ONeils40yarder

As others have said, if we do manage to stay in the Premier League, this Summer is potentially the biggest rebuild job the Club has had since Jim Gannon was in charge. We'll be looking for two goalkeepers as Samson and Griffiths will be gone. A left-back capable of playing in our starting XI is a must, Chalmers should be away with Hammell being used as back-up We need adequate cover for McManus and Heneghan at centre-back...ie not fucking Zac Jules I'd imagine Lasley will be put out to pasture, while Pearson could be as well, while Lucas, and Clay clearly aren't up to standard, leaving Campbell and McHugh as our only central midfielders. I'd doubt that Ainsworth will be here next season either, but he's been a bit-part anyway with Cadden in his position. Up front is a major worry, as we'll no doubt have a lot of goals to try and replace with McDonald undoubtedly, and Moult probably away. While Bowman offers something, it doesnt appear to be goals and only Blyth as a further alternative. The likes of Ferguson, McMillan, Hastie, McLean, Thomas and Mackin may have a bigger part to play next season, but if the manager doesn't think they are up to it then I make it; 2 keepers 1 left-back 2 centre-backs 2 centre-mids 2 strikers We better hope that the manager can pick a player out

I can safely say that I've never considered the Motherwell-Hamilton games as a big match, I don't know many Accies fans for a start so there isn't really any banter involved pre or post-match, but Saturday is the 1st time that I've had butterflies in my stomach for a match with them. It was probably due to the sheer importance of the occasion though, and it was great to see us fill that stand behind the goals. It was far from pretty, in fact it was up there with one of the worst games of football I've ever seen, the pitch is nothing short of a disgrace at this level...however, at this stage of the season and the mire we've dug ourselves into, the performance really isn't important in the grand scheme of things. That we managed to dig in, keep a clean sheet and come away with a 1-0 win is fantastic for the Club. I wouldn't say we rode our luck, as some have suggested, as Accies never really put us under too much pressure, but we certainly got lucky with our goal, which I believe came off Moults shoulder rather than his head. Its in our hands now, and I think even a draw tomorrow night will be enough to see us finish 10th as I don't see Accies beating Ross County.

Money up front or get yourself to fuck ya horrible shower of wanks

After watching so much utter dung this season, I seriously contemplated not going to this one...against my better judgement I've collapsed and bought my tickets. We've seen it all before, a huge Motherwell crowd doesnt necessarily equate to a happy outcome, but I sure as fuck hope it helps us this time. Lose this tomorrow and we're virtually guaranteed to finish in the bottom 2...win it, and we're almost safe

Saturdays defeat was just deflating...uninspiring on so many levels, we looked bereft of ideas, our shape was baffling, some players looked uninterested. Prior to the match, I was pretty happy with the starting line-up, it looked to me like Robinson had packed in the daft formations, with Ainsworth coming in for Bowman and fair play to him for doing the decent thing and taking Samson out of the firing line by replacing him with the young keeper. I assumed that the starting line-up would have meant a straight 4-4-2, with Ainsworth playing right-mid and Cadden playing right-back, and thats the way it appeared to start with. I get that Caddens strength is on the front foot and he isnt ideally suited to right-back, but with a competent right midfielder in front of him, I'd expect a player of his ability to be able to play there comfortably for 90mins...thats why I was baffled when Ainsworth was instructed to move in behind the strikers, leaving Cadden completely exposed (not for the 1st time recently) down that right-side. This to me is our biggest problem...tinkering with idiotic tactics. It rendered us ineffective down the right hand-side, while Ainsworth done nothing other than clutter up the middle of the park. For what its worth, I thought the back 4, as a defensive unit worked pretty well, Heneghan for example looked more comfortable as a 4 than he has done as a 3. Until big Jules came on...to be fair to him, he actually played OK, that monumental error apart, he won a few headers and made at least one tremendous tackle, but what was going through his head when he decided to keep the ball in play, when everyone in the stadium assumed we'd be taking a by-kick AND then compound matters by playing the ball back into his own box was stuff that a boys club player wouldn't have done, I firmly believe that. I see that a few folk are trying to cast some of the blame to some of the other players who could have potentially done a bit better, but I genuinely believe they were caught off guard...you just need to look at McHughs reaction to getting the ball played back to him...he genuinely wasnt expecting it. It was one of those moments where I just laughed, anyone sitting around me in the East Stand could have mistaken me for someone that didn't care, because I laughed and laughed at that moment and again everytime I thought about it...if you didn't laugh, you'd greet. I said before the match that the central midfield concerned me greatly, because I just don't think we have a combination from any of Lasley, Campbell, Lucas, Clay and Pearson that is good enough at this level, and so it was proved...Campbell will be a decent player for us, but he and Lasley dont seem to be gelling...the problem is, we have no other option other than McHugh, who is marshalling the defence reasonably well, and taking him from there would mean starting Jules. Frear, again tried hard and played some delightful balls across the 6-yard box, but he looks very low in self-confidence. As for the strikers, McDonald looked jaded and Moult clearly wasnt fit, otherwise at least one of Frears crosses would have been buried. The most worrying thing, and others have already mentioned it, is how we looked dead and buried the moment Ross County scored, collectively the management, the players and the fans seemed to give up and thats a damning indictment on everyone, but the management team in particular whose job it is to instill fight and hunger in their players.

