MelvinBragg

That to me is the wrong solution. We have Pearson to take the "old head" role in midfield, I'd rather see one of our young players act as cover for Lasley. If they prove not to be good enough, at least we can find out now before the likes of Lasley retires and we can plan accordingly...

I don't know if you can surmise that Law's days are numbered given he's played every game under McGhee and frankly been one of our more consistent performers. I'm one of those that would like to see Watt get a chance but frankly Law has done very little to justify any talk of dropping him. Chalmers hasn't looked the part but his only real run of games came at left midfield when the team weren't playing that well. Wouldn't write him off just yet. Given most last season thought Josh Law would never make a regular SPL footballer, there may be potential for him to develop as Law has. Leitch, I feel sorry for. He's had some good games and some bad games in the first team but never really been given a run of games to try and find consistency. Stuart McCall was by nature a conservative manager when it came to giving young players a chance so whenever things went wrong, he went back to the tried and trusted experienced players. Which worked out in terms of league position but not in terms of developing young players. I think we'll do a bit of business in this window but not as much as we'd like. Probably more departures than arrivals...

If he's arrived at the conclusion that playing Hammell at right back and Josh Law in midfield is a better option than Leitch or Cadden in midfield, then whether he watches them in training all week or not, I'd have to question his judgement and perhaps his sanity...

So what you're telling me is that they're long overdue a home defeat..?

Or he's trying to make Neilson think he's going to start Ainsworth...

Falkirk may be on the verge of selling one of their own prospects so will have some cash to spend. They also may have offered East Fife a larger sell on percentage but a smaller initial fee. As for why he'd choose Falkirk? More chance of playing regular football may be a factor...

Don't know why, but have a funny feeling we'll see Watt at right back, Law at right midfield and Laing replacing Lasley...

He played very well in the 3-3 draw with Celtic season before last and then was made scapegoat (along with Nielsen)"for the heavy defeat to Dundee United shortly afterwards. In the preseason friendly against Preston this season, he played a cracking pass for Moult to score. Are these isolated incidents enough to say he should be starting every week? No, but there clearly is some ability there. And you doubt that Cadden has the ability to make it? Based on his extensive first team appearances? That's nine sub appearances for a guy who only turned 19 in September. The class of 02 (as they're being called) made plenty of mistakes. And we're allowed to do so because we had no one else. But they learned. It seems nowadays that it's not a luxury afforded to our young players...

So we're writing off Jack Leitch after only 12 starts for the club, spread over a few seasons..? I suspect we don't have a great track record of rearing our own because if they're not world beaters right away then they're not good enough in the eyes of a lot of our fans. Not an ideal environment for nurturing young players...

No, just poor quality patter. In fairness, I do as much pelting back with that...

I like to stand. Why I got a back row seat. I suspect others are the same...

I'very had the same group of blowhards standing behind my back row seat, talking the same pish for years. Sadly I also socialise with them... The thing is, the guys behind me have tickets for seats round about us so they're not hanging over the top of random strangers. If you want to stand behind the railings, get a back row seat or find mates that have one that won't mind you standing there. Oh, and don't drop yer pie/bovril on anyone...

Does it really matter that much..?

The real concern would be Cove travelling down. If it's not safe for them, then the game may be off...

Going against what everyone else is saying, I'd be playing a slightly weakened team. A lot of our key players are over 30, a rest won't do them any harm and playing guys with something to prove should ensure 100% and no complacency. I'd go Samson Watt Hall Laing Hammell Ainsworth Lasley Cadden Thomas McFadden Fletcher Lasley, I'd play as he's missing the Hearts game and Hammell because there's no other option in his position (although you could play Watt there and keep Law at right back if you wanted to rest Hammell). If our fringe players, with four or five experienced players in the side, aren't good enough to win this game then they're simply not good enough... I suspect that McGhee will go with a stronger lineup though...

Small example of this. Years ago I couldn't tell you who owned or who was the chairman of football clubs around the country. Now, if push came to shove, could probably name most of them. Could probably name as many of them as I could first choice goalkeepers. Whether that's down to more clubs getting in financial trouble, the clubs themselves creating the SPL and being more vocal, or the rise of PR hungry chairmen like Murray, Boyle and Romanov or what, I don't know. What I do know is that it doesn't seem like a good thing to me...

As I hinted at there, Dave, I think it reflects fans' attitudes. An Accies fan at my work always seems to know how we're getting on whereas often I couldn't tell you how they're doing...

I had this conversation with someone the other day. I think there is definitely something in this, added to the fact that no matter how often they finish ahead of us we'll always be seen as the big team in Lanarkshire, gives them some sort of underdog mentality that seems to fire them up maybe more than our players (and fans, frankly). It's their big game, it's not ours...

Something worth pointing out from time to time. Josh Law is turning into a pretty solid right back. He'll never feature in MOTM polls but puts a shift in every week and seldom lets the side down. Was watching the game tonight thinking "When did Josh Law last have a bad game for Motherwell?". And struggled to find an answer...

Hoping that something can be done to get Grimshaw til the end of the season. Really becoming crucial to the way we play...

Bit disappointed that Kennedy seems to have been discarded totally. He had a couple of dodgy games but on occasions, he looked like a real prospect. Hall is playing well but have to figure there will come a point (injury or suspension) that we're going to need either Laing or Kennedy...

I went for Ben Hall. Couple of crunching tackles and more than a couple of towering headers. You really can't tell by watching him how little first team football he's played...

Not a classic but a good three points, particularly as we didn't play that well. Negatives. Felt the use of Johnson on the right was a bit of a waste of him for much of the game. He looked better there when we went to 433 at the end of the game. Moult clearly played despite having been ill, and it showed. With Fletcher injured, we really don't have anyone other than Moult to lead the line (that McGhee trusts). If Robinson is out of the picture, and Fletcher isn't going to be fit anytime soon, a backup for Moult may be required. Clarkson has shown recently that he can contribute in cameo performances but at his age, he can't do the running that's required of our number nine over a 90 minutes, the way we're set up to play just now. Positives. Everyone on the park made a contribution, no real failures. Defence had a couple of dodgy moments but look like they're starting to settle as a unit. And I don't think many midfields will outdo Pearson, Lasley and Grimshaw for workrate. We are creating chances now as well and we could have scored more tonight. Still three wins on the bounce can only breed confidence. Niggling concern is the fact that McGhee only maybe trusts 12 or 13 of his squad (I remember him making a similar comment last time he was our manager). If someone picks up an injury or suspension, I don't know how we would adjust our style of play...

That doesn't make me feel any better...

Looking at the bench, we're light in central midfield cover. Something to be addressed in January...?