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It doesn't matter what style of football you play fans like to moan. Even more so these days when pretty much everything is infused with a sense of entitlement. We put in a better performance against a better team in last year's semi final and the knives came out. It shouldn't surprise anyone. Right now we are Top 6 and got to a semi final. We are playing the best football since David Turnbull was in the side, which is 5 or 6 years ago now. The manager has less than 20 games in charge and we are a work in progress. There is areas we need to improve in but since football perfection can't be achieved by teams spending half a billion in the close season, why don't we just accept that and let the manager try to improve in those areas.

If Slattery was fully fit he would have started today. We have to remember that was his 3 rd game in a week after a return from injury. The manager has to manage those situations carefully. The game is won and lost on fine margins. The first, the referee helped to tee the corner up for Saints. The second, Just was unlucky that the ball hit off him and landed as it did. It was a great finish none the less. The 3rd could just as easily have been a great save but the ball looped into the back of the net For me the first goal set the tone and St Mirren managed the game very well from that point onwards. When I take a step back from the obvious disappointment of the evening, I would still rather be watching our brand of football than St Mirrens and I believe by seasons end we will still finish above them.

I know people are upset, but if we're going to abandon everything after a poor game, then we might was well bring back Hammell or Malpas and play "proper" Scottish football. Go back and reed last season's match threads if you want to see what's in store if we go back down that path. I'd rather we keep developing and bring in a few more players that fit in January than go back to Kettle-ball.

Sounds like Rugby Park is the place for you.

Probably wont be back on here until well after the game tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great day. Hopefully we will get the rub of the green and we are not talking about VAR or the officials after it. Fingers crossed we actually perform how we can, we have a big audience watching and would be great to let them see what we've seen most weeks. In the event we do go behind stay with the team, they have it in them to do the unexpected.

Chill out folks. Yes it was a bad day at the office, but we are essentially three months into the season, we have totally transformed our style of play and overall it’s been fantastic so far to watch. We got outfoxed yesterday by a very organised system, it happens. Also I think had we not lost that third goal then an equaliser could have maybe came, but St Mirren easily deserved their victory yesterday. I think the manager has recruited very well and when we get into January then he will have a much clearer understanding of what he might need to bring in during the window. To essentially write this whole project off due to one game seems mental to me, don’t understand what some of our fans want sometimes.

Why do people obsess what it looks like in TV, who gives a fuck about those watching on TV. They are putting fuck all into the fixture.

A good goal or was the defence fawlty? 🤣🤣

Just listened to managers press conference and doest he come across great. He is big on little percentage differences and how our league position isn't justified. I am fully with him on this. Football yes is all about results but their needs to be foundations for it to be sustainable. Jens is trying to build as we all know and I just hope that some who I feel are shortsighted in their feelings about our results do not chase him out and we are back to firefighting every year. He is ambitious and talks about other small clubs throughout Europe who are now competing with big boys. Yes tomorrow is big and we certainly need a result but if we don't which is possible I just hope the majority keep calm.

I think for the majority of people it’s fine, if I were just going myself or with my kid, great no problem, it’s the modern way of things. We just download and app and accept it is what it is. my issue is with older people and I know many who are completely lost in the modern world and rely heavily on others. Football and going to football is the only enjoyment in their life usually and they are being made feel like sh1t and made feel like they can’t go to games such as this. Part of their life was nipping up to the ticket office and getting a ticket… easy. Now they go up and no fault to the staff there, they are being punted to find someone elsewhere who can help them out. It’s a shame and for us as a community club I think we are alienating a dedicated fan base of oldies who we should be supporting.

You also forget even at our worst in the first half their keeper had to bring off a great save and Manwanhise fluffed an effort that should have been a goal. There is a lot of nonsense talked about St Mirren yesterday, plus they got the breaks. They basically just did their job effectively. They did nothing that we shouldn't have been able to deal with had our players turned up, there was no tactical masterclass. Virtually everyone of our player was posted missing or at best underperformed. Even as bad as we were we could have had them sweating but for a comedy of errors straight after we scored. On another day we'd take St Mirren, yesterday just wasn't our day. We forget it and move on.

I honestly think its wild some of the comments on here. Yes, yesterday was terrible but some of the over the top comments regards the manager and players are just silly. The manager came in early to mid june, has changed a full system, has had only 1 transfer window to right the horror show that was Kettleball and for me has done a tremendous job. There will be ups and downs and the players probably still arent what or where the manager wants. If the players/mnager were all top notch and consistant they wouldnt be playing for/managing Motherwell so have a look at yourselves. We are all gutted and we all dreamt of a cup final but some need to get a grip.

