Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[capt_oats]

2 hours ago, Casagolda said:

See if we signed Hartley on a permanent deal, I don't think you'd really miss any of them long term would you?

I think guys like Dunne and Rose are nowhere near as bad as some make them out to be and have by an large 'done a job' in the short term. however I'm not sure at this moment in time I'd be rushing to offer either of them long term contracts- although I think Dunne might be due an extension soon due to his initial contract.

I think we can all agree that Hammell is pretty much done sadly. Both Plummer and Xenodochof were squad fillers when we were light on numbers who probably won't kick a ball for us before being released. The likes of Griffiths, Grimshaw and Petravicius all fall into the same category of being squad players who've been largely found wanting when the chance has been presented to them- not through lack of effort, they all just look extremely limited players who'll struggle at this level.

I think Newell has a bit of something about him but due to circumstance has been rushed into the first team earlier than Robinson would have hoped and isn't someone we can rely upon in the short term. I'm still undecided on Bowman, he looks a shadow of the player he was in the first few months of the season and 2 goals in 15 games since September is a pretty rotten return for a guy who, at this moment in time, is probably considered our main striker. Although when your only other senior striker hasn't even notched a goal yet this season the competition isn't exactly fierce.

Which is why in the short term, we need at least 1 decent striker in during the January window. I know Robinson says he wants 2 but we really need someone who can make an immediate impact, we don't really have time for a long term project who might take his time to find his feet at this level- easier said than done on our budget though of course. Could probably do with another centre back as well considering Hartley will now miss at least the next 3 games.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Robinson try and shift a few of those under contract on as well- I expect we'll be fairly busy and see at least 3 new bodies come in with as many if not more on their way out.

Agree with all of that tbh. 

Even if Hartley signs permanently then we could use another centre half and not just because of the impending suspension. According to Transfermarkt Kipré has played the full 90 of every league game, in fact the only game he's not finished was the LC final. There's no way that's sustainable and his dips in form can't really be a surprise. He was brought in as a trialist with a view to developing and we've essentially made him a 1st team starter.

Looking at the forward situation, a couple of months ago you'd have thought Bowman would have been a cert for a new deal but thinking back to the summer I seem to recall chat that we were actively trying to move him on and truth be told he looks a far from being our main striker now as he did at the end of last season. Tanner's got 3 goals in his last 5 games and seems to have been the one forward player Robinson's been relatively happy with and though he's clearly not going to carry the team his numbers are better than Calum McGregor's.

Going by the BBC's stats our forwards show up as follows (for the league):

Quote

Moult - 8 goals, 1 assist - 1,166 mins played, 146 mins per goal
Tanner - 5 goals, 3 assists - 948 mins played, 190 mins per goal
Bowman - 5 goals, 1 assist - 1,426 mins played, 285 mins per goal
Fisher - 0 goals, 0 assists, 498 mins played....still waiting

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/scottish-premiership/top-scorers

The above makes me wonder whether we might just cut our losses with one of Bowman and/or Fisher if we can find clubs to take them with a view to getting in a replacement for Moult +1 . Given his post-match interviews that seemed to be what Robinson was hinting at.

Robinson's comments about players who keep making the same mistakes raised an eyebrow as there are a few who fall into that category and not just those whose contracts are expiring. McHugh has been culpable through the season in terms of ball retention and while I agree that Dunne's been nowhere near as bad as he's been made out to be, in fact he's been better than I thought he would based on the reviews he was getting from Oldham and Blackpool fans when he signed, however his distribution has consistently been terrible.

Given we've reportedly brought in £1m + in fees this season already I'd imagine that any business we'll be doing will be deals that we actively want to do. I could easily see 3 or 4 in and a few out. I'd say it's almost guaranteed that those on the fringes like MacLean and Turnbull will be loaned out. In fact I'm pretty sure Flow effectively confirmed Turnbull would be out on loan this window when he was on the podcast a while back.

Edited January 2, 2018 by capt_oats

[thisGRAEME]

3 hours ago, Casagolda said:

I think Newell has a bit of something about him but due to circumstance has been rushed into the first team earlier than Robinson would have hoped and isn't someone we can rely upon in the short term. I'm still undecided on Bowman, he looks a shadow of the player he was in the first few months of the season and 2 goals in 15 games since September is a pretty rotten return for a guy who, at this moment in time, is probably considered our main striker. Although when your only other senior striker hasn't even notched a goal yet this season the competition isn't exactly fierce.

He's been really unlucky, I think. The chat was all that we had brought him in with a view of fast-tracking him out of the 20s if he looked ready, which he was, and he did. 

Unfortunately, we're asking a guy to step up to a level far above where he's been before, off the back of a significant injury, which would explain why he looks absolutely burst after half an hour.

