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If the argument is that every member of the squad should be capable of genuinely challenging for a starting place, then I'd agree that's the ideal. I'm just not sure it's realistic for Motherwell. We're not Celtic or Rangers with the budget to have two established Premiership-quality players competing for virtually every position. There will always be levels within our squad. You'll have established first-team starters, players who are genuinely competing with them, experienced cover, younger/developing players and a few who are essentially there to provide depth when injuries, suspensions and fixture congestion hit. The question with someone like Wilson or Ross isn't "would I want him starting every week?" It's "is there value in having him as the 18th, 20th or 22nd member of a Motherwell squad?" Those are very different questions. But important questions. Because if we send Wilson packing, we'll need to find someone happy to be the 18th, 20th, or 22nd member of a Motherwell squad. And most likely it'll be someone on the same level as Wilson.

100% agree Denny. We do need competition for starting places, but I do understand that can lead to some unhappy players, if they're being left out. Its a fine balancing act. Put simply, many of our fringe players are not good enough. Some are Championship standard, whilst others are League One or two standard. I would put RCC in that category. I agree about Ross and Wilson. Ross started out well about 4 years ago but never really progressed and when I've seen him of late looks to be out of his depth. He's now 20 and although previous managers must have seen something in him he just hasn't cut it. Its sad but a harsh part of footballing life. Ewan Wilson? doesn't seem to fit in with our style of play. Again after an impressive start, he's never kicked on and didn't impress whilst on loan at Starks Park. Both these lads will probably end up in League one or two. Booth and McAllister are different and may well benefit from a spell out on loan. From the little I've seen of McAllister before this season I was impressed but then again he was playing alongside seasoned pros. Whyte is a bit different and he looks as though he could slot into the first team this season if he's partnered with seasoned pros.

I’m in Portugal for these two games so hoping there’s no geographical restrictions on solidsport stream 😳 Amy recommendations for food and drink places in Lisbon?

I just said it remains to be seen. No catastrophising just saying we're not as dynamic and thosew thinking we are are maybe jumping the gun a little.

👏👏👏👏👏👏

Magic, cheers

Sounds like the opening line of a bad country & western song.

To quote another of my phrases........has mrs grizzly hacked your account? 🤪🤪

There is still hope for willy vogt , but there is absolutely no hope for you.

The point is that the KMI panel highlights outcomes, even if they have no official capacity. In that way the spotlight remains on repeated errors (or otherwise) that referees and var make. In England that transparency is seen as a good thing, a positive in fact. In Scotland the SFA see transparency as an embarrassment, a dissention. So they shut it down. It's what Dictators do. (As I believe many who live in the USA are now experiencing first hand). I agree it would be better if such panels could take direct action and include Officials. But at the very least they maintain the spotlight and address the issues that we all see.

The reasons it wasn't worth risking these players has been listed numerous times, so wont list them again, you dont need to agree but its well wide of the mark to say there were " no reasons"

We dont have a big enough squad right now. But thats mostly due to injuries. We currently have the following out SOD, McGinn, Sparrow, McGhee, Williams, Priestman, Stama, Eythor, Hendry Add those 9 back into the squad and we are nowhere near as threadbare as we have been made to look. Obviously we can debate whether any of those listed are starters or whether somemof them need moved on. But with a couple more signings up top and the injury list clear, we would be in pretty good shape. Its part of the frustration with the Stenny game / team selection. I agree Alfred could have started with Moorman, Fadinger and Longelo but with Sparrow, Williams and Priestman all being out. Moorman is the only one we have cover for if any of them got injured. You could even add Koutroumbis into that scenario. Clearly, Alfred has chosen to rotate for Stenny hoping to scrape through. I it hasnt worked out, but it was the right decision. Going into the Freiburg game with a much weakened team doesnt bare thinking about.

Just my view pal but I disagree about Longelo. He missed start of season and with Williams out also I understood reason for not starting him. Once we get players bsck then JK and SOD can also cover Left back if required. I think Longelo and Williams could be great combination on left hand side. Plus no Stama on Sunday was massive blow....🤣🤣🤣

Anyone know if we will have priestman or sparrow back? Anyone else back?

It's games like this that show the mettle of the young lads and fringe players trying to break through. Unfortunately few of them did themelves any favours and one or two looked like rabbits caught in a cars headlights. A horrible pitch probably didn't help and we did not look comfortable on it at any point in the game, even Said was struggling to control the ball. Only good point is we didn't pick up any more injuries (as far as we know at least) Forgotten about already and we move on.

I'm not even sure what the point of the KMI Panel is given it has no authority or influence over the officials. Fair enough if the officials who actually make decisions are allowed to comment on why they made them, but that is never going to happen.

And so it continues. A few days after the SFA scrap the KMI panel because it was embarrassing our wonderful referees, the FA in England announce they will publish full details of their own KMI panel decisions.......in an effort to be more transparent and give fans a better perspective of how decisions were arrived at. The corruption up here is beyond belief. It's about time our clubs united, said enough is enough, and tore the system down. Sadly unlikely given who pulls the strings up here..

Before the game i thought the team selection was more than enough to deal with Stenny. Hopefully everyone involved has learned some sort of lesson.

There was no reason for Longelo, Fadinger, or Moorman not to start on Sunday, they were all fit and ready, so it was not a forced choice by AJ, it was deliberate for whatever reason he had. Did he underestimate Stenny maybe a little bit, but he certainly overestimated the ability of Wilson, Booth, Whyte and Ross to cope with what was asked of them, they were like rabbits in the headlights every time they got the ball. Would we have won if they had not started, possibly but at least we would have tested the stenny defence instead of just passing the ball back to connelly all the time, the stenny defence just sat in knowing there was no threat.

Well if the hat fits 🎩 Willy just needs coaching, game time and skill. But you may be beyond redemption. 🤣🤣

I am not sure if you are meaning me or Willy Vogt? I have produced odd glimpse of promise but Willy still to prove himself but needs time. It's a new league and country so we all need to get behind the lad. If he starts getting abuse from stands that aint going to help him.

Serious question , is there a walloper transfer market within the football forums. Where wallopers can be transferred or even loaned out. We may have a hidden gem in our midst. Some may be bigger wallopers than others.

Anyone who thinks the any Motherwell season will be a straightforward progression knows nothing about football or Motherwell! For me, beating Freiburg over two legs would be a bigger upset than losing to Stenny. But we live in hope, because football can create those upsets. It's why we love the game.

I am in Australia and will watching the game live on Friday morning on the English coverage on SolidSport

Any of the resident expats know if the SolidSport stream will be available in Australia, or whether it's geo-blocked? Have some folk down there wanting to tune in on Thursday.