MelvinBragg

Must confess I didn't get the same optimism everyone else had after the league cup games. Couple of the new players were so bad tonight that comparisons with Richard Offiong were being made. Rather than bring in yet another winger (with the current quality of our wingers, any good winger we bring in will simply get doubled up on), I reckon a switch back to 352 while retaining a passer in midfield whether that be Semple or Polworth might be an idea...

The monotonous regularity with which our wingers lose possession, no wonder our full backs are reluctant to overlap...

I stated earlier today that I thought we lacked a cutting edge. I was wrong, we lack a whole lot more than that. People can rip the pish about 'earning the right to play football' and 'doing the free stuff' but the fact is that we've gone from a team that didn't give opponents a minute's peace to the easiest team in the world to play against. A Naismith-less Hearts passed their way around us tonight. Let that sink in.. I know this will go down like a lead balloon here but really need to consider switching to 352. None of the wingers are making any impact, strikers are isolated. Ditch the wingers and hope that two of the strikers hit it off. If nothing else it'll make us less open. Next Saturday I'd be going with Carson Maguire Gallagher Dunne Tait Semple Donnelly Campbell Carroll Scott Long Felt sorry for Scott tonight. Had nothing to work with first half and was hooked at half time. Cole looked clumsy but at least his physicality caused them some problems. Long benefited from this. Anyone who thinks there's even a remote chance of top six needs their head read...

Getting what we deserve. A pumping in the offing if Hearts fancy it..

Got all of our team with the exception of Jim Paterson. Think because it listed him as 'midfielder who also played for Dundee United' and his best days for us were at full back but I just completely drew a blank...

Only saying what I see. Would be delighted to be proved wrong. Have seen us play four games this season and while the style of play is attractive, I don't see where the goals are going to come from. Maybe Cole will be the answer? I don't know. Before anyone points it out, I know we scored 2 against Celtic but for me, first was a howler from Bain. I was actually pretty positive after the game on Saturday thinking we'd played quite well in the first half. But even given that performance, how many good saves did the Celtic keeper have to make. You don't hit the target, you don't score. I'll go tonight hoping that the team prove me wrong and I'll do the same next Saturday. Maybe it'll suddenly click for Long, Cole or Scott. Maybe Ilic and Seedorf will prove me wrong and have the ability at this level. At the moment, I'm not confident...

I actually think we'll finish 10th this season. Don't get all the early season optimism. I appreciate we're playing some nice stuff but the real lack of a cutting edge will cost us. Fully expect us to lose tonight and at Douglas Park next week. That would mean out of the league cup and one point out of nine from the first three games. Really hope I'm proved wrong but we can't be relying on Liam Donnelly for goals. Scott looks the best bet among our strikers and even he's a work in progress. That being said, wingers aren't giving strikers much to work with either. Adds up to a lot of 'Motherwell nils' to me...

Insanity of two in the centre of midfield rears its ugly head on here again. Simply no. If you think the opposition have a higher quality of midfielder than you, the last thing you do is give them a man advantage in there. Interesting that you mention Donnelly's job being to screen the back four. I assumed at the start of the season that would be the case but often Polworth is dropping deep to pick up possession and Campbell and Donnelly are pressing higher up. Whether that's by design or not, I don't know but certainly the midfielders certainly seem to be switching positions a lot. Irrespective of whether it's his specific job or not, dropping a midfielder who has scored six goals in five games strikes me as not something we can afford to do You could make a case for 352 and ditching the wingers for the first 45 minutes if Robinson feels they don't have the energy/fitness for 90 minutes. But if Robinson switches to 352 and it doesn't work out, god help him from the fans. Personally (and this won't happen), I'd be inclined to play Semple on the wing on Friday, at least for the first 45 minutes. Energy, willingness to work. You then have Seedorf or Ilic to bring on depending how the game is going...

I suspect that in around a month's time, this will be the generally held view. And be correct...

Straight after the game, I was pretty positive. There were a few encouraging signs, albeit we gifted then some goals. Felt that we were a cutting edge short of a decent team. Really unconvinced by Ilic and Seedorf. Not sure either will do but feel that either Polworth or Semple could step in when Sloth is fit. But when Robinson admits after the game that our players simply don't have the fitness to maintain a pressing game, we're in trouble. Every team we face will now know they simply have to keep in tight for the first hour or so and they'll be fine as we'll have shot our bolt...

I was working all day yesterday so my first chance to put some serious thoughts down on the game. For me, it was a poor game. Maybe I'm wrong but I recall looking at my watch 25 minutes in and thinking there hadn't even been a shot at goal from either side. The pitch is a huge factor. When you see the black bits of rubber bouncing up during the warm up, you know what's coming. It's never going to happen but I'd love to see away fans boycott games at Livi, Accies and Killie in an attempt to get rid of these pitches. I thought initially we tried to take the pitch out of the equation in an attacking sense We seemed to feel that Ilic would have the beating of McMillan physically so seemed to be trying direct balls towards him at every opportunity. Sadly didn't work. Ref constantly pulling him up for fouls and it was the right move to take him off before he was sent off. Livi were smart in targeting Donnelly in the air by dropping their tall striker deep to win headers against him. While quite strong, he's not the tallest. In general, the performance reminded me of previous seasons when the pitch seemed to get in our players heads affecting our performance. Having said that, the back four for the most part did their job, albeit on a couple of occasions Gillespie bailed them out. Carroll, I was unsure about after Annan and Morton but actually thought he did quite well on Saturday. Seedorf did some good things when he came on but still don't know if he's disciplined enough positionally to start. Cole deserves a shot as a central striker in my opinion. On a positive, as others have said, it's the kind of game I've seen us lose in the past. Sorry to end on a negative. We had a great support through and at the game were fine. But on the train through from Bellshill some of the younger team (don't know if it was the Well Bois or just hangers on) were a bit out of order language wise in their song choices for a train with young families on it. And the less said about the Celtic Boys Club chants at Livingston South station while waiting for the train back the better...

