Tweed

Got to say St Johnstone are generally a well organised stuffy outfit and it is very unusual for them to be conceding many. On the flip side they don't score a fat lot either. Really outwith the Old Firm last year the only team that turned them over in the league was us and that happened to be a night that Humprhey was just unplayable. I can see this being one of these frustrating games where the opposition come along and dig in for 90 minutes. Most of the game will be played in front of their goal but goalmouth action will be at a premium and we'll find them a tough nut to crack. What will make this game a comprehensive win will be if Humprhey and Daley (if he plays) run riot down the wings and follow up with good final balls. If they aint on song we'll struggle to get better than a 0-0. However I think we'll snek it 1-0.

So obviously taking out the game we won and the cup semi final as it was close you have to ask were there mitigating circumstances? In some of them yes. The 0-6 we had no defenders and half the team that were playing weren't fully fit. That happens so we forgive him that. The first 0-4 at Celtic was the week before the cup final and he rested a number of players. Whether the policy was right or not is debatable but it wasn't a first eleven and they were chasing the league. I'll forgive him that. The two home games with Rangers we played OK for a bit and then folded. Yesterday I didn't see apart from the highlights. Didn't look impressive at all in the highlights. So aye the record is shite but I suppose only McGhee has managed a win since Butcher other than McCall so certainly no worse.

I was intending going but sadly work means I'm not going to make it. Will be interested to hear how it goes.

Really enjoyed the night last night. I get the impression McCall would have talked forever and he seemed really comfortable in the situation. A good bit of banter between the two and they seemed to discuss anything that was asked pretty openly. The turn out was moderate but the night deserved more though the questions kept flowing.

Thing with Daley is he has no club so we can sign him outside the window.

I'm not one that normally goes to Parkhead but having missed the last two games I am suffering withdrawal symptoms so I might head along. Though I suspect they might tan our arses.

As the seeded team we should have been hoping to avoid hibs and st mirren. Whilst there are no guarantees both would have been easier than that. Hibs have players who can hurt us and we will need to be at our best to beat them. As lobey dosser said they can't be shite forever. Granted we'll fancy it more than them but it is as hard an opponent as we could have got.

Also glad its for a year. These six month gigs make jan a nightmare. Steady pro and these are what we need to supplement what we have. I won't be getting clancy on my shirt but strikes me as a sensible move.

We should play the weakest team we are guaranteed to progress with. And we should play Higdon. He has been disappointing but his goal return at St Mirren tells us he is far from rubbish. This is a game we should win and we should score three or four in if we play anything like we can so it is a chance to try and get him off the mark and that may instill the belief in Higdon. Not that a goal or two v Clyde will win the doubters, and nor should it, but if it give him the belief to nab one on Saturday its worth doing. I'd make three or four changes just to give the fringe boys a run and to show the first 11 is not a closed shop. Maybe goalie and one in defence, midfield and up top. These guys will be needed during the season so they need a wee dose of competitive football for our SPL aspirations if nothing else.

I feel kind of annoyed, frustrated and disappointed after watching that. We did pretty well in the first half and played some lovely stuff without ever getting in behind them. It was almost like a replica of the game we had with St MIrren last week but this time we were the team that could not get the cutting edge our play needed. Today I would have played with a middle three of Jennings, Lasley and Forbes. Its a bit negative but it worked a treat against Celtic back in February and I cannot understand why we have not tried it against the Old FIrm since. We then had to forego one of Humphrey, Law or Murphy and I think with the added rigidity in the midfield we would have created more. All that said Rangers love picking teams off on the break and its much easier to do that whilst in the lead. So to avoid that its important not to give away daft goals. And I'm afraid the first goal was daft. Jelavic is their best player by a country mile so leaving him unmarked was criminal. We did it again later in the half too. At 0-1 though we were superb and really tried to turn the screw. At the time I thought Thomson was right to disallow our goal but having seen it again I now think we were really unlucky. Though I can see why he didn't allow it. But that was a break we could have had and that might have been the moment to give us belief because it was a move that was full of confidence and ability. Second goal killed the game stone dead. Jennings should have done better on the ball but to be fair to Rangers it was a cracking goal. Second half I was really disappointed with us but that was partly because Rangers were so deep. We probed but struggled to find space and it was almost like a game against St Mirren or Kilmarnock at times where we are in control but cannot find a way in. Our players just lacked that incisive final ball or the killer bit of movement to get the chance. But Rangers were able to pick us off so easily and we could have ended up losing a game we had most of the territory 7-0 quite easily. But as I said at the start we need to be more combative in the midfield when we play the Old Firm and we cannot give away daft goals and that was what beat us today.

