Kmcalpin

In our situation, a defeat is a defeat end of. It really doesn't matter whether Aberdeen's goal came in the first or last minute the result would have been the same. As with games against the gruesome twosome just glad its out of the way. Hopefully Bowman's injury wasn't bad. Certainly a lot better than 7-2. Now we can get down to the real business of appointing the new manager.

Interesting support for Alex Neil on here and I wouldn't disagree with that although I have no idea whatsoever about his track record at Norwich. However at Hamilton he was very much in the John Lambie/Tom Wright mould - very competitive but dull sides. They would kick bite, scratch and claw their way to a result. Other things being equal I think he'd be a good fit for us but I certainly wouldn't expect exciting, flowing football.

Fair comment. There is a reasonable argument for appointing Robinson until the end of the season but as you say what would be the point in advertising the vacancy?

Or a tough midfielder....just ask the Dons for advice.

I agree with your post. We can assume that Robinson will be one of the five interviewees next week but it wouldn't surprise me if at least some of the others are outsiders/not been mentioned. As others have posted we have a crucial short term aim ie to keep us in the top league and a sustainable longer term aim of developing and selling on young players. Next week will be interesting.

Thanks for raising my question Jay. Good to get some feedback.

Ryan Bowman might actually be a better fit for our style of play at Pittodrie than Moulty. Bowman is a bigger lad and can chase all day but importantly can hold the ball up in a way that Moult can't. That said, Moult is the deadlier scorer.

Maybe once ...ie once more than in May 2014?

I wouldn't say that his stay there is irrelevant, just that we have to afford it limited weight in any assessment of his track record. He is a well respected coach and again that counts for something but again thats a world apart from being the man in charge. I'm not saying that he wouldn't make a great or even good manager but we have to be cautious in weighing up candidate's track records. As others have said we must also weigh up the competing candidates, whoever they may be. It is after all a competitive process.

I can't say that any of the names quoted in the media so far excite me. Thats not to say that they are actually in the running for our vacancy of course. The club is rightly keeping things quiet. As far as Stephen Robinson is concerned I think he is very much an unknown quantity. His only, short, managerial stint was at Oldham in admittedly very difficult circumstances. So as far as that goes the jury is still out on him. The step up from Coach to Assistant Manager is a very big one indeed and the step up from Assistant Manager to Manager is even bigger. So his time with us as Assistant may not offer much of a guide as to how he'd do in the hot seat.

I always thought that the original deadline, if indeed there was one, of having our new man in place by this weekend was unrealistic for a club of our size. A few days longer won't make much difference in the great scheme of things.

Mark Reynolds' deliberate and unpunished handball on the goal line....

STV still going on about Ryan Bowmans tackle at Parkhead. Time they let it drop.

Result annulled today. We've been awarded a 3-0 win. Now top of the league! http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2017/03/07/development-league-result-annulled/

Joeboy made this very point a few days ago and I agree 100%. A few years ago I'd have plumped for someone lie Alex Smith short term. If your priority was to avoid the drop and finish 10th he'd have been your man; but don't ask him to guide the team to 9th spot or above. Is there a case for making a short term appointment until the end of the season and then appointing someone else? I'm not wholly convinced of that approach but it has its merits.

Pretty much my view Andy.

Lucky he wasn't handed a yellow card then. I've seen cards dished out maybe 3 or 4 times for that. I've no problem with a bit of banter but referees need to be consistent.

A bit more to it than that I suspect. Reportedly blood was streaming from his nose and he claimed he'd been head butted. Unsurprisingly his manager saw nothing.

I suspect that we'll start out in a notional 3-5-2 formation or in our favoured 5-3-2 version of it. Hopefully we'll cut out individual errors this time. Whatever, we'll need to ensure more than one outball. Will there be room for Bowman as a target man?

I too thought that there was a hint of handball, but none of our lads protested, which maybe tells its own story. When Boyd gets up after scoring he lifts his arm and makes a gesture to our support with his finger(s) - thats obviously why some took umbrage at him and not because of his belly gesture. The penalty was in the extremely soft category - the kind of incident you might see 2 or 3 times in a game and which the ref normally waves away with a smile on his face, leaving players and fans mumbling ach well it was worth a try. Yes, Killie may have hit woodwork 3 times but they can't really claim to be unlucky. I noticed that Pearo played very deep and didn't seem to make many, if any, of his hallmark runs. Either he's not fit, or has been told to sit deeper. Anyway the players seemed to give it their all which is all we can ask. A vital win.

I believe that Kris Boyd riled some of our fans when he scored Killie's only goal by gesturing at them. Did anyone witness what he did? He who laughs last laughs laughs longest eh?

Did Cadden not provide an outball or was he outnumbered as usual?

Excerpt from the Rangers Hamilton game...player involved was Garner (BBC report) "Winding up to lash at the ball, he carried on even when it was out of reach and his kick and momentum carried instead into Imrie, who was felled. It was a moment of rashness and over-aggression that could have had the striker dismissed. Beaton, instead, opted for a yellow card." The very issue we have been discussing on here.

A very important result which will, hopefully, stop the rot. 3 huge points. Couldn't be happier tonight. I'm not sure it was good luck Boyd missing the penalty. Surely its not much to ask that a professional player, and a striker at that, is able to hit the target from the penalty spot, although not necessarily score? If Killie failed to earn the draw then its really their own fault. However maybe thats splitting hairs. For those of us not in Kilmarnock today, we'll be able to analyse the penalty on Alba later. Has Lee MacCulloch been approached by our directors?

We do need to attack but part of the problem so far is that we haven't had the midfield players with the necessary attributes to supply our strikers. Lack of pace and lack of creativity.