MelvinBragg

I don't particularly think Biereth is as good as some make out but it does feel like the squad is getting thinner and thinner. If he leaves it will mean that we're two strikers down, a right wing back short and a midfielder down with Slattery's injury. If Andy Halliday is the type of signing we're looking at, Livingston will suddenly fancy their chances of staying up...

Prefer him to Halliday...

I take your point on the availability of players and my feelings on Halliday might be slightly different had he made ten appearances of twenty minutes or so this season. He's made six. All sub appearances. And two of those, he came on in the 89th minute. I'm not asking us to sign other teams' first team regulars. I'm asking us to sign someone who has played some football in the last six months. It's the same reason I was against signing Matt Penney. But talking to people about Halliday, I seem to be in the minority. He'll get my backing if he signs but frankly I'd rather he didn't...

Nope, not having that as an excuse. There must be a suitable midfielder within our budget who has played more than 60 minutes this season....

For those saying Andy Halliday could be a good addition... He's played less than an hour total all season. How match fit is he going to be? If we're only going to sign one midfielder this January, it'd be great if it could be someone who you think you're going to get 90 minutes out of more often than not. If your three first picks are Spittal, Zdravkovski and Paton, the back up is a guy who wasn't getting a game for Kidderminster and a 17 year old coming back from a long injury. Any of the first three get injured for a period, you need a guy who will be able to play evey week.. Halliday? No thanks...

Van Veen had a career best season last season, particularly since February when the team was set up to suit him. I'd have been astounded if he had anything like the same season this season and frankly I think getting a fee for him at his age was good business. We don't want this to become another Moult where every transfer window we have fans hankering for a player who is past his best... Even if we had the money for his wages, I wouldn't be spending it on him...

Indeed. If it's true that Slattery is injured for a while, our fit midfield options are then Spittal, Paton, Zdravkovski and Maguire. Not ideal..

That may be true but there aren't an abundance of better options in our squad. You can argue that it says something about our squad, but it is true...

Moult injured, you say? Surely not..?

When I heard us linked with James Cameron, I assumed it was to direct our next social media movie...

Frankly I'd rather we signed two players who will make a difference than three or four punts (not a spelling error, by the way). With Miller still to come back, don't know if I'd prioritise midfield. A centre back to keep Casey out of my sight? Maybe but a pacy right wing back would be my priority...

No thanks...

As a first choice? Probably. But as backup centre back alongside (you'd hope) a centre back from the academy on the bench? We could do worse. How good do I expect the fourth choice centre back at Motherwell to be? Probably about Mugabi's level. Problem is that, other than McGinn, our other defenders are no better than him...

I'd argue that McGinn is better but Mugabi is no worse than Casey or Blaney. Argument could be made that none are good enough. Thing in Mugabi's favour, in my opinion, is that I get the impression that he'd be happy to be first back up central defender. And I think he's probably good enough for that...

Unlikely. Every Celtic fan I know reckons they're looking to sell him in January...

If you'd told me that we'd scored 3 at home to Ross County 2 at home to Aberdeen 2 away at St Johnstone 1 at home to Hearts I would expect or certainly hopeto get six to eight points out of twelve. We got two. Is it the defence or the lack of protection that the midfield is offering. Either way, goalscoring isn't the main problem* *I say that knowing that today we looked like we could play all day and not score. But for me, conceding cheap goals is more of an issue...

They're probably saying the same about us...

Drop Casey and bring in Mugabi. If defending crosses is your concern...

Problem is we only have two midfielders other than the three that started tonight and one of those needs an operation and the other doesn't seem to be rated by the manager only two months after signing him...

Kettlewell certainly thinks so...

I've been saying as much for weeks. And getting shouted down...

No, he's a character. Big Dan the Man. A leader... On this season's form, Mugabi should feel hard done by. Casey should have been dropped before him...

I reckon that it might be 433 with Butcher in midfield. Nothing else makes much sense. Can't see any of Bair, Wilkinson or Biereth playing in midfield. And playing 343 with a midfield two of Spittal and Paton would be madness...

Morton vs Dunfermline.. Joe Chalmers vs Robbie Crawford. A midfield battle for the ages...

While I agree on Casey, I'm not having this. Shaw had a preseason at Barnsley and had one start and three sub appearances there before coming here. I'm assuming he's featured in these bounce games we use to injure players. Not up to speed is not an excuse I'd let him have...