Kmcalpin

He must have his reasons. The line up looks a tad cautious and defensive but we'll see. Again, the pressure will be on Cadden to provide the outball. Maybe the gameplan is to hold out until half time and if we're still in contention open up a bit?

A difficult game to call. Hibs look good but are still finding their feet in the top league. We've done well so far but haven't been fully convincing against the better sides. We certainly won't be any pushovers today but need to play for 90+ minutes. We're a lot stronger than last term, but still have a bit to prove at away venues as our implosion at Perth proved. I think we're still vulnerable down the flanks. If pushed I'd go for a narrow defeat. Hope I'm proved wrong, in the best possible way.

Seems we are right about Robbo liking players with good character. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/motherwell/motherwell-are-twitter-snoopers-admits-stephen-robinson-1-4560692

You can put your mortgage on it, if you have one. He yellow carded Cedric for that, even although it wasnrt even a foul, but failed to punish a Killie player for cynically hauling back Bowman by the shoulder when he was breaking into the box.

Good post, first one or not. To pick up on one or two points, Tait is a good squad player but for me Frear has to return on the left flank to give us some much needed pace and take the heat off Cadden. I liked Grimshaw's energy when he came on too. One thing I'm not sure about in the current set up though is that Bowman seems to be playing off Moult. I'd rather that Moult was told to stay up front and in the centre. Too often on Saturday he was the one who was playing balls into the box for others to use. Thats not his game and not the best use of his talents. We have a much better squad this year and it may well be that Robbo uses more players in a squad rotation system. I've no problems with that. Yes, Madden was poor on Saturday. At one point he got in the way of McHugh who was trying to getm off a shot on goal. His booking of Kipre was downright wrong, and he missed a lot of fouls on Moult. He also failed to stamp out a bit of play acting and diving from Killie especially, young Taylor (genuinely out of character for Killie I have to say), Fortunately he got no major decisions wrong but had a poor game overall.

Problem is that he isn't. Media commentators and pundits may ignore him but scouts of other clubs use their own eyes and don't miss much.

No harm to either lad but they didn't really do much yetserday. I had no intention of booing either of them but Dom did upset a few fans with his petulant actions at a free kick in the first half. I don't recall that being part of his game at Fir Park.

I wasn't wholly convinced when we first appointed him, but I've now been won over. He seems to be a good man manager and that comes through from the players he's signed. In the past we've signed most players ostensibly on ability alone but now we're signing players for their character too. I think Robbo is asking questions of their competitiveness, attitude, team spirit etc. Just like Tom Wright at Perth has been doing.

Maybe some truth in that. More than any other area of the team, midfield is a combination of types of player and irrespective of how well they are playing individually, the overall mix or balance is crucial. I can't remember such a strong and diverse midfield for a good number of years. Its certainly been our achilles heel in recent times. I thought that Killie were a pretty combative and streetwise bunch yesterday but we more than matched them.

Robinson has done a good job so far but its still early doors. He kept us in the Premiership with players he inherited and didn't fancy. Over the summer he's had a much needed clear out and brought in his own players. He can make selection/tactic mistakes like yesterday but unlike many other managers he's quick to change things if they don't work. Football tactics are very complicated, lets not forget. Don't be too quick to judge Rose, Dunne and Tanner. Tanner probably hasn't been playing in his best position; Rose does a lot of unglamorous spade work. I like Dunne but we simply can't judge him on yesterday's performance as he plainly wasn't well and shouldn't have started - although he's not as flamboyant as Hammell, he's a better defender. In general I like the same attributes in a team that Robbo does; big, physical (but not dirty), athletic and quick. We've missed these qualities for years now and its good to see a manager bring those qualities back. Early days but so far so good.

