The Sand Dancer

Both Alexander and Robinson before him were typical autocratic managers. They both produced the normal outcome of that style i.e. initial success then medium to long term failure as their methods fail to motivate the players. Unless we want to continue to "yo yo" between success and failure on a season by season basis then the new manager must have different management style

No way can you play Lammie As it is in his interest for Dundee to win. I'm not questioning his professionalism but puts him in an awkward situation especially with the boo boys. Agree with no place for Donnelly as we have not won a league match this season when he has started, a mere coincidence, I think not more a player,who can pass the ball, down

We are content to persist with long balls from the back unfortunately O'Donnell. Lammie & Donnelly are incapable of finding any of the front 3 with a decent pass. Even if they did the hold up play of Wollery, Van Veen & Shields is as unimpressive as the passing from the back. I saying this Ross County are offering little. Need more players who can play the ball to a teammate if we are to win.

We need to pick a team that will work their socks of of 90+ minutes, covering back when they lose the ball and consistently picking their man. That means no :- O'Donnell - goes missing with crosses from the left; Carroll - no idea how and when to defend; Donnelly - slow, lazy, does not follow his man and generally no footballing brain and we have never won a league match this season when he has been in the starting lineup; Shaw - thinks he is better than his teammates and lazy (witness his "attempt" to get back as the referee ran past in the Ross County game and Shaw lost the ball in their half) Team therefore:- Kelly, Mugabi, Johanson, Ojala, McGinlay Cornelius, Maguire, Slattery Tierney Van Veen, Shields

1967 Charlie Aitken's Testimonial v Rangers (before they played in the Cup Winners Cup Final). The only time I saw St John playing for Motherwell

Right hand side of the team is fine with O'Hara, O'Donnell. Campbell and Watt having decent games. Centre of Carson and Gallacher fine but Polworth (non-existent) and Cole (not up to the physical/cheating contact) Left hand side is soooo bad, what ids the point of playing Lammie whose only contribution is to constantly give the ball back to Killie, Grimshaw doing his headless chicken performance, Crawford although tries is extremely limited and should not have been signed thus limiting better players/prospects Cornelius, Semple or Robinson. Overall the game reminds me of a match against Kille under McGee when the winner was scored by Dick Turpin according to the announcer

Once again Motherwell take one for the good of Scottish football. We apprecaite that it is imperative that the bigots in Green and Blue have crap managers. Lennon is a crap manager and all clubs must ensure he stays in post. This will be done by the odd club taking points of them every few weeks. This will mean that we can all witness these wonderful European nights seeing them stuffed by average teams in the Champions and Europa leagues. For some reason Gerrard seems to be having some success and may not be crap. All clubs must do their bit to ensure the perception that he is up there with Klopp. We know that the Daily Record push his reputation as a managerial genius. This will mean that he will be back down the road to the English Premiership as soon as a Non-Covid cheque book opens.

Agree with most of the comments above on how few acceptable performers we had (Campbell, Watt and Carson the exceptions). Robinson's reluctance to to change the shape to get something out of the game also a problem. No better illustrated than his 3rd substitute, bringing on Maguire (who I believe should have started in the back 3). The game was over the correct options were Hastie to chase a goal or else to give Cornelius a run - we had nothing to lose.

Why is Mugabi playing? a. We should be using the defence we will play on Thursday b. The defence improved after he was sent off c. We are not a good enough team to play with a player who cannot pass the ball (opponents have no need to press him knowing he will move forward 5 yards then pass it to the side or else wildly upfield). One for the older fans, reminds me of Wullie McVie's in terms of distribution Why has Maguire not been given a run in the middle of a back 3. I suspect he will be another promising player ruined through not been given an opportunity by Robinson

Unique opportunity to play an all Lanarkshire outfield 10. O'Donnell, Gallacher, Maguire, Lammie Campbell, Turnbull, Semple Watt, White, Hastie

No doubt David knows what Jake Hastie is getting at Ibrox and it could be that the fantastic/magnificent offeris less?

Timeline:- David having medical at Celtic David passed medical David not in the country Tweet come from Celtic (sounds more like Donald Trump) " a fantastic offer ... a magnificent offer" !!! what does that mean? - The standard of journalism in the country is the pits, if only we could have an exclusive from Jimmy "I want bums on seats" Sanderson which had some truth to it as opposed the the fantasy guff that is spouted in the Scottish Press

Having allowed the dust (and disappointment) to settle, here are a few thoughts on the sale of David. Rather than the fee or going to Celtic, I am more disappointed in that we will no longer see in Claret & Amber the finest player to come through the ranks in the last 50 years and had hoped that we would have kept him until the New Year. The club strategy of being a showcase for players to develop from which we can generate transfer income means that they a difficult balance to strike between maximising the transfer fee and being fair to the player. Blocking a lucrative move for the player would have made us less attractive to both young players and finds from the scouting system. That said in my 50+ years of going to Fir Park we consistently been woeful in selling players. I can only recall 3 occasions when I believe we held out for the true value of the player. · Keith McRae going to Man.City · Phil O’Donnell to Celtic for cash upfront (although the timing just before the match against Dortmund was crap · James McFadden to Everton The transfer will clear debts and allow investment. The loss of David will only be acceptable if funds are used, not on transfer fees, but as signing on fees to secure the likes of Campbell, Dunn, Maguire, Semple, Livingston etc. onto longer contracts. Otherwise we face losing certainly the last four next summer. We need proper forward planning to avoid having to rebuild every summer and scramble for players in the Winter window. Finally we should all reflect on what a fine contribution David made to the club as an outstanding player and person.

