Kmcalpin

Visiting directors also receive half time hospitality.

A few reasonable and well argued defences of Mark McGhee's selection and tactics this morning. However the bottom line is it didn't work. I would hope a manager, after a defeat and maybe even after a win, would always admit he could done things better. As O'Neil wrote maybe his options were a bit limited and thats as may be. However Mark McGhee must know as most of us do, that when we sit back and try to defend we end up losing goals. That was always going to be the case on Saturday no matter how poor Rangers are (they are second in the league). He did have options - Ross MacLean could have selected; Ryan Bowman could have been used to partner Moult; Ainsworth could have been deployed on the left or right; Allan Campbell could have been used at some point to shore up a tiring and ineffective midfield. To me if a player isn't fit (apart from lack of stamina) then he shouldn't be on the bench. Now I'm not saying all or any of these would have worked, but they were options. If I was one of our players turning up for training yesterday, I might expect a bollocking or gentle ticking off (depending on who I was) but I would also expect my boss to say that he could have done things better and will work on it for Saturday coming. I just hope our players haven't heard Mark McGhee's interview - that would certainly demotivate some of them and wind up others in the wrong way.

Well hopefully, whoever is elected is one of those who could be contacted. Not sure about the post match boardroom hospitality debate but it is tradition for the home directors to entertain the away directors after a game. If this isn't done or the away party refuse to attend it usually hits the headlines.

Not sure what you're implying. Are you saying theres more to come or alternatively theres various versions of the story/rumour?

Rumours on the FPC site that MacDonald didn't train last week after taking umbrage at the club for blocking a move back to Australia. Just a rumour though.

I agree that that the Rangers player was given the time and space he wanted to fire over the cross but that was down to us defending too deeply and McHugh failing to close him down or hassle him in any way.

Any public news yet? Surely its been possible to contact all of the candidates by now?

Our season is far from over and we have plenty to play for but a plea to Mark McGhee - please don't play lads who are not fit and please set us up to compete and actually win the game.

I don't doubt that you're right Lobey, but who was meant to be our outball then? That makes Mark McGhee's team selection even more ludicrous.

I assume, given pre match comments, that he simply wasn't selected.

Pretty much my thoughts. It was not a game to play lads who were not fit (Cadden & MacDonald). I'd have gone 4-4-2 with Bowman or Ainsworth up front with Moult and MacLean wide right. Not perfect I admit. Also a case for playing Campbell along with McHugh with Clay/Lasley dropping out. The latter two seemed to be particularly out of their depth. So much for comments that after the break we had a fully fit squad! That really gets my goat. Two players definitely out and two not fit. At the end of the day we're out of the cup anyway (no surprise) with 2 players who may have jeopardised their recovery before a crucial league game. Not seen the goals yet but I'll be surprised if McManus alone is 100% culpable.

Spot on Allan. I don't go along along with the line that Rangers are rubbish. They're 18 points better off than us in the league and that tells its own story. Their players are quicker, better, fitter and more motivated than ours are...simples. Looking at our current squad, they do lack character and bottle and thats a huge disadvantage going into such a game as todays. I haven't seen any of the game yet but I'm fairly sure our midfield would have let us down. Players lacking pace, aggression and belief and perhaps being not being 100% fit in some cases. Irrespective of what Mark McGhee said to his players in the lead up to the game, his tactics said it all and the players are no mugs and would have picked up on that. You can't expect them to be up for a fight if the manager shows little belief in them. We were set up to stop Rangers and it just didn't work. In his time with us Mark McGhee's cup record is appalling and today was never going to change that. As we've said ad nauseum on these boards, if you defend deeply you'll always lose goals. Of more concern to me are Mark McGhee's post match comments...........how on earth is he going to motivate the players for next week in what is a far more important game for me? They are reminiscent of Maurice Malpas's doom laden and depressing post match interviews or Private Fraser's pessimistic outlook on life. Hopefully Mark McGhee will take Kilmarnock and Dundee's results to heart.....things could be worse. At least we have the comfort of a good pay day.

To be fair quite a few of our players could have played regularly during the break and it wouldn't make any difference to their lack of pace. Of our starting 11 only Cadden has any real pace.

Absolutely. Who is going to link up with Moulty? Lose the first goal and thats the plan out of the window.

Just as I feared a very cautious, defensive line up. Maybe only 2 or 3 offensive players at the most. I wouldn't be surprised if Moult hardly sees the ball or has to feed off long high balls. If Rangers can snub out Cadden thats our only viable attacking option nullified. Come on Mark its a cup tie!

Agree with most of that but not your Ainsworth comment - he's too inconsistent for that. Tom Wright can take ordinary players with a bit of attitude and mould them into a decent side. More a reflection of his managerial skills than his players' talent.

Either an injury or possibly proposing to play a 4-5-1 formation or a variation thereof?

Interestingly, Blyth and Kennedy are still out injured. Still the break will have helped a few of the more minor knocks and bruises. We need to give it our best shot and not adopt an overly cautious approach.

O'Halloran is a decent player but I'm not sure where he'd fit in. I can't see us securing his loan though.

Very good post O'Neil and I agree with it 100%. Daver also makes very pertinent points about the accommodation of away fans and costs. For me nothing less than 10,000 would be acceptable. Maybe something in the range 10,500-12,000. Its not just a numbers game though. The stadium would have to be capable of accommodating large away supports of the order of 5,000 fans as Daver says and that would need to be planned in. I don't like some of the characterless modern stadia but cost is a huge issue. Certainly I'd like to see corners filled in. I seem to recall build costs were about £1,000 per seat several years ago. We'd all like to see a top end stadium but costs would be very high indeed and the money would need to come from somewhere.

This match and result ranks as one of the best I've ever seen from a Well side. We defied all the odds to get the win.

No manager has a perfect transfer record. Looking back even Tommy MacLean signed many absolute howlers. The clubs that you mention with the possible exception of St Johnstone, and indeed many Premiership clubs sign many players of which only some make it. Ross County in fact have just released Erik Cikos. Kilmarnock have been like a revolving door this season. I think our recent transfer record stands comparison with most of our rivals.

Aalesund?

Yes. From memory its zoned for green space / recreational uses in the Local Plan. Normally speaking any planning application that contradicts that would be turned down. However, this could be overturned by the Council's Planning Committee when a planning application was submitted if there were good reasons for doing so. * Land for housing is needed * What other recreational purpose could Fir Park serve? * Approval would unlock further development in Ravenscraig * Approval would help a prominent local organisation and employer * Last but not least, rejection would not go down well with many local voters. I'll be very surprised if discussions haven't already taken place with the Planners, albeit years ago. At the very worst a representation for rezoning could be made to the Council when the Local Development Plan was being reviewed. Edit: by coincidence, a new Proposed Plan (a draft) will be out for consultation at the end of this month. The perfect time to submit representations on many planning issues!!

Just what I was thinking. He doesn't fit the bill of being a left sided player.