Tweed

It was amazing how the first goal lifted us. You could see the passing and pace improve as soon as we were ahead. We've been needing that lift for weeks. If that kamikaze goal Tokely had scored had happened at 0-0 each instead of 2-0 we would have lost as the heads would have dropped. End of the day we now have the belief back and the knowledge we can win games is at the forefront of mind. Hughes was a lot better yesterday and I think having defensive players such as Fizzy and Klimpl with him gave him much more room to play, Klimpl being able to flex back allowed Quinn forward more as well and Hammell's deliveries were much improved. We have good attacking players and hopefully we can bounce on and continue to play like that. Because we should have scored more yesterday against that team - there is no reason we can;t get 3 against Hearts, St Mirren and co as well playing like that.

I don't think Charlie Richmond is that bad a referee but I didn't think he had a particularly good game yesterday. We should have had a pen in 1st half (I actually thought Tokely played the ball at the time but having seen it on Alba he didn't). No arguments with the one they got. I thought he should have been penalising them a bit more for making a back as both centre halfs seemed to do it all the time. Last time we had a ref that had a good game - no arguments at all with the guy who did the Killie game so I'd say last week.

Floodlights were on early doors when I was in the ticket queue but couldn't see anyone working on it when I left. Certainly didn't seem to be massive concern. Entirely speculation though. It is beginning to thaw naturally though so I suspect there might not be too much of a problem.

Not that its the same situation but the England players loved Eriksson because they could do whatever the feck they liked. A manager should be judged on results not whether the players like him or not. I wanted him out yesterday but after calming down a bit: Its not McGhee's fault that Reynolds, Klimpl or whoever else he plays at centre half make moronic individual errors (the argument about not signing anyone comes back but thats for another thread) - that second goal defies belief at pub level never mind the friggin SPL. We were the better team yesterday between the two boxes and by quite a distance - we sort out one of the boxes then I reckon we will do OK, sort them both out we could be top six. We are lacking confidence big style, McGhee seems to be getting them confident when they take the pitch but as soon as we go behind or something goes wrong the belief saps out of them. If that game had gone another way yesterday, Porter's effort had gone in or McCarthy hadn't finished (a midfielder who can - where they get one of them?) I honestly believe we would have won. The same could be said on Monday night. There comes a time when this kind of run cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely and I think we either need to make a decision right after the St Mirren game if we have only taken another a couple of points. Therefore giving a new person a chance to come in and make the changes in the window or we stick to him until the end of the season. By Boxing day we were ten ahead of Dunfermline in the Malpas season and then we got sucked back into it as we got into a false sense of security after the season appeared over after the cup defeat and Malpas did not have the ability to turn that round because all the others were scrapping and we were in a comfort zone and we did not come out of it. This season we are in a battle because we have not been good enough.

Your right that there have been lots of different things on the web last few weeks, in fact, all season long. I've been off sick last couple of weeks so I have noticed a lot more of what has been going up and all of it is stuff I want to know but if I had been working and not checked the web for a couple of days then there is stuff I would have had to go looking for and seeing as I'm lazy would have missed. Perhaps some way of making things stay prominent longer. I think the club are going in the right direction but when something is promised must be delivered, if the club don't know don't mention dates that cannot be met but being fair lessons seem to have been learned. Also think it is frustrating that McGhee let something about heating slip on Radio Scotland, people have been questioning it ever since and the club said nothing until a game was off. If as you say people read these forums daily then they must have known people wanted clarification and as a result people now make the reasonable assumption there is no functioning USH - even if there is the support is suspicious. So basically I'm saying be open with the fans rather than trying to hide stuff. And bear in mind we're a grumpy bunch so you probably do get criticised more than you deserve to about some things. Good luck.

The day Inverness lost the tattie last November we beat them 3-0, Clarkson scored a couple and Darren Smith scored in the last minute. Porter while 'onside' blocked Clarkson's initial effort for the second on the goalline and then Clarky scored. Bayne and Tokely were sent off. Actually technically we beat Gretna 3-1 at FP in Feb which was 'away'

Having more than skim read it this time I think this bit will cover them for an away cup game: Tickets for cup competitions are announced to supporters following discussions between the clubs. Tickets for cup matches are offered to season ticket holders and official supporters' clubs in the first instance, and then to the general public. Still is a bit tenuous though.

However accessibility is for games at Fir Park, there is a separate section further down for away games.

We've had a couple of games with United, one with Killie, a cup game with St Johnstone and one with Dunfermline. Apart from that have we had any that were not against the OF?

Sure the club was caught between a rock and a hard place as there are going to be disappointed people - its not their fault that demand will outstrip supply. However I believe that every season ticket holder is equal and should have the same chance of getting to the game. At the moment I feel that I am somewhere in the middle with less chance than someone in the SA and more chance than someone who lives outwith the proximity of Motherwell. That said the SA are on the charter as due to be getting some - I disagree that they should get 100 (though that has never been said by the club). I think their bus organisers should maybe get a couple to ensure the buses are available and then it is up to them to organise with those who have tickets. Just my opinion though.

Skippy Sunday was on Setanta - that was our last one and I suspect only one. That was there first season and that was the only points we took off the OF that year.

I'll be there and it will be my intention to go to every game so therefore it is more viable to buy the season ticket. Also it means should an Inverurie situation arise again I have as good a chance as possible of going.

See I thought about pointing that out then chose not to. Thats cos I'm nicer than you.

Well we're quite good against them on the 22nd!

