MelvinBragg

Looking at our bench, I can see the logic in their tactics...

Suspended apparently...

Manager making it very clear that Nick Daws had been tracking him. Interesting..

Twelve league goals isn't a bad return, I grant you. But four were against us and generally everyone agrees we were shite last season... I don't think anyone is quibbling that he's better than what we have. But all summer I've read people on here saying we should go for him "take the money for Stamatelopolous and go and get Ronan Hale". People are talking as if he’s the only striker out there.. I don't believe he's worth what County will want for him...

I don't disagree about the playoffs. In my opinion, any of our managers with a background in Scottish football would have gone into those games with the 'wee team' mentality. Baraclough seemed to have the 'we're a Premier League side, they're a Championship side' mentality. Even more impressive, he got that mentality temporarily into players that had shrunk against the Old Firm before...

Oh, I know his numbers are impressive. But he's never stood out when I've watched his teams play. But then for years, any time I watched Spurs play, Harry Kane was shite. His numbers suggest that wasn't always the case...

Glad it's not just me. Never been overly impressed by him...

I suspect wages would be an issue...

McLean won a trophy and established us as a Premier League side so he's probably the best (certainly most important) in my lifetime. I haven't seen anyone mention him yet, but Craig Brown did a pretty good job. Obviously as he got poached.. Personal favourites were Butcher and McCall. Both came with no previous connection to the club but really seemed to develop a real affection for us. They "got it" for want of a better phrase... Others gave the impression they thought they were doing us a favour by simply lowering themselves to be here (Black and McGhee obviously).. Worst? Probably Malpas or Kampman. I'll forever excuse Baraclough out of this conversation because of the playoffs...

Kind of the point I (and wunderwell) was making. We need someone more first team ready but also a replacement for Sule in terms of someone as a third striker, another option. Going with only two strikers in the squad is risky but don't see us having three 'proven' strikers in the squad...

As a raw prospect to gamble on, he's probably a suitable replacement for Sule if he’s going to be out for a while. But even before Sule was injured, I felt we needed competition for Stamatelopolous/cover in case he got injured. I still figure we'll be looking for someone to fill that role. The plan B at the moment is move Maswanhise inside and play Said on the wing. I have to figure Jens will be looking for a better Plan B...

Depending on how long Sule is going to be out, I could see us going for two strikers. With him and Stamatelopolous, we looked thin up top and were probably looking for another. So I reckon, maybe two strikers. Also possibly a midfielder and a centre half...

When he first arrived we still had George Burley. Remember Nijholt wearing the number five quite a bit. Back when shirt numbers meant something...

Nijholt was best at centre back. Played anywhere across the back four but best as a central defender...

The idea that Miller will play for us again is in the realms of fairy tale...

I'm assuming you also believe in the tooth fairy...

Can see your thinking there regards numbers. Just in terms of centre backs, if we move Balmer on (as we're rumoured to be trying to, notable we didn't bring him on and shunt O'Donnell to RB today when Koutroumbis went off), then we'll have moved on three (Casey, Blaney and Balmer) and brought none in. Even allowing for the fact we've gone from playing three centre backs to two, that doesn't sound viable. In terms of goalkeepers, most clubs like to have at least three available. Connolly is away til January at the very least so I reckon you might see something happening there...

One striker, one midfielder, one defender? Not much depth behind the three of Fadinger, Watt and Slattery...

As Allymax states, trying to come up with a definitive 'Best 11' is a nigh on impossible task. If I were to come up with an eleven of my personal favourites it'd look something like.. 433 Randolph Burley Nijholt Aldred McKinnon Russell Vslakari O'Donnell Humphrey Coyne McFadden Nowhere near the best eleven (although decent, I reckon) but my own personal favourites in each position...

This is the thing with this kind of list. Is is Best or Favourite? Is Boyd better than McKinnon and Hammell? Possibly (although I think there's a case to be made McKinnon was better) but Boyd's post Motherwell dismissive attitude towards us probably encourages people to pick others ahead of him... Krivokapic and Martin are two of the best defenders we've had in my time watching Motherwell but I have more a fondness for Nijholt and Aldred. It's an impossible task to be even handed about it...

When was the last time we signed a proven striker?

In terms of injuries, questions are being asked of training methods and the signing of players with patchy injury records. A lot of these injuries are occuring in training, what are the playing surfaces like at Dalziel Park? Just asking the question if it seems to be happening over several managers with (I'm assuming) slightly different training regimes and slightly different transfer policies...

I can see your point here. I reckon it's possible we'll be better away from home than at Fir Park this season. Can't see the fans of the likes of St Mirren and Kilmarnock tolerating their team sitting in against Motherwell at home, fans of the city clubs even less so...

Two points dropped on the opening day isn't ideal... Seriously though, it was a great performance, only problem being our finishing or final ball on occasions. Often before when we've had good performances against the Old Firm, it's been all agression, blood and snotters that did it. And while we weren't afraid to get stuck in yesterday, it was the football we played when we had possession that really impressed me. Full backs have rightly received a lot of praise (Koutroumbis turning into a solid right back wasn't one I saw coming when he couldn't get a look in last season) but I'm really liking the midfield three. Watt and Fadinger look like great signings. Fair play to Fadinger, it can't have been easy being convinced by one manager to join and then find someone totally different in charge. Another thing I was pleased by was the patience shown by the fans. There were very few calls to "just get it in the box" even chasing the equaliser late on... As an enjoyable a day at Fir Park as you can have with that lot in town...

He wasn't good enough but I'm waiting to see more of Longelo before I start taking the piss out of Thompson.. We haven't had a good permanent left back since Hammell. Given he retired in 2018, it's a fair drought...