Robinson is turned off by TV replays...
WATCHING Sky Sports replays of Motherwell’s chances on a nearby screen, Stephen Robinson could look on no more.
‘Oh God, it’s getting worse,’ said the wincing Fir Park boss, as images of late missed chances for Ryan Bowman and Alex Fisher played over in slow motion. ‘Turn it off.’
Robinson did little to hide his angst after his side started their campaign with a 2-1 home defeat to Rangers.
‘I am frustrated,’ he continued. ‘If you don’t take your chances you don’t win football matches and we created a lot of clear-cut chances.
‘The difference between being a top-six side and not is taking chances and we are well aware of that. The way we took the game to them was a massive plus but we are not happy with nearly doing things.
‘We dominated large parts of the game. Once the lads settled in and got a bit of belief, we took the game to them.’
Fielding six new players, Robinson was delighted with the displays of Cedric Kipre and Charles Dunne, the Lanarkshire team suggesting predictions of relegation may be less cut and dried than anyone thinks. ‘Nobody let anyone down,’ he insisted. ‘I think we are a lot stronger than last season but we need to get results.’ Robinson, as managers do, believed his side were unfortunate to be denied two penalties by referee Bobby Madden. Rangers secured the three points when Graham Dorrans slammed home a 58th-minute winner from the spot. Insisting there was dubiety over Louis Moult’s elbow on Fabio Cardoso, the Fir Park manager was most unhappy with Madden’s failure to penalise raised arms by Lee Hodson before half-time. ‘I haven’t seen their penalty again — I was far away from it,’ he said. ‘Louis said it wasn’t a penalty, that he went to challenge for the ball and the lad has gone down, but we should have taken care of the game by ourselves — without blaming anyone else. ‘The players told me Ryan Bowman should have had a penalty and Hodson handled the ball. ‘We can’t change that. We created a lot of chances and needed to take them.’