Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[standupforthemotherwell]

18 minutes ago, Wellwatcher said:

I think that the fact that the WS itself has identified 5 workstreams - communications, events, fundraising. governance and membership to improve the workings of the WS tells you that things need to be changed. Communications - how thw WS comunicates with its members and governance are particularly important to improve how the WS and Executive board are run.

If the board which was largely elected within the last year could not identify areas for improvement then IMO they aren't fit for the position. It should be the bare minimum in any well run organisation that everyone should be looking to improve where they can. 

I work for one of the largest companies in the world with thousands of processes and procedures documented to cover every eventuality. There has been over 150 years of trading to really nail down everything to be as slick as possible. Despite this, if I don't personally find and implement several improvements every single year, I would fail my annual objectives, be marked down in my year end appraisal and ultimately forfeit a portion of my annual bonus.

In Well society terms, if the board as a body cannot make tangible improvements during their time in office, I believe they should be voted out at election time.

[Archie McSquackle]

I'm catching up after a few days and all this 'investment' chat is getting in the way of the new signings.

Anyway, the main thing I took from the club update was the assertion that the club should actually be based on annual profit and be much less than they've managed to agree with EB. On that basis, would clubs that make a loss be worthless? Clubs like Dundee United should be paying people to take them on.

[welldaft]

14 hours ago, ropy said:

Paul McGinn is still in Cologne, hope has done his bleep test.

I met at him at 1am in the reception and lift at our hotel where he was also staying. Said he managed to get two days off but was getting a 6am flight back to take part in training today (now yesterday) . Dedication for you. 

 

[TheMotherwell1]

4 hours ago, capt_oats said:

Genuinely one of the worst c***s on Motherwell Twitter.

This guy is an absolute tube. Best ignored. 

[rowsdower]

Jessie Marsch going through his St. Johnstone phase I see. He really needs Mika Beireth to get injured.

[eliphas]

8 hours ago, welldaft said:

I met at him at 1am in the reception and lift at our hotel where he was also staying. Said he managed to get two days off but was getting a 6am flight back to take part in training today (now yesterday) . Dedication for you. 

 

Perks of the new captain (I'm guessing)

[capt_oats]

18 hours ago, Ludo*1 said:

The issue with Robinson seems to be if he's not completely loved by the fans and manager, he can disappear. Some would say it's disinterest, but I thought he was lacking confidence this season. Build that up in him and you've got a player that can go on and net you a tidy profit down the line- if you don't, you've got a man down. Make him feel like the main man.

Lot of potential in him that could go either way but certainly has all the raw attributes. Not a target man as such but strong, can strike it well, no slouch and had an absolutely brilliant partnership with Alex Jakubiak in our Championship season with him. 

Kettlewell has his faults but between Bair and KVV he’s shown that he’s good at managing players who need an arm round them or to be made feel good about themselves. It definitely feels like we’ve sold Robinson on the pitch that we’ve got a great track record of getting the best out of strikers as a Football Club going back through Bair, KVV, Watt, Cole, Moult, Higdon, Sutton, Porter et al.

I know @Casagolda mentioned that we’d been speaking to him at the start of the week but I’m pleasantly surprised that we’ve got both Robinson and Stuparević through the door.

I had just expected Stuparević and, tbh, was happy enough with that as he looks like he could be good fun - adding Robinson to the mix is a nice wee surprise, which is the sort of thing we haven’t done in a while. Normally that ‘extra’ player has been a random punt like Christy Manzinga or the like.

Whether they work out or not is a different story but they feel like players who have been bought in with a clear idea of how we want to play. Which is nice.

Edited June 21 by capt_oats

[StAndrew7]

50 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Whether they work out or not is a different story but they feel like players who have been bought in with a clear idea of how we want to play. Which is nice.

I think you could easily argue that this is the first transfer window where Kettlewell has had the opportunity to build his own squad, without having to lose a (significant amount) of deadwood who were under contract. He's clearly been building a vision for how he wants us to play over the last 18 months and we're starting to see him get the chance to make signings to fit in with that, rather than adding them via loan etc.

There'll absolutely still be loans brought in; we're never going to be able to permanently sign all the bodies we need, but I'm hoping for us to bring in at least one first team/starting LWB on a permanent deal before the league cup starts. Ideally before the pre-season tour, too. I do still hold out hope for Wilson; even as a back-up but like I said earlier, it's a big step up for him to go from part-time football to the Premiership. He's also only 19, so I'd hope we'd give him a shot.

