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I am not sure how misaligned you are with the support as a whole. If you look at the regular 'manager out' posters on this forum it amounts to a total of about 10 people. Yes that can be extrapolated into a percentage of the support but I would be surprised if it is the majority. It is a very vocal minority and as such gives a sense that they speak as a authoritative majority. I always find the desire for managers to lose their job to be a little distasteful. It is part of the modern game but it is a very destructive part of the game that will deeply affect the lives of the managers involved. AJ has been in the job for 4 (four!! ) months. The posts to get him out started about a month ago. There arguments always rely on a few regularly voiced misconceptions 1. that we have a right to beat St Johnstone/ Kilmarnock/ St Mirren/ Dundee.... etc, etc and if we don't it's a sacking offense. 2. that other teams are not suffering the same woes as us. As a example, look at the two goals St Johnstone lost last night. Defensively they were poor goals to concede. A Valakari coached team loses these goals and we want him as our next manager, an AJ coached team loses these goals and we want him sacked. 3. the supporters of the other teams in our league are watching a better standard of football than we are. Look on the forums of Aberdeen, Falkirk, St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Hibs etc at the moment and see how true that actually is. 4. that we will never win another game again under this current management structure. I have read several times over the last 24 hrs that we have no chance against Dundee United when the reality is that we beat them last time out with the same team and same manager in the dim and distant past of just 6 weeks ago. Actually Valakari himself last night said that he thought the standard of the football on display last night was more enjoyable than most because both teams were trying to play football. As a society we have the attention span of a goldfish. The need for change has become as much a part of the spectacle of the game as the football itself. As one poster on here often observes, the fans will have the last word and this is true but it does not necessarily mean that the fans are right or that the narrative that eventually forces a manager out is based on any kind of rational thought or objective analysis. These voices are powerful because it does tend to make us believe that a catastrophic problem exists when it simply does not. Your inclination to think that what you watched last night was actually ok ( if not what we would ideally like) is probably correct but it is difficult to have the courage of your convictions when you subsequently read the extent of the negativity towards the team the manager and the performance. Nobody is saying that it is perfect at the moment but I think we have to treat with some caution the naysayers preaching that the end is nigh.

I’ve rarely felt this misaligned with what the vocal majority on here are saying. Taking last night in isolation, I thought we played pretty well in spells and can definitely see patterns of play from a team that are coached. I thought the two changes AJ made at half-time worked a treat for the first 20–25 minutes of the second half. We should have put the game to bed in that spell and been 3 or 4-1 up. We never really looked in much trouble until the goal at the end, which was an absolute shitshow defensively. Manny diving in, Hodge & Sparrow not tracking their men, SOD picking the wrong man out of the two he had to cover, and then not attacking the ball, and finally Paulsen not managing to push it out or over. That’s not to say there weren’t things we could have done better, but I’m struggling to see the disaster that others seem to have watched. There were plenty of positives to take from the performance, and I think there’s more evidence of progress than some are willing to acknowledge.

I’d give Barry Ferguson a shout. He knows the Scottish game and would undoubtedly be an upgrade on what we currently have and his appointment would be worth it just to see the reaction of certain people in our support alone. Plus we have traditionally done well with managers from a Rangers supporting/playing background.

2-1 win. Alfred IN 😉

The consequences of relegation would likely be the loss of many more full-time jobs. As for who could replace him, I don’t know, and it’s not my job to know. I despise this question being thrown at fans whenever they want a failing manager removed. A competent Board should always be succession planning and have potential replacements identified.

There were plenty positives to take from last night ...think i will give up posting on this though. When we are going well ( last year) its " this wont last" , when its not going well its sack the boss, lose money and all that goes with it...nae long term thinking, Lanarkshire people just dont know how to be happy.

Some on here need to be careful what they wish for - looks at Hibs latest appointment. Did he feck up a few subs last night - AYE. Who hasn`t ever fecked up at work? We are in the mix at the wrong end, but I can`t see AJ getting sacked. Everyone needs to get behind the team on Saturday, because if the natives get restless, what little confidence is there, will go right out the window.

