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As I've mentioned elsewhere, we're in danger of oversimplifying what goes into these types of decisions. It's not simply a case of looking at the fixture list and deciding to rest half the team because there's a European game coming up. From what I gather, the players are monitored pretty closely. The staff will have data on how far they've run, how much high-intensity running they've done, sprints, accelerations, training loads and how all of that compares to their normal levels. Then you've got the medical side. A player can be perfectly fit to play but still have a bit of tightness or be carrying a heavier workload than normal. The advice might be that he's fine for 30 minutes, fine for 60, or that another 90 minutes probably isn't a great idea. They'll also look at recovery, how the player has been training, how many minutes he's played recently and his own injury history. A 21-year-old who has hardly missed a game through injury might be treated differently from a 30-year-old with a history of hamstring problems. The opposition (and the playing surface, no matter how much some people like to dismiss it) comes into it as well. The coaching staff will have analysed them and worked out where they think they can afford to make changes without weakening the team too much. So the manager might effectively be getting told that Player A is absolutely fine, Player B has played a lot but isn't a concern, Player C is showing signs of fatigue and Player D is carrying a minor issue that could become a bigger problem. He then has to make the decision. That's particularly relevant for a club like ours when we're playing Thursday-Sunday-Thursday and have been doing that for several weeks. Some players could end up playing four or five games in a fortnight if you just keep putting out the strongest XI. That doesn't mean rotation is always the right decision. Managers can still get it wrong. You can change too many players, lose the rhythm of the team and end up going out of a competition you had a decent chance of progressing in. Teams far bigger with managers far more experienced than us have slipped on that banana peel before. But I do think it's worth remembering when we see a team selection we don't like that the manager isn't working with the same information we are. We're looking at the names on the teamsheet. He's looking at the teamsheet plus all the physical, medical, training and opposition information behind it. We can argue with the decision he eventually makes. But there's usually a lot more behind that decision than simply "Europe is more important, so we'll rest a few players."

Trevor Carson, Darren Randolph, Stevie Hammel, Mark Reynolds, Andy Halliday, Johnathon Obika, Jim Paterson David Clarkson, Stephan Craigan, James McFadden

That reaction I think is first - don't go making a habit of it

And injuring themselves even more on the new seats. 🤣

Ahhh...like i do with my jokes? 🤣🤣

Strange sight looking into the O'Donnell Stand and see 2 rows of guys sitting in training gear.

Better teams than us struggle playing Euro/League games Sunday - Thursday - Sunday. That's why teams that are regular participants have deeper squads of first team quality that they can rotate. Even with a fully fit squad it would be a stretch.

Just for the record, there will never be a "none of the above" box. Feel free to not vote. Personally, after some of the pre-match chat about Connelly, I thought he strolled it. Wish the rest of them had performed to the same levels.

We have a full squad of first team players crocked. I’ve never seen it as bad in 50 years watching Motherwell.

Horrendous list. Can understand fully why AJ rotated team yesterday

Rumour going about that Sparrow broke a bone in his spine. how worse is this injury situation going to get.

He's done well considering the big shoes he has to fill in replacing jba , but hopefully the Stennie game will be a wake up call ,it's far too early to really judge him , let's see where we are after a dozen league games 😎👍

Terrible performance and poor selection, which just highlights our injury ravaged squad and lack of quality signings,was there any positives not really clutching at straws but I thought the new boy Hodge was ok and probably Lowery was the best on the park for us, what was really shocking was our lack of attempts on goal ,I really hope the gaffer learned a valuable lesson from this and that some of the younger guys need to go out on loan or get moved on ,was it bad yes but was it Darvel v Aberdeen bad I don't think so.

I don’t think questions need to be asked more lessons need to be learned.

There’s no way he’ll set up anything like the Stenny game, the 8 dropped players for a start will be back if fit so a different game all together.

Agree totally. itd be nice to keep the score respectable over the two legs and give a good account of ourselves both on and off the park. i do have hope that because Freiburg are at the end of their pre season they may take this game as a pre season friendly and we might catch them off guard at fir park but they are German at the end of the day… as professionals go, you don’t get better.

This game totally different from Sunday. Over 10,000 i reckon, a proper pitch and big guns back in starting line-up. We need to create a brilliant atmosphere and get right behind AJ and the lads. We know this is a massive gulf in class but would be great if we could avoid defeat. Freiburg not played competitive game yet

0-5 pumping.

We’re not going to win every game and any ‘Well fan with their head screwed on knows this. We are also hugely up against it when it comes to winning one of the domestic cups. However it’s the manner of our exits against opposition we have been more than capable of beating over the years that irks more than anything else. Lower league Stenhousemuir, drop eight players, lose, out the cup. Aberdeen who we have beaten three times already and are easily outperforming in the league…rotate the team, leave key players out, lose, out the cup. And there have been more examples.

I knows its not realistic id settle for a 55% win rate 😂

I wouldn't want that either. Winning every game sounds dead boring, and leads to the sort of entitled fanbase the OF are blessed with.

As a Motherwell fan i want to see the team win every game it plays thats obviously not going to happen but i wish it would. The sell out away support yesterday would suggest the league cup is not devalued, its a national trophy and we should be trying to win it, likewise with the Scottish cup, SPFL premiership, any European competition we qualify for, the lanarkshire cup, summer cup, etc etc. The match programme at Fir park, lists our achievements over the years not the profits we make as thats how 99.9999% of football fans the world over judge their teams.

The league Cup has lost a lot of interest , profile and devalued for supporters in general now as its only on premier sports , which no one even notices now.

If AJ sets us up similarly to the Stenny game and the players perform as poorly as they did yesterday, we should expect to be embarrassed on Thursday. But if he sets us up as close to the Helsinki game as possible and those players reproduce that performance, I’d expect us to do well. No fear. Although I suspect yesterday’s embarrassment, coupled with the additional exertions of extra time on a plastic shithole, has taken the wind out of the sails of most of the players.

Yes, some players didn't do themselves or the club any favours. There's been plenty of talk about incomings but a few need to be shipped out either on loan, to mitigate wage costs or to gain experience; or permanently.