MJC

Likewise, that was the last straw for me as far as McCall was concerned. After all the cup disasters that had gone before, that topped the lot and he didn't even fill our subs bench in favour of an under 20s game. I said all along though and stand by it, that rightly or wrongly, a sizeable section of our support never forgave him for the Rangers League Cup defeat at Ibrox in 2012. Everything that was wrong with Stuart McCall's 'management' was summed up in this game...before, during and after.

I decide how many words I post. Not you, not anyone else. I decide.

I've answered this the last time he was brought up, but I'll do it again here. We got "best of the rest" three years running because for two of those three years we had the best squad outwith Celtic and Rangers(when they were there in 11/12). In the third season we carried an unbelievable amount of luck and McCall owed a lot to John Sutton for us to scrape to many an underserved win and of course for rattling Jamie Langfield in the last minute at Pittodrie. The football we played in 2013/14 was awful to watch and we only really had one sustained spell under McCall where we regularly played football that could have realistically be described as "pleasing on the eye" and that was in the second half of 2012/13 when we did admittedly play some lovely stuff. Stuart McCall benefitted greatly during his time with us from not only having a good squad of players but also being there at a time when Rangers went out the game, Hearts had their own financial troubles and they along with Aberdeen and Hibs were mid table to bottom six sides. However our cup records during this time was awful and while Kilmarnock, St.Mirren and St.Johnstone were lifting trophies despite not being anywhere near us in the league at this time, we were getting dumped out in the first rounds by newly formed Rangers, Albion Rovers, twice by pre-McInnes Aberdeen and then 10 man for 77 minutes Aberdeen. In all of those ties there was not one match you could point to and say we were unfortunate on the day, we were deservedly beaten in every single one and McCall's tactics and preparation was woeful and it cost us. His build up to the debacle at Ibrox in 2012 where despite us going into that game unbeaten and top of the league he talked down our chances because "they're still Rangers, their fans are their 12th man, bla, bla, bla" summed him up. Our efforts in Europe under McCall were equally awful and all they did was undo all of our good work to get there. We never looked like we believed we could even lay a glove on PAO, Levante and Kuban and indeed we didn't. Decent sides I grant you, but McCall yet again gave the impression that we were only there to make up the numbers. And then of course there was Stjarnan in 2014. Finally, a kinder draw but it ended up being the biggest shambles of the lot. Stuart McCall was a decent man to have around the club at that time but he was a poor manager. He inherited a spine of Randolph, Craigan, Hutchinson, Lasley, Jennings, Sutton and Murphy and although he gave us Higdon, Nicky Law and Ojamaa, he also gave us Omar Daley, Josh Law, Gunnar Nielsen, Iain Vigurs, Paul Lawson and tried to turn an unfit James McFadden into a right winger. He failed time and time again to step up to the plate in big games and tactically he was woeful, as was his use of substitutions. So, what more could he have done? Given the resources he had available to him he absolutely could and perhaps should have won us a cup but he failed miserably at a time that was surely our best chance since 1991. I'll give you two words to describe Stuart McCall's tenure as Motherwell manager.....Missed Opportunity.

I was just wondering where Simon Ramsen and the Law brothers were these days, no doubt they'll have popped up at Scunthorpe in some capacity by January at the latest. The bold Kenny's went there as his assistant too I see...if the local Nandos down there didn't do a roaring trade they certainly will now. I've certainly got an idea. Stuart McCall is and always has been one poor, poor manager who pissed away our best chance of winning silverware again when he had the best squad out with Celtic at his disposal.

The boy is made of glass it seems.

I can't see us getting much joy on Saturday, everything points to an utter shitfest on the plastic with us yet again struggling to score. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 0-0 then we lose on penalties again.

Two games in, no goals scored, four conceded and a defeat to an absolutely dreadful Accies side. Add to that our League Cup group.stages weren't exactly encouraging and we have done nothing to address the fact that the team has zero creativity. And we sign Connor fucking Sammon! It might only be mid August but the signs are not good and relegation really IS a distinct possibility this season.

On today's transfer business I'm happy that we have added a defender with pace, or so we're told, to the side as we certainly need it. It's worrying though that that appears to be the last transfer IN business that we are going to do this window, as a wide player or two wouldnt have been unwelcome.

Or Stevie Hammell in the 2011 SCF? Us trying to turn defenders into midfielders has a habit of ending badly.

Happy to see Aldred back although the lack of pace in our backline is a major concern. Him and Hartley will bully plenty of opposition strikers mind you, so that might compensate for that.

The one about mini skirts?

Robbo has a lot of credit in the bank with the support because of two wonderful cup runs last season which contained some big, significant victories along the way. Rightly so as well as that's nothing to be sniffed at. We reached two cup finals and comfortably avoided relegation largely by playing a robust, combative battling style which other sides couldn't match....having Louis Moult win us several points early on in the campaign undoubtedly helped too. This summer though was the time to kick on and we needed to address the fact that the side has zero creativity in it and I think we've fallen way short on that front. We being in journeyman carthorse Conor Sammon who becomes a first pick alongside another one in Curtis Main ahead of Danny Johnson; bring in Gorrin who starts the season as second fiddle to Grimshaw and Rose and we are now apparently after another central player in Callachan? I'm sorry but that's not what we need at all.

