Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Desp]

Back to the Mo Ross thing, the whole "Celtic's 9IAR didn't really count as Rangers weren't there for four or five years" absolutely boils my piss. The fucking arrogance of those c***s is unreal. It'll never happen, but I so wish those two clubs would just f**k off. Imagine how brilliant Scottish Football would be without that shitshow every week? 

If Rangers do make it do the end of the season without losing, I look forward to congratulating them on their tremendous 4-game unbeaten season.  Since the rest of Scottish Football doesn't matter a fucking jot to them. 

Now that he's no longer employed by MFC, I can go back to calling Mo Ross a c**t. 

[YassinMoutaouakil]

Wound up the St Mirren weirdos, though

[Archie McSquackle]

With Motherwell supporter fatalism, I think he's beginning to play too well. I'd imagine any scout watching him would be rubbing their hands....

And his agent. I'd like to see Cole here next season but unfortunately I don't think he'll be short of suitors offering more cash.

[Desp]

St Mirren fans will always be weirdos, Mo Ross or no Mo Ross. Mo Ross is a c**t, and I make the vow to you now that every time Mo Ross is mentioned in this thread going forward, I will come on simply to call him a c**t. The c**t! 

[Desp]

1 minute ago, Archie McSquackle said:

2 hours ago, Swello said:

With Motherwell supporter fatalism, I think he's beginning to play too well. I'd imagine any scout watching him would be rubbing their hands....

And his agent. I'd like to see Cole here next season but unfortunately I don't think he'll be short of suitors offering more cash.

We'll probably just sign him again next January. 

[santheman]

11 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

Wound up the St Mirren weirdos, though

Think that's what put the writing on the wall for him tbh

[capt_oats]

7 minutes ago, santheman said:

Think that's what put the writing on the wall for him tbh

Aye, mouthing off about Celtic wouldn't have gone down well either.

Like, the club have always been pretty relaxed about certain players and staff having side hustles. McDonald had his BBC stuff, McManus pitched up on CelticTV, Lasley's been on Sportsound semi-regularly, Craigan had his BT gig and Burrows has been on a ton of podcasts but if you're a staff member and the club or manager are having to apologise to other clubs for your patter then it's a bit of a red flag tbh.

[Busta Nut]

1 hour ago, Desp said:

 

Now that he's no longer employed by MFC, I can go back to calling Mo Ross a c**t. 

He always was a c**t.  He gave 1 decent interview where he sounded sensible. Always been a c**t before and after.

[well fan for life]

I've always got the impression that Mo Ross could start a fight in an empty room so I'm pretty alright if he's left. 

Las should just be kept around at all times. Genuinely seems like the nicest guy going. 

Also:

 

 

[Doctor Manhattan]

15 hours ago, ropy said:

All the chat down south is about an unintentional handball by an attacker leading to a goal being a bad thing, at Motherwell we just punch it to the Decanter and he lays it on a plate for the stroppy one.  What’s not to love.

8 hours ago, well fan for life said:

Also:

 

Two good reasons on one page why VAR should never be introduced in Scotland. 

 

[steelmen]

Your right because in the second one we would have gotten a penalty for the foul on McFadden.

[Ron Aldo]

Your right because in the second one we would have gotten a penalty for the foul on McFadden.

Was that before or after Jamie Langfield brutally head butted John Sutton's elbow?

[ropy]

The first event after the free kick was taken was Hutchy getting yanked back, the rest was just advantage being played I assume.

[steelmen]

20 minutes ago, Ron Aldo said:

1 hour ago, steelmen said:

Your right because in the second one we would have gotten a penalty for the foul on McFadden.

Was that before or after Jamie Langfield brutally head butted John Sutton's elbow?

before and as we know from VAR down south it's what comes first that matters, see Pickford's assault on Van Dyke.

[Casagolda]

16 hours ago, capt_oats said:

There's yer Liam Kelly saying he'd be up for sticking around. I mean, it's standard loanee chat...but whatevs.

Also here.

Would we be willing to push the boat out to keep Kelly?

Bit like a lot of our January business, it seemed like a short term measure at that time- albeit one that's worked extremely well for both parties. Kelly's obviously been an excellent since signing but if both are fit, is there much difference between him and Carson?

Suppose a lot will depend on how much we feel we can actually rely on Carson. Due to illness, injuries and the form of Gillespie- he's only actually managed more than 25 games once during the last 5 seasons for us and Hartlepool. I can't imagine he'd be happy to spend another season warming the bench, nor would it be financially viable for us to have him do so.

Think I'm right in saying that- Carson, Morrison, Grimshaw, Lamie, McGinley, Carroll, Donnelly, Maguire, O'Hara, Lawless and Watt are the ones signed up for next season.

As things stand, I'd like to keep Campbell, Gallagher, O'Donnell and Cole. I think the first 3 will almost certainly all be away though and the latter's form since Alexander's arrival is making it increasingly unlikely he'll stay with each goal he scores. I've been impressed with Crawford and Roberts of late but I'm not sure I'd be willing to commit to either long term just yet.

The rest, Long and Polworth included, can pretty much get fired straight into the sea.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Casagolda

[Ron Aldo]

Kelly must surely have an outside chance of making the squad for the Euros? He's made the squad before (albeit not under Clarke) and I don't really see that we have any other goalkeepers who are miles better than him.

Marshall will probably be number 1 come the Euros but after that there's a few keepers who could probably say they deserve a place. I don't see Kelly as being any worse than any of them.

[dezz]

Marshall and Gordon would seem like stick ons to be in the squad for the Euros - two top class experienced keepers so fair enough.

For the 3rd keeper spot, there’s absolutely no benefit in taking 33 year old Jon McLaughlin who’s spent 90% of the season on Rangers bench. After that you’ve got Kelly, McCrorie, and MacGillivray who’ve all been in squads relatively recently.

Can’t say I know much about MacGillivray but he’s 28 years old and plays regularly for Portsmouth in League One so assuming he must be semi-competent. McCrorie - I am not a fan whatsoever and he’s been in and out the Livi team this season.

At 25 years old and in excellent form, Kelly should have a good chance of getting the third keeper spot if he keeps up his performances until the end of the season.

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

I think based on the fact he's playing and playing well he deserves to be in the squad ahead of Jon McLaughlin. When we had the internationals between September - November he had played a lot with McGregor being injured, but having a glance at his stats I think he's only played once since he was last with the squad. Marshall has missed the last few Derby games with a back injury anyway, so there might even be a place for him in the upcoming squad with McLaughlin. Surely Steve Clarke wouldn't pick Scott Bain over him now he's back in the Celtic team...

I've no idea how much money Kelly is on at QPR, but I'd guess he's probably on at least double what Carson is here and he is contracted until 2023. I can't see QPR letting him go without a fee, I can't see him voluntarily taking a wage cut and I can't see us pushing the boat out too much when we have Carson contracted for next season. I don't know if it's fair to dub Carson as injury prone or whatever, the DVT thing was obviously a freak problem and although he didn't play last season, he was on the bench for every single game and wasn't ever injured. This season, I feel like there's every chance we rushed him back too soon to cause the recurrence of the issue. Kelly does shade it for me over Carson, but I don't know if it's worth pushing the boat out and affecting other areas of the team.

[capt_oats]

57 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

Would we be willing to push the boat out to keep Kelly?

Bit like a lot of our January business, it seemed like a short term measure at that time- albeit one that's worked extremely well for both parties. Kelly's obviously been an excellent since signing but if both are fit, is there much difference between him and Carson?

Suppose a lot will depend on how much we feel we can actually rely on Carson. Due to illness, injuries and the form of Gillespie- he's only actually managed more than 25 games once during the last 5 seasons for us and Hartlepool. I can't imagine he'd be happy to spend another season warming the bench, nor would it be financially viable for us to have him do so.

Think I'm right in saying that- Carson, Morrison, Grimshaw, Lamie, McGinley, Carroll, Donnelly, Maguire, O'Hara, Lawless and Watt are the ones signed up for next season.

