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First home game I have managed to get along to this season so it was interesting for me for a number of reasons. Firstly, I thought Firpark was looking as good as I have seen it. Nice to see that hard work is going into to maintaining the stadium. The first 10 minutes from a Motherwell perspective was like a training session. I was taken aback by the lack of intensity. Biereth coming on in the second have made the contrast of the intensity with which the game should be played all the more notable. Biereth was a level above any other player on the park. I was particularly interested to see Bair given the negativity when he first signed. He is no striker certainly but I thought for a big lad he had some nice touches and decent close control. It would be interesting to see him play with a couple of pacey strikers playing off him. The second RC goal in particular was a lovely goal and shows that they can play a bit when they get going. We were fortunate to escape with a draw The last 10 minutes reminds me of why I keep going back to the football. 80 mins of dross and then 10-15 mins of high drama and entertainment. Biereth could be the difference between a top 6 finish and a relegation battle. All in all a fairly typical Motherwell performance. A kind of four seasons in one day performance. Anybody saying it is the worst performance in decades cannot have spent decades going to FP.

Wilkinson and Biereth need to be our striking partnership going forward, we and the manager just need to pray that Mika stays fit. That performance from Shaw and Bair yesterday should ensure that neither start again unless absolutely necessary. I would even look at recalling Mark Ferrie from his loan ahead of playing either of those two again. Things are definitely starting to look grim. That was a must win game yesterday. Off the back of four straight defeats a home game against Ross County is one we should be winning, I don’t care if anyone thinks that sounds ‘entitled’ or ‘Old Firm-ish’ or any of that nonsense. We should be beating Ross County at home, end of. And yet we were fortunate to scrape a draw in the end. That’s just not good enough. Looking at our upcoming fixtures I just don’t see a win coming. We will lose to Aberdeen on Wednesday, then we’ve got Killie on that shitey pitch of theirs next week so we won’t win there either. Then St.Johnstone in Perth on a Tuesday night. I think that’s got 0-0 written all over it and then we will lose to Hearts at home before going into the international break. And then we return with a trip to Parkhead. Grim and bleak right enough.

What happens if/when we beat Aberdeen and then win our game in hand? Or doyou not have that module on your misery calculator?

Glad we scraped the draw, but that was absolute dugmeat. Barring the final five minutes, that was honestly one of the worst performances I've seen in 4 decades. Five games on the bounce without a win now. Bair and Shaw should never start again. Utterly useless. Wilkinson is also shite, but at least he grabbed a goal. Whoever signed those three (probably the same idiot who re-signed Obika) should be taken out the back and shot. Spencer is wasted on the left, and it defies logic that Kettlewell doesn't play one of our better players in his natural position. Noticeable that Gent came on and was a bomb scare. The midfield three function better as a four, so it's good that Miller is back for the next game. Davor must be plotting his way back to the Mediterranean as I write this. Mugabi and Casey were crap, but I assume Butcher starts the next game, and Blaney might get the nod soon aswell. It's also absolutely terrifying that our entire hopes hinge on a 17-year-old boy (Miller) and a loanee (Biereth), who was outstanding. He's a born winner and several of our regulars would do well to take note of his attitude. Kettlewell talks a good talk, although it's mainly word soup, but I now feel that he is very much being found out now that he doesn't have the likes of KVV to bail us out. His plan B yesterday was to employ chaos theory, which was a result of him waiting too long to change things after we went one down. With four games coming in quick succession, we must win at least 2 of them to restart our season. If not, and as the crowd suggested yesterday, the negativity will only intensify. In summary, Kettlewell is now very much under pressure, particularly if he doesn't learn from this game, and recent team selection would suggest he hasn't learned anything. Hanging his hat on the likes of Bair is fucking embarrassing and he needs to apologise to us for persevering with that level of nonsense. It's unacceptable at this level. Does he think we enjoy paying our money to watch his diddy experiments and panic signings fail?! That alone could see him lose his job come January. All in all, it's just not good enough. 1 point from 15.

I don't know any other Motherwell fan who wants us to draw Dundee Utd in the Scottish Cup so they can give Louis Moult a hero's welcome, and wouldn't care if he then scored the winner. That's a bit weird.

