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McGinley still needs an operation so will be out for a while. It's unbelievable that people are still talking about Griffiths after last season. The Snapchat stuff, the pyro at St Johnstone then being shite at Falkirk. The best place for him is Open Goal FC with Slane.

The only thing I’d give him would be his bus fare south.

How about SOD as a wing back in front of McGinn on the right of a back three? Utilising his assets and offsetting the weaker part of his game. That’s how O’Donnell was deployed successfully at Kilmarnock and how he was deployed successfully for Scotland. I don’t see the point of signing a player based on performance and then playing him in a different role. Perhaps explains why it was always frustrating comparing his Scotland performances to his contribution at Motherwell.

To be honest I show more support to Motherwell than I’ve ever seen from you. The only time you are ever happy is when we lose. You actually want rid of me because I’m positive.

That's a rather narrow-minded attitude to take. Personally, I don't think it matters why folk are interested in our wee club but all are welcome.

Griffiths is a tough one. If he's on form and motivated he's probably as good a player as we're realistically ever going to get. I wouldn't be against him being brought in to train with us for a bit and give the management team a chance to see how he would fit into the squad, and for the backroom team to gauge his fitness. I'd also make it a requirement that he immediately hand over control of all his social media accounts to the team who do the club social media!

Can't have Armstrong as new manager.......that would be pointless!! Ba boom

Like most of the support, I was concerned with the level and style of football we had to endure last season which was only made acceptable by our staggering over the line into the top 6 and eventually a European slot. I was prepared to give the manager the start of the season to prove that he had learned lessons and was capable of making the changes necessary and improving the quality of the product on the pitch and hopefully our results. Given that we have only played one game it would seem churlish to change my mind now. He did clear out some of the deadwood. The 3 signings made look promising to me, but clearly a few more in key positions are necessary. We need to see huge improvement on Thursdays performance starting with the away leg this week. Even if we lose on Thursday he wont be sacked immediately. However, if we were to perform poorly in our first 4/5 league games and dont beat ICT in the league cup, then I will be on the GA out train and I would imagine the vast majority of supporters will be there too. The board will then come under severe pressure to act. The team will continue to get my backing, the manager is going to have to earn it.

Recruitment argument aside then, what has Alexander changed since we sold Watt? Cohesion/stability? No. He's dropped our captain, rotated players in/out of positions, put square pegs into round holes, persevered with only one proper (injured) striker, signed duds and released duds, not addressed other weaknesses, etc. What do people honestly see in Alexander in terms of his potential to make us a relative and occassional enjoyable success that I cannot see?

I was honestly amazed, he was hopeless for York.

We gave a contract to Gallacher who did jail time for battering somebody with a baseball bat,and nobody gave a feck, Griffiths wasn't convicted of anything, so is GBH OK with the fans but what Griffiths allegedly done not? Everybody deserves a second chance, and we need a goal scorer.

I totally agree with your last sentence and this lies at the managers door.

Put plainly, all the peripheral stuff....interviews, post match comments, clothes..... is bullshit and does not really matter. It is only being used by some to deflect from what matters. And it is easier to defend those things than the on field situation. What matters is the performance and results on the pitch. On that measurement Alexander has been woeful for six months although he deserved some leeway/credit based purely on the results pre Christmas and our position in the League which we thankfully managed to hold on to. Based solely on the outcomes this year and in the absence of any improvement over that time I fear for what the future holds if Alexander is allowed to continue (which I think he will be). I emphasise, my concern is not based on a one off game against Sligo. It is based on what I witness game in game out coupled with a refusal by Alexander to acknowledge a change of approach is required. Going back as far as Bobby Howitt, I have seen numerous managers come and go. Alexander is not the worst. By quite a distance. In trying to compare him to those others I think he is a bit like Stuart McCall in that he started well and carried fan support. Then it started to go wrong and his stubbornness and determination to be proven correct got in the way of what was good for the Club....... Fraser Kerr wide right to head long punts from the goalkeeper infield in the blind hope of linking up with a striker as an obvious example. How often was that resorted to as Plan B, and sometimes Plan A? I hope I am wrong but I have seen nothing to suggest Alexander can reverse the trend we have witnessed for 6 months. But I live in hope of an Alex Ferguson type resurrection.

He finished 5th last season, anyone who thinks his job is even remotely in danger is deluded. Another thing, the apoplectic seethe with which his post match interviews are met with is extremely strange. Every manager in the world uses these as a tool to shield their players. The only time I’ve heard a truly honest post match interview was Terry Butcher at Hibs and it was disastrous. It’s almost as if people can’t wait to hear his interview so they can be fucking raging at it.

He won’t be anywhere near finished. If we lose the first half dozen league games then that’s a different matter.

Would take Griffiths and immediately start him up front alongside KVV with wee Tierney in behind in a 4-3-1-2 with Tierney taking the ball off the midfield and turning as he did when he came on last week and slotting those two in on goal all night. Probably in the minority though.

similar goals for as KVV over his career. You should be out there as a scout finding these sorts of available players

You arent being realistic, arrogant and stubborn are excellent attributes for a manager, for example Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and many more. He needs a lot more time before we can make comments like this. Dont get me wrong I dont like the way we play at the moment but having supported MFC for over 60 years I have seen much more concerning starts from a manager one of them being Tommy McLean and that turned out ok.

