Vietnam91 Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 3 minutes ago, Swello said: Didn't realise it was him at the time - but it got to the point where everyone was clapping every time he did it His uncle has to be the landlord of that pub in Kilmarnock 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Clearly I don't know what we've been up to at Dalziel Park or whatever but the interesting thing for me about the defence is that rather than "fix" it we just seem to have made the (bold) decision to just run with it. If you think back to last season where Hammell's back 4 was consistently shipping soft, cheap goals that were costing us when Kettlewell was parachuted in we changed to the back 3 and things for the most part were ironed out - obviously Butcher was a big part of that. In this case though it kind of feels like we've made a judgement call that because we've been scoring goals then trading that off with changing things wasn't worth it. Like I say, I have no idea if that's actually what's happened or not but we didn't bring in any new centre backs during January and it still remains the case that Kettlewell hasn't actually signed a central defender of his own the entire time he's been manager - he's just been working with what he inherited. I mean, I have no beef with Kettlewell and I broadly agree with most of the balanced posts further up the page it doesn't need me adding to things point out that we've actually been playing something approaching half decent fitba when we've managed to get it right, we've seen improvement in plenty of players and we score fucking goals but I think the doubt I have is probably the fact that chucking every c**t up with 20 mins to go is a good laugh once or twice but it's not really sustainable and equally not actually fixing the defence but instead just letting it ride has all sorts of "Yikes" about it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handsome_Devil Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 1 hour ago, capt_oats said: I mean, I have no beef with Kettlewell and I broadly agree with most of the balanced posts further up the page it doesn't need me adding to things point out that we've actually been playing something approaching half decent fitba when we've managed to get it right, we've seen improvement in plenty of players and we score fucking goals but I think the doubt I have is probably the fact that chucking every c**t up with 20 mins to go is a good laugh once or twice but it's not really sustainable and equally not actually fixing the defence but instead just letting it ride has all sorts of "Yikes" about it. As enjoyable as this style can be at times, it's not sustainable. Ultimately we do have ambitions and there's no way we're reaching them defending like this. You'd trade a few goals scored for not throwing away buckets of points every time. I get the feeling from the chat today there's a group of our fans (10%? Less?) who just don't like SK and will always want him gone. A smaller group (5%? Less?) are already convinced by him. Everyone else, the vast swath of middle, thinks he's various degrees of fine in the context he's had and will see how next season starts. But whether it's through new signings or a system change, the 10% will grow much quicker than the 5% if there isn't pretty immediate signs he can improve the defence. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisGRAEME Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 4 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said: As enjoyable as this style can be at times, it's not sustainable. Not sure I buy this, tbh! We're Motherwell, we'll always have someone hit double figures in our team, so we might as well lean into it. (My favourite fact I've recently learned: the last season we didn't have a player in double figures was 1998/99, I wrote an article for the terrace fanzine rating all of them which I'll share on here to make yous all raging at my picks once it's been published.) 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 4 hours ago, Handsome_Devil said: It's quite remarkable St J managed to find two decent (from the outside at least) strikers in January, have arguably a top two goalie in the league and are still dismal. Issue is the strikers never get played together as the ghost of Nicky Clark is undroppable, and the keeper has a clownshoe defence and invisible midfield "protecting" him, so even if he pulls of wondersaves he'll still face multiple more shots. We're an example of how you can't stand still and assume something that worked before will continue to work forever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handsome_Devil Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 12 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said: Not sure I buy this, tbh! We're Motherwell, we'll always have someone hit double figures in our team, so we might as well lean into it. Nah, there's always a swing... people will certainly enjoy being free scoring/conceding and eighth or ninth for a season if what came before was grim but then there has to be some progress towards winning more games, finishing higher etc or people will get grumpy again. And if we always have someone who hits double figures, all the more reason to tighten up at the back and challenge for fifth rather than 10th! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegsjoe_mfc Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 I can understand why the defence hasn't been addressed so far. Casey missing pre season and going out of form and Butcher being finished physically when he came back are things we probably didn't anticipate. We also had quite a surplus in that position. If we'd tried to sign a centre back in January, we'd probably have got someone more like Zak Jules than Tom Aldred. Now is the time I definitely expect us to address it and not with Obileye. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 (edited) 58 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said: As enjoyable as this style can be at times, it's not sustainable. Ultimately we do have ambitions and there's no way we're reaching them defending like this. You'd trade a few goals scored for not throwing away buckets of points every time. I get the feeling from the chat today there's a group of our fans (10%? Less?) who just don't like SK and will always want him gone. A smaller group (5%? Less?) are already convinced by him. Everyone else, the vast swath of middle, thinks he's various degrees of fine in the context he's had and will see how next season starts. But whether it's through new signings or a system change, the 10% will grow much quicker than the 5% if there isn't pretty immediate signs he can improve the defence. I mean, he's by no means the first Motherwell manager that a section of the fanbase just decided wasn't for them. Semi-related a visit to this page of The Thread is a very amusing stroll down memory lane and folk absolutely kept receipts about some of the very early Robinson takes. Come for the hot-takes, stay for the winter animals and The Breakfast Club. This thread is, and has always been, unrivaled. Edited May 16 by capt_oats 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handsome_Devil Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 11 minutes ago, capt_oats said: I mean, he's by no means the first Motherwell manager that a section of the fanbase just decided wasn't for them. Semi-related a visit to this page of The Thread is a very amusing stroll down memory lane and folk absolutely kept receipts about some of the very early Robinson takes. Come for the hot-takes, stay for the winter animals and The Breakfast Club. This thread is, and has always been, unrivaled. Fantastic, just opened that to read: "I don't get the hesitation or reservation regarding Samson He has played twice for us and was very decent against Ross County away Would not be unhappy if he became 1st choice." Not from me, I hasten to add, but I'm sure my greatest hits has some howlers in it. But back to the present, yes, I think a 10-80-10 entirely expected for our situation - indeed, there's probably more in the middle now than I can ever remember as views, certainly the negative, very rarely get changed because the manager usually doesn't survive that long! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 1 hour ago, capt_oats said: I mean, he's by no means the first Motherwell manager that a section of the fanbase just decided wasn't for them. Semi-related a visit to this page of The Thread is a very amusing stroll down memory lane and folk absolutely kept receipts about some of the very early Robinson takes. Come for the hot-takes, stay for the winter animals and The Breakfast Club. This thread is, and has always been, unrivaled. That was funny - but not as funny as our socials at that point seemingly 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 On 20/05/2017 at 17:09, Desp said: An absolutely turgid campaign, I cannot disagree with. That's two of the last three that have been the same. Delaying the inevitable relegation? Not sure I agree with that? Even if Dundee Utd come up, who's to say they'll be any good? They were shite the last time they were up at this level. A big rebuilding job required, and I'm glad to hear some of the things the manager has said so far. I'll be surprised if ANY of the out of contract players are kept on. That's three quarters of a defence, a goalkeeper and a new front two all needed, so it's some rebuilding job. All the best to the gaffer. He'll need it. Having a fucking whale of a time reading this stage of the season from 2017 BTW - I mean this from @Desp??? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 7 hours ago, Mr Hahn said: Alexander's side made me consider whether I wanted to attend football matches anymore for the first time in my life. When we were winning, it was shite, when we drew, it was shite and when we lost, it was really shite. Some of the football his team served up made me embarrassed to be a Motherwell fan. This 100% 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vietnam91 Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Is McGarry ITK like Burns? Just read his Herald email and other than a few bits here and there that echo P&B posts, however it suggests Kelly is definitely off. Like many I think its a natural parting needed for all parties but the language in the article suggests whatever offer we made (doesn't mention it but you'd think we'd come to the table with something even if we know it would be batted away) has not been successful. Also with Miller, don't think I've seen discussed is a possible buy and loan back. Lewis Morgan is the last player I can recall having such an arrangement. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurrayWell Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 22 minutes ago, Vietnam91 said: the article suggests whatever offer we made (doesn't mention it but you'd think we'd come to the table with something even if we know it would be batted away) Would be a first from him this season... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiochas III Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 7 hours ago, Vietnam91 said: Also with Miller, don't think I've seen discussed is a possible buy and loan back. Lewis Morgan is the last player I can recall having such an arrangement. Because they're rare in Scotland, happens quite a bit on the Continent. Always a chance as long as it's not Bournemouth that signs him - as if it is, he'll be at Hibs next season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 12 hours ago, Swello said: Having a fucking whale of a time reading this stage of the season from 2017 BTW - I mean this from @Desp??? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Someone should put that on a t-shirt... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 On 20/05/2017 at 14:42, Ron Aldo said: I must be the only one to like Craig Clay and I think he does a job. Maybe he shouldn't be a starter every week but he's a good squad player and, for me, he's definitely contributed more than Pearson has since he came back. On 20/05/2017 at 17:07, thisGRAEME said: I'm on board with this, tbh. He could do with upping the speed of his play a bit, but I think he's fine. Since we're pulling out posts from 2017, can I have a quick word with you gentlemen? @Ron Aldo @thisGRAEME 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welldaft Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 10 hours ago, Vietnam91 said: Is McGarry ITK like Burns? Just read his Herald email and other than a few bits here and there that echo P&B posts, however it suggests Kelly is definitely off. Like many I think its a natural parting needed for all parties but the language in the article suggests whatever offer we made (doesn't mention it but you'd think we'd come to the table with something even if we know it would be batted away) has not been successful. I think it is very clever of the club to table an offer which (they knew) would be unacceptable to Kelly. Very clever indeed 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 14 hours ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said: I can understand why the defence hasn't been addressed so far. Casey missing pre season and going out of form and Butcher being finished physically when he came back are things we probably didn't anticipate. We also had quite a surplus in that position. If we'd tried to sign a centre back in January, we'd probably have got someone more like Zak Jules than Tom Aldred. Now is the time I definitely expect us to address it and not with Obileye. Aye I'd be staggered if we didn't attempt to sign someone in January but what's the point if they're worse than the current lot. I also totally understand why SK stood by Butcher this season because he was outstanding for 6 months last season. Whatever that injury he got on the Livingston astro was has absolutely seen him off though. He's past finished. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisGRAEME Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 20 minutes ago, Desp said: Since we're pulling out posts from 2017, can I have a quick word with you gentlemen? @Ron Aldo @thisGRAEME Listen, see if you're going to pull up every shit opinion I've had in the last ten years, you're going to have to commit to it as a full time gig. I spent a whole summer claiming that Callum Lang was going to be a gamechanger for us and he got sent off after 42 minutes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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