Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[capt_oats]

35 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

There are few areas where I would consider us to be "light" on numbers. However, a number 9 is definitely one of them.

Van Veen done well enough last season, but there were the injuries, suspensions and distinterested days in there.

Am I right in saying against Partick that Efford was through the middle and Shields outwide for the most part? That would tell you he doesn't trust Shields even as a backup striker.

I guess the problem might be that there are none who fit the bill in our price range at the moment. It's probably also still a touch on the early side for English clubs to have decided who is in their plans or not, if we are looking at the loan market down there.

That's pretty much how I see it (and tbf the manager was in the press last week saying it's his view we're "light" up front).

I'd be a bit more concerned if it felt like we'd followed the Robinson strategy we'd become used to where the aim was to get all our business done in time for pre-season. I mean, there's clearly still space in the squad it's not like we're maxed out or anything.

Looking at the squad as is:

GK: Kelly, Fox, Connelly (3)
DF: O'Donnell, Carroll, Lamie, Mugabi, Ojala, Johansen, McGinn, McGinley, Johnston, Devine (10)
MF: Maguire, Spittal, Slattery, Cornelius, Tierney, Goss (6)
FW: Van Veen, Efford, Morris, Mahon, Shields (5)

Total: 24

Given Devine's 21 and has 8 career games under his belt unless he's the new Maldini it wouldn't be a surprise to see him loaned out (he was unfortunate with his loan to QOS being cut short by Covid and seems to have had injury problems since)

Incidentally, I notice the admin has moved Morris from midfield to forward after Woolery leaving.

[thisGRAEME]

Fortunately, St. Mirren v Motherwell on the opening day will get football stopped, so I guess there's no need to worry.

[Blink182]

Any idea if the Motherwell vs Sligo game tomorrow night with be available for international viewers on MFC Tv or for season ticket holders who can't make it?

[capt_oats]

Looking for an alternative mercurial centre forward are we?

Bring him home #Grezza.

[AdamMFC]

I agree that a No.9 is a position where we need to have back up in given the factors of Van Veens injuries, days he's not interested and his tendency to get a couple of suspensions as well Effords lack of any real consistency and what looks like Alexanders lack of trust in Shields up front.

Hopefully if/when we get past Sligo and the English clubs are further along in deciding who they want and who they don't, we'll bring someone in.

[Swello]

I just realised it was GA who said KVV was a doubt - I now feel hugely re-assured and look forward to seeing the big man putting 90 minutes in tomorrow night.

[Handsome_Devil]

2 hours ago, AdamMFC said:

Not looking good for Van Veen or McGinn.

https://twitter.com/GavinMcCafferty/status/1549685953136140288?t=ZLH6bwi5j3ERfTVJrP83hA&s=19

 

They may or may not play but anyone who expected anything else than GA saying they were massive doubts must have slept through last season!

[JamesP_81]

Surely an injured KVV is still going to be our most potent threat . I'm expecting him to be on the bench tomorrow but with GA ready to spring into action and throw him on in the 83rd minute if we're losing.  

[Phillips455]

1 hour ago, Swello said:

I just realised it was GA who said KVV was a doubt - I now feel hugely re-assured and look forward to seeing the big man putting 90 minutes in tomorrow night.

He still has to be picked by the tombola draw though.

[rambunctious]

2 hours ago, JamesP_81 said:

Surely an injured KVV is still going to be our most potent threat . I'm expecting him to be on the bench tomorrow but with GA ready to spring into action and throw him on in the 83rd minute if we're losing.  

Was it a game against Aberdeen last season where he was playing with one arm and was still bodying defenders?

[JamesP_81]

8 minutes ago, rambunctious said:

Was it a game against Aberdeen last season where he was playing with one arm and was still bodying defenders?

That's the one . I'll leave it to someone more technically savvy than myself to provide the gif of him swatting Declan away to set up the equaliser.  

[capt_oats]

13 minutes ago, rambunctious said:

Was it a game against Aberdeen last season where he was playing with one arm and was still bodying defenders?

[Busta Nut]

saw a few folk asking, saw they've answered

[Swami]

1 hour ago, rambunctious said:

Was it a game against Aberdeen last season where he was playing with one arm and was still bodying defenders?

“Defenders”

[rambunctious]

13 minutes ago, Swami said:

“Defenders”

Haha. My initial instinct was to say "bodying c***s" but went against it. 

Definitely more apt in Declan's case anyway.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

Is KVV arguably the only #9 we've signed in 3 windows under GA? I appreciate that a) we might still sign one, b) there's less out and out strikers in the game nowadays,  and not many want to sit on Motherwell's bench and c) there was maybe a hope that Shields, Woolery etc would be more reliable in that role than they turned out to be. It is still a bit weird though. 

[Handsome_Devil]

45 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

Is KVV arguably the only #9 we've signed in 3 windows under GA? I appreciate that a) we might still sign one, b) there's less out and out strikers in the game nowadays,  and not many want to sit on Motherwell's bench and c) there was maybe a hope that Shields, Woolery etc would be more reliable in that role than they turned out to be. It is still a bit weird though. 

