Andy_P

A loan signing from Livingston after scraping past a part-time team on penalties. "Go for it Alan, that'll really get them all back on side....." I admittedly know absolutely nothing of Robbie Crawford!

Tortuous but somehow ultimately triumphant. As drained as I've felt watching a Motherwell game for some time. And all looking so good too. We had a shaky moment or two in the first half, the free-header immediately springs to mind, but two up and a couple off the line it seemed like we were well on the way. And suddenly.... It wasn't actually that much of a surprise that Coleraine did get a penalty as they seemed to go out of their way to claim for absolutely anything and everything inside the box throughout the game, the vast majority blatantly chancing it. And they were none too shy in trying to create a picture for the referee. I don't know if there's any better angles of the incident emerged than the brief view we had of the first but from the snippet it seemed Carson was comfortably claiming the ball before a few seconds there was the coming together. First reaction was the going down of the Coleraine player and claiming for a penalty was in keeping with their previous attempts to win one, and if O'Hara did foul him when Carson had it under control it was incredibly stupid, We then had a horrible 15 minutes or so before the change of shape seemed to restore some order of a sort but we never at any time regained control of the game in the way we had in the first half so were always vulnerable. We rode our luck with the disallowed goal and just when it seemed we'd done enough another penalty and red-card to boot. Again another questionable decision. At that point it looked grim but I would at that stage, for all the performance was had been largely abysmal in the second half, have to give them credit for re-grouping in extra-time. How much of that was down to Coleraine tiring I don't know but down to 10 men, the substitutions having largely destroyed the midfield and the home side having the momentum I thought - again riding our luck once again with the one off the line aside - we did pretty well in extra-time. I might also have expected Long to do better with his chance in the first half of extra-time. And so to penalties. I think most of us will have thought us doomed when it got to that stage. Memories of several lost shoot-outs, Carson having already been beaten twice, their win against Maribor. It just seemed set up for disaster. But there you go, what a shoot-out from Carson and we're through. I've seen us go out in Europe in unfortunate circumstances and plenty of what might have beens so I'm not going to get too hung up on fortune being with us last night to see us through. The performances of many, and collectively for a fair chunk of the game is a different matter entirely.

Your thoughts and votes please...

It would seem from this topic and previous posts about the Academy that the model is only successful if every player signed results in a sale and there has to be an Academy player first team ready to slot in as and when required. That is some bar you're setting Grizzly!

Drawing and then losing to Stranraer on penalties would be a candidate as well the already mentioned Ross County loss. Clyde was in the balance too where we were 1-0 down and had been piss poor but somehow managed to come out with what looked like a convincing 3-1 win. Enough warning signs not to be complacent.

Oh are we back to Cup ties meaning something again for you because it suits your argument?

I'm not saying you are incorrect but the same squad might very well be challenging for a top six, or even a European place - oddly enough at the same time as trying to stay away from the foot of the table (split notwithstanding). It looks already like Celtic, Rangers, Hibs and Aberdeen are going to pull away and that there isn't very much between the rest. A striker who can regularly find the net really could make a significant difference whether that's someone already at the club or a new signing. The goals for column across the division, barring one or two quirks (e.g. Killie v Dundee Utd) or those whom you would expect to be relatively high scoring is ridiculously low. Less than half the league are averaging a goal a game.

I don't know if there will be anything on our own channel or whether this will be the sole place to watch but BBC NI are streaming the game on Thursday. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54116449

An important win. Not massively dissimilar to some of the games that have gone against us Fir Park this season and nor in fact that dissimilar to when we sneaked a 1-0 against St Johnstone around this time last year. We couldn't have asked for a better start with Campbell's well taken goal. I can't really think of too many opportunities carved out to extend the lead but then they didn't exactly overwork Trevor Carson either with the biggest threat to Motherwell conceding today being Motherwell ourselves. Saints certainly did have spells of pressure, particularly in the second half but for the most part I thought we looked pretty comfortable (again self-harm attempts aside). Of course there remain concerns. There wasn't a great deal of evidence of the getting crosses into the box that Robinson spoke of pre-match and we are still not looking as dangerous as we might when we get a set piece but it's a win and something to build on, even if we still find ourselves a the foot of the table.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Watt Ha! The curse of the former player. Genius Robinson! He says expectantly...

