Rickoza

Heard of him, no idea who he is right enough.............-)

I'd be more concerned about how on Earth Kilmarnock are bank-rolling this current team. Where is the money coming from as I was under the impression they were over £10Million in debt, or has that changed?

Kilmarnock are a good side going forward and that was a good game today, about as enjoyable as 0-0 draws go. Couldn't for the life of me understand why the Higdon boo brigade were at it again. One particular incident saw the ball bounce abouth 20 feet in front of Higdon with the keeper covering and some idiot nearby was pratically frothing at the mouth with abuse for our man. Unbelieveable.

The guys at the end of the\East Stand and at away games. Atmosphere at last!!!!

I'd say the moment he comes out to warm up. I know one idiot behind me simply cannot resist.

It'd sicken me. But the guy has to play football and earn and, if they are the highest bidders, he's gotta go. Can't imagine he'd take anything other than professional pride in scoring against us.

Dundee United have lost over a grand thanks to this. Over 50 Motherwell fans have been denied watching their team. All over an "ifs, buts, maybes" pile of pish. Can't imagine their Chairman, given their debt, is pleased to lose one entry fee never mind that many.

Given Levein's selections..............

How long before his Scotland callup though? You can just bet Mr Levein will...........

Don't think it'd be fair to drop Clancy, man's earned his place. I'd go same again.

Indeed, get it publicised. Crap behaviour from folk who seem determined to ruin any chance of getting atmosphere at a game.

I don't think he's saying we'll just lose the old firm games and try the rest. Every single Motherwell manager up and down the years would have said we'll give it everthing but, being honest, anything we get from games against them is a bonus. And ALL SPL teams will have the same outlook. We've beaten better Old Firm teams than they are now down the years, but we've also lost to some honkers as well.

I remember this "report" which appeared on their official site. Think Motherwell complained to them after it appeared...... This match exploded in the second half as the Dons found themselves two goals down with their captain stretchered off and down to ten men. Enter Darren Mackie and the Dons finish up with a share of the points as he grabs a brace in his first competitive match of the season. Poor defending handed the visitor's a two goal lead then a controversial red card appeared to seal the win. Darren Mackie had other ideas and after slotting home a penalty he headed a Crawford cross into the net to gain the point. Aberedeen kicked off and won an early free kick with only two minutes on the clock. Barry Nicholson delivered the free kick from the right, but it was easily cleared. Two minutes later the Dons won their first corner and following a short free kick Crawford fired the ball into the side netting. After the positive start from the Dons Motherwell won their first corner in the 7th minute but Anderson made a positive clearance. Anderson dominated his area again in the 11th minute as he cleared before Esson easily held an overhead kick from McDonald. Motherwell were creating some decent chances now and O'Donnell went close when he fired over the Dons bar from eight yards. Aberdeen then went close in the 14th minute when Lovell released Smith and the winger's cross was headed out for a corner. Diamond then threatened from the set play before the ball was scrambled clear. Lovell collected the first yellow of the game in the 17th minute for what looked like a fair, but heavy, challenge on Kinniburgh. The Motherwell player came back on after treatment but had to go off minutes later and was replaced by Quinn. A minute later Severin played a neat one-two with Smith, but his cross was too deep to threaten. Aberdeen threatened again in the 28th minute when Nicholson set up Lovell before Smith raced off his line quickly to block. A minute later Winter drove an ambitious effort from 30 yards that went well wide before Byrne turned a Nicholson free kick back across goal, only to find a defender who quickly cleared. Richie Byrne then picked up a nasty knock in the 36th minute but failed to win a free kick for the challenge then after several minutes of treatment the game restarted and Motherwell won a bizarre free kick for an innocuous challenge on Craigan from Steve Lovell. Severin then went close in the 40th minute when his shot shaved the post after good build up play from Nicholson and Smith. Two minutes later Severin went even closer when Crawford found him in the middle and his header was well held by Smith in the Motherwell goal. In the closing minutes Motherwell won a couple of corners and the second forced a save from Esson before the ball was scrambled clear. In injury time Smith had a tame shot at goal and Clarkson had a speculative shot from distance that Esson held comfortably. Then Byrne carved out a chance that was headed wide by Nicholson as the game started to come to life. Aberdeen almost made a dream start to the second half as Crawford broke on the right and delivered a cross that was just missed by Lovell. In the 49th minute Lovell was released inside the box by Byrne, but he shot wide under pressure from McLean. Aberdeen were looking more threatening with Lovell and Crawford looking lively. Motherwell at this stage appeared to have difficulty staying on their feet and were consistently rolling about the ground clutching their face. They then won a couple of corners, which they took about ten minutes each to execute. The second one saw Esson pull off a great save from Foran. Motherwell then took a sensational lead in the 63rd minute when Fagan headed a clearance back into the Dons half and Clarkson turned Anderson and rolled the ball past Esson. The goal appeared to knock the stuffing out of the Dons as Motherwell pressed for a second. Darren Mackie replaced Winter in the 68th minute for his first appearance of the season, but within seconds the Dons defence went to sleep and Clarkson raced through to add a second. The afternoon got worse a few minutes later when Russell Anderson was stretchered off with a head knock and was replaced by Muirhead. Another controversial decision in the 75th minute saw Darren Mackie booked for going for a ball he had every right to go for. McLean then pushed the striker yet escaped any punishment. The controversy heightened two minutes later as Clarkson tried to grapple Byrne to the ground and the Dons defender tried to shake him off because he was getting no protection from the officials. Referee Thomson shocked the home support by showing Byrne a straight red card. When the game finally restarted McNaughton broke into the box and was tumbled to the ground. A penalty was awarded and Darren Mackie stepped up to score his first goal of the season. The Dons levelled in the 85th minute when Crawford collected the ball on the right following a corner and swung in a deep cross that was headed home by Mackie. Aberdeen's tails were up now as they pushed for a winner and it was difficult to work out which team had the eleven men. As Aberdeen pushed for a winner a mix up at the back almost gifted Motherwell the winner when Clarkson drove the ball across the goal then Esson saved from McDonald. Incredibly only four minutes of injury time was found and in the dying seconds McDonald fired wide of the goal before Thomson blew the final whistle