Robinson was a cheap, lazy appointment...that he managed to coax an 18month deal out of the board when our Premier League status was at stake is an absolutely farcical decision

What a pishy argument to be having anyway...after the Old Firm and other city clubs, you have a bunch of clubs who are all a much of a muchness in terms of stature... the likes of Killie, Dunfermline, Falkirk, St Mirren and ourselves, there really isnt much in it either way.

Frear has been asked to carry out a completely thankless task by his manager...the fact that he is managing to play 90mins is a credit to him, given the level that he has come from

That works for me as well to be fair...McMillan or Ferguson with Cadden playing right mid

The sarcastic applause and cheering is doing nobody any good, and haven't yet partook myself yet, but I can understand it completely. All season we have had to watch this guy make mistakes that would have amateur keepers blush.

A 4-4-2 is a must, if Ross County play with 1 striker and two wingers (which any manager worth their salt would do, if they've watched us) our game plan with a 3-4-3 is out the window...yes we can look more of a threat going forward at times but we are wide open at times, and completely hemmed in at others. The only way I'd ever play a 3 at the back is if we had 5 strung across the middle of the park to compensate for whatever tactics the opposition employ. With the 3-4-3 we have far too may 'square pegs, in round holes'. As for who I'd start with...I actually think we have a few options in different areas, unfortunately goalkeeper doesnt seem to be one of them, and the fumbling disaster will no doubt start again. In front of him, I'd start with Hammell at left back, McHugh and Heneghan in the middle and one of Cadden, McMillan or Ferguson at right-back...all three have their limitations in that position, I get that, but in theory full-back is the easiest position on the park to play in...'mark your man, keep your eye on the ball, try to prevent crosses and keep it simple', should be the instructions. If Cadden plays at right-back, then Ainsworth would ultimately get the nod at right-mid, which probably wont happen, but if it does it gives us a decent out-ball and at least Cadden would have someone, anyone, playing on that right-side with him, which he doesnt have just now...on the left it would most certainly be Frear, he's not set the heather on fire, but he is trying like a bear and with the defensive burden taken off him a bit, that should allow him to concentrate on going forward a bit more (hes completing 90mins regularly, how long did it take Marvin to get up to that level?). The central midfield is my biggest selection headache...I'd love to take McHugh out of defence and stick him in midfield where he should be, but unfortunately Jules doesnt fill me with much confidence as a central defensive replacement. Campbell, Pearson, Lucas, Clay and Lasley have all had stints this season, and to be fair I'm not convinced of any of them. Campbell looks like he could be a player, and definitely has the work-rate required, but the other 4 have been a complete let-down this season for various reasons. Lucas probably wont see the light of day at Fir Park again, while Clay shouldnt. I've no idea if Pearo is fit, so I'll probably plump for Lasley to partner the youngster again, but will probably need replaced at some stage of the match, so hopefully Pearson can be made available for selection to some extent. Up front, if its a front 2, it picks itself...Moult and McDonald. Samson Cadden Heneghan McHugh Hammell Ainsworth Campbell Lasley Frear Moult McDonald

