Ya Bezzer!

Last season we got to the Scottish Cup Final took our foot off the pedal, put in some terrible performances and looked a poor side. This season we got to 3rd place in the league took our foot off the pedal, put in some terrible performances and looked a poor side. Sometimes you wonder if this side has a real winners mentality or if they are happy just to be 'doing OK'. They don't seem to be really 'hungry' and I don't think McCall has really done much to change that, if anything he's legitimized that mentality with some of his comments.

Another shockingly bad home performance. We just about passed muster in the first half when we played the ball round well enough without causing too many worries for Inverness but the second half display was woeful from the very start. The players actually came out the tunnel looking lethargic and deflated and it only got worse from then on in. Inverness were the better team and deserved to win and we need to have a serious look at the way our players and management team are performing at the moment. No win since September is bad enough but a measly 4 league goals at home since the first game of the season back in JULY is absolutely pathetic. I have nothing personal against Higdon but it is obviously not working as a system to play Higdon up front in a 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1. It is obviously not working to have our most talented player wide left when his best position is up front. It is obviously not working to use Tom Hateley in a midfield role when Lasley or Jennings are unavailable. It is obviously not working to keep Nicky Law in the side when he's hardly kicked a ball in months. McCall waits far too long to make changes to the system and the personnel and when he does, such as today, he makes the wrong change. It's not good enough. I realise our away form is much better but I've only been to two away matches this season and can honestly say, hand on heart, this is the poorest season since Maurice Malpas was in charge. It is absolutely garbage and I put the blame on a one dimensional and very negative managerial set up. It has to change because if it doesn't people just going to stop going to matches. Home results since win over Hearts 7th August 2011. 0-3 0-3 1-0 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-1 (abandoned) 1-1 0-1

OK maybe the exact time scale isn't correct but it wasn't much longer that stated and the general truth of the statement stands. That's if you accept, like me, information broadcast on a BBC religious affairs programme which looked at sectarianism in Glasgow and which seemed to be pretty well informed since it quoted figures from Celtic's accounts.

Celtic gave up their charitable origins within a very short space of time from their foundation. Within a year or two of being established Celtic had no links to charitable organizations or the Catholic church and were being run for profit. Basically as soon as they realized their was money to be made out of it long term, charity got shown the door quick smart!

Inverness are a lot better now than they were in August so I'm expecting a tough match. Davies going back down south is a bit of a blow for Tel but we'll still have to be on our toes to get a win on Saturday. I think Daley is much more of a goal threat than Humphrey and Humphrey is better coming off the bench so I'd keep Daley in the side.

Can't remember having any personal dealings with him apart from occasionally bumping into him around the club it's amazing to think that from the season I started to regularly attend Motherwell matches (1986) to this weekend, Bill Dickie was there behind the scenes (and sometimes in front of the scenes!) working away for the club. That's an incredible period of service for the club. I think when I remember Bill Dickie it will be in the aftermath of the Scottish Cup win and how pleased he was to win the trophy, he obviously enjoyed it as much as any player or fan. This legacy will be the history of the club over the last 30 years. From being a lower division team to achieving promotion and staying there, winning the Scottish Cup, qualifying for European football for the first time in our history, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the league on a number of occasions - I'm sure his name will be always linked to a 'golden era' in the history of Motherwell.

Morton of course have Peter McDonald as their main striker - unhappy memories. One of the boys in the work is a Morton fan so we need to win this one for the slagging rights!

This is probably correct but that shows a bit of a bad attitude in my opinion as if players only want to do 'enough' and not put that extra effort in to go above and beyond. Maybe that's why we can't do anything against Old Firm.

No one really stood out with a great performance. Hammell and Daley were the pick of the bunch in the first half but both faded a bit. Humphrey and Ojamaa both made an impact coming on, especially Ojamaa who was very direct and in fact a bit greedy at times but you could see he wanted a goal which is no bad thing. But went for Murphy, one of the better performers and got two goals.

Stupid comparison. Sutton had half the starts Higdon has had and a lot of them were at left midfield where Brown in his infinite wisdom choose to play him. Higdon has never played anywhere else than upfront. Baring that in mind, Higdon has 6 league goals (1 a penalty) while at this stage Sutton had 4 league goals (no penalties). So there is 1 strike in normal play of a difference. Given that Sutton had fewer matches in less advanced positions in a team that had a lower average league placing that 1 goal of a difference actually doesn't tell the story you'd like it to. When Sutton played upfront regularly in the second half of the season he got 12 goals between January and May.

Sutton to my mind is a better player and more accomplished striker than Higdon but Higdon was a good replacement for Sutton on a free. Give the choice I'd pick Sutton over Higdon but we don't have that choice, only Higdon is a Motherwell player and hopefully he gets a few tomorrow!