What an eejit that man really is!

Couple more..... 10th December Saint Johnstone v Motherwell - BBC Alba 14th January Motherwell v Inverness CT - BBC Alba

You tell 'em, Stuarty........... Good evening 'Well fans – I hope you are all well. I am writing this update before I rush off on a scouting mission to the Rangers versus Kilmarnock match ahead of our game against Kenny Shiels' men in a few weeks time. Staff at the club will send it out on my behalf so hopefully it will reach you all okay. It has been a few weeks since I last sent out an email so I will get my apologies in early for that. I felt it important to type this out as there is quite a bit happened over the last few weeks and one or two things I am keen to say. It was great relief to get the win against Aberdeen after what was, unquestionably, a difficult week for everyone here at Fir Park. The St Johnstone game was probably the most disappointing performance we have had since I arrived at Motherwell last December. We were poor in possession, we lacked a cutting edge and there wasn't enough urgency about our play. When I looked back on it, I don't think, as a unit, we defended too badly. It was two individual, and uncharacteristic, errors (an own goal and a pass back) that really sealed our fate. However, more disappointingly, we created next to nothing and had no spark or energy which is most unlike us. It was important that we bounced back in the Cup a few days later. Reviewing it again, offensively we were excellent. I have watched the full 120 minutes back or two separate occasions and there is little doubt Hibs deserved to take us to extra-time after the chances they created during the second half. In extra-time, I thought we dominated and had five or six great opportunities to win and I have no doubt that if the assistant referee gets that big call right, which he should have, or we go through on penalties, people would have left Fir Park seven days ago buzzing after a terrific game of football. The ironic thing is that collectively, we defended much worse against Hibs than we did against St Johnstone. The Saints game was lost, as I've said, from two errors from two top professionals – and please be assured I am not having a go at either Tim Clancy or Stevie Hammell – it could have been anyone in those circumstances. Whereas against Hibs, our general defending allowed them too many chances throughout the match. It was sore to go out the Cup as the whole staff, the players and I were desperate to give you all another memorable run to Hampden. We then faced Aberdeen three days ago and I felt we defended much better as a team and restricted them to half chances, mainly from set-pieces. We perhaps didn't click into gear as much as we would have liked going forward but still managed to hit the woodwork twice and eventually won the game through an excellent Bob McHugh winner. So a mixed bag – the usual highs and lows. But if you step back and look at the bigger picture, it has been a fantastic start to the SPL season. If you will forgive me for taking the two defeats from the Old Firm out of it – from the other games against the teams in and around us, we have played seven, won five, drawn one and lost one; a great record in anyone's book. With that success comes the added weight of expectation and people were disappointed that we did not beat St Johnstone. Yes, we had a bad day at the office, but outwith the Rangers and Celtic, anyone can beat anyone; there is such a fine line! For us to be sitting third, with sixteen points, is a credit to the players. We can't let a couple of disappointing defeats detract from that. I nearly choked on my Fruit and Fibre when I read in one of the Sunday papers, following the St Johnstone defeat, that our "title credentials" had been severely dented. That's just ridiculous! We are under no illusions, our aim from the start of the season hasn't changed and that is to fight hard to be in the top six against a number of good sides in the SPL this year. I have one other thing to address before I finish. During the Aberdeen game I wanted to introduce Bob and I decided that he would replace Jamie Murphy. I knew it wasn't going to be popular taking Jamie off but managers aren't in football to be popular, you have got to make what you think is the correct decision and thankfully, it turned out to be the correct one. I will try and give you an insight into my thinking; I did touch on it when I spoke to the Press after the match. Cast you mind back to April 2nd this year when we last faced Aberdeen and Vujadinovic scores from a corner to make the last few minutes more than nervous. Last week, Aberdeen are 2-0 down to Kilmarnock and haul