Agree though, think we'll see something from him next year, rather than this, though. All it does is highlight our need for another body in ASAP.

[Fuctifano]

You're signing someone called Curtis Main from Portsmouth according to (Thistle supporting) journo Alan Nixon on twitter. 

[capt_oats]

23 hours ago, Fuctifano said:

You're signing someone called Curtis Main from Portsmouth according to (Thistle supporting) journo Alan Nixon on twitter. 

Just saw that. Pompey fans are...how shall I put it? Not complimentary.

1 goal in 9 for them this season, 6 goals in 23 appearances. 50+ games for Middlesboro at Championship level but only 6 goals though he was still only 19 when he made his debut. You wouldn't imagine had he been a prolific scorer at that age, at that level he'd be on our radar. He was 15 when he made his debut for Darlington and is their youngest ever player.

Seems to have had his best spell at Doncaster tbh.

In honesty this makes me think that tea's oot for Fisher and/or Bowman.

This is a LOL though.

Quote

Loan to Oldham

Main joined Oldham Athletic of League One on 15 February 2016 on loan until the end of the season. In March, Doncaster attempted to recall Main, but all parties had to agree on his return, and Main refused. With Oldham and Doncaster both trying to avoid relegation to League Two, Doncaster manager Darren Ferguson considered Main's decision "unfortunate". After Main helped Oldham stay up while his parent club did not, he was transfer-listed at the end of the season.

Edit: having done a wee bit more digging it seems like he's actually quite well thought of at Oldham. Here are a couple of quotes from their forum that seems quite illustrative.

Quote

"Higdon and Fuller were responsible for the worst centre forward display of last season at Mansfield, painful to watch and both of them looked like they were running through treacle, seeing as Higdon had put on another stone or two of timber I can't see how he could do anything for us, I'd have Curtis Main back in a heartbeat, could lead the line on his own and trouble the opposition through sheer desire and physicality."

"I never thought last season that Holloway or Main looked like players that would score goals, but the type of player that needs someone alongside them who will.
Holloway got injured before it would have been fair to confirm that view and then Curtis completely proved me wrong."

"Last season, following Holloways injury, Curtis Main stepped up admirably and was IMO just as effective in the "outlet" role, but managed to stay available until the end of the season AND score some important goals"

http://www.owtb.co.uk/topic/50035-ex-players-and-that/?do=findComment&comment=883166
http://www.owtb.co.uk/topic/49434-strikers/?do=findComment&comment=894615
http://www.owtb.co.uk/topic/49618-holloway/?do=findComment&comment=904812

Edited January 3, 2018 by capt_oats

[capt_oats]

There's yer Curtis Main signed. http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2018/01/03/curtis-main-makes-motherwell-move/

This quote seems relevant...

Quote

"I’ve brought him here to bolster our attacking options and get amongst the goals. He’s a strong, sharp, tenacious player with an eye for goal. If you look back on his career, he’s scored all different types.

“I am still looking to add more forward players to create real competition in that area of the field.”

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by capt_oats

[Desp]

That squad full of sexy lads seems a long time ago now, doesn't it?

[well fan for life]

Just now, Desp said:

That squad full of sexy lads seems a long time ago now, doesn't it?

Can we sign Handsome John Sutton just for the new jersey launch?

Club calendar can be just him in 12 different poses.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

CUR-TIS  MAIN!

 

 

[Swello]

Never heard of the guy - 

On 02/01/2018 at 16:52, capt_oats said:

the worst centre forward display of last season at Mansfield, painful to watch and both of them looked like they were running through treacle, seeing as Higdon

 

[Casagolda]

My concern is that from I've read the guy seems to be hard worker that puts himself about but isn't an overly prolific goal scorer- which sounds more like a replacement for Bowman than Moult. Although going by Robinson's spiel on the website we could be seeing a few more forwards on their way in this month, which in turn could well spell the end for at least one if not both of Bowman and Fisher.

Good luck to the guy, let's be honest his track record doesn't exactly excite but then again very few of our signings do. Although to be fair the last time I was excited about a signing based on their pedigree was Bigirimana and he's been quite the let down so far. He does seem to have had the odd decent spell without ever really settling or fulfilling his potential anywhere so you live in hope we might be the one's that get the best out of him.

Or, he could join the every growing list of dud strikers(basically everyone bar Moult) we've recruited since the aforementioned big Johnny Handsome left a few years ago. This time things are a bit different though, cause for the first time in a long time we don't have a proven striker at this level to fall back on,.

 

[capt_oats]

12 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

My concern is that from I've read the guy seems to be hard worker that puts himself about but isn't an overly prolific goal scorer- which sounds more like a replacement for Bowman than Moult. Although going by Robinson's spiel on the website we could be seeing a few more forwards on their way in this month, which in turn could well spell the end for at least one if not both of Bowman and Fisher.

