Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[For Your Pies Only]

3 hours ago, rowsdower said:

Did we ever decide on a name for the south stand?

The Miodrag Krivokapić Stand

[Archie McSquackle]

That's always the away stand at Easter Road for me.

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

11 hours ago, ZX1886 said:

Coventry have been singing it for awhile now.

 

 

 

 

Play up Sky Blues! Cov are my second team (have lots of family down there) Twist and Shout has been a Cov anthem for decades. One of the fanzines is even called Twist and Shout.

[Gallus Numpty]

25 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

Play up Sky Blues! Cov are my second team (have lots of family down there) Twist and Shout has been a Cov anthem for decades. One of the fanzines is even called Twist and Shout.

Maybe we should switch to the Deacon Blue song just to be different.

[Swello]

4 hours ago, Archie McSquackle said:

That's always the away stand at Easter Road for me.

<whispers> It was a terracing. Still - any excuse

 

[thisGRAEME]

8 hours ago, rowsdower said:

Did we ever decide on a name for the south stand?

The Thatcher Died Alone stand was my vote.

[ropy]

53 minutes ago, Swello said:

<whispers> It was a terracing. Still - any excuse

 

The force field around Coyne prevented him getting closed down, after you M’Lord. 

[ropy]

Less than two weeks and only 2 games before the window does its slamming thing and most things will be settled.  Will the team be filled by Eurostars or by legacy Livi?

[steelman1991]

1 hour ago, Swello said:

<whispers> It was a terracing. Still - any excuse

 

We had a cracking team around that time - nice to see Paul McGrillen feature in that clip.

[capt_oats]

58 minutes ago, ropy said:

Less than two weeks and only 2 games before the window does its slamming thing and most things will be settled.  Will the team be filled by Eurostars or by legacy Livi?

Something that I was wondering off the back of the link to big Sondre was whether it's possible to register and process a signing subject to a visa.

On the face of it we seem to have had less hassle than St Johnstone and United have with their Finnish signings. The first report from Denmark that Ojala was over here was on 15th July and we announced him on 29th July. So a fortnight give or take.

Maybe a bit longer if he was over a few days before that initial report was published. Even then, the news story around the signing had a quote from Alexander saying we'd been waiting "a while" for the visa to be processed. A week and a half until the window closes doesn't give much of a paperwork processing timeline.

Anyway, the question I'm asking is, given Alexander was saying 3 weeks ago that we're "scouring everywhere" for players would a delay on a visa f**k us up or could a player be registered prior to the window "slamming shut" pending the visa going through?

As an aside, I don't know if it's maybe just my perception but while I get we're not exactly a go to club for clicks it feels like there's been a lot less Scott Burns exclusives with our transfers chat this window. Like, I think he mentioned KVV the day before he signed or whatever but the initial story broke via the Scunthorpe fansite. Same with Ojala, the general whispers that he'd signed came around the Airdrie game but at that point there hadn't been a peep in the press over here AFAIK.

I'll not lie when the window opened signing a Finnish international from a top flight Danish side wasn't a direction that I saw us going in. Even a 30 year old mercurial Dutch centre forward has been a pretty welcome curveball.

Edited August 18, 2021 by capt_oats

[stu92]

1 hour ago, capt_oats said:

On the face of it we seem to have had less hassle than St Johnstone and United have with their Finnish signings. The first report from Denmark that Ojala was over here was on 15th July and we announced him on 29th July. So a fortnight give or take.

Not all that familiar with what difficulties other clubs are having but international caps often plays a part in determining work permit applications. Ojala has a fair bit more international experience than the other Finnish guys (31 caps to 0 and 6 caps respectively), which is possibly why Ojala's signing seemed to go through more smoothly.

The bold Sondre has 0 international caps to date, and so by the same logic could be difficult to get a work permit for.

 

[capt_oats]

Right this is really, really fucking dull but to the point of recruitment, no judgement on whether it's been good or not but here's a list of players we've either been linked with (vaguely or otherwise...in one very specific case completely made up) or reported to have had in on trial or have signed.

For the most part it's just names lifted from scrolling through Viva Motherwell's timeline but...it's quite a list (Confirmed signings in bold, trialists in italics):

• Sondre Solholm Johansson (Mjøndalen) (DF)
• Sofian Feghouli (Galatasaray S.K) (MF)  
• Robbie Gotts (Leeds) (MF)
• Juhani Ojala (Vejle) (DF) - signed (2 yr)
• Marc McNulty (Reading) (FW) - signed for Dundee United
• Calum Slattery (Southampton) (MF) - signed (3 yr)
• Mich'el Parker (Free Agent) (MF) - signed - trialist (6 month)
• Liam Kelly (QPR) (GK) - signed - loan made permanent (3 yr)
• Kevin Van Veen (Free Agent) (ST) - signed - played for Alexander at Scunthorpe (2 yr)
• Ash Taylor (Free Agent) (DF) - Signed for Walsall
• Pawel Zuk (Free Agent) (DF) - trialist
• Josh McPake (Rangers) (FW) - signed for Morecambe
• Jamie Ness (Free Agent) (MF) - trialist - played for Alexander at Scunthorpe
• Tom King (Free Agent) (GK) - trialist -signed for Salford
• Darragh O'Conner (Free Agent) (DF) - trialist - signed (1 yr)
• Shayon Harrison (Free Agent) (ST) - trialist - signed for Morecambe - scouted by Nick Daws for AFC Wimbledon
• Joe Muscatt (Free Agent) (DF/MF) - trialist - played for Alexander at Salford
• Kaiyne Woolery (Free Agent) (FW) - signed (3 yr)
• Justin Amaluzor (Free Agent) (FW) - trialist - signed (1 yr)
• Luke McCormick (Chelsea) (MF) - signed for AFC Wimbledon
• Ethan Robson (Blackpool) (MF) - signed for MK Dons (I refuse to believe this was a real link given the teams quoted as being interested were Rangers, us and MK Dons)
• Louis Moult (Free Agent) (ST) - signed for Burton Albion
• Kyle Lafferty (Free Agent) (ST) - signed for Anorthosis Famagusta - played with Alexander at Burnley
• Ben Heneghan (AFC Wimbledon) (DF) - signed by Nick Daws for AFC Wimbledon
• Connor Shields (pre-contract QoTS) (ST) - signed (3 yr)

25 names. Dunno, it genuinely doesn't feel like we've been quoted with an interest in as many as that.

Edited August 18, 2021 by capt_oats

[rowsdower]

I'm getting kind of pissed at SOD playing hardball with Arsenal, we need that money now so that we can make some more big money signings.

[Ron Aldo]

Right this is really, really fucking dull but to the point of recruitment, no judgement on whether it's been good or not but here's a list of players we've either been linked with (vaguely or otherwise...in one very specific case completely made up) or reported to have had in on trial or have signed.
For the most part it's just names lifted from scrolling through Viva Motherwell's timeline but...it's quite a list (Confirmed signings in bold, trialists in italics):

