Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Gianfranco]

Wasn’t his whole reason for joining us was to be closer to home? Exeter couldn’t be any further away.

['WellDel]

18 minutes ago, Gianfranco said:

Wasn’t his whole reason for joining us was to be closer to home? Exeter couldn’t be any further away.

Maybe a case of 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' - getting back, realising Glasgow is actually still the same old shitehole it was when you left, then fucking off again asap. 

Or.... he's pretty average and no other cvnt came in for him. One or the other...

[steelman1991]

10 minutes ago, 'WellDel said:

Maybe a case of 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' - getting back, realising Glasgow is actually still the same old shitehole it was when you left, then fucking off again asap. 

Or.... he's pretty average and no other cvnt came in for him. One or the other...

He's from Fauldhouse so if that isn't a good enough reason to go to Exeter I don't know what is.

[Ron Aldo]

 

Have we learned nothing from the footgolf debacle a few years ago?*

Just relegate us now.

 

*Not entirely serious

[D-Fens Foster]

If the talk of our budget being tight this year is true i can’t see anyway we sign Fletcher. St Mirren seem a bit more loose with the purse strings these days so he’ll probably end up in Paisley. Imagine Fleetwood could easily outspend us as well. Non starter for me 

[Hoose Rice]

4 hours ago, thisGRAEME said:

the amount of absolute dross from up here that ends up at Exeter, for some reason, is remarkable.

[welldaft]

1 hour ago, D-Fens Foster said:

If the talk of our budget being tight this year is true i can’t see anyway we sign Fletcher. St Mirren seem a bit more loose with the purse strings these days so he’ll probably end up in Paisley. Imagine Fleetwood could easily outspend us as well. Non starter for me 

I think St Mirren are in the same boat. Pushed the boat out last season and will be looking at a couple of years sizeable losses back to back just like ourselves. They are also fan owned. 

Between Van Veen money and Johnstone compensation we will be looking at around £1m. Most of that should go towards losses / running of the club but may give us some more leeway. I agree I doubt we will be the most lucrative offer he may get. However he may feel Motherwell and Kettlewell are a better option for a number of reasons. Same goes for St Mirren I guess. 

In summary I doubt either club will be breaking the bank for Fletcher. Yes he is likely to be a top earner, but nowhere near what he was on at United.  

[D-Fens Foster]

18 minutes ago, welldaft said:

I think St Mirren are in the same boat. Pushed the boat out last season and will be looking at a couple of years sizeable losses back to back just like ourselves. They are also fan owned. 

Between Van Veen money and Johnstone compensation we will be looking at around £1m. Most of that should go towards losses / running of the club but may give us some more leeway. I agree I doubt we will be the most lucrative offer he may get. However he may feel Motherwell and Kettlewell are a better option for a number of reasons. Same goes for St Mirren I guess. 

In summary I doubt either club will be breaking the bank for Fletcher. Yes he is likely to be a top earner, but nowhere near what he was on at United.  

For what it’s worth i think if we are sticking with the 3-5-2 and we can get another striker in i think Fletcher would be a cracking signing. Just can’t see it happening though 

[Archie McSquackle]

Has anyone heard how the triallist got on last night?

[Ron Aldo]

3 minutes ago, Archie McSquackle said:

Has anyone heard how the triallist got on last night?

Took all his clothes off and ran about the park. 

[rowsdower]

So, no danzaki in any of yesterday's squads or the golf outing, think that adds fuel to the "he's being punted" conspiracy.

[capt_oats]

As far as budget goes I think it's fair to say that ours is in the same ballpark as our peer group. The payment structures between clubs may vary but when it comes to actual *budget* there's not a massive difference.

The problem we have vs others is that we currently have the bulk of our budget tied up in contracted players.

Kettlewell referenced this in one of his press conferences at the end of the season. As it stands we've 22 first team players plus the likes of Luca Ross and Mark Ferrie who are away with the team in Holland so regardless of what money we've ended up with for KVV or where Max Johnston ends up - you'd think that money will go to helping cover our Year of Bad Decisions - when it comes to allocating budget we're still hamstrung by the number of players we have in the building.

It's a very different situation for us compared to the Robinson windows where we were starting from a point of about 12 - 14 players and it had enabled us to get half a dozen PCAs in the door by the time the window opened.

[welldaft]

48 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

As far as budget goes I think it's fair to say that ours is in the same ballpark as our peer group. The payment structures between clubs may vary but when it comes to actual *budget* there's not a massive difference.

The problem we have vs others is that we currently have the bulk of our budget tied up in contracted players.

Kettlewell referenced this in one of his press conferences at the end of the season. As it stands we've 22 first team players plus the likes of Luca Ross and Mark Ferrie who are away with the team in Holland so regardless of what money we've ended up with for KVV or where Max Johnston ends up - you'd think that money will go to helping cover our Year of Bad Decisions - when it comes to allocating budget we're still hamstrung by the number of players we have in the building.

It's a very different situation for us compared to the Robinson windows where we were starting from a point of about 12 - 14 players and it had enabled us to get half a dozen PCAs in the door by the time the window opened.

Genuinely this sends me in to a spiral of depression and despair. How the f*ck did we end up with so much deadwood and surplus players ? I guess that has a lot to do with Alexander and to a lesser extent Hammell. 

