Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[capt_oats]

Still seems early for them to be doing the POTY but I guess it makes sense as with the split it's probably the only obvious gap in fixtures before the end of the season.

Player of the Year: Trevor Carson
Well Society Player of the Year: Trevor Carson
Players Player of the Year: Trevor Carson
Management and Coaching Player of the Year: Richard Tait
Young Player of The Year: Allan Campbell
Goal of the Season: Carl McHugh
Top Goalscorer: Craig Tanner

 

[Swello]

Hard to argue with those - i do like that Carson swept the board as it proves that (a) he has been brilliant this season and (b) after watching so many goalkeeping horror shows over the  years, Well fans voted out of relief 

Also nice to see Tait get some recognition as he is massively improved over last season and based on his performances againt Rangers and Celtic, that Scotland shout wasn't as outrageous as it seemed at the time...

[capt_oats]

Carson and Campbell were both my picks in the vote FWIW. I'm presuming Tanner's getting top goalscorer because Moult's no longer at the club.

That 0-0 yesterday was Carson's 15th clean sheet of the season which puts him on par with Ruddy's 09/10 record (subsequently bettered by Randolph). That's pretty good company to be in as far as 'well 'keepers go. It really shows the value in making the GK position a priority rather than an afterthought. £10k well spent IMO.

 

[Busta Nut]

It is far too early to be voting on these things. Doubt much would have changed but still.

[Al B]

I don't think POTY would change much with so few games left, but I fully expect that come the end of the season our top goalscorer award won't have been won by our top goalscorer.

[Casagolda]

12 minutes ago, Al B said:

I don't think POTY would change much with so few games left, but I fully expect that come the end of the season our top goalscorer award won't have been won by our top goalscorer.

Who do you think going to overtake Tanner’s nine goals like?

I’d say it’d be a fairly safe bet that Tanner will still be at least our joint top scorer come the end of the season. 

[Al B]

4 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

Who do you think going to overtake Tanner’s nine goals like?

I’d say it’d be a fairly safe bet that Tanner will still be at least our joint top scorer come the end of the season. 

Curtis Main is on 6, I wouldn't be too surprised if he got another 3+ with 6 or 7 games to go, mostly against bottom 6 opposition.

[Casagolda]

25 minutes ago, Al B said:

Curtis Main is on 6, I wouldn't be too surprised if he got another 3+ with 6 or 7 games to go, mostly against bottom 6 opposition.

He could, I’m not sure he will though.

I know he scored 3 on the bounce when he first joined but he’s only scored 3 in 11 games since(including a pen).

I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m massive fan of Main and think he’s been a tremendous signing- his display against Rangers was as good a centre forward display as I’ve seen at Fir Park. However 4 goals in 6(or 7) games is a big ask for a guy who’s never been a prolific striker throughout his career. 

Plus, I just don’t see us as a team scoring many goals between now and the end of the season if I’m being honest.

[capt_oats]

44 minutes ago, Al B said:

Curtis Main is on 6, I wouldn't be too surprised if he got another 3+ with 6 or 7 games to go, mostly against bottom 6 opposition.

Bowman's on 7. I'd say Main's probably more likely mind you.

Kind of related to @Casagolda's point about us not scoring that many between now and the end of the season it'll be interesting to see what happens with Bowman's contract situation. He's clearly a pretty likeable guy who puts in a shift but that's twice this season he's been given an opportunity to stake his claim due to injuries (to Moult in December and Ciftci recently) and by and large we've struggled to score goals.

Obviously in December we had a ton of players out injured and Tanner's been missing recently but it doesn't really feel like Bowman's taking the opportunity (figuratively and literally). Robinson was pretty critical of his forward options back in December and shipped Fisher out off the back of it. I'm curious to see whether we stick with Bowman or whether we change it up.

I'm possibly reading too much into things but I though Bigi's comment in the post-match interview was quite telling when he said he'd hoped to take the opportunity "show the manager you can do what he asks." A lot of Robinson's selections seem to be about trusting the player and given his limited game time I'm not sure he's100% sold on Bigi. The way he's speaking here it sounds like he realises he's got a fair bit to prove.

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by capt_oats

[Al B]

2 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

He could, I’m not sure he will though.

I know he scored 3 on the bounce when he first joined but he’s only scored 3 in 11 games since(including a pen).

I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m massive fan of Main and think he’s been a tremendous signing- his display against Rangers was as good a centre forward display as I’ve seen at Fir Park. However 4 goals in 6(or 7) games is a big ask for a guy who’s never been a prolific striker throughout his career. 

Plus, I just don’t see us as a team scoring many goals between now and the end of the season if I’m being honest.

See I'm the opposite...I just have a feeling (which I'm happy to admit is based on absolutely nothing at all), that we'll finish quite strong.

[Casagolda]

2 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Bowman's on 7. I'd say Main's probably more likely mind you.

I was going to mention Bowman, however he’d need 3 goals to overtake Tanner before the end of the season- you’d have to go back 24 games to account for his last 3 goals..

 

[Swello]

I'm imagining a forward line next season where Main is in the Bowman role supporting an out and out goalscorer - and I think it could be damn good...

[capt_oats]

14 minutes ago, Swello said:

I'm imagining a forward line next season where Main is in the Bowman role supporting an out and out goalscorer - and I think it could be damn good...

Given we were in for the 4th striker on deadline day (rumoured to have been Shay McCartan at Bradford) it's fair to say Robinson would prefer to be running with at least 4 first team strikers in the squad plus a Newell-a-like to supplement it.

One thing that has occurred to me is that Robinson's never really got hold of that "pacy forward" he's often talked about needing. I'm guessing that was the logic behind Petravicius but it seems clear that trying to convert him from a winger to a striker hasn't really played out as they hoped.

I'm pretty ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about Bowman, if he extends his deal it'd surely be as 4th choice. It kind of feels that we definitely need upgrades up front though. Robinson wasn't shy in getting shot of players he didn't think were up to it last summer so I don't see that this summer will be any different.

Edited April 8, 2018 by capt_oats

[Gianfranco]

I’m undecided on Bowman as well. I like the guy but he simply hasn’t scored enough. He’d been a decent option for 4th choice but even then is he holding back the young lads?

[MJC]

I'd be moving Bowman on in the summer without question and be keeping Main & Tanner as well as bringing in a 'Number Nine' striker. As I've said before about Ryan Bowman, he is the type of forward player you want as a foil to a Moult or even a Higdon type striker and indeed at the start of the season he was just that to Moult but he hasnt been the same since he left, neither has the rest of the team in fairness. 

This will be a big summer for Robinson in the transfer market. We need to be seeing a midfielder and a striker at the very least coming in, but that's of course easier said than done for a club like us, we need to get it right. I have a feeling Kipre will be moving on for a fee so that would obviously aid any transfer business but time will tell. 

Edited April 8, 2018 by MJC

[capt_oats]

Aye, not to stick the boot into Bowman but this extends to Newell and Petravicius as well seeing all 3 are out of contract.

This was Robinson's position after the Rangers game in December while Fisher was still there:

Quote

"Louis Moult is a big miss right now. We have needed other players to step up and they haven't done that. You live and die by what you do at the top end.

"I'm now looking for two players in January and we have targets that we are speaking to. The run of results is not good enough."