• Sondre Solholm Johansson (Mjøndalen) (DF)
• Sofian Feghouli (Galatasaray S.K) (MF) [emoji38] 
• Robbie Gotts (Leeds) (MF)
• Juhani Ojala (Vejle) (DF) - signed (2 yr)
• Marc McNulty (Reading) (FW) - signed for Dundee United
• Calum Slattery (Southampton) (MF) - signed (3 yr)
• Mich'el Parker (Free Agent) (MF) - signed - trialist (6 month)
• Liam Kelly (QPR) (GK) - signed - loan made permanent (3 yr)
• Kevin Van Veen (Free Agent) (ST) - signed - played for Alexander at Scunthorpe (2 yr)
• Ash Taylor (Free Agent) (DF) - Signed for Walsall
• Pawel Zuk (Free Agent) (DF) - trialist
• Josh McPake (Rangers) (FW) - signed for Morecambe
• Jamie Ness (Free Agent) (MF) - trialist - played for Alexander at Scunthorpe
• Tom King (Free Agent) (GK) - trialist -signed for Salford
• Darragh O'Conner (Free Agent) (DF) - trialist - signed (1 yr)
• Shayon Harrison (Free Agent) (ST) - trialist - signed for Morecambe - scouted by Nick Daws for AFC Wimbledon
• Joe Muscatt (Free Agent) (DF/MF) - trialist - played for Alexander at Salford
• Kaiyne Woolery (Free Agent) (FW) - signed (3 yr)
• Justin Amaluzor (Free Agent) (FW) - trialist - signed (1 yr)
• Luke McCormick (Chelsea) (MF) - signed for AFC Wimbledon
• Ethan Robson (Blackpool) (MF) - signed for MK Dons (I refuse to believe this was a real link given the teams quoted as being interested were Rangers, us and MK Dons)
• Louis Moult (Free Agent) (ST) - signed for Burton Albion
• Kyle Lafferty (Free Agent) (ST) - signed for Anorthosis Famagusta - played with Alexander at Burnley
• Ben Heneghan (AFC Wimbledon) (DF) - signed by Nick Daws for AFC Wimbledon
• Connor Shields (pre-contract QoTS) (ST) - signed (3 yr)

25 names. Dunno, it genuinely doesn't feel like we've been quoted with an interest in as many as that.

The Ash Taylor rumours were pretty ridiculous tbf.

[Ron Aldo]

I'm getting kind of pissed at SOD playing hardball with Arsenal, we need that money now so that we can make some more big money signings.

With the way Arsenal are being run at the moment I can believe they'd be daft enough to chuck £80k a week at SOD.

[ropy]

38 minutes ago, Ron Aldo said:

43 minutes ago, rowsdower said:

I'm getting kind of pissed at SOD playing hardball with Arsenal, we need that money now so that we can make some more big money signings.

With the way Arsenal are being run at the moment I can believe they'd be daft enough to chuck £80k a week at SOD.

Will there be a loan back for this season?

[Onthefringes]

2 hours ago, capt_oats said:

Right this is really, really fucking dull but to the point of recruitment, no judgement on whether it's been good or not but here's a list of players we've either been linked with (vaguely or otherwise...in one very specific case completely made up) or reported to have had in on trial or have signed.

For the most part it's just names lifted from scrolling through Viva Motherwell's timeline but...it's quite a list (Confirmed signings in bold, trialists in italics):

• Sondre Solholm Johansson (Mjøndalen) (DF)
• Sofian Feghouli (Galatasaray S.K) (MF)  
• Robbie Gotts (Leeds) (MF)
• Juhani Ojala (Vejle) (DF) - signed (2 yr)
• Marc McNulty (Reading) (FW) - signed for Dundee United
• Calum Slattery (Southampton) (MF) - signed (3 yr)
• Mich'el Parker (Free Agent) (MF) - signed - trialist (6 month)
• Liam Kelly (QPR) (GK) - signed - loan made permanent (3 yr)
• Kevin Van Veen (Free Agent) (ST) - signed - played for Alexander at Scunthorpe (2 yr)
• Ash Taylor (Free Agent) (DF) - Signed for Walsall
• Pawel Zuk (Free Agent) (DF) - trialist
• Josh McPake (Rangers) (FW) - signed for Morecambe
• Jamie Ness (Free Agent) (MF) - trialist - played for Alexander at Scunthorpe
• Tom King (Free Agent) (GK) - trialist -signed for Salford
• Darragh O'Conner (Free Agent) (DF) - trialist - signed (1 yr)
• Shayon Harrison (Free Agent) (ST) - trialist - signed for Morecambe - scouted by Nick Daws for AFC Wimbledon
• Joe Muscatt (Free Agent) (DF/MF) - trialist - played for Alexander at Salford
• Kaiyne Woolery (Free Agent) (FW) - signed (3 yr)
• Justin Amaluzor (Free Agent) (FW) - trialist - signed (1 yr)
• Luke McCormick (Chelsea) (MF) - signed for AFC Wimbledon
• Ethan Robson (Blackpool) (MF) - signed for MK Dons (I refuse to believe this was a real link given the teams quoted as being interested were Rangers, us and MK Dons)
• Louis Moult (Free Agent) (ST) - signed for Burton Albion
• Kyle Lafferty (Free Agent) (ST) - signed for Anorthosis Famagusta - played with Alexander at Burnley
• Ben Heneghan (AFC Wimbledon) (DF) - signed by Nick Daws for AFC Wimbledon
• Connor Shields (pre-contract QoTS) (ST) - signed (3 yr)

