couttsy

I agree with all of that, however he won’t be sacked (and neither he should be) when we’re top 6 and have been in a national cup semi final. Whether we like it or not decisions will be made based on season so far and not on 3 or 4 games.

Would have expected 4, win the home game and a point in one of the away games.

Any chat about Kettlewell being sacked is wild. Whether we like it or not the facts are we’re in the top 6, having played a game less than all of the bottom 6, and have just played in a national cup semi final. Next 3 games are huge before we go into a tough run or 6 or 7 games. Really need to be picking up 4 points minimum or a fear he may be in big trouble come mid Jan.

Interesting team selection, no Davor or Halliday which I think is good, but also no right back strangely! Balmer? Wilson or Seddon?!

Whilst Saturday was horrific I’m not sure making wholesale changes to formations or personnel is the way to go (yet). I’d be keeping the 3 at the back with some tweaks. I’d go Ox, Casey, Gordon & Seddon (better balance with the left footer at LCB), Kaleta and Wilson wing backs, 2 centrally in midfield of Miller and Paton, then Maswahise, Stama + Watt/Robinson. If we start with Davor & Halliday I’d be shocked if we get anything from the game. Davor tries hard but is weak and ineffectual in almost every game, Halliday is one paced and well past his best I’m afraid. Both look like Championship level players to me.

Shout out to big Oxborough for a couple of big saves in the first half, Balmer & Casey solid in the 2nd half, and Miller good on the ball as usual, but has to be the 2 goal hero!

Poor poor 1st half, and fortunate not to be 1 or 2 down, thanks to Ox and Miller. 2 up top not holding the ball up much and unless we get it to Miller we’re struggling to play through midfield. Have defended reasonably well, but can’t keep sitting so deep and expect not to lose a goal.

Thanks for the advice, that’s exactly what’s happened. Cheers

Just went on to get 2 and I’m struggling to see any availability! Anyone know if we’ve managed to sell out?

Better than drawing Celtic, but would much rather have had Aberdeen! It’s winnable but we’ll be massive underdogs.

Think they’re complaining that we had two players holding balls when we took the throw in, weird one to be fair! Although it was well back in the move. What a finish, although we’ve been awful to be honest. Playing like the away team, sitting off and hoping to break on them.

No failures, but has to be SOD, outstanding!

Don’t think even the most optimistic amongst us saw that coming! Most I’ve enjoyed a home game in quite some time. As others have said, without Gordon making some cracking saves we could have been 3 or 4 up. Not a single failure in the team but huge credit to O’Donnell, Davor and Halliday who all had their best performances in a Motherwell shirt. I also thought Gordon was solid at the back.

The Dundee Derby showing up just how poor our midfield was yesterday. Both teams have mobile midfield players bursting forward, the exact opposite of us. Fortunately both also look shaky at the back!

Very very frustrating afternoon. We weren’t great again, but we were far better than last week, and far better than County. Should have won the game. Thats the positivity out the way. Our midfield is a big problem and we need to hope 2 or 3 of the guys injured/on the bench come into the first 11 soon. We can maybe start games with one of Halliday or Davor, but both of them won’t do, too slow, too weak, too ineffective. Miller poor today, but playing too far forward for me, he’s much better coming onto the play in a slightly deeper position. The two up front both missing straight forward chances is also a big concern, let’s hope the Aussie can come in and take the chances. Make no mistake Ross County are really poor and will be in the bottom 2 or 3, so we need to be picking up 3 points at home if we want to avoid getting into trouble.

Didn’t make it up to Aberdeen yesterday (thankfully by the sounds of things). Just watched the highlights, no surprise after what Kettlewell said, it’s never a red card! How the refs not sent to watch that on the monitor I’ll never know, peak Scottish referees. Don't get the grief Kelly is getting on some forums, no chance with the goal and then looked like he went on to make 2/3 really good saves. Blaney could and should do better for the goal, but it’s a good header to be fair to Garterman. We are going to be safe, but it would be good to win next week and put it to bed asap.

Suspect we’ll see Kelly, O’Donnell, Gent, McGinn, Mugabi, Casey, Miller (Davor if not fit), Halliday, Spittal, Vale & Bair. Expecting a 0-0 or 1-1 draw.

Is McGinn injured? Can’t see us starting without him in the line up!

Massive credit to every single well fan that endured that place again today! You deserve to party tonight!

What a bloody result. Played well 2nd half on Wednesday night, but didn’t see this coming! Biggest thing about it is we can push aside any concerns of relegation and start looking up the way! What a day!

Well done Stuart Kettlewell! Fully expected us to come out 2nd half, continue to move the ball slowly allowing Livi to all get behind the ball, then lose another one on the break. However we completed changed the tempo in the 2nd half, not only by bringing on Vale, who was involved in nearly everything good we did, but by pulling Miller back into that more defensive role where he can ping passes about, I think it suits him much more. Great 2nd half and some cracking goals. With Miller, Vale, Spittal and Bair now surely certainties to play we’re starting to see a way of playing that works for us.

It’s the hope that kills you 😩

Looks like I’m in the minority here, but I’d still be starting Kelly. I’d also stick with Butcher if fit, Mugabi if not, and keep Casey on the left of the 3. The rest I agree with, although you could make a case for Halliday over Miller given that Miller’s just returning from a long spell out.

Agreed, but more difficult for us as fans to know who is at fault when we’re zonal! Lol Very simplistic and a bit old school, but I’ve always preferred the “he’s your man make sure he doesn’t score” approach! Although I do get man for man has it’s downside also with players getting blocked off etc

As some others have said, I thought we did pretty well for 66 mins, defended well, restricted them to very few opportunities, and had the best chances on the break, Miller’s in particular. Very soft foul given for the 1st goal, but I’m not sure Mugabi was the only one to blame for Shankland’s free header, I think Casey is every bit as culpable, as is the decision to go zonal and not man for man. Anyway between them they can’t leave the top scorer in the league with that amount of space 12 yards out. The 2nd goal, we’re obviously chasing it at that point, they get an overload on our left and then O’Donnell’s weak attempt to get to the ball combined with a great touch and finish, and it was game over. A few positives to take, Kelly made a few decent saves towards the end and looked more steady in general, Vale looks like he’ll be a good player for us. 1st goal apart Casey played well. I know there’s a lot of chat about who is our best back 3 (or least worst), I think we need to get back to McGinn, Butcher and Casey as quickly as possible. I know Butcher hasn’t been great but I prefer him to the other options we have in that area. Assuming we lose next week, that Livi game is going to be huge, particularly given Ross C have a couple of winnable home games between now and then!