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Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons


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2 hours ago, gavin_3110 said:

Although Motherwell have unearthed two gems over the last three or four years the amount of shit signed from the English lower leagues is unreal. Lee Lucas is one of the worst players I've ever seen at Fir Park, and you could name another 10 like him.

I agree.  I think the policy is flawed.  Unfortunately self loathing in Scottish football is at an all time high.  Fans will cheer a nonentity from Boreham Wood but a decent SPFL pro comes in and is more or less a marked man in the eyes of the fans because he's doesn't have enough novelty.

We sold Johnson at profit but if you add up the fees we've paid for players in the last couple of seasons how much profit would there be?  Moult is the only real success but other wise we've had a lot of mediocrity or dross like Jake Taylor and Craig Clay.  

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I thought the strategy was sound - but we've not signed players of sufficient quality this season, no two ways about it. I think McHugh is potentially an excellent player but almost everyone else from this season's batch looks either below the level we need or at best unproven. Our issue may be more to do with the fact that a lot of our "experienced Scottish players" are unable to contribute as they have in the past, which leaves a hole that is very difficult to fill with English non-league players..  

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McGhee got plenty of stick for "his signings" but I would genuinely be interested who had the final say in these deals.  When Hutchinson came in, the chat was around the new scouting model with the ideal of bringing in players from down south and selling them on for a profit. 

Looking at the deals we've brought in since January 2015 (first window following Les' takeover), which would fit that criteria.

Nathan Thomas (Plymouth) - Free 

Marvin Johnson (Kidderminster) - Undisclosed

Wes Fletcher (York City) - Free 

Louis Laing (Nottm Forest) - Free   

Louis Moult (Wrexham) - Undisclosed  

Kieran Kennedy (Leicester City) - Free  

Theo Robinson (Doncaster Rovers) - Free 

Ben Heneghan (Chester City) - Free

Richard Tait (Grimsby Town) - Free 

Jacob Blyth (Leicester City) - Free 

Carl McHugh (Plymouth) - Free

Ryan Bowman (Gateshead) - Undisclosed

Lee Lucas (Swansea City) - Free

Elliot Frear (Forest Green Rovers) - Free

Throw in the loan signings of Anthony Straker, Conor Grant, George Long, Jake Taylor, Connor Ripley, Liam Grimshaw, Luka Belic, Zac Jules & Russell Griffith.

How many would you class a success at this point, of those 23 players (12 permanent deals and 9 loans).  Louis Moult & Marvin Johnson.  Any more?  George Long did a job, and Grimshaw came onto a game for half a dozen appearances or so.  I like Richard Tait, but he's been part of a defence which has been shambolic this season.  Not a great reflection on whoever is in charge of this department.  Whether it's McGhee's call, a head of recruitment or the board? 

 

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Ripley was decent (we'd gladly have him back now IMO), Grimshaw looked potentially good. Both Tait and Hennegan have both looked good/very good at times but have been part of one of the worst defenses we've had (and that's saying something). After that - literally no-one. 

Whether it was McGhee/Bara or the Board is almost irrelevant (I would imagine that the Manager gets a say based on a scouting report and the board have to approve the deal) - the question is more, "Is the strategy good but the execution has been poor?" or "Is the Strategy a lot of shite because enough good players to make it work are not available in our budget range?".

I find it difficult to get away from the case that there is still a tendency to under-estimate the gap between English Non-league/League2 and our league. Moult and Johnson were, for whatever reason, playing at a level below where they should have been - but it's not clear that players that were merely decent in the lowest leagues down south are suited to playing against the better teams here...

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I could be wildly wrong here but have there not been 2 different "chief scouts", "head of recruitment" (call it what you want) over the past couple of years?

March 2015 - http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2015/03/09/gary-owers-is-head-of-recruitment/

June 2015 - http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2015/06/23/owers-leaves-for-gateshead/

Going by those dates Owers arriving in March was obviously after Baraclough's Deadline Day Bonanza in the play-off season so I'm not sure who would have scouted the likes of Thomas and Johnson.

The guy that's here now is Martin Foyle though I can't actually remember any announcement about him taking the role on.

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34 minutes ago, Desp said:

McGhee got plenty of stick for "his signings" but I would genuinely be interested who had the final say in these deals.  When Hutchinson came in, the chat was around the new scouting model with the ideal of bringing in players from down south and selling them on for a profit. 

Looking at the deals we've brought in since January 2015 (first window following Les' takeover), which would fit that criteria.

