joewarkfanclub

Tony Watt. Working his arse off with little or no support. Happy to say my judgement of his character pre signing for us was spectacularly wrong. I think he needs Cole alongside him as a foil though. Lang and Long have offered him nothing.

I think we can agree that you could see the goal coming. That being the case, you need to change it, otherwise you accept the inevitible. Im not suggesting a change wasnt needed, it clearly was. But most on here have identified this was happening because we were sat too deep. We needed a change to get us further up the park to take the pressure off the defence a little. What we got was one of our most willing runners taken off for another defender. I just dont get the logic in that?

I was a little surprised by the line up and the tactics from the start, but the early goal and the disciplined and dogged defending to half time more than justified the mamagers decisions. It wasnt pretty to watch at times, but it was winning football and Rangers struggled to break us down. 2nd half we seemed to be getting deeper and deeper and it was clear a change needed to be made before the inevitable happened. However, the manager got it totally wrong with his first 2 subs. We were desperate for an out ball and should have brought Cole on for either Lang or Watt. The change for McGinley made it even more difficult to get out of our area by removing one of our willing runners and totally upset the shape at the back. To then compound it by bringing White on instead of Cole was inexplicable. The guy may have had limited chances to prove himself, but if the manager doesnt know who the better player is between the 2 then we have a problem. All in all, a frustrating display as so much hard work was undone by some poor decisions.

Between SOD, Watt and Lang for me. The whole team worked hard and were incredibly disciplined for the most part, but those 3 had the extra bit of quality that got us up the park on the rare occasions we made it into Rangers half. I went for Watt as he was the one with the game intelligence to draw fouls where he could and knew when to speed up the play or slow it down.

I think you are confusing me with one of the glass half empty brigade. Im not saying that the signing policy hasnt delivered on the balance sheet, and Im not advocating the manager or anyone else be sacked. But no one can argue that the quality on show at times hasnt been great to watch. Given that we are in the entertaiment business and the vast majority of the revenue we get comes from paying customers and our league position, I dont see it as a particularly left field suggestion that we at least assess whether a different approach might achieve better results. Not saying it would be easy. I know every other club in Scotland is in the same position, but the turnover of players we have had in the last few years is incredible.....

There definitely needs to be a rethink on our signing policy. We appear to trawl the market and bring in more players than we need in the hope that one or two will make it. That seems a waste of resource. Id much prefer that we scour the market, identify one or two of decent quality and push the boat out to get them in. If we have a few with experience and / or quality and supplement them with youth, it will do far more for the development of our younger players and hopefully improve the product on the park.

I think he has a some skill, but zero football intelligence, so pretty much the same result. Im sure he is a really nice guy, but if he can get a gig at Stoke or Reading he/we should bite their hands off!

Aberdeen fans dont like to hear that!

Still one of my greatest moments as a Well fan. Would definitely make my top 10! The game was shite, but having got up at 6am to drive north, the goal and absolute scenes at the end were worth it and will live with me forever! McAllister and Craigen giving it large in the commentary box was also brilliant!

Only saw the 2nd half, but the 2 players that stood out for me were Maguire and Hastie. They were the ones trying to drive the game forward for us. Went for the much maligned Hastie as there were glimpses there of the player he could be with a run of games.

Only saw the 2nd half yesterday, but we were certainly the better team in the 2nd half and, I felt we played some decent stuff at times. We had a few decent opportunities and half chances, that with some better decision making should have resulted in at least one of them being converted. So with that in mind, I can see Robbos point of view. However, its becoming a theme with us that we dont score when we are on top of teams and it only takes one chance converted at the other end to beat us. Its hard to identify where its going wrong. It can be very fine margins between a confidence building victory and a moral sapping defeat. I suspect that there are just too many players in the squad who just arent quite good enough, so again that comes down to the manager/board and signing strategy. Not ready to throw Robbo under the bus just yet as I have no confidence that anyone better will want the job, but he has to provide evidence of being able to turn this around before January and that means finding some improvement from within the group of players we already have.

