Moving On

It would be silly to say that we can just brush of Faddy's departure and assume that another player will step into the gap. McFadden averaged more than a goal every two games and when you factor in the number of assists he produced, finding one player - either in our current squad or in the transfer market - to be a direct replacement will be impossible.

It should be remembered though that we are not the only bad side in the league. Dundee United have many good players and have not yet registered a point.

Kilmarnock are overdue for a bad season and if their performance at Fir Park is a fair reflection on their ability this season, they will be down at the bottom with us. Then there are the usual strugglers, Livingston and Partick Thistle, both of whom would be delighted to scrape eleventh place this season. None of those clubs have a player even close to the ability of McFadden. They will rely on being organized and hard working and they will hope to grind out results.

That is now what we must do. In the discussions regarding last season, a common thought was that Thistle and the like beat us because they could cut off our one threat. While we had other players capable of playing well, we could not resist the urge to let Faddy do everything. Not the worst fault in the world but for all of Faddy's magic and goals, he alone could not keep us off the bottom of the table.

In the summer we signed seventeen-goal striker Alex Burns to compliment the very promising David Clarkson and the (probably) just good enough Stevie Craig. This should allow our attacking threat to be spread around a bit more evenly.

Just as important, it is paramount that the defence finally shows some organisation. Between Terry Butcher, Maurice Malpas and Chris McCart it seems obscene that we cannot either cut out crosses or mark strikers near our six yard box. The option of trying to outscore teams barely existed before and it certainly does not now.

While replacing McFadden is out of the question, we do have one player with the potential to become our new hero. Stephen Pearson, on his day, can seize games by the scruff of the neck and dictate the midfield. You only have to look back to the Rangers semi final to see just how good Pearo can be and he must take on the responsibility of being our new talisman.

This responsibility also means that he must be on the pitch more than in the stand. Saturday's sending off may or may not have been harsh but it was the fourth red of a comparatively short career. If Pearson wants to move to the EPL, he now has the perfect opportunity to star in a team and show what he can do.

The signing of Jason Dair highlighted the life goes on after Faddy and new players will continue to arrive. What Jason, and the rest of the squad, must do is play together to their full potential. If that happens, it will not be Motherwell worrying about the outcome of a vote at the end of this season.