Nathan Thomas (Plymouth) - Free 

Marvin Johnson (Kidderminster) - Undisclosed

Wes Fletcher (York City) - Free 

Louis Laing (Nottm Forest) - Free   

Louis Moult (Wrexham) - Undisclosed  

Kieran Kennedy (Leicester City) - Free  

Theo Robinson (Doncaster Rovers) - Free 

Ben Heneghan (Chester City) - Free

Richard Tait (Grimsby Town) - Free 

Jacob Blyth (Leicester City) - Free 

Carl McHugh (Plymouth) - Free

Ryan Bowman (Gateshead) - Undisclosed

Lee Lucas (Swansea City) - Free

Elliot Frear (Forest Green Rovers) - Free

Throw in the loan signings of Anthony Straker, Conor Grant, George Long, Jake Taylor, Connor Ripley, Liam Grimshaw, Luka Belic, Zac Jules & Russell Griffith.

How many would you class a success at this point, of those 23 players (12 permanent deals and 9 loans).  Louis Moult & Marvin Johnson.  Any more?  George Long did a job, and Grimshaw came onto a game for half a dozen appearances or so.  I like Richard Tait, but he's been part of a defence which has been shambolic this season.  Not a great reflection on whoever is in charge of this department.  Whether it's McGhee's call, a head of recruitment or the board? 

 

 

On the limited showing I have seen Carl McHugh looks like a good signing.

You missed Craig Clay. Anonymous might be best description of his performances. And Samson is also posted missing.

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I didn't add in the likes of Samson/Pearson/McFadden/Gomis because I was referring to the players we've brought in from down south as part of this "new recruitment drive".  

Ironic I missed out Craig Clay.  Imagine forgetting about his performances, eh? :lol: 

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LOL'D


It's funny that I got the same reaction when I mentioned him to some of our fans for our job. Think he has done a cracking job at Partick, they were at best a yo-yo club across the last 20 years but he has established them as a proper top flight club with (I'm guessing) quite a small budget.
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On 28/02/2017 at 17:29, well fan for life said:
I'd be surprised if he did tbh. He's got a cushy number doing his TV stuff and coaching the 20s. 

Not only that but he's doing a genuinely good job with the 20s I can't see the club wanting disrupt that.

 

Edited by capt_oats
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3 hours ago, Desp said:

Yet you were touting Jimmy Calderwood for the Motherwell job? 

You used to be able to have a decent debate with you back in the day about all things Motherwell.  I didn't always agree with you, but you always put your point across fairly well, I thought.  

However, you're now trying too hard to live up to this 'MJC, Rangers fan, lol!' persona others tag you with.  It's really quite sad.  

The difference being that Jimmy Calderwood has never been Motherwell manager so hasn't had the chance to run his course or outstay his welcome.

I'm really not trying to do anything other than put my point across on this subject. I haven't mentioned Rangers and as far as I'm aware, Jimmy Calderwood has no previous connections with them. If I wanted to reel in the Rangers obsessed moon howlers on this one I'd have touted an Ally McCoist/Barry Ferguson 'dream team'.

I don't deny trolling the Rangers obsessors on this forum, but I leave that to Rangers threads whenever I can be arsed. This however - the job of Motherwell manager - is a topic which I actually take seriously.

 

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I've always quite liked McGhee as a guy, and would maybe have gave him the chance to redeem himself with the Killie game before emptying him, but I don't really have any complaints with him going. We did look increasingly like we were sleepwalking towards relegation.

I've got a really strong suspicion Robinson will be our next permanent manager, at least until the end of the season. On the face of it he doesn't seem to have done a great job at Oldham under difficult circumstances. Hopefully he hits the ground running, or we could be in serious bother.

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The bit on Sky about it has the delightful Natalie Sawyer suggesting we're looking to have a permanent manager in place before the Aberdeen game.

I've a feeling this is something that we've been considering probably since McGhee's breakdown after the game at Ibrox.

I'd be surprised if we went with something as obvious as Robinson tbh.

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/10785269/players-let-mcghee-down

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53 minutes ago, Dindeleux said:

 


It's funny that I got the same reaction when I mentioned him to some of our fans for our job. Think he has done a cracking job at Partick, they were at best a yo-yo club across the last 20 years but he has established them as a proper top flight club with (I'm guessing) quite a small budget.

If Archie went to another bottom 7 club it would be a backwards step. He has built us to where we are now and has been planning for the long term. So it can't even be argued as a sideways step tbh.

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