Assume you are not watching just how bad Aberdeen are here....

A blatant passback ignored yesterday as well.

It's suggesting to you he doesn't have a strikers instinct based on one incident in a poor overall team performance when the player clearly isn't up to speed, hasn't played in the team and is maybe lacking a little bit of confidence. There were plenty on here slating Van Veen in the first half of last season. I'm not saying he's the answer but he deserves to be judged on a run of games. Bair has 10 league starts, Shaw has 1. You can't lump them in together and I think that's what a lot of people are doing.

Re Murray and Brophy goals, I don't think any of the forwards we started with yesterday have got the ability to shoot from distance like that, they were both cracking strikes TBF

I said before the match I wanted to see a strong start and I got a dreadful start. Ross County really should have been three up in the first ten minutes. We really need to make stronger starts to matches because we are giving the initiative to the oppositions and if we keep doing that we are going to be out of games early on. Lennon Miller was noticeable in his absence and the midfield really didn't work yesterday. I think 'officially' it was a 5-3-2 but Spittal was trying to link with the forwards and that really only left two in there and Slattery was completely anonymous yesterday. I've said it before but Slattery is an AM, he cannot performance as a centre midfielder or someone with defensive duties. Although we lost 3 goals I don't think we were defensively too bad, the main difference in the teams was Ross County's radical idea to actually shot at goal. Brophy and Murray's goals were both well taken and some good propaganda for the idea forward players should be finishers. You'd think as an idea that concept should be obvious but..... The third goal though was poor from us and we need to bring up Dan Casey. The guy can be an asset and he has good qualities but his positional discipline is all over the place and he really needs to screw the heid a bit. I actually thought he was to blame for the losing goal against Celtic when he was right where he needed to be and then for reasons unknown ran across the goal out of the area the ball was played into. Even the goal he scored earlier in the season, why on earth was he there to score it? I think from a coaching perspective Casey is a 'spare the rod, spoil the child' type. Kettlewell really needs to keep Casey under firm reigns to get the best out of him. Also from a defensive point of view our full backs are, and have been, an issue for a while. O'Donnell shouldn't have been given a new contract and a succession of loan players over the past couple of seasons hasn't helped either. Spencer was probably our best player going into the second half but as others have said he's a right back playing left back. Upfront I've seen enough of Bair to come to the conclusion he's a space filler and that's about it. He's a big guy and he doesn't even win headers. However I think some or even most here are being harsh on Shaw. He's had no pre season and started one match and some folk are saying he should never play again. Come on. Not saying he's the answer and I'd play Wilkinson and Biereth in front of him but for me he gets into positions and had one of our few efforts at goal yesterday. On Biereth, this guy is miles above Scottish Premiership level. His pace, his drive, his ability can transform our season if he stays fit and other managers don't send out an assassin to deal with the guy.

Yesterday was a weird one. For the most part, I thought the ref was generally okay and was trying to let the game flow. At the same time, however, I also thought the overall quality/consistency of officiating and the use of VAR was bewilderingly frustrating. It's pretty clear that Scottish refs are more or less rubbish, and that VAR has arguably now made things worse. Yesterday could be used as a case study to demonstrate that reality.

It's perhaps worth mentioning that I was born in the 80s, which is very different to most on here who seem to have been born yesterday.

You are obviously big on hyperbole, " one of the worst in 4 decades" , you must have missed a fair chunk of games.