David Keogh Mark Reynolds occasionally under Jim Gannon Ummm.... Err.....

Your choices for Celtic :- 1. Bevis Mugabe 2. Allan Campbell 3. Liam Polworth Which gives a total after Game 7 : Allan Campbell 11pts (2 MOTM) Bevis Mugabe 6pts (2 MOTM) Trevor Carson 6pts (1 MOTM) David Turnbull 6pts (1 MOTM) Sherwin Seedorf 4pts (1 MOTM) Liam Polworth 4pts (1 MOTM) Stephen O'Donnell 3pts Nathan McGinley 2pts Christopher Long 2pts Mark O'Hara 2pts Declan Gallagher 1pt Jordan White 1pt Ricki Lamie 1pt

Your choices for Glentoran:- 1. Liam Polworth 2. Christopher Long 3. Stephen O'Donnell Which gives a total after Game 6 : Allan Campbell 9pts (2 MOTM) Trevor Carson 6pts (1 MOTM) David Turnbull 6pts (1 MOTM) Sherwin Seedorf 4pts (1 MOTM) Liam Polworth 3pts (1 MOTM) Bevis Mugabe 3pts Stephen O'Donnell 3pts Nathan McGinley 2pts Christopher Long 2pts Mark O'Hara 2pts Declan Gallagher 1pt Jordan White 1pt Ricki Lamie 1pt

I wouldn't be averse to giving Maguire an opportunity. O'Hara has shown on occasion he can offer something, but more often than not, that has come with the relative protection offered by Donnelly and the gentle cajoling of Hartley behind him. I'd explore the Long and Lang combination up front further though. I'm interested to see what McGinlay can bring and his inclusion should give us as balanced a backline as we've had all season. I thought he did reasonably well going forward at Dingwall as part of a back-four. Let's see what he can offer with what in theory should be a little more licence to get up and down the wing.

It's not difficult? You mention the South Stand. Before anybody sets foot in Fir Park I guarantee you'll have people complaining that they don't want to sit in the South Stand/Cooper Stand/Main Stand They've sat on that seat in the East since 1991. Never missed a game. No way they are going to sit in the away end in the top tier or over there on a shitty seat with holes in it on the wings of the Main Stand. Cue loads of calls or people nipping the heads of the folk in the ticket office. Using your 1500 estimate in the East Stand you aren't going to be able to use all those turnstiles if you are going with even 1m distancing. They are all crammed together so you are talking probably half of those turnstiles being in use. One of the few things they can do that'll potentially spread out the flow of people into the stadium is to open up the turnstiles early. That's hardly daft, that's perfectly sensible regardless of whether they go with an allocated arrival slot so people have a 5-10 minute window say to join the queue, or whether it's a pitch up and take your chance case - although I would be amazed if they took the chance of replicating the usual ten to three rush. Whatever way you do it you most certainly need that bigger window to get people in. And then when you're inside. Are seats going to be taped off meaning there a scramble for the perceived best seats? As close to where you sat before? Are you going to be allocated a seat which means you are back to the grumbles about people being stuck behind poles or miles away from friends. Again the ticket office people will be worn down dealing with stuff like this. With everybody playing their part, making what I suspect will be some fairly major concessions to their match day routine, this will be achievable. To suggest that it's not difficult however is just wishful thinking.