I actually thought it was cramp-like at the time...just the way he went down and appeared to try to stretch it off

One person likes this post...have a look at who it is and have a word with yourself. Big Bowman, isn't the worst I've seen...hes nae Michael Higdon though

I'm struggling this week, I really am. Defensively we were poor, though I've made my thoughts on the formation elsewhere as mitigation for that, the wide players struggled to provide any quality, the midfield 2 put in a lot of effort without much positive effect and the strikers got in each other road more often than not... ...if pushed, I'd plump for Campbell...as Steelboy says, he got done at the 2nd goal, and he did but he went through an absolute power of work throughout the 90mins, and even more so when Lasley (who I thought looked more fucked than usual) was replaced by Clay. Clay for me, has had his final chance as well, he came on and actually went out of his way to hide from the ball...a total imposter.

This is the first I've been able to get on here to comment on Saturdays 'display', with it being a long weekend and all that. The way I see it, we currently have two major issues that is stopping us picking up points and its still the same weaknesses that I spoke about after the Thistle game at Firhill a few weeks back. Firstly, we have an absolute, flapping, bombscare of a liability in goals...I've laid off him on here recently as I've noticed a few folk defending him, and thought that maybe I was going over the score, but after witnessing yet another fuck up from him on Saturday, there is no way I can take any defence of him seriously. Our goal was untroubled for the 40-odd minutes that we had Dundee pegged back in the 1st half, before Samson even had to get involved. He's asked to deal with a catch that I reckon I'd have coped with comfortably and he goes and drops it at the feet of their player. I can only describe it as a 'he shat himself' moment, he was anticipating some form of contact with the incoming player, adjusted his body in such a way that he fumbled the ball that he should have been protecting and gave Dundee a free goal. Now, our underperforming outfield players are far from blameless, over the course of this calamitous season, they can't possibly be, but in a match we are dominating and seemingly in control, they go and witness Samson shite the nest again...it knocked the stuffing out of us entirely. I can only surmise that the lad who has sat on our bench since Fatboy Brill left, is deemed to be even worse. I don't think he'll be dropped at this stage of the season anyway, so we'll really just need to soldier on and protect him as much as we possibly can...which brings me to my second point of where I think we are going wrong... ...this 3-4-3 formation that he is playing, is driving me insane. I went into it at great length after the defeat at Firhill, when their manager made a total dick out of us in the 1st 45mins, simply by playing with two wingers and a striker through the middle, and I haven't witnessed anything since then to suggest that a 3-4-3 formation is the way for us to go. Some of our players aren't suited to it, Frear and Cadden are being asked to cover far too much ground all on their own and when up against a winger, they are pushed all the way back into a virtual back-5, Wighton for example was playing almost on the touchline in the 2nd half which left Cadden a conundrum of whether to pick him up and forget about attacking, or attacking himself and allow Heneghan to pick him up. As a result he was ineffective in an attacking sense and a defensive one, and the same thing happened with Frear. Heneghan, is a centre-back, not a particularly great one, but we are making him look even worse by having him continually dragged out his comfort zone, he looks a helluva lot comfier as part of a back4 than he does a back3. Scott McDonald is getting it in the neck again, as is Bowman, but again I'm more inclined to say that the formation is hanging them out to dry, we're expecting Skippy to filter back into midfield, track runners, play passes etc, when everyone and their dug, can see that he isn't particularly good at it, while Bowman is getting shoved much wider at times than he should be. I actually think there is a player in their, where Bowman is concerned, but as part of a front2, where he is holding the ball in, and linking up with the guys out wide. I've no problem with 3 at the back, if we have effective wing backs and a solid midfield 3, that are all capable in protecting the defence and supporting the attack but the current formation is seeing us being hemmed right into our own half at times, at other times its seeing us look incredibly open at the back, while at the other end we are creating very little at times...I'm thinking back to that 1st half on Saturday where we had so much possession and very little to show for it other than some ineffective crosses into the box. For me, we have to grind out anything we can points wise, we have a keeper who is incredibly poor, but I think the formation we employ is every bit as culpable, and that is down to the manager, and that is something in his power to act upon. I've said it before, but please just get back to basics and a 4-4-2 formation, before its too late.

