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6.30pm

Oh dear.  We were beaten 1-0 at Firhill this afternoon by Partick Thistle.  That's right, the same Partick Thistle who before today were the only side in Britain without a league victory.

Terry Butcher made one change to our usual starting eleven, with Alex Burns replacing Steven Craig upfront.  For some unknown reason, Ewings replaced Barry John Corr as the substitute goalkeeper.

The home side had the better of a very poor first half, with Motherwell struggling badly to make any impact on the game.  Thistle had created a couple of half-chances before we had a major let-off after 30 minutes, when Madaschi headed straight at Marshall when it looked easier to score.  The only shot on goal from a Motherwell player I can remember in the opening 45 mins came just before the interval, when Clarkson's close-range effort was well saved by the Jags' goalkeeper.

Partick took the lead early in the second half when McBride drove a low shot past Marshall from the edge of the penalty box.  Going a goal down should have provided the kick up the backside we so badly needed, and to be fair we did begin to enjoy longer periods of possession, however at no point did we seriously threaten the Thistle goal.  Lasley dragged a shot wide and Adams fired wildly over the bar before our best chance of the game fell to Clarkson in the closing stages, but he somehow managed to mis-kick in front of goal.  In the end, the Jags held on for a deserved 1-0 win.

This truly was an abysmal performance from Motherwell, worse even than last week's horror show at Kilmarnock.  We just never got going at all, and deserved all we got against a far hungrier and more determined Partick Thistle side.  I don't know what has gone wrong in recent weeks, but the team seemed devoid of any creativity or attacking ideas, and Thistle successfully restricted us to ridiculous long-range efforts that were never going to trouble their goalkeeper.  You know it must have been a shocking performance when I start picking on individual players, but questions must surely be asked about Alex Burns' contribution today and this season in general.  I know he has had injury problems, but he seemed so far off the pace this afternoon that it simply wasn't real.  Also, Stephen Pearson still hasn't kicked a ball for us since he made his Scotland debut, and if his heart is no longer in it then perhaps the sooner January comes round the better.

Team (4-4-2): Marshall, Corrigan, Hammell, Partridge (Wright 78), Craigan, Pearson, Leitch (Dair 67), Adams, Lasley, Burns, Clarkson.
Subs Not Used: Ewings, McDonald, Fagan.

Booked: Lasley.

Attendance: 4,124.

Terry Butcher's post-match comments were as follows:
"I'm very disappointed with the way we went about our work, it wasn't good.  I don't think there was a lot to choose between the teams. We had good opportunity to score but didn't and Thistle scored a very good goal.  We had one or two injuries and were down to the bare bones but there's no excuses."

Today's News of the World reported that Stephen Pearson would be signing a pre-contract agreement with Rangers in January, but Terry Butcher has since rubbished the rumour.

TB says he hopes to sign two new plays during the transfer window next month, and he won't necessarily have to rely on funds from the sale of Stevie Hammell and/or Stephen Pearson:
''It's all ifs, buts and maybes at the moment.  I must look at whether offers come in for our players, players are leaving or whether I can get people to come to the club in the meantime. I am still looking at that.  But there's still a good few games to be played before the break so we'll concentrate on those first."

Anyone care to place a bet that one of the signings will be a certain Mr Phil O'Donnell?

Today's Scotland on Sunday carries an interesting article, in which Motherwell director John Swinburne responds to Pat Nevin's recent newspaper column in which the former 'Well chief executive refused to take any blame for the club's slide into administration or the subsequent job losses at Fir Park.  Among other things, Swinburne says:
"He (John Boyle) made one mistake in my opinion, and that was appointing Pat Nevin as his chief executive. He was a brilliant footballer, an articulate and intelligent gentleman, but when it comes to high finance and business, I think the club went into administration because he was found wanting.

"He was awarding extended contracts to guys who were under-achievers. The result was that Motherwell ended up in huge debt and going nowhere. Our annual debt figure was £2-£3m per annum, and rising. John Boyle had no option but to put the club into administration and get things back on an even keel.

"The root cause was the ludicrous contracts given to players nearing the end of their careers. They were given up to seven or eight thousand pounds a week and three-year contracts. We could not afford it. How can the chief executive, whose job it was to deal with these things, claim no responsibility for them?

"He was giving players like Roberto Martinez contracts we could not countenance. We were trying to keep up with the Jones’s. When I went to complain, I was told the manager and Nevin had exclusivity over football decisions. He was the football expert who had played at the highest level."

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