MelvinBragg

I'm a housewife. Number 14 for ne..

Regards the support today, my own personal highlight was the "Keith" chant after the third goal. Spontaneous support for a guy who gives 100% every game..

Personally I'm waiting for the "Should Higdon get back into the team?" thread...

I love Keith Lasley. That is all...

That's the most I've enjoyed a game in a while. Sending off probably made the game. Meant everyone had to roll the sleeves up. Good substitutions, good decisions by players when we had the ball and real display of character from everyone in claret and amber. Referee was shocking but I think the sense of everything going against us seemed to fire up both supporters and the players. I said in the pub before the game that I wanted to be entertained, simply to enjoy the game and for it to be memorable. It ticked all the boxes. In short, one of those nights that makes it all worthwhile. Just magic...

Ojamma on for Daley...

I think I may have posted previously in Other Football on Riordan, certainly know I've voiced my opinion in the pub and at Fir Park. In short, he's poison. LIke a cancer at any cliub he's at. He's been the main reason so many Hibs managers have been sacked, any manager wanting to sign him would have to be off their head. So you could say that's a "No" from me..

Schoolboy defending...

Jelavic nowhere to be seen today.. EDIT Just beaten to it by Ricky..

How good? The best centre forward we've had in the last 25 years. By. A. Country. Mile. I remember watchimg him score a hattrick down at Rugby Park that was breathtaking..

Nijholt was a centre back who filled in at full back when required. For me, I rate McKinnon ahead of Hammell...

I'd imagine Danny McGrain and Sandy Jardine featured. I can't remember others but I do recall Scotland being so well off for right backs that Danny McGrain played left back. I might be wrong on that one though...

..and St Johnstone. As have we to be fair..

I'll freely admit I was loudly abusing McCall today (not the players) because I believe he got it wrong today. Wrong team selection, wrong substitutions (in terms of who was taken off) and the fact that a brilliant individual goal (from a guy who should have started) got us the three points doesn't change that opinion. Generally (but not always) I leave the players alone in terms of abuse. Because generally they give 100% of their ability. If I think the manager has picked the wrong players, it's not the players' fault. But before slating anyone who shouts abuse at the football as "lesser supporters", bear in mind that to be motivated enough to moan, you have to care. A lot of abuse is born of frustration. These people do care about the team. Even if they exoress it differently than you choose to..

Randolph Hately Craigan Page Hammell Humphrey Law Lasley Daley Higdon McHugh would be my preference, though I could live with Law playing at left midfield and Forbes in at centre midfield.

As I see it we have two options. Daley Lasley Law Humphrey or Law Forbes Lasley Humphrey I'd rather go with either of those two combinations than with Jennings in his current form...

I'd agree with you on Craigan/Clancy. It'd be a coin toss for me as to who to replace with Page but as a partnership, they're not working. But on tonight's showing, Humphrey would be in my team well ahead of Jamie Murphy. It's all very well saying he was playing left midfield but with Law drifting out there, there was plenty of scope for Murphy to move inside closer to Higdon. But he rarely did..

Sadly Jennings form is honking at the moment. A spot on the bench might be what he needs right now, til he shifts some weight and gets his head right. Because right now he looks slow and distracted...

I was convinced McHugh was onside but to be honest we were the architects of our own downfall again tonight. Three minutes to go and we give away yet another cheap goal. The game was stretched for a lot of the second half, ball spent so little time in the midfield it was unbelievable. First, the negatives. Murphy and Jennings both need benched. I'd be tempted to start with Daley and Humphrey on the wings on Saturday with Law and Lasley in the middle (assuming Humphrey is fit). At centre back, I reckon Clancy and Craigan individually are decent but clearly are a bombscare as a partnership. Time for Page to be given a shot in place of one of them? Positives? Higdon should surely have shut some people up tonight. Immense performance. And we looked pretty dangerous when McHugh partnered him. Having been given half an hour rather than his usual 10 minutes, I think McHugh did himself no harm at all tonight. I think the fact that the introduction of McHugh for Jennings also worked because it pushed Law into the middle where he was a lot more involved. And Lasley and Humphrey looked more like the players we know they can be. It amused me (and pleased me, to be honest) that the boo boys usual targets all stuck away their penalties with aplomb. Higdon, McHugh and Forbes hit cracking penalties. Hats off particularly to Forbes who had only had one touch of the ball prior to taking his penalty. Talk about coming to it cold. If Humphrey is not fit for Saturday, I'd play him alongside Lasley and Law in a tight midfield three and give Daley a free role behind Higdon and McHugh,,, But, as much as it was a sickener at the end, it was at least a cracking game of football to watch. Not if you're a lover of good defending though obviously...

If you think Higdon was the worst player on the park on Saturday, then I'm afraid you're looking at the wrong Scouser..

For me, what was noticeable was that when Higdon won headers (and despite his detractors, it happened a fair bit) no Motherwell player was aware/keen/quick enough to get on to the loose ball. The contrast for me was tben when Sandaza won the ball, the St Johnstone players were picking up the second ball. Our "defensive"midfielders were not helping stop this. I suggested at the time subbing Jennings and Lasley for Forbes and Daley and going with Daley Forbes Law Humphrey Someone suggested it was too attacking a midfield. I'd argue that we were getting no protection from our centre midfield anyway. That's simply what caught my eye yesterday. The point Diggle makes about having eleven "untouchables" is one I'm sure we've all noticed. Would it surprise anyone if we saw the same eleven start on Tuesday as started yesterday? It would not surprise me, but it would disappoint me..

I suspect one of the reasons that we've made such a solid start to the season can be boiled down into one word - continuity. As pleasing as it might be to keep Murphy, for me the key thing is the fact we've kept the guys like Hammell, Craigan, Jennings and Lasley that provide the solid base to allow guys like Murphy and Law to perform. Add in Randolph, Hutchinson and Hateley and you can see that our "back seven" were all here last season. Contrast that with Dundee United having to replace their centre midfield and Hibs and Aberdeen trying to find a strong base for their team and and it's safe to say we've been pretty lucky in that respect. Look at Hibs' dressing room, where are the senior figures or leaders (outwith Ian Murray). Likewise at Aberdeen. We are lucky in that we have several guys at our club who are there to help the new guys bed in, who know what Motherwell is all about. The real challenge will come in the next couple of seasons when these guys need to be replaced, some because they move on to bigger and better things (Hutchinson, Randolph), some as age catches up with them (Craigan, Lasley, Hammell). It won't simply be a case of replacing these guys' abilities, it's the fact that they know each others's games in and out. Craigan probably has a fair idea where Hammell and Lasley will be on the park every time he picks up the ball. Jennings and Lasley know what each other is capable of and what they're not capable of. That, for me, makes these guys better than the sum of their abilities. We should enjoy the fact we have a team rather than a collection of individuals. No one out means continuity for us and that's a good thing. Enjoy it while we've got it, because it's a rare thing in the SPL these days..

I said on the way into work this morning that if Clancy and Daley were our last bits of business and if we didn't lose anyone from the squad that I could live with that. So unless something has happened at the death, I'm pretty satisfied with where we're at..

Those umimpressed with the Clancy signing, I have one question. What quality of experienced player do you think is going to come to Motherwell knowing that they'll be on the bench if everyone stays fit? A bit of a reality check is required here. He's coming here as backup. Not to be the saviour of our season...

Are we signing Clancy on loan or will this be a permanent signing?