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I think a lot of our fans are comparing what we look like right now to how Jens team was playing October to March. This time last year we had drawn with Clyde, put questionable performances in against Peterhead and Stenny, beat Morton and drew away to St Mirren with barely a shot on target. I actually think we are a bit further along the journey with this squad than we were this time last year. Our horizons have just lifted a little, so we no longer view things the same way as we did post Kettleball. Nothing wrong with that, we should always be striving for better, but we should maintain some realism at the same time.

That's exactly my thinking, which is why I'm not so quick to dismiss some of the players we have in and around the first team already. I do think we have set a very high bar as fans, where we're looking for Turnbull/Miller/Johnston levels otherwise we shouldn't be looking to retain them. We're going to have fringe players. It's how it works for clubs our size who require a decent-sized squad of players. I'd rather those fringe players were our own youngsters than loans or free signings that aren't all that much better in reality.

As seats the new ones are not the comfiest ive sat on but they are passable. The major problem is access, with the old seats you could flip it back and move into the seat space to let people past etc with no issues, now you stand up with nowhere to go and nothing to hold on to, so its a nightmare trying to get in and out of a row. The old yellow bucket seats with no back never had any access issues as people could just step over them, now they are comfier but with the nightmare access issues the other seats have. Fan saftey should be a main priority, ie getting in and out of your seats safely when carrying hot food, people with mobility issues however serious are really struggling to get to their seats I know the pod has limitations and there were tight timescales re the UEFA regulations etc but for me the club failed in its due dilligence, ie nobody actually fitted a few seats in the pod, sat in them, tried to get in and out etc and judged them fit for purpose or not. Now we will be stuck with them for who knows how long, the club dropped the ball on this issue and it needs resolved before we start getting accident or injury reports etc.

Surprised at some of the negativity regards todays performance. Whilst we were far from our best, misplaced numerous passes and fluffed a number of very decent chances, there was still a lot to like. Maybe a sign of how far last season raised the bar? I thought Falkirk offered nothing first half. Content to spoil the game, commit fouls and go down at every turn. All ably assisted by Chris Graham who must be the worst referee in the league (which is saying something). We should have been a couple up at half time and that would have maybe allowed us some more breathing space as we did tire badly second half. Although not as fluent a performance as we would like there was still some excellent football played. Said was box office first half and some of the stuff he pulls off is ridiculous to watch. The move where JT shot wide whilst having his shirt removed from him would have been even better than last weeks goal of the season entry. Add to that the 2 second half moves spurned by JT and Johnny K and I left feeling that it was 2 points dropped rather than a point gained. The squad is light, we have a lot of games coming thick and fast with not a lot of time on the training pitch right now to bed in the new players and managers ideas. I think by the time we get to the end of the window and things start to calm down, we will be in much better shape.

First time in the new seats in POD. They are terrible. Most uncomfortable seating i have sat in. Obvious this was the cheapest option. Too close , bad design, flimsy and dig into your back. Did they actually do a test with the new seats before installing them . Strip out a few seats and a few rows in a block n see how it went testing under matchday conditions with folk sitting in them.Trying to get past each other when there is folk sitting in the row in front . The back of the seat moves into the passage space behind making it even narrower. With hot food and drinks in their hands people can't pass in front of you . Its a fukin shambles. Wonder how long til someone gets a couple of cups of roasting hot bovril spilt over their head. Seen it almost happen today. Tall guys knees protrude over the back of back rest in front. Folk arriving late and leaving early cause chaos . Some one(probably an older person) is bound to get hurt over the season. This must be classed as an unacceptable risk , if there was ever a fire or a panic it would be chaos . I would love to see the risk assessment for this and access for those with restricted movement. No way there is the same space between the rows as before when occupied. Two skeletons couldn't pass each other safely never mind your average Scottish football fans. Who is responsible for this shambles. Get them to sit in the middle of the centre block for 3 games and then give us an honest opinion. The POD center block has gone from one of the most comfortable seats in the league to one of the worst to watch a game from. Not enough thought went into this before it was carried out. Still to see what happens to my knees when we sc0ore a goal Official line seems to be if you don't like it then move. Fair enough ????

I would go further and say that I feel that we were worth a win. We created 4 decent chances and played some great stuff at times (albeit fairly infrequently). The football to get JK away for his chance was top drawer, as was the work to get JT the chance that he lashed over from 6 yards out. Falkirk offered nothing to the game and were happy to foul throughout, knowing early on that the ref was useless. They were happy to break up play and wait for us to run out of gas in the final 20mins. No way did they deserve anything from the match. To comment on Motherwell today, I feel that we were generally slow and ponderous in the build up, and our movement in front of the ball is minimal, so making chances is going to be difficult against any well organised team. We need to improve our fitness, to last more than an hour. We need more movement and intelligent movement in midfield and, especially up top. We also really need the few runs that are made to be seen and used. We are very guilty of ignoring forward movement and turning back when forward options are available. I'm hoping that we'll improve with games and familiarity, but I don't think we have the players in place to emulate last season's performances. We need some more quality in the mid and front areas.

