The African

Having picked up nothing from what looked like our easiest fixture in our first four, it would be nice to see us leave Tynecastle with something tangible. We need to start taking some of the chances we are creating as I doubt we will keep a clean sheet. Ainsworth should return so I reckon we are capable of coming away with something.

Never happy with a loss, but at least we were in the game for ninety minutes and it sounds like there were a few decent performances. No doubt there will be a few more of these types of results this season as we continue the rebuilding process. Let's hope we don't make a habit of it though, as confidence can be a fragile thing, and much easier to break than mend.

As long as it is not Craig Samson.

They can afford it. Wealthy owner and cash rich league.

You seriously think that it is perfectly fine for fans to invade the pitch?More importantly, given the circumstances, you seriously think that such actions would not lead to the footballing authorities sanctioning the club? Please note that both of these questions are rhetorical so I am in no need of an answer, or indeed any lesson, from your good self. Edit, read the original as " here endeth the lesson" rather than " discussion". As such, apologies for my unwarranted "lesson" comment.

Actions have consequences. Are you suggesting that to be aware of these makes someone a Nazi? Now that is stupid. Fans going onto the park has not been acceptable to the football authorities for over thirty years. If you or anyone else attending a football match in Scotland are not aware of that fact then you and they are stupid. This stupidity is then compounded by the fact that they were warned by the club not to do so, but chose to ignore it. Did they think that this would then be ignored by the said authorities? If they did so then that is more "stupid". Did they not care? Then that is ignorant, a special kind of "stupid". Lots of "stupid" going on and the unfortunate consequences of it will, most likely, be some form of sanction against the club. You cannot really blame the authorities. How else are they going to stop this unacceptable behaviour?

Stupidity has a price. Unfortunately it. Is not just the stupid who pay it. Does your "no harm done" argument work for driving whiled pissed? As for fences, personally not a huge fan so not sure where you get the idea of me campaigning for them. Hyperbole on your behalf?

I am sure they did, but obviously not enough because of what happened, and so our argument begins to fall apart.

Ah, God bless the free spirited exuberance of our fun loving support. I take it they will be happy to pay the fine?

Using the Old Firm to set the standard is probably not the way to go. Unless you want the bar to be so low that anything goes. As for doing more, the club could have employed more stewards, paid for a larger police presence, put in temporary or permanent fencing etc. there is always more you can do.

Indeed. Supporters of our club who should have known better. As such, despite the best efforts of the club, you can scarcely blame the authorities for charging the club over the matter. We have a fair amount of "previous" on this.

If we are honest, can we really complain or look for excuses? The pitch invasion may have been predictable but that does not stop it from being stupidity of the highest order. If they throw the book at us, who will be to blame?

Right now I'd take two wins and two draws from these first four fixtures, but you really cannot decide if these would be good results until the season begins to pan out. A win away at Inverness is a good start though. Dundee United at home might seem the easiest of these fixtures, but no point tempting fate. We stopped Inverness having any shots on target on Saturday. The same again and the worst case scenario is a point and another clean sheet. We also created enough chances in Inverness to win two or three games, so here is hoping we can continue in that vain and convert a few. United were supposedly pretty poor against Aberdeen but we cannot take that for granted. They have some decent players and will be itching to get their season back on track. Has the makings of a very interesting fixture, and hopefully a win to keep us heading in the right direction.

Let's walk before we run. There can be little doubt that this season is about rebuilding for us, and as such, we can expect a few ups and downs. The key really is to get a few points on the board and hopefully see out the year without the fear of relegation and play offs. We are fortunate that we are in a league with few good sides and a fair number of our competition are in the same boat as ourselves. It is still very early in the season and we have had one very good result. We have a few tricky fixtures coming up so no point getting too far ahead of ourselves with regard to expectations. I'd love it if we were towin our next three matches, but realistically I'd be happy with taking some points from each game and a continued sign of improvement in our overall performances from last season.

