The African

Based on nothing more than blind hope and the fact that amazingly, despite only one league win since Boxing Day, somehow the results have conspired in our favour to keep us in the race, I think we will get something from the game. For the aforementioned good fortune to continue, sooner or later it has to happen in a game we are actually involved in, so why not now? Realistically, another inept performance and result and our season is virtually over.

Is there any real benefit for Scottish football if Rangers somehow get to a European final? If their fans behave as they did the last time they achieved this feat, then there is probably more chance that we will all be banned from Europe for a couple of years. As for moving the game, I assume we had next to bugger all input into the decision and Burrows, who is a Motherwell man to his core, is stuck with having to try and put a positive spin on it for appearances sake. A complete no win situation for the club. My sympathies lie wholeheartedly with any and all of our support who have been mucked around by the decision, but the truth of the matter is that the people who had the power and influence over the situation don't give a monkey's cuss what we think.

Isn't it funny that the footballing Gods desert you when you are on a bad run. You cannot just rock up and think that a bad run will end. You need to do something to bring about better results.

Relegation might seem far fetched, thanks Dundee, but I would not be particularly confident going into a playoff on the back of recent performances. I think the post split fixtures could be very uncomfortable if we are less than six points clear of St Johnstone. Hence the importance of these next two fixtures. We have little confidence and no momentum, so all we can hope for is that the international break has, for once, done us a favour.

A watershed game for our season. Our poor run has taken us to this point and if it continues weoukd find ourselves completely in the mire. People who simply think that our bad run is bound to end at some point are missing the obvious -that change is required because simply rinse and repeat isn't working. If the manager fails to address this, and doesn't get it right, then he will surely pay the price in the very near future. His penchant for continued team changes should not be misconstrued as attempts at change. It is simply akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic If we are looking at securing our future in the division for another year, and our form this year suggests anything else is pie in the sky, then a point will not be the worst outcome. The gap between us and eleventh place is useful, but I think we have to do more than simply rely on Dundee and St Johnstone to keep dropping points. The example of Hibs under Terry Butcher should be enough to make us realise that we are in a relegation dogfight.

Odd that neither Kelly or Clark were given debuts over the two fixtures. Either the manager holds such store in keeping the unbeaten run going and having some momentum and confidence going into key qualifying matches, though you wonder what two draws where we lose late goals to give up a winning position does for that, or he really just doesn't rate either option as a viable replacement for a 39 year old.

Whilst you never know what goes on behind the scenes with contract offers etc, the O'Hara situation is one where a possible fifty fifty decision on a new deal is taken out of our hands. His departure will at least free up a wage and rumour has it that he was on a decent amount by our standards. He hasn't been bad for us, when available, but like a few others on here, I cannot get too excited by his departure. As for playing him in any remaining fixtures, we are paying him so, if it is to our advantage, why not? Lanier has been playing okay and he is also on a pre contract elsewhere.

As I see it, we have three options available to us with regard to Alexander. Option one, sack him now. Option two, let him finish the season and then sack him, trusting in the fact that the rest of the league, out with the Old Firm, are equally rank so our Premiership status is pretty much secured. Option three, continue with him for a further year, in the hope that things turn out alright. Option one has little to recommend it, despite the run of poor performances and results being such that it would have resulted in the trigger being squeezed at other clubs in our division. I like to think that one of the reasons we have stayed so long in the top flight is that, as a club, we have not been too quick to change manager, and history has shown that clubs that choose this route more often get it wrong than right. Throw in that there is no obvious replacement, the season is nearly over so the likelihood of any worthwhile " new manager bounce" is limited, and that his new contract will make this expensive and this option looks unlikely. Some might even contend that we could still finish fourth, but I think recent performances make this argument both spurious and delusional. Option two seems the obvious route to take. As long as the fates don't conspire to somehow land us in the bottom two. A few more crap performances and results to add to the argument that we gave Alexander every chance to turn things around and it just isn't working. He might even do the honourable thing and walk away and save us a few bob in compensation (yeah? Nah, doubtful). Option three doesn't really appeal. Yes, the league is generally poor quality, and, as our league position shows, we are probably not the worst, except on current form, but to continue as we are for another season seems like a recipe for relegation. Alexander seems to have run out of ideas and is what he is repeatedly trying with 4-3-3 isn't working. Getting someone new in for the start of the next season seems the obvious solution. Yes, getting rid of him will cost us, and there is no obvious candidate for what will always be a difficult job , given the state of our league and our limited finances, but continuing as we are is not a long term option that fills me with any hope.

