League Cup Group E

[ropy]

20 minutes for the ‘Well fans to get in, queues outside but they started the game 2 and a half minutes early.  Quite distracting for the first 10 minutes as people streamed in and the stewards hesitated in opening up more sections.  And yes the grass was long.

[Swello]

 

[vikingTON]

Don’t think Annan are a poor side for a League Two level, but in terms of direct football they brought a knife to an artillery duel tonight. Sutton had their defence in tatters, before both Nesbitt and Cadden read his knock downs and slid the ball into the corner of the net. Annan flinging on Nade at half time was far too late to make it an interesting contest.

 

Our style of play is prehistoric but the fact that it’s delivered 11 goals in three games makes me fairly comfortable that it’ll work well enough throughout a Championship season. Nesbitt and Cadden’s movement off the ball will be key, and that game was really impressive in that regard.

 

[dezz]

A nice spot to sit in the sun - some 'Well support down tonight - did they announce the crowd?

There were just over 1,100 ‘Well fans in attendance according to Radio Scotland. The total attendance was a bit over 1,300.

Great effort for an away game on a Tuesday night during holiday season.

[Swello]

1 hour ago, dezz said:

 

There were just over 1,100 ‘Well fans in attendance according to Radio Scotland. The total attendance was a bit over 1,300.

Great effort for an away game on a Tuesday night during holiday season.

 

Nice shot of it from the club account....

[Skyline Drifter]

So actually, although Motherwell's win tonight formally removes any hope of winning the group, were we to go to Cappielow and win, the chances are we may well go through after the results last night. Dundee United unexpectedly losing to East Fife pulls another group in to the potential for finishing above. East Kilbride beating Edinburgh was good too though it actually leaves EK a threat. Peterhead losing was good news, as was Hibs winning though that one was expected.

Group A - Dundee United now finish on 7 points. If East Fife don't beat Hearts runner up will be on 7.
Group B - Wee bit more vague as they have two games tonight but if Ross County and St Johnstone both beat Forfar runner up will have 6 pts.
Group C - Hibs presumably win the group by getting pts at Elgin. Runners up will be either Alloa on 7 or Arbroath on 7, 8 or 9 depending on their result against Alloa.
Group D - ICT and Dundee both on 7 points with a head to head to come. We want an outright winner ideally. Matters not which one. If it's a draw the runner up will have 8 and probably a better GD than we do.
Group F - Again more vague as they play tonight. Hamilton finishing runner up on 9 still looks likely though.
Group G - Livi clearly will beat Berwick to win the group. Ayr need 2 pts v Stranraer to finish on 8 and a much better GD than us.
Group H - Best possible total for any runner up is 7 pts.

So basically:

QoS beat Morton
Hearts beat East Fife
Alloa beat Arbroath
Outright winner in ICT v Dundee

and we'd be through (there are other escape routes though such as Ross County and St Johnstone both beating Forfar, Partick Thistle losing to Clyde, Hamilton losing to Airdrie who themselves fail to beat Queens Park)

[MarkoRaj]

Is there any chance of us getting through with a draw?

[Skyline Drifter]

6 minutes ago, MarkoRaj said:

Is there any chance of us getting through with a draw?

If you win the penalty shoot out and finish with 8 points and a +6 GD then probably yes. You'd be guaranteed to finish ahead of the runners up in Groups D & H. A Hearts win over East Fife would put you better than Group A too. You'd have several "outs" to finish ahead of another group too.

If you lose the penalty shoot out and finish with 7 points then almost certainly not.

[Gianfranco]

The poor ball boys have some shift at Dumbarton.

[MJC]

Not the greatest performance last night but job done, another win with another clean sheet so you have to be happy with that. Dumbarton to their credit made life difficult for us and other factors like the grass and the heat would have came into play as well. 

We need a penalty box striker, that much is still evident.

[Archie McSquackle]

Nice shot of it from the club account....

 

The comments from the club to go with that picture say we had 1176 fans there last night. I've no idea how they can work that out as Motherwell fans were also being told to use the home turnstiles (which had run out of change even before this instruction). 

 

 

[Al B]

Stand was essentially full, I was right up next to the Dumbarton fans with no spare seats in between. I'd imagine they'd just take the capacity and subtract the amount of home fans they knew they'd let in by the time we rocked up at their turnstiles.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Al B

[Skyline Drifter]

8 minutes ago, Al B said:

Stand was essentially full, I was right up next to the Dumbarton fans with no spare seats in between. I'd imagine they'd just take the capacity and subtract the amount of home fans they knew they'd let in by the time we rocked up at their turnstiles.

I wasn't there either but that stand holds over 2,000 people so I'm going to guess it wasn't "essentially full", given an attendance announced of under 1,400, even allowing for Directors Box, Press Box, etc.

I imagine the away end was "essentially full". Presumably the away support number is either only what entered by the away turnstiles or an estimate by counting the number of seats of sections occupied by Motherwell fans.

Similarly, officially Motherwell had 815 at Palmerston which was the away turnstile admissions. However, there were others who came in the Disabled gate and probably some who entered via a home turnstile. We think there were in excess of 850, and quite possibly nearer 900 there in total.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

I wasn't there either but that stand holds over 2,000 people so I'm going to guess it wasn't "essentially full", given an attendance announced of under 1,400, even allowing for Directors Box, Press Box, etc.
I imagine the away end was "essentially full". Presumably the away support number is either only what entered by the away turnstiles or an estimate by counting the number of seats of sections occupied by Motherwell fans.
Similarly, officially Motherwell had 815 at Palmerston which was the away turnstile admissions. However, there were others who came in the Disabled gate and probably some who entered via a home turnstile. We think there were in excess of 850, and quite possibly nearer 900 there in total.

The Motherwell end was full. There was the odd seat here or there but you can see our fans stretching past the half way point in the stand which apparently holds 2200 so the number released by the club looks right.

Maybe Motherwell had someone count each person individually in that photo to get an exact number.

[The Moonster]

1 hour ago, Jim McLean's Ghost said:

 

The Motherwell end was full. There was the odd seat here or there but you can see our fans stretching past the half way point in the stand which apparently holds 2200 so the number released by the club looks right.

Maybe Motherwell had someone count each person individually in that photo to get an exact number.

 

Our capacity is 2,020, to be pedantic. I didn't make it down last night but looking at that photo you can see quite a few spare seats in the black section in the home end, away end is packed out though, so I think the figures are probably about right.

[madton]

This is like a Falkirk thread...

[Rudolph Hucker]

4 minutes ago, madton said:

This is like a Falkirk thread...

[The Ghost of B A R P]

Good to see us line up not only 4-4-2 last night, but with a diamond in midfield. Even allowing for the opposition, Cadden, Nesbitt, and Lyon could be big players for us this season; they all have quality and they all do different types of things when we get on the ball. Also allows us to get two up front, which looks as though it's going to be a standard 'big one and a wee one'. Thought Sutton did OK, but there could be a lot more to come from him once the players around him learn to read the situation better. Was a bit puzzled by the signing, but even if it's only a way of saying to Muirhead 'you're no getting in this team until you get the finger out and learn what the position requires', it will be worth it.

Strapp and Tumilty looked like guys who know they're playing for their places and both did well; Strapp clearly has a bit to learