Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[AnderooMFC]

Did mine eyes deceive me or, in the first half, did Liam Kelly come off his line quickly, get to the ball first and not wipe out the opposition player? Surely must've been a problem with the stream or something...

[Swello]

That nightmare I had about Louis Moult putting us out the cup won't be happening then...

 

[YassinMoutaouakil]

1-0 win in the time Wilkinson and Bair were both on

[CoF]

That was outstanding. Fair play to Kettlewell in getting an organised and spirited performance despite the shite run we're on. A sign that maybe all is not lost. 

Also, of the 16 goals we've scored this season, 7 have come 85 minutes+. Can we not just pretend it's the last 10 minutes for the whole match? 

[Ewanandmoreagain]

2 hours ago, MurrayWell said:

Not SSC !

[Handsome_Devil]

12 minutes ago, CoF said:

That was outstanding. Fair play to Kettlewell in getting an organised and spirited performance despite the shite run we're on. A sign that maybe all is not lost. 

Before I start pissing all over the chips I should say of course I'm thrilled about the result and everyone did brilliantly.

But there's a reason struggling teams often do well against the OF then revert to type the next week and it's because these games are totally different to the bread and butter.

Of course it was great to see us organised, motivated, disciplined etc but take the wingbacks for example - SOD and especially Spencer were outstanding but there's absolutely nothing in defending v Celtic which suggests they'll suddenly play well in offering the attacking width required v Dundee.

Blaney, Casey and Mugabi (couple of moments apart) are the same, we know they can usually handle the Alamo stuff, next week if we keep them in place they'll be expected to actually pass to our midfield occasionally... which is more of a challenge.

We can certainly hope the confidence boost helps but our fundamental issues remain to be resolved. 

[superwell87]

3 hours ago, Doctor Manhattan said:

Joe Hart: Where did that fucking ball go???

Whit's the goalie doing??? Who gives a feck.

[Gianfranco]

I still would have picked Mandron over Obika in the summer but if he can stay fit maybe Jon can become a bit of a cult hero for us. 

[eliphas]

5 minutes ago, Gianfranco said:

I still would have picked Mandron over Obika in the summer but if he can stay fit maybe Jon can become a bit of a cult hero for us. 

Ex Spurs striker Jonny Obika scoring into Ex Spurs goalie Joey Hart with Ex Spurs defender Cammy CV

[joewarkfanclub]

Good disciplined performance. SK got the team selection and tactics right and the players worked their socks off to prove they are not ready to throw the manager under the bus just yet. Thats something to build on and try and repair whats become a fragile confidence. 

That said, I agree with Handsome Devil. Next week is a different challenge and we will have to be a bit more forward thinking. 

Id be happy to keep a similar shape, but we could maybe afford to tweak it by being more attacking in the wing back areas and play Spencer and Gent in their natural positions to get some attacking width into the team.

We also have the option of pulling the defensive midfielder and putting on another forward if needs be. Id like to see if Obika and Biereth could forge a partnership whilst they are both fit. They are the best 2 forwards we have ability wise.

Good to have options again and go into next week off what feels like a very positive result and performance.

Edited November 25, 2023 by joewarkfanclub

[CoF]

3 hours ago, Handsome_Devil said:

But there's a reason struggling teams often do well against the OF then revert to type the next week and it's because these games are totally different to the bread and butter.

 

I'm gonna need to see your workings on this one, because I'm fairly sure struggling teams mostly get hammered. 

I get what your saying in the rest of the post though. It's a totally different type of game. I think the reason for my optimism is because I've started to wonder if things aren't so rosy behind the scenes. The players clearly took on Kettlewell's instructions today, which is a start. I also think that despite the obvious deficiencies, we've got an okay squad that has simply looked shot of confidence the last few months. Here's hoping this is finally the lift we need. 

[welldaft]

14 minutes ago, CoF said:

I'm gonna need to see your workings on this one, because I'm fairly sure struggling teams mostly get hammered. 

I get what your saying in the rest of the post though. It's a totally different type of game. I think the reason for my optimism is because I've started to wonder if things aren't so rosy behind the scenes. The players clearly took on Kettlewell's instructions today, which is a start. I also think that despite the obvious deficiencies, we've got an okay squad that has simply looked shot of confidence the last few months. Here's hoping this is finally the lift we need. 

Edit to add. I agree with your 1st sentence…

Despite the recent results this is a world away from the latter days of Alexander and more so Hammells reign. That home defeat v St Johnstone was the worst I have seen from a Motherwell side in a decade. I have huge admiration for Stevie H. Not least because  he is a nice guy but also because he is an absolute stalwart and legend. However he should have been binned after that game.

