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There were a few factors that mitigated today’s performance - the heat, the appalling pitch that acted as a great leveller, and a referee who was very lenient towards cynical time wasting by Clyde - but in my opinion a good number of our fans had a poorer game than Stephen O’Donnell. Many of the things they accuse home of - losing concentration being the most obvious - they displayed throughout the ninety minutes, playing volleyball, lighting flares and directing unkind and unnecessary comments towards the team. Not that they can’t criticise a poor performance but singling out someone who was far from the worst, who was not directly responsible for either of the goals we conceded and who always shows willing and makes himself available is not how I would characterise supporting your team. In a game we didn’t lose. We should be better than this considering we are a community club, fan owned and team oriented. We will need to be better than this if we start this nonsense this early in the season.

Downright embarrassing. (I'm saying no more). Night

Was never going to be a classic and at least we got a bonus point. To any Bois that were there we won on pens as obviously you would't know as you were more interested playing with a football than watching also game. Also SOD wasn't great but the abuse that guy takes is embarrassing

Im not sure why you are mentioning my Facebook comments on here tbh. It's got nothing to do with this forum. Yeah I know what the initial comment was. I also responded to say that I wasn't expecting miracles - btw the person who posted that initial comment is a die hard Motherwell fan who was at the game today and was probably feeling a bit frustrated - surely that's allowed?

I noticed your facebook comment - in response to another poster. The initial comment being "If it's anything other than sorry that was pish he needs to have a real think" Surely by now we know that what a manager has to say - he can't respond like a fan. As a manager of players he will choose his words wisely - and we hope he takes away what we all see. Managers who chuck their players under a bus don't last long. Good managers move the players who are not required out in the longer term and bring in others to take their place.

You'd need to ask him. I have no idea.

Why did he have a right back at left back when he had two left backs on the bench .that doesn't seem to be making the best of what's available.

Early season fitness levels possibly. Or maybe just wanted to try something out.

I get that, but why play a right sided back on the left side and leave 2 left sided backs on the bench?

I think the line up was JBA making the best of what he has given that Miller took a knock at the Carlisle game and McGhee is apparently injured

I wasn't at the game today today and so won't comment on specifics but the performance and result was a big let down. Whatever way you look at it, we should be beating a middling League 2 side. The League Cup is one of only 2 trophies that we have a realistic, if outside, chance of winning and we treat it like a pre season bounce game. I get the heat and the plastic pitch but it was exactly the same for Clyde, who couldn't even field a full bench. In terms of condition of the pitch, there should be rules in place to ensure a safe playable surface eg watering, but thats another issue. Our pre season was difficult for several reasons, but an extra bounce game would not have gone amiss. What happened to the 2nd game in the Netherlands which didn't take place? The players, of course are still adapting a new system. The starting line up was nothing short of weird and who knows the factors that lay behind that. Fitness obviously played a part. The game did highlight deficiencies in the squad, most of which we already knew about i.e. a very fragile defence. It will clearly help if we can ship out a few underperfomers, if only on loan.

There's limited scope for change. GK and central defence pick themselves because there's no-one else. If AP Stam isn't fit, the Sule has to start even although he hasn't played a full game, because there's no one else. There's scope to change the left back position and switch Koutroumbis to the right and shake up the midfield. A big improvement required.

I think we just didn't defend well today thought we had some really encouraging spells where we had the ball and thought at points we looked threatening. Defensively we were a shambles. I am however willing to give benefit of the doubt it's the 3rd game played under new manager and the 3rd system they've played this year. There will be growing pains but if we're as poor defensively on Tuesday on an actual pitch I'll be very concerned.

Not 100% sure about GK but you're spot on about the other 3 positions.

Forget what I said before. Today made it very clear this team is missing a spine. We need a GK, CH, CM, and CF. All of them starters.

Difficult to tell on that abomination of a pitch and in that heat but first impressions Watt - Tidy player, did the basics well. I think he'll turn out to be a very good signing. Sule - Raw, has the tools to frighten defenders though. A bit too keen to go down looking for fouls maybe... Just - Looks a good player. Couple of really good moments in his 30 minutes. Also seemed willing to take responsibility late in the game by dropping deep to get the ball and try and make something happen. Fadinger. Some nice touches and worked hard. Not sure where he fits in the team. Don't think he's a winger.. Longelo - His first game so don't want to be too harsh but he looked nowhere near ready. Basics like first touch were missing. Maybe not up to speed yet as English teams start back earlier? Not writing anyone off after one appearance, just my first impressions...

An interesting comment. I couldn't make the game today so not quite sure what you mean. Are you saying that they played high balls over our defence or do mean that they drove straight through our midfield on the deck? If its the latter, that suggests big problems with our defensive midfield.

Nope lol , not having that at all 😂😂 You are 💯 accurate of course. I put this one in the trash . Then bought a good one on eBay from 2004 G Barnstaple and K Brown the authors Brilliant, I must have missed it originally lol

Same shite (defensively), different season. That aside, it was good to see what some of the new guys brought to the table.

Honestly as a Motherwell fan an alternative history might be a better read than actual facts! 🤣

If we're averaging 3 goals per game you should come more often!

Easy one today. His middle name is Jethro apparently!

I talked to quite a number of fans walking to the game and queuing outside and most of them said its the first time in ages they were genuinely excited about the opening game.

I thought Gordon was worse than Balmer today, and balmer was bad!

If anyone was excited about a game at NDP I can only assume this is their first season following the sport. There has not been an entertaining game in that stadium since the day they rolled out that plastic abomination, regardless of the teams involved. As for masters of the letdown, every set of fans say that, and ours forget to say it when, for example, we stuff Rangers in a play off (or cup semi), get 2nd place with a last gasp winner at Pittodrie or beat Dundee Utd in front of a huge crowd. We win our fair share of big games, but we're not big enough to win them all. See Dundee or St Mirren for other examples.