Given what transpired last week, St Mirren will be feeling hard done by and undoubtedly motivated for this game. Its got an away win written all over it. We will need some big performances from our players to avoid a bloody nose here. No idea what formation or team selection Robbo will go with. Will probably all depend on who is fit. We could be doing with Cole available as he holds the ball up better than other strikers and might give Watt a bit more freedom in the final 3rd. Id be happy to see Maguire come back into midfield and deploy O'Hara at the back, although that might work better in a 3. Apart from that? Who knows?

Tony Watt ran his socks off making himself available for a pass and trying to link up the play. Was unlucky with the few chances that came his way, althoygh should have hit the target in the 2nd half with the one he ballooned over the bar from a great bit of play. However, went for O'Donnell. Thought he had a very good game and gave us an outball going forward. Put in some good deliveries as well, particularly first half.

Wow! I did not expect that! Cup wins apart, this must be the most successful day in the clubs history!

I thought it was a fairly competent performance with no real standouts. Crawford did well and Polworth was always available for a pass but became less effective as the 2nd half wore on. Gallagher strolled the game for me and looks back to his best.

I have to confess, I had my doubts that he would be any good for us., but he has proved me wrong. He has added the hard work and application to his undoubted ability and thoroughly deserves his new deal. Here's hoping he doesnt rest on his laurels and maintains his fitness. If he does, we will have a serious player on our hands and bigger clubs might come calling again.

Get Cole against Ajer or Julyan. Get Watt up against Duffy. Dont neutralise our threats by matching them up.

Regardless of the score, seeing THAT West Brom team in their pomp must have been something! Laurie Cunningham ended up playing for Real Madrid when no one from the UK went there. He was some player. Robson and Batson went to Man Utd. Regis was some striker as well. Incredible team.

Was definitely an exhibition game for them. Not wishing to embarass us in any way. Was still a great night under the lights on the old terracing.

I think Archer is probably the better goalie and I think will probably get in a some point, but Chapman really hasnt had anything to deal with that would lead me to agree with you there......

Hard to chose today with it being such a disciplined team performance. Everyone did their job well but no one really standing out on their own. The defence all did very well and really liking the look of the OHara, Gallagher partnership. However, I thought Polworth was the one player who showed touches of class and composure in an otherwise hardworking display.

Wasnt the most enjoyable game to watch, but then, a game against Livvy on plastic in that wind was never going to be. We did what we needed to do. Very disciplined performance, defended well and took our chances when they arrived. Very good 3 points and keeps the current run (Rangers game excluded) going. Like others, I dont think our performances are miles apart from where we were earlier in the season, but the fine margins have turned in our favour. I think the current formation suits us better, but thats entirely because of Devante Cole. You could see yesterday that White just isnt at the same level. The fact that the 3 are also playing more centrally has helped as we now have more targets to hit. O'Hara has been a surprising find at centre half and its clear for all to see Gallagher is much better in a 4 than a 3/5. The midfield balance also seems to be better with Campbell Polworth and Maguire all having clearly defined jobs. All little tweaks, but they have changed the odds in our favour. Long may it continue.

Are you Grizzly G in disguise?

Archer certainly has pedigree. Not the best goalkeeper Ive ever seen play for Scotland, but you would think if he is fit he should have more than enough to see him by in the SPL. Certainly enough to keep Chapman on his toes....

I actually dont mind the mini leagues. But I agree that the regionalisation will get tiresome before very long. We have already played the same teams a number of times in a fairly short period. Part of the initial attraction was away days to places we hadnt been before. I think they need to get rid of the regionalisation and find some way to compensate the smaller clubs for their travel. Id love an away day to Brora, Cove, Peterhead, Forfar, Montrose or any number of the clubs up north. Lots of grounds Ive never seen Motherwell play.