Lobey_Dosser

Looking at all those out of contract, Skippy is the only one I'd be offering a deal but the likelihood is he'll be away. Of those contracted beyond the summer, I think we'll be looking to cut our ties with Hammell and Blyth if possible. In terms of young players stepping up, MacLean, Campbell at Hastie look to be carrying the greatest promise. Mackin was mentioned above, he'll be the out the door. So plenty of scope for a rebuild. Ideally we'd be looking at pre-contracts just now but that's unlikely given our precarious position and we may well lose ground on some of our competitors. Huge job for the manager regardless of what league we are in.

Optimistically looking for 5 points: Killie 36 Patrick 35 Dundee 32 Ross County 32 Motherwell 32 ICT 29 Accies 28

This season, every international break has been viewed as an opportunity to get players fit but it rarely works out positively. McDonald and Hammell seem to be permanently dealing with constant niggles that are hampering their training regimes. Even the likes of Moult, who had his operation in August, doesn't look to be entirely free of injury. McManus and Tait are two pivotal losses that have made the task of staying in this league a whole lot tougher. It's unlikely we'll see McManus for a while, if at all this season according to BBC. Robinson's suggestion about rushing Tait back, who clearly shouldn't have played at Rugby Park, underlines the severity of our predicament.

There's no excuse but the lack of sharpness will stem from not training all week.

Due to his experience in the managerial interview process.

WS sent an email tonight shining some light on recruitment process. Five invited for interview, three interviewed. Panel consisted of Burrows, Dickie, Whitefield and the departed Derek Weir. No sign of the Chairman?

Not sure if there is a chance of Tait returning before end of season but according to BBC radio, McManus is now out for 12 weeks rather than 6.

Craigan previously suggested that McMillan has lost his head a bit so I can't see him being rewarded with a first team chance until that's been addressed.

McMillan has had a rough few weeks in u20s. Can't see him starting despite the lack of options.

Yeah, early comments from Robinson have been interesting and reflect the imbalance of the squad that we've all discussed.

I think we'll have little option but to play Cadden at rwb.

McManus was talking about Hughes on radio last night as the other name in frame. Granted, he was going on the reported headlines but I reckon the experienced players would have known who the club were talking to. The Coyle story makes perfect sense to me and ties in with a few snippets I heard at the outset. I'm also led to believe the club's initial offer to Robinson was until the end of the season.

Maybe Robinson rejected a deal to the end of the season... A 14 month contract smacks of compromise.

That would my hunch; not necessarily Simo mind you.

Interesting and not surprising as he spouted absolute nonsense in the Hearts post match. However you wonder how much support he had, particularly in the aftermath of the Skippy/Ibrox saga. He was in need of a supportive Chairman at that point. Do you know if the return of Robinson was instigated by McGhee or the club?

Agree with much of this. A deal for fan ownership was only to be approved ahead of schedule if we had assurances about a sustainable future at our current level. Unfortunately, we look to be downscaling already despite getting favourable terms with debt repayments and much of the support appears to be accepting the downturn in expectations.

Burrows told Motherwell Times that Hughes wasn't one of the 5 while Simo came close.

Skippy, Jules and Hammell not trained so far this week.

For a manager who had Oldham at the bottom of the league to have been the outstanding candidate, the competition must have been dire. Having said that, Robinson is a likeable guy and highly rated coach. To have a chance of success, it's important to have the right staff around him. He'll likely need a more experienced assistant than Faddy and given that he signed Josh Law for Oldham and recommended Dean Brill to McGhee, our head of recruitment is going to have his work cut out. I suspect I'd have been more supportive of the appointment if Robinson got the job in the days following McGhee's departure. However, the incompetence of the club is not his fault and I have no doubt he will be 100% dedicated to doing his best for Motherwell, unlike his predecessor. Good luck to him. Vital few months ahead for Motherwell, the Board and Burrows - they can't afford another mistake.

Robinson 1/10.

Hughes is not my cup of tea despite his achievements at Falkirk, Inverness and to a lesser extent Hibs. The shift in odds yesterday suggested to me that someone had wind of him getting an interview, which may well be the case. I very much doubt he'll get the job though. Publicly slating his current squad a few weeks into the Raith Rovers job is unlikely to impress any interview panel.

Zak Jules over Liam Lindsay. Am I missing something? Big fan of Dom and I've watched him twice on Alba. He put in solid performances but nothing to suggest he'd be on the radar for international recognition. Having said that he is a boy with talent and therefore the u21 coach wants a closer look at him. Maybe the Everton connection between Gemmill, Naysmith and Faddy has played a part here. No surprise with Cadden despite his drop in form since getting injured against Celtic. Plenty potential there.

Hughes has previously talked about his approach to interviews: http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37216822 Can't see that going down well.

On the betting front, Robinson drifted from 1/6 to 1/3 while Hughes has came in from 20/1 to 3/1 today. Edit - Yogi now odds on. Yes, it doesn't take much to move such a small market but some people must believe he has been interviewed.

If we are looking 'under the bonnet' (Dempster must have gave him that one) then you can understand us taking our time, particularly with the international break next week. Again though, the ongoing delay suggest the Board are not sure about Robinson. The limited noises coming out the club when McGhee was sacked implied we wanted an appointment before the Aberdeen game. I therefore suspect we had 1 or 2 in mind but it's not come to fruition and we are now fumbling around trying to find the best of a relatively poor bunch (or not giving up in our original interests).