Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[ropy]

1 hour ago, Swello said:

Nicely illustrates how rare a thing it is.

I wasn't aware of the Brian McLaughlin one (I don't think I'd even heard of him actually) although I'm assuming that was in an alternative universe where Motherwell were in the 2nd tier.

We signed him with the money we got for Willie Pettigrew.  £100k.

i have a vague notion that he fitted a cooker for me (can’t remember if it was gas or electric) but I wasn’t confident enough to question him.

Another ‘Well player who died too young.

Edited April 3, 2023 by ropy

[Gallus Numpty]

2 hours ago, Swello said:

Nicely illustrates how rare a thing it is.

I wasn't aware of the Brian McLaughlin one (I don't think I'd even heard of him actually) although I'm assuming that was in an alternative universe where Motherwell were in the 2nd tier.

Fair to say we were a bit spoiled that year, our second and third top scorers had another 34 goals between them.

[capt_oats]

10 hours ago, Swello said:

Nicely illustrates how rare a thing it is.

I wasn't aware of the Brian McLaughlin one (I don't think I'd even heard of him actually) although I'm assuming that was in an alternative universe where Motherwell were in the 2nd tier.

Aye.

Brian McLaughlin was before my time. That season was 5 years before my first Motherwell game and, as you say, it was in the 2nd tier .

When you look at the gap between Pettigrew and Higdon for 20+ as a top flight team (three decades!) you really get an idea of how rare an achievement it is for us - especially when you consider the players we had during that time:

McClair, Walker, Arnott, Coyne, Coyle, McFadden, McDonald, Porter et al.

Some were closer than others but either way none of them actually did it.

It’s been mentioned before but we’ve been spoiled with forwards in the last 30 or so years and it feels like the player we consistently find is the one who’ll get 12-15-ish (and doing that regularly is an achievement in itself).

So fair fucks to Kev getting his 20 in *this* Motherwell team and also considering sections of the fan base would’ve been happy to bounce him out a couple of months ago.

Edited April 4, 2023 by capt_oats

[Marinello]

If commented elsewhere I apologise in advance.

At the risk of anyone thinking I'm dabbling in illegal drugs or have become detached from reality , I'm wondering if anyone has noticed that technically we can still get top 6. 

Yes we are talking about snookers and perhaps the alignment of the planets but if we win our next 2 games ( more than likely) and get a draw at Celtic Park ( improbable but they may have won league by then and have an eye on cup semi the following week) we would be sitting on 40 points with a healthy goal difference.

If Hibs lose all 3 games ( not unlikely as they are already in freefall) and Livingston fail to pick up 2 points ( more than likely according to Livi mates) we would sneak in to top 6.

I could have extended my theory to St Mirren losing all their games as they do have a hard run in but for us to overtake them we would need to beat Celtic!!!

Regardless of my ramblings it does mean that our last 3 games pre split still carry interest looking up the league rather than looking down.

 

Nurse, nurse where's my meds?

 

 

[Desp]

1 hour ago, capt_oats said:

McClair, Walker, Arnott, Coyne, Coyle, McFadden, McDonald, Porter et al.

A very underrated player

[Gianfranco]

Clarkson, Porter and McCormack are probably my favourite forward line. We used to blow teams away in the first half and their inter play was class.

Although, Higdon with Ojaama, Murphy, Law, Humphrey and latterly Faddy backing him up was magnificent fun as well.

I think one of the main reasons we’ve been more successful in the league this century than teams with similar fan bases and budgets like St Mirren, Killie, Falkirk, etc is because we’ve always had better forwards imo. 

[Swello]

10 hours ago, Gallus Numpty said:

Fair to say we were a bit spoiled that year, our second and third top scorers had another 34 goals between them.

Was that the Davie Hay year where we romped the First Division?

[Swello]

32 minutes ago, Desp said:

A very underrated player

[Doctor Manhattan]

8 minutes ago, Swello said:

Was that the Davie Hay year where we romped the First Division?

Aye.

All together now: "One Willie Irvine..."

[Phillips455]

44 minutes ago, Marinello said:

If commented elsewhere I apologise in advance.

At the risk of anyone thinking I'm dabbling in illegal drugs or have become detached from reality , I'm wondering if anyone has noticed that technically we can still get top 6. 

Yes we are talking about snookers and perhaps the alignment of the planets but if we win our next 2 games ( more than likely) and get a draw at Celtic Park ( improbable but they may have won league by then and have an eye on cup semi the following week) we would be sitting on 40 points with a healthy goal difference.

If Hibs lose all 3 games ( not unlikely as they are already in freefall) and Livingston fail to pick up 2 points ( more than likely according to Livi mates) we would sneak in to top 6.

I could have extended my theory to St Mirren losing all their games as they do have a hard run in but for us to overtake them we would need to beat Celtic!!!

Regardless of my ramblings it does mean that our last 3 games pre split still carry interest looking up the league rather than looking down.

 

Nurse, nurse where's my meds?

 

 

All possible but highly unlikely. 

 

But we're are currently only 3 points worse off than we were last season. Really shows how close it was to qualify for top 6 football last season.

The only way I would be willing to go to Parkhead is if we were in a position to qualify for the top 6. Otherwise I'm not wasting my time going for a meaningless game.