He looked like a man, whom never having played football, drunkenly agreed to play with his mates. Waking up with a dreadful hangover, and struggling to understand why the fuck he had agreed to something so silly, he didn't want to let his mates down. So, despite his reservations, he put his dad's old Samba's on and did his best to impersonate a footballer. And fooled no one. Onwards to Wednesday!

You got the impression things had just turned a bit for us and not in a good way. This was a game we really had to win and we did. Dare I say it, the result was more important than the performance.

Bloody hell. What a ridiculous take and unfortunately sums up social media fans. If anyone thinks we r failing it is only because we see how good we can be. All this talk of winning ugly etc only goes so far and you only have to look at last few years to see that and the eventuality. This team has potential and it is only that to do something we haven't seen in years. I am dismayed at response tonight. Some funny people about.

Not a former player, but well done Dougie Morton manager and partner raise £18k in memory of baby daughter

Not a former player, but definitely worth mentioning: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cn4j8dgk8ego

Diddy cup anyway

Focusing on yesterday it appears that on here at least Ap Stam, our lack of a goal threat and Ward are being cited as the root cause of that performance. In fact some appear to be revelling in that reasoning. Ap Stam did not have a great game and we need improvement, but he and Ward were far from the worst players on view. Being let of lightly by most are Watt, Maswanhise, Fadinger, Longolo and McGinn who delivered far less than Stam and Ward. In fact Maswanhise, Watt and Longolo turned in performances almost as dire as they did against Livi. Except yesterday they did not have the convenient excuse of an artificial surface that seemingly affected their ability to run or pass the ball. On a Managerial comparison, Askou was completely out thought by Robinson who devised a system that negated the advantage we thought we would have given the larger playing surface. Can I suggest Robinson learned more from our earlier meeting than Askou did? Looked to me that Saints were perfectly happy to surrender space out wide knowing that we would more often than not slow the game down and eventually meekly surrender the ball. Time after time. Team selection wise, given the hype regarding the threat the Saints giants pose, I get why Askou selected Gordon. But not selecting Welsh and retaining McGinn was a huge error in my opinion. Welsh is the only Centre Back we have with the ability to pass the ball forward (through a pressing opposition) to the feet of our midfield/forwards. Driving us upfield. What we saw first half was the ball repeatedly played along the back line making it almost impossible for Said and Longolo to press forward quickly. On the right side, Katroumbis was a bit more effective offensively but sadly he received poor support from Maswanhise. I think Askou acknowledged that situation at Half Time which is why Welsh appeared. Why else bring on a Centre Back when losing 2-0? I also think Slattery should have started or at least been brought on along with Welsh. So, No, I don't believe Stam and Ward were the main reason we fell short yesterday. Far from it. Too many of our players had possibly their worst performance of the season, not assisted by team selection. I'm far from jumping ship as regards our new approach, but previous Managers were rightly slated for not having a plan B to revert to in times of need. So far I have seen nothing to suggest that Askou is any different. We have a difficult run of games coming up and we are far too predictable. Hopefully we will see some tactical changes that give opposition Managers food for thought. Surely that can be the case without moving away from our possession/passing approach. It was far too easy for Robinson and his players yesterday. Having said all that, it is astounding how one piece of refereeing incompetence can change the dynamics of a game.

St Mirren's game plan was successful last night but there is a ceiling to that style of play. That is why Scottish teams are embarrassed every July/ August by European minnows who'd style of play had moved on from the 1980's. Remember that Robinson's / Alexander's/ Kettlewell's style of football was generally rejected on this forum because of it's pragmatic industrial approach. A Motherwell team playing the traditional Scottish way could just as easily have lost that game last night. SR is very good at what he does. I don't doubt that this is an experiment that may not work. Our old Captain Stephen Craigan had already written it off during the League Cup group stage. Kris Boyd predicted us as relegation favourites but I think both of those dinosaurs have already been proved wrong. I think any one of us would have taken this season to date if we had been offered it back in August.

A typical Hampden performance from us. Oh how I hate the place. The seeds of that disgrace were sown before kick off with an odd line up. No Welsh or Slattery. Presumably the latter was being kept fresh to come on later and help us defend a one or two goal lead? We were outhought, outfought and outplayed, although 4-1 flattered Saints. Robinson had our gameplan well and truly sussed. Not one of JBA's best days. Only passmarks go to Hendry and Slattery. That game ranks alongside semi final defeats to Airdrie, and will remain in the memory of many for years to come.