Jack McConnell, 18 year-old from Wishaw.

If we qualify against helsinki I would expect a few changes as we need to keep big guns fit and rested

Are you all right pal? Plenty of time for a response to this at least the thread is here 😇 COYW

Sadly I have to agree. I've seen nothing to convince me he's got what it takes at our level. Against HB he looked lightweight and the game passed him by. There will now be other young lads knocking on the door.

We need 8 in our squad of 25 for the Conference League.

I thought I read someone on here saying it was in competition rules but not sure if it was specific competition or all competitions

Just listened to the AJ interview after Falkirk. As others have commented it’s a refreshing, no BS, take on the game and where we are at moment. plus I reckon he’s given us a steer to new song/chant at 4:11 in

Send mcghee to Ross county on loan.

On reflection, maybe it's all a cunning ploy by the club to get us all to "stand up and sing for Motherwell."

And somehow we're 3rd in the league and still in Europe. If only we'd just try harder!

Vogt looks to have some technical ability and he looks much fitter than he did when he arrived and has a yard of pace. Getting the ball to him at the right time and in the right areas would help, instead of him having to pick the ball out of the sky. Moorman will be massive for us this season. But I also though Knight - Lebel absolutely strolled it yesterday. We look to have brought in 3 very serviceable CHs and thats without McGinn, SOD or Johnny K having to fill in there. I do wonder where McGhee fits into all of this now, even if he could stay fit.

Totally agree,says as it is,no dramatics,no blame game,always very balanced and his summary of games is how i see it.

If only UEFA were as pedantic about the standard of pitches as they appear to be about stadium seating.

I'm of the same view. I'm surprised he hasn't had a few minutes this season so far. The little I've seen of him he hasn't looked out of place.

This is the first his dad has heard about this, so might just be “paper talk” to fill column inches.

Taking a positive out of yesterday apart from a point and a clean sheet (happy with this tbh) I really liked Alfred’s post match chat, absolutely no bull sh1t manager talk, I totally agreed with everything he said and it was refreshing to hear. Each week I like this guy a little better.

As soon as I saw who was in charge today my heart sank. He is without doubt one of the fussiest referees in the league and possibly the poorest, which is saying something! I was literally pulling my hair out (whats left of it) all afternoon. Some of his decisions were absolutely mindblowing. You do have to wonder at times what it is he is seeing? Remember this is the guy that sent Dan Casey off for handbags v Kilmarnock and when VAR intervened, convinced himself he was right! Falkirk played to it all afternoon and he bought it every time. Very depressing so early in the season!

I wouldn’t read to much into that, last season was the same left wing ignored every game with the midfielders more that happy to turn around and play down the right when the pass out left was on. I’ve often wondered if it’s a statistical thing where more goals come from crosses from the right, maybe right footed attackers feel more comfortable with this? Honestly I don’t know why but it’s bugged me how often Longelo and others have been ignored when we’re building an attack. Although I’m happy that others are noticing it and it’s not just me being left footed and paranoid that see’s it.

58 per cent possession to well but we still allowed them 10 shots at goal and 18 touches in our box. Our record under JBA was keep.posession the other side can’t score but on 42 persent getting 10 shots away must be a worry. still we worked chances to win it and on another day could have got two or three goals. Still early days but would like to see a couple of new faces to strengthen the team and allow for rotation etc. hopefully no injuries and with some recovery work will be in good place for Thursday.

I thought Chris Graham deserved a post all by himself today. He had no major decisions to make, fortunately, but had a very poor game. He was conned by an intelligent and streetwise Falkirk outfit managed well by John McGlynn. So many inconsistencies and I was just glad we escaped with no red cards. How he did not book the Falkirk player for strong arming Paulsen, I'll never know. The foul awarded to Krauhaus (I think) after his shirt pulling with Lowry was totally off the scale. He was weak throughout and allowed Falkirk players to stand in front of the ball at free kicks, even after Yeats was carded. Simple solution - keep carding the culprits and they'll soon get the message. First home game of the new league season and we're already talking about referees! John McGlynn for the Scotland job? No thank you but I wouldn't put it past the blazers at the SFA.

The back of the new ones over laps the seat pan itself by a couple of inches that digs into yer back. And the back leans backwards when you sit in them into the passage behind. I looked around yesterday there were people lying over three seats to let others pass in front of them. It would be funny if it wasn't so shambolic.