David

Paton all day long. Miller played well too.

Not a great result, but if we can take 5 or 6 points from our next three this game will be forgotten about.

A shame, as this is the worst Celtic team we've played in a while. And they probably won't be as bad as this next time around. But hey, we played well! Nice passes, solid in defence etc. That's what matters. A point is what we deserved at the least. We could have had all three.

I'd be really surprised if we went with two up top against Celtic. Our midfield would get overrun.

I find it strange that you consider quite a reasonable viewpoint backed up by facts to be a "rant." At no point have I said anything disparaging about the guy on a personal level, so you're talking rubbish on that front. In fact, I've gone to great lengths to point out that he seems like a hardworking player who tries his best. I don't think anything I've said can be viewed as a rant. The very definition of a rant is to speak, write, or shout in a loud, uncontrolled, or angry way, often saying confused or silly things. I don't think that applies here. I just don't rate him. And when the discussion centers around him, I'm going to voice my opinion. I know that doesn't sit well with some people, and that's fine. But I'm not going to stop discussing our team because some forum members don't like my opinion. I suggested Ferrie purely in terms of the whole "project" discussion. I personally find the idea of a 24-year-old who's been in the game across three countries to be a "project" a bit of a farce. If we want a "project," then we need to focus on players who still have potential to be realised, and who are young enough to grow into being good players. And as for your views on judging players on their past, guess what? That's what virtually every single manager at every single club on the planet does. You may not like it, but when a player gets to the age Bair is? The trajectory of their career is somewhat guided by their past. Math isn't my strong point, but that's what? One goal every 11 games or something? Works out at about three goals per season. Which seems about right, doesn't it? At best? That's not good enough, in my opinion. Maybe you think differently. Yeah, and I know that the more I voice my discontent that someone of his ability is leading the line for Motherwell, the more people like you will dig in your heels and refuse to be critical of him. That's how it works, and that's fine. I'm just looking forward to us getting a striker fit and on the park who knows how to actually score goals. Because the truth is, we've seen teams relegated before who have done "okay" and looked decent but just couldn't score.

I mean if he goes with two up top. I'd rather still go for just one and swap Bair out for someone who offers more of a threat.

For me, it has to be Wilkinson and Shaw. Mika is an unknown quantity, and if he comes back, then I'll be interested in seeing how he does. Obika and Bair I don't see being at the club next season, if I'm being honest.

He's certainly fitter, but that's going to come with game time. That's a no-brainer. And St Johnstone fans never said he was "total shite." He's clearly an athletic lad who isn't workshy. I heard it said that he does a lot of running, can't be faulted for his effort, and will absolutely try his best. It's just that his best isn't good enough. He's a striker who doesn't score goals. That's the one factor we cannot get away from. There are two factors that worry me about this guy: Fans are talking about him as if he's 18 years old. He's not. He's 24 years old. He's not a "project" or any of the other nonsense we've heard talked about him. When a player hits his mid-20s in today's game, what you have is pretty much what you're going to get. And with Bair, that's nine career goals in just shy of 100 games. The most he's ever scored in one season is four, and that was in the Norweigan 2nd tier. And second, because he came in with such a poor reputation, it seems the bar has been set extremely low for him in our fan's eyes. Stuff like "he managed to make a few decent passes," "His knockdowns are decent" and so on. I'm sorry, but when you play professional football for a living, that kind of thing should be the very least you're delivering. And come on, let's not even try to draw a comparison between a guy with the goalscoring record mentioned above and someone who, by the age Bair is now had almost 50 career goals to his name and was playing in League One down south. Granted, Van Veen wasn't always the ultimate goal machine at Motherwell that he was last season, but he hit double figures in both his seasons here. I'll say it again. Theo Bair may be a very nice lad, and he may try really hard and put in a lot of effort. But he's not a striker. Certainly not at the level we play at, anyway.

That's true. For Shaw, though, that point came when he was 19 years old and playing for Hibs in the Scottish Premiership. Which is about normal for players of a halfway decent quality.

The main difference, for me anyway, is that Shaw has shown in the past he at least knows how to score goals at this level.

A narrow defeat where we play quite well is almost inevitable. We just don't have someone who can score goals.

If they ever end up being fit enough.

I can only speak on a personal level, but I always had confidence in Van Veen eventually hitting some sort of form. He had a track record of scoring goals and was never really one for being known as injury-prone. Of our current lot, I only really have the same confidence in Wilkinson, as he's someone who's shown what he can do in the past and isn't really considered an injury-prone type of player, is he? Obika and Bair are both write-offs, in my opinion. Obika because he's seemingly injury-prone, and Bair for reasons I've gone into previously.

A good selection of candidates. I'll need to sit down this evening and get a proper look at it.

Good to see him get some goals and not fall flat this season.

Fairly decent. I'm thinking he's impressing people because the bar was set so low for him to begin with. I guess we'll see how he does, as we look like we have no other options at the moment. Shaw looked a much bigger threat when he came on, which is what I think we want from a striker. Someone who looks like they could score a goal. Hopefully he gets up to speed and can start soon.

Paton for me. Really has come onto a game this season.

He hasn't really had a chance though, has he? And let's be honest, if we have strikers on our books who have less potential than Theo Bair? They shouldn't be at a club in the Scottish Premiership.

Yeah, no disagreement there. I'd just rather we gave someone like Ferrie that chance in the team rather than someone like Bair. Still, we'll see how it goes I guess.

Is he, though? It was widely acknowledged, even by fans of the teams he played for, that he definitely isn't lacking in effort, and he does run around a lot and puts in a shift. Which is fine. But he's not going to score goals at this level. He's not good enough. And a striker needs to score goals. It doesn't need to be a lot, but it needs to be at least some. As we saw today, we can't rely on Spittal and Slattery to score regularly for us. They will chip in, but unless we're scoring goals, we're not going to win games. We need Shaw to step up or one of our injured guys to get on a run of staying fit and scoring. Because Bair isn't the answer.

You've been warned plenty. Your comments will be approved until you've shown you can behave yourself.

Pipe down, you. He runs about a lot and tries hard. That's what really matters 😂

100%. Not everyone is going to agree with others, no matter who they are. I'm glad you haven't seen any of the replies as abuse, because I don't think we really have members here who overstep the line all that often.

Calm down. I'd wager that if you go onto any football forum up and down the land and proceed to throw compliments at a team many fans see as a rival, you'll be met with a certain level of disagreement. To term it "abuse" is stretching it a bit. If anyone had overstepped the mark it would have been addressed. They haven't though, so MJC will just need to accept that a fair portion of the members on this forum aren't keen on Hearts, their fans or their songs.

That could mean that we need one of our strikers to do the business. Well, one that isn't injured.