MelvinBragg

Felt at the game like we were doing ok up to a point in the first half., moving the ball better than we had done but sometimes just overplayed it or final ball was lacking. Van Veen missed the two chances we really created in the first half, has to hit the target from both. Defensive calamities at both goals, the most frustrating thing is that Hearts didn't have to work hard for their goals. Individual wise, thought Shaw looked OK if not a massive upgrade on what we have. Tierney will be a player once he gets used to the league. Sol, I thought had his poorest game for us, perhaps suffering from being the only fit proper centre back we have, having to do too much. Van Veen 8s erratic and Roberts needs to learn to take fewer touches. Don't start me on Goss... Oh, and McGinlay had a decent game... Tynecastle is never easy. We played reasonably well but lost to a Hearts team with a budget that dwarfs ours. People need to calm down a bit. We need to create more chances and cut out silly mistakes. Try and remember what the team was like this time last year...

My first thought on hearing we have signed a 6ft4 right sided defender was: have we received a bid for Mugabi?

Interesting that there are two goalies on the bench. Not sure why that would be the case...

I'm one of those saying no to Shankland. He's just not very good. You make the Watt companion. There was never really a question of Watt's ability, just application and attitude. For me, there are huge question marks over all three with Shankland...

A 34 year old who scores 8 goals a season with questionable fitness levels and workrate? I know we won't have inexhaustible options but we should have better options than that...

Anyone suggesting Lafferty as a viable option needs their head looked at...

Aye, we know. As someone earlier pointed out, it would seem ironic if we ended up with Shankland on loan from whichever Belgian club he's ended up at while they have Watt. Frankly I'd rather play with ten men than give Shankland a wage...

I don't care. I'd still rather have Clark than Shankland. I don't want either but if I was forced to pick one, it wouldn't be the fraud that is Shankland...

Better him than the utter shite that is Shankland. Anyone saying get Shankland in on loan needs help. Worse than useless...

I agree. Last season Jordan Roberts was surplus to requirements at Hearts but did a short term job for us. Remember Utd turned down the chance to sign Scott McDonald. Assuming a player not playing for Dundee United isn't good enough assumes two things. That they're looking for the same thing from their players. And that their coaching staff are infallible...

Not so sure on that front. I agree Ojala looks a class act, so much so that I reckon the only reason he's at Fir Park is his patchy injury record. With O'Connor injured and Solholm seemingly prone to picking up knocks, we're not as well served as it looks like on paper...

The difference in Maguire and Lamie is particularly noticeable. Players seem to be improving under the coaching staff....

Went for Shields, felt his energy and pressing was at the heart of anything we did well. Although for me it was noticeable that we looked shaky as soon as Sol went off but Ojala looked understandably rusty... Also thought McGinlay had a very decent game...

Let's hope not...

Not the first to say it, not by a long way...

Van Veen looks a likely candidate. Got booked for giving Collum abuse in the Dundee game and he was only a sub then....

Lucrative? Yes. Enjoyable? No. If you would enjoy us getting a skelping off the likes of Dinamo Zagreb and Genk more than us winning a cup, I worry about you...

One word to sum that up? Fun. Seems a lot of personality in the team. Highlights include Watt rubbing Brown's head after being booked, Mugabi's mad last minute run and their left back looking terrified any time Woolery went anywhere near him...

Eleven yellow cards and two red cards in that time. Jake does like a rash tackle. And I say that as someone who likes him as a player...

Ok.. Where's your seat in case it's got a better view than mine? On a serious note, while I wouldn't want to bully anyone into taking a vaccine, if there's a pandemic running rampant through the country, I don't think it's unreasonable for a government to limit large gatherings to those less likely to spread it if possible. And I say that as someone who has little time for Nicola Sturgeon. If I wanted a laugh, I would question how much of a Motherwell fan you are if having to show proof of vaccination is enough to keep you away from Fir Park....

Other than the other guy wanting to play centre forward...

Even Accies fans I know don't rate Crawford...

And Harry Smith. Are we including him as a former player?

By my calculation we have five or six guys who can play centre half (plus Devine) when the Norwegian arrives. We have seven or eight that can play centre midfield (plus Cornelius) at the moment. Three or four centre forwards and two, maybe three wingers and those wingers aren't exactly impressing. I reckon winger is where we're looking. Wouldn't be surprised to see Crawford and Cornelius leave on loan given the numbers we have in there. As far as I'm aware, none of our midfielders have been called up for international duty. Alexander should focus the next two weeks on getting the right combination of players in midfield. Irrespective of what some say on here, a lot of these midfielders have different qualities. The manager needs to work out how to get what he wants out of a combination of them...

How many of those successful McGowan passes were sideways. There were periods in the second half when I was getting frustrated with how much of the ball Dundee were having but I did then notice how much of it was going side to side in front of our defence and midfield. Not to say that I wouldn't like us to be better on the ball but I wouldn't be citing Dundee's sterile possession when a goal down as an example to follow...