Aye, think daver is getting his former Celtic players mixed up...pretty sure that it was Johnny Doyle that went into the electrical game

I think if we compare our squad to that of Inverness and that of Accies, I'm almost certain that there won't be many Motherwell fans who would say that our squad is weaker than either of theirs. I'd also be of the opinion that most Inverness and Accies fans would probably agree that our squad is stronger than theirs. Our squad is littered with poor players, of that there is no doubt, but a squad with a spine of McManus, Tait, Pearson, McHugh, Cadden, Moult and McDonald should have enough to stay in the division...the problem for me is 3-fold though, firstly we have a good nucleus of a team, but those outwith that nucleus aren't of similar standard, Samson is a poor, poor goalkeeper regardless of what his defenders say, Jules, Hammell and Chalmers have all struggled at left-back, while we've struggled all season at left-mid and centre-mid has been an issue for a lot longer. Secondly, injuries to key players have really hampered us all year, McHugh has never had a run, Hammell and Chalmers have both been out long term, McManus and Moult are both currently out...we've never really been able to play our first pick 11, all season. Thirdly, some of the management decisions, tactically from McGhee and now Robinson are bordering on the insane. I think the penny will probably have dropped with Robinson that 3 at the back doesn't work, unless you have 2 proper wing-backs and 3 central midfielders, and he'll now revert to a standard 4 at the back, with 2 up front, with three midfielders and one out and out winger. If we can get the basics right over the next 6 games, I think we'll have too much for ICT to claw us back and I think we will better what Accies do over the course of the bottom 6 games.

That came indirectly from our manager...'he didn't seem too optimistic that Moult would be available for next Saturday'

Yes, its tiresome to hear the constant moaning, griping and bitching, but I think its completely understandable. We've been served up some of the worst fitba' you're ever likely to see over the course of a season...yes, we've had some bad injuries and yes, we've had some shite luck with refereeing decisions over the course of the season but as fans we've turned up week in, week out and watched players operating at a level that is above their station, we've watched players hide, or look uninterested, we've watched players make the same mistakes on a game by game basis, we've watched managers make baffling decisions, and yet we're still here paying our money every week. I'm not one to actually scream my nut off anymore at the football, but I almost lost the plot watching that 1st half on Saturday... ...I don't like to think that I come across as a a know-it-all (as I certainly don't), but anybody with any sort of basic understanding of fitba' tactics, that watched our match against Accies on Wednesday could see that the 3-4-3 system we deployed, alongside the tactics of launching the ball 50feet in the air from back to front, didn't work. We varied it slightly, by bringing Gordon in for Blyth and while I get the impression that Gordon was supposed to work as a link between the midfield 2 and the 2 up front, it didn't happen, and I'm afraid the kid looked completely out his depth. Going back to the basics of the 3-4-3, or Saturdays variant of it...Alan Archibald clearly watched us and knew how we'd set-up when he seen the team lines. By playing with 2 wide men and only Doolan through the middle, Motherwell were left with either stretching our 'back 3' right across the width of the park, or having Cadden and Frear pick up their wide-men, and effectively playing as full-backs, we then had 3 defenders picking up their one striker. Archibald compounded things even further by pressing his full-backs right up the park and effectively we were out-numbered in midfield. I seen it after 5minutes, how it took our management team to 45mins before changing it to a standard 4 at the back, beggars belief...and as I say, I nearly lost the plot watching it. What beggars belief even more, is that we somehow managed to get into the dressing room only 1-0 down, if it had been 4-0 we wouldn't have had any complaints, as we never got out our own half while Thistle had some glaring misses. To give him his due, he did make the necessary change to the formation and we looked a lot more solid in the 2nd half, however we created very little and resorted to thumping the ball at Liam Lindsays napper...something Thistle would have been prepared for, if their manager had watched any of our tactics from the Wednesday night game. I've said elsewhere that the manager can only piss with the cock he has and its true that some of the players need to take a long hard look at themselves...some of them will just never do, others are hiding though and that gets me more annoyed. A midfield of Clay and Pearson should never be allowed to happen again, there were passages of play in the 1st half where we had the ball and Pearson was genuinely looking for someone to mark him rather than take control as you'd expect from someone with his experience, while Clay just looked like a player that knows this level is too much for him...the long-haired fella for Thistle absolutely strolled it in the 1st half and it should embarrass everyone at the Club that it took until Lasley (a player that I don't have much time for) came on that Thistle were actually put under any pressure...but I'd also say that was down to the change in tactics, rather than just Lasleys inclusion. I must say, I thought Cadden performed well at right-back, might this be an opportunity to try him there while Tait is out and take the attacking onus off the young guy for a week or two...a change being as good as a rest? However, Jules at left-back was poor in an attacking sense, clumsy and poor decision making, he broke a few of our own attacks down. Bowman and Skippy toiled, much like they did in the second half against Accies, and no wonder, starved of any decent supply the pair of them will have woke up yesterday battered and bruised.