We can discuss tactics ,manager decisions all night long . That’s a separate issue for me . For me the reason we conceded the late goal was a lack of desire to go and head that ball out the box . End of . There were plenty people in position to deal with it and we didn’t . The back line cost us the game last night . Cross not closed down and nobody wanting to win the header . It’s terrible defending . Basic defending any day of the week at any level of football you play at . Three points thrown away . Some of the players did there jobs last night and some didn’t . Simples

If we can't manage a win on Saturday, then the Directors must bite the bullet and quickly. That would then give them a bit of breathing space during the international break to get the recruitment process moving. Maybe even a win by itself isn't enough, as Wellfan rightly points out elsewhere. A scrambled win would simply paper over the cracks and kick the can down the road.

if we are finally going to get this season up and running this is the game that could turn the tide. We are close enough to those above that this can close the small gap and get the confidence going again and by god we need it. Last night we went into panic mode after we went ahead. All the signs of a team under pressure.To me the manager panicked too and tried to defend the game out with boot and rush. Imagine trying to defend a game out with the defence we have, poor judgement. Had we the confidence and composure of the early part of the season St Johnstone would not have equaslised as we'd have kept the ball more and caused them more problems than they caused us. However with the managers substitutions and change of formation caused us to give St Johnstone the ball time and time again. This St Mirren game comes down to "can we handle the pressure ?" I'm not so sure we can and the fact we look like we need to score 3 goals to stand a chance of winning any game it becomes all the harder. The manager and players need to try and focus and build on the positives of the 1st half against Killie, the efforts against Hearts and the efforts for much of last night. There are signs we can get it together in most of the team, without reaching last seasons standards, with the one big exception the "Defence" or lack of . We are rank rotten at the back and teams can play pish and easily get two goals off us. Its for that reason I see a point at best and would not be at all surprised if we gift St Mirren all 3

Even worse pal.....it was mrs grizzly that grassed me in 🤣🤣🤣

I thought i was the one trying to crack the jokes 🤣🤣

FFS....

In your measured opinion what would you do when we sack him? Do we revert to an older style British approach or do we fish abroad again and hope the analytics catch us a good one? Just curious to know what managers you like apart from Del.

From my seat in the POD you hear lots of those shouts at every game, even before we started this bad run, at the Helsinki game 2-0 up well in control and i heard " GTF Johannsen, ffs tell them to stop this tippy tappy shite and get the baw up the park". I really do wonder what kind of football some of our alleged fans watch orcwant to see.

Last season our defence, as such, wasn’t really tested because we won the ball much higher up the park and maintained possession for long periods when we did win it back. That was our defence, keeping the ball. I thought at the beginning of the season we had a good balance of taking more risks in the attacking third but still maintaining a high percentage of possession. We have regressed from that to way too many long balls and last night, that, combined with deciding to sit back, cost us the points. We ended up with 43% possession and I’m pretty sure if you’d looked at that figure around 60/70 mins it would have been closer to 60%. General play has been better over the last few games but I think we need to get back to being “brave” and playing to control games. Reduce the number of long balls. Now and again is fine but we do it too often now Press higher up the pitch, as a team, to win the ball back in better positions. Be patient and keep possession of the ball Work rate and intensity needs to go up a notch or two on and off the ball. edit: maybe getting Oscar back in there with Faddy will help address some of our issues but a lot of it needs to be driven by AJ

I tend to agree we had that game in the bag until the managers changes fucked it up. I'm not in the get rid of AJ camp yet but I think he was culpable last night

I am more on the optimistic side and see improvements but there is just no hiding the fact the defence is rank rotten. St Johnstone basically had 3 efforts and scored with two. That is happening in nearly every game. Christ as bad as we were against Aberdeen they had four shots on goal and scored with them all.

Is he free on Saturday around 3pm.

we need the people who recruited in the summer to have fuck all to do with it in January .....🤣🤣😉(tongue in cheek)

Either way that’s down to the manager?