Not a huge fan of our current away kit, but perhaps it is time to acknowledge the possible financial restrictions on fans over these difficult times and keep our kits current for more than a single season? Longer term, I like the idea of having three kits, of which we change one every season, although I understand that changes to kit suppliers and sponsors may make this untenable. I would suggest that our first choice kit remain the traditional amber with the claret hoop/band, our alternate kits would comprise a mainly white kit, my favourite and great under floodlights, and a further kit in all claret ( though the only all claret kit I have liked was the short-lived Canterbury effort) alternating with a different colour scheme every three years.

Our bad run has to end sme time but I have doubt that it will be with this fixture. St Johnstone are in deep trouble and their need for the points should be all the motivation they need. If they lose, they will have very little chance of catching us. Right now, I'd take a point.

Where to begin? If we finish tenth, as seems possible, will it be considered par for the course? It is supposedly what we budget for. Unfortunately, the manner in which we have gone about it has left some of our support less than satisfied. It is a results business, but we have not been good to watch all year, just lucky we picked up points when on a decent run. Conversely, pretty football doesn't win you anything, and while we can look back through rose tinted spectacles at the great football sometimes played by the youngsters when we were in administration, history shows we would have been relegated thateason if we had not benefited from Falkirk's stadium shortcomings. A balance is obviously required, and that is one area we are falling down on. I do think that a little slack has to be given to the management regarding the circumstances of the pandemic. We have had to budget for a larger squad than we might otherwise require in order to fulfill fixtures and we have lost out in not being able to bring through young players from our system because of no reserve or age group matches. Things are going to have to change in order to improve matters and we need to decide if Alexander and company are the people to take us forward. As for people deciding that enough is enough and not renewing season tickets, while it is a shame, it certainly isn't my place to be telling anyone how to spend their hard earned cash. I hope that long term supports can keep the faith and perhaps return to the fold once we get a better team on the park. I have been a Motherwell fan for long enough to know that there are always going to be bumps on the road, but another Pettigrew, McFadden, Turnbull is just around the corner. I can also confirm that, after several years overseas, being a Motherwell fan is an incurable condition, but it is not terminal. Does Liam Kelly really get £4 grand a week?

Hibs also missed a penalty in the win over Liverpool and lost the return leg 3-1. Although he was coming to the end of his career, Alex Edwards was providing a fair bit of guile in their midfield. They were a very decent side and just pipped us for third, and a European spot. As I recall, in the second replay at Ibrox, Peter Marinello came off the bench to score the winner from the penalty spot.

Another Saturday, another poor showing. Another point nearer survival, which looks like the only achievable target left to this side. Another league game without a win, so another game closer to a parting of the ways with Mr Alexander unless this slump is miraculously turned around soon. So, the question that needs to be asked, how much longer do we need go on like this before the manager's position becomes untenable? We'll probably go and win the cup now.

I am not going to add o the pressure on the team by calling this a "must win" fixture, but it is hard to imagine the fall out should we lose. Three points would be most welcome, and may even turn our fortunes around, butit being Motherwell, I predict a 1-1 draw.

A poor performance and another poor result. The question of how we arrest this slump in form has been asked, and , so far, we are not coming up with any answers. I think it is unlikely that we will go down, but it is not an impossibility. It will make all those who claimed all was going smoothly when we were sitting in 4th, look a little presumptive if we finish the season relying on the act that both Dundee and St Johnstone are even worse than us. I appreciate that the job of managing a club like ours is no easy feat, but GA will need to show some improvement or questions will have to be asked regarding his future at the end of the season. I was happy enough when he signed a contract extension. Again, that now looks like we might have been getting ahead of ourselves.

