Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[well fan for life]

The Sportsound interview last night had me genuinely annoyed. Mental excuses about the pitch/people pulling out of friendlies etc. And to say we deserved to win is absolutely mental. 

Our two biggest problems for the whole of last season were that our centre backs were liable to drop a clanger and the massive gaping hole in front of the defence where Donnelly/O'Hara/Maguire were hopeless. The fact the season has now started without either of these being addressed is a disgrace.  

The tifo organised by the Bois was class. The atmosphere pre kick off was superb. However some of the songs later in the game aimed at the Sligo fans were dark ages stuff. 

To really go through it:

Kelly:- Didn't have that much to do. Was sold up the river for the goal. 

McGinn:- Looks like a handy acquisition. Looked exactly what I expected him to be tbh. 

Mugabi:- A clanger for the ages. Back to peak mid lockdown Bevis. 

Lamie:- Thought he was alright actually. 

Carroll:- I knew we'd have a good time when Carroll was snoozing after 34 seconds. Would like a left back if possible. 

Maguire:- I was only partially joking last night when I said I never want to see him play for us again. He's got none of the required characteristics to play in holding midfield. Doesn't read the game, slow to move the ball on and misses tackles. Two words: not good enough. 

Slattery:- Started well, faded out the game. There's a complete baller in there if he's consistent. 

Spittal:- Very, very, very slow in possession. Got to a point where they were showing him onto his left foot and he looked like he was going to have a nosebleed. Our entire left side seemed to be getting in each others way in the first half. Which brings me on to...

Morris:- Him, Carroll and Spittal seemed to want to play in exactly the same space in the first half. Looked like he wanted 10 minutes on the ball every time he got it and kept hooking crosses into the box without looking. I'll give him & Spittal the benefit of the doubt for now. 

Shields:- The same as last season. Looks busy, isn't that good at football, looked like he missed a sitter in the first half from where I was sitting. 

KvV:- He's clearly been injured, not trained at all and been thrown in there tonight because we still don't have another centre forward. 

The only sub deserving of a mention is Tierney. We should not be starting any games without him on the park. He looks like a great player but I suspect this will get him 20 minutes as a sub every week under Alexander. 

[ropy]

Presumably we sent a scout to their match last week, presumably he came back and said - they are pish boss.

[ropy]

The St Mirren and St Johnstone managers were in the stand taking notes.  Can’t help but feel they will tell their teams just to run towards our goal, something will happen.

[one m in Motherwell]

Having thought on all this a bit overnight...

The only way Alexander is going to leave is if he walks himself, and I really don't get the sense that's going to happen any time soon.  It's been discussed before but from a 'deliverables' perspective he's ticked all the boxes from last year - didn't get relegated, got top six, got Europe.  The fact this was done with some of the worst football we've seen at FP in years doesn't really matter.

However, whether we somehow scrape through this tie or not, we're not proceeding much further so there's not much point really worrying about it.  More concerning is the fact that we're going into the season with none of the issues from last year addressed - I can see the logic in wanting to trim the squad given we were carrying a few extra bodies last year, but there have been clear deficiencies for months now.  I said it last night but if KVV isn't fully fit, or doesn't fancy it, there's literally no-one else in the squad who can perform a similar role - this has been the case really since Watt left and Joe Efford frankly doesn't cut it.  

The best we can hope for is that a run of poor performances at the start of the season will be enough to see him punted - he's pretty much exhausted any and all goodwill he may have built up (long before now), the support en masse are unhappy - it's only going to get worse if we persist in the face of what is obviously not working.

 

As a (semi) positive however - we certainly have the bones of a half-decent squad, as someone said above good performances seem to be in spite of Alexander's tactics rather than because of them.  You have to hope that someone else will be able to get a tune of some kind out of them.

[CoF]

29 minutes ago, ML4 said:

Youve got hardly any office staff trying to run a game for near 7000 home fans. 

Aye, the folk in the ticket office knock their pans in and as the only front facing staff are usually the ones dealing with the shite that comes from fans. 

It does however seem like there were a few basic things that will hopefully be ironed out -

Uncertainty on whether tickets are added to season cards. I selected pick up, as there wasn't any other option at the checkout. I only found out it was added to my card by asking on here the phoning the club to confirm. 

Uncertainty about seating in the Phil O'Donnell. 

Creating queues for the Hunter stand going through the Cooper, but not putting signs up? I stood in that cooper queue for about ten minutes before I was told I couldn't actually get into the cooper stand. 

I wasn't too bothered, but you can always see tensions and disgruntlement when it's busy and that's before a ball has even been kicked. 

[ropy]

I thought the game was quite even last night, which to be fair isn’t good enough.  Shields failed to get his shot on target. Players having to chop on to their weaker foot because they weren’t sharp enough to get the shot away first time. Bevis doing Bevis things (that was just all wrong).  We are not bad at playing a cross field pass, we should adapt that for balls forward.