[CoF]

51 minutes ago, Marinello said:

If commented elsewhere I apologise in advance.

At the risk of anyone thinking I'm dabbling in illegal drugs or have become detached from reality , I'm wondering if anyone has noticed that technically we can still get top 6. 

Yes we are talking about snookers and perhaps the alignment of the planets but if we win our next 2 games ( more than likely) and get a draw at Celtic Park ( improbable but they may have won league by then and have an eye on cup semi the following week) we would be sitting on 40 points with a healthy goal difference.

If Hibs lose all 3 games ( not unlikely as they are already in freefall) and Livingston fail to pick up 2 points ( more than likely according to Livi mates) we would sneak in to top 6.

I could have extended my theory to St Mirren losing all their games as they do have a hard run in but for us to overtake them we would need to beat Celtic!!!

Regardless of my ramblings it does mean that our last 3 games pre split still carry interest looking up the league rather than looking down.

 

Nurse, nurse where's my meds?

 

 

I’ve always been inclined to look up the table rather than down so that caught my eye too. It’s a long shot, but not impossible. I think Hibs will at least find a way though, they’ve been decent in spells this season and the last 3 games (all defeats) have been vs rangers, Celtic and ourselves. They’re playing Dundee United this weekend and should have their top six spot wrapped up then. 
 

[Swello]

55 minutes ago, Marinello said:

If commented elsewhere I apologise in advance.

At the risk of anyone thinking I'm dabbling in illegal drugs or have become detached from reality , I'm wondering if anyone has noticed that technically we can still get top 6. 

Yes we are talking about snookers and perhaps the alignment of the planets but if we win our next 2 games ( more than likely) and get a draw at Celtic Park ( improbable but they may have won league by then and have an eye on cup semi the following week) we would be sitting on 40 points with a healthy goal difference.

If Hibs lose all 3 games ( not unlikely as they are already in freefall) and Livingston fail to pick up 2 points ( more than likely according to Livi mates) we would sneak in to top 6.

I could have extended my theory to St Mirren losing all their games as they do have a hard run in but for us to overtake them we would need to beat Celtic!!!

Regardless of my ramblings it does mean that our last 3 games pre split still carry interest looking up the league rather than looking down.

 

Nurse, nurse where's my meds?

 

 

There's zero chance we're getting Top 6 - but given where we were at the turn of the year, it would be funny to have something to play for at Parkhead if we can win our home games against Livi and Utd.

[gavin_3110]

21 hours ago, capt_oats said:

Local press confirming...

Tbf, he didn't actually do anything wrong as such.

Ironically, IIRC one of the reasons he wasn't getting a game for Stockport was that they'd changed to a 352 and he wasn't getting minutes.

With McKinstry already here we've already got an option for the wing if we need it and with our other forwards seemingly back to fitness it seems a bit daft for him to stick around if we're not going to be playing the 4231 we presumably recruited him to fit into.

I actually liked the look of him, was about the only player during the Hammell debacle that I ever seen hit the byline. Looked a really hard worker too. 

Good luck to him, he and McKinstry unfortunately victims of the change of shape. 

[Swello]

I do feel sorry for Crankshaw as I'm sure the chat was that he was desperate to come up here - and he didn't look bad from what I saw. This is a direct result of giving a (failing) manager a transfer window and then immediately sacking him as soon as it slammed shut.

We signed some genuinely season-saving players in January - but we've also got a fair few that we just don't need as things stand. 

[capt_oats]

[Busta Nut]

16 hours ago, Swello said:

Nicely illustrates how rare a thing it is.

I wasn't aware of the Brian McLaughlin one (I don't think I'd even heard of him actually) although I'm assuming that was in an alternative universe where Motherwell were in the 2nd tier.

 

15 hours ago, Doctor Manhattan said:

Quite a few were penalties. A great believer in just smashing the fucking laces through it, was our Brian.

 

15 hours ago, ropy said:

We signed him with the money we got for Willie Pettigrew.  £100k.

i have a vague notion that he fitted a cooker for me (can’t remember if it was gas or electric) but I wasn’t confident enough to question him.

Another ‘Well player who died too young.

What was with his death? Seems mysterious. 

[Kapowzer]

3 hours ago, Phillips455 said:

All possible but highly unlikely. 

 

But we're are currently only 3 points worse off than we were last season. Really shows how close it was to qualify for top 6 football last season.

The only way I would be willing to go to Parkhead is if we were in a position to qualify for the top 6. Otherwise I'm not wasting my time going for a meaningless game.

The three diddy teams in last seasons top 6 are nowhere near this years top six. Peak cinch.

#consistency

[Neil86]

The club's official coverage of the reserves is absolutely guff, absolutely zero mention of the game today, up until 50 minutes ago. Given the amount of fixtures that get cancelled for no reason at that level you can't really take the fixture list seriously.

[DeadStar]

40 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

That's a go for Joe.

[Doctor Manhattan]

50 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

What was with his death? Seems mysterious. 

A "tragic accident" AFAIK - https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/70s-celtic-star-brian-mclaughlin-1033849

Ironically, the horror injury he suffered at Celtic before moving to us was down a tackle by Willie McVie, then at Clyde.