If Aberdeen can get a point there then anyone in this league can. Having said that, only bothered by what we manage to achieve and a couple of points is probably more than we expected. I was somewhat worried by the attitude that, having had a run of poor results in what might be considered a run of tougher matches, things would almost automatically be better for us when we get to play against the lesser lights in the league. To assume that would be a big mistake. The standard across the league is not that high and, outwith the Old Firm, there is very little between the teams. We need to be aware of this, and that some of these sides are now fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table. No easy fixtures.

Not sure if Brown and Gallagher being injured is a positive or negative for us. We really need to be up for this and look to give them nothing. Three points on Saturday could go a long way to getting our season back on track.

The simple truth is that, since the break, we have played six league games and scored two goals. The fact that we have somehow managed to pick up two points almost feels like a positive. Hopefully we already have enough points to secure our status, because at this rate we are likely to only pick up a further four points. Relying on the premise that most of our rivals are equally crap doesn't seem the soundest of plans going forward.

Given our run of poor performances and consequently equally poor exults, it will take a marked improvement in the former for us to come away with anything from this fixture. On the other hand, Dundee United are scarcely world beaters so if we are to get back track, this would be as good a place to start as any.. Right now, I'd take a point as long as there were signs of improvement in performance. We have had a few changes in personnel and have tried a couple of changes to formation and shape, none of which have been successful. The manager has to earn his salary by finding a system that the players under his tutelage can both understand and implement. Progress on this front is a requirement to stop this current dip in form becoming an irretrievable spiral towards the wrong end of the table.

Indeed he was. I am suggesting that Walker replaced Sproat, not vice versa. As for who replaced Walker, the mention of Dornan and Harrow reminded me that we picked up a few fringe players from Aberdeen around the early to mid eighties, including John Gardner. I think Cammy Duncan was just a bit later. A quick check online has confirmed that Gardner joined us around then, though from Dundee United rather than Aberdeen.

Nicky Walker was obviously a favourite of the late Jock Wallace who brought him to Fir Park, having previously had I’m under his tutelage at Leicester and then took him on to Rangers. I recall him being decent enough for us, and certainly not the worst we ever had between the sticks, though I don’t think I was too upset to see him leave. I am trying to remember who he may have replaced in goal for us, Shuggie Sproat perhaps? I cannot but think that old Hugh’s anachronisms would not have gone down well with Jock Wallace, though they did make him a bit of a cult hero with some of our support.

The worry is that, since the break, we have played three league games and only picked up one point and scored one goal. The fixtures in February look pretty daunting so this might be our best chance of picking up a result for a couple of weeks. Not doom and gloom, but perhaps the realisation that we could easily end the month in the middle of a genuine slump. Having said that, I reckon the.lack of quality spread throughout the league makes it highly unlikely that we go into freefall. We are as likely to beat Hearts as we are to beat Dundee.

Wouldn’t disagree with any of that. The transfer window is generally a pain in the backside and a distraction a club like ours could do without. I would add that the Lamie situation is not ideal. These pre contracts are a bit of a farce, leaving us with the option of letting him go for heehaw or paying his wages for half a season with his mind elsewhere and no guarantee he will give his best. Almost better to let him go now, although that would probably be allowing Dundee to take the piss.

Bringing in a striker is an excellent idea. The problem will be finding one who, a) is currently available, b) is within our budget, c) wants to come to Fir Park and d) is not such a speculative punt with a less than fifty percent chance of coming off. I have no doubt that our management are looking, but I will also be understanding if they cannot find someone and we have to make do with what we currently have.

Isn’t it two points from a possible nine against Hibs this season? Not such a great return really, and this current Hibs side look as bereft of ideas and skill as we do. Playing the final minutes with ten men might put a gloss on the result, but ultimately it is another poor performance and we need to find something to shake us out of this post break decline.