Well 4 Europe

They should have had a boy sent off for that challenge on Ferguson in the 1st half as well, we never even get a free kick.

It's been a characteristic of McGhee as Motherwell manager that when he goes through a bad spell and a number of fans turn on him and call for his head, he stumbles upon a plan to turn things around. Happened last season(twice) and in his 2nd season during his 1st spell in charge. So I wasn't totally surprised to see us win today, however never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to be in such an empathetic manner. Has to be said though that's the worst I've ever seen Ross County look, usually you have to work hard and fight for everything just to get a point off them but that was a bit of a stroll in the park today. Were we that good or were they that bad? Probably a bit both to be honest. It helps though that every single one of the starting line up had a good game, don't think I could fault one of them. McGhee asked for big performances from his players and he certainly got that with McDonald, Ainsworth, Cadden, Tait, Lucas and Heneghan in particular all excellent. Lucas just added something different in the middle of the park, his use of the ball and ability to keep things moving combined with McDonald's link up play meant we hardly seen any of the brutal long ball stuff we were subjected to on Wednesday night. Actually played some really nice stuff today and the 3rd and 4th goal were really well worked and great to watch. Only negative was not keeping a clean sheet which I felt the much maligned Samson and back four probably deserved. Can't complain though, a resounding victory playing some entertaining football is all any of us can ask for and it was a thoroughly enjoyable game to watch today. Good to see Campbell make his debut and for Maclean to get another run out off the bench as well. Hopefully we can get a bit of momentum going and take something from Dens Park next week, which if we play like we did today we're more than capable of.

We merited a point out of the game, didn't do enough to deserve all 3 mind even when they went down to 10 men but a point each was about right. First half was a stalemate, we looked compact and solid defensively but offered little attacking threat going forward. Mainly due to the lack of pace and creativity in the side without Johnson and Ainsworth. However we kept them at arms length and forced them into hitting long range efforts. The 2nd half was much more open and Lasley going off made a difference. Was a shame he had to go off as he having his best game of the season so far and broke up County attacks time and again the 1st half. Bringing on Lionel and putting Cadden in central midfield gave us more of an attacking threat going forward but left us exposed at the back. We were on the back foot until we won the penalty and then last 20 mins or so was pretty end to end. Credit to County even after they went down to 10 men they kept attacking and didn't just settle for the point. We could have won at the end with Lionel's header but could easily have lost it when Boyce blasted wide from close range late on. Not a great performance by any means but it wasn't a pretty game and it was a well earned point in the end that we had to fight for. Heneghan(goal aside), Lasley till he went off, McDonald and Moult the best performers in claret and amber.

To be fair, didn't you say something similar about Moult this time last year? Not that I've been particularly impressed by anything Blyth's done so far mind but you've to give the guy more of a chance to impress than two sub appearances a month apart. Especially when he's missed large parts of pre-season.

That never actually happened though, did it? Chalmers actually got back in and tackled the boy the ball was thrown to. Cadden was the one that was caught ball watching and he was the one that let his man Swanson run off him for the goal.

Game swung on McDonald's miss at the start of the 2nd half, score that and I'm confident we'd be sitting right now on 6 points despite a largely insipid performance. We were all over them at that point and a 2nd goal would have taken the stuffing right out them. Sadly McDonald fluffed his lines and literally a minute later St.Johnstone went up the park and scored with their first attack of the half, an utterly avoidable goal as well. That gave them a huge lift and put them in the ascendancy and our performance got progressively worse from there. The first half was the turgid shite you usually associate with a game involving St.Johnstone. They do what they do and they do it well but it rarely makes for an entertaining game. Both teams had a few half chances but I don't remember either keeper having a great deal to do. Samson's had a shocker and it's fair to say most seen it coming. He's looked shaky so far and doesn't inspire confidence in his team or the supporters, judging by his performance today he doesn't even seem to have much belief in himself. The much maligned Chalmers and Clay were far from the worst players on the park. I'd give that award to the sponsors motm Lasley who was so far off the pace of the game it was unbelievable. Johnson was below par and Ainsworth continues to frustrate. McDonald had some nice touches and battled well but grew visibly frustrated as the game went on with the increasingly poor service and support he was receiving culminating in his petulant handball. Don't think we were quite as bad as some people are making out, certainly seen a lot worse in recent seasons, however it was quite a disappointing performance on the whole. St Johnstone are a good team though, an experienced settled side who are sadly a fair bit ahead of us at this moment of time and they'll comfortably be top 6 again this season.

You're only worth what someone is willing to pay for you though. I'm guessing that nobody will be willing to pay a 7 figure fee for a winger who's closer to 30 than 20, who's best season in his career to date is half a dozen goals and assists for Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership. I like Marv, unplayable on his day and certainly has all the attributes to be a very decent player. A million pounds though? No chance. Given we payed what, 30k for him 18 months ago, anything upwards of half a million would be a very good piece of business by the club.

Have we not won our last 3 games on plastic pitches? Kiilie, Accies last season and Annan last week unless I'm forgetting something.

