Ya Bezzer!

YEESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last minute equaliser, Top 6 and most of our 'fans' on here will have their faces tripping them.

I don't want to pour cold water on a win but we won yesterday because we killed the game in the second half, it wasn't fun to watch but it got us the 3 points. If we'd played like we did in the first half St Mirren would have scored again, simple as that, and who knows what the score/result would have been. Also St Mirren were terrible defensively. I've said all along in this poor run that we weren't as bad as a lot of people were making out, I think we also need to display a little bit of caution on thinking we are 'a football team' on one good result.

The middle 3 and front 3 were all good today. Think you could give it to any of them to be honest but I went for Cornelius.

A point probably does it but I think in these situations it's basically a cup final and you need to go out for the win. Maybe the games haven't been great but I don't remember our record there as being especially bad. I heard there was some ridiculous awards went against Livvie today but they've actually lost the last three matches after being on a good wee run. We might just catch them at the right time.

Two sides of Motherwell there. Played decent stuff first half but crazy bad defending then second half, kill the game and look for a goal on the break. Did well to come back from 1-0 down. We were much the better team up to that point but you could see our game go right off and the confidence drop. Got the wee bit luck that we haven't had recently with St Mirren hitting the post when they should have scored and the keeper conceding a poor goal from Goss. It's stating the obvious but we were much better with Donnelly out the team. We really need to sort the defence out though because that's ten without a clean sheet and the standard of goal we give away is so, so poor. Overall can't complain too much about entertainment tonight, think a point probably gets us Top 6 and a win definitely does.

One of the reasons I'm willing to give Alexander more time is I think we are still recovering from what Robinson did to our club - which was reduce it by several levels of professionalism. The lack of quality and ability is there for all to see. On those criteria we are no longer a top level club. Imagine Robinson's tenure without the players our youth development gifted to him. Last seasons off form Allan Campbell would improve our midfield a thousand fold.

We want to keep the good run going through the play off matches. If we qualify Kelly and Clark will probably get their chance in the WC build up.

O'Hara isn't the worst player at the club and I might have been inclined to keep him but I'm not going to throw myself into the smoking crater of Mount Vesuvius if he leaves. Even if he was the best player in the world he misses about half the season most of the time. 35 starts in 69 matches over the last two seasons doesn't scream 'absolutely essential'.

Recruitment - One summer window, players brought in have been a mixed bag but I don't think his record is bad as such. Bigger problem has been losing quality players like Campbell and Watt rather who we've brought in. People here keep shouting for Woolery and Slattery and they were both Alexander signings. Most of the players that need to be moved on were pre Alexander signings. Tactics - No team has 'none'. As I've said before who do you think we have that can pass or play through a defence? And if you don't believe there are any what's the alternative? Shape - 4-3-3 isn't the problem. We've got results with 4-3-3 last season and the first half of this season with mostly the same players. Do folk really want to see us go to 2 central midfielders and weaken what is already the weakest part of the team? Form - Lots of teams are in honking form right now. 1 win would see us fly up any form table. The fact is that most of the teams in the league are pretty much of a muchness.

It's outside the managers influence of the team captain makes an absolute rick of it in the box and gives a goal away. Or if a player gets sent off in the 1st minute. Or if the referee gives a penalty that was outside the box. What the manager is responsible is recruitment, tactics, team selection, shape, etc. He's had one summer window so I'll give him a break there, tactics aren't pretty but I understand that we don't have technically gifted players and maybe our style maximises our chances with the current squad, although I think we should aspire for better in the future. I get that some people will disagree on this point but if I look at what we have and ask myself if it's through, round or over the top I've got to say it's probably over the top. Team selection has been made difficult by injuries, Watt being transferred out and inconsistencies. If you have four full backs at the club and none of them perform, what exactly do you do? I think Alexander is damned if he does or damned if he doesn't in certain aspects of team selection. People complained when Woolery and McGinley were starters every week. Now they've been changed out and it's 'tombola' chat. In our last 5 matches we've used 16 starting players and 9 have played in at least 4 out of the 5 so it's hardly even that extreme. And it's not like the Robinson days when there were better players on the side-lines absolutely screaming out to be in the side. Shape is difficult when you don't have a functional midfield, but I think a lot of the goals we've given away recently have been down to individual errors rather than the way the team is set up.

