Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

At least tonight stopped the rot of defeats. Other than Main hitting the bar, I don’t think we looked that bothered at any point at the back which was frustrating.

The 5-3-2 certainly helped us defensively but killed our creativity. No issue with Grimmy’s performance tonight but when he’s your entire left hand side it isn’t great.

In those circumstances, you need your centre mids to be creative and Polworth was absolutely rotten tonight. Have questioned him being on the bench the past couple of games but that tells us why. His once great delivery has been absolutely pathetic of late.

Also, O’Hara is 100% a centre half and not a midfielder.

I mean, I'm sure this is entirely coincidence and all that but our last clean sheets back in October had O'Hara playing at centre half rather than big Bev. I know shifting O'Hara back into the centre of the park was largely dictated by Campbell and Maguire's Covid adventures but it does make you wonder if that's Robinson finally going to make that call.

Carroll being on the bench seems like a positive in terms of the left hand side though.

Edited December 23, 2020 by capt_oats

[Busta Nut]

23 minutes ago, welldaft said:

He is a clever player and when on his game one of the best creative players we have had in recent years.....but..

I am convinced if the ball was 2 yards from the goal line and all of humanity apart from him had been wiped out he would miss !

I am literally shite at football but I know I would have scored more goals than him given his opportunities. 

 

 

For being thought of as an assist guy I would not let him take another free kick for a while either.

[ropy]

3 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

For being thought of as an assist guy I would not let him take another free kick for a while either.

Which was best, the one that went too far, or the one that fell short?

[Luke92]

On the face of it a good result but last night was utterly grim viewing. It doesn't feel like we create any decent chances - like at all.

To me, it just summed up the season thus far. A really shite experience and I actually find it draining watching us at the moment.

I thought Cole was the only guy who looked like he might do something. If Lang is away in January I'd like to see him upfront with Watt, might as well get a partnership going as that is the likely front two for the rest of the season. IMO Cole should start every week regardless. I've said this before but Liam Polworth is absolutely murder at taking set pieces. I've seen statistics banded about previously about his number of assists from them, fair enough but generally the amount of times per game where he fails to beat the first man or totally fucking mishits it is infuriating.

As far as January is concerned, it sounds like Robbo is looking at doing a January 2018(?) and totally changing things about... again.  I think we all know who needs to go, lets hope our recruitment is a bit better than it was in the summer. This coupled with some guys returning from injuries should hopefully ensure that we are okay.

[well fan for life]

1 hour ago, Luke92 said:

On the face of it a good result but last night was utterly grim viewing. It doesn't feel like we create any decent chances - like at all.

To me, it just summed up the season thus far. A really shite experience and I actually find it draining watching us at the moment.

I thought Cole was the only guy who looked like he might do something. If Lang is away in January I'd like to see him upfront with Watt, might as well get a partnership going as that is the likely front two for the rest of the season. IMO Cole should start every week regardless. I've said this before but Liam Polworth is absolutely murder at taking set pieces. I've seen statistics banded about previously about his number of assists from them, fair enough but generally the amount of times per game where he fails to beat the first man or totally fucking mishits it is infuriating.

As far as January is concerned, it sounds like Robbo is looking at doing a January 2018(?) and totally changing things about... again.  I think we all know who needs to go, lets hope our recruitment is a bit better than it was in the summer. This coupled with some guys returning from injuries should hopefully ensure that we are okay.

Cole absolutely has to start. We only looked like we had a chance of scoring when he came on. 

What I will say is that the overall standard of the league this season is absolutely pish. There's Celtic & Rangers, then Hibs & Aberdeen, then just assorted levels of pish. Hopefully with Carson, Donnelly & another transfer in we can put a couple of results together then relax into mid-table mediocrity. 

[Marinello]

Seems to be taken as a given that Lang is away next month.

Unless I'm missing something I find it difficult to see how Lang would be leaving when as I understand it there is no release clause in January.

Of course if he is very unhappy then maybe a deal can be struck but otherwise I don't see how he can leave.

Anybody out me right??

[Marinello]

Meant to say anybody PUT me right

[ropy]

1 hour ago, well fan for life said:

Cole absolutely has to start. We only looked like we had a chance of scoring when he came on. 

What I will say is that the overall standard of the league this season is absolutely pish. There's Celtic & Rangers, then Hibs & Aberdeen, then just assorted levels of pish. Hopefully with Carson, Donnelly & another transfer in we can put a couple of results together then relax into mid-table mediocrity. 

What is annoying is that at different times we have shown we can compete with Hibs and Aberdeen, we should be in that grouping.

But we are not.

[capt_oats]

48 minutes ago, Marinello said:

Seems to be taken as a given that Lang is away next month.

Unless I'm missing something I find it difficult to see how Lang would be leaving when as I understand it there is no release clause in January.

Of course if he is very unhappy then maybe a deal can be struck but otherwise I don't see how he can leave.

Anybody out me right??

The Record were reporting there's a recall clause but then again they were also saying John Sheridan is their manager (he left over a month ago).

