7.35pm

Yesterday's result: St Mirren 2, Motherwell 0.

Played two, lost two is our dismal record so far this season following yesterday's abysmal defeat at Love Street.  We never got going in a match won comfortably by the home side, and although it's only the first week in August, it already looks like we will be in for a long, hard season.

Maurice Malpas kept faith with the same starting eleven who lost to Rangers last week, with Scott McDonald once again relegated to the bench.

St Mirren dominated right from the start, and it was no surprise when they took the lead after 17 mins when Kean easily turned Donnelly and crossed for Sutton to score from close range.  The home side continued to enjoy the majority of the possession, with Motherwell restricted to long range efforts from McCormack and Hamilton which posed no danger to the Saints' goalkeeper.

We actually started brightly in the second half, but a second St Mirren goal in 51 mins killed the game stone dead.  A Lappin corner was flicked on across goal, only for Paul Quinn to put the ball into his own net with a diving header.  Even when Malpas put three upfront in an attempt to salvage something from the game, we created precious little, and we had to rely on Graeme Smith to prevent the scoreline becoming even more embarrassing.

We were a complete shambles today, and every outfield player should hang their heads in shame after being outplayed by a side who were in the First Division last season.  Defensively we are a joke, with Paul Quinn's o.g. summing up his performance perfectly (although he didn't seem in the least concerned about it when I spotted him at Hamilton Races later yesterday evening).  Our midfield is non-existent, with Foran and McGarry in particular contributing absolutely zero yesterday and O'Donnell looking well past it.  Our powder puff strikeforce never seriously threatened the St Mirren goal, and while Ross McCormack at least looked interested, he was rewarded for his endeavour by being substituted in the second half.

The season has just started, and already we are six points behind the likes of St Mirren and Falkirk.  Is it too early to be mentioning the dreaded "R" word? 

Team (4-4-2): Smith, Quinn, Craigan, Donnelly, Paterson, McGarry, Kerr, O'Donnell, Foran (McDonald 53), Hamilton, McCormack (Clarkson 59). 
Subs Not Used: Meldrum, McBride, Fitzpatrick, Connolly, Reynolds.

Booked: Craigan.

Attendance: 5,036

Maurice Malpas' post-match comments were as follows:
"Overall, I thought we were poor. We had a fair bit of possession in the first 15 minutes and they scored with their first attack.  But the name of the game is scoring goals and I never thought we were going to score today. We have still not got the blend right up front.  But, obviously, it is a team thing. We have to get better use of the ball from the back and better supports from the middle to cause a goal threat."

On his decision to leave Scott McDonald on the bench, MM added:
"Scott was injured and missed the last week of pre-season.  I felt Ross McCormack did well so I did not feel I should change the team. That might change next week."

Keith Lasley was in away end at Love Street yesterday, wearing the same MFC gear as the other unused squad members.  Interesting...

As if we didn't have enough injury worries, Stephen Craigan picked up an ankle knock yesterday and will join fellow centre-halves Brian McLean and William Kinniburgh in the treatment room.

Maurice Malpas spoke last week of his frustration over trying to add to his squad:
"We are now getting really frustrated as a couple of clubs in England have decided not to loan us players due to the different rules between England and Scotland.  If they come to us they would need to be here until the transfer window but if they go to another English side it can be a short term loan.

"We are still looking for a left back which is a priority, and we are looking at other people.  It needs to be the right person as Jim Paterson was excellent on Sunday. He is comfortable playing there and he is up for it after we explained this to him during pre-season.  We also have Mark Reynolds and anyone coming in would need to be an improvement on Mark."

Graeme Smith has been named in the Scotland squad for an International get together on 14th and 15th August.

The club have announced that home reserve matches will this season be played at Fir Park.

Time for a new opinion poll

Will we struggle to avoid relegation this season?