joewarkfanclub

The new defenders havent been here long and it was always going to take a little while for the manager to assess their fitness and quality against what we already had. Add to that, as soon as they arrived we won 2 games on the bounce, so you can understand why GA wouldnt want to change a winning team. They have been here a couple of weeks now though and we have now lost a game albeit to Celtic, and have a busy couple of weeks coming up. You might expect injuries and squad rotation to provide him with an excuse to freshen things up without damaging squad morale.

Massive game. You gotta think we are the team going into this with increased confidence. That doesnt automatically transform into points, especially on the plastic. But we need to he targetting 3 points here.

Didnt think there were any real standout performances today. Lots of decent performances but none great. I think Chris Long was probably the pick of the bunch. Put in a power of running and looked the most likely of our front 3 to contribute.

Its never easy at Parkhead when you lose an early goal and we took a while to settle after it. However, after 20 mins we eventually regained our composure and shape and were unlucky not to get a penalty when Long went down in the box. It was probably just about the correct decision but it was very close. I do think we got our team selection wrong from the outset. I dont think the 4-3-3 did us any favours. The midfield got overun time after time and we defended very narrowly basically giving up the wings to their fullbacks to cross at will. I think we shouldve matched their 3-5-2 which may have given us a better platform to play from. 2nd half was another slow start and losing the 2nd goal looked game over. However, it was good to see the team repsond to adversity yet again and after we scored we seemed to take a lot of confidence from it and may have sneaked it at the end. We probably didnt deserve a point over the piece but it would have been welcome nonetheless. I think it was an opportunity missed again as Celtic crumbled a little under pressure. On the plus side we finished strongly and didnt take a tanking.

And more than a touch poetic!

Anyone got a stream? Still waiting on hesgoal to load up....

He still has his detractors on here....

Did he not suffer a concussion a few weeks back? I presumed thats what they meant by "illness".....

Celtic v Motherwell followed by Emgland v Scotland at the rugby with heavy snow forecast for the whole country? Better get the kerry oot in!

Donnelly is amother one in that mould when it comes to beimg appreciated by our fanbase. Its no coincidence we went into freefall when he got injured.

Robbie Crawford is the kind of playwr that every team needs but is rarely appreciated. Just goes about his business quietly with no fuss. Covers lots of ground closing down players, wins his fair share of ball and just keeps it simple and moves the ball on. There will be others who will proably say, aye but he gives the ball away too often, but when you are as under pressure as our midfield is at times thats hardly surprising. Ive been pleasantly surprised by him and for me he is a natural replacement for Alan Campbell when he moves on in the summer.

Matching them up in a 3-5-2 wouldnt be the worst idea. It will provide more cover for Bevis and Lamie, especially if Magloire is as rapid as he is made out. O'Donnell has shown for Scotland what he is capable of in that formation and it might suit him better. Will also stop the midfield getting overun without blunting our attack too much.

Really? I dont know whether to be relieved or raging!

I think we should have a right go at them. There defence is rank and St Mirren and Livvy have both given them problems in recent weeks. They are nowhere near the levels they have been at in the last few years.

I would imagine it will be on Celtic ppv. If you dont want to give them.any money there is always hesgoal

Lots of contenders this week. Kelly was generally quiet but 2 top drawer saves at the end. Carroll was the pick of the defenders although Lamie was surprisingly solid and Mugabi excellent tight up until he lost his man for the goal. Tony Watt put in his usual 8/10 performance. Chris Long - where has he been? But big Devante has to take it. Just outstanding holding the ball up, occupying defenders, driving forward with the ball at his feet, fabulous finish for his goal. Probably should have had a couple more but for some very good goalkeeping. Starting to look like a proper no9.

Thoroughly enjoyed that, in a perverse masochistic type of way! First and foremost its a great 3 points. Took us 10-15 mins to get to grips with Uniteds press and it certainly caused us problems, but even then, they didnt create many clear cut chances. After that we dominated the first half and really shoulda been outta site by half time. Siegrists save from Mugabi really was top drawer. 2nd half United had a lot of the ball but again we defended it very well and created the much better chances and shouldve extended our lead. They did have a decent shout for a pen when Cole barged into their player on the edge of the box but it wouldve soft compared to the challenge on McGinley that wasnt given. All in all we probably deserved the win over the piece albeit we made ourselves work hard for it at the end. Great performances all over the park. Mugabi played very well, the goal aside, Lamie surprised me how solid he was in the middle. Carroll was excellent tonight and showed the player he can be. Much better from Alan Campbell. Maguire had a few slack passes and the odd poor corner but you can see his quality and he will benefit from a run of games. The front 3 looked great. Seem to he getting a good understanding. Chris Long, where has that guy been hiding all season? Tony Watt was brilliant again, more so 2nd half. He holds the ball up so well and gets us up the pitch. Cole is starting to look a real handful as well and good to see him get another goal. Kelly though, again was a matchwinner. He will be disappointed that we conceed from the corner after such an exceptional save. However, his one on one just after that was as good as a goal. Would be great if there was any chance of us keeping him at the end of the season. Still plenty room for improvement. We will need to see some more for Saturday.

I see United didnt sign anyone in the window and moved a few on. I guess the money troubles are for real. With that and their players having to take wage cuts, it would be understandable if morale at Tannadice wasnt the greatest. Big game for us tonight. Chance to send a message out, build on last weeks win and compound Uniteds misery......

I would imagine we will see the same team as Ross County. The manager has made a big think about building on last weeks result for confidence and momentum. You dont do that by chopping and changing unecessarily. Unless there are injuries we dont know about I would expect to see the same starting 11.

I really dont know what some of our fans are expecting? Who wants to come to Motherwell in the middle of winter during a pandemic to fight relegation for £1k a week? Seriously? Im not gonna say Im inspired by any of the signings. To be fair, I hadnt heard of most of them. However, we needed to freshen the squad up. We have done that. It remains to be seen whether any of those signed will be any good. However, lets wait and see. They are all short term deals until the end of the season, so the risk to the club is minimal. Im just delighted that Deccy, SOD and Campbell are all still here. If the mananger can continue to coax performances out of the squad, like the 2nd half v County, then Im reasonably confident we will stay up. Beyond that its hard to say.

Aye, but is yer mate a "happy clapper" or a "pantwetter"

United have some very good players. However they are in terrible form right now. I think a lot will depend on whether we lose anyone in the window and whether we can get anyone else in. Will be a nervous couple of days.

See the 2nd paragraph of my post.....

Now THIS is something we should all be able to agree with. We cannot afford to close off any avenues or markets for finding the best players we can. Getting the balance right in our squad is the key to success, and regardless of how much I liked Stephen Robinson, it cannot be argued that he left us with anything like a balanced squad.

No significant increase in quality? Kelly > Chapman Lawless > Seedorf Smith > White Foley > Remains to be seen Whilst you might find that underwhelming you cant say it hasnt improved the squad feom wherw it was? Im not saying for a minute that I will be happy if this is the end of our business, Id still like to see a couple more last minute deals, even if they are loans to try amd improve our situation, but I am realistic enough not to expect to be "wowed" by them.