We have had players off form for sure. Our Captain being one of them. The Manager has made mistakes with selection and formation. But teams with real deep rooted problems do not come from behind by 2 goal margins 3 times in 2 games. They just don’t. 

Our strongest 11 is still better than Livi, St Johnstone, Ross County and possibly even Dundee. We shall find out next week sure enough. 

Edited November 25, 2023 by welldaft

[Arch Stanton]

Just watched Sportscene. 

Obika!!!

Good to see the big man scoring.

[ropy]

4 hours ago, Handsome_Devil said:

Before I start pissing all over the chips I should say of course I'm thrilled about the result and everyone did brilliantly.

But there's a reason struggling teams often do well against the OF then revert to type the next week and it's because these games are totally different to the bread and butter.

Of course it was great to see us organised, motivated, disciplined etc but take the wingbacks for example - SOD and especially Spencer were outstanding but there's absolutely nothing in defending v Celtic which suggests they'll suddenly play well in offering the attacking width required v Dundee.

Blaney, Casey and Mugabi (couple of moments apart) are the same, we know they can usually handle the Alamo stuff, next week if we keep them in place they'll be expected to actually pass to our midfield occasionally... which is more of a challenge.

We can certainly hope the confidence boost helps but our fundamental issues remain to be resolved. 

This is a post for about Tuesday 

[Handsome_Devil]

7 hours ago, CoF said:

I'm gonna need to see your workings on this one, because I'm fairly sure struggling teams mostly get hammered. 

I get what your saying in the rest of the post though. It's a totally different type of game. I think the reason for my optimism is because I've started to wonder if things aren't so rosy behind the scenes. The players clearly took on Kettlewell's instructions today, which is a start. I also think that despite the obvious deficiencies, we've got an okay squad that has simply looked shot of confidence the last few months. Here's hoping this is finally the lift we need. 

Well St Johnstone drew at Celtic a few weeks before sacking their manager this season, Hammell lost twice 2-1 to them when we were competitive while otherwise shite, County went close a couple of time last season when Jordan White inexplicably started scoring v the OF and that's just off my head recently.

Clearly a comfortable loss more likely than not but going back a long way I can remember plenty poor Motherwell teams who raised their game against the OF and benefited from the situation of having virtually none of the ball (before these stats became so common).

Definitely agree on the reason for optimism and, for the love of God, finally scoring the first goal again next week would make a massive difference. 

[JamesP_81]

Just watched the highlights . If we hadn't scored there what do we think the chances are that VAR would have intervened and awarded a penalty for Taylor hanging off of Obika like a poodle riding an alsatian ?

[thisGRAEME]

31 minutes ago, JamesP_81 said:

Just watched the highlights . If we hadn't scored there what do we think the chances are that VAR would have intervened and awarded a penalty for Taylor hanging off of Obika like a poodle riding an alsatian ?

I've got limited sympathy for Butcher doing something as fucking daft as he did, particularly with the amount of effort that had gone in and that we'd already got away with one penalty. 

Also it's Mikey Johnston mate just leave him. 

That said, all anyone wants is consistency.

[well again]

36 minutes ago, JamesP_81 said:

Just watched the highlights . If we hadn't scored there what do we think the chances are that VAR would have intervened and awarded a penalty for Taylor hanging off of Obika like a poodle riding an alsatian 

Absolutely none whatsoever.

[MurrayWell]

A welcome and very unexpected point. Thought defensively it's the best we've been in weeks, with the Bevis and Butcher insanity aside. 

Kelly's performances of late have been, rightly, questioned, but credit where credit's due, he was tremendous yesterday and also managed to boil the piss of the home fans. 

Spencer and SOD were terrific too, that's twice Yang has had absolutely no joy against Spencer. I also really like Shane Blaney and think we should be sticking with the back three we went with yesterday.  

There's been a lot of question marks about the team of late, and it is only a point, but the celebration was fucking class. They are all still playing for each other and Kettlewell by the looks of things, hopefully we have turned the corner. 

Just think how good a front three of Biereth, Obika and KvV will be...

[joewarkfanclub]

11 hours ago, MurrayWell said:

A welcome and very unexpected point. Thought defensively it's the best we've been in weeks, with the Bevis and Butcher insanity aside. 

I thought Bevis was unlucky. I thought he made a genuine attempt to play the ball and did come away with it. But he takes the boys standing leg as well so cant argue with the pen. Unlike Butcher, I dont think he could avoid the challenge, although you could argue he shouldnt have gone to ground.

Totally agree with the rest of your post though.

Very pleasing performance and result all the more so for it being unexpected!

Edited November 26, 2023 by joewarkfanclub