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The genesis of the current top league set-up was season 1975/76 with a 10-club Premier Division where clubs played one another 4 times giving a 36 game league season. Prior to this, the top league (1st Division) had 18 clubs that played each other twice, giving a 34 game league season. I’m pretty sure that under the 18-club 1st Division, the away club got a percentage share of the home club’s gate receipts, but under the 10-club Premier Division this was scrapped and the home club was allowed to retain all its gate receipts and I believe this is still true today. I don’t know if it make any difference or whether it would be acceptable, but maybe if this was re-introduced it would provide clubs outwith the OF with a bigger source of income.

You can't persuade me. I'm still going with 90%

He had at least two other options. Pass it to the right or hoof it up the park and he ignored those options and chose a riskier option by trying to take on their player.

He got there first and had time to deal with, he is 100% at fault with this one.

100% of the blame for me if in doubt fuck it out then regroup n reset n move on yes he had sone great saves to keep us in it ( thats what keepers do ) but ffs dont think your barasi n take any chanxes when the only thing behind you is an empty net 👍 only my humble opinion

I don't disagree with much of what you say but yesterday was a disappointment more because of the context of results for both teams in the last month. I think we can all agree that as a club Motherwell has had an exceptional 18 months. From Wimmer to JBA to player recruitment the club has nailed every decision. There is no question that the club has moved forward since Kettlewell's departure. However, a little known Polish team and a little known Czech team have beaten Rangers over two legs in the last month. When we as a club are looking to gauge our own progress against that wider backdrop we should have some expectation that if these teams can do that, we should aspire to that level as well. The harsh reality of yesterday is that we were not able to match that level. We can call it early season bedding in or the gulf in budgets but we could not match what an unfashionable Polish team and unfashionable Czech team were able to achieve. I don't think the rate of progression of the last 18 months is sustainable. The club can't keep pulling rabbits out of hats and for me personally I feel that there may be a glass ceiling that will be very difficult to break through. Days like yesterday tend to bring that harsh reality into sharper focus. The European adventure has been both exhilarating and sobering in equal measures. There is no question that we have taken a step forward but I have the lingering feeling that several leaps are still required for lasting measurable gains to be achieved.

Expectation on the fans is to go & have a go because Rangers are bang average rangers fans will tell u there bang average we’ll be nowhere near the team we were last season ( in my opinion ) so there’s some realism involved but think a lot of the feedback is fair as for footballers not being able to play 2 games a week, Iv got a 14 year old that can play 2 games a week ( not away to Germany I get ) but if you want to be successful then uv got to deal with that

There is always constructive points that need to be raised that may sound negative about specific factors. A bit like Grizzly I stay on the positive side of things and I've raised hundreds of positive comments before. I'd like to raise a couple of points - that I think went wrong yesterday. I believe after the St Mirren game - and the managers emphasis after the game about chasing goals led to us pulling back a bit yesterday on risk appetite. Playing out of the back is fine when you break the ball to Watt (last season) or Priestman to then push it forward to the next line of attack. There is far less point in it when you break the press and don't get it moving forward quickly enough. We can play 30+ perfect passes to face 8 v 10 in the opposition box. The reward is to break the press and use our pace otherwise we hold onto possession as a relief but our likelihood of getting chances is far less great. This was a big fault yesterday. I think the forum allows especially after a defeat to analyse what I think we can do better.

I'm not saying I know better, I'm saying there has been a huge improvement in the quality of the teams that didn't manage a win at Ibrox for 20 years, and now we have team with a track record of winning at Ibrox in recent games. That has set some expectations amongst fans that think we should be winning there more often now. That may even be true later in the season. The cold hard facts this weekend are that we still have a load of new players that have had little time to train together, have never played at Ibrox, are mentally tired from a glut of games over the past few weeks with little respite, and were up against a team that spent approximately 24 times our outlay this summer. The fact that we underperformed by our early season standards yet only lost by one goal is an improvement from the years where we played at our best and lost by 3 or 4 goals. There is a fundamental truth, however, that the OF will continue to outspend us by orders of magnitude to keep their standing in the top 2 slots in the league. There will he blips, and teams like us have split them in the past. That doesn't mean we will always hit top form in these games or win when we do. I do think there has been an overreaction to the defeat yesterday from some fans.

Not disagreeing with your points but I’d like to think that the WS board is well aware of the report and the Motherwell boards position/plan going forward through the two board members on both boards who’s job it is to represent the WS and keep the WS board informed of club issues. If the Motherwell board has decided not to make a statement on the future then I’ve got to think that they have not made any decision yet and when they do they will communicate it then. I don’t think they are hiding anything and yes I’m very interested in hearing what the report says but we do need to trust both boards to be doing the best. As for the seating, I’d be amazed if the two WS board members haven’t brought this up at a board meeting as this would be the place for it to happen and they then report back to the WS board - if there’s been one since they were installed. People don’t like it but these things take time and move as slow as treacle more often than not.

I think you need to read what I am saying rather than simply jumping in with the usual 'I know better' response. Nobody is questioning the progress the team has made in the last 18 months. I said that if you take the time to read it. 'In the grand scheme of things ' means looking at the bigger picture out with the micro view of our own progression, I am not sure that the progress that has been made has significantly moved the dial in a European context. It is not luck that mediocre European sides have beaten Rangers over two legs. They were better teams despite reduced budgets. Remember Kettlewell got us our first win at Ibrox after a very long time with a performance that was better than yesterday's. We did not perform yesterday against a poor Rangers side. Rangers were the better team. That does not make Kettlewell's team better than this team but it is a reference point for a poor performance yesterday. Very average European sides have shown Rangers up over this last month and despite all the progression we have made we were unable to lay a glove on them yesterday. I don't think highlighting that is worthy of ridicule. You do know which team I have been watching over the last 18 months so there is no need for the condescending tone. I am just trying to comment on why people might have felt a sense of disappointment yesterday. It is because of the progression that we are disappointed. The performance was not great yesterday. I think it is ok to try and put that into some kind of bigger context. Anyway thanks for taking the time to chastise me for giving an opinion.

