Optimus Prime

Did the Race Night take place at the end of last month and if so was it successful?

Its a matter of degree mate. Strictly speaking you can improve everyone's speed but the question is would the improvement be significant? With the best will will in the world we'll never make Ross Forbes or Keith Lasley fast. If they're good enough though it doesn't matter - Jim Baxter anyone?

Too many folk here are confusing fitness with speed. If someone is naturally slow you can never improve that but if they are fast you can work on that. Take marathon runners for example - they could run for 120 minutes solid but they'd always be slow over short distances.

Ross Forbes and Keith Lasley are 2 completely different types of players. The only similarities are that they are both central midfielders and both lack pace. Forbes is a more constructive player with good distribution, a good shot, and good at set pieces. He's best deployed in an offensive role. By comparison Keith Lasley is a more defensive player, a jack of all trades perhaps, and a better tackler. The only problem in playing them both together, as we saw on Saturday, is that the midfield looks slow and laboured.

Yes, what looks like sand is in fact the growing medium.

Pitch will not improve much until growing season begins in earnest maybe next month. Best course of action is to resed most of it as soon as possible after last game. There is no short term solution. Growing medium should be ok - just reseed.

That depends on the manager and team. If the right team, and tactics, are picked and attitude shown, irrespective of the result, then the fans will back them. If however they play like yesterday with gash tactics and little will to win then yes fans will turn against them and rightly so.

Maybe some truth in this but I wouldn't overemphasise it. Players like Coke, Jennings, Hately, Ruddy, Humphries and Jutkewicz weren't really playing for the first few games. Lads like Lasley and Craigan were played sparingly shall we say. Don't forget Falkirk had an early start too.

Yes, we've had limited opportunity to assess him. From what I've seen though he's a decent shot stopper but poor in the air. Before he joined us, he was dropped by Inverness for some poor performnces, most notably at Ibrox. Late last season he was recalled due to injury and at Fir Park made a hash of a cross which led to our goal. In the Llannelli game at Airdrie he cost us in the air and looked very shaky. In Wales, ok as a shot stopper but poor in the air. JG soon assessed him, quite bluntly I'm led to believe, as not being of Motherwell standard. He was called in against Accies and did a reasonable job. He came on yesterday, had a couple of good saves, made a hash of a clearance and didn't have much else to do. Thats my evidence base and it doesn't inspire me.

Craig Brown is resporting to his Scotland tactics. You play your 11 best players irrespective of whether they're fit or not and what position they play in.

Ditto. If he's our number one next season we've got big problems.

Eh? Is there an airshow taking place or is it some kind of training exercise?

Teams are only guaranteed an even number of homes and aways if they finish in the half of the league they are predicted to (we have not ) - but the SPL tries to balance things out ie 19 homes & 19 aways if at all possible. Teams finishing in the top six are guaranteed a home game against one of the OF. Other than playing one half of the OF we are guaranteed one other home game, but hopefully two. You'd imagine one home game would be against Dundee United.

Seconded. I suppose, crudely, our fans fall into 2 groups: 1) Those who want to put in as much as they take out: and 2) Those who say "Whats in it for me?"

Agreed mate. Last season he looked far from impressive for ICT at Fir Park, and lost a poor goal in the air. His early season performances for us in Europe were also none too impressive. Its on those games that I base my views. ICT dropped him after a poor display at Ibrox.

In many ways its like nature. If the wildebeest, antelopes and zebras decline then the predators decline too. The prey species control the predators not the other way around. Likewise the Man Utds and Barcelonas need the AS Nancys, Chievos, Burys and Motherwells. To have a healthy and sustainable game the grass roots need to flourish too.

I find that very sad and extremely concerning. It can't be good for football as a whole. If Scots stay away fans want "value for money" then Ibrox and Parkhead are a lot nearer and cheaper than Old Trafford. Next thing we'll see is an Inter Milan Loyal branch being set up in Bellshill, when folk get tired of watching minnows like Aston Villa and Everton.

Assuming you've travelled from Scotland I'd say Fir Park without a doubt. You have to take travel costs into account. Watching footie is not all about value for money and watching the most successful teams in Europe. Each to their own though.

And thats where the ref got it horrendously wrong yesterday. Ross Forbes was not time wasting. When Forbes received the ball at our end of the pitch there was a cacaphony of noise. The ref then blew his whistle which none of us heard and Rossco didn't either (you could tell by the expression on his face). He continued to play on in all ignorance. A yellow card? Not in my book just sheer refereeing incompetence.

To quote Steelboy, Steve: "the answer is that other people have opinions that differ to yours." Lets agree to disagree.

Were there threds on here then? If Saints don't give us warning about this for Saturday coming, will there will be another thread started?

Still puzzled by this thred. When our fans were body searched at Dens there wasn't a murmur about it. But when Well do the same thing!!!! Methinks some fans are harder on our own club than they are on others.

When I saw the barriers and folk getting frisked on Saturday I knew it would result in a thred on here. It never occurred to me that the club was responsible. I automatically assumed it would be the responsibility of Strathclyde's finest who pull the strings behind the scenes but don't like taking the flak. Cars were still going up and down Knowetop Avenue before KO and folk were being forced onto the road. A good idea in principle though. The frisking? Some on here are being a bit rich. Its happened to us at Dens and no one complained. But if our own club does it then folk aren't happy. Whats sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Its down to better organisation, players playing better and a more cautious approach (if its a choice between attacking or holding back in preparation for opposition counterattacking then you hold back).

Don't know about that. This is ok in principle but to be absolutely safe the club would have needed to close Fir Park between November and March - not practical and very costly.