Ya Bezzer!

People will exaggerate how bad we were because we didn't score and didn't win but I didn't think the performance was that bad. It was a game we should have won fairly easily. We've created 5 or 6 decent chances to score today and I've seen plenty Motherwell matches were we didn't create any or only 1 or 2. The problem was we didn't take the chances we made. We are basically playing three holding midfielders in a 5-3-2 with one inexperienced full back and O'Donnell who gives you absolutely nothing up the other side. Maybe O'Donnell works in a back four but in a back 5 he's not capable of the role. Lennon Miller had a poor match today and the other guys are a couple of traffic cones. We need full backs to get forward and two out the three midfielders to get into the box but the guys in those roles don't have the tools for the job.

Ross County are playing 3 at the back and always have a spare defender because we are essentially playing three holding midfielders and Stephen O'Donnell.

Think we've looked sharper than the cup matches. Better tempo. Still struggling to create chances but we've had two we really should score, so should be 2-0. We've been the better team and Riss County haven't really caused us any problems so far. However if you aren't clinical it can come back and bite you.

Maybe 5 of that line up isn''t good enough. Remains to be seen if it's injury/fitness influenced or if Kettlewell thinks that''s his team.

I agree and I also think that players who are great at youth level don't always make it at first team level and players who didn't stand out at youth level can sometimes go on and have very good careers as pros. The point is you have to give young players opportunities and stick by them. Football fans are so impatient these days but I think players like McFadden and Turnbull have give fans false ideas about what youth players should be. Those guys took to first team football straight away and left soon afterwards for big fees but that isn't exclusively what youth players should do. Sometimes youth players can be Lasley/Hammell types. Very good players that don't necessarily need to move on. They can be a Paul Quinn type. Some one that came in, made mistakes but with time became a decent player for us. They can be David Clarkson types, came in did well, had a bad spell, then came back better than ever. Or a Jamie Murphy, someone who struggled for a couple of seasons but eventually found his position and form. Another good example is Lee McCulloch who barely scored a goal for about 3 seasons then became our top scorer. Like I said, too many of us are looking for players who can come in and be sold immediately. That certainly helps the coffers but it's not the only reason for having youth players. There are guys out there that need two or three seasons of football to reach potential. We need to be patient, give opportunities and develop players who need development.

Good to see Stavros Tomatoapocalypse in the building. Hat trick v Ross County a cert.

For me you have to give the team a full round of matches before you start seriously trying to analyse it. Right now it's all preliminary findings.

For me it will be McGinn, Gordon, Balmer at the back so they are essentially our back up CBs.

Poor performance. Only really hit the levels we need to be hitting for 15, 20 minutes at most. Two things before we get into all the negatives. Partick never really had a fully fledged chance in the match, whereas we had 5 or 6, so I don't think we were every in danger of losing the match. Secondly, I think our first XI during the season will be a lot different from the line ups we've seen during these cup group matches. Now on to the match... Oxborough did OK, but didn't look especially comfortable with the ball at his feet. Distribution needs to improve also. I thought Gordon looked decent and defensively I thought we were OK apart from one or two loose balls. Midfield is where the problem is. Personnel has been effected by injuries but the blend seems way off right now, even the shape doesn't look great. Obviously we are far too narrow and there is a lack of creativity. Not sure about a lot of those players. To me O'Donnell and Halliday just look past it, like a couple of older guys huffing and puffing in a works team. Davor, doesn't do a whole lot for me either, won a couple of tackles that's about it. Add in Wilson's inexperience and that's 4 out your 5. We can't carry a midfield were 4 out of 5 are not going to be at the right levels. Though we missed Paton today. OK, he's no wizard but he gets on the ball and moves it and we looked far too sluggish today. Up front I was pretty disappointed in Stuparevic, totally ineffective, but I thought Robinson showed something, needs to start putting away the chances though as he had a few today. Probably 7 or 8 first choice players out, so perhaps you can look at these line ups as a second string but for me the midfield is totally dysfunctional and we desperately need changes there. It remains to be seen if Nicholson, Slattery, Koutroumbis, Sparrow, Callachan etc (and the return of Paton) will make the difference in the midfield. One last thing. We knew 0-0 was going to put us into the next round and I felt like that did effect the performance especially in the second half.

