Kmcalpin

It didn't take its toll on Dundee who had 6 away on international duty including the energetic Cameron.

That was it for me. This game was lost off the pitch. Dundee had done their homework and nullified Wilson and Miller. We had obviously never heard of Lyle Cameron. They applied a high energetic press, knowing that our defensive midfield is non existent. Today our midfield was not at the races and that caused us problems at the back and for our 2 strikers. We afforded a grateful Cameron the freedom of Fir Park both before and after he scored. Their goal was anticipated by almost everyone around us. That was down to SK. The front 2 struggled in the first half and quite plainly high balls isn't their forte. One look at the Dundee defence at 3 pm should have told SK that. Ap Stam apart its not clear what our best striking partnership is and SK clearly doesn't know either. Time for the ineffective Robinson to be rested and Watt brought in. I assume Ap Stam went off feeling ill. He looks useful but a bit lightweight. The ball simply isn't sticking up front. A priority for me in the January window is a solid physical defensive midfielder. Davor is simply too lightweight.

Spot on young man. We'll also see if Dundee's international travellers make it.

As I understand it, the panel must have concluded that, in Soutar's case, had he not handled the ball, there was very little chance that the attacker would have managed to get a shot on target. In other words there was no goalscoring opportunity. Soutar's handling of the ball was irrelevant to any potential outcome.

So how does this translate into actual overall numbers of tickets sold?

This video covers many issues, but I'll restrict my comments solely to Lennon Miller's goal. On watching the highlights, I quickly came to the conclusion that it was impossible to tell whose arm the ball hit first. It seemed to me that the ball was sandwiched between between the defenders's arm and that of Lennon MIller. That seems to be the review's conclusion. I'll probably be banned by the BBC now for making inappropriate comments - not hard these days though!

Will Ap Stam have recovered enough from his international duties to play a significant role?

Yes, these days keepers need to be 6-3 minimum. The Ox is 6-4. Goram got away with it because he rarely need to take an aerial ball as the then Rangers central defence was huge and well capable of cutting out any airborne threats. Jocky Robertson was great for his height but he was from a bygone era.

Probably started before Stevie Hammell took charge of our Academy. Down to good coaches.

Sounds a right down to earth young man. Good luck to him. It would be great to extent his contract.

I've watched Ap Stam's goal over and over and will never tire of it. It wasn't just any old goal it was a real striker's goal, as they said on Kingdom FM. The lad can certainly finish. A venomous strike. A phrase I hate hearing when we're attacking is that it was a good strike but the keeper made a great save. That usually suggests to me that the finish wasn't quite 100%. Certainly not the case yesterday. Josef Bursik is a damned fine keeper but there was no way he was saving Ap Stam's effort. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his finishing!

Yes the figures don't stack up. Assuming the away stand was about 60% full (just over 1,000 fans), then the rest of the stadium must have been about 96% full. It certainly didn't seem that way. Still a healthy crowd though.

With the nature of the news and media these days, and changes to the way our Police operate, its very, very difficult to get an informed and objective report on events, be they international, national or local. In such cases as this, its a known unknown. Most of us know very little, if anything, about what actually took place.

That's why the attendance was so impressive 🤣

I wasn't at the game but watched the highlights. A good, but close, win at a difficult venue. What a finish from from Ap Stam from a very tight angle. I'm sure there's more to come from him. Disappointing to lose an avoidable goal so quickly through SOD'S dithering on the ball. What a throw from Balmer to set up a classy volleyed finish from Halliday. The Kettle is still boiling!

Very obvious I'd have thought and no VAR check. Poor officiating.

Kevin Van Veen not showing the form he did with us. James Scott not impressing either. Fair dos to St Mirren though what a crowd today. Over 17,000 (source BBC).

Excellent post Stephen. I hope it stimulates informed long term discussion. This issue won't go away.

I'm more than happy to see Balmer get his chance, if fit (we always have to add this caveat these days). As said above, we have to find a better formula for midfield and attack.

That would be your personal decision of course and we must respect that. However, I'm baffled as to why you would attend away games instead. The likes of McDiarmid Park, Easter Road, Tynecastle, Tannadice, Dens Park, Pittodrie and Victoria Park are not exactly cheap, easy or quick to get to, either by car or by publc transport.

I get the arguments both for and against moving our tradional home but Ravenscraig is not that far away. Its not as if we'd be moving to Shotts, Carluke or even Newmains. The Motherwell area is changing and evolving and we need to accept that. The Motherwell area of 1900 was very very different to the area today, which will be very different to the area of 2100. We can't stop change and fossilise the area. Sorry I digress.

More housing and less retail I believe. Situation is fluid though and depends on market conditions.

Yes I do. I've seen it many times before in large scale new developments and new towns.

As housing and other land uses are opened up and developed in Ravenscraig, public transport services will follow.

£20 does seem a bit steep