To these people saying we need to abandon the style play , you are talking nonsense. What we need is to replace players with guys who can do it and that's why the January window will be important. I'd rather watch us playing like we do even if we lose than watch the utter shite Kilmarnock fans are watching when they lose.

The foul on Watt was scandalous and surprised the ref never got called over. Out of control and endangering an opponent, from behind.

I’ll still be going because I’m a longstanding season ticket holder, but I think I’ll genuinely hesitate before renewing next season. VAR and the clowns running it have ripped every bit of spontaneity and enjoyment out of going to the football. It’s supposed to be entertainment, and instead we’re standing about waiting on decisions nobody in the ground can understand. We’re being taken for absolute mugs, and I’m sick of it.

As good as our midfield can be, Slattery makes a big difference. Watt, Fadinger, Just and Slattery is a perfect balance,

He's maybe off to Gloucester! 🤪🤪

Honestly in shock at that. First half may have been our best football yet. It was that good. We can blame VAR all we want but VAR didnt make the players not show up for the 2nd half! Complete turnaround. No composure on the ball, no tight triangles, sitting back rather than hunting in packs. It was as if they believed their own hype at half time & went home. That will teach them!

As good as we were first half. Hearts, 3-0 up, didn't win. Kilmarnock, 2-1 up, didn't win. Dundee, 1-0 up, didn't win. Celtic, 2-1 up, lost Falkirk, 1-0 up, lost. That's 12 points down the swanee because this team cannot defend a lead. It's not bad luck, this is a thing, this is a serious, serious deficiency and it needs to get sorted and sorted quickly because if it doesn't being 2 points off the bottom will seem like the good old days. We have Livingston and Dundee Utd coming up. These are absolutely pivotal matches for the way our season could pan out.

Yeah he’s just been punted from the ticket office this morning and told to find someone with a smartphone. i will try and get them but i think that’s fkn disgraceful to be honest.

Dwelling on the result won’t do us any good unless we actually learn from it and start showing it in how we set up and how we play from here on. Most of us can agree that JBA got this badly wrong, a few players just didn’t turn up, and we were outfought and outthought all over the park. Looking ahead, there’ll likely be a fair bit of movement in January. And while we’re used to getting decent cup runs, actually turning them into something meaningful hasn’t been happening. So the focus now has to be on making real progress in the league and putting together a proper push for top six.

I'm thinking along similar lines. Robinson and his squad for me are more streetwise, been kicking around long enough and more accustomed to these types of big events. I'm a huge fan of our gaffer , squad and everything we're trying to do but I do feel the occasion overwhelmed the team . Fair play to StMirren they executed their plan ruthlessly. Overall it became a non event all too quickly and I just hope we can bounce back and put some results together. It could easily become a tipping point , it's essential that we come through the next few games with wins.

I’m not overly upset at 4-1. At 2-1 we had abandoned defending to try and save the game. We didn’t manage to score again amd they punished us at the back.

Better when you say nothing at all 😃

One thing I'd like to pull you up on - unless my memory is failing me, we were utter dug meat in last year's semi final. Our goal came from a big hopeful boot into the box and we could barely string two passes together the entire game. Last night was poor - poorer than we've become accustomed to this season. We still scored a goal and missed another couple of well-worked chances. We were miles better yesterday than the semi last year.

The macaroni and Scotch pie combo I got after their second goal. They charged and refunded my card at the same time and I only noticed today. Winner. Small victories in a day of shite.

I believe our starting lineup reflected an intention to get in behind St Mirren on either flank - hence Said and Maswanhise and not Slattery. But neither Said nor Maswanhise offered anything like what they should have and this was compounded by Koutrumbus and Longelo being far too tentative and lacking in any menace. So Stamatulopoulos had little or no chance of being effective. I’m with mio - I despise St Mirren and their ethos of robust directness. They are ugly to watch, graceless in victory and were given, rather than created, three of their goals. It wasn’t their tactics or their style that beat us - although to listen to their self analysis that is what they are claiming. They broke up play by going down at almost every contact, they stole yards after every dead ball and slowed the game down as often as they could. A weak referee and our failure to stay firm at the back were our undoing, not a Robinson masterclass. I am sorry that such a remarkable turnout if our fans were so sadly disappointed - they deserved better - but I doubt we were beaten by the better team

