Kmcalpin

Maybe I'm in a minority of one but.... I agree we are crying out for a creative midfielder but my priorities lie elsewhere. We are desperately in need of 2 central defenders and some solid midfielders. That way we'd be hard to beat and score against. We could build on that. Right now, Championship and Division 1 teams are able to cut through us far too easily.

Absolutely. This system places a lot of emphasis on the midfield 3 and fast running front men. Right now, midfield isn't our strongest department. We need to switch to a 4-4-2 formation. As for tonight's game, Airdrie seemed to have 22 players on the pitch - they covered every blade of plastic and when our man had the ball he was closed down by at least 2 opponents. For them this was a derby and cup final. for us, it was a pre season bounce game. They seemed to be fitter, faster and more aggressive. Positives? More game time for legs and er........... On the basis of our 2 previous games this result was coming. What did we learn tonight that we didn't know before? Nothing really. Depending on how Saturday's results go we might qualify and we might not. Of more concern to me right now though is how prepared and competitive we are going to be for our first few league games.

The full backs have been poor in all 3 games so far. In their defence though, the 4-3-3 system we have played leaves them exposed.

Spot on Steelboy. He's good at our level but, high balls are his achilles heel, and I'm sure he himself has admitted that.

A sad loss. RIP Billy.

John Park now head of recruitment at Blackburn Rovers.

I agree with much of that, but I'm not sure we controlled the first half. Yes, we had plenty of possession but played into Queen's hands. Their game plan was to sit back in depth, harry, close down and soak up pressure and then hit quickly on the break. It worked a treat. We lost 2 sloppy goals as you say but it could easily have been 4 or 5. That said we could scored a couple ourselves, but our chances were limited. The second half was different game, as we clawed back an early goal and they tired. A few significant negatives which we all know about - shaky central defence, weak midfield etc., and which hopefully will be addressed in the coming weeks. Add to that problems with lack of match fitness. I thought that Carroll and Donnelly struggled probably due to lack of fitness and that put more pressure on Maguire and young Cornelius. Not only had they to cover box to box but also the wings. 4-3-3 is very demanding on the midfielders. Thats the negaives but there were also plenty of positives. The team showed an ability to fight back, and thats an improvement on last year. Kelly was impressive in goals; O'Connor looks to be raw but promising; Cornelius is developing well, doing a lot of unnoticed work; and the strikers are starting to showg form. I was especially impressed with Van Veen, who looks to be a real danger in the box and Woolery who added energy and directness when he came on. Two game and two wins; thats what cups are all about.

I think as this issue currently goes beyond normal politeness and good manners, now being a public health issue, the stewards should enforce organised distancing. Some fans may have been put off from attending games because of this issue. The bottom line is that the club needs to take responsibility.

Watching on TV, there appeared to be quite large gaps but also small groups of fans. I got the impression that had folk been properly spaced out we could have accommodated another 500 - 1,000 fans easily. Out of interest were fans allowed to take non alcoholic drinks into the stadium?

A very poor first half but a far better second one. On balance deserved the win. Lots of issues to be ironed out though. More gametime for the players. Impressed by young Cornelius today. Van Veen and Woolery caught the eye.

Thats more like it but now the stream has gone again.

I would take Carroll off as its just not his afternoon.

Well that goal has given us some hope.

It looks as though we could play all day without the keeper having a real save to make.

No more than we deserve to be honest. Queens look to be well ahead of us in terms of pre season preparation. We're pedestrian and well off the pace. Defence is shambolic. They're quite content to let us make the mistakes and pick us off. Unless we improve dramatically then this could be embarassing.

We were warned. Needless foul by Lamie.

Also very exposed down our left flank.

QoS better organised defence than ours. We're lacking creativity and pace.

Just lost the stream

https://ppv.motherwellfc.co.uk/

From his write up he appears to be a young work in progress.

I'm sure you're right. However questions need to be asked of the guidance if different local authorities differ in their decisions regarding very similar situations.

A lot is open to interpretation and Government guidance needs to be stronger and clearer to ensure consistency.

Is there provision for those not going in person tomorrow to buy a one off TV matchday ticket? I can't seem to find any relevant link. I can only find a link to an annual or monthly package, which I don't want.

Fair comment. Despite what the authorities say publicly, many bigger teams are treating the group stages of the League Cup as pre season warm up games. This was discussed on this very board 5 or so years ago. Traditionally the smaller teams have started off fitter or at least look fitter due to being better motivated (their cup final and all that). We are a few players short in midfield and defence and they'll be brought in - the exact timing though might be an issue. Add to that injury and illness - Grimshaw, McGinley, O'Hara, Mugabi, Shields, plus a not fit Donnelly. So, all in all we shouldn't be panicking. In recent times, the midfield has been an issue and this was evident again last night. Irrespective on the individuals, the combination of types of players, maybe wasn't ideal. Add to that tactical instructions from the manager and the fact that QP outnumbered us in midfield and you can see why we struggled.