Looking at the bench Tierney was the only one I thought could come on and impact the game and he did have some positive flashes.  If he were to start a game there would be nothing on the bench to add any impetus.

Its not unreasonable to think we can turn this around next week, 90 minutes under the belt and another week of training, but it hasn’t yet encouraged me to look at the cost of a trawler to Stavanger.

 

[CoF]

40 minutes ago, welldaft said:

At the time I thought he may have been under more pressure. There was literally no need to header that ball back. He clearly did not know Keena was running through like all good attackers do. It was diabolical. 

Aye, at the time I wondered if Keena had come from a blind spot and he'd been let down by his team mates for not giving him a shout. But nope, Keena is right in front of him - it's been eyes on the ball all the way. 

[Handsome_Devil]

1 minute ago, ropy said:

Its not unreasonable to think we can turn this around next week, 90 minutes under the belt and another week of training, but it hasn’t yet encouraged me to look at the cost of a trawler to Stavanger.

Nobody is more desperate than a jaunt on the beer than me but win or lose next week, the bigger issue is the season ahead. We were supposed to be trimming the bloated squad, adding only a handful of faces who could make us better and transitioning to be something less agricultural.

It's ridiculous to write that off in mid-July, no matter how bad opening night was, but the early signs are not good. Despite his success last season, the manner of it means GA and everyone at the club knew this season was being started in probation and it won't be long before the atmosphere is completely toxic.

[welldaft]

22 minutes ago, one m in Motherwell said:

Having thought on all this a bit overnight...

The only way Alexander is going to leave is if he walks himself, and I really don't get the sense that's going to happen any time soon.  It's been discussed before but from a 'deliverables' perspective he's ticked all the boxes from last year - didn't get relegated, got top six, got Europe.  The fact this was done with some of the worst football we've seen at FP in years doesn't really matter.

Not true.  The Board are fully aware of the fans feelings towards Alexander.  Had we not made top 6 he probably would have been away already.  Not because that was an expectation as such more that we would have thrown it away. That and 2022 form and results.

If we get knocked out of Europe and have a slow start in the league he will be shown the door.  I don't suppose it would come as any surprise as the same is likely to happen to Callum Davidson, Stephen Robinson etc.  

My feelings are similar to others.  The fact we seem to play the same formation and same players (in defence) and expect different outcomes is incredibly naive.  We ALL know we need at least one starting CB, LB and possibly striker as real competition for Van Veen.  I am glad Lamie stayed as who else would have started !!

The fact we are slow with recruitment could be seen as a good thing.  Not rushing in and making mistakes but we have glaring deficiencies that are not being addressed.  The pitch looks great but it hardly was poor last season. £900k or around about that figure.  I think the squad needs as much if not more investment than the pitch !

The only thing I would say in defence of Alexander.  He (and the players) somehow got us into top 6 after being 2 goals behind in 90 minutes !  Lucky maybe but it happened.  He got us into Europe despite us losing our 1st two games post split and looking least likely to qualify.  We are now 1-0 at HT to a decent but workmanlike side.  You do think at some point he / we are going to run out of luck but I would not bet against it being next week away in Sligo.

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by welldaft

[Desp]

49 minutes ago, Lobby Dossar said:

He was told to reduce the wage bill from last season 

If you go over and above your budget in Year 1, and make an absolute Noel Hunt of it in the process, I'm not surprised he's been told to get it down in Year 2.  

Can't be trusted.  When the fans have turned, it's only a matter of time.

[MP_MFC]

If he stays we will get relegated with this squad as it is constituted. Kelly can only do so much at one end when you’ve got keystone cops defending and one striker who’ll maybe play in 2/3 of the games. 

[Busta Nut]

I thought Morris was dugshite, he's a further advanced version of Goss

[CoF]

18 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said:

it won't be long before the atmosphere is completely toxic.

This is true. As much as last night was terrible, I had the fear about the final whistle reaction. I know plenty will disagree but I've never thought boo-ing your own players adds anything positive. Especially on the first competitive game of the season. 

But the reality is, last night was a hangover from the last 6 months of last season. We all want a fresh start, give GA a chance, but even one game in there's a genuine fear among the fanbase that we're going to continue our relegation form. Patience is thin just now, and rightly so. 

[thisGRAEME]

7 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

I thought Morris was dugshite, he's a further advanced version of Goss

Admired his ability to get on to his left foot from basically any standing position. A talent in itself.

[Mr Hahn]

1 hour ago, tonicg said:

I didn’t think last night would be easy but that was just brutal. I was one who’d always be trying to give GA the benefit of the doubt but that has broken me last night. 
 

His post match interview was embarrassing. I get how managers need to try and remain defiant or cling on to some positives. But that was just pure delusion. 
 

Final point (which is not GA’s fault) is on the seating in the POD stand. I bought a ticket for my ST seat and was given no info about that section being closed. It was a bit of a shambles to be honest. Heard some others got a phone call to notify them? 

