Handsome_Devil

Woolery had potential and you hoped he'd kick on this season but if offered anything decent we'd be mental not to bank a small triumph imho...didn't realise he 27 either. Maybe explains Morris a bit too.

Yeah, it's certainly on the optimistic side of things...but it's also possible to finish eighth having been safe all year, narrowly missed the top six etc. Last year when there was a bawhair between fourth and 10th was highly unusual, even in Scotland with a small league and often little between the teams over 90 mins. There's usually some kind of structure to the table and so long as we're not in the fight at the bottom I think our fans - apart from a vocal minority - appreciate we're not going to be top half every year and a season when the top three look absolutely nailed on plus United, Hibs and Aberdeen are spending wildly, it's a year to look for positives/enjoyment beyond simple league position.

Good post. Top six isn't everything for us, if we're eighth but a bit more entertaining, there's some development of players and we have a go in the cups I think most people will be happy. Hearts/Hibs/Aberdeen/Dundee Utd should obviously be the top six but as you say, at least one of them usually makes a horlicks of it. And not only that, with the money they're all spending, one of them is (unless they win a cup) guaranteed to fail as sixth for that outlay is the road to ruin - and we've also seen before that once that negative spiral starts it can be hard to stop. Edit to add: the last time the 'big six' were the top six was 2009 and the time before that 1992. It also happened in 88 and 89 so four times in the entire modern era of Scottish football...for all that it should happen, it clearly doesn't happen very often!

Maybe he is but I think if KVV was out and we were relying with Shields in the middle of our three for any length of time we'd be in deep bother. I actually quite like him but his best shifts so far have been buzzing around wider areas or coming in to play off KVV. Sure, we could lump balls over the top but his touch (or rather lack of it) means he offers no kind of reliable outlet to ease pressure, get us up the park, bring others into the game etc, the sort of dirty work Arnott and McDonald excelled at while not being a target in an aerial sense.

That seems exactly the plan... “If you look at last year. We were four days away from the Premier Sports Cup and we could hardly put a team out. We felt we had to wait for the right players rather than jumping and bringing players in just for those opening games. Our league position last season suggests that was the right thing to do. “We have enough within our club just now to approach those European games and look to win them. So it means we are not desperate to bring people in before those games so that helps us. You have to wait for the right players to drop and I think we have time on our side.” https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/sport/football/motherwell-transfer-latest-graham-alexander-27454120

Very much this for me. We certainly have enough bodies there, as you say it depends entirely on whether you think they'll recover form or we'll tweak the system successfully. But we've kept two clean sheets in 21 competitive games this year so if the manager thinks that and is wrong, we're fucked. I think it's not unreasonable to hope SOD returns to his usual self, as he seemed to towards the end of last season, and that SSJ will be back to his August-December form after a break. But it strikes me as doubtful that, along with McGinn, will be enough because I don't think the issues with the rest are the sort of things that are temporary or easily resolved....however, unless we get a body or two out the door we might end up starting with what we have and changing course late August should it look like being a disaster.

If we end up with the depth chart where Efford is the new Amaluzor - last choice emergency injury/corona cover - we'll have boosted ourselves up front even without going mental. Fair enough. But I find only having one genuine number nine bizarre (and have done since January).

Also interesting(ish) he played with KVV at Scunny. Wonder if 'friends of Kev' the updated signing policy!

Interesting indeed. Another attacker was needed, another who isn't an out and put number nine...less so. Not totally against it but hardly what you'd have considered the priority.

The person on facebook who wanted us wearing elbow pads and knee pads (!) while biking will be having kittens.

No news but a couple of bullish lines from GA: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/motherwell-boss-would-sell-ice-27412700

As much as I would love a new left back, we're only realistically getting one if we huckle Carroll out the door and there's been no hint of that. Agree we don't need more numbers for the sake of it other than an alternative to KVV but a proper centre back and a proper midfielder is probably the difference between fighting for the top six and being nervous about relegation. And while they're not easily found, with the world now our transfer oyster I refuse to believe it's impossible. The big story about going to that transfer conference in Spain, for example, looks a little out of place with your summer business being SPFL freebies!

