Kmcalpin

Like their eclesiastically named counterparts in Paisley, the tractormen have strengthened and improved somewhat compared to the first part of the season and this will be a very tricky game. Our recent record in Perth is nothing to shout about. As always they'll be organised, robust and streetwise and we'll have our work cut out to take anything from the game. We've stuttered somewhat since the Accies defeat and we'll need to turn up to get a result. With a busy programme in the next week or two Robbo may play a "long" game and he does have some options to rotate and keep the squad fresh so I'd like to see Tony Watt, Ndjoli and Ronaldo get some game time. Tait might come back in as might Campbell. If we're a few goals up or down late on then lets introduce any unused subs like Mugabi and MacIver. A win please but I'd settle for a draw.

Robbo reportedly made a comment which I found rather odd after the game. We all know that the strong wind was going to affect the game and that it was forecast well in advance, correctly as it turned out, to strengthen after 1600 i.e. half time. When St Mirren kicked off facing our end I assumed wrongly that we had won the toss but had deferred to Saints' tradition (?) to kick towards the north end in the second half. However Robbo explained that he and Keith reckoned that we would play with the wind at our backs in the first half in case the wind died down in the second half. Whatever they are they aren't weather forecasters!

Even from the poor vantage point of the North Stand we could see Saints defenders and central midfielders about to hit balls to their wide men. You could anticipate their moves well in advance. That allowed them to run at our defence as you say. Gallagher had to do the job of 2 men at times.

The right result played out in shocking conditions. Both sides could have won and both could have lost. We played some decent stuff on the deck at times. I thought we had the better set of attackers and they had the better set of defenders. We had to work hard for our chances whereas they were afforded them fairly easily. Gillespie, in goal, coped well in difficult conditions. Hartley did some decent things but was also a bombscare at times with his passing. Thank goodness for Gallagher yesterday he held what defence we had together. Thought too that our midfield was just outbattled, although O'Hara had a great game, maybe his best game since joining us. Aarons looks to be a very good player and I'm looking forward to him getting fully match fit. The others will have better days and were all too often caught on the ball by opponents swarming around them in numbers. The conditions weren't to Polworth's liking. A bit puzzled by Campbell coming on to replace Aarons as I thought that signalled our intention to sit on our lead and decreased what little width we had. Tony Watt can't be far away from match fitness and his presence will help us to freshen up a tiring squad. All in all a good cup tie although it was sad to see so many vacant seats when others were denied entry. My final word: the steak pies were tasteless; too much pastry and not enough meat; not a patch on their FP counterparts!

Just as I thought, no coverage of Rolando's "foul", but coverage of Saints' penalty claim. Were the highlights provided by St Mirren?

Absolutely. From kick off to final whistle it was our achilles heel and I was shocked we never tried to sort it. It ultimately cost us the win. Both full backs had poor games.

Dallas was totally inconsistent petty and like you I want to see the Aarons incident again, if it's shown, before I comment. I've never ever seen a referee reverse a throw in decision because the original thrower took too long. A first for me.

Clark Street.

A toss up between Declan and O'hara but plumped for the former as he had little support around him.

Awaiting clearance as of early this morning. If his registration is through is there not a cup rule to exclude late signings? Is he fit?

Sounds good to me as he's the type of player we've been lacking. A short term deal so no great commitment from us. As with any newcomer to Fir Park lets give him our support and see what he can do. A serious question has been asked ......... and now answered.

Some team selections, formations, tactics and substitutions. Although January is a difficult window we have failed to sign an out and out striker - also a mistake last summer. I'm not having a go at Robbo incidentally as he's a young inexperienced manager. The Accies games was a shocker and despite a break we've struggled to recover. On the plus side, we're still in 3rd and will finish in the top 6. Relegation is not an issue. The players too must stand up and be counted as we enter a string of more winnable games starting on Saturday.

We've played poorly in the last few games and mistakes have been made off the field so serious questions do need to be asked. However we've not become a poor team overnight. So no cause to panic let's go into the cup game up for a contest. No reason to be pessimistic.

Worryingly, that's also true of the Livingston and Accies games. In the last few games our midfield has been found out. Central midfielders are just not doing it for a variety of reasons. Allan Campbell looks burnt out as I've said before. We're toothless up front, as we all know, Scott or not.

Is it not 3 consecutive blank sheets now? Sounds like Livingston last Saturday. I was a bit surprised by the line up - 2 wingers but only 2 striker.

No Ndjoli tonight?

According to Alison Conroy of Radio Clyde Tony Watt is training with us without any commitment, according to Robbo.

Undoubtedly Long is the best striker we have but his style is totally unsuited to a ploughing a lone furrow up front. He can't compete physically with hulking central defenders nor can he hold the ball up. On top of that its hard for him to make an impact if he receives no service like Saturday past. Even the best strikers in the world struggle to score if they don't have the ball. he needs another striker to play alongside him to bring him into the game. I'm not sure who should play alongside him tomorrow night as I've not seen much of our 2 loanees or indeed of Manzinga, but someone neeeds to give him close support.

If we go with one striker up front then Long must drop out. He cannot play with his back to goal and doesn't have the physicality to play as a lone striker. Its just not his game. The only options would be to play the untried Ndjoli or the raw Manzinga in that role. Personally I'd go with 2 strikers up front. I think we'll try to pack the midfield and therefore we could see O'Hara come back in. But I'm not the manager.

Rest Allan Campbell to ensure he's fit and ready for Saturday. We'll need his zeal and energy in Paisley. According to Robbo, our 2 new loan signings may be involved.

I hadn't heard that Iain but it doesn't surprise me in the least. I had assumed, maybe wrongly, that he wouldn't play for us this season, or indeed again. Does that update mean that he may appear in the final game as a sub? Time will tell.

I don't agree about Main but yes Dykes is the kind of player we should have signed last summer. Maybe we were in for him but he didn't want to join us or we couldn't meet his demands I don't know. We had months to source a traditional No 9 but didn't do so for whatever reason.

Absolutely Gordon. We seem to have a plethora of struggling wingers but very few strikers.

From highlights, published reports and posters comments, Gillespie apart, the whole team seemed to be lack lustre, jaded, and disorganised. I don't think James Scott's departure had anything to do with the performance though. The players obviously had a bad day but off the field decisions no doubt also played a part in our downfall. As I wrote earlier I'm curious as to why Tait was preferred to Grimshaw unless the latter is not fit. I can understand why Aarons wasn't in the squad but we haven't seen much of NdJoli since he signed. These are only loan signings and so have a limited period to make an impact. Our problems up fronty are fairly widely known but thats now several times this season that our central midfield has gone completely AWOL. There could be several reasons for that. To an extent you have to feel sorry for the defence if they have no protection in front of them, which did seem to be the case yesterday. That said they didn't cover themselves in glory at Livi's goal - ATS was completely unmarked at the back post. We're discussing this loss with incomplete information but I'm sure the management will have a far better understanding of the root cause of the defeat. Like OTF above I think there's potential for freefall if we're not careful.

Really? The first 20 minutes excepted, I thought that was the worst performance from a Well team for several years. If so thats scary.