We've had half a season of enjoyable watching since the Higdon era and that was down to a certain Mr. Turnbull. At the end of the day you don't make silk purses out of a sows ear. Criticising Alexander for not playing attractive football is a bogus complaint. The league is dreadful, the players are dreadful. Most of our squad can't make a pass. What do you expect out of the manager? What I expect is for him to ditch the duds asap during the summer. I don't expect him to make Liam Donnelly into Xavi.

Something along these lines.

Mate, I was born in 1974!

I used to be against clubs bringing out new kit every year but lets be honest, in the current climate it's one of the most exciting aspects of the season. I was thinking the other day, how would fans feel about a home kit that reversed our colours - ie, predominately claret with amber detail. I might not be against it if the design was right and it was just for a season. It'd be something a bit different.

We cannot, must not lose to a Robinson managed team. I wouldn't say it's the ultimate litmus test because Robinson hasn't been there long enough to spoil St Mirren's squad yet but it would still be a pretty jarring occurrence.

We've won 2 out the last 8 matches Slattery has started. We've won 3 out the last 8 matches Barry Maguire started. We've won 0 out the last 8 matches Liam Donnelly started.

We aren't. We got some luck before Christmas, for instance the Ross County match where we were totally outplayed and still somehow won, versus now when things just aren't falling for us, for instance the Ross County match that was pretty even but we lost to a dodgy penalty. It's not like we are being turned over every week. OK, you can say a loss is a loss but we are losing 0-1 or 1-2 then getting a draw that maybe we should have won, then losing 0-1 or 1-2. We are 11 league games without a win but we have never lost more than 2 in a row and the last 5 there has never been more than 1 goal in it. We are not a million miles away from getting a result. You can't go on losing narrowly forever but honestly, in the position we are in right now, people are over reacting. I'm not saying anyone should be happy about things as they are but the level of furore is a bit off IMO.

We could take 6 or none. Until the games are played it's all speculation.

We get 6 points from the next two games we are likely to have a Top 6 finish. Anything before these next two games is premature. If we lose both with poor performances it probably comes down to our performances in the last 5 fixtures and how much support Alexander has behind the scenes. Personally I don't see Alexander going anywhere before the end of the season. The run of results isn't good enough but the constant revolving door of players and managers is also a huge problem.

Alexander is not getting fired. Losing from 1-0 up and not winning in 2022 is concerning though. We can't have any more excuses we need to win our next match.

Last away league win was 8th November. Would take a point today but a win would be huge as there are likely to be quite a few dropped points among our rivals today.

I've said all this before but I think this season is a step forward from last season. There is hardly any chance at all that we'll finish lower than 10th and we have never been in any relegation trouble over the season. For me last season was avoid relegation, this season was stabilise and next season would be to make a move forward in terms of player quality and style of play. So far Alexander has met my expectations. Whether he's capable of making the next stage of the development I do not know but it's very hard to do business during the winter transfer window and he's only had one summer window. I stand by the manager at this stage but it's down to him to meet next season's expectations. I will be looking for better next term.

You know I'd forgot all about that till now..... Thanks

I think all his goals were against us!

O'Donnell looks to me like he's not that interested. I don't seem him busting a gut or making the extra effort. He is the captain as well. Instead I seeing him making a lot of basic errors and not looking that fussed about getting on the end of things. When you can't hold down right back position for a far from good Motherwell side should you be playing for Scotland? OK, he will be playing in a different environment with better players with Scotland but honestly I'd be looking to replace him for next season. Our full backs this season have been god awful.