Aye, I was chatting to a mate last night and we agreed that while there was no reason to panic (yet, at least), it was notable that this summer, so far, was simply boring. I appreciate the club are perhaps anxious to avoid hubris but there's been nothing in the build up to Europe, minimal ST campaigning, almost no announced pre-season games, no pep talk interviews from the manager, no strategy stuff from Burrows. There's minimal clips and mega short interviews from Austria. For perspective of how dull it's been, several fully grown adults have confessed to eagerly looking on Burrows' timeline for what was essentially a time lapse of grass fucking growing. Yes, yes, I know the whole pitch thing kind of interesting. But still...I could just about understand the muted European celebration, even if I didn't fully agree with it, but the whole attitude of the club seems incredibly muted atm. I appreciate this is only the public facing side, who knows what's going on behind the scenes - but no matter how good that work is, clubs need to get the fans on board and put some effort in to build momentum occasionally...we just seem lethargic in contrast to previously and where we should be.

I'm clearly not aware of the exact details but we signed MOH for money and extended Donnelly when he was in mental form - obviously they'll have been overtaken by others in terms of wages since but they must have earning a decent whack. Combined with a few things of varying benefits (I imagine we'd have maximized the clause hinted at on Watt, maybe there's more for Campbell post Scotland cap already, a wad from Europe, cutting the squad size etc), I really thought we would have a little more room to play with. I'm definitely not expecting superstars but as I said a few pages ago, Kelly/Slattery/SSJ/Ojala being signed indicated a certain level of ambition and I thought we'd maintain it...still time of course.

Perhaps...but we already have five or six midfielders, if we're trying to trim the squad (as stated) and keep a pathway for kids (as stated), I really don't see the point in adding another journeyman who doesn't definitively solve a problem in the first XI. It's rare we don't have to do a complete rebuild of the squad over summer, the whole idea of only having to add a few players was to use the money saved from several departures on two-three of (relatively speaking) high quality who would make a difference. Or so I thought. Culling MOH, Donnelly, Grimshaw etc seemed a good idea, but it's rather pointless if we're just going to sign identikit replacements.

This is what surprises me about the move, should it be happening obvs, as ignoring whether McGhee is an ok player for the league or not, he certainly isn't a massive upgrade on what we have, he definitely isn't the 'leader of men' type we need regardless of playing three/four at the back and we just signed McGinn who covers there too. Fair enough JM can possibly cover a few positions but again we already have bodies for the middle of the park, we need a genuine first pick six rather than yet another worker who can run up and down.

I was certain we'd go for him in January when Hibs were looking to cut him loose. Happy enough to have avoided him this time too.

I'd not be unhappy if we picked up McGhee for free/buttons to add some depth to the squad, if we were paying anything significant for him as fee/wages to start regularly I'd be concerned. Tbh Spittal, McGinn and McGhee, should he appear, are all fine but I must say when we were only supposedly to be going for four-six players this summer, I was hoping we'd set our sights a little higher. Kelly/SSJ/Slattery/Ojala obviously provided a mixed return but I don't think there's much doubt they all at least indicated an ambition significantly higher than merely solid.

Rather than raging about helmets, what's vexing me most atm - in a curious manner, I'm not going full blown Twitter - is that we're 2.5 weeks away from a crucial opening game to the competitive season and the only friendly we have announced is Thistle. I know there's the reported match against Steyr in Austria but unless I missed it the club didn't actually confirm it, suggesting it might be more a 3x30 minute kickabout than anything approaching a dress rehearsal. It's one thing treating the LC group as semi pre-season given a combination of the opposition, the stakes and that in a group with 1.5ish going through you obviously have a bigger safety net than a two-legged knock-out tie. I know back in the days we entered Q1 in the first week of July against pub teams as we felt we couldn't fit in a proper break, training and friendlies but that doesn't seem as necessary now. I hope we know what we're doing!

Ha, that was literally the first thing I thought when seeing that. I guess a couple of kilometres in a sleepy part of rural Austria hardly the most risky mind.

The save here (at 6:40) is still one of the best I've ever seen - from anyone, not just a Motherwell keeper. He definitely was past his best and let in more than the odd soft one for us but when on it he was still outstanding.

https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2022/07/02/andy-goram-1964-2022/ Sad news.

Can't mind him but Semple was definitely a 'next big thing' and look how that turned out. There are enough examples to show there's no guarantees. One thing that's always bemused me given how often star kids don't make the grade is how little credit Robinson got for bringing in Turnbull successfully. Even now the narrative is generally he played him because he had no choice, he should have picked him sooner etc when you could just as easily make the case that SR, actually knowing his player personally, judged the timing perfectly and absolutely nailed it.

Is that a UEFA requirement? If not I'd hope we're not even thinking about a third kit, the very principle of them is shocking.

Don't hate it, don't love it..which is odd because I really liked the Untouchables away kit it's similar to from 2004ish. I suspect in history both of this year's efforts will go down as rather forgettable, midtable mediocrity in our kit ranking.