This would be my thought although he was on trial at Dundee United so if they haven't taken him, it's possible he's gone backwards or at the very least his progress has stalled...

It's the £15 for concessions that disgusts me...

If Tanner comes back anywhere near the level he was before, he'll be a real asset..

Game time for the likes of Carson, Sloth and Livingstone? Don't know if Tanner would be risked yet on an artificial surface...

Am I the only one a bit confused by these rumours? Robinson comes out explicitly saying he doesn't want to sign any more squad players. Next thing we are linked with a 20 year old midfielder released by Ross County and a 19 year old defender. Robinson states we have young players coming through and that's why we don't need more squad players. How do these potential signings effect Semple, Cornelius and Devine? Not saying that the guys we are linked with are bad players (have never seen either play) but I can't see either going straight into the first team. So the only effect is to push our own academy players further down the pecking order. In Maciver's position we have Polworth, Sloth and Semple, not to mention Turnbull and Tanner to come back. In Leighton's we maybe only have three first choice centre backs but we also have Maguire who can play there and Devine who we're told is very highly rated. Not saying I wouldn't sign these players if they're good enough. Just strikes me that it goes against what the manager has said before....

Trying to look at the positives, we beat Hearts and get the winners of the Forfar-Livi tie. Who am I kidding? We get through, guaranteed it's Ibrox next...

I wouldn't know as I don't follow him but I'm told the vast majority of 'Celtic related' tweets he has liked have been messages to him from Celtic supporters wishing him a speedy recovery and happy birthday on his birthday..

So who are the non seeded teams through so far?

I know there were issues today but I could swear that we won 4-0. I know we weren't up against much but the players did the job. Unlike other SPL teams this summer. And unlike some Motherwell teams in the past. Not that long ago Albion Rovers knocked us out of the Scottish Cup..

You clearly can't count...

Thought Semple was excellent in the first half but less effective in the second . Liam Grimshaw, I love the guy and on the basis of the group games, he could make a claim to be first pick at right back. And I say that knowing he won't be. But for me, Donnelly was man of the match. A great performance capped by a second goal that was simply magnificent...

I really do think that Donnelly is in Robinson's first eleven. And I think Ilic will end up being first choice ahead of Seedorf....

I think what he's getting at is that St Mirren trousered the fee for Morgan, presumably using it to strengthen the team and retained Morgan for the remainder of the season. Like having your cake and eating it. Hardly seems fair if you're a fan of other teams in the league but argument would be it's up to them to develop their own players that people are willing to pay for six months early and loan back. On the Cadden issue, we'll get some cash but maybe not as much as we'd hoped. Take it on the chin. As others have said, we are no different to any other club in that we probably try and look for any possible advantage in the transfer market...

I'm seeing a lot of discussion of our midfield over the last few games, mainly negative. It's worth talking about. We've gone from a midfield of Gorrin, Campbell and Turnbull to a midfield of Donnelly/Maguire, Campbell and Pokworth. Changing two players in a three man midfield, it's understandable that it will take more than a few games to gel in the same way, irrespective of the quality of the individuals. Gorrin is being held up at the minute as the standard that Donnelly and Maguire should be aspiring to. I liked Gorrin but we're talking about a defensive midfielder who started 16 games for us and picked up 6 yellow cards and a red card. Not flawless. Also worth noting he turns 26 next week Donnelly recently turned 23 and Maguire recently had his 21st birthday. These guys have scope to develop, and I personally don't think they're miles away from Gorrin's level. Those describing them as defenders playing in midfield, I'm assuming have never changed jobs in their career. Tom Hateley was signed as a midfielder, Derek Adams as a striker. Even at a higher level, Vincent Kompany was signed by Man City as a holding midfielder. If the coaching staff feel that Maguire and Donnelly have the skill set for that position (and I gather they've felt for a long time this is Maguire's best position), they see them every day so I reckon they know more than we do. Campbell. I hear on here he's being asked to play further forward. Nonsense. In pretty much all the time he's played for us, he's played alongside a holding midfielder be it Lasley, McHugh or Gorrin. His role has pretty much always been to use his energy to press higher up the field . If he's been slightly further forward the last few games, it's been down to opposition midfields sitting deeper. Polworth. The lack of a killer pass has been mentioned and this probably is focussed on Polworth as the most 'creative' midfielder. He has at least a couple of assists already (and it was his ball that sent Seedorf away for Scott's first on Friday). You can talk about the poor quality of the opposition but that's a double edged sword. We'll play better teams in the league but because of that we'll seldom play teams that sit so deep offering so little space. Also worth noting he has the pressure of replacing a £3m player. Not the same type of player as Turnbull but takes his spot as creator/provider. No one expects Motherwell to bring in players worth £3m so there may be a slight drop off but he's doing ok. Is there room for improvement? It's Motherwell, there always is. But for me, there's a bit more negativity than is required. If we lose our first four league games, then we maybe need to start panicking...