A good win today and that'll give us all a boost. It was very much a game of two halves. It was nip and tuck in the first 45 and both sides could have scored although we had the bulk of the chances. Robbo perhaps put the wrong team out. The midfield was strong and combative but lacking in creativity and that showed. In short it was the wrong combination. Dunne clearly wasn't well and shouldn't have started, but robbo held his hands up to that. Still it shows that Dunne has commitment. The team seemed lop sided with Frear being badly missed. Moult too was playing out of position; on the wing or behind his midfielders. I felt a bit sorry for Cadden as he was our only real outball and boy did Killie know it. Our play was characterised by numerous stray passes. To his credit, Robbo recognised our weaknesses and made cruciaI game changing substitutions with the appearance of Hammell, and Bigi. That gave us more creativity and ultimately our 2 goals. We played some decent football spurred on by an excellent Campbell who fought terrier like for 90 minutes. Bowman played well and took his goal well; Hartley looked the part and was plainly organising the defence. He may yet prove to be a crucial signing. Carson was impressive in goals; and Kipper had another great game. I thought he was unlucky to be yellow carded for what looked like a good tackle to me. We ran out good winners but did worryingly sat back a bit in the latter staqes. A good performance but there are lessons to be learned. We were a bit exposed down the wings at times and we need to get the balance between caution and creativity right in the middle of the park. Still we look a far better team than we were last season and thinmgs are definitely looking up. There is more fight and determination in the team now and its showing. Stephen Robinson is proving to be a good manager.

Allan Campbell for me.

We'll see at 3pm. We've all heard these rumours before.

I wonder if Hartley will be match fit enough to start? If he isn't I assume that Plummer will step in at left back with Dunne moving into the centre. This game will be a lot tougher than many might think, but we should be cautiously optimistic.

We have to concentrate on the here and now. We have three and a half months; just three and a half months to maximise the double your money deal. For the time being lets park the arguments of the past however valid they may be; we can always resurrect them later.

No doubt the club has done its sums on this. However if the queue for the cash turnstiles stretches too far towards Taggarts ie more than about 4 metres then its going to go across the entrance to the Knowetop School car park.

Between now and say the end of November we really need to push the double your money campaign. Adverts & features in the Motherwell Tinmes and Wishaw Press; posters around the ground, tannoy announcements; Society presence in all home parts of the ground; donation collection points and so on. We have a short window to do this. I realise of course that much will depend on getting volunteers involved, if only for a few hours, and thats notoriously difficult. As far as attracting new members is concerned, the current Soicety membership stands at about 54% of total season ticket holders (I know that quite a few members don't have season tickets). So there's still at least 2,000 fans to sign up. Of that total, some cannot afford a monthly membership instalment; there is a considerable number of fans who are simply against the very principle of the Society or remain very suspicious of it or its leaders' motives; and there are those who don't consider it value for money. So there is scope to increase the membership but we will never reach anything like 80% let alone 100% membership.

£250 per week was a very low salary indeed around 2004 even in general let alone footballing terms. Probably on a par with what lower First Division, as was, teams were paying at the time. I suspect that the figure was a basic minus bonuses.

Les's "double your money" offer will be deducted from the amount he is owed. In other words he is willing to accept less.

Our old friend Bobby Madden is the referee for Saturday. Say no more.

I don't think its quite that bad. Yes, we're still overdrawn but are paying our debt off and the outstanding sum is reducing considerably. Plans are in place to repay the remainder of the outstanding sums.

My calculation is very rough and based on assumptions I know but I reckon we can now knock off about £430k from Les' debt after the transfer window and some £215k from John Boyle's debt. On top of that say we, the fans, raise £130k this year through donations etc and Les doubles that I think our outstanding debt would be something along the lines of: Les: £870k John Boyle £115k Thats not bad progress with the prospect of more transfer income to come. I wonder how the split will work after JB has been paid off? Some good fund raising ideas coming up and we really do need to maximise this in the next couple of months or so to take full advantage of Les' double your money offer.

An article on how Raith Rovers lost money on their Irn Bru Cup game aginst Brora Rangers. Although its not about us it perhaps explains why we, and other clubs, haven't made season tickets valid at cup games. http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/football/raith-rovers/raith-lost-money-by-staging-irn-bru-cup-tie-1-4548764

Just watched the TV highlights and our young lads gave Crusaders a run for their money. We played some decent fooball but seem to lack a cutting edge, given the chances we missed. Defensively we looked a bit shaky but our keeper did have a nightmare. Maybe a spell on loan at Clyde will help him.

Very true but he also signed quite a few duds. For every good un he brought to Fir Park he brought a flop. To be fair, most managers are the same.