Yeh I was in the same boat (regarding ST being in the closed seats). I didn't get a phone call either but really the online system should surely be able allocate us a nearby available seat if ours is closed? This issue of those bucket seats not being allowed in European competition isn't exactly new to us so don't think there's much excuse for there not being a plan for moving those whose ST seat in on one. I felt a bit for the stewards who were just trying to do their job and been dropped in it by poor planning. "Just find any available seat" isn't really a plan in a sold out stand.

Absolutely dreadful stuff from us last night and, like everyone else, listening to GA's post match interview on the way home wondering wtf he watched. Didn't really agree with Craigan or Faddy's takes that Sligo were great. They were exactly what I expected them to be: organised, up for it and capable of nicking a few chances. If we weren't expecting at least that from them, then we haven't been paying attention to Scottish clubs in Europe (including ourselves) for the past 20 odd years.

The players are all clearly lacking match fitness which is fine at this stage and excuses the odd poor touch or missed tackle but would still have expected the ideas for good play to be there even if the execution wasn't. We didn't put together any nice moves perhaps other than Morris getting played in early in the 1st half. There was no movement.

Positives: I thought McGinn was good, Morris looks alright, Tierney looked like he could actually open things up when he came on.

Negatives: We're still pedestrian AF on the ball, our full backs never have anyone to pass to, our front line can't hold the ball and our midfield is too much of a straight line. So......basically all the same issues as last season. Fucking sound.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Mr Hahn

[Al B]

I know I'm still on my own and that's fine.... I 100% understand why, but I will die alone on my "KVV is shite" hill.

He's by no means the worst, not even in the same boat as the worst. But he's shite.

[Self-raising Lazarus]

5 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

Admired his ability to get on to his left foot from basically any standing position. A talent in itself.

That was so obvious. But even decent deliveries were always getting cleared by their defence. 

What killed us last night is the lack of movement in the final third, Tierney at least asked some questions when he came on.

[Luke92]

Agree with the majority of the posts on here.

It was just a replay of last season, nothing has changed. I'm still to understand what our style of play is, its not football anyway. Primitive would be the best way to describe our attacking philosophy. I hoped that Alexander might have an awakening and change things but its just the same old pish. The outrage from folk is a culmination of a number of months of pain and isn't just about last night.

I think sometimes we do too much to reason with what we are seeing. It's been crystal clear for some time now that the style of football is murder, that certain first team players aren't good enough and that our recruitment has been poor. Until we address these issues its going to be the same old shite I'm afraid.

The fact that we had two friendlies before this is absolutely criminal as well. We knew when the game was going to be ages ago there is no excuses. Winning next week will continue to paper over the cracks to be honest.

I'm dreading watching another season of this football and i will certainly be thinking twice about forking out £500+ for an away day should we somehow qualify for the next round.

On some specifics:

- Van Veen is starting to really annoy me, never fit and his mobility is woeful. 1 out of 8 games isn't going to cut it. We need a striker asap, not a Shields/Efford who spend the game running out to hopeful long balls.

- Carroll is still miles off it

- SOD on the way out for McGinn..

- Morris looked good albeit his final ball was meh

- Spitall looked how I remembered him, not good enough for first team. Some of his passing was slack

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Luke92

[CoF]

7 minutes ago, Mr Hahn said:

Didn't really agree with Craigan or Faddy's takes that Sligo were great. They were exactly what I expected them to be: organised, up for it and capable of nicking a few chances. 

I'd give them credit for dealing with pretty much everything we chucked into their box (aye, goes under the "organised and up for it" category). One thing that stood out was their passing in tight spaces, there were a few nice passages that we can only dream of just now. 

[Swello]

Last night reminded me of a cup game against a Championship side when we're coming off the winter break (or the Breidablik 1st leg) - that is to say that the other team may have been limited but were more motivated and looked a bit sharper. A draw would have probably been a fair result but similar to last season, if you are constantly giving teams a goal of a start with shite defending, you're up against it. 

On Bevis - he should never be a starting player - he's a squad player and it's concerning that he was judged to be the best we had in that position. His stupidity in the cup against Hibs cost us dearly, and last night was just another in a long series of shite unforced errors. I think his popularity is saving him from an absolute hounding - Rickie Lamie would be getting fucking pelters if he were responsible. 

Most concerning thing for me - even allowing for the stage in the season and the fact that Sligo sat in once they scored - was the amount of possession we had that resulted in very few chances. Slattery, Morris and Spittal moved the ball about nicely enough but I never once felt that they knew what to do once we got near their box.

I heard the first big "boooooooooooooo" in the East Stand last night after 9 minutes - there are some folk that have made their mind up already. Performances like last night and the suspicion that we are under-prepared is only going to make up more minds. 

Not confident that we can do a Llanelli next week but I was even less confident after that particular first leg debacle.