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It's easy for the fans to just say "bin him, get him tae fuck," but the club actually have to weigh up the very serious pros and cons of sacking a manager at this stage of the season. Look at the facts. We're 9th. We're 7 clear of Accies, we're 9 clear of St Mirren, and we're 11 clear of Dundee. For St Mirren to catch us we'd need to drop 3 games while they win 3 games. They've won 3 games all season. For Dundee to catch us we'd need to drop 3 games, draw 2 and they'd need to double the amount of points they've won all season. Dundee have won twice this season. We're 8 points behind Hibs in 8th. We're not catching them. At worst we're looking at a 10th finish, if somehow Accies manage to suddenly go on a run while we lose. Granted, we're poor, but we're still better than the clubs below us, which is all that matters for now. Robinson knows the players, and can get the minimum that he needs from them. We're out of both cups. If any club happens to be sniffing around Robinson, there's a better chance he moves in the summer. We waive the compensation we'd be due, we part ways. We could then bring a new manager in with a clean slate. We have a fair amount of players out of contract this summer, so there's going to be the chance to make big changes. There's also a wider range of choice in the summer as far as managers go. Or, we could roll the dice and bump the manager just now. We'd likely need to pay him off. He's got a contract until May 2020, so unless he's secretly loaded I don't see him walking away from a contract without another job to go to. We either appoint someone on an interim basis, or we grab someone from the slim pickings that's available at this time of year. The new manager comes in and has to hit the ground running. These aren't his players, and chances are we can't shift many until the summer. We run the risk of total collapse, which we've seen happen elsewhere. I know this isn't the answer folk want to hear, but the smart choice is riding this wave of mediocrity until the summer. At that point we can reassess, we've got a lot of players with contracts up so if a new manager is coming in he gets a clean slate to work with. The only way I see Robbo going before the summer is if we get another club wanting him this season, or if we collapse and end up in danger of the drop. Bearing in mind that this would also involve one or both clubs at the bottom seriously getting their act together as well.

For those saying “be careful what you wish for”....Well I wish for out of the 6 home games v Hearts, Killie, Accies, St Johnstone, St Mirren and Ross County to have won at least 1 of those games and scored more than 1 fucking goal! We didn’t even look like winning any of those games and the solitary goal we scored was a 93rd minute consolation one! Is that really too much to wish for? How bad does it need to get both in terms of signings, results, performances and tactics before there is a change?

We played more football in Brown's first month than we have in almost two years of this clown. He took over a shambles and got us into Europe. He's also the only Motherwell manager to win a tie against a full time team in Europe.

Burrows and the 'bowling committee' need to get rid of the wee pals act and punt this clown AND Lasley. Great club servant Las but has been but we need a clean slate and some fresh thinking. We were rank today. Within the first 5 mins my and my mates all felt it, it was like a bad smell, we said this is going to be a bad day. RC were organised and motivated, that Robbo plays a clearly unfit McCormack and his best pal McHugh and leaves Campbell in the bench. The Spaniard was lostvwhen he came on and Frear has consistently played shite in pretty much every game. His post match comments were delusional. His hoofball style has been the worst I've seen in 30 years. Wanker.

We place so much emphasis on the Cups as a support and from the business side of things with the finances that can be generated that I do wonder if that defeat will resonate throughout the board of directors much much more than us "plodding along" league position, however much a chore it is to watch. I'm not fond of the saying "we were beaten before we set foot on the park". You are never beaten before you step on to the park but a team selection can make a whole lot harder for you than it needs to be, and that was how it seemed to me. Like some I too got the impression that Robinson thought we would have enough about us to use this game to help people find fitness and tinker with his formation whilst still making the next round. You look through that team and half of them trying to bed themselves back into the side to get match fit far less messing about with formations and deploying players in roles they've rarely played. We were told Tait didn't train with the rest of the squad in Tenerife but goes straight in. Hartley has had one game back after how long out and even then he's hardly kicked a ball in a year. It took Dunne a few months to get up to speed last season and there's no evidence to suggest it's going to be any different this time. McCormack was supposed to be a doubt until February but somehow is deemed fit start but can only last a half watching the ball fly over him. Turnbull withdrawn from the area in which he's been most effective and having played with two strikers we suddenly decide to go with one. It all just felt like too much at the one time and we paid the price for it. Whether Robinson goes on to pay the ultimate price for it I don't know, but much of his credit in the bank will have gone after that. An awful afternoon.

Robinson needs to pull a couple of top signings out the bag as this squad has very few match winners. Down the years our good teams have always had goal scorers. Right now, we are struggling to score in most matches. That’s why the heat is on him. If he doesn’t resolve that, we are in trouble.

The decision to play an unfit McCormack is incredible.......apparently he never trained at all last week and was only involved in the Friday team tactics talk for the game (which must have been interesting) As mentioned on other posts, the tactics of starting with two wingers when we have have hardly played with one all season is also mind boggling,then brings on a third winger in young Hastie !!!!!! When he also admits that Ariyibi wasn't 100 % match fit yet he gets 90 minutes 2-1 flattered us

Probably bottom two.

Bit of box office to be fair, it’s the Lanarkshire derby plus you get to sing the Dougie Imrie mattress song...

Thats all very well but we don't have the players to play the long/hòof ball either.

Burrows is probably convinced he's a good manager.

