MJC

That’s all fair enough but for me we were extremely lucky to finish where we did last year given how poor we were for most of the campaign. We also had Tony Watt to thank for winning us as many points in the first half of the season, otherwise we would almost certainly would not have finished top 6. Some fans were scratching their heads as to why we ‘collapsed’ so badly in the second half of the season but the reality is we didn’t collapse, we were never that good to start with, the difference was Watt wasn’t there to bail us out. Going into the new season, we have no Tony Watt and to hope/expect to carry as much luck again is unrealistic. Only time will tell.

So as the new league season approaches, what’s everyone’s thoughts on how we’ll do? I think we’re going to struggle badly this year, unless we do some significant transfer business between now and the end of August. Basically we are going to be relying on other teams being less shite than we are to keep us in the league and I think it’s going to be a scrap between ourselves, St.Mirren and St.Johnstone to avoid 11th and 12th. As for the rest of the league, I think Celtic will be Champions with Rangers clear in second. Hearts will be third again but will be pushed all the way by a much stronger Aberdeen and Dundee Utd will be in the mix too. I fancy Kilmarnock to do a lot better than everyone would expect as they have a very good manager in McInnes and I can see them pipping Hibs to a top six finish. Hibs will have yet another poor season. The bottom six will be as tight as a drum but as I said I reckon the three weakest sides will be us and the two saints clubs. Hopefully something changes over the next month.

And it was the first game for a newly appointed manager who had to rebuild the squad. Whether we progress on Thursday or not, we have big problems this season.

I see where you’re coming from however it’s only a one year extension and having an experienced forward on board will hopefully benefit us. He is inconsistent but he also clearly has ability and for that alone he is better than anything else we have got in the striker department. We need to sign at least one striker before the window closes, that was the case before this news and nothing has changed but I don’t see this extension as being anything other than a positive for us.

I’ll wait until it’s confirmed by the club but if true then it’ll be great news for us. Edit: Just now confirmed by club Twitter.

The difference with Ferguson, Mourinho etc is that they had the managerial ability and were delivering results which kinda of justified their ‘arrogance’. Now I am fully aware that their remits at the clubs they were at were significantly different to that of Graham Alexander’s at Motherwell, but jammy top six finish and European qualification aside, we have been absolutely awful to watch for over a year. Our form in the majority of that same time has been equally awful and almost to add insult to injury, the manager more often than not tries to tell everyone that black is white and that we have “played well” in debacles like we saw last Thursday night. There is arrogant and there is arrogant. And Graham Alexander’s arrogance falls into the ‘stubborn to the detriment of the club’ category.

What St.Johnstone, Hibs and St.Mirren did or didn’t do in the group stages is irrelevant and certainly can’t be used as some kind of excuse should we whimper out against a lower league side.

Surely we should have beaten Sligo Rovers at home on Thursday night! I’m afraid there’s no surelys atall for us and this team just now. I’d say this tie is a 50/50, perhaps 60/40 in our favour, but it could go either way and it will be no shock if they beat us.

Well it’s good to get a home draw but that is by no means a gimmie. ICT have of course been a bit of a bogey side for us in Cup competitions over the years and this will be another tough tie for us. Tie to be played either Tuesday 30th or Wednesday 31st of August.

Last 16 draw coming up shortly. We are seeded so that means we will avoid the Old Firm, Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee Utd at this stage. We have never drawn a non top flight side in the knockout stages this competition since the format changed in 2016. Kilmarnock or Livingston are the two possible top flight options for us here, but we could potentially get QoS, Dundee or Falkirk which would also be tough.

You know what? That 02/03 team would scud this current lot. Faddy absolutely ripped Joos Valgaeren up for toilet paper in that 2-1 win against Celtic and did the same to Amoruso when we beat Rangers, so imagine him (of then obviously) up against Mugabi! Then you had Pearson and Hammell linking up down the left, something this current side just doesn’t have. Mind you having Woods and Dubourdeau as goalkeeping options would be a bit of a leveller I suppose.

Well to be fair, Declan Gallagher was accepted despite his past ‘shenanigans’ and it was only when he decided that he was too good for us that any of our support turned on him. Personally I would be okay with us taking a gamble on Leigh Griffiths, inspite of his issues. He is a natural goalscorer and clearly wants to get back to playing football. It would be a gamble, yes, but so was Tony Watt, albeit for different reasons, and that worked out okay in the end. It’s immaterial though as it looks like he is training with Livingston, a former club of his, so it’s more likely he would join them.