I didn't think Robinson was the right appointment and I've already stated my feelings on how the whole process was handled by the Club and my belief that it was never on their agenda to appoint him until they ran out of ideas...A quick glance at his c.v. would be enough to suggest that he shouldn't really have been in with a shout of getting the job. What I've witnessed since he tookover has done nothing to change my mind that it was the wrong appointment, I've seen comments on Social Media such as 'theres been a massive improvement since he tookeover', but I'm yet to see it. I understand that he can only piss with the cock he has, that our squad of players can be described individually as anything from, 'shite' to 'uninterested' to 'anonymous' to 'feart' and that obviously he isn't to blame for where we currently find ourselves. But lets not dress this up in anyway, that 1st 45mins on Saturday was as bad as the 1st 45mins against Dundee, but for poor decision making and finishing from Thistle could easily have been 4 or 5 at half-time. Don't get me wrong, I'm supportive of him, because I want to see us avoid relegation and hes the only guy that can make that happen, but I'm far from convinced that the guy is a good football manager. As for Alan Burrows, I've known him for a long-time, I don't claim to know him particularly well but we're a similar age and I've sat on supporters buses with him many times when we were younger, and there is no doubting he is a Motherwell man through and through and will always operate with the interests of the Club at heart...whether the guys on here who defend him, like it or not, he is the face of the Club at a management level and for that reason he is open to criticism. I honestly wouldn't know any of the other guys on our Board if they came and sat next to me in the East Stand and I'm positive that most fans will be the same. This is where one of the problems lie at the moment for the Club, the Well Society 'project' has left the Club 'faceless' in my opinion, we don't really understand who makes decisions and therefore we all seem to know Alan and he gets it in the neck. In years gone by, we knew it was Chapman or Boyle or Dempster or Hutchinson who were pulling the strings, now we seem to be run like a Social Club, by committee. The fact that Burrows never sits in the Directors box at home matches, or away matches, would suggest to me that he isn't operating at that level.

The only thing that is keeping me positive at this time is ICT's form, won 4 matches all season, won 1 of their last 20-odd and having listened to Richie Forans interview directly after their match on Saturday he appears to be a broken man, very down in the dumps and almost sounding like it was inevitable that they were heading for the Championship. Now, that interview may have been an attempt at reverse psychology from Foran, to try and get some sort of reaction out of his players, but it really didn't seem like it. I'd like to see us ditch the farcical 3-4-3 formation that has made my eyes bleed for 180 minutes over the past few days, and get back to basics. What I'd also like to ditch is the monotonous long-ball pish that we have had to suffer recently. Just because Bowman is a big lump of a guy, it doesnt necessarily compute that he is a target man, he can't seem to time his jumps properly and Liam Lindsay and the other lump at the back for Thistle dealt with our aerial tactics with relative ease and I'd imagine ICT would do the same...I've heard that Moult is still doubtful for this one, so Bowman will be on the park again. For me, we need to get back to basics, no fancy-dan formations and loads of square pegs, in round holes. I'd go back to a 4-4-2 and tell the players to go out and get fucked in as well as they possibly can. If we can get a win, that will virtually bury Inverness and allow us to concentrate on bettering Accies throughout the bottom6 games. Samson Tait if fit (If not, then McMillan) Heneghan Jules and Hammell Cadden McHugh and Pearson Frear McDonald and Bowman For me, McHugh is wasted at the back and our midfield is much poorer without him in there, Pearson only starts because of how limited our options are, same goes for Hammell and Jules.

