Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Swello]

5 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

So...Beneghan?

I'd take him back as he's a known quantity and you'd assume he wouldn't need any  time to settle in given that he did pre-season with us. Possibly a bit of a minter for him coming back so quickly...

[capt_oats]

6 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

So...Beneghan?

 

52 minutes ago, Swello said:

I'd take him back as he's a known quantity and you'd assume he wouldn't need any  time to settle in given that he did pre-season with us. Possibly a bit of a minter for him coming back so quickly...

Assuming we've still got Hartley around then that'd be fine if he's back on loan and we're not paying anything other than a % of wages. I wasn't a huge fan of Heneghan first time round and we definitely won a watch by getting cash in for him but as Swello says; he's a known quantity. Hopefully it's not a case of United having found the receipt.

You'd think they feel he needs games as he's only been playing u23 football down there though has made the bench for the 1st team a couple of times.

I've posted before but we've 100% burned Kipré out. He's played every minute in the league and the only minutes he missed was the LC final having been sent off. Robinson said the other week that he felt we needed a right sided centre half in as cover for Kipré. Heneghan ticks that box.

Our alternatives would either be some non-descript option from the English lower leagues that would cause further meltdowns or someone we're asking to step up from the seaside leagues with no guarantees. We're not signing Cannavaro, Baresi or Maldini equivalents.

I noticed that Peter Grant at Falkirk is apparently out of contract in the summer. He ticks a few boxes in terms of profile: Centre half, he's played a shitload of games for them, is over 23 so wouldn't involve a dev fee however Falkirk are also 2nd bottom of the Championship. If we were looking in Scotland then that's probably the sort of option that'd be realistic but in truth would probably result in heads-gone all over the internets too.

Edited January 5, 2018 by capt_oats

[Busta Nut]

Heneghan can't play on the right side of a back 3, he proved that last season. So I imagine it'd be a back three of Kipre, Ben, Hartley.

 

Dunne at LWB??  Who knows what will happen.

[capt_oats]

3 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

Heneghan can't play on the right side of a back 3, he proved that last season. So I imagine it'd be a back three of Kipre, Ben, Hartley.

Dunne at LWB??  Who knows what will happen.

In honesty Tait and Frear are probably better LWB options.

I was wondering whether Dunne was one of the players Robinson was taking shots at when he was talking about the same mistakes being made on a regular basis.

I could see it being a back 3 or back 4 tbh.

Carson
Tait Heneghan/Kipré Hartley Dunne
Cadden Campbell McHugh Frear
Tanner Main/?

or

Carson
Kipré Heneghan Hartley
Cadden Campbell McHugh Bigi Tait
Tanner Main/?

[Busta Nut]

54 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

In honesty Tait and Frear are probably better LWB options.

I was wondering whether Dunne was one of the players Robinson was taking shots at when he was talking about the same mistakes being made on a regular basis.

I could see it being a back 3 or back 4 tbh.

Carson
Tait Heneghan/Kipré Hartley Dunne
Cadden Campbell McHugh Frear
Tanner Main/?

or

Carson
Kipré Heneghan Hartley
Cadden Campbell McHugh Bigi Tait
Tanner Main/?

I don't disagree. However I think Robbo is unsure of what to do to stop the rot.

Frear is wasted at LWB. he needs to play further forward.

From what I have heard anaw it is Ben who was pushin for a move back to us on loan. So be interesting to see if it does indeed happen.

[capt_oats]

Just now, Busta Nut said:

I don't disagree. However I think Robbo is unsure of what to do to stop the rot.

Frear is wasted at LWB. he needs to play further forward.

From what I have heard anaw it is Ben who was pushin for a move back to us on loan. So be interesting to see if it does indeed happen.

Strongly agree on that point re: Frear.

[dezz]

Strongly agree on that point re: Frear.

Absolutely. Frear isn’t the strong runner that can carry the ball 50-60 yards and put in a cross like Cadden.

He’s much more of a tricky winger - beat his man with a couple of touches, get to the by line and get the ball in. He needs to be played further forward to get the most out of him.

Easier said than done but if we could get a striker that can play up top on his own i’d love to see Frear - Tanner - Cadden in behind a lone frontman.

[capt_oats]

There's yer Stevie Hammell retiring to take over from Leitch as Academy Director. http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2018/01/05/steven-hammell-retiring-to-become-academy-director/

 

 

Edited January 5, 2018 by capt_oats

[Swello]

That's a good job for him - and it's good that (just like Las and Craggs) that we don't lose the experience of such a long serving player. I've always liked him as a player - and he was probably playing at the right level. I don't think he had the physical attributes to play at a decent level in England - but he was more than decent at our level and was as consistent as anyone has been over the past 20 years.

It's odd to think how lucky we've been with Left Backs over the years -  Joe Wark was before my time but given he had the jersey from the late 60's to the mid 80's, and when you throw in Boyd, McKinnon, McMillan and Hammy - you could have some ageing Motherwell supporters who've only seen a handful of first choice left backs in their life - and the majority of them were first class.

It's difficult to get away from the feeling that with Hammell passing out of the first team, that we've seen the last of the long-serving players at our club  - I think that is something that will be vanishingly rare now, sadly. 

[capt_oats]

I take it that'll mean Hammell won't be taking the u15s any more if he's taking Leitch's role and overseeing the whole operation?

So far we've got:
Assistant manager - Lasley
Academy director - Hammell
u20s - Craigan
u20s assistant / u17s (?) - McManus

Who are the other age group coaches? I know Brian Kerr was there for a while helping out but he's at Albion Rovers now right? With Project Brave referenced extensively in the Hammell PR I take it there's a fair chance we'll be seeing another couple of coaches coming in?

We've got Corrigan scouting as well. That's some amount of appearances involved with the backroom staff.

Edit: I just checked and wiki only shows Corrigan's league games but even noting that; between the 5 of them it comes to 1,838 appearances for Motherwell.

Edited January 5, 2018 by capt_oats

[Gianfranco]

Crying shame that the likes of Hammell, Lasley and Cragain never won anything with us. Says it all that we’ve been trying to replace Hammy for years. Left backs are a dying breed.

[dezz]

I take it that'll mean Hammell won't be taking the u15s any more if he's taking Leitch's role and overseeing the whole operation?
So far we've got:
Assistant manager - Lasley
Academy director - Hammell
u20s - Craigan
u20s assistant / u17s (?) - McManus
Who are the other age group coaches? I know Brian Kerr was there for a while helping out but he's at Albion Rovers now right? With Project Brave referenced extensively in the Hammell PR I take it there's a fair chance we'll be seeing another couple of coaches coming in?
We've got Corrigan scouting as well. That's some amount of appearances involved with the backroom staff.
Edit: I just checked and wiki only shows Corrigan's league games but even noting that; between the 5 of them it comes to 1,838 appearances for Motherwell.

I read an article about David Clarkson’s departure from St Mirren last week and it was mentioned that he has been helping coach our youth teams. Not sure at what age group(s) or if it is in any formal capacity though.

[capt_oats]

Just now, dezz said:

I read an article about David Clarkson’s departure from St Mirren last week and it was mentioned that he has been helping coach our youth teams. Not sure at what age group(s) or if it is in any formal capacity though.

 

That's interesting, if unsurprising, about Clarkson. It'd seem a pretty natural step tbh.

I seem to recall Jim Paterson mentioning in his interview for the Podcast book that he'd been speaking to Leitch about the possibility of getting involved with coaching at the club as well but he was still registered as a player at the time and was involved with the coaching at Stenhousemuir. He's a PT these days as I remember.

[Busta Nut]

A stat from my mate Joe.

Chris Cadden is now our longest serving player also most apps.

[Antiochas III]

1 hour ago, Busta Nut said:

A stat from my mate Joe.

Chris Cadden is now our longest serving player also most apps.

And only 21.  There can not be many teams that have a 21 year old as both longest serving and player with most Apps.  

[MJC]

Good luck to Stevie Hammell in his new role and thanks for a wonderful career with us where he gave us his best years. I doubt we will see another player chalk up so many appearances as he did. He was an excellent player for us, wonderful touch, good crossing ability and in his younger days had a fair bit of pace about him. I remember him breaking into the side in the year 2000 as an 18 year old and even then you knew he had something about him and when we lost our then regular left back, Stephen McMillan, a year later the void was easily filled. Hammell was a stalwart in some very good Motherwell teams as well as some really poor ones and even today, he is still the best left back at the club! The only thing he could have done more in his time with us was win some silverware, but the same could be said of any number of Motherwell greats over the years.

The word 'legend' is thrown about far too easily, but in Stevie Hammell's case it is fully merited. Almost 600 club appearances over two spells, in almost 18 years with the club, played in Europe, two Cup Finals and one of the first names on the teamsheet every week during that time. He has been a much better servant to Motherwell FC than the fanboys favourite James McFadden in my opinion and hopefully he will go on to have a better coaching experience with the club than McFadden did too.

[Casagolda]

On ‎04‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 17:25, MJC said:

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.

You'll be glad to hear we're being linked with Craig Curran of Ross County now as well then.

Robinson seemingly going for the biggest collection of 'hard working but not exactly prolific' strikers possible.

 

 

 

 

[capt_oats]

20 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

You'll be glad to hear we're being linked with Craig Curran of Ross County now as well then.

Robinson seemingly going for the biggest collection of 'hard working but not exactly prolific' strikers possible.

Was just talking about that in the County thread. Interestingly his record at County (according to transfermarkt) is 28 goals in 103 games which equates to 1 in 3.67 games. Which isn't quite as bad as I was expecting.

In honesty, unless Robinson's going to break from type and take a chance on someone who's a gamble I don't see where we're getting a striker who's shown any sort of track record. Mid-season I don't see teams wanting to let 18 goal a season strikers go on the cheap. In that respect our options are someone who's out of contract or who's frozen out at his current club and who may act the c**t.

In fairness, the tweet from McManus suggests we're interested rather than it being a done deal or anything. McManus has McLeish as nailed on for the Rangers job according to what he'd "heard" so while I wouldn't be wholly surprised if Curran was an option we were looking at (he does seem a very Robinson type of player), it's possible he's just one of a few.

[Casagolda]

I don't actually mind Curran,  he certainly fits the bill for a Robinson type player- a hard working nuisance who'll put himself about. It just seems strange we'd apparently go out our way to pay a fee for a 28 year old journeymen striker who's never scored more than 8 league goals in a season during his career,  especially when we've already got Bowman and just signed Main who are both very similar type of strikers.

To be honest, I don't know where we could get a proven goal scorer from and I certainly won't criticise Robinson for failing to sign one. The last time we signed one was probably McDonald and there's no chance we would have gotten him if he didn't already have an emotional attachment to the club as there's no doubt he could have earned far more money elsewhere. I mean just take a look at the guys we've signed since McDonald; 

Wes Fletcher -  1 goal
David Clarkson - 0 goals
Louis Moult - 50 goals
Theo Robinson - 0 goals
Jacob Blyth - 0 goals
Ryan Bowman - 9 goals
Alex Fisher - 0 goals

Not exactly a stellar list outside Moult, plus one that I suppose shows the difficulty of trying to find a decent striker in the markets we shop in. As I said before though the worrying thing just now is for the first time in a long time we don't have a Moult, a McDonald or a Sutton etc to fall back on if we happen to sign any more duffers. 

[capt_oats]

10 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

Wes Fletcher -  1 goal
David Clarkson - 0 goals
Louis Moult - 50 goals
Theo Robinson - 0 goals
Jacob Blyth - 0 goals
Ryan Bowman - 9 goals
Alex Fisher - 0 goals

Funny you mention "FA Cup hero" Theo Robinson. I was on a Southend United forum yesterday, for reasons that escape me, and they're talking about him heading back to Lincoln. He got a move to them after the cup exploits where he scored 7 in 7 games but he's only managed 2 in 28 since he signed. The more you look at it the English lower leagues just seem to be an absolute racket.

Edit: I was having a look on the Southend forum to see if there was any mention of Hammell retiring.

Edited January 7, 2018 by capt_oats