I thought overall he had a good game and only made occasional mistakes. Hutchinson's booking was a cock up and I don't think you'll hear anyone say otherwise and I'm sure if he looks at that again he'll realise he got it wrong. I thought Van Zanten's card was harsh as well to be honest as I thought that was an accidental clash and the free kick would have been enough. Only other thing I'd question him on was the foul he gave us at the end as I thought Teale played the ball first but it was a tight one that could have gone either way. And irrespective if it was a foul or not it was a challenge Teale didn't need to make so if I was a St Mirren fan I'd be more annoyed with him than the ref. Overall though I wouldn't complain too much about him.

Two centre halfs protected the goalkeeper amazingly well. Hard to pick one over the other but I think I will hand it to the Heid for stopping the sliding tackles when booked (wrongly) and having that maturity. But a fag packet between them.

I thought it was a good advert for the SPL to be honest. Two teams playing the ball on the deck and trying to play their way in and it was only when we got tired that we went to the long stuff. I think the simplest way to sum up that game was that St Mirren had more possession and territory but when we had the ball we were much more effective with it. There were two reasons for that and they were 1) Law, Jennings and Forbes never wasted a ball and 2) we defended impeccably (well apart from the moment Jennings and Randolph had in the second half). So whilst you could argue St Mirren dominated us you could also ask how many saves did they force out of Randolph? There performance today was similar to us at Kilmarnock when we didn't have the alternative dimension that Higdon provides. We also got in behind three times in the first half and should have been home and hosed if it hadn't been for a bit more composure in the final third plus a wonderful save from Samson. And Forbes had a rasper in the 2nd half too. So I think there are many who have been overly critical of us on here. To me, given that we are not good enough to go and beat these teams 4-0 every time, that was close to the perfect away performance. Humphrey was very quiet today. Not sure whether he had a knock, injured or just the winger's curse of inconsistency. Murphy had some good ball control but too often found himself in a cul-de-sac. Not sure about Hammell defensively in this game. He seemed awfully keen to leave their right winger the freedom of Paisley. However I suspect it was a McCall instruction to let him run in and then close as it happened so often and nobody's positioning could be that bad that often. Not sure I think it was right but we got away with it. I also wonder about some of our fans and referees. Iain Brines did not have the perfect game but some of the decisions he was lambasted for were clear fouls and in any other game if defenders go careering through the back its a free kick and the same applies when one of our guys do it. However Hutchinson's yellow looked like he got the ball as clean as a whistle so he was very unlucky. And whilst Higdon's yellow would have been a harsh red I've seen them off for that. I also didn't think the foul at the end was a foul but we'll take it. Interesting to see what he does next week in the midfield. I'd hope he plays a similar routine to the day we beat Celtic as that was maybe the best midfield performance I have seen from a Motherwell team in years. Overall well chuffed and great to see such a big away support. Just be good if we can keep that up when the going gets a bit tougher . And the 'We are top of the league chant' to the Celtic fans at the escalator at Central station was almost as good as the goal itself.

Shock horror. I'm glad saints are well enough off to piss money at the drain.

Its been a pretty shitty week for injuries with Severin, Izaguirre and now Saunders. And not one of them was even a foul which makes you kind of wonder about pitches or studs or it could of course just be a horrible coincidence. Either way its a devastating blow for a kid who should have been looking for this season to be the next step in his development and for us with a really limited squad we just don't have the depth to cope with these. And whilst Saunders may not be first choice anywhere at present his adaptability makes him a really useful asset that we'll miss. All the best in your recovery sir.