Furlong has been mentioned a few times and part of me does wonder if we'd splash some of the sweet, sweet Bair £millions (@RandomGuy. ) on signing him, or someone of that ilk on a permanent deal, or a loan with permanent built in next summer.

Edited June 21 by StAndrew7

[ropy]

54 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

It definitely feels like we’ve sold Robinson on the pitch.

 Which is nice.

[ropy]

Could have left it there.

[Ludo*1]

1 hour ago, capt_oats said:

Kettlewell has his faults but between Bair and KVV he’s shown that he’s good at managing players who need an arm round them or to be made feel good about themselves. It definitely feels like we’ve sold Robinson on the pitch that we’ve got a great track record of getting the best out of strikers as a Football Club going back through Bair, KVV, Watt, Cole, Moult, Higdon, Sutton, Porter et al.

I know @Casagolda mentioned that we’d been speaking to him at the start of the week but I’m pleasantly surprised that we’ve got both Robinson and Stuparević through the door.

I had just expected Stuparević and, tbh, was happy enough with that as he looks like he could be good fun - adding Robinson to the mix is a nice wee surprise, which is the sort of thing we haven’t done in a while. Normally that ‘extra’ player has been a random punt like Christy Manzinga or the like.

Whether they work out or not is a different story but they feel like players who have been bought in with a clear idea of how we want to play. Which is nice.

Yeah, could easily go either way with Robinson. He'll either go down as a hero and net you a big fee down the line or just fade away back into the lower tiers of English football never to be heard of again - I can't really see a future of him just being a decent steady option one way or the other. Truly is down to him - big season for him and except against us, I truly wish him all the best as I enjoyed watching him play. 

[Archie McSquackle]

There's been quite a few comments excited on the Stuparevic signing. Is there anything to justify this or is it just because he's from a foreign league?

[StAndrew7]

5 minutes ago, Archie McSquackle said:

There's been quite a few comments excited on the Stuparevic signing. Is there anything to justify this or is it just because he's from a foreign league?

His highlight videos include scoring from the halfway line. That's enough for me.

[capt_oats]

8 minutes ago, Archie McSquackle said:

There's been quite a few comments excited on the Stuparevic signing. Is there anything to justify this or is it just because he's from a foreign league?

Can't speak for anyone else but for me it's based on the fact that people who know that league think he's good and more specifically a good fit for Motherwell.

As @StAndrew7 there are plenty of highlights of him available and he looks interesting in so much as he seems to have a bit of everything. He can score (although there's a lot of questionable goalkeeping), he can pull wide, drop deep, run in behind and he also looks like he can link play and create.

Edited June 21 by capt_oats

[MurrayWell]

When he signed for Watford, both Juve and Valencia were trying to get him too.

Obviously didn't work out for him at Watford, but you'd imagine he has something about him to have that level of interest in the past. 

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

49 minutes ago, StAndrew7 said:

Furlong has been mentioned a few times and part of me does wonder if we'd splash some of the sweet, sweet Bair £millions (@RandomGuy. ) on signing him, or someone of that ilk on a permanent deal, or a loan with permanent built in next summer.

If only we had an American guy willing to give us £300k, that would probably be enough to get the deal done 

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

14 minutes ago, MurrayWell said:

When he signed for Watford, both Juve and Valencia were trying to get him too.

Obviously didn't work out for him at Watford, but you'd imagine he has something about him to have that level of interest in the past. 

Whilst I don't disagree, the last player I can remember with a narrative like that around them was a certain French right-back. No offence to his namesake on here @YassinMoutaouakil

[StAndrew7]

1 minute ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

If only we had an American guy willing to give us £300k, that would probably be enough to get the deal done 

We absolutely need to start using "a Barmack" as a unit of measure (cc @David1979 on this one).

So say we get £1.5m for Bair.

That's the equivalent "4.5-5 Barmacks".

[StAndrew7]

2 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

Whilst I don't disagree, the last player I can remember with a narrative like that around them was a certain French right-back. No offence to his namesake on here @YassinMoutaouakil

And he was absolutely amazing entertainment so what's the problem here?

[MurrayWell]

5 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

Whilst I don't disagree, the last player I can remember with a narrative like that around them was a certain French right-back. No offence to his namesake on here @YassinMoutaouakil

Oh, aye I'm not saying that will make him great for us. 

But as always, we wait to see how someone plays for us instead of judging them before they've kicked a ball for us. Overall I'm feeling pretty positive about the transfer window so far.