A win to follow up our good start at Inverness. I'd take anything but two one looks about right. Will be tough and a point might not be the worst result, even though I always reckon draws are not great when you get three points for a win. After last season, I have learned to take any points and move on. Hopefully another decent performance as well.

At last! Proof, if it were needed,that Una Stubbs is undoubtedly a Motherwell fan.

I'd really like to see the club try and support our supporters. Subsidised travel might be an option, but how about offering to pay a fiver of the cost of admission for the odd away game? Ross County or Inverness might be the best examples seeing as getting there will be costly enough, but if they could arrange a deal with the home team to take a few quid off the price for the away end, then the home team would not suffer financially but the good will created would be substantial. Also might be nice to see something done for away fans at Fir Park. A few quid off for guys who have travelled down from Dundee for a midweek fixture in February might be a nice gesture. Hell, even do it for our own fans on a situation like that. Yes, season ticket holders may have a gripe or two, and I appreciate that they are our core support, but perhaps they could receive an equivalent voucher for food within the stadium or to use in the club shop? Would like to see the club recognising the efforts of the die hard fans in these difficult times.

Good start, though tempered with the memory that we did beat St Mirren on the opening day of last season. This does seem different though. Sounds like a deserved win and a decent performance against a supposedly better side, and away from home. Early days, but lots of positives. Hope Pearson is not out for any length of time as our squad is still small, and time to find someone to replace Sutton as our penalty taker. We cannot afford to pass up goals from the spot.

Goalkeepers with names beginning with R, generally a good sign. Ronnie, Ruddy, Randolph, I like it! Rough, mmmmm, may have to rethink that. Good luck to the lad, hope it goes well for both him and us when he gets his chance.

Having a slight worry that we are not being active enough in strengthening our squad. I think that one of the major problems last season was the length of time it took us to get anything done. We were complacent that our squad from the start of the season, good enough to finish second, would come good and get us back on track. We then waited for McCall to jump ship rather than give him a shove, wasting more time. We then took what seemed an age to appoint a new manager who then waited for the end of the transfer window to try and rebuild the team. While I am not suggesting we panic, I would prefer to see action rather than reaction. The whole squad needed a serious shake up and I am not confident that this has happened. We were guilty of losing so many avoidable goals last season, it wasn't funny, yet no signs of any experienced defenders being looked at. Our midfield also lacked defensive shape and dynamism leaving an already leaky defence seriously exposed, but no signs of a defensive midfielder in the offing. Relying on the benefits of a more rigorous pre season seems foolhardy, especially when you consider the age of some of our squad. I am not advocating signing just anyone willy nilly but there seems to have been very little real action beyond our forwards in the transfer market. The phoney war of friendliest is now over and the real stuff starts on Saturday. Are we anywhere near ready? How much of the season's start can we afford to write off before we are competitive?

Only half? I can remember Kirkie giving the 'well fans the fingers at Dens Park after a particularly rotten team performance in a Scottish Cup game in 1988 and I think he had only been a sub that day. The whole team was rotten but he was a favourite target for the boo boys at the time. As I recall, it was also at Dens Park that he started to turn things around with a late winner in a mid week relegation dog fight. Amazing how things can turn out.

Gotham made up for his lack of height with extra width, at least by the time he was playing for us.

A very tricky first game and one we should be happy to take anything from. Inverness have had a couple of genuinely competitive games in Europe so may be a little more battle ready than us. I seriously hope that we can show some improvement both in terms of fitness and organisation. If we can defend properly for the full ninety minutes then there is no reason why we cannot get something from the game, but that may be a big ask. Hopefully we hit the ground running with a positive attitude and that can continue through the season and give us a much more enjoyable time than the last effort. As an aside, we managed to win the first game of last season and look how that turned out. So no point in placing too much emphasis on one match. A point and some positives from the performance will do for me right now. COYW!

Good stuff, hope he goes well.

Cheers, maybe not for us then.