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Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons


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I don’t like ever getting too carried away as a Well fan however this season has got me very excited, with the team we’ve built and everything in place. 
 

Last season we finished 3rd when a lot of our players were going through bedding in stages and a lot of these guys are still very young. Like wee Al will only ever improve, players like Seedorf who has potential has had a year to settle in, the same with Hylton who I think is a lot better and consistent he really became a nailed on starter, we now have a fit Tony Watt. For all Hartley was a great player for us and great captain but he wasn’t exactly blessed with ability. 
 

The signings we’ve made have been superb and added real quality with a few returning from injuries as well. By all means it’s not the end of our transfer business with someone mentioning we had 2 training with us, Callum Lang certainly seems a goer, also included with the possibility of a returning Louis Moult. We shouldn’t have any added pressure from Europe as it starts well into our season and we have a good enough and big enough squad now to cope. For a club like ours it really is fantastic to see us doing so well and that’s down to all at the club and the fans who’ve backed us for the new season.

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We have the basis of a really strong squad, it’s just who is going to score the goals that worries me a bit. To be fair the goals were spread around the team last season. I’ve no doubts that Robinson will get us firing.

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19 minutes ago, Gianfranco said:

We have the basis of a really strong squad, it’s just who is going to score the goals that worries me a bit. To be fair the goals were spread around the team last season. I’ve no doubts that Robinson will get us firing.

This is Tony Watt's Higdon season IMO. 27 goals and PoTY incoming.

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We are a little short of cover at right-back, although touch wood Grimshaw isn't one to suffer from many niggles, so that should be fine and I guess Donnelly, O'Hara and Gallagher have all played there in the past. Scott Fox is obviously a downgrade on Carson as number two, but the goalkeeper situation last season was quite exceptional circumstances.

Other than those two caveats, I think our squad is in a healthier place than last season.

McGinley seems to have been much sought after and I'd call that a definite upgrade on Hartley. Good also to have a versatile backup in Lamie who knows the league. 

We've never had so many good central midfielders at once and despite anyone's pre-conceived opinions of Hastie's ability/personality/character, I don't think anyone would argue against him being an upgrade on Ilic.

Perhaps there's still a debate to be had between the trio of Watt/White/Lang (if he signs) being as good as Long/Cole/Scott, but time will tell with that.

Very pleased with how our squad seems to be forming given the circumstances.

Edited by crazylegsjoe_mfc
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Less of a player turnover which is good but until we get started we won’t know how the new guys are going to be. I take it Long is as good as away and we could still lose a midfielder. Hopefully Turnbull get’s back to his best and Carson does not get injured as I would not want Fox as first choice for a prolonged period of time. A fit Dunn would be a plus and Lang looks like he would be a very useful addition up front if we could get him up here. I’m quietly confident of another good season as much as we can’t actually progress any higher in the league, a cup final would be nice. We certainly should not be struggling down at the bottom and would hope for a top 6 with top 4 certainly doable.

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43 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

We are a little short of cover at right-back, although touch wood Grimshaw isn't one to suffer from many niggles, so that should be fine and I guess Donnelly, O'Hara and Gallagher have all played there in the past. Scott Fox is obviously a downgrade on Carson as number two, but the goalkeeper situation last season was quite exceptional circumstances.

Other than those two caveats, I think our squad is in a healthier place than last season.

As much as I love Grimmy as a guy it does scare me in a sense going into the season with him as the only right back, I know we have players who can easily slot in but that leads to switching other players about as well. With Grimmy he wears his heart on his sleeve and gives 110% every game but I do see us hopefully bringing someone in possibly on loan with low risk and low price to compete with him for that position.

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28 minutes ago, Doctor Manhattan said:

I don't want to go all MJC, but is it just me who's worried that we might be getting a bit too cocky here?

"Higdon season"; "Cup Final"; "Europa group stages". Next thing you know we'll be getting Rachel Riley in to do the half-time draws.

Third last season will again raise expectations and that’s going to bring a pressure with it. That’s pretty much why I’m tempering my own expectations as we could just as easily have a run of injuries and start to struggle, no supporters in the stadiums could also have an impact. I could see us finishing 6th and a few people now seeing that as failure.

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36 minutes ago, Doctor Manhattan said:

I don't want to go all MJC, but is it just me who's worried that we might be getting a bit too cocky here?

"Higdon season"; "Cup Final"; "Europa group stages". Next thing you know we'll be getting Rachel Riley in to do the half-time draws.

For avoidance of doubt, I wasn't being entirely serious with the "Tony Watt to have a Higdon season" comment.

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1 hour ago, Doctor Manhattan said:

I don't want to go all MJC, but is it just me who's worried that we might be getting a bit too cocky here?

"Higdon season"; "Cup Final"; "Europa group stages". Next thing you know we'll be getting Rachel Riley in to do the half-time draws.

I agree that no one should get carried away.

I think Aberdeen should fancy themselves as a decent shout for third as they haven't lost anyone of note and have signed Jonny Hayes as well as only recently having brought in Dylan McGeouch and Matty Kennedy in January.

For us it's obviously a lot more of the unknown, with new signings and guys like Turnbull and Carson returning after being out injured long-term, but given we proactively seem to be going out and getting targets, when you have even the likes of Hibs talking about wage deferrals etc, it does make you think we must be in a decent position for the season ahead and there's reason for cautious optimism.

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I'm being optimistic as f**k and going for a repeat of the 2011/12 season.

We'll finish 3rd again this season but Rangers will enter admin once Celtic win 10 in a row and Rangers' entire existence therefore becomes pointless. A points deduction for them will see us finish 2nd.

I'm not getting too far ahead of myself but I'm really looking forward to next season's Champions League qualifiers.

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23 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

That Lang video is a belter.

As an owner, I'd like to see him signed up.

There's another video talking through his time at Morecambe. If you skip past the extremely Scouse chat you'll find patter like this...

giphy.gif

Sign him up...

Spoiler

 

 

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There's another video talking through his time at Morecambe. If you skip past the extremely Scouse chat you'll find patter like this...
giphy.gif&key=8d596524ec44dfa712e7c898530ffab972008d9293f711383929628ea31389b9
Sign him up...
Spoiler

 
 

What a challenge from the Exeter keeper! I assume Long is away if we're in for Lang which is a pity as they could have done the Calm Down Scousers from the Fast Show.
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