Reynolds didn't live up to his early promise. His first full season he was absolutely tremendous, looked like one of the best ever young players we'd brought through and a probable future Scotland internationalist. If it hadn't been for him at the back and McDonald up front chances are we'd have been relegated. Unfortunately he didn't quite develop in a way most people would have liked but just because he didn't become the player we thought he;d be doesn't mean that he was a poor player when he left - just not as good a player than we thought he might be. He was still one of the better defenders in the SPL and I'd expect him to be a good signing for Aberdeen. I'd expect him to play in central defence with Andrew Considine playing at left back just like he did when Aberdeen played at Fir Park. That frees up Arnason to play in midfield.

Underground is hell when there is a match on at Ibrox. Do not recommend. People have been saying that the current Rangers team is the worst since the 1980's for a while now when the results and form of the team said otherwise. However the current Rangers team really is honking. My desk neighbour in the office is a Rangers fan and he says they have been atrocious this year and that there best away performance this season was at Fir Park. We should go into this match looking to get something, maybe not a win but certainly looking for at least a point. Unfortunately with McCall in charge I doubt we'll have the correct mentality to approach these matches. I'd love to be wrong though.

The worst storm of 2011 was in May...

I'd take winning ugly as well. Unfortunately I've only seen 3 wins in 11 matches and one of them was against 3rd Division Clyde.

We only really have two players who can score goals in the squad and one of them is isolated on his own up front with no one to play off and the other is playing deeper and deeper down the left with every passing week. We obviously play the defending/counter attacking thing well away from home but our home record of 7 goals in 9 league matches is the worst in the entire SPL. McCall needs to change his philosophy and be a bit more positive in the way he sets up the team at home.

The thing is Jennings is/was an established player on a longer contract you could see why it was worth our while persevering with him until he got his fitness up. Hughes is contracted until the 3rd of January and hasn't shown anything to deserve a new one. And even if he did get a new one we are at the business end of the season now and can't afford to carry players that aren't performing. I don't even think Hughes would be a 1st pick anyway provided Jennings and Lasley were available which makes it harder again for him to get his fitness up to the required level.

If you put McHugh in you'd have to move Law out to the left and if you are moving Law you are better off just dropping him and keeping Murphy wide and putting McHugh behind Higdon. The match where Murphy was dropped we looked more blunt going forward than ever and only improved when he came on as a substitute. I hope Steven Hughes gets dropped for this match. His signing looks like a mistake, he's inconsistent even when fit but it's obvious from seeing him that his long lay off from competitive football has left him so far off the pace he's toiling even to keep up with the game and everything is just passing him by. Of course, Forbes, who had a couple of good matches earlier in the season that could have been built upon, has been left to wither on the vine by McCall so bringing him into the XI might result in the same thing happening. Any way this is one we should win but because of that, and our poor home record, there could be more pressure on the team. You get the impression that our home form curse is building by the match and is actually beginning to affect the players. It's hard to tell what kind of Dunfermilne will turn up but they are better away from home than at home and if you exclude their heavy defeat away to Hearts they have only lost their last 3 away matches 1-2, including visits to both Rangers and Celtic so it might not be as easy as some people think. They are becoming a little detached at the bottom of the league now and you'd expect them to come out fighting to avoid being cut a drift.

Christmas isn't often Merry for Motherwell supporters!

Overall you can't argue with the league position or points tally. On the other hand I think we've carried a wee bit of luck at times, the standard of the opposition is not great and the level of home performances has been mediocre to say the least. I also think he's shown himself to be tactically inflexible at times. At the end of the day though you'd probably rather win ugly than be at the wrong end of the table and McCall has done well to ensure our status under Brown with pretty limited resources. I'd give him 7.5 out of 10. Although its immensely difficult to improve on the league position I would like to see a slightly higher standard of performance at Fir Park which I think is something that is achievable.

I agree Humphrey started brightly and then fell into bad habits but let's face it this is his third season at the club and we pretty much know what kind of player he is. The thing that worried me more than Humphrey going forward was how much more exposed defensively we were when Humphrey came on. There was a noticeable difference and we seemed much more stretched, he frequently gave the ball away and didn't seem to be as effective tracking back as Daley but it could also have been down to us trying to push forward in the later stages and players being tired. By the same token though, Humphrey as a fresh player should have been able to steam up and down that side of the park easier than players who had started.

Saw a guy last week slip on the top step into Airbles station and go down the lot of them. Guess he wasn't hard enough.

Definitely not the worst team we've played this season. Very well drilled in midfield. Their narrow diamond shape worked very well against us, usually they had two on Lasley or Jennings and as a result they were very difficult to break down, especially first half. Hasselbaink is a wee pest as well and reminds me a lot of John Spencer. That said I think they are defensively vulnerable and depend on that midfield shield. Oh and Jim Goodwin is a c**t.

Best bit of entertainment was Murphy's run, shame Higdon couldn't finish it or it could have been a goal of the season contender. Thought Jennings had a decent game but I'd give it to Darren Randolph - a rock all match, caught ever cross, held ever shot and made some very good saves.

Draw was about right although St. Mirren probably slightly edged it. Poor first half from us but second half was an improvement even if we didn't exactly hit the heights.