capt_oats
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Posts posted by capt_oats
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Given that we'll have known that Ripley would be going back to Boro since the start of last season and also been aware that Samson was only here on an end of season deal I'd have liked to have thought that we'd have been looking at goalkeeping options from that point forward.
I find the fact that we've released Brett Long quite interesting given that should Samson leave then that will be 3 goalkeepers out the door this Summer.
For what it's worth I thought the development & improvement we saw in Ripley reflected well on Jim Hollman.
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Corona - Rhythm Of The Night
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He's listed as a winger on most of the pages about him online.Maybe someone will correct me but I thought Duffy was playing upfront in the latter stages of the season.
Edit: having said that the Celtic development squad page has him listed as a striker.
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I wouldn't read too much into it.
Catching up on my lunch and so far today I've seen us linked in the media to the Celtic boy, Miles Storey and some Conference striker from Boston Utd.
Storey's already signed for somebody else and I'd happily bet the other two aren't at Fir Park next season either.
We're usually pretty good at keeping these things close to our chest so I'm always sceptical when our 'potential' signings are leaked to the media.
Take it the Conference striker is Dayle Southwell who has also been 'targeted' by St Johnstone, Hibs & Hearts.
Given we've got 9 first team contract offers out to players and 5 u20s then unless we've got anyone on a PCA I'd have thought we'd be holding off on others until we've had at least some answers back.
For what it's worth the whole Celtic loanee route worked quite well for County with Jackson Irvine so I'd have thought they'd be a more realistic option than us.
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I'm inclined to agree as a general point about the fact that we need to move away from the backward looking aspect when it comes to McFadden and the fact he's currently injured it seems a bit tokenist in a "do the right thing" sense.
However to play devil's advocate I can understand the club's thinking in a practical sense. Assuming his deal isn't costing much and given he's injured I can't imagine he's got a stack of offers waiting for him then if we're looking for experienced cover for McDonald (assuming he stays) then I can imagine that McFadden would offer a bit more in a general sense than the level of alternative we'd get on the same money who has no affiliation with the club.
All the criticisms of why it's something we should be moving away from that sort of offer are totally valid and there's still a definite question of how much he would actually play however at the very least I can see why they club would make him the offer first before exploring other avenues.
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Yeah, I saw that. Seems odd given that with Ainsworth, Johnson, Thomas and Cadden all contracted and able to play wide a winger is one of the few areas we don't need an extra body and seeing as our whole 'strategy' is supposedly bringing through our own youth players why bring in a player on loan from another Premiership club.See we're being linked with a loan move for Michael Duffy from Celtic. He's a a winger and was on loan at Alloa last season. Ross County also interested apparently.
Edit: It'd hardly be an incentive for the likes of MacLean to sign the extension we've offered if we're out loaning in players from Celtic.
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Looking at those we've released and their relative squad roles then you'd think that, regardless of who extends their deals, we're looking at bringing in at least the following;
1x GK
2x CM
1x ST
plus (hopefully) a full back.
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I think Fletcher was really unfortunate. I only saw him in the game he got injured vs United and he looked the part, held the ball up well, ran the channels and offered a bit more of a physical presence than Moult. Then he picked up that injury and missed something like the next 8 games by which point Baraclough had been emptied and Moult & McDonald became the first choice strikers. I think he picked up another injury not long after that too, by which point you're halfway through the season, he's on a 1yr deal with an option and he had barely kicked a ball for the new manager. I think when he came back after the turn of the year he knew he'd be away at the end of the season and was just marking time.
I'd say Jack Leitch is probably in the position where he needs first team games but at the moment the best he's going to get at Fir Park is a spot on the bench and I think ideally that spot on the bench is going to be given to someone like Campbell. I can see him being another who, like McHugh, Forbes and Lawless is a player who finds a team at a lower level and every now and then the question comes up if we should have kept him.