As things stand, I'd like to keep Campbell, Gallagher, O'Donnell and Cole. I think the first 3 will almost certainly all be away though and the latter's form since Alexander's arrival is making it increasingly unlikely he'll stay with each goal he scores. I've been impressed with Crawford and Roberts of late but I'm not sure I'd be willing to commit to either long term just yet.

The rest, Long and Polworth included, can pretty much get fired straight into the sea.

I think Kelly and QPR are caught between a rock and a hard place a bit. He's what? Their 3rd choice 'keeper? He wants to play but he's got another 2 years or something on his deal which I can't imagine either party would want to write off but I'm not sure they'll have many clubs wanting to pay cash money in the current climate. I suppose that may change if he makes the Euros squad ahead of McCrorie and McLaughlin - and there's no reason why he couldn't as everyone's already highlighted.

I can't imagine signing him on a permanent is remotely an option at the moment or QPR are planning on freeing him but another loan may suit him and QPR (and us if we're only chipping in toward his wage).

We're in a weird place with Carson as well. He's got another year with us after this but as you say with his DVT, Gillespie's form and this new injury that we possibly aggravated by rushing him back he's barely played. Rightly or wrongly there's probably going to be a question mark over his fitness now. I'll be honest and say I'd be much more comfortable going into next season with Kelly and Carson as our options than Carson and a random  +1 like Fox or Chapman.

Also, I'd guess Robinson was a big part of Carson extending his deal so maybe the change of manager impacts that a bit.

I've pretty much written off O'Donnell, Gallagher and Campbell for next season (even McMahon alluded to it being difficult for us to keep Campbell at the AGM). We kb'd Millwall for Campbell in January I'd imagine that would be on the promise that he can walk away for the cost of his development fee come summer if he wants, we're not going to stand in his way. We've got more than 150 games out him and he's been pretty integral to every iteration of our team in the seasons since he's been a member of the first team. 

I agree about Crawford - he's been good and I'd happily have him stick around the squad but I wouldn't be planning on building our midfield around him like. Roberts is such a small sample size it's difficult to tell either way and there's definitely a vibe of someone who's turned up on loan but wouldn't necessarily be someone who'd work out long term but it's fair to say he's not the version of a player Hearts fans thought we were getting.

 I'm maybe being naive about Cole but when you look at his career to date this is probably the most prolific he's been - he's clearly shown enough all round ability to suggest that this isn't necessarily a Hastie/Main style 'purple patch' but rather a manager finally being able to get the best out of him. He's been consistently pretty good for us but without many goals.

Whether that counts for anything or whether scouts might look at the rest of his career as being illustrative compared to 3 or 4 months at Motherwell recently IDK.

Spoiler

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by capt_oats

[Casagolda]

1 hour ago, capt_oats said:

 I'm maybe being naive about Cole but when you look at his career to date this is probably the most prolific he's been - he's clearly shown enough all round ability to suggest that this isn't necessarily a Hastie/Main style 'purple patch' but rather a manager finally being able to get the best out of him. He's been consistently pretty good for us but without many goals.

Whether that counts for anything or whether scouts might look at the rest of his career as being illustrative compared to 3 or 4 months at Motherwell recently IDK.

I think Alexander alluded to this at the weekend- 

"He’s a good striker. I think we’ve got other good strikers and other good players in the squad but – I think I said yesterday – we always have a way of treating people and I think he’s responded well to it. I don’t know how he’s been treated in the past, I can’t really put my finger on it...  but we try to keep round pegs in round holes and I think Coley’s an out and out striker."

He only managed 5 goals in 31 games under Robinson and his anywhere across the front 3 schtick. Since Alexander started playing him as an actual striker, his numbers have been sensational- 7 goals in 12 games so far as well as chipping in with 3 assists. 

Fair play to Alexander anyway, purple patch or otherwise. Folk were screaming in January for us to bring in a 'goal scorer', yet it's hard to imagine anyone we could have brought in having the level of impact Cole has had in recent months.