As ever, I don't think it's as completely black and white as people make out. The most frustrating thing for me is the manager has shown in places he can do what people are criticising him for. But just not consistently and not convincingly to the extent we need in my opinion. He has it in him to organize a team (see when he came in at first), he can coach and is a good proven coach at what he does (see Moult opinion on recent Open Goal podcast, comments from the N.Ireland setup) and he can change things when it's going wrong (see countless times we've changed formation early in the game). My two main issues are that: - For all the recent chat, I'm not convinced he can truly see beyond the 'be strong, earn the right to play, if you can't defend you don't get in the team' ethos. Creative players have been sidelined and only after weeks of dross been given a chance. Some have taken that chance, others not. This ethos has impacted our transfer policy, tactics, player development and preparation for games. Does he have it in him truly to prepare players in any other way? I'm not sure he does and perhaps is now hiding behind comments like 'we won't out pass teams' for his own failings. - I'm not convinced he can pick the correct starting 11 consistently, or deviate from the basic tactic ethos of 'direct ball to front, or trying to fling balls in from wode'. Above, I called out he wasnt scared to change it, which is good. But in the flip side he shouldn't have to change it so much. Ultimately, I think he has 1 way to play, is good at coaching/prepping for that, but throw some injuries in, not able to acquire the players he really wants/need for that and then he begins to struggle to change it and we get players out of position, tactics not suited to games and youth not being given a chance because they might make a mistake. He was absolutely what we needed post McGhee, but I think he's now struggling and I'm not sure we have the time (nor fan patience) for the manager to try and develop himself into something else, and be able to coach and prepare a team in a more creative ethos that he is probably quiet alien to. I do also think he himself probably knows that's given the recent change in demeanour and comments post match. Looked very down beat during the game yesterday. Starting to feel very much like the end of McCalls time when he admitted he ran out of ideas.

I agree with you on that big stall. I agree we've got the players capable of beating county and comfortably avoiding relegation. But we're not doing it. What gets me is in his interview Robinson almost excuses it by referring to having lost kipre and moult (and also bowman?). Well I don't see a Moult or kipre in county's team, just a team able to play together and wanting to win the game. He refers to the injured cadden, tanner etc.... well this was his strategy to strengthen 12-18, rather than making fewer quality signings. The excuses are not acceptable and directly contradict either his philosiphy, or what he is pointing to as a positive. Nothing against him as a guy.... forever grateful for digging us out a hole in 2017 and of course the 2 cup final season, but without a doubt we're going backwards.

Where to start with that? Having no way of knowing the fitness of players and how we would actually set up, I have to confess to bring just a wee bit excited when I saw the line up. I fully anticipated it to be 4-4-2 with 2 wingers and us going after their full backs. However, it became fairly evident early on that they were playing a high press and we were being overun in midfield (which contributed to the defence having to launch aimless balls forward). It was crying out for us to sub a clearly unfit McCormack for someone who could actually help out the midfield and give us a foothold in the game. Not for the first time this season the managers substitutions were utterly perplexing as they did nothing to address what the actual problem was. Grimshaw or Campbell (or even Gorrin) would have made for a much more sensible first substitution, especially as we were still in the game at that point. What followed after just compounded matters. In short, the manager got the starting line up wrong and his substitutions did nothing to effect the course of the game. He cant keep on making such big mistakes. If he does we will be dragged back into a relegation battle and it may well cost him his job.

I was expecting some boos at the end of the match, but there weren't any. I remember being struck by how quietly everyone just got up and walked out. I actually think that is much more worrying than a chorus of boos. For me that means that the fans have lost interest. I also noticed that only Richard Tait applauded the fans at the ends of the game. It would seem that most of the players have lost interest too.

Yeah, imagine watching a team that was coached properly.

Kilmarnock play 4-4-2 most of the time. Burke - Power - Dicker - Jones. They are a similar sized club to us and they are challenging for the title.

The starting lineup seemed to be well received on social media but I couldn’t get me head round it. For a manager who favours a conservative 352 to go with a balls out 424, it struck me Robinson had ran out of ideas and/or was showing disrespect to the opposition. It proved to be both! Where were Campbell and Grimshaw? How the fuck could we expect to ‘win the battle’ with a midfield 2 of McHugh and Turnbull? As poor as we’ve been for the last 12 months, a tricky Scottish cup tie is not the time for experimenting or pinning your hopes on a new striker that is miles away from being fit. If it weren’t for keeping an eye on the progress of the likes of Turnbull, Campbell, Cadden and hopefully Hastie, I don’t think I’d bother going back this season. We are a horrible fucking team to watch. Having watched the brilliant Steelmen last night, the one bright spot from today is that some of the clowns in our current team will never fluke their way to being mentioned in the same breath as proper hero’s that possessed real quality and desire.

It baffles me with every passing shitfest how Robinson has managed to ascend to achieve the UEFA Pro Licence and be an assessor fro the Irish FA. There is almost nothing on the park that suggests we are a top flight footballing team. If we aren't relegated this year, then we will most certainly be the following season. I've gotten bored of even bothering to start picking apart how shite a footballing team we are. That was a fucking holocaust of a performance against a really, really average side. In a season of demoralising mediocrity, especially at Fir Park, that disaster is right up there. The season's pretty much over unless we get even worse and get caught by 3 of the worst teams ever to blacken the Scottish top flight. Unbelievably grim stuff.

Fair point! Even the shirts I’ve helped design there were minor issues that annoyed me. However, for the past year or so I’ve been in contact with the guy that runs the Aztec Retro shirts site so I’m hopeful of some news on the Motherwell shirt front in 2019.

How much short of a training top sponsorship are you?