Yorkyred

In my view it’s way too early to state the recruitment has been poor this summer. I thought McGinn was one of the better players against Ross County and Lamie did ok. White looks like something different off the bench. I like OHara and think he will offer enough over the season and I believe Lang is going to be a fans favourite very quickly. A lot has been made of fitness but we’ve dominated possession and had plenty of chances on goal, we just can’t finish. On the age of the team i’m pretty sure we actually do have one of the youngest squads in the division.

I think at times the minute a player leaves us he seems to talked up. The amount of stick that Hartley and Tait took for been to slow, past it, agricultural and suddenly they should have been retained. Tait was actually offered an improved contract and turned it down. The club took pelters for not offering Hastie a new contract after half a dozen good displays and chose to see if it was just a flash in the pan, the sensible approach for a club on a limited budget. He’s now back and after two games taking stick, the club don’t look so daft now. I just find the lack of patience amazing at times, the grass is rarely if ever greener on the other side. We finished third last season and that’s now played down as only happening because everyone else was so poor, surely in that case every other manager should be at risk ? Just about every club will have a poor run of form and without doubt we are on a bad run which started towards the end of last season but just give it time to turn around, it will as it always has under Robinson. He’s made mistakes in the past and will in the future but overall he’s done a very decent job.

A few signed over the last 3 years or so that we’re not loans. I would say Gillespie, Carson, Carroll, Polworth, Donnelly, Aldred, Kipre, Gorrin, Dunn, Hartley.

I’m going to hold back on the yearly “Robinson out” from the usual suspects. It’s a squad at least as strong as last season, Tait could not get in the team and Hartley took pelters from one or two who seem to suddenly think he’s now Mr wonderful. I predict will will again be nowhere near the bottom and those making the actual decisions will use common sense, not panic, and retain Robinson. Which will again be shown to have been the correct decision as it has been for the last three seasons.

Which was a bit of a worry.

I don’t think they were fitter. Last night was all about the mentality in the first half. We dominated the second half possession and lets be honest should have had at least a point.

Yep both Lamie and McGinley were fine overall. Early days for them but encouraging signs. The problems were in front of them tonight along with a baffling starting line up trying to shoehorn too many midfielders in, pick one or the other and play with two natural wide men. I’m pretty sure we will never see Turnbull out wide again in a Motherwell shirt.

Turnbull

Well what a disappointing night. First half was awful, second best by a mile with little energy. No idea what Robinson had in his head putting Turnbull out wide, frankly a ludicrous decision given his experience as a manager, it backfired badly. We had nothing coming in from the flanks with the Ross County full back having Hastie in his pocket. Grimmy has an absolute mare doing nothing right l, could not even find a Motherwell player from a throw in. Far better second half which should have seen us gain a point. Terrible penalty although in my view slightly soft anyway. There were however some positives with Seedorf surprisingly being one of them, not his biggest fan but I can’t deny he was effective. Lang will end up been an excellent signing, should not have been a red card. McGinley got better as the game went on and I thought Lamie did ok.

Well that rounds off a night when nothing has gone right.

To be fair Seedorf has done more in 5 minutes than Hastie did in the whole of the first half. At least Lang looks lively, promise there.

Maybe he’s taken a knock, best I can offer.

Baffled by OHara going off.

Difficult to find any positives in that half. We look second best and deserve to be behind, Ross County are just outworking us. No idea what Robinson is thinking with that formation, Turnbull out wide is just plain daft. As above the full backs are struggling, Grimmy is having a total mare of a game. OHara the best of the bunch in the middle which is not saying much. Daft tackle by big Dec. Robinson needs to change it around pretty quickly because it’s not close to working.

He certainly did play as a full back that game.

The back four is the only area I’m sure of picking just now, so many permutations in midfield and up front.

Guess it depends who leaves ( if anyone)

I’m also a big fan, with I think more to come.

I would personally have Long over Watt, Turnbull maybe not ready to start at this point. Too early to know if Lang is a better option than Hylton, I feel he probably will be but time will tell. McGinley could be challenging Lamie for that central spot.

I don’t think that will be a mile off, the front three could be Hylton, Hastie and either Watt or Long. Other than that I can’t see past a back four, the defence worries me at this point if I’m been honest.

I guess because of a couple of comments between the two of you ?

Very true but in a way it’s a more healthy position than a club having to rely so much on one big goalscorer.

Not sure in truth, we have plenty of players that are very capable of scoring decent numbers between them. Lang, Long, Hastie, Turnbull, Donnally, Watt, Campbell for starters.

Yep, wonder what happened to the permanent signing.

Well it’s certainly dragging on for sure. I thought maybe when Long signed it may be off but someone said he had already been around the club.