Lobey_Dosser

Sore one. I don't doubt the rain has been heavy up there but less and less effort seems to be made across the country to get games on. The first weekend in December the perfect example with early call-offs at Tynecastle and Psrkhead. Reckon we'd have taken a good crowd up today but will now probably take up a couple of hundred miles midweek. At least there is plenty of other good sport on today.

If we can play like we did yesterday, then there is potential to destroy them on the counter attack. However Tannadice is never an easy place to go and the game is absolutely massive for them, they'll get tore in about us. A point wouldn't be a disaster but the important thing is that we continue to put in and organised and energetic performance like we have in recent weeks. Looking forward to heading up there.

Said it many times but Motherwell moaning about the expense of Europe, making losses, asking the fans to dig deeper made you wonder what's the point in success and escalated the slide in home attendances. This was compounded by an increase in ST price in conjunction with £25 tickets to play Starjnan, a game we failed to prepare professional for. If crowds are going to increase, it will be due to the young players making an impact and generating excitement. I think we may be on the right track there...

Hall looked comfortable yesterday, well led by McManus and Hammell. He'll have far tougher assignments though as Celtic never got going.

Moult and Johnson will grab the headlines but I thought McManus and Skippy were outstanding. Skippy the top man for me, he ran himself into the ground and Celtic couldn't handle him at all:

Feel exceptionally fortunate to have been at both Ibrox and Parkhead this year. For all the relative 'success' we've had in recent years these two experiences during a difficult spell have generated unparalleled joy. I thought we were very comfortable for much of that match and still fancied us at one down. Celtic were horrific at the back and our forward players knew they could get the better of them. Had we been a little more clinical, we could have battered them 4 or 5. Thank you Motherwell for rounding off a fantastic week personally in terrific style.

Maybe I'm blinded by my love for Faddy but I don't consider this a strange signing in the slightest. It's a very astute low risk piece of business in my opinion that sends out the right signals to the young ones. I doubt he'll feature tomorrow but the news has spurred me into getting a ticket for Parkhead.

6-4-4 is a ridiculous idea. I'm probably one of the few that isn't in favour of extending the top flight. If there were to be change I'd rather we had 2 competitive top leagues of 10 with playoffs and a fair distribution of cash. Increased excitement, less meaningless games, increased variety in flow between leagues. Ideally we only want to play each team twice a season but a 16/18 team league would kill any sense of competition for a number of clubs mid-season. Fair distribution of cash would kill the argument that 10/10 is too cut-throat to breed youngsters. Looking at the current predicament, Motherwell competing for a 2nd tier title with the likes of Hibs, Dundee Utd and Falkik wouldn't be the end of the world.

The powers at be surely have an obligation to support not hinder the finance and performance of their key stakeholders?

Agree that some decisions should be taken out the clubs hands to prevent the self preservation that has ruined the game. However you would think all clubs would be consulted regarding impact of winter shutdown and reduced summer break.

I'd have thought we could allocate European spots across all 3 competitions if we wish. Don't know what the current script is in England but pretty sure Birmingham got into Europe on the back of the league cup. Will be interesting to hear the views of managers and players. I can't think of the Group stage being anything other than a replacement for friendlies. I certainly wouldn't expect Motherell to curtail their break in order to get fully up to speed prior to such games. It will be interesting to see how the pricing goes. If groups are regionalised, a packaged price under £40 to cover 2 home games and 2 away games could be enticing.

Not a fan of groups but it will be better than friendlies I guess. Are the groups regionalised? In my opinion, for the league cup to return to its former glory it requires an Autumn final and European spot. Neither of which are likely to happen anytime soon.

From the glimpses I've seen we have the best batch of youngsters we've had for some time. Thomas, Cadden, Watt, McLean and one or two others look capable. Hopefully they can continue their cup run this season and be ready to step up next season. This follows on from the recent success of Erwin and I think Moore would have been in the same bracket if it wasn't for injury.

Seems strange to me if we are considering closing the Cooper. If the team is in any sort of form and tickets are reasonably priced we should be able to muster a decent crowd. It is the Scottish cup after all and McCall isn't in charge. Gone are the days when the East Stand was crammed for the visit of Stirling Albion.

From memory, the home end was empty for the United game last year. Hopefully the return to January makes a difference.

Got to be happy with that. Although we're probably jinxed after McCall pulled out our ball.

This has the potential to be a very decent end to end game: it's been a while since we turned up at Firhill though.

Twardzik would have been roasted if that was him on Saturday. Ripley was slow off his line for the 1st and after getting caught out of position, his footwork was horrible for the 2nd. He also appears to have no spring in his jump when crossed balls come in. The big unit is nowhere near good enough at present.

After Albion Rovers away, I've gave up on wanting a decent away day. Diddy team other than Rangers at home will do fine. Delighted we're still in the cup after Christmas this year.

Lasley and Hammell really aren't your cup of tea are they? They both made a helluva difference yesterday.

Ripley's lack of agility and mobility has cost us numerous goals now. Samson might not be far off getting a game.

We're a different team when Marvin is on form. His goal capped off a motm performance. Moult's my absolute favourite though, great signing by Baraclough.

What a battle that was, enjoyed it from the first minute to the last. Ultimately, we were undone by a poor keeper but it would have been harsh on Hearts not to get a point. Good to see Marvin back on song and Skippy's influence growing.

In his pre-match interview this week, McGhee hoped that young players, namely Cadden, Thomas and Mackin, could be worked on by him and his staff with a view to being ready for the first team next summer. If Leitch gets an opportunity he needs to take it this time. Otherwise he'll be off in the summer.

What numbers make it work though? We could have every ST holder paying a tenner a month and we still would make a significant loss on current budget plans. At present, I think we're churning £5-10k a month while budgeting for top 6, player sale and cup-run. Viable option has to be presented to reignite fan interest.