Ultimately he's their player so if they really want him back I'd imagine that's what will happen. Recall clause or not.

Basically it seems Joe Garner asked the club to cancel his contract to facilitate a move to India which hasn't gone through and Wigan are wanting Lang back as his replacement which is understandable given he's still their player and also they have their ongoing administration situation so they're probably limited in terms of who they can bring in.

As Robinson was saying to the press the other week, we're wanting some new faces in however we may have to "wheel and deal" in order to make that happen. I like Lang and IMO he's one of the successful signings of the summer (even though he's maybe not hit the levels we might have been expecting). The trade off is that we've brought Devante back and there's probably potential in a partnership with him and Watt.

Edited December 24, 2020 by capt_oats

[RandomGuy.]

I wonder if all "foreign" loans have break clauses in them since they're, technically, transfers? 

Aberdeen losing Watkins, you lot losing Lang, and us losing McNamara, are all instances of clubs losing players they wouldn't agree to lose and likely wouldn't have wanted a break clause in when signing them.

[well fan for life]

1 hour ago, ropy said:

What is annoying is that at different times we have shown we can compete with Hibs and Aberdeen, we should be in that grouping.

But we are not.

It is annoying aye. Whenever our defence get their shit together we're still absolutely hamstrung because of our absolutely toothless attacking options.

[capt_oats]

The last update was 22nd December but I see the OS is only listing Donnelly, Dunne and Fox as injured now.

Obviously Carroll was on the bench last night and Carson appeared in the socials posts at training but considering what the injury situation was like recently that's probably a positive.

Not to get all Gossip Girl but it does beg a question of a couple who haven't been in the squad lately - like, not even on the bench especially with Robinson piping up as he has the past week or so.

Edited December 24, 2020 by capt_oats

[Casagolda]

2 hours ago, Marinello said:

Seems to be taken as a given that Lang is away next month.

Unless I'm missing something I find it difficult to see how Lang would be leaving when as I understand it there is no release clause in January.

Of course if he is very unhappy then maybe a deal can be struck but otherwise I don't see how he can leave.

Anybody out me right??

Lasley confirmed it last night.

Quote

Lasley said: "It's disappointing that Callum Lang has to go back.

"He's available for the next couple [against Dundee United on Boxing Day and Kilmarnock on December 30] and then he has to go back after that.

Link

Sounds like Wigan had a break clause in the deal and have basically telt us he’s going back in January. 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Casagolda

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

35 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

Lasley confirmed it last night.

Link

Sounds like Wigan had a break clause in the deal and have basically telt us he’s going back in January. 

We were trying to buy him for a ridiculous amount of money. We should be happy about this.

He hasn't been a stand out performer, not really any better than Chris Long.

I would rather we try nd get someone else in who can make a difference.

[Desp]

2 minutes ago, Jim McLean's Ghost said:

I would rather we try and get someone else in who can make a difference.

You and me both pal. 

 

[ropy]

1 hour ago, Jim McLean's Ghost said:

 

He hasn't been a stand out performer, not really any better than Chris Long.

 

I would agree and disagree with that sentence.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

Reckon we'll sign him next summer anyway tbh

[Marinello]

8 hours ago, capt_oats said:

The Record were reporting there's a recall clause but then again they were also saying John Sheridan is their manager (he left over a month ago).

Ultimately he's their player so if they really want him back I'd imagine that's what will happen. Recall clause or not.

Basically it seems Joe Garner asked the club to cancel his contract to facilitate a move to India which hasn't gone through and Wigan are wanting Lang back as his replacement which is understandable given he's still their player and also they have their ongoing administration situation so they're probably limited in terms of who they can bring in.

As Robinson was saying to the press the other week, we're wanting some new faces in however we may have to "wheel and deal" in order to make that happen. I like Lang and IMO he's one of the successful signings of the summer (even though he's maybe not hit the levels we might have been expecting). The trade off is that we've brought Devante back and there's probably potential in a partnership with him and Watt.

Many thanks for clarification.

I'm pretty sad about this as I feel there is a player there who has some potential.

Academic at end of the day as he is Wigan's player. Oh well.

[steelmen]

Saw on the BBC that they 3-0 wins have been suspended due to the appeals.

WTF is taking the spfl so long to act on everything? It took them ages to announce the punishment and now to act after the appeals.If these games need to be played we have missed a fair few mid weeks when they could have been. What will happen is through no fault of our own we will end up with having to play a ridiculous amount of games in a short period of time.

[welldaft]

I am reading so much sh1t on social media saying they have no sympathy for Motherwell. I mean WTF. We had nothing to these decisions. We were due to play 2 games and against weakened sides. We would have happily done so. What if the games are replayed. We play against full strength teams ? That being the case if we have more than a handful of injuries I would just cite Covid and wait until They clear up before the rescheduled games. 

It is baffling and if the points are rescinded and the games played so be it. But for me that will be the last straw for Doncaster. He has to go. If I had deeper pockets I would back an appeal and and sue the SPFL for incompetence.