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I don't see this as a free hit. This is an opportunity, very early in the season, to see how the team are shaping up for the marathon that is the league. I expect us to be brave on the ball and have much more of the game than we've had in previous meetings. I expect us to be in their faces from start to finish. I expect us to perform well and make a statement to the league that Motherwell will be a force this season. Will we win? My heart says that we will, but my head says probably not, but I don't expect us to lose with a whimper.

If you want to be entertained go to the theatre, cinema etc not to a football match. What would you class as entertaining football, scoring 4 or 5 goals every game, Barcelona style tipy tappy boring as feck 59 pass moves, blood and snotters hoofball with everyone chasing the ball etc. If your team wins the vast majority of fans go home happy, the game might have been a total shitfest but if it results in 3 points nobody gives a feck. Supporting a team like Motherwell is a tough ask, we don't win every week, win a trophy every year, compete in the fantasy world that is the Euro group stages etc. But having watched Motherwell since 1970, winning a league title, Scottish cup, various Euro adventures, champions league and being a Premiership team for our 40th year now its gave me a lot of entertainment and great memories that greatly outnumber the bad experiences so I think we do OK.

For me Theo was a one season wonder. No way that I'd want to take him back. It is a brave new footballing world that we face this season, we should not be considering the return of previous players that worked in a different system.

Totally agree, as ever when playing the ugly sisters anything you get is a bonus, so 1st league game of the season, let's just get in their faces from the off, play our new high tempo style and see what reward it brings.

If we are judging him against Maswanhise no, Stamatelopoulos even thought i not fully convinced by him, again no, Robinson if ever he gets fit, maybe yes but the bars not high on that comparison. For me Bair was a hoof it forward and I'll chase it type of player with questionable positional sense, so given the style JBA wants us playing hes not what we need.

I liked Theo, but I'd still prefer we went for a new player, ideally used to playing on our new formation. Here are all Theo's goals from his time with us. I'll leave it others to judge how technical they were.

Watt.fadinger and slattery are all players who want to pass the ball and although a short timespan they all look at this stage to be good footballers compared to other midfielders we have had recently. We are well fans and are pessimists by nature regards our team but at least now after a few dire years there is some hope and optimism from the majority.

I'd disagree with this tbh. There were a few goals like the chip against Livi or the one at Ibrox where he skinned a defender or pulled off some pretty technically impressive finishes. I do agree that he's probably out of his depth in Ligue 1 where the base technique and proficiency will be a lot higher but if I think of recent guys that were all blood and thunder I think Bair had much more ability on the ball than Bowman or Main etc.

Let’s face it, if we ever get anything off these 2 it’s a bonus, I’m hopeful having a foreign manager there will be less of a fear factor so many Scottish coaches have of playing them but I would be happy to go out and play to how the manager wants and see how it goes. the real tests are against every other side in the league. It’s a free hit, go out and give it your all. Hopefully they’ll be burnt out after their European exit.

Being in the running for relegation is the price you pay for sticking with the same approach every season. Given that we have zero chance of winning the league, what's the point of playing the league matches every week? For me, the point is I want to be entertained.

Obviously I'd love to see us win and I think getting them at home on the first day of the season gives us a better chance but this will be a massive step up. What I'd like to see is a good professional attitude. Go out and compete. If that gets you a result - great. However I think every lower league team we've played so far has either scored or had real opportunities to score and against Rangers that's going to present a much bigger problem. Our League Cup matches were a bit up and down, finishing on a high but this is a different type of test. It'll be interesting to see how we stand up to it.

They come to learn from the fully qualified coaches who have been trained to the latest UEFA standards using state of the art, data driven training methods and tactics. They don't come to Largs to learn how to run up sand dunes or control long balls on worn out plastic pitches.

Other strikers are available.

Well it's more than just MJC. That's why there is so much pressure on managers to win over developmental coaching. Fans and the media play a big part in how football is played in this country. But I also think it's especially acute at Motherwell since we have this 39 year run in the top league. Relegation is seen as being catastrophic, even being in the running for relegation, when for most other clubs, our size and much bigger, it's something they've been through multiple times.

Wasn't Bair main attribute using his pace and strength to run in behind, chasing long balls? Maybe a passing midfield isn't what he'd prosper off. BTW I think we are still a bit away from having a 'passing midfield'.

Aye that's MJC's post sorted right there.

Can't understand negativity around bair. Is he better than what's there just now? He gave the glasgow 2s defense a hard time which showed how good he was. If we could get him back with 2 wingers and a midfield that can pass the ball i can't see why he would not enhance us.

I would think probably more along the lines of Will Dickson. Not seeing any scorch marks on the grass from his time here.

HIs physical attributes mean he can do well in our league. He's not a footballer though, he's a unit, so stepping up to a Top 5 league always seemed a long shot. There are different levels in the game and ours is fairly low down the ladder.

And yet top European coaches came to Largs to learn from us. There are so many factors that determine national styles of football. Just for a start we are probably one of the most northerly leagues in the world that play through the winter. That alone is going to encourage a faster, more direct style of football. It wasn't that long ago we were playing on mud piles that made possession football very difficult to impossible. And I guarantee you if Rangers pump us in a couple of weeks all the positivity on style of play will go right out the window in the typical Scottish fan style and we'll 'need' to win the next match or it will be a 'disaster'.

Just watched the re run of the game on Premier Sports this morning and you are quite correct he didnt have a lot of options.

The key is stop employing the usual fuds the Scottish Football mafia love who have been hawking themselves round Scottish football for 30 years or more 😉😁

Agreed.

It's definitely a learning process. When you have trained for 20 years to clear your lines instead of looking for a pass, some adjustment is required. Equally important is recognising when you do, and when you do not, have time to look for that pass. Mistakes will no doubt be made, but we need to stick to the plan.

I remember when Gannon started, he was obviously trying to implement a different style of football. I remember the first European game in Airdrie and Steven Saunders had obviously been told not to launch the ball forward. Every time he got the ball he would look up, panic and pass the ball back to the GK. I think he was playing left back that evening although I always remember him as a right sided player. I must be wrong on one of these counts unless he switched. The good news was that Saunders became a decent player under Gannon over the following 6 months. Great result last night. It would have been a brave Well fan to call that scoreline pre match. It would be fantastic if we are seeing the beginning of a cultural shift in the way the game is played at Fir Park. With Martin at Rangers and Rodgers already playing a high energy possession game at Celtic bringing Scottish football into the 21st century, let's hope we are on the right side of the revolution.