Since Alexander and Kettlewell? Or our wins at Ibrox under Wimmer and JBA? I don't know what team you have been watching, but if you haven't seen a fundamental change in the past 18 months, it's certainly not us you've been looking at. Even if you were being very generous to us by saying we were on a par with Rangers despite their massive investment compared to ours, losing 1 - 0 on their patch doesn't seem to be unlikely any more than us beating them 1 - 0 at Fir Park would be.

I think a lot of the disappointment also shows how far we have progressed in past 18 months. Any trip to ibrox always filled me with dread but we have win 3 times there in past 18 months and we don't go to park the bus. We didnt play well yesterday but all teams have off days. I am still very upbeat about this season and strength of bench shows you that competition for places is fierce. You don't perform and you are on bench next game

Not sure I would describe the gap as massive between us and bang average European sides. Might just be a case of plays well enough on the day. Yesterday we didn’t play well enough but I’ll be looking for us to play much better in the return fixture at Fir Park.

Conceding the way we did was obviously a huge red neck, and the efforts we had in their box were underwhelming, combine that with the hysteria before the game and you get embarrassed disappointment, don't think the ref was bad or good either, we have the look to be better than last year once we hit stride.

I think the disappointment comes largely from the realisation that in the grand scheme of things nothing has fundamentally changed. Rangers have been abject failures in Europe this season They have had several attempts at qualifying for the group stage in European competition against really average European sides and have fallen short every time. We on the other hand won in two ties and lost to a very good German side. It is natural to think that there may have been a shift in momentum, that our gains of the last year have significantly closed the gap to Rangers in particular. To see a display and result like yesterday that mirrors so many Ibrox performances of the past is a real kick in the teeth and a significant reality check. The harsh reality is that these bang average European sides that we have never heard of are still significantly better than us and the gap in quality is still massive. This is not to criticise the progress our club has made in the last year. It simply highlights the enormity of the task to transform our small club into a European standard team than can consistently perform against clubs with bigger resources than our own. I think yesterday brought us all down to earth with a bit of a thump. I hope it does not completely derail the early season positivity.

The bad news from this game is that we just weren't at it yesterday. The better news is that even under those circumstances, we only conceded one self-inflicted goal. Also, while Paulsen was obviously at fault, the pass back was also a little under hit which meant he wasn't quite as set as he should have been. So he only takes 90% of the blame from me.

Cheers Spike ! 🤣🤣

Again, with expectations…… AJ will not fix everything in the next 10 days !!!

Definitely more "Ted" from Hi-De-HI, than Dick Emery, or John Inman .

Oooooo you are awful.........but I like you Now shut that door! 🤪🤪

Exactly well said the camp comedian 👏

Excellent post. Most on here talking sense ( unlike Facebook....jeez!!!) Considering we had 6 European games and this is our first league defeat in 5 its been an encouraging start. Also remember AJ has 11 new players and a horrendous injury list to deal with and hardly any proper training sessions. We now have a 10 day break to work on training ground and then start to establish what best line up is but loads of options off bench. RCC and Sparrow main fall guys yesterday. I've never been fully impressed with RCC but still very important part of squad. Sparrow unlucky as had to fill in a position which isn't his main one but with plauers coming back he can play further forward. Said has went off boil a bit but we know will bounce back and JT just needs to knuckle down and work away. I would really like to see Longelo and Williams on left side, they could interchange and that would be huge asset. Final point is remember where we were 18 months ago. The phrase "night and day" springs to mind. COYW

I must admit I was disappointed with yesterday result, but I have to put it in context of where we are just now with effectively a new manager and a new team, having as others have said travelled across Europe, been put out by the team sitting 2nd in the German top tier who sold 3 players for £120m to our 3 players for £9m, started the SPL with just 1 defeat more points than last season at this point and to a team admittedly not playing well, but having spent well over £30m in transfer fees and at home in front of the knuckle dragger fans. We have to remember that the season in long and we have started well, we have 10 days now for injuries to ease, players to re charge and AJ finally a chance to bed in his ideas and come back with a fresh impetus. I agree JT is no No9, Thor cannot be judged on 25 minutes of football after an injury, I think with AJ style he could flourish in the middle with Palmer and Tom Sparrow gives his all wherever he’s asked to play, yes JK is my preferred RB but he’s injured…again, and it’s a fact fir me we miss Oscars energy in midfield although Hodge n Lowry have been good, so on overview we have for our wonderful wee team a great squad of talent that I’m sure we will mostly agree is the best for decades that I feel will do well this year. We could be like Killie with McCann at the helm shipping goals for fun but no, we score more goals in our first 4 games than we have since the 1920’s. We need to be calm and be realistic with expectations, AJ and the team will do well this year just give them a chance, we ain’t going to win the league it looks like the horrid Selic will, but let’s win our own league within the league. Let’s see what a break does for the team and hopefully come back n pump Robbo’s sheep!

Yup, part of the paw paw and prickly pear family 🤪