25 names. Dunno, it genuinely doesn't feel like we've been quoted with an interest in as many as that.

Some interesting takes… clock ticking 

[well fan for life]

1 hour ago, ropy said:

Will there be a loan back for this season?

Have we thought about loaning SOD to them for a token fee? Call it £5 million?

[capt_oats]

More dull patter from me.

Given Mr Burrows was on the MFC Podcast saying that the plan for recruitment was going to be a bit different this window compared to what we'd been used to when Robinson was here I was vaguely interested to get an idea of just how different it's been.

Like, it's something we were made aware of in advance and no judgement on whether the signings have actually been good or not but it definitely feels like it's put us in a tougher situation on the park at this stage of the season.

As it stands we've brought 9 players in...do we really count Parker? Being generous...let's. 9 it is.

3 players signed were still contracted to other clubs (Ojala, Slattery, Kelly), 1 pre-contract (Shields) and 5 free agents (2 who had been at the club on extended trial Parker and Amaluzor and 1 who's worked with Alexander and Daws before; Van Veen).

Compared to the 19/20 rebuild (rather than last season's Covid impacted window) that saw 6 pre-contracts (Gallagher, Polworth, Carroll, Sloth, Hylton, Long), 4 free agents (Seedorf, Ilic, Manzinga, MacIver) and 2 loans (Cole, O'Hara) plus 1 free agency signing outside the window (Mugabi).

So 13 in total.

As it stands it feels like we're maybe 3 or 4 bodies short ond there are a couple who could do with loans out with a week and a bit of the window to go?

19/20 our first 'competitive' game was 13th July. By that point we'd signed 9 players and had 11 in total by the opening league fixture on 3rd August. That was with a squad of 12 already signed.

21/22 our first 'competitive' game was 14th July. By then we'd signed 6 players and 9 by the opening league fixture on 1st August. That was with 13 first team already signed up (plus Morrison, Johnston, Devine and Cornelius).

FWIW: Going by Narey's Toepoker's transfer list our 9 bodies in compares with other Premiership clubs like this:

Aberdeen: 7
Celtic: 8
Dundee: 6
Dundee United: 3
Hearts: 4
Hibs: 3
Livingston: 13
Rangers: 3
Ross County: 10
St Johnstone: 4
St Mirren: 7

On the face of it, it feels like there are probably a few clubs in a similar sort of position but there's a definite pressure on us to make sure that the deals we're in for don't fall over because unlike previous seasons right now the players we're short are starting XI guys rather than 12-18.

 

[Kapowzer]

Stevie Wonder could see Midfield was the main issue for us and not just of late.

Maybe we've been unlucky that all our potential deals currently in the pipeline are all midfielders, that and a playmaker is probably the hardest position to fill in the modern game.

Certainly would have limited a lot of the criticism aside from the quality and performance of the player recruited.

I went to Dalziel Park for lunch on Tuesday and VanVeen was doing shuttles with one other and a coach separate from the bounce game. He was still there 5 minutes later when I passed again after being told its shut till September.