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Shinnie is a very average player , if he marked his man the way he marks the ref, he'd be a player

Agreed and Jens suggesting that as well in press conference. He’s very measured in his response to questions and suggesting referees would benefit from more time to review and discuss decisions seems in keeping with his continuous improvement approach rather than, what for some others would be , a dig at officials.

If correct, the current rule of sending a player off for something they had no control over is bonkers and needs to be changed. Its quite ironic that of the two red cards, the one we are mostly agreed on not being a red is the one where the defender deliberately brought the attacker down. Thats where we have come to. Absolutely mental. Priestmans is technically correct but should never be a red card, Gordons shouldnt have been, because there is nothing "obvious" about Olusanya's opportunity to score. But Im fully in favour of the deliberate "professional" foul being made a red card offence, much like it was in the old days. (See John Souttar on Elijah Just at Fir Park).

Yup, Milanovic, very kind gesture. What you don't see is Shinnie off camera wanting him banned for 10 games!!!

Good stuff, the gods weren't on our side, don't think the line up would've mattered re OP slip. I've not looked into law, take it wording doesnt mention deliberate foul?? Also I noticed one of Aberdeen players asking for him not to be sent off, which is admirable. I'd Like to think I'd give benefit of doubt to a player who slipped especially so early in game...

The gaffer

This all depends on having competent people wanting to be referees. I'm not sure how many sane individuals would want to make that career move. Worth a try though.

Very disappointed at result but more than anything the manner of it , hard to stomach , so much went wrong . But I will not question our leader or our team , long time since went to FP with smile on face and left with a bigger one . We are a Motherwell I'd thought never see again with current set up and resources available i used to trudge to every game now I skip

I blame Kenny McLean for Gordon's red card.

Spot on, well said,

If only he had done that on Wednesday night.

Gordon for me looks like he is buffering on the ball and immediately wants to hoof it right up the park as soon as he gets. Should be only used in a last of last resorts.

The interpretation aspect will almost always come into play in whatever circumstances occur. eg if Priestman is a red because of clear goal scoring opportunity the why not award goal and not send player off. Would almost certainly discourage deliberate fouls as potential for striker to miss/goalie to save is higher. but what about Gordon situation. He definitely deliberately brought player down but surely he, along with pretty much all except Var official, thought it was a yellow and nowhere near being a clear goal scoring opportunity. Rule would then be faced with specifying how far out, how many players closer to goal, whether a shaved beard increased SoDs aerodynamic interception sprint speed etc. Sin bins to remove absolutes in a game might be closest to trying to avoid ruining spectacle. May even make the 10/15 mins more exciting as team with advantage try and press it. id be quite happy if Gogic and few StM bruisers were shown early reds right enough.

Yes, once you start to dig into stats games can appear much harder than you originally thought. We are obviously capable of getting 3 points but coming away with a draw might be a decent result. I think O’Hara is back playing first them again so I’m sure that’s a big plus for them. May come down to us being a bit more clinical in front of goal.

There is a better option: a full overhaul. Move to full-time officials who are subject to promotion and demotion, with oversight from independent, ideally foreign or remotely based officials rather than retired SFA refs. They must be properly held accountable for their performances. If the current crop don’t like that, they can leave. We must demand better. It’s ruining our game as it stands.

St Mirren's away form is catastrophic and has put them in relegation danger but their recent home form is actually pretty good, only 1 defeat in 6 in the league. St Mirren have kept 5 clean sheets in those 6 matches and we've failed to score in 4 of our last 6 away matches if you include the midweek cup match. We also failed to score there earlier in the season. I think this will be a very tough match for us and very much a potential banana skin. It's important we don't lose two in a row as once you start to lose matches it can start a more serious rot.

I'm surprised he wasn't one of the ones out the door in the summer or January. Didn't have much confidence in him in the old system, never mind the new one. I don't think he'll start, but I imagine Eythor might get some extended game time in this one to give his regards to the St Mirren defence..

Very good point Weeyin re them trying to take complexity out. Ive often thought for unintentional handball in the box why not just give an indirect? But then they’d have to decide re intent so back to square 1…for them… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry about that; fixed it now - think of it as MOTM load balancing.

It all goes back to competence of referees and their ability to understand the game and the context of the game. IFAB have tried remove the need for referees to figure out intent, which is why we ended up with the ridiculous handball rules. The same goes for the situation for Priestman where the rules have tried to create absolutes rather than taking context into account. If the refs could be trusted to understand and appreciate footballing situations, we could let them apply common sense. Sadly, I don't see that changing any time soon. On a slightly different note, regarding "ruining games for the paying public", I completely agree with that. I've often wondered if it wouldn't be better to allow a red-carded player to be replaced with, perhaps, harsher punishments for those that are red carded. In a sport that has tried many things to be more entertaining, a team going down to 10 men early in a game can spoil the spectacle for both sets of fans. I know things like sin-bins have been trialled, but maybe that would another option for the Priestman situation. 15 minutes off the pitch. Or instead of a red card, always book the player and award a penalty even if it wasn't inside the box. There must be a better option, even if it's not perfect.

Agree with you re the fact that players might try it on but no way could OP control where his body was going with that one.

I think I’d much prefer said on against st Mirren. He’s got a bit of steel about him and is a bit of a bull who can deal with their hammer throwers.

Wednesday is past and all focus on league . Just to remind everyone that since we lost to Falkirk on Oct 18th this is our league record P 18. W 11. D6. L 1. F. 25 A 5 we will have full team available apart from Fadinger. I wonder if Nicholson might start instead of Said. Not ideal opposition as we know they will just disrupt and foul us but a win would be massive and get rid of the disappointment from Wednesday. COYW

I’m hoping McGhee could feel like a new signing in the run in to the season but I never recall watching him before thinking he was good on the ball? Time will tell but as he’s quite versatile with positions I imagine he will probably be quite tuned in to formations etc i think it’ll take quite a bit of time for the big striker to find his feet, im thinking we’ll need to be patient with him. He looks very raw so far. I was hoping for a Biereth style start but that’s not happening I’m afraid.

Primarily a centre back or right back, but can play defensive midfield (he was signed to play there under SK). Dundee fans liked him as he was always committed (but not in the Shinnie way). A friend said he'd run into a brick wall for the team. Can also score the odd goal.