McGinn with one leg is streets ahead of Girwood-Reich and Moornan.

I agree about Priestman but am not so sure about McGinn. He'll be a year older, missed pre season and has been out with a lengthy and serious injury. What McGinn will we see? Are we expecting too much of him?

I'm not so sure, I start by saying he leaves me unconvinced but there has without doubt been a lift in our performances, 1st Half versus Killie, Hearts game and last night. We are not far away from getting a result if we can sort out our utterly honking defence. The return of McGinn and Priestman will be big for us. That said if we lose our next two games he could be a dead man walking. Saturday is huge for him and the team.

I hope you can understand why many fans are brassed off and have run out of patience with AJ. He's a decent guy by all accounts and has moved his young family here to take up the manager's job. I get all of that, as there's a human side to this story. However, the future health of our club is at stake, and with it the careers of other employees. Can I ask you, if this run continues, how long would you wait before taking action? Would you give him the season for example?

Ffs , somebody is potentially going lose their job and you come up with that ...original stuff.

Anything less than a win is unacceptable. My concern, though, is that a win will paper over the cracks and buy Alfred more time, only for it to come back to bite us in the medium term. He’s absolutely shite, and delaying the inevitable will only make things worse.

I agree Grizzly but it will hinge on the manager picking the right players and the players then delivering a winning performance. At present I’ve no confidence in either. If we lose, no matter whether we play well or not, sadly I think the board is going to have a big decision to make over the next few days. Their problem will be that if they do decide to pull the trigger, who will they replace him with. I think JBA was fantastic for us last season but it is looking increasingly like it was a one off and trying to replicate it this season was always going to be mission impossible, especially given the players we lost. JBA excepted, I’m not a fan of bringing in foreign coaches to Scotland. They quite rightly assume that the players who will be under their charge will have a certain level of ability and competence but that’s not the case as witness by the deplorable performances of our clubs in the various European competitions season after season. Hibs and Hearts have both brought in foreign managers and the early signs are not good, especially for Hibs who are in the same boat as us right now.

Sad to see? He’ll be getting paid handsomely for a job he knows he’s not cut out for. No sympathy from me.

Back for this one and we need 3pts. I hope the crowd can get right behind the team as a hostile atmosphere aint going to help. COYW

Some arses need kicked hard in that defence .

That tonight was two points dropped and obviously wrong subs at the wrong time. All down to bad management. He's starting to get on my tits he's paid not to make basic mistakes like that.

Hopefully 3pts tonight and take the pressure off. I am still backing AJ. I know its results based but he made big commitment to move family over here and genuinely comes across a nice guy. The players need to step up. COYW

On this day in 1950, Motherwell won their first national trophy. At Hampden on 28 October they beat Hibs 3-0 in the League Cup final, with Archie Kelly, Jim Forrest and Willie Watters all scoring in the second half, against a Hibs side that went on to win the league that season. Eighteen months later the Scottish Cup followed. It's a great memory for every Motherwell fan to celebrate: 76 years ago today the club brought home its first national cup. The carousel below tells the day in five slides: the final, the three second-half goals, the Hibs side that went on to be champions, and the Scottish Cup win of 1952. The pictures are period trade cards of Andy Paton, Archie Kelly, Lawrie Reilly and Willie Ormond from 1950-51 (no photographer named). The full story is here: https://scottishfootballhistory.scot/clubs/motherwell/hampden-at-last/?utm_source=steelmenonline&utm_medium=forum&utm_campaign=on-this-day

My late father was at the game and got drenched. If I'm right, Hibs crushed us at Fir Park the week before and were rightly odds on favourites for the cup. Make of that what you will.

Thats your opinion. I respectfully disagree.

To be fair, you've not really backed up your point, or answered the original question. All you done is turn it on the person who asked the question. All you've said is 'it's up to the decision makers' (which is an absolute cop-out) but have pushed another user to give a suitable answer. Well, one that's suitable to you. I know this is all about opinions, and how we're all free to voice them, but you could have given your opinion on who is a suitable replacement.