Glad you said that because that was 100% my take on him when I read the spiel.

RG's just posted in the St Johnstone thread that it seems Ciftci's possibly available again as there's a bit of chatter on the interwebs. He absolutely doesn't seem anything like Robinson's type of player and we don't seem keen on loans but given it's the January window and it's slim pickings if we were looking for someone to replace Moult as a focal point and, dare I say it, a name then given we were in for him last January and Lasley's apparently a fan then someone like that is as good an option as I can see us getting tbh.

He's been a disaster at Plymouth, Adams seems desperate to get rid and you can't imagine anyone would touch him in England at the moment. He'd probably be one of the first names on the team sheet here though with Bowman, Fisher, Newell et al as competition.

Edited January 4, 2018 by capt_oats

[thisGRAEME]

Took the same view on the "hard-working" bit. Wondered if we were cashing in on Bowman before he runs his contract down.

I couldn't care less whether a centre-forward moves about 9 inches all match, if he sticks it in the pokey with regularity he'll get a pass.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I've not seen Ciftci play in about 4 years but I'd take him. Can never have enough utter b*****ds. 

[capt_oats]

7 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

I've not seen Ciftci play in about 4 years but I'd take him. Can never have enough utter b*****ds. 

He's had 3 loan stints and all of them have been disasters. The Celtic move seems to have utterly and unequivocally fucked him;

• Eskisehirspor - 12 games 4 goals
• Pogon Szczecin - 10 games 0 goals
• Plymouth Argyle - 7 games 0 goals

On top of his record at Celtic of 26 games 4 goals and the general 'flop' tag he has there.

Having said that. You look at his record at United; 17 in 40 and 16 in 42 not to mention his general style of play when he's 'on it' and it's difficult not to feel like he could slot in to the role Moult's left. Especially if he's told he'll be playing every week, which hasn't happened at Argyle. He's someone we've shown concrete interest in before and who has shown he's capable of scoring goals in the Premiership as well as having the sort of creativity we've been lacking up front for ages.

Adams has all but said he'd happily bin him but Celtic won't take him back so it's a case of the player sitting around down there unless another club is willing to take him and his agent is apparently "on the case". I know Adams is hardly known for his social skills but it's a pretty weird situation tbh given you have 2 clubs who are publicly saying they don't want the player.

Ultimately there was always going to be some sort of pushback from fans whoever came in after Moult left. It's understandable to a point but we're clearly not going to be signing an in form player who's got a barrel-load of goals to his name just now because, they'll cost a lot of money. As an example Christian Doidge who's at Forest Green Rovers where we signed Frear from this time last year has 15 goals in 31 games this season, FGR are bottom of League 2 and heading for relegation but the fee being mentioned for him is £1m.

IMO our best shot of getting a player with a track record of scoring goals will be on a free in the summer. In January I'd say we're looking at players who are out of contract in the summer and/or have been marginalised and are on the fringes at their current clubs. Main pretty much falls into that category and as others have said it seems to be his off the ball attributes that have been appealing. As far as I can see he's never been in double figures in a season, even Bowman had that to point to when he signed.

[MJC]

3 hours ago, Casagolda said:

My concern is that from I've read the guy seems to be hard worker that puts himself about but isn't an overly prolific goal scorer- which sounds more like a replacement for Bowman than Moult.

Just what we need, another forward who doesn't score goals.

Obviously best of luck to the lad but his stats and accounts from supporters of his previous clubs don't sound encouraging.

[Swello]

3 hours ago, thisGRAEME said:

I couldn't care less whether a centre-forward moves about 9 inches all match, if he sticks it in the pokey with regularity he'll get a pass.

I actually think that's what we might need - we've got runners coming out of our ears - more of a poacher (if that's still a thing) would be good I think.

On the new guy , my opinion - as it always is when we sign someone from the lower reaches in England - is  basically " " - a total blank but I'm obviously willing to give him a chance to see what he can do. I'm not in the knicker-wetting club normally - but my main concern with letting Moult go is that we need someone to start scoring pretty much instantly and I think that is tricky in January. I can only think of Ojamaa (who was a real shot in the dark that worked out) and McDonald (utterly proven at our level and a low risk) who contributed like that straight away - not sure if I'm forgetting anyone but I don't ever remember it being a great window for us (or not right away at least).

[Busta Nut]

elliott frear

[YassinMoutaouakil]

So...Beneghan?

[WellView]

English conference teams pay more than we do. Who did you think we were going to sign? 

 

[well fan for life]

Saying we’ve never done anything in January?!

How very fucking dare you!