We were sluggish for the first 25-30 minutes but we've basically created all the chances in the game. Partick had one ball across the box but that's been it from them. We are a wee bit; unlucky not to have the lead at half time. A penalty shout, hit the bar, some decent saves from their keeper. We just need to start taking them second half

Not great but we finished the half well on top so hopefully we can build on that second half.

Isn't our Euro co-efficient about to fall off a cliff? Will there even be 5 European places next season?

I'd imagine our first choice defence will be Hegyi and the back three will be McGinn, Gordon and Balmer, with either O'Donnell or Koutroumbis and Seddon at full back positions. They've not played together at all so far, so I don't think we should be projecting our League Cup defensive line ups into the future too much, and since there are 4 or maybe even 5 new players in there you are going to have to give them time to gel together. You can't just put a bunch of players together that have never played and expect them to play like Leighton-Miller-McLeish.

Today Agyeman scored Airdrie, Hastie scored for Ayr Utd, MacIver scored twice for Falkirk, Dom Thomas scored for Queens Park and Connor Sammon scored for Alloa.

Paton always gives you 100% and that's rare. I think that's a blow cos I'd have him in the team over a lot of the other options.

Stama, as I'm calling him, is already in our squad on the Transfermarkt website.

Yeah but I don't care about character. I've never been friends or wanted to be friends with any Motherwell player. I support the club and I care about watching good players and watching good football and succeeding as a club. When I pick my Motherwell all time XI I don't bring into consideration wanky behaviour, responsible parenting, political beliefs, faithful marriage, criminal records, good guy status and so forth. Like I said I don't care about Tom Boyd's opinions on anything but I'll quote him from a 2022 interview with the suggestion that you're maybe getting your knickers in. a twist over not much. "We did not necessarily compete consistently but it was an unbelievable moment for us all that day. If you watch the footage back, you can see me shaking my head as I get handed the trophy because it was just an unbelievable moment for us as a team. “To lift the trophy for a club like Motherwell who have not had too many of those types of days at Hampden was special. It was a great day and a fitting way to leave the club. I will always be grateful to the club for giving me my start in professional football.” Source : https://worldfootballindex.com/2022/08/tom-boyd-on-celtic-motherwell-captaincy-and-scotland/

Tom Boyd was one of Motherwell's best ever players in the 40 odd years I've been supporting us. I don't really have it in me to hate on a player that did us a turn, never mind one of the best and one that was instrumental in the only success we've had in (almost) living memory. The fact that he's a Celtic fan doesn't bother me one iota.

I must hold a grudge cos Eddie Forrest and Karl Ready are still right up there.

I'm prepared to label him unpronounceable.

Now I'm not especially a fan of Jim Goodwin but he was talking there about how lower league teams have 18 player squads and can put out there strongest team in these group matches while Premiership teams have 25 man squads and they have to get minutes into players so they are fit for the league season. We also have injuries, new players we are trying to blend into the side, younger players who probably will be out on loan come the season proper and a squad who are maybe 85% fit playing on poor surfaces. You can't judge the team on performances right now especially since we've got results. Several bigger teams than us have lost matches in these group stages to lower league teams. If we have lost 8 out of 11 come October or whatever, Kettlewell will be under pressure but right now it's not a fair assessment. I'd expect us to step up next week with progress on the line against a better level team. If we don't and lose, you have your first opportunity for fair criticism.

You can call me a lot of things but happy clapper isn't one of them. It's just your position, and others, is absolutely preposterous at this stage of the season.

Noted Ewan Wilson has 3 assists in 3 matches.

You are probably jealous of Hibs tonight. 🤣 Undefeated, +5 over three matches, win next week wins the group.

He said he expected to bring in 'one or two others' so it's obviously budgeted for.