Sligo aren’t up to much as a side, quality wise. I think they themselves will be unsure how to approach the game next week. Do they sit in or try and kill the tie off leaving them open at the back? I watched their second leg against Bala and they were lucky not to lose at least 3-0 in 90 minutes, so they are no great shakes and they will be wary of a repeat of that against us. From our point of view the objective is simple. We need to score at least once to level the tie so we know what we need to do. I know we are also more than capable of shooting ourselves right in the foot but despite the size of the task for us, I actually think that the players might actually feel that there is less pressure on them to perform than there was last night with a big, expectant home crowd behind them. We rarely, if ever, deliver in that scenario. I would be starting Tierney and dropping either Shields or Morris for this one and even though I’m not a fan of him I’d be bringing O’Donnell in for McGinn as this type of game may be more suited to him.

Agree with that, any shite like that should be being called out by the club. Any religious or political related chanting or banners should have no place at Fir Park. There is, or should not be, any kind of ideology when following Motherwell FC.

In the long run that might not be a bad thing for us… However, us exiting at this stage to a league of Ireland side would be absolutely embarrassing and up there with Stjarnan as one of our worst ever results so we simply HAVE to turn this around next week. No two ways about it. It’ll be a different game next Thursday and I think us playing away from home might actually benefit us. 2-0 to us after extra time. (Fingers crossed)

I’ve got to be honest and this might not be popular, but I don’t like the ‘Well Bois’. Sure, they create a good atmosphere at games and I know that some of them have done some good work in the community with regards to helping with foodbanks and that is of course very commendable. However whenever I have encountered them at matches I find a lot of them (thought not all) to be absolutely obnoxious and seem more interested in getting absolutely pished or coked out their heads than supporting the team. Then you add in the regular cat and mouse with the stewards and police, setting off flares, jumping on the park and clashing with other supports and they just let themselves and the club down. I know there are some good decent lads in that group but as the saying goes, “you are judged by the company you keep”.

If he could just improve his concentration a bit he would be a much better defender imo.

Hear! Hear! We are most definitely worse than we were this time twelve months ago. We have no Watt to get us the goals from August to December that basically kept us out of relegation trouble last season and haven’t, as far as I can see, brought in anyone so far that is going to improve the team. I have huge concerns about the season ahead.

Yes, really. At least with the League Cup you know that there is a chance, albeit a slim one, that we could go further or even all the way in that tournament. Fair play to the fans who took part in the march to the stadium before the game, but ultimately I’m more interested in what happens ON the park. And last night what happened on the park simply wasn’t good enough, just like it hasn’t been for far too long. That is why, in my opinion, some started turning on the team/manager because they are sick fed up watching the same laboured, directionless guff and the manager trying to tell them afterwards that it was a good performance. If you or anyone else take the positives from the atmosphere/occasion last night then that is fair enough, likewise to those who will be travelling to the away leg next week. If that’s what the club and the football is about for you then great. From my point of view I just want to see us put a team on the park that can be the best we possibly can be and be competitive in matches in competitions that match the level we are at.

How often has that happened that we get a good crowd in only to be completely let down? European games more often than not see that happen. Think Nancy, Odense, PAO, Levante, Kuban Krasnador, Stjarnan and now last night. All of those games got big crowds in, there was a sense of excitement and anticipation and all of them ended in a damp squib. Seven games with a grand total of TWO goals scored and not a single win among them. Europe for us is nothing but a bit of fluff at the start of a season. Glorified friendlies that attract big crowds and end in embarrassment. Give me the League Cup group stages any day of the week.

A bit of a side issue, but why is Burrows always on the trackside during matches? I get that he can go where he wants but it just seems abnormal for a Chief Exec to be down there. Perhaps he will appoint himself as next manager when GA leaves, let’s face it he couldn’t do any worse.

Agree, but unfortunately he has bought himself a lot more time than he otherwise had have got had we not sneaked into the top six/ Europe last season. That papered over huge cracks.

If Robinson had overseen that performance and result you would have been (rightly) slaughtering him for it.

Sadly accurate.

What’s your point? As you yourself acknowledge we were humiliated by our own mistake. And that happened with about 70% of the game still to go yet we barely looked like getting back into it. I don’t see how tonight can be dressed up as anything other than a disaster.