MelvinBragg

The best I've seen Bigirimana and Tanner play was away at Hibs when they came on in the second half when space was opening up so there may be something in 'keep it tight, playing your more physical midfield in the first half' theory. Of course, the flipside to that is that we may be trying to vary our approach to combat teams knowing our style...

Can't give anyone a three goal start and expect anything...

What does that mean?

Bowman and Frear for Rose and Dunne.. Carson Cadden Kipré Hartley Tait Tanner Bigirimana McHugh Frear Bowman Moult Hmmmm. We look very open with that. Could get even uglier...

Feels a long time ago now. Even against Accies and Rangers, we didn't play that well...

Good run over?

We have one chopped off then let Gardyne score as he always seems to against us. 1-0 down..

Still see it as a back three...

Other thing to remember is that not all season ticket holders will take the 5 tickets each...

I can see your point but the number of dreadful Motherwell games I've watched in that sometimes scares me. Then I think of the number of times supporters of those other teams have had to do likewise. We may not have won a cup in that time but we've probably had more excitement and entertainment than they've had. Even looking just at strikers or attacking players, we've been spoiled. McFadden, Murphy, Porter, Higdon, McDonald, Moult, Johnson, Ainsworth, McCormack, Humphrey, Law are just some of the players we've had that could really get you off your seat. I don't think you could name a similar list for many provincial clubs, including St Johnstone who have been consistently good. No cup win, but we've had it better than most...

Are you looking for a whipround for your ticket..?

I suspect that the one you read here was a quick cut and paste from the official site and so the repeated paragraph was the bit in bold...

Turns out that my opinion wasn't that controversial then. Like Jay, feared that I was maybe being a bit harsh but appears others share my view...

I hope not. I realise this may be controversial but I'm going to say it anyway. I will preface it by saying I love Phil O'Donnell and Davie Cooper. I have no issue with using the backdrop of the league cup final to try and raise money for what is a very good cause. What I do find slightly irritating, as I did in 2005, is the prospect of making it 'The O'Donnell Final' in the same way 2005 was branded The Cooper Final. Strikes me as the media looking for a lazy hook to use in the build-up to the final. Motherwell don't get to enough finals for me to have the memory of a former player to remember the game by. Maybe I'm just getting even more crabbit as I get older...

442 was the formation second half. Petravicius left wing, Tanner right...

I actually thought Dunne had a decent game. For me, our poorest players were Frear, Bowman and Moult. Hence Motherwell nil. Couple of times, Bowman in particular was slow to react. Just need to hope it was a bad day at the office. Having said that, even on a bad day at the office, we were only beaten by a wind assisted freak mistake...

Carson Kipré Hartley Dunne Cadden Campbell McHugh Rose Frear Moult Bowman

Or maybe we'll start playing well again and keep picking up points..?

I'm wondering if he's not actually been that poor this season but maybe looked comparatively better last season due to the fact that the others around him weren't performing that well. Or do we debate as to whether he's better at centre half or in midfield..?

According to McCann after the game, it was ruled out for a foul on one of our defenders. Given our 'goal' up there last season (and the fact I thought referees would be doing us no favours given the current hysteria), I'll take it...

Midfield almost looks like an attempt to show that we're not simply a team of hard men although Bigirimana and Tanner have generally been our go to subs in midfield. Grimshaw would on paper look like a more natural replacement for Campbell. Also could be a 442 with Frear and Tanner wide. I hope not though...

Every system has its weak points and strong points. For me, both Kipré and Dunne require the security of a third centre back at this stage in their careers. Our midfielders, although an upgrade on last season, don't have amongst them two that could compete in a league where almost everyone plays three centre midfielders. We don't have a striker suited to playing as a lone striker. 352 has its flaws, but for me it's the system that best suits our players. Whether that's down to Robinson signing players with it in mind or having seen the players in preseason and decided that this was the best way to use them, I don't know...

Playing a back four means 442, surrendering midfield or 451 risking our lone striker getting isolated. 433 would in theory get around this but too often would simply turn into a 451. Tait is a far better wing back than full back so a back four looks a bad option for us... EDIT Also smells too much like a Mark McGhee 'change the way we play to suit the opposition' move. Play our game, if it's not good enough then so be it...

Well aware that eyes on the ball isn't everything but if you watch it back he doesn't seem to 'throw an elbow'. His elbows are out and hit Cardoso in the face. Everyone who jumps for a header has their arms up. I can see why he'll get a ban. It frustrates though that it's selective punishment on it. Had we lost yesterday, I suspect it would barely have merited a mention...

I expect Bowman to be banned for the final. Despite having seen him only have his eyes on the ball as he jumps, the media noise about his second half challenge seems to be growing. Even Rodgers making noises about he had sympathy for Caixinha over "challenges you could get away with in the 80s but not now". Fact that Pēna got away with a worse one recently will matter not a not...