Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[eliphas]

No thanks to Main. Can't carry the non goal scoring if Main, Obika and Shaw

[capt_oats]

4 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

If you'd asked me at most points after his initial purple patch I'd have said Main was a total huddy but he seems to have refined his game a bit at the Maureens.  My heart says Theo has nailed down the position behind Mika for the foreseeable but Main is probably dependable enough to challenge him more than Shaw or Obika will.

I was thinking about this through the day tbh.

The obvious initial thought is it'd be weird for Main to actually *want* to come back here given he tended to get a pretty hard time off sections of the support despite his 2nd season seeing him either paired with Conor Sammon and getting the ball launched at him or being used as a target man/facilitator/disruptor in that front 3 with Gboly and Hastie on either side - which was a lot of fun but he was by no means prolific (but then that wasn't really his job in the team).

You'd also think that he'd actually be quite expensive given he'll be on a decent wedge in India - certainly more than you'd ideally be wanting to pay for someone as a back-up.

Having said all that, a lot of the criticism of Wilko - besides the various folk who just decided he was pish because... - has been his lack of physical presence etc which isn't something that you can say of Main. Does he work with Mika and Thelonius either side of him? Maybe?

I still think it's a weird fit for us but see if we were looking at off-loading Obika and giving us another space to get a wide forward in then we could probably do worse.

[RandomGuy.]

Is the Main stuff not just him trying to get a move back from India and getting his agent to do the rounds?

[capt_oats]

18 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Is the Main stuff not just him trying to get a move back from India and getting his agent to do the rounds?

This is probably the correct answer but signing rumours have been pretty thin on the ground around these parts.

I think the only credible mention we've heard so far is Jimmy Furlong coming back on loan. Which would be nice tbf.

Edited January 7 by capt_oats

[Busta Nut]

Aye he knows he's maybe got a decent steading here cos of his decent time at St Mirren

[eliphas]

I mean, in a way, part of me would like to see Biereth and Main running full pelt at defences bodying folk all over the place.

But, we need a forward with a wee bit more about them than Main I'd say. I don't think he'd make much more impact than Wilko...which isn't particularly great.

Bair, Shaw and Obika don't really have much about them so something a bit different, a bit of trickery and bit of flexibility would be nice 

I'd wait and see how the window pans out it I was the manager.

[Stevie Kirk]

11 minutes ago, eliphas said:

I mean, in a way, part of me would like to see Biereth and Main running full pelt at defences bodying folk all over the place.

But, we need a forward with a wee bit more about them than Main I'd say. I don't think he'd make much more impact than Wilko...which isn't particularly great.

Bair, Shaw and Obika don't really have much about them so something a bit different, a bit of trickery and bit of flexibility would be nice 

I'd wait and see how the window pans out it I was the manager.

I’m not a huge fan of Main but  he would have been the perfect sub to bring on at Easter Road as he would have worked the centre half’s and that ball we took into the corner on 90 mins Im almost certain he would have kept it there. If we can get a taker for Obika ( stop laughing - Ketts is good at firing the offload cannon to be fair) then I’m in . 

[eliphas]

1 minute ago, Stevie Kirk said:

I’m not a huge fan of Main but  he would have been the perfect sub to bring on at Easter Road as he would have worked the centre half’s and that ball we took into the corner on 90 mins Im almost certain he would have kept it there. If we can get a taker for Obika ( stop laughing - Ketts is good at firing the offload cannon to be fair) then I’m in . 

If we can get a taker for Obika or launch Shaw back I'm in as well. Just can't have him as the only other option imo.

[capt_oats]

46 minutes ago, eliphas said:

I mean, in a way, part of me would like to see Biereth and Main running full pelt at defences bodying folk all over the place.

But, we need a forward with a wee bit more about them than Main I'd say. I don't think he'd make much more impact than Wilko...which isn't particularly great.

Bair, Shaw and Obika don't really have much about them so something a bit different, a bit of trickery and bit of flexibility would be nice 

I'd wait and see how the window pans out it I was the manager.

Agree with this in principle. Tbh, I genuinely don't think we need another out and out striker. I've said it before but someone who fits into the 'across the front 3' types that Robinson was fond of (but one who's actually good) would really work for us IMO.

