Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[ropy]

Yesterday didn’t work but at least suggested he was willing to try something different, needs something even differenter. 

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

I agree that we need to get out of the cycle of sacking managers. Say we do lose the next 2 or 3 and Kettlewell gets his jotters, we'll be on our 4th manager in 15 months. 

There's every possibility that we'll get someone in, he'll tweak one or two things and get us comfortable, but we'll be back here in another 9 months.

Is it just me, or does it always seem to be all sugar or all shite with us? I wonder if fans of other teams think this too, but it seems to me that we are either firing on all cylinders or that we can't buy a win. Our season always seems to go on a big peak then a big trough or vice versa.

[joewarkfanclub]

Whilst we are on an absolutely terrible run, its important to note that the likes of Hibs, Aberdeen, Hearts, Killie, Livvy etc havent exactly stolen a march on us.

That would suggest that their form has been equally poor.

Our problem, and more so Kettlewells, is that our defeats have all come in the one go with only a solitary draw to punctuate them.

I am certainly concerned by our slump, but totally agree that we need to stop binning managers.

That said, SK does need to show he has what it takes to turn this around fairly soon. Even a few draws to stop the rot would do.

[Allroy for Prez]

Miller out and Butcher, McGinn and Spencer all doubts for Tuesday! 

[MurrayWell]

17 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

I agree that we need to get out of the cycle of sacking managers. Say we do lose the next 2 or 3 and Kettlewell gets his jotters, we'll be on our 4th manager in 15 months. 

There's every possibility that we'll get someone in, he'll tweak one or two things and get us comfortable, but we'll be back here in another 9 months.

Is it just me, or does it always seem to be all sugar or all shite with us? I wonder if fans of other teams think this too, but it seems to me that we are either firing on all cylinders or that we can't buy a win. Our season always seems to go on a big peak then a big trough or vice versa.

Absolutely agree with this mate and I think a large part of this is the high turnover at the club. 

Ripping everything up and starting again every five or six months isn't giving us any real identity, some of our core group of players have now had four different manager styles to adapt to and those we do sign are almost being shoehorned into the way we play for that period of time until we start again... 

Granted injuries have impacted Plan A this season, but if someone was to attend a Motherwell game for the first time, I don't think they'd have a clue what we're trying to do at the moment.

[ropy]

On 02/11/2023 at 08:59, ropy said:

Looking across the season I look for us to be gaining a point a game.  Right now we are slightly ahead of target.  A positive?

So we are now running to par, 3 points on Tuesday please for some breathing space. 

[Busta Nut]

2 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

If we lose the next two I'd imagine he's gone anyway.

I can't agree with this. It's not financially viable for us to sack someone again. He'll get until about march regardless IMO. 

[Handsome_Devil]

2 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

I can't agree with this. It's not financially viable for us to sack someone again. He'll get until about march regardless IMO. 

I agree we won't bin him after the next two regardless but if this continues into mid-December, we surely must consider action in time to get a new man for the window.

And as much as we'll struggle financially if we have to sack SK, his contract only goes to summer... it's not quite the same as potentially paying off Alexander for 18 months.

[ropy]

Something different - the last two referees have been picky about where throw ins are taken, is this a new focus this season?

[eliphas]

38 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said:

I agree we won't bin him after the next two regardless but if this continues into mid-December, we surely must consider action in time to get a new man for the window.

And as much as we'll struggle financially if we have to sack SK, his contract only goes to summer... it's not quite the same as potentially paying off Alexander for 18 months.

Think this is the most likely.

[Quatermass]

I reckon he’ll get the next 10 games which takes us to the end of the year. He wins the next two and we probably go right up the table again and it all probably resets a bit. I doubt that will be the case but you can dream.

The worrying thing is if the run continues and it looks like he is gone who replaces him? I think the internal promotions are over after this one. St Johnstone have had to go to Levein. Whether that works or not is something else but it at least shows the complete lack of viable options out there. That might also play a small factor in how long he gets.

I still have a bit of confidence in him. I’d lost all confidence in Hammell long before he was binned so it doesn’t feel anywhere as bleak as it did last season.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

He's still only lost one away league game on grass 

[thisGRAEME]

In isolation, I reckon just about everyone will lose 1-0 in Kilmarnock at some point this season.

In the wider context; I don't think it's unreasonable to be concerned about what we're going to do. It's almost like Robinson trying to replace the whole back-line but then realising guys like Kipre were unique.

We simply haven't replaced either Johnston or Furlong. Everyone that's played in those roles has given it a go, but they're unique, and without them, we are hugely one dimensional, because no one stretches the play. 

I have concerns about Gent defensively, but we just need pace, somewhere, because we look so easy to play against. A big part of last season was Goss slinging longer balls around, presumably the role Davor was brought for but doesn't play, against removing an element of what worked.

[Phillips455]

If the losses were more intertwined between the other games, there wouldn't be a question to ask right now.

Its just the 3rd time I  a row where we have a manager lose a significant games in a row/period. That's the worrying part. The league is still young and we aren't adrift at the bottom yet.

[craigkillie]

3 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Whilst we are on an absolutely terrible run, its important to note that the likes of Hibs, Aberdeen, Hearts, Killie, Livvy etc havent exactly stolen a march on us.

That would suggest that their form has been equally poor.

We were 6 points behind you heading into the September international break and are now 5 points ahead of you. That seems like a pretty big march to steal.

[joewarkfanclub]

1 hour ago, craigkillie said:

We were 6 points behind you heading into the September international break and are now 5 points ahead of you. That seems like a pretty big march to steal.

We just took 1 point from 21.

Its all about perspective.......

[Archie McSquackle]

11 hours ago, ropy said:

Something different - the last two referees have been picky about where throw ins are taken, is this a new focus this season?

We talked about this during the game on Saturday, seems too much of a coincidence for it not to be something deliberate. I've not heard it mentioned at all but you wonder if the refs tell them before the game or if the clubs were told before the season. 

[Handsome_Devil]

10 hours ago, thisGRAEME said:

In isolation, I reckon just about everyone will lose 1-0 in Kilmarnock at some point this season.

In the wider context; I don't think it's unreasonable to be concerned about what we're going to do. It's almost like Robinson trying to replace the whole back-line but then realising guys like Kipre were unique.

We simply haven't replaced either Johnston or Furlong. Everyone that's played in those roles has given it a go, but they're unique, and without them, we are hugely one dimensional, because no one stretches the play. 

I have concerns about Gent defensively, but we just need pace, somewhere, because we look so easy to play against. A big part of last season was Goss slinging longer balls around, presumably the role Davor was brought for but doesn't play, against removing an element of what worked.

When you look at games in isolation in a winless run it's nearly always not so bad. But even removing the OF from our recent run it's one point from 15 in winnable games and an aggregate score of 5-11. Including injury time that's being comprehensively tonked over eight hours.

Against an on paper weaker side, I'd definitely try Gent on the left, Spencer on the right (if fit) to try to regain the initiative and ease the pressure on defence.

It's hard to speculate about the back three not knowing who's fit. 

The other five positions are essentially up for grabs though you'd probably keep Spittal and Biereth.

[RandomGuy.]

13 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said:

Against an on paper weaker side

Are we?

[Allroy for Prez]

43 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Are we?

No.  No one on the league is.