I saw that ex-Aberdeen forward Chris Maguire had been told he could leave Lincoln City (currently in administration). Getting to the veteran stage at 33 but always seemed to have an eye for goal. I'm sure he's originally from around the Motherwell area too. Don't think he played for Fleetwood, Scunthorpe or Salford right enough.

The age-old adage of using false equivalence to defend a manager's position is tiresome. He's arrogant, stubborn and stupid, making him an appalling football manager. His utter contempt for the fans is also embarrassing. If Sligo put us out, he's as good as finished.

Agreed,but wouldnt that mean GA having t change to a 352,..343,my preference would b a 5 in midfield SOD right,tierney in a forward roll centrally,slattery inside SOD,this is where i start t scratch my head 2 places in midfield up for grabs,do we play carrol a natural"left back"n ask him t push on,that would leave spittal morris McGuire deano goss for one other place,sheilds n KVV through middle,none of this peeling out wide n leaving central area empty,u would have the 2 playing inbetween the goalposts tierney coming from deep,backed up by slattery and an other or we could sacrifice the defensive abilities of SOD and carrol n go with more forward thinking"wingbacks"i remember jim obrien playing that role effectively years ago,if we go 433 we will get overrun in the middle again,ive checked back sligo's systems,they change all the time according t who they r playing,mostly a 4 sometimes even 5 in the middle i can c that being the same on thursday so we need t match them up numbers wise or it could b a long night

Take it as it goes. Unless were bottom two I don’t expect anything to happen.

Good shout Dennyc. If we were playing to strengths I reckon this is the type of formation that would work. 3 centre halves enable us to have more in midfield where we' get out muscled most games. It also removes the need to force a front 3 when we don't have a right winger and play someone like Tierney who's likely to cause problems. One big weakness is to repeatedly play the same formation, force players into positions that don't work for them and when it doesn't work bring out the tombola and see who else can be squeezed into a position that doesn't work for them

I agree the solution could be to play play both and I agree the left is a worry. Carroll…and rightly so at times…does get flack but against Sligo I thought it was revealing how few pass options he was given. Nobody running wide for him and a tiring/limited midfield inside of him. So all too often he had to turn back or punt a hopeful cross into the box. In truth, it was similar when McGinlay played so I think the issue is as much about the options our left back has in front of him. Again against Sligo, who actually covered if Carroll pushed forward similar to McGinn in the first half? Slattery did that job on the right.

Not that I recall. SOD has been a target for some from the moment he signed but I do accept he has had some poor performances. Every player has. He has also had some good ones but his detractors are noticeably quiet then. Playing him in his natural position might help and might just provide us with some attacking threat down the right. It certainly seems to have worked out that way at both his previous club and for Scotland. As for Mugabi, everybody could see right away that he was a fish out of water at right back. The Hibs fiasco proved it and eventually Alexander appears to have accepted that. It took a while though. Fans did like Mugabi, yes, and wanted him to play . But as a central defender when questions were being asked of the other centre backs and when it was not clear who made the best pairing. Alexander playing him out wide was a gamble that failed. And repeatedly exposing Mugabi has certainly dented his confidence to this day. To link the two things and say that fans wanted Mugabi to play at right back ahead of O’Donnell is pushing it.

Well, this subject has arisen following Thursday's game, so we may as well get it out in the open. Personally, I think he'll be given until around October or November and if things aren't looking any better by then it'll be time for both parties to shake hands and move on. Simple as that, really.

Given that our fixtures are a lot tougher from the start of October onwards, I think the Directors would have a decision to make before then. If we fail to perform against the weaker teams before the end of September any decision will be based on results and fan unrest. As I wrote previosuly getting knocked out the ECL by Sligo this week won't make or break GA but it'll certainly set the tone for the coming weeks. He's already lost the support of many of our fans and it won't take much more to unsettle the rest. Personally, I'm sitting on the fence but wavering right now. I'm less concerned than most by style of play, but results do matter to me and I'm looking for some evidence of progress, however modest, from last season, in terms of style.

Very good! But I prefer The Chase.

Wait, wasn't there strong calls for O'Donnell to be dropped in favour of Mugabe playing out wide in his position last season? Remember? He was supposed to be terrible, it was a farce that he even got called up for Scotland? Now that the manager has dropped O'Donnell and brought in someone else we're suddenly wanting him back in the team?

If KVV is fit enough then play him up top with Shields or Morris with Tierney just behind them.

One on the reasons we fell away so badly last season could have been him getting injured at Hearts

It was not humour to laugh at, banter or anything like that it was sectarian shite that has no place at Fir Park, or anywhere else for that matter. The club should have called them out for it. And its a sure thing that UEFA will fine the club for whatever dickhead threw the water bottle at the linesman, again the club should have called that out as well, I hope the culprit is identified and banned from Fir Park.

Inverness at home - Thats us out...even if it had been Queen of the South they would have gubbed us as well.

How often has that happened that we get a good crowd in only to be completely let down? European games more often than not see that happen. Think Nancy, Odense, PAO, Levante, Kuban Krasnador, Stjarnan and now last night. All of those games got big crowds in, there was a sense of excitement and anticipation and all of them ended in a damp squib. Seven games with a grand total of TWO goals scored and not a single win among them. Europe for us is nothing but a bit of fluff at the start of a season. Glorified friendlies that attract big crowds and end in embarrassment. Give me the League Cup group stages any day of the week.