Kmcalpin

I'd guess that Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts and Dundee United bring larger crowds (no surprise there then). We certainly take bigger crowds with us than Hamilton, Ross County, Inverness, St Johnstone, Killie and Partick. Probably the same as Dundee. So, you're probably right in that we punch slightly above our weight. You have to take gate prices and travelling costs, as well as geography into account. Killie's away support (and indeed home support) has plummeted in recent years. For their size Dundee united have a relatively poor away support.

Interesting that most folk seem in favour of leaving Pearson out. Maybe he's been carrying an injury but he has been asked to play deeper than he likes. Saints have a fairly combative midfield so we'll see the respective line ups. Brian Easton has been ruled out (apparently) so we'll see if that affects Mark McGhee's thoughts

Thats Partick's home game against Aberdeen called off - the 4th this season. Again still no media witch hunt or SPFL investigation threatened.

Seconded. I've known him for many years and he's Motherwell through and through. Whats more important though is his enthusiasm for the job, his willingness to put in long hours and his professionalism.

Spot on Shaka. In the past 2/3 years our midfield has been lightweight and all too often brushed aside easily by other teams. In the late stages of games its disappeared altogether. Opponents have been given time and space on the edge of our box as we retreated deep into the danger zone. That has cost us a good few goals. Now part of that is down to tactics I admit. Keith Lasley is by no means responsible for all of that but by the same token, as captain and a crucial part of the central midfield we can't say that it was nothing to do with him. As you say we have missed him when he wasn't available but that does reflect our lack of alternative choices. Stuart McCall and Ian Baraclough did neglect the central midfield and now Mark McGhee is having to rectify that and quickly. Whether Morgaro Gomis is the solution I have my doubts but his loan signing has flagged up McGhee's thoughts on our engine room.

I stand corrected, you are quite right - he is not 37 until September. However my points still stand. I beg to differ about his "superman" image. Someone, I have no idea who, coined the phrase "houswewives favourite" and I think thats indicative of his status within much of our support.

If Gomis was to be left out of the starting line up would Pearo be best suited to a defensive role? We don't want to fall into the Craig Brown school of thought where we field our 11 best players irrespective of their positions.

Anderson is a smoking timebomb, always liable to blow up and do something erratic discipline wise.

Unconfirmed rumour on FPC that diminutive playmaker Stefan Scougall is heading our way.

Sorry Tony I don't agree. Keith Lasley is now 37, going on 38. Irrespective of how good he has been he is simply not as fit as he was say 8 years ago. Granted he is very fit for his age. He has never been fast but that is quite different from stamina. He's never ever been a box to box player in the mould of Phil O'Donnell, Stephen Pearson and now Chris Cadden - thats no slight on him he's just a different type of player. I contend that he starts to run out of steam at around the 75 minute mark - again no slight on him but a perfectly natural reflection of his age. In terms of fitness ie stamina I'd place him as one of the less fit members of the squad. I wouldn't have posted these comments but I just don't get the "superman" image many fans, obviously including yourself, have of him. As at today he's a loyal servant to the club, a model professional and a decent player past his prime but thats it.

I assume so, or less likely Aberdeen. Quote from Stephen Thompson in the Dundee Courier.

We won't field the same team on Saturday. St Johnstone will pose different challenges than Dundee United, who incidentally have the 3rd highest salary budget in the Premiership.

No, they weren't were they? Skippy's second was hit from 30/35 yards out - a good strike. Just watched the highlights. A good performance and great result but we shouldn't get carried away. The defence still looked vulnerable, central defenders excepted - United were gifted plenty of space on the flanks and on the edge of our box but fortunately weren't good enough to exploit it. That hasn't always been happening as teams like ICT, Ross County and Kilmarnock proved. Irrespective of the formation or personnel we have to start making teams work far harder for their opportunities.

We're more than due a result in Perth and Saturday is as good a time as any to grab a point or three. We have to build on tonight's important win and really pull away from 11th spot. The win will have done our confidence no harm at all.

Great result tonight so credit to Mark McGhee and the players. That will put the wind up some of our rivals. An odd looking formation but it worked.

It'll be a gey slow central midfield with Lasley and McFadden in it. Probably best to order the former to stay in our half and the latter to stay in the opposition half. I just hope the players understand the formation!

Yes but that was at wide left - he hasn't yet played in the middle. Again the midfield's role will be crucial tonight in supporting the striker(s) and shielding the defence. Both full backs need to be on their game as well.

I suspect win bonuses will feature fairly highly on many players' list of reasons for wanting to win. There are exceptions of course but for how many of us is salary not high up the motivational pecking order?

Absolutely Haggis. The root cause of many, but not all, of our current problems.

Thats very true. Maybe lack of managerial continuity has led to them being extensions or another chance to prove themselves. The close season after we finished 2nd was the time to refresh the squad and we didn't do it. For years now the midfield and in particular the central midfield has needed major surgery but that never happened. Despite losing barrowloads of goals the defence was never cleared out. These failings are not peculiar to Mark McGhee who has only been here a few months.

The are numerous reasons for our present predicament, but for me the seeds of it were sown under previous managers. Some players, "stalwarts" like Hammell and Lasley should not have been awarded new contracts by Stuart McCall. When they re-signed their best days were clearly past them and the manager should have looked forward a further 2 years to anticipate how they would be performing in their mid 30s. Other players like Josh Law and Stephen McManus should not have been signed or awarded extended deals. Now thats 75% of our defence and 25% of our midfield. When Mark McGhee returned he had very little scope to bring in his own players. Since MMcG returned something clearly has gone wrong whether its low confidence, dressing room unrest, wrong tactics or whatever. I'm tempted to think that MMcG is doing a Jim Gannon and asking players to do things to which they are not suited or capable of carrying out. He denies this. Today's game at our level, like it or not, requires athletic fit players charging around the pitch in an organised fashion and positional awareness. The lack of these qualities is costing us big time. Our losses have been characterised by players not tracking attackers, not harrying and closing opponents down, lack of off the ball movement and lack of confidence. Its pitiful to watch Skippy jostling with huge defenders twice his size for balls played short or in the air with no colleague in sight to support him. Surely all these qualities are basics? Most of us are not asking for skillful or exciting football simply the boring essentials right now and the players just don't seem capable of delivering them.

I'm sorry but that midfield would get steamrollered. Neither McFadden nor Lasley have any pace. That said our options are limited. I think we have to go with Johnson, Gomis, Lasley and Cadden - even that formation will struggle.

For which position? Right back, left back or centre back?

I wouldn't go quite so far as to say that he is one of the main reasons for our poor form, no single player is, but you have a point. He is not a Premiership level player end of. In fairness to him though the likes of Hammell, Lasley and McManus are also playing very poorly. Pearson is going through a bad spell in no small part because of the role he's being asked to play. As far as Luke Watt is concerned, there must be a reason why he's not being given a chance.

I'd add to that the shocking service he is receiving. He's a player who likes to run at a defence so give him decent balls in front of him that he can run onto. Countless times yesterday he was given the ball while being tightly marked by two defenders. Irritatingly he was also given far too many passes a yard or so behind him. If we can sort that out he'll shine.