Was a bit of a stroll in the park really, never got out of 2nd gear and were always in control. We should have been out of sight at half time, bossed the first half and aside from Marv's belting volley; Moult, Lucas and McManus all squandered easy looking chances. Then in true Motherwell fashion, we allow them back into the game right on half time with their only chance of the half/game. It was eerily similar to the boy's header in the friendly against Hibs a few weeks ago, cross wasn't stopped and a runner got a free header in our box. We came out strongly in the 2nd half and in truth it looked only a matter of time before we regained the lead, two smart finishes by Moult after some good set up play by Johnson for both. Once we went two goals clear the game just sort of petered out as they never threatened a comeback and we eased off and took off our main threat in Johnson. Who was the best player on the park by an absolute mile by the way. Credit also to Moult who I gather wasn't meant to be playing today but stepped in due to injuries to Blyth and McDonald. Fairly routine win, biggest worry for me is perhaps the lack of creativity in the middle of the park although Lucas did look a decent passer of the ball from what we did see of him. Although we also saw today how at the age of 24, he's only made half a dozen first team appearances in his career. Hopefully get another look at him before his contract runs out but with our finances and his injury record it'll be a gamble to give him any sort of long term contract. Enjoyable day out though and a comfortable win in the end.

5 was Alan Campbell apparently. Good to see him and David Turnbull get a run out, both look like very good prospects. From what I've heard from those that are there Johnson and Heneghan have been the stand out performers today.

Pearo Away For a small fee at least. So Pearson gone, McDonald next?

Playing Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday the 10th of July, 3pm kick off.

I was surprised to learn yesterday that he only actually joined Killie in 2012 after being released by St.Mirren. So you've got to think Kilmarnock will be lucky to get half that. I mean did we not only get about 300k for Lee Erwin in the end? And I'm pretty sure he'd been with us since Primary School.

Tragic bump.

McManus, Hammell, Lasley, McFadden and Samson have apparently all been offered new contracts for next season but have been asked to take wage cuts if they want to stay.

Deserved to win. For once we stood up their hammer throwing tactics, I mean three yellow cards inside the first 10 mins summed up their approach to the game. Was good to see a strong referee not stand for any of their nonsense as well and get the book out early, the big boy up front for them was also an embarrassment throwing himself to the floor at every opportunity. Good to see us box clever for once, wasn't always pretty to watch but we managed the game really well and saw out the 2nd half comfortably. Kudos to Cadden, Pearson and McDonald who ensured we spent almost the entire 4 mins of injury time in Accies third of the pitch and not stuck defending on the edge of our own box. Don't think there were any stand out performances for us today but it was a solid team showing, for once at that shithole we looked up for the fight and ground out a massive 3 points. Looked like it meant a lot to players and fans alike at the end. Win next Friday and I think that would be us just about there.

I'm guessing Ben Hall judging by the way he's pointing to where the free kick, that Hall gave away, was taken. Probably due to the fact it was utterly needless given that Usain Bolt couldn't have caught John Sutton's first touch let alone big handsome himself. On a related note, that's some absolutely embarrassing defending from Stevie Hammell for their 2nd goal. Bizarre that McGhee singled out young guys like Ripley, Hall & Cadden for having made mistakes that led to the 2 goals but somehow neglected to mention the experienced Hammell's pathetic attempt at defending for the winning goal.

We sat back all second half and played for a point against a team who haven't won since the 5th of December. We got exactly what we deserved. Still could have left with a decent point mind if it weren't for the fact we're a shower of utter shitebags.

McManus was immense, by far the best player in a Motherwell strip. Special mentions to Mcdonald and Johnson who were also superb.

Not really, he's fucking shite.

Still in talks with Faddy to keep him until the end of the season.

Looked solid? Really? Inverness carved us open and passed up at least three great chances from my memory in the 2nd half to bury the game before we managed to equalize.

Think some people are being a bit harsh on the team, for me Dundee weren't scoring in that 2nd half until the ref got involved. They had plenty of the ball but Ripley literally never had a save to make for over 40 mins and we were heading for 3 points until an utterly bizarre penalty decision from the referee. First half was great entertainment, end to end and both teams missed numerous good chances. Skippy in particular fluffed a great chance and some boy for Dundee managed to hit the bar when it looked easier to score. Both Bain and Ripley were in fine form as well making numerous good saves. Both goals were really well worked, great chest and volley from Cadden to start of what was to be another impressive display. Pearson was much improved from last week and scored another well worked goal after combining with Moult, left the Dundee defender for dead and tucked it into the far corner. Less said about our defending for their goal the better. Second half we had to weather the storm slightly but to me we always looked fairly comfortable. Dunno what happened in the 1st half but the defence was much improved in the 2nd with McManus having a brilliant game leading the line at the back. One gripe was that we ballsed up a great chance for a third when Pearson chose to square to the offside Moult rather than to take the shot himself when he was through on goal. Still, much improved performance from ourselves and we once again showed that with our strongest 11 out on the park we're a match for most teams in this league. Stopped the rot and avoided 3 defeats on the bounce and we can certainly take confidence from today's display. Still a decent point against a team in decent form on a poor pitch in difficult conditions. Slight concern today though was the lack of quality options on the bench, could really do with a couple of solid additions to strengthen the squad. Had hoped we'd avoid another deadline day scramble this year but it looks like that's exactly what we're heading for.

When was the last time we had over 5000 Motherwell fans for a league game at Fir Park? Made for a great atmosphere and a really entertaining 90 mins which even an incompetent referee couldn't ruin. Although he was fucking hopeless, lost the plot and looked a mile out his depth. Anyway we're miles ahead of where we were under Baraclough and I'm sure we'll be absolutely fine this season.