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That'll be the squad update announced. No real surprises, other than Brett Long being released there's not a lot we didn't already know. http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2016/05/16/squad-update-may-2016/
The following players (both first-team and Under 20s) are in discussions with the club with a view to extending their deals:
Stevie Hammell
Stephen McManus
Craig Samson
Keith Lasley
Craig Moore
James McFadden
David Ferguson
Ben Hall
Scott McDonald
—–
Dylan Mackin
Robbie Leitch
Jack McMillan
Ross MacLean
Ryan Watters
The following players will leave the club when their contract expires at the end of the month:
Connor Ripley (Loan: returned to Middlesbrough)
Wes Fletcher
Morgaro Gomis (Loan: returned to Heart of Midlothian)
David Clarkson
Jack Leitch
Brett Long
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I wonder if Motherwell (or any other Prem club looking for a left back) would be interested in our ex player Aaron Taylor- Sinclair, who’s had a fairly poor 2 years in England, first year played one game in the league cup with Wigan, season just finished relegated with Doncaster- he might still fancy another crack at it down South but if he was coming up the road then I’d imagine he’ll be well sought after despite the last 2 years.
ATS is definitely the type of full back I'd imagine McGhee will be looking at. Decent going forward and athletic- is he not about 6'4?
Whether we could get him or not is another story though.
Quick check on Doncaster forum suggests that ATS has done his ACL and is out until January. To say the fans don't seem to have taken to him at Doncaster would be an understatement. http://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?PHPSESSID=7197a080e516f3e2f9f03cbe92f425b6&topic=257520.0
That said, there doesn't seem to be any confirmation of the injury in their local press.
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In fairness to Hall if it's the case, as seems to be the rumour doing the rounds, that he's simply asking for parity in wages with Kennedy and Laing (the two players he's keeping out the team) then his position is understandable to a point though I suppose it depends just how much there's a disparity and how much he/his agent are digging their heels in. It's difficult not to feel he'd do well to consider the bigger picture though. Having said that it's hardly outrageous for him to have his agent see what his options are and make a decision based on that.
When it comes down to it he's still only a 19 year old who's made 19 appearances this season and until the Hearts game at the end of November he was nowhere near our first team. For all he's had a solid enough debut season and he's shown up well, he's not broken through in a way that would warrant hype in the same way that say Tierney has at Celtic or even Erwin did for us last season. In fact I'd say that Cadden has probably made more of a tangible and positive impact on our side than Hall has and truth be told I'm much more ambivalent about the thought of Hall moving on than I would be Cadden.
Ultimately if Hall wants to stay then great, if his agent can get him a deal down south that matches what he's after (as seems to be the suggestion) then fine. It'd be a boot in the baws given the whole youth development angle the club have been pushing however at the same time it's something that if he moves on because we can't match his expectations then it's something that we'll probably have to get used to. It's happened before and it'll happen again.
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We will still have Moult and hopefully Skippy too would be a brilliant front 3 tbh
McGhee's on record as saying that we couldn't afford both McDonald and El Bakhtaoui's wages. So it's one or the other. Personally I'd stick with the guy who's proven at this level and look to invest that other wage in the centre of the park.
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I'm inclined to agree about some of the under contract guys possibly moving on, however that scenario obviously necessitates another team wanting them. I'm fairly sure if a team came along and enquired about the likes of Chalmers, Law, Ainsworth amongst others then we wouldn't be particularly difficult to deal with. Even if it was just a season loan deal to free up their wages then it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
I'm possibly reading too much into this but McGhee's trialling Laing and Johnson in the full back positions and the attributes he highlighted with regards them both ie: pace, athleticism etc suggests that ideally that's what he's looking for in his full backs. For all they have a certain value as squad players neither Law nor Chalmers fit the profile of marauding full back particularly well.
Agree 100% with Mitch about El Bakhtaoui. I wouldn't be against taking him on but I wouldn't be chucking money at him and relying on him to be our main striker. As I said in my post last night, if we are looking at another forward player then I'd have thought an physical centre forward would be higher on McGhee's shopping list than anything.
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I'm not sure, when asked a couple of weeks ago (I think post-Hearts) McGhee said of Samson that he'd give him at least another game to show what he could do which he did by picking him against County. I wouldn't necessarily have McGhee tagged as a sentimental type but daft as it sounds I got the feeling that Ripley would have played today out of obligation ie: he's been first choice virtually the entire season so he gets the jersey for the final game.If there was any intention of Samson being McGhee's number one, surely he would have stated against Celtic today. Can't see him hanging around if he can get first team football elsewhere.