These people coming and going from pubs, restaurants and supermarkets they all sat empty for 20 hours of the day then everybody appeared and entered at roughly at the same time and all left at exactly the same time did they? That's why you won't find consistency with sports venues and pubs and the likes because I don't think there isn't a true comparison to be made between the them. I agree the protocols that Aberdeen fans have been issued with seem remarkably excessive when you are in the ground but to me the biggest issue is actually getting in and out. You look at the East Stand with what six turnstiles all within about 20 feet of one another. One exit for people to go out. Two pissers. We've all seen what it can be like trying to get into the East Stand in the run up to kick off. So we tell people to come early and social distance to avoid a late rush. How early? People are going to be really happy being told to pitch up at half five to get in for a midweek game when it's minus four. Where do you queue? The St Mirren Cup tie queue was down around the corner. If we're socially distancing when queuing we're going to see queues from three stands and a ticket office merging pretty quickly. And coming out. It's February we're 4-0 down to Celtic we're all going to sit there quite happy to twenty past ten until we get to our section and our row to leave? I want to get back as soon as possible. I want to be in a crowd with Motherwell fans because I'm fairly sure our absence has done nothing to help the sticky start. But I'm under no illusions of the issues that the clubs have to overcome to convince the authorities that they can do this without incident, and what we might have to face when we get the opportunity to prove as supporters we can return responsibly.

Not wacky enough for them. Take a look at the rainbow effort that won, and then the Sevens change kit. Your entry is verging on the benign by comparison!!

Right, enough of the nonsense. Three points. Get it done Motherwell.

Tenuous link to the thread but might be of interest to those with an interest in kit development... Macron Scotland Rugby Kit Background It's a 15 minute or so chat (from 25 minutes in) with one of Macron's people going into how the latest kit was conceived, how preparations on next years is underway, some discussion of a new Macron store in Glasgow and the development of the Macron brand in general.

Currently, no. And not ignored in any of the above. Any move is of course going hinge upon what can be achieved for the land Fir Park lies on, hence the line referring to the attractiveness of the location to any potential buyer.

We're unquestionably going to move from Fir Park. It would be lovely to think that we could bit when you factor in the aforementioned houses that back on to the existing boundary at the south end of the Main Stand, the lack of space on the Hunter side of the ground, the slope and even the difficulties with the subsurface, there are a host of obstacles that make the task of coming up with a stadium of the current times problematic. In a sense we have some time on our side, in a sense we don't. I think an earlier view expressed is a good point in that there is a tipping point where it goes too far the other way in terms of costs for getting a licence to open the wooden constructed Main Stand, or the pitch is too expensive to maintain or the Hunter Stand roof can't be patched up as easily etc. where the speed will be ramped up towards a move. But by the same token deliberately hanging fire might have some benefits too. What will the immediate area look a few years down the line when the mooted infrastructure is in place that will see the first steps towards of a Motherwell to Cumbernauld road, with dual carriageway from Airbles Road up and along Windmillhill Street and through Ravenscraig. I don't know if that has the potential to make the land Fir Park lies on any more attractive to buyers. There's also been a movement towards safe standing. What if that direction of travel continues and there isn't the same obligation to have mandatory seating. If that were to happen it may bring some savings over what might have been required if you had moved in the last few years such as St Mirren. It would certainly offer a greater element of choice for how you view the game and may broaden the scope for designing the stadium.

That rings a bell with me too. Up until the play off round was it? Then it would revert to the usual two legs?

I watched their earlier tie against opposition from San Marino was it? and it was a mirror image of watching Motherwell for much of this season. Looked like they could play all night without scoring. Albeit the did get one at the death but I take a little hope from that performance.

I think that's a fair assessment. Not too bad a performance for me. As Gazzy said earlier very much your typical Old Firm away display under Robinson. Nothing sparkling, nothing too disastrous but an eventual defeat with a mixture of plusses and minuses. Again a noble attempt by Robinson at turning the tide our way in the second, but at arguably at the wrong stage of the game, and once again a negative outcome. You would have to hope that eventually things turn and that such game changing gambles aren't required as often. I don't think our performances have garnered the points they perhaps warranted and as such I don't see us a bottom of the table team. But it becomes increasingly difficult to defend that stance the longer the team are there. There will be an expectation that, that is addressed when St Johnstone visit in a couple of weeks.