1. Not good enough for centre half this season, don't see him at left mid either. All that said he is as good as anything we have for centre half. 2. Good question 3. Another good question even without the width part at the end. It doesn't work. 4. No he isn't. He turned the game at Inverness. Everytime he has been on for any more than five minutes he has come on when the game has gone and he clearly has no first team sharpness. I think we need to give him a run out to utilise him though I don't see how he fits in. However given the mince we've served up in recent weeks I'm sure we can find away. 5. Bob Malcolm is quite steady in either position without being breathtaking. When he played in midfield last season he gave Hughes room to play. Problem is we could send Hughes out there by himself at the moment and he wouldn't play which means the benefit of Bob in the midfield is not being seen. At centre half he did not cope with Hibs at all due to their pace though against the lesser teams he can do a job. No reason we cannot make top six as I believe we have a good run in is and I also believe the four who are already in there will all have at least one bad run between now and May. We need to make sure we start winning against the crap and then take that forward to get points off the Hibs, Hearts, Uniteds and Aberdeens.

Two things Hamilton will have that we have not had for weeks is organisation and determination. What Hamilton are poor at are defending against pace. I have spoken to a few Accies fans who said that Hibs and Hearts are no better technically than them but beat them because they can play with pace that their defence cannot live with. Therefore I would get Murphy and Smith in about them and encourage Quinn/Saunders and Hammell to bomb forward. Didn't think much of Klimpl last night so I would be tempted to keep Saunders at right back and get Quinn and Reynolds as the two centre halfs. I've been advocating 4-3-3 and if Clarkson is fit I still will but assumin he out I'd get Fitzpatrick, Hughes, Lasley and SMith in the middle with Porter and Murphy up. If Clarkson back fire him up with Porter and Murphy and sacrifice one of the midfielders probably Hughes on form but maybe Fitzpatrick.

I bore the people round about me by saying that I was told at uni the word interesting is synonymous for shite. On what I've seen in recent games Hamilton and St Mirren at least will have more fight than us and if that is the case we will lose. However I think we will improve and get something but I have many concerns about our team and its lack of depth, fight and ability. I can;t see anything other than us being one of five or six in a relegation dogfight.

I don't think anyone here has a problem with Motherwell being poor - we have a problem with the same players who played so well last season looking directionless, gutless and clearly going to lose something nil ten minutes into a game. Last season we had a defence that lost stupid goals time and time again but we got away with it because we scored enough at the other end to get away with it. However I think its a bit harsh that McGhee came out and said he blames the strikers for not taking their chances, the incompetence shown at the other end in not defending that corner was much more a cause for the loss last night. I have never coached or managed a football team in my life but even I know the best teams are built from the back. However I thought we were much improved from the last two games I have seen at Falkirk and Hibs. We at least created some chances, we had some pressure and were unlucky that due to a combination of Combe and bad finishing didn't score. However, in the middle of our best attacking spell we swapped Murphy for Sutton. That took a lot of the impetus out of the attack and I think it was definitely a case of right man on wrong man off. We chasing a game and we take off our top scorer? I know he was pants but he is always liable to nick one. McGhee is good when he is winning and building on it, what he has shown is he does not seem to have the same ability to recover after a loss. Lots of work to do, but Mark, defence first not strikers - we stop losing silly goals our forwards are good enough they will nick some goals. Sadly they have hit a bad run together but it will come. I also think we should play Murphy up top on Saturday and let him run at the Accies because their weakness is pace and they will hate playing him more than Porter and Sutton.

Looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow, pitch should be fine, but thick fog! Visibility might be an issue. Cue St Mirren fans blaming us for that as well if it happens.

I think the best way to measure catchment area is to measure home attendances. Hamilton is bigger than Motherwell yet has smaller attendances. Everything else is about equal given Hamilton being attached to Blantyre and Bothwell compared to Motherwell with Wishaw and its many subsidiaries. Both are of equal proximity to Glasgow and its venim. There may be less OF fans per head in Inverurie but in the grand scheme of things who you support has often got little to do with whose ranks you come through. Success comes from a mixture of investment, ability, good fortune, the ability of the people running your club both on and off the pitch, location and population, proximity to rival, fans and good luck and there is no recipe that is guaranteeing success just one that makes it more likely. Given that so many of the clubs that are listed as having gone down have so much more than us in some of these things it is remarkable that we have gone as long in the top flight but good luck has served us well on a number of occasions as we could/should have been down several times but them are the breaks.

If St Mirren win we will overtake Inverness though as their goal difference is the same as ours the now. If Falkirk were to lose by four we would overtake them as well. We could end up going up a place the day! Rest of your post is bang on the money though.

I was over at FP getting Accies and St Mirren tickets a couple of hours back and the pitch looked essentially OK if perhaps a bit dry, granted I could only see half of it and not the South Stand side but I wouldn't worry.

Because Dundee are at home as well. What a bummer. Dundee on a Saturday is a good trip, never the same on a Sunday.

Inverness are no less garbage than us so I don't see many of their players coming this way to improve our team and I don't see them going from first team at Inverness to Motherwell Reserves. Not that I can think of anyone better to come in.

Well there will be at least one change as Quinn is out. I think a lot of what you say is true. We were good for a half against Inverness, we were decent against the Accies and pretty good against United. We played well against Rangers too. Apart from that we have been at best erratic. I think our esteemed leader has picked his formation and picked his best eleven players available and shoe horned them into his formation which has led to a lot of disappointing peformances as a group. Because our ball retention has not been that good middle to front our defence has been under a lot more pressure and have been shown not to be good enough to cope. I think McGhee needs to make a choice and either: plays a formation that allows his best players to play together comfortable or plays players in position which may not be his best eleven players but provide a better unit. I was encouraged he made changes at Aberdeen (not the ones I would have made) but it had little effect. Hopefully we will see more of the same against Killie. We need to have a go as they have been mince as well and their confidence will be shaken so if we get ahead early we could see their heads drop.