Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Swello]

See when we used to get crammed in next to the fence at Fir Park and the OF used to get the rest of the ground, that was horrible.

It's a piece of piss going to a match now compared to then.

 

This is true - in the late 80's, you'd still get 20,000+ crowds for the OF games at Fir Park (which seems quite bizarre now) and we had a wee section over next to the fence and that was it - was never nice...But then you'd occasionally get games like this to make it worthwhile

 

 

As the vid shows, goal celebrations were more fun when you were 10 feet away from the opposition....

[thisGRAEME]

MJC will be absolutely torn on who to cheer on in the cup game.

 

Get doon.

 

Thank you.

[Swello]

Against my better judgement, I looked at the Steelmen transfer thread and in amongst some galaxy class knicker wetting about U20's going on holiday (or something, I didn't really understand the point) - I see that Hall is away. Is that confirmed anywhere?

 

If he's away, fair play to him getting that kind of move without setting the heather on fire. Definitely a lot of potential there and he slotted very comfortably into the first team - I'm interested to see if he gets many minutes on the pitch next year. I'm not one to wish failure on guys that leave us (although there have been a couple of exceptions over the years ) so I hope he hasn't left a year to soon for his own sake.

[MJC]

It's a shame to see Hall as he made a really good account of himself last season. We need to see some transfers IN very soon or it might be time to hit the panic button.

[capt_oats]

That thread on Steelmen btw...bloody hell! Meltdowns happening about Robbie Leitch possibly going to Burnley now.

As far as Hall goes, if he moves and we get the sort of development fee that's been quoted then it's a win:win for everyone. The club gets some cash for a player with potential (but who still has a fair bit to go, his error in the u20s cup final that cost a goal was fairly clear evidence that he's by no means Baresi) and the player gets a move and wages that are more in line with what he's after.

Hall's a bit unfortunate in the respect that centre back is the one area of the park we're actually reasonably well covered with Kennedy, Laing and now Ferguson being options for the position alongside McManus. If it's the case that Hall was, not unreasonably, looking for parity in wages with Kennedy and Laing then from the club's point of view you'd think that they'd be asking themselves whether they could justify increasing his salary and ending up with 3 players of similar ability all on the same wage playing for one position when there are other areas of the park that blatantly need addressing and that the budget could be allocated to.

It'd have been good if Hall had decided to stay but equally the club cashing in on development fees is probably something we're going to see a lot more of.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

It's a shame to see Hall as he made a really good account of himself last season. We need to see some transfers IN very soon or it might be time to hit the panic button.

The transfer window hasn't even opened yet.

[mjw]

It's a shame to see Hall as he made a really good account of himself last season. We need to see some transfers IN very soon or it might be time to hit the panic button.

Barton and Krancjar not enough for you?

[Indyboy]

For the Annan away game on the 23rd of July will u be able to pay at the gate or need to go to the ticket office?

[Casagolda]

Was in the Scottish Mail this morning that 'Atletico de Kolkata' have apparently offered us 100k to try and take Pearson back to India.

 

A six figure fee for a guy who'll be 34 a few months into next season who didn't manage 30 games for us last season? Surely we'd be booking his flight for him.

 

To be fair to Pearson, 9 goals in 28 games last season was an excellent return from a central midfielder and he's done us a good turn over the last 18 months. Great player on his day however he's the wrong side of 30, injury prone and fairly inconsistent.  

 

If it's true and Pearson wanted to go, I can't see the club standing in his way.

 

 

[MikeyWellFan]

WE'RE DOOMED

[capt_oats]

Given it's been fairly well documented we've been restructuring the budget and are now basing our projections on no sales then if we're being offered a six figure fee from a club who aren't in the same league for a player with a year to go on his deal then you'd think we'd definitely be listening to what they have to say.

You'd hope that any income the club can get from players in the last year of their contracts or development fees would be helpful in trying to push toward profit from a break even position rather than selling out of necessity.

[Swello]

I think Pearson is one of our most important players and having someone who can score from midfield as he does is something that we'll find difficult to replace from the bargain basement. I would usually be supportive of the "take the money" approach but not here.

[thisGRAEME]

Take the money, immediately.

Great guy, contributed massively over 18 months.

 

About to turn 34, injury prone when he wasn't 30+, money money money money.