Let's no go over the top here gents. A disappointing performance no doubt, but their first 2 goals - what can you say really? First one awful defending - thats nothing to do with our style. Second one they get a break and their forward scores probably his best goal of the season. After we got our goal back, St. Mirren did dominate and we crumbled at the back - but we were chasing the game and desperate at that point. What needs to change for us? It's been said a million times but Ap Stam won't cut the mustard. Hopefully Hendry can fill that gap but it's 50/50 right now whether he can, although I personally think he's much better than Ap at least. Crossing diabolical and what's even the point when we have nobody with any real threat from headers? JBA will be aware of this - we've made great progress so far this season but don't forget JBA has been here less than 6 months. He will need some windows to identify weaknesses and plug gaps. Robinson has been with St. Mirren and good while and has optimised his team (and they're still shite). A perhaps necessary lesson today.

Mind this time last week some of our fans on here saying we’d be bottom of the league this week? ….. get it up you!! 🤣

My favourite quote was when Iain Ferguson was talking about the Dundee Utd jinx of always losing in the final. "I don't believe in jinxes, but I hope it continues".

Depends on yer age, a few of us getting to that stage 🤪🤪

Too much foreplay and not enough penetration,need to up tempo and shoot more often.

Exactly!! Very similar to my view. He’s barely got his feet in the door and already has transformed us and done something that I don’t think I’ve seen in all my years supporting the ‘Well…. Increased the attendance at Fir park!!! Yes, we all want results but it’s early days and we need to have confidence that results will come. However, we need to realise that they might not come as quickly as we would like and may not come till after January or maybe next season. I think we have a much better chance of becoming a good team by supporting JBA and the players in what they are trying to do than reverting back to “normal” guid honest laddies approach which makes your eyes bleed. Fair enough to make comments and some criticism on forums but let’s keep it in perspective and let’s not get on their backs and start panicking, especially at the games. We know there will be ups and downs but I think the fans have to stay positive. I’m excited to see what JBA can achieve with us and have already enjoyed this season way more than any of the recent past ones.

Stop talking nonsense, for a club like Motherwell getting to a major final is massive. Yes every one we have contested since 91 has been against the ugly sisters both of which had teams far superior to the teams they have now. So yes if we make the final it will be against one of them but given the way they are both playing currently we have nothing to fear, especially from the blue uglies.

Seriously? How any Motherwell fan can so easily dismiss getting to a cup final is beyond me. Im 56 years old and Ive seen us play in 5. Ok, we have only won one of them, and having either Celtic or Rangers in the final always makes things harder. But these are not strong Rangers and Celtic teams, and this Motherwell team has already shown it can go toe to toe with both of them this season. The League Cup semi final is a huge game for us. Given that we cant win the league, surely we can still dream of winning a cup?

Totally agree, that's why I said in my pre game predictions that this was an important game because I knew some fans are just waiting to declare "get this fancy football to fuck" and resort to the mind numbing shite of the last few years and sadly the defeat has brought some of that very reaction I was worried about.

This weekend last year we lost at home to Dundee. Think back to the shite we had to endure the shite tactics and players picked and signed by the bellend . I know whose team I would rather watch , win lose or draw.

That game was lost by the start of the second half, and the blame rests squarely with the manager.

The Club need to let folk know how to deal....officially...with a situation like this? Also the Society should be pushing the Club to provide some clarification. If, as mentioned earlier, folk are being turned away and told to find someone with a smartphone then that is a disgrace and does not reflect well on our ticket office. You would think that every effort would be made to ensure anyone wanting to attend the game can do so. I get this is being driven by the SFA but our Club and our Society should be addressing the issues that are clearly of concern to fans looking to go to the final. The info that was provided in the press release and the off the cuff advice from the ticket staff seem to be at odds. The instructions do confirm tickets can be transferred but only to people who have also downloaded the App. No mention of one phone with multiple tickets being acceptable. No mention of children.... or others...who do not have a smartphone. Lessons to be learned here.

There’s more to the VAR problem than inconsistent interventions and questionable decisions. It disrupts the live match experience to the point where fans can’t even celebrate goals in the moment, because every goal now comes with a long pause while everyone waits to see if it actually counts. It’s sucking the joy out of the game and, at the end of the day, money talks. If this carries on, fans will talk with their feet, and once they start staying away, it will be very hard to get them back. Club chairmen need to act quickly and come together to get rid of this shite before the damage is permanent.

Whilst I agree with your statement, I absolutely do not believe the technology used in Scotland can prove this beyond doubt.