So on the point about Bowman not being the same without Moult I thought I'd take a quick look at how he's done when he's started since Moult's last game compared with the two players we brought in over the January window:

Bowman starting without Moult (ie: + Fisher or Main):
09/12/17 - Hearts: 1-0 (L)
13/12/17 - Partick Thistle: 3-2 (L) Bowman, Tanner
16/12/17 - Kilmarnock: 1-0 (L)
23/12/17 - Dundee: 1-1 (X) Tanner (p)
30/12/17 - Hamilton Accies: 1-3 (L) Tanner (p)
18/03/18 - Celtic: 0-0 (X)
31/03/18 - Rangers: 2-2 (X) Main, Campbell
03/04/18 - Aberdeen: 0-2 (L)
07/04/18 - St Johnstone: 0-0 (X)

P 9 W 0 D 4 L 5 F 6 A 13

Main & Ciftci starting:
20/01/18 - (SC) Hamilton Academical: 2-0 (W) McMann (o.g), Tanner (p)
24/01/18 - Ross County: 2 - 0 (W) Souttar (o.g), Main
27/01/18 - Hearts: 1 - 1 (X) Main
03/02/18 - Partick Thistle: 1 - 1 (X) Ciftci
06/02/18 - St Johnstone: 2 - 0 (W) Campbell, Main
10/02/18 - (SC) Dundee: 2 - 0 (W) Tanner, Holt (o.g)
17/02/18 - Kilmarnock: 0 - 1 (L) 
24/02/18 - Dundee: 0 - 1 (W) Tanner
04/03/18 - (SC) Hearts: 2 - 1 (W) Main, McHugh

P 9 W 6 D 2 L 1 F 13 A 4

Obviously you have to acknowledge that there were plenty of players missing through that December period and similarly Tanner's been out recently and Bowman's been subbed on in a number of the games Ciftci & Main have started but given collectively the same players Robinson was taking shots at in December have scored 0 goals between them since then and we've offloaded Fisher it's difficult to see much of a change in his stance.

Seeing as Bowman was someone that Robinson inherited and how ineffective our forwards have been I'd have thought getting the opportunity to have a clean slate to work with would be quite appealing. Especially if he feels we're lacking balance in our options.

Having said all that, if we're looking for a 4th choice striker then Bowman's someone who we clearly know what he can offer. Realistically if we're approaching a player saying "would you like to come and sit on the bench at Motherwell?" will we actually be attracting anyone better than Bowman?

I like Bowman, we paid money for him and he's by no means been a disaster in the Wes Fletcher/Jacob Blyth mould but equally while I get there are intangibles that players bring to squads/teams if we're sitting watching the team not scoring goals (and not winning games) it seems a bit of a false economy to sign up the players who aren't scoring the goals in the first place.

Edited April 9, 2018 by capt_oats

[Casagolda]

I like Bowman, he has his uses and he’s certainly played his part this season particularly during our good start. However, if we’re being brutally honest he lacks that bit of quality required to be first choice at this level- I know goals aren’t everything but 9 goals in nearly 2 years isn’t exactly a great return for a striker we actually paid a fee for. 

At best he’s going to be a rotation option and I’m not sure that’s the role he or the club had in mind when we bought him last summer. Given we’ve already been linked to strikers who would/could fulfill a similar role to Bowman, it wouldn’t surprise me if Bowman was away this summer and Robinson was looking to freshen things up.

Looking at our team just now I’d say a partner for Main and an actual left wing back(assuming we persist with the 352) would be my priority positions this summer. A midfielder with a bit of quality on the ball would be nice as well, cause I’m not sure it’s ever really going to work out for Bigi here either.

Although you could argue in Turnbull and Livingstone you have two guys already at the club that could potentially step into two of those roles, however it remains to be seen if Robinson will actually put his faith in either of them.  

[Swello]

On the subject of Bowman, I see the Sun are still going on about that elbow in the LC semi final. I genuinely can't remember a minor, happens in every league in the world, run of the mill incident get dragged up like this. Even by the "standards" of that rag, it's s fucking minter.

[nsr]

If it'll entice raging mutants to buy their rag, they'll print it.

[AndyRoss]

http://www.mfc1886.com/mfc-podcast-2017-18-episode-31/

Sparra and Busta are joined by Motherwell assistant boss Keith Lasley to preview the Scottish Cup semi-final with Aberdeen at Hampden. We also look back on fixtures with Rangers, Aberdeen and St Johnstone, discuss the impact of Curtis Main, international recognition for Trevor Carson and Cedric Kipre and much more.