Appeals are generally always heard before next game now. I agree with jay and al b. I'd have sent him off for that - remember the appeal that clarkson didn't win at celtic (or we didn't make because we were advised it was futile)? This is the same but worse.

I think it would be criminal to move Hateley. In the two home games he has been the perfect foil for Humphrey and in doing that he has meant that the tackle of simply doubling up on Humphrey is less effective. I don't think Saunders has that attacking foil in him and as such don't fancy that rejig much. St Mirren will have watched Hearts yesterday and they will know if they clog up the middle they will keep us quiet. Hearts did that incredibly well until fannybaws got sent off and they will know that doing the same and keeping their discipline will see them OK. Carswell I think is the one I would pop for because I think he has a little more dig but if Forbes comes in I'll not be gutted. I would be amazed if St Mirren win their appeal on the red card and assuming they don't we'll find it much easier to replace Lasley than they will Hasselbaink.

Maybe but lets remember that Hearts are by far the best team we have played so far and in the 1st half effectively pushed us back and didn't let us get in there as often.

Craigan won everything at the back and talked Saunders through the game who looked shaky especially at the start.. Higdon had some neat flicks and marked Zaliukas superbly at all the late dead balls and in the first half So one of those two but just going for Craigan. As for the others some were close: Hammell had a great game but a debit for frequently shite corners Lasley was in contention but bad ball and second yellow in the debit column Law was superb against ten but should be busier when the game was stuffy

I think we have to remember that we are a team with limited ability and there are times we need to take the safe option rather than passing our way out. However on the most part we got the balance right today but I felt that in the last ten minutes we got the decisions wrong and played ourselves into bother. Lasley's poor pass that led to him making the tackle that got him sent off being the prime example. However I would say until the last ten minutes 9 times out of ten we at least tried the right ball. The spell of the game for fifteen minutes when we were 1-0 up we played the game bang on. Keep the ball and when the opening came try and score the killer second. Apart from the failure to score a 2nd goal through our spell of domination we were good but we just seemed to run out of steam.

Think once he has calmed down and looks at it again he may have to concede there was nothing debatable about that one. Unlike the one that went for them there as no malice in either of his tackles but both missed and both were late and the two yellows were correct in my view. Though to be honest after Black's tackle I reckoned that it would be months before we'd see him again so to only have a one game ban is not the worst result. As for the game, Hearts did a good job on us in the first half in giving us no space to play in and as a result the game became rather turgid and stuffy but for the most part we did have the better chances and could easily have been two up after seven minutes. There were some niggly tackles in the first half and it was a slight concern in that part of the game that Law, Murphy and Higdon seemed to disappear and Hearts gained a few chances through overrunning the midfield and Saunders having a couple of moments. Second half we started a bit better and then that tackle came and the number of times I have seen Motherwell look completely clueless against ten men it was great to see our team actually batter them for twenty minutes. It gave us the room we needed to play and Law suddenly looked like the creative player he can be and Hateley and Humphrey began to really dominate their side. Our achilles heel still looks like being lasting 90 minutes. I'd hoped with a full pre season behind us that would be a daemon left in 2010/11 but a team who had played on Thursday and had chased the ball a man down for 30 minutes that looked fitter. Lasley gave the ball away and from that same passage conceded a daft 2nd yellow and our advantage was wiped out. However we did stand firm and we did deserve our win but my we do make it tough. Though make no mistake if we are to do anything more than midtable this season we need reinforcements. Our strongest team is fine but we have nothing to support it.

Yep.

Result for the common man (well me!)

When europa started playing on a thursday it was agreed that games would shift to sunday - no questions asked. So I think we have no right of objection unlike that game v Aberdeen a few years back.

Would agree that ESPN will accommodate as it was a known risk when they picked that game.