Thanks Tex the gaffer says

A most peculiar game today, in which we just about deserved a draw. Before hand I would have been disappointed not to pick up all 3. A great comeback all the same which speaks volumes about team character. SK is being tested in this run just now and is struggling. Teams have now seen enough of us to work out our strengths and weaknesses and just as Ross County and Livingston did, so will Aberdeen, Killie and St Johnstone. Whether we play with a single striker or two, they have us sussed. Our 1 or maybe 2 aces in the pack are Biereth and Butcher, but a lot will depend on the former's fitness. Today's points were conceded before kick off, to a considerable extent. I'm being Captain Hindsight, but Shaw should never have started before Wilkinson. At the very least the former should have been hooked just after half time. Our defence was very poor and depending on fitness, Butcher should have replaced, a totally out of form, Mugabi midway through the second half, if not before, when the warning lights were flashing. He's usually good for a blunder per game but today it was several. Our weak point, which isn't being addressed is our wing backs. Once again, just like Livingston, Ross County exploited our weaknesses out wide, where they enjoyed far too much space. That can't be allowed to continue as its costing us. For sure, our next few opponents will have picked up on that. We could easily have been 3 goals down by the 7 minute mark and again in the second half Ross County gave us ample warning of our frailties at the back as they sliced through our midfield and defence with ease and created numerous chances. Again that needs sorted out pronto. Dingwall Amateur Dramatic Society aka Ross County were streetwise and played the referee like a fiddle. Considering Wilko's yellow card at Livingston I think we're fully entitled to feel hard done by. A record number of VAR checks and I'll look back with interest at those "pivotal" incidents which TV has chosen to include in their highlights. There's plenty to ponder with games coming up thick and fast. One things for sure, changes are needed and quickly. More of the same simply won't do. To finish on a positive, it was great to see young Luca Ross grab the late equaliser. He had a decent game when he came on.

It was good to get a point and stop the run of loses. It was also good to get a point from a seemingly lost cause at 2-0 and then 3-1 down with so little time remaining. What a difference the introduction of Biereth made. Just having a forward with pace and power and a willingness to run beyond the backline completely changed the dynamic of the game. His whole mentality seems to be that of a winner. Even at 3-3, while half the team were away celebrating he grabbed the ball and was urging the players back to get restart the game and chase the winner. Great to see from Biereth, but also a bit of an eye-opener for the team and the support. Rather than celebrate a point, we should be looking for 3 from that game. I hope that some of that desire and urgency rubs off on to others in the squad. I think that we saw our best first choice forward pairing in Biereth and Wilkinson today. For me, they are the best chance that we have of scoring goals. I hope that they get some game time to see if they can form a valuable partnership. A special mention for Brodie Spencer who I thought was our top man. I have no idea why SK thought that subbing him was a good idea.

Funny that I was thinking the same but gave it to Mika.

Just about right. Bair was laying off and gathering balls and actually moving about but had no one running forward beside him to put it to . Seems more of a hold up type forward than out n out striker , may end up a good foil for Mika. But then again i may just be talking shite.

Maybe Grizzly maybe. I'm in no rush to see Bair and Shaw start again. Also, I agree about Mika and we don't know what Arsenal's "advice" is. Keep him off Killie's weed infested plastic pitch. As I see it Wilko is our number 2 striker and I'd like to see more of him. Not in the KVV class but he looks to have a goalscoring instinct and deserves a run of games.

Mika was limping a bit on his injured knee as he walking about after the full time whistle. I doubt he has a start in him. I think we will go back to the 5-4-1 with Miller coming back in and Wilkinson starting up front. I'd put McGinn out to RWB and bring in either Butcher or Blaney depending on who's fit. Try to keep it tight for an hour then unleash Mika. Luca Ross also gives us the option to go 4-3-3, Shaw and Bair should get used to sitting on the bench.

I see a lot of criticism of Bair. He isn't good enough I agree but at least he seems to be doing something. He is trying to link up play and chasing lost causes. Does it make up for his other deficiencies? No.... But can someone please explain what Shaw actually does? Or what it appears he is trying to do? I can see what Bair is trying to do. He's not good enough to do it but still... If Shaw is playing to the manager's instructions, then I have no idea what those instructions are...

Looking bleak aye OK then, we've played 9 games ffs, 29 left 87 points up for grabs, we've lost 4 out of 5 and were still 6th so for me it a few months yet before it looks bleak.

St Johnstone beaten again today. The manager threw his players under the bus at the end of the game . Fingers crossed he is still in charge on the 7th.

Thoroughly uninspiring stuff. Shaw and Bair are both utter dugmeat and both should be hooked at half time.

Gent’s defending for their 3rd is criminal. Looked awful at the time but watched it back and it’s worse! Not wanting to actually put in a tackle incase he gets hurt/gets his kit dirty I think!