept a tempting offer.

Are Hearts (and possibly now Celtic?) not the only team in the league committed to the living wage at present?

Very bad news on the injury front that despite our squad depth, could see us exposed during a very busy month. On the plus side, it presents an opportunity to put McHugh in the backline. Wonder if well see Louis play for us again...