On the subject of Cadden, I think we should be fair to the boy and sell him in the summer. Firstly, whilst he has always given 100%, I believe that he has not progressed by our need to play him at wing back (he is not a natural defender and cannot head the ball). Unless Robinson decides to play 4-4-2 with Cadden on the right of midfield or 4-3-3 as we played in the second half on Saturday, we will not get the best out of him. Ultimately we may see the loss of a prize asset and see one of our finest talent not fulfill their potential. Secondly, he will be mixing with players on the Scotland trip of most of whom will be of no better talent the him but all of which will be earning vastly more which will come out as the players socialise. On return I suspect this plus the influence of his snake oil salesman (= agent) will push for a move. On the assumption that he will get a cap at some point over the two games, the best outcome for both club and player would be a big money transfer

State of the negotiations is:- We don't want to sell Carson Financially we don't need to sell Celtic have two days (and ticking) to sign a decent keeper WE THEREFORE HOLD ALL THE CARDS There is no need to act like Big Treeza on Brexit and roll over Suggested negotiating strategy:- Continue to talk to them without commiting to a price (suck them into talking to us at the exclusion of others) Indicate that there are other interested parties from the English Premiership (does not matter if this is true) Do not close the door on negotiations until 23:00 on 31st Jan ( the closer to the deadline the more desperate Celtic become and the higher the price) Make the decision @ 23:00 on 31st on a price which must be in excess of the replacement keeper plus the rewards of 3 league positions (which if Carson stayed he would propably guarantee) Outcomes Don't get the price we want Carson stays Well fans happy Carson a bit miffed but he is contracted for 2.5 years and will get over it Celtic stuffed Get daft price for Carson Fans will reluctantly accept But must have a decent level replacement lined up

Until we went down to 10 men we handled the Celtic attack as comfortably as I can ever remember despite all of our midfield underperforming. Cadden ran about cutting off space but never really pressed/tackled Brown or the centre halves. He was once again asked to play in a position where he is unsuited. Rose is a good athlete, runs all day but other than the cross to for Moult I can't remember touching the ball or tackling anyone McHugh is such a disappointment this season. He has no pace, never really closed down his opponents, constantly lost the ball or gave it away and as the game progressed I was certain he was going to be sent off. On this form he is a liability and Robinson needs to bite the bullet and drop him. Grimshaw, although at times let down with his distribution, I felt was our most effective midfielder through his tackling and covering and was surprised when he was hooked. As has been posted on the Cup Final topic we did not press them enough particulary Brown. Personally I would have Campbell and Grimshaw picking up McGregor and Armstrong (possibly dropped for the more defensive Ntcham) with Bigi (not Tanner) all over Brown like a rash i.e drop Rose and McHugh (who Collum would certainly send off) Rest of the team as Sunday but with Cadden wide right

A safer option would be to move Tait onto the right of a back three and Cadden as right wing back (has the pace to attack & counter the runs of Wallace). Team therefore:- Carson Tait, Kipre, Dunne Cadden, Rose, McHugh, Frear Bigi Tanner Fisher Leave Moult to save the day in the last 30 mins.

If the boy is named after the Man of Steel's two girlfriends - he had to sign for the Steelmen

According to Wiki he seems to have managed a side promoted in his first season and won league cup this year but who can believe the media - his success may have only been a "Vow"

What about Simo Valikari? Knows the club, successful in Finland, season ended there and so will be aware of good players which may also be available

It was a pleasure to free kicks and corners in the first half from Faddy and in the second from Ainsworth consistently finding a Motherwell player. What a change from the postcode freekick lottery over thae last few years when they were taken by Mark's ("Gees a job") wonderboy.

An imp from the fifth dimension, Mr. Mxyzptlk possesses nigh-limitless reality-bending powers, which he often uses to pose challenges to Superman for his own amusement.

Stevie O'Reilly is Mister Mxyzptlk to Motherwell's "Men of Steel" Has any other ref been involved in more outrageous decisions at Fir Park than Mister Mxyzptlk?

Kerr had a poor game on Wednesday showng his deficiencies going forward - he won't be attacking much today. Celtic will play Samaras wide left and pump high balls to him. Kerr is better equipped to deal with this than Hateley. Cummins and Hutch are fine in the centre and both use the ball very well - I don't understand why he is being touted to be dropped. Use Ramsden as a holding midfield player to add some bite in the tackle. Also bring in McHugh to "rummle them up" Team:- Randolph Kerr, Hutch, Cummins, Hammell Ramsden Law, Lasley McHugh, Higdon, Ojamma

I am disappointed in the "reasoned" arguements issued by the club particularly the veiled threat of insolvency and 21 point deductions should we lose £875k( in revenue (£600k from Sky and £275k from Rangers visits). With our paper thin squad and years of punching above our weight it is not inconceivable that we could finish at the lower part of the league. Are the club suggesting that if we finish 11th which would mean a drop in SPL share at current levels of £750 (i.e. difference between 3rd and 11th) then we would be threatened with insolvency? The big prize here is breaking the voting and wealth distribution stranglehold of the Blue and Green bigots. Do the right thing for the game.