You look at the list of players and I only see half a dozen starters I would be comfortable with:

Kelly, McGinn, Butcher (when fit), Slattery, Spittal and at a push one of Efford and Obika. So 6 players. 5 for the start of the season. You may have some youngsters that can and will step up like Blaney, Miller and Tierney. The likes of Lamie, Mugabi and SODs as back up although likely to feature unless we make further signings. 

All in all a fairly sad state of affairs. I pray we can move on Danzaki and a few others to free up some space. Literally .

[wellboy1991]

16 minutes ago, welldaft said:

Genuinely this sends me in to a spiral of depression and despair. How the f*ck did we end up with so much deadwood and surplus players ? I guess that has a lot to do with Alexander and to a lesser extent Hammell. 

You look at the list of players and I only see half a dozen starters I would be comfortable with:

Kelly, McGinn, Butcher (when fit), Slattery, Spittal and at a push one of Efford and Obika. So 6 players. 5 for the start of the season. You may have some youngsters that can and will step up like Blaney, Miller and Tierney. The likes of Lamie, Mugabi and SODs as back up although likely to feature unless we make further signings. 

All in all a fairly sad state of affairs. I pray we can move on Danzaki and a few others to free up some space. Literally .

Not far off how I feel tbh. Feel like a bit a bed wetter but I genuinely have very very limited hopes for this squad. It is utter dog shit.

Sad thing is, the majority of it is the squad that got both Alexander and Hammell sacked. Seeing the likes of Shields, Obika and Mugabi all front and centre in the videos gives me the fear. They just aren’t good enough. 
 

We cannot under estimate the losses of not only KVV but Max J, Casey, Furlong and to a lesser extent Goss and Cornelius. They all played a pivotal part in our ‘resurgence’ last year. 
 

To replace them with Shields, Maguire, Paton and backfill with youngsters like Wilson and Miller(who I rate incredibly highly but ffs he is 16).

I was hoping for at least 6 signings but the tweet Burns put out and the news I am hearing from Fir Park to essentially back that up is highly disconcerting. 

[rowsdower]

There's no way we won't be making more signings. As with most years, the players we can sign tend to fall into place towards the end of the window.

[welldaft]

To be fair I would give Paton the benefit of the doubt. I omitted him as he has not yet been added to the list of midfielders in the 1st team squad. 

Had high hopes for Tierney but so far he has a long way to go. Maybe next year will be his year. There is definitely a footballer there but he has to deliver and soon. 

Obika I actually like but not as 1st choice. If we are after Fletcher then that shows we are thankfully looking for a replacement for Van Veen. 

I would bite your hand off for 10th now. If Kettlewell can get us anywhere near top 6 (with current squad) then he deserves a Knighthood or the freedom of Motherwell or both !

Edited June 28, 2023 by welldaft

[welldaft]

4 minutes ago, rowsdower said:

There's no way we won't be making more signings. As with most years, the players we can sign tend to fall into place towards the end of the window.

No place for such sensible debate. Please let us wet our pants. Much more fun when we assemble a decent squad before transfer window closes

[YassinMoutaouakil]

There's no way we'll be down the bottom with a Fletcher Watt Moult strikeforce.

[Kapowzer]

3 hours ago, Ron Aldo said:

Took all his clothes off and ran about the park. 

If that correct then he needs a Mark McGhee pre-season beasting to lose the extra chunk

[Kapowzer]

55 minutes ago, welldaft said:

To be fair I would give Paton the benefit of the doubt. I omitted him as he has not yet been added to the list of midfielders in the 1st team squad. 

Had high hopes for Tierney but so far he has a long way to go. Maybe next year will be his year. There is definitely a footballer there but he has to deliver and soon. 

Obika I actually like but not as 1st choice. If we are after Fletcher then that shows we are thankfully looking for a replacement for Van Veen. 

I would bite your hand off for 10th now. If Kettlewell can get us anywhere near top 6 (with current squad) then he deserves a Knighthood or the freedom of Motherwell or both !

Tierney can only deliver if there's scope for him to get on the park. The switch to a front two and Spittal playing consistently well hampers opportunities. However, maybe he should be putting in performances in training that make it hard for Ketts to ignore him.

I'm not going to be drawn on any major judgements till the team sheets are announced on opening day (despite the league cup being 'competitive'). Even then we'll still be 4 league games in when the window closes and recent history suggests a flurry of activity when players think "aye OK, f**k it" when they have no other better offers. Wasn't Butcher and Okiba announced after the last window closed?

As it turned out our January window was pretty good as it always tends to be when we've got our backs to the wall, summer was a dumpster fire as it always is when we've got wedge and you'd think due to Europe, recruitment would be easier. We always tend to be incapable of making hay while the sun shines.

So for there's been nothing to suggest how we intend to set up either as a continuation of last season or a fresh approach. I suppose we'll get a sniff when we announce our first defensive acquisition as to the direction. Kev's money will be a major relief as will the 7th place finish money. We could be looking at being £1m down if it wasn't for that run, albeit with a gallus, crazy, Dutchman on the books for next year. That would put us in serious jeopardy, but then you temper it with comparing where we are to the rest of the 'non-cities'. 

Our only piece of business so far has been Paton who has done OK for me since arriving. One thing is certain he owes Ketts quite a lot and you'd imagine will put in 110% as gratitude for his faith in him.