Not to mention Faddy at er, what's he doing now? To be honest, I kinda get it, fans are desperate to have their heroes but that that often results in them having wild beliefs and hopes about the player in question. McFadden is the best example out there. There were and indeed are some Motherwell fans out there who would have you believe that he was a world class player, held back by Everton because they didn't use his potential properly, when in reality he just wasn't good enough at that level. Don't get me wrong, he was brilliant for us in his first spell with us and deserved his move but I think a lot of our fans got carried away over just how good he actually was or could have been. Even with Scotland although he was an absolute maverick for them and scored some crucial goals, he was always more of a 'maverick' rather than a key part of the team. I see the same thing happening with Moult and now Kipre. Both did very well in their time with us and like McFadden before them, are/will be missed. But there are some out there who put them on.a pedestal which doesn't actually match their ability on the bigger stage.

That was Kipre all over though wasn't it? Performed better as the game wore on. If you think back to the beginning of last season there were quite a few games like that although in fairness he wasn't alone. Think of the Rangers semi final for the best example. I thought he was pretty horrific that day (albeit he was reportedly ill) and in the first half he was all over the place, a bag of nerves and nearly sold the jerseys at least once iirc. But then he had that shot cleared off the line towards the end of the half and after that he seemed to grow in confidence and his performance improved. The Aberdeen semi in the Scottish Cup actually followed a similar pattern for him in that he was pretty ropy and nervy in the first half but settled down in the second. At the end of the day he is still a young guy and has areas of his game he needs to work on, but as I said with the proper coaching he will go on to have a good career.

I wouldn't have thought so either to be honest, I think they'll be toiling behind Aberdeen yet again this season and I can't see anyone other than Celtic winning the two domestic cups so it'll be business as usual in Glasgow. It's still an amusing thought all the same.

Just being Sevco is enough to set the moon howlers off on a sabre toothed rattling rage, they just can't help themselces. If or indeed when you lot ever win a major trophy again or even mount a decent challenge for the title then there will be bursting of many a blood vessels from some folk in this country.

Definitely not in my opinion. He is very raw and his concentration levels are questionable to say the least. He has potential though a d with the right coaching he will do well in the game but I don't see him playing at the very top level. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him back in Scottish Football again in the next few years.

https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2018/08/04/get-a-free-replacement-on-kipre-printed-tops/ Lovely touch this from the club offering to replace any replica top with Kipre's name and number on the back. It's great seeing the club so in touch with the support these days, we have improved so much on that front over the last year. Well done Motherwell.

If it makes you feel any better, Kipre had an absolute nightmare in the corresponding fixture last year at Easter Road.

As I said, unless we recruit adequate replacements over the next month then it certainly is. We can't afford to lose key players and not replace them, it's that simple. I've seen nothing from the league cup ties to suggest we are going to improve on or even maintain last season's level of effort in the league and given we have just lost a key player, could potentially lose a couple more and already have a significant catalogue of injuries, it doesn't bode well for us.

Onfield this departure has dealt us another hammer blow for the beginning of the league season. We go into the opening game minus Dunne, Campbell, Bowman and potentially Cadden, McHugh and Carson plus we've just lost a key player from last season. Needless to say we have a massive month ahead of us before the window shuts as we need adequate replacements brought in. The worrying thing though is that we may well yet lose a couple of more players before the month is out, that could be potentially disastrous for us this season. Look what happened to Dundee Utd a few years back when they lost several key players at once, they've not recovered yet. Last season our biggest strength was our combative, physical style of play and we've just lost a key part of that plus we are without Dunne for the first two months of the season. So I think there is definite cause for concern for us this season and unless we get the next part of our 'rebuilding' job spot on then relegation is a distinct possibility. And to be honest, our dealings so far this summer havent been great stall so it's worrying times for us.

Indeed, and those improved deals are probably going to help get us the bigger transfer fee. So all in all we have done well with Cedric Kipre.

He's off then. Best of luck to the big fella. He came in as a free transfer last summer and wasn't expected to be a first team regular, his name on his shirt was even wrongly spelt as 'Tipre' on his debut against Queens Park last July. But he went on to be a pivitol part of our season and two wonderful cup runs. He was raw and at times a bombscare but overall he did well for us and seemed to love playing for the club. Now he moves on and nets us a tidy transfer fee. Not bad for a free transfer youngster we signed only a year ago. I'm going to miss him.

The club have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years when it comes to transfer fees for our top players. As has been said above, it wasn't so long ago we were losing half a team for nothing as we did at the end of 2012/13 and at best seeing our best players go for a pittance. The recent business for Moult, Erwin, Johnson etc have been impressive and a clear sign that we are finally getting our act together on that front.

Nope, just an Aberdeen hater.