themselves back into the game with goals from a free-kick and a long throw. They have a big team with Gonzales, Mawene, Considine, Vernon, Arnason, Fallon, Osbourne and Magennis, all six foot plus. Compare that to us, we only have Randolph and Higdon who are in that category and Craigan and Clancy who are six foot exactly – not great when defending set plays. Although Higgy was going through a sticky spell, it was important that he stayed on for us because I felt that was the only way they were ever likely to score. We have the likes of Hammell picking up Vernon and Jennings marking Considine. We don't have a tall team so we have to try and defend the best we can and I wouldn't have been comfortable taking off our biggest guy – who had already one his fair share of flicks inside our box – with fifteen minutes left to play with the match so evenly poised. That doesn't mean to say that if a similar scenario arises in future, Michael is immune to being substituted. He is not. We will have to take it game by game, and each opposition at their own merits, strengths and weaknesses. I understand there were some disgruntled voices and I don't mind that coming to myself in terms of team selections, substitutions, whether I've got ginger hair or wearing shorts, it doesn't matter. I've been in football now for forty years, watching, playing, scouting and managing, and I have never, ever – not even once – seen any situation where a crowd are getting on top of a player and it doing him any good. I didn't enjoy hearing it when I stood on the terraces at Elland Road as a kid, I hated it when one of my teammates was getting abuse when I played the game and certainly don't enjoy it when I am a manager and one of my players is getting it to the point where it is putting him off his game. If you use your common sense, and I know it is frustrating, there is no logical way that any individual will respond positively to personal abuse. At the end of the day, surely you as supporters, and me as a manager, all want to see every player doing the very best they can to try and win the game for Motherwell. Lads have much more chances of achieving that if they have support as opposed to constant criticism and heckling. I am not stupid, I know it goes on at every club but I want us here at Motherwell to rise above it. This is our team, we all want to win a game of football and the very best way is to get behind the lads and support them when things aren't going well. Our support in general this year has been absolutely terrific, both home and away, and I appreciate that it is only a small minority. But sometimes that minority can be loud and it becomes like a domino effect. We are a small, tight-knit club from the players on the park and the management to the staff who work behind the scenes. We are all disappointed when we lose or feel the pain of any individual when things are going wrong and, importantly, we all take pride in doing well and winning and I include the fans in that. There are not many of us; it's us against everyone else so let's get right behind everyone in the team. Let's give every player the backing and the encouragement they need, particularly when things aren't going well because I can guarantee you that to a man, we have a squad of battlers who will put it all on the line for each other. Look forward to seeing you at Tannadice this Saturday. All the best, Stuart McCall Manager Motherwell Football Club

No reason we can't win this one. United have a creaky defence as well, 3 goals lost at Easter Road at the weekend?

Given that two Aberdeen defenders seemed to be racing back to the line, and one got there, I guess Hump was going for the power drive when a side foot might have been cleared. Don't matter though.......

I'm afraid that, unless we make every single pass count, every single attack end in a goal, then certain folk will always boo and hurl abuse. And that is sad.

EEh? Love their official reports Great win, wel done Bob!

Or a Falkirk side 10 of whom were under 20 in the starting line-up!!!!

Was a real rip-snorter of a cup tie. On another day.........-)

Higdon did well tonight, tracked back quite a lot which was good to see. Good finish too.

Disappointed but pleased we got the reaction from the players. Bring on Saturday!

I remembr back when McGhee was manager and we were sweeping all before us. An "easy" game came up at Fir Park around Christmas time against Falkirk, three points we thought - and they sunk us 3-0 with ease that day. Shit days happen, we were dreadful yesterday. If it happens continually, we've got issues - not including Parkhead, we're only one shit game behind us. Let's see what the reaction is come Tuesday.