Given the oddness in circumstances surrounding Samson actually being here (he got out of his contract at Killie because he didn't want to sit on the bench and arrived at Fir Park where...he's sat on the bench) and also given that he's another player that McGhee inherited but is at least in a position where he's not obliged to keep him then I do wonder whether McGhee would at the very least want to consider his options as far as who he may be able to bring in rather than being somewhat forced into keeping on the guy who was already here when he arrived. Samson's been pretty explicit in stating he's only interested in staying if he's first choice, which is fair enough but again McGhee doesn't really strike me as being the sort of guy who would be keen on being told "if I stay you have to pick me" by a player.
For what it's worth I think Samson's perfectly entitled to want first team football and I'm pretty sure there are a few clubs he could go to and be guaranteed #1 pick.
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Looking at that list above, working on an assumption that none of those who have been offered deals re-sign then we'd be looking at a team along these lines:
GK - ?
RB - Laing
RCB - Kennedy
LCB - ?
LB - Chalmers
RCM - Cadden
CM - ?
LCM - Pearson
RCF - Ainsworth
CF - Moult
LCF - Johnson
Subs
1. ?
2. Long ?
3. Thomas
4. Law
5. Watt
6. ?
7. ?
Ideally you'd want to see guys like Campbell, Turnbull, McLean in the 20s being brought through to supplement the squad in the same way Cadden and Hall have this season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mackin and Watt out on loan for a full season. Having said that there seems to have been a fair amount of chat that quite a few of the current 20s will be released so again, much like the first team it'll be interesting to see who is getting kept on.
It's telling that our worst performances last season have been the games where Lasley hasn't been available (Ross County, Hearts, Killie & Celtic) it seems fairly clear that we need to (finally) start addressing the central midfield area and for all I'd like Lasley to re-sign you'd hope that this is the close season where we sort things out with viable mid-term options.
I think there are a few question marks about some of the guys who are still under contract for example I get Chalmers was probably brought in to replace Francis-Angol as cover for Hammell at left back and is probably on a wage to match his squad role however we've seen on more than one occasion Johnson being asked to play there when Hammell hasn't been available so you have to ask yourself if McGhee would rather play a left sided striker/winger at left back as opposed to the guy who's actual role in the squad is supposed to be cover for the left back position then it doesn't say much for Chalmers long term viability. For all he's still under contract if there was a Championship side willing to take him on loan for the season and get him off the wage bill it might suit all parties.
Beyond that you have Ainsworth, for all there was a feeling that McGhee threw him under a bus after the Thistle game he's hardly taken his chances when they've been offered since then. McGhee's gone out his way to try and find a way to fit him into the side going 4231 and using wingers, he's even shifted McDonald back into midfield in his 433 to try and accommodate him and whilst he's chipped in with goals and assists we've generally looked a less solid unit with him in the side. It's kind of difficult to see where he fits in a McGhee team tbh.
So aye, as I've said before I'd hope that we see Hammell, Hall, McManus, Lasley and McDonald extend their deals but other than McManus and McDonald if they are re-signing I'd hope that they're used as cover rather than relying on them as the core of the team for another season. Weirdly the 7-0 against Celtic has left me a bit more comfortable about the idea of new faces coming in.
Also, for all Moult has had a superb debut season the last few games have really shown his limitations. He'll put in a shift no doubt and he's got a knack for scoring but he's not a player who'll dominate defenders. Again, it's interesting that McGhee mentioned at the end of the January window that we lack a target man, having watched Plymouth just there it's not entirely surprising that we were being linked with a player like Jamille Matt.
Edit: that's Jack Leitch apparently announced on his Twitter feed that he's leaving.
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That's yer Amoo signed a contract extension btw.
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There's yer Abdul Osman re-signing confirmed. 2 year deal.
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Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun
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Teenage Fanclub - Radio
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Liam McLeod advertising Radio Scotland's coverage of Wednesday's U20 final, Hearts v Jonatan Johansson's Motherwell.
Ooooft!
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Gold Chains - I Come From San Francisco
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That Celtic team are an absolute shambles.
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Remember Remember - Purple Phase
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2016 Scottish Cup Final - Hibernian FC v Rangers
in Domestic Cup Football
Posted
Tremendous scenes there. Well in Hibs.