Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[ONeils4Oyarder]

Coyne was such a clever fitba player, and much like Higdon, he struggled for pace. Higdon was a total and utter handful for any defence, his range of goals were outstanding as well.

 

Coyne playing at World Cups (and getting through the groups), whilst a Motherwell player is something that might never happen again. He played as a lone striker at USA 94

[capt_oats]

29 minutes ago, Neil86 said:

I don't think Main ever played with Craig Tanner, Main never came in until January by which time Tanner was already injured? that said, i agree with you.

He did. Tanner wasn't injured until mid-March (10 games including Cup: Won 5 D 2 L 3).

In that period Main scored against County (24/01), Hearts (27/01), Hibs (29/01), St Johnstone (06/02), 

Tanner scored against Accies (20/01), Dundee (10/02), Dundee (24/02)

It was the bold Curtis who set up Tanner for his goal against Dundee in the 1-0 game at Dens (all 3 are involved here; Ciftci with the hold-up, lay off to McHugh, Main running the channel with the cross, Tanner scores).

Tanner's last game was against Accies where they bodied us 2-0 at NDP that was 10th March.

Edited June 6, 2019 by capt_oats

[Swello]

3 minutes ago, ONeils4Oyarder said:

Coyne was such a clever fitba player, and much like Higdon, he struggled for pace. Higdon was a total and utter handful for any defence, his range of goals were outstanding as well.

 

Coyne playing at World Cups (and getting through the groups), whilst a Motherwell player is something that might never happen again. He played as a lone striker at USA 94

Coyne surprised me at the time as I had always - rightly or wrongly-  seen him as a penalty box striker. In his time with us, he was such a clever player. I could mention any of his goals - but the miss against Dortmund still haunts me as I was celebrating for a while before I realised he had missed it

 

[Casagolda]

13 minutes ago, ONeils4Oyarder said:

You very rarely get a lone striker, who is no one playing off them though to be fair? Even the 2nd half of last season, Main had Hastie and Ariyibi either side of him, and Turnbull supporting

No absolutely I get that, every striker needs support obviously.

However I’d say that having another striker like Clarkson or Ojamaa- running the channels, chasing loose balls, spinning in behind etc- made the lives of Higdon/Porter far easier and meant they had a different role to the one that Main was being asked to do last season.

[thisGRAEME]

I adored Chris Porter. 

His performance in our 4-0 demolition of United at Tannadice remains one of my favourite all time Motherwell games.

[Neil86]

9 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

He did. Tanner wasn't injured until mid-March (10 games including Cup: Won 5 D 2 L 3).

In that period Main scored against County (24/01), Hearts (27/01), Hibs (29/01), St Johnstone (06/02), 

Tanner scored against Accies (20/01), Dundee (10/02), Dundee (24/02)

It was the bold Curtis who set up Tanner for his goal against Dundee in the 1-0 game at Dens (all 3 are involved here; Ciftci with the hold-up, lay off to McHugh, Main running the channel with the cross, Tanner scores).

Tanner's last game was against Accies where they bodied us 2-0 at NDP that was 10th March.

I was almost certain Tanner got injured in october, no idea what I based that on right enough. Happy to have been proved wrong though and I now agree with your point even more haha!!

[MJC]

Maybe something to do with our season turning to shite around October 2017, at least in the league anyway. Tanner was the most creative player we had that season until his injury.

[Swello]

9 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

I adored Chris Porter. 

His performance in our 4-0 demolition of United at Tannadice remains one of my favourite all time Motherwell games.

Aye - was at that and it was great - shame it doesn't seem to exist anywhere online.

I think if you weren't watching us in the mid-90's - it would be a choice between Higdon, Moult and Porter (and that co-incidentally is the order that I'd rank them)...

[Desp]

I don't think Tommy Coyne will ever be topped as my favourite ever Motherwell player.  Partly due to me being a primary school kid at the time he played and I was him when I out playing football in the streets with my mates.  He was my hero.  Also partly because he was simply a magnificent football player.

Michael Higdon is comfortably in as my 2nd favourite no.9 though.  I fucking loved that big man, and I loved the team he played in. 

 

Edit - I actually met Tommy Coyne a couple of years ago when the Podcast boys did the "Greatest Motherwell Player" book night.  I was lucky to have a five-minute chat with him along with @crazylegsjoe and I've never felt as giddy in my life.  Proper starstuck, but it goes without saying he was an absolute gentleman.  Interestingly, he didn't know the answer to my question about the Ireland 1994 WC squad, 'How many of the 22-man squad were actually born in Ireland?'  IIRC, it was eight.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Desp

[MJC]

Tommy Coyne was a superb player. Not just a goalscorer but a genuinely intelligent player who made the rest of the team tick with the way he held up the ball, picked his passes and found space. For someone who wasn't blessed with pace he always managed to give defenders the run around. 

[Swello]

3 minutes ago, MJC said:

Tommy Coyne was a superb player. Not just a goalscorer but a genuinely intelligent player who made the rest of the team tick with the way he held up the ball, picked his passes and found space. For someone who wasn't blessed with pace he always managed to give defenders the run around. 

The thing is - it's completely unthinkable now that a player could come back from having a good *World Cup* and still continue playing for Motherwell - now, his agent would have him offski the minute the squads were announced. It was no surprise that when Bosman happened the next year - we were amongst the very first clubs to "lose out". 

[MJC]

Indeed and he went on to have what was probably his best season with us in 94/95 after that World Cup. As you say it just wouldn't happen now that a player like that with that pedigree would hang around for as long as he did.

Maybe I'm looking back through misty eyes at my youth, but football seemed so much more enjoyable back in the 1990s. It was a time when you knew that 95% of your matches would kick off at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon save for the odd midweek match here and there, TV didn't dictate everything, there was less involvement of agents trying to engineer moves for players especially pre-Bosman and there just seemed like more players "played for the jersey". It also helped that we won a Cup at the beginning of the decade, rebuilt our stadium and had a genuinely good team who were in with a shout at the title at one point of course. Just thinking of some of the players we had back then that are true cult heroes and remain so to this day. Coyne, Arnott, Lambert and of course Sieb Dijkstra, who I must add always had the best goalkeepers jerseys that you just don't see anymore with today's plain, bland efforts.

They were good times.

[Ron Aldo]

Can John Sutton be considered a lone striker? He's certainly the most handsome striker we've had.

[Casagolda]

Would say he was certainly one of the most under appreciated.

Fair enjoyed it when he was brought back to replace Higdon, folk moaned it was poor signing/backward step, then big Johnny Handsome went on to bang in 20 plus goals that season.  

Edited June 6, 2019 by Casagolda

[Desp]

10 minutes ago, MJC said:

Maybe I'm looking back through misty eyes at my youth, but football seemed so much more enjoyable back in the 1990s. It was a time when you knew that 95% of your matches would kick off at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon save for the odd midweek match here and there, TV didn't dictate everything, there was less involvement of agents trying to engineer moves for players especially pre-Bosman and there just seemed like more players "played for the jersey". It also helped that we won a Cup at the beginning of the decade, rebuilt our stadium and had a genuinely good team who were in with a shout at the title at one point of course. Just thinking of some of the players we had back then that are true cult heroes and remain so to this day. Coyne, Arnott, Lambert and of course Sieb Dijkstra, who I must add always had the best goalkeepers jerseys that you just don't see anymore with today's plain, bland efforts.

They were good times.

The excitement you felt when you found out Motherwell were going to be the Sportscene game on a Saturday night!  Even better when we had tucked away Rangers or Celtic that afternoon. 

[wellinwigan]

In the early eighties Willie Irvine was my top man..But Tommy Coyne was special 

[Swello]

4 minutes ago, MJC said:

Indeed and he went on to have what was probably his best season with us in 94/95 after that World Cup. As you say it just wouldn't happen now that a player like that with that pedigree would hang around for as long as he did.

Maybe I'm looking back through misty eyes at my youth, but football seemed so much more enjoyable back in the 1990s. It was a time when you knew that 95% of your matches would kick off at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon save for the odd midweek match here and there, TV didn't dictate everything, there was less involvement of agents trying to engineer moves for players especially pre-Bosman and there just seemed like more players "played for the jersey". It also helped that we won a Cup at the beginning of the decade, rebuilt our stadium and had a genuinely good team who were in with a shout at the title at one point of course. Just thinking of some of the players we had back then that are true cult heroes and remain so to this day. Coyne, Arnott, Lambert and of course Sieb Dijkstra, who I must add always had the best goalkeepers jerseys that you just don't see anymore with today's plain, bland efforts.

They were good times.

Aye - definitely some misty eyes there (although I agree with a lot of it). The early-mid 90's was a classic era for Motherwell, so it's no surprise that it's looked back on fondly from those of us that were there - but there was still a lot of pish games, pish crowds, hordes of foreign diddies being signed all over the league (Hi Elroy! Hiya Bart!) and a virtual abandonment of youth development- and I even think the dreaded 6.05pm Sunday kick off for TV stuff was in the 90's (although TV and its money were much less of a factor). 

The main thing that I miss from that time is that the chance to properly build a team around good players has really gone for clubs like ours. As soon as we unearth a good player now, they are being linked with a move and usually do so within a year (and usually less) - and that's one of the main reason that the bonds between players and supporters don't really get a chance to form in the way that they did. The fact that 4th tier English clubs can blow us out the water financially is also something that would have been unheard of at that point and the whole circus around football down south has been a negative thing for our game overall.

[MJC]

3 minutes ago, Desp said:

The excitement you felt when you found out Motherwell were going to be the Sportscene game on a Saturday night!  Even better when we had tucked away Rangers or Celtic that afternoon. 

Aye or Scotsport on the Sunday afternoon. It was quite the novelty when we were the main game on either and that's something that you don't get now as highlights are readily available online hours after the game so you don't feel the need to watch Sportscene anymore.

[Archie McSquackle]

Was Owen Coyle not with us when he played for Ireland at the the 94 World Cup? Did we have the Irish forward line playing up front for us?

[Swello]

8 minutes ago, Desp said:

The excitement you felt when you found out Motherwell were going to be the Sportscene game on a Saturday night!  Even better when we had tucked away Rangers or Celtic that afternoon. 

This type of thing?

Look at that first goal (about 25secs in) - Coyne/Arnott