28 minutes ago, Stevie Kirk said:

I’m not a huge fan of Main but  he would have been the perfect sub to bring on at Easter Road as he would have worked the centre half’s and that ball we took into the corner on 90 mins Im almost certain he would have kept it there. If we can get a taker for Obika ( stop laughing - Ketts is good at firing the offload cannon to be fair) then I’m in . 

I mentioned the idea of us maybe wanting to move Obika on in that last post but didn't really make a connection with something Kettlewell said in his post-match after Hibs. I mean, we may not get his whole wage off the books but it doesn't seem that wild a shout that someone even at Scottish Championship level could use an Obika-type. It'd maybe get him some games as well.

Taking this at face value...specifically the point about players needing to be able to contribute/being injured (which tbf they can't help) it feels like a bit of an admission of sorts about carrying injury prone players:

Quote

"One thing that will help is a wee bit of freshness and just one or two players that can come in and actually contribute. That's the important part for me. You can sit with 25, 26 players whichever it is - which we don't unfortunately - but I think that having that tight knit group and togetherness is something but everybody that comes here potentially or if we're able to bring in one or two, they need to be able to contribute because having players sitting about and not being involved in action, being injured etc it doesn't help for the cause and we absolutely need to try and get that right in January."

Edited January 7 by capt_oats

[Cloontang]

Technically Obikas contract is up at the end of the season. However it was mentioned that the option of an additional year is in his contract. I hope that is in our favour opposed to his. With his injury record and the fact he is 34 in September I think he will be tougher to move on. 

[capt_oats]

5 minutes ago, Cloontang said:

Technically Obikas contract is up at the end of the season. However it was mentioned that the option of an additional year is in his contract. I hope that is in our favour opposed to his. With his injury record and the fact he is 34 in September I think he will be tougher to move on. 

Given his injury history (which was already in question before he re-signed) it wouldn't be a huge surprise if the option had an appearance trigger or the like.

[LewisB]

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[capt_oats]

Is Scott Burns any more reliable a source than Alan Nixon?

As @RandomGuy. said earlier it still feels like an agent flying a kite.

[OhWell]

Not a fan of resigning previous players, rarely works out

[YassinMoutaouakil]

It could be an agent thing but also I don't think it's outwith the realms of possibility that he genuinely does just want a move back to Scotland, in which case his options are probably limited to the smaller 7 teams in the premiership, of who only a few will be looking for a striker.

He wouldn't be my #1 January priority, like, but I do think the idea of a Mika-Main-Theo front 3 brute forcing their way to goal probably has some merit.

[Busta Nut]

30 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

 

He wouldn't be my #1 January priority, like, but I do think the idea of a Mika-Main-Theo front 3 brute forcing their way to goal probably has some merit.

This was my thoughts. Mika can be the skilful one.

[Handsome_Devil]

6 hours ago, OhWell said:

Not a fan of resigning previous players, rarely works out

Lots of people say this and it's maybe true in general but hardly with us - we must have a way better than 50-50 success rate on re-signing former players. And if you weight the contributions rather than just call it pass/fail we're probably off the chart successful.

[ropy]

6 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

It could be an agent thing but also I don't think it's outwith the realms of possibility that he genuinely does just want a move back to Scotland, in which case his options are probably limited to the smaller 7 teams in the premiership, of who only a few will be looking for a striker.

He wouldn't be my #1 January priority, like, but I do think the idea of a Mika-Main-Theo front 3 brute forcing their way to goal probably has some merit.

And we’ll always have Bevis as an option to bolster that attack in the last 10 minutes if required. Defences will crumble.

[welldaft]

8 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

It could be an agent thing but also I don't think it's outwith the realms of possibility that he genuinely does just want a move back to Scotland, in which case his options are probably limited to the smaller 7 teams in the premiership, of who only a few will be looking for a striker.

He wouldn't be my #1 January priority, like, but I do think the idea of a Mika-Main-Theo front 3 brute forcing their way to goal probably has some merit.

Let’s get back to the Thunderdome. Batter our way to escaping the trap door. Main and Bair up front would be a sight to behold. 

Defences be like…..

[Handsome_Devil]

Just now, welldaft said:

Let’s get back to the Thunderdome. Batter our way to escaping the trap door. Main and Bair up front would be a sight to behold. 

Defences be like…..

Main seemed to improve his all round game at St Mirren and I don't doubt he'd be an upgrade on our current bunch. Whether he'd be an upgrade enough to justify what he'd likely want is another question, especially as yet another forward whose primary contribution isn't goals.