I bang this drum constantly. It's even weirder if the reported interest in Rudden was true because that suggests GA is aware an alternative is needed. 

We can muddle through the odd game without KVV obviously but there's simply no one else in our squad that can play as a central striker in a 4-3-3 for any length of time.

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

Is KVV arguably the only #9 we've signed in 3 windows under GA? I appreciate that a) we might still sign one, b) there's less out and out strikers in the game nowadays,  and not many want to sit on Motherwell's bench and c) there was maybe a hope that Shields, Woolery etc would be more reliable in that role than they turned out to be. It is still a bit weird though. 

Aye.

The only other #9 he's signed has been big Harry Smith and I think most of us acknowledge that Alexander had pretty much f**k all to do with the signings in that window.

There's an argument that Shields could be a #9 as that's where he was used in his breakthrough season with QOS. Also, last season he'd inherited Watt from the Robinson squad.

To date these are Alexander's signings:

Summer 21 - Connor Shields, Justin Amaluzor, Kaiyne Woolery, Kevin Van Veen, Liam Kelly, Darragh O'Connor, Mich'el Parker, Callum Slattery, Juhani Ojala, Sean Goss, Sondre Solholm Johansen, Jordan Roberts (loan) = (12)
January 22 - Ross Tierney, Jordan Roberts (loan made permanent), Liam Shaw (loan), Victor Nirennold, Joe Efford, Robbie Mahon = (6)
Summer 22 - Blair Spittal, Paul McGinn, Josh Morris = (3)

Total = 20 (inc. Roberts loan/loan made permanent)

For comparison here's Robinson's signings:

Spoiler

17/18
Summer 17 : Alex Fisher, Gael Bigirimana, Craig Tanner, Trevor Carson, Andy Rose, Russell Griffiths, Charles Dunne, Cedric Kipre, George Newell, Ellis Plummer, Rohan Ferguson, Deimantas Petravičius, Liam Grimshaw, Gennadios Xenodochof,

January 18 - Curtis Main, Peter Hartley (loan)/(permanent), Nadir Ciftci (loan), Tom Aldred (loan), Stephen Hendrie (loan)

Total = 19

18/19
Summer: Mark Gillespie, Liam Donnelly, Danny Johnson, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Alex Rodriguez-Gorrin, Christian Mbulu, Conor Sammon (loan)

January 19: Ross McCormack (loan), Gboly Ariyibi (loan)

Total = 9

19/20
Summer 19: Declan Gallagher, Liam Polworth, Jake Carroll, Casper Sloth, Jermaine Hylton, Christopher Long, Devante Cole (loan) Sherwin Seedorf, Christian Ilic, Christy Manzinga, Ross MacIver, Bevis Mugabi,

January 20: Tony Watt, Harry Robinson, Mark O'Hara (loan), Mikael Ndjoli (loan), Rolando Aarons (loan) 

Total = 17

20/21
Summer 20: Ricki Lamie, Jordan White, Nathan McGinley, Scott Fox, Stephen O'Donnell, Devante Cole, Aaron Chapman, Jordan Archer, Jake Hastie (loan), Callum Lang (loan), Robbie Crawford (loan)

Total = 11

Edited July 20, 2022 by capt_oats

[Kapowzer]

I don't doubt that we should be able to do enough tomorrow to put the tie to bed with a misfiring Sligo of late. But teams of equal stature have put us to the sword due to complacency or us not being prepared.

However 2 weeks out from Sparta and 10 days from the SPFL season starting, we've simply not strengthened the team enough. This is off the back of an increase in income. The players we've recruited must be at least break even financially with the guys who left.

While progression against Sparta would give us a kind playoff draw the game itself is equivalent to 2 legged cup final against the OF, you may sneak one once in a while but not two in a week, if they did slip up you'd expect to get tanked in the return (OK ..... Newco playoff in 2015).

I would just have liked us to give it a go.

By all means don't commit resources on a 2 legged cup game but by the time the window closes we'll have 5 SPFL games under our belt too. Players recruited in July are no different to those secured on the 1st of September except they can bolster you squad for an extra 9 competitive games. Especially when the UEFA one's carry a massive monetary bonus.  I've said before maybe some we are chasing are that good they are holding out themselves to see all the options, maybe missed out on a few too or been pied by others.

I don't dispute we have snippets of quality in our squad here and there, I also don't denigrate the effort put in preseason fitness but when it comes to personnel we have available I think the old army adage of fail to prepare, prepare to fail is pretty succinct here.

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

Shields is one of those players who suits playing off a big striker in a front two. That kind of player is kind of redundant in the modern game where 4-4-2 and front twos in general are scarce.

We’ve signed him knowing that he’s not a #9 and he’s not a winger and we play a front three.

I think there’s a player in there somewhere with him.

The thing I do find weird though is that even when KVV is out, we’d sooner play a winger through the middle than him.