[MJC]

Agree with that, if we are offered any sort of money for Pearson then we should take it. He's a good player when he's on his game but unfortunately he is a one good game in five type player and that goes back to his first spell when he was in his early 20s. Now in his mid 30s, he's lost a good few yards of pace and is extremely injury prone. If anyone is willing to pay money for him we should rip their arm off for it.

[well fan for life]

Dolla dolla bills y'all.

What I'm trying to say is that if anyone is wanting to pay £100,000 for Pearson we'd be mental to reject it.

[Indyboy]

What's the word on the street about the ex ICT goalie we where looking at? Any c**t heard anything?

[Casagolda]

It's a shame to see Hall as he made a really good account of himself last season. We need to see some transfers IN very soon or it might be time to hit the panic button.

 

After last summer, I think it's important not to hit the panic button and take our time getting the right players in. Baraclough went transfer crazy last summer and went out and signed 11 players;

 

Joe Chalmers, David Clarkson, Wes Fletcher, Louis Laing, Louis Moult, Kieran Kennedy, Connor Ripley, Theo Robinson, Jake Taylor, Craig Samson and Liam Grimshaw.

 

Fair does it was exciting at the time, how many of them actually made any sort of discernible impact though? Three, maybe four at a push. Three of them in Chalmers, Robinson and Taylor would be serious contenders for a worst Motherwell eleven of the last decade. We signed another two strikers in Fletcher and Clarkson who managed one goal between them all season. An a third first team goalkeeper in Samson who made two appearances all season while we continued to pay Dan Twardzik to play youth team football for a few months, before presumably having to pay him off to get rid of him.

 

In retrospect, it was a complete clusterfuck. Outisde of Moult, Ripley and to a certain extent Kennedy and Grimshaw it was pretty rotten. In fact if I was putting together my preferred Motherwell 11 from last season it would be;

 

Ripley

 

Law

Hall

McManus

Hammell

 

Cadden

Lasley

Pearson

 

Johnson

McDonald

Moult

 

Two of the eleven players we signed last summer would make it in, even if I was making up a bench at least four of the fuckers wouldn't make it. I know some would argue for Kennedy's inclusion over Hall, which to me is the only debatable selection, however I personally preferred Hall's style to Kennedy's. Before he chucked it in that last game against Celtic may I add.

 

Either way, two or maybe three of the eleven players we signed last summer helped improve the team that finished second bottom the previous season and survived relegation via the play-offs. It simply wasn't good enough.

 

We can't afford to waste our money the way we did last summer and bring in any old journeymen shite just to fill up the squad. It was actually reassuring to read McGhee saying the players he was looking to bring in were to improve the starting eleven, cause that's something that simply didn't happen last summer. McGhee's a lot more experienced than Baraclough though and I'm more confident/hopeful that he won't fall into the same traps that Baraclough did last year. 

Edited June 13, 2016 by Casagolda

[capt_oats]

Ignoring the rumours of who might be on their way out for a second, based on those who are currently contracted we'd be looking at:

 

GK - Samson

 

RB - Laing

RCB - Kennedy

LCB - McManus

LB - ?

 

LCM - Pearson

CM - ?

RCM - Cadden

 

RAM - Ainsworth

CF - Moult

LAM Johnson

 

Subs:

- Moore

- ?

- Thomas

- Ferguson

- Law

. Chalmers

- ?

 

Plus: MacLean, Campbell, Turnbull, Watt, McMillan

 

I'm not really sure what the story with McDonald is since it seems to have changed so many times firstly when he was signed it was on a year deal with a +1, then at the end of the season it was a question of whether he wanted to come back and the ball was in his court, now according to McGhee he's still effectively a Motherwell player because of the option. It's hardly consistent.

 

As far as the re-signings go the two priorities for me were McManus and McDonald, so far one has confirmed and the other, who knows? While it'd be good to keep the experienced heads around that can't be enough. As Casagolda says it's heartening that McGhee's stated that the players he's looking at bringing in are ones who will improve the first team and in truth even if the likes of Hammell and Lasley re-sign we'll still need to be looking at properly solid, focused recruitment rather than just getting bodies in to act as cover.

Edited June 13, 2016 by capt_oats

[capt_oats]

That's yer Ben Hall to Brighton official.

 

http://www.seagulls.co.uk/news/article/ben-hall-joins-brighton-and-hove-albion-from-motherwell-3139366.aspx

[Mr. Brightside]

Do we get anything from that?