Yip, if we manage to get out of this mess at all, the Club should take the opportunity to rebuild the squad in its entirety. In fact even if the worst was to happen and we do go down, we'll need a squad of players who are hungry for the fight, this squad of players don't have that.

Something I've probably not done for about 5 years...voted for Keith Lasley as our motm from Saturday. The fact that I have done, says more about the insipid show put on by the rest of our midfielders than it does about Lasleys footballing abilities. He provided more energy alone than Clay and Pearson combined in the 1st half.

Certainly looks like it...its actually pretty bizarre, hes back on the deck before the ball is near him sometimes

I'm not sure what was wrong last night, was it the formation or was it the personnel that was picked? Too many square pegs in round holes for my liking... Hammell as the left-centre back is asking for bother, hes done and struggles to cope when he plays as a full-back these days let alone having all that space to his left handisde. McHugh is turning into our best player and had a fine game last night, but we badly miss him in the middle of the park, when our other options are the geriatric Lasley, the invisible Clay and the uninterested Pearson. Frear looks like a decent find, has good pace, a good engine, looks decent in the tackle, gives 100%, but he had one helluva task last night between covering for Hammells inadequacies as well as trying to offer something in an attacking sense. An old-fashioned 3-5-2 might have suited him better but the 3-4-3 we employed last night left us far too exposed on the flanks, particularly on the left. Frear to me looks like he could play left-back or left-mid, but not both at the same time. Cadden, I've said it for months, he is either carrying a knock or his one-trick has been spotted by our rivals and they now know how to deal with him. Much like Frear he had a really hard gig and gave 100%, he at least had a competent centre-back behind him. Someone else mentioned giving him a rest, and if Tait is available for Saturday I'd be inclined to agree with that. McDonald has been deployed in this 'number 10' role numerous times over the past couple of years and I've never understood it, his ball control and passing ability are questionable. His movement and finishing ability aren't, he should have been feeding off Bowman not being stuck in a midfield position trying to help out the geriatric, the invisible and the uninterested. When I heard the starting line-up I was initially disappointed to here Moult was out, but interested to see what Blyth could bring to the table...I was sorely disappointed in his lack of effort, and his lack of game awareness. Robinson may have felt that he wanted to go with the same formation as he did at Ibrox and that Blyth would/should be able to fill in for Moult, on last nights evidence hes a mile away from where Moult is. Moult would have been the difference between a win and a draw last night in my opinion. Ryan Bowman for me was my man of the match, strong, athletic, good movement, surprisingly quick...needs to work on his aerial ability ie the timing of his jumps. But he looks like he could become a good player for us if he puts that type of work-rate in on a weekly basis. The substitutes weren't a million miles away from what I'd have done to be fair, given the limited options that he had at his disposal. I'll never advocate Lasley being brought on at anytime, its beyond a joke now that we are still relying on this guy and I'd have brought young Campbell into the match instead for Clay. I've yet to come away from a game and be able to put my finger on anything Clay has contributed in an attacking or defensive manner and last night was no exception. It was worth a shot bringing Gordon on and taking off the ineffective Blyth, and Ainsworth for a tiring Frear...by that time though we had long given up trying to play fitba and were rushing everything, and launching balls at Bowmans napper. Had we taken one of our numerous chances in the 1st half, it might have been different but yet again we rue those missed chances. It was interesting to note Robinson slate Ainsworth for 'not following' his instructions...I'd like to know what his instructions actually were because all I seen was Ainsworth attempt to do the job that Frear had been doing, and again by that point the ball was spending more time in the air than on the deck. p.s. a quick mention to Accies, they are totally shite but somehow manage to grind out results every now and again, their defence was pretty robust and their midfield coped better with the aerial battle and winning second balls than ours did. In Darian McKinnon, they have a worthy heir to the thrown of Dougie Imrie when he decides to hang up his shite-encrusted shorts...McKinnon is an absolute ned, that has managed to forge a bit of a football career, if I was his manager I'd have leathered him for his sending off last night...totally and utterly unprofessional and unnecessary from a player whos team are fighting for their lives in this league p.p.s. at the time I wasn't convinced the ball was over the line and having seen the BBC footage I'm still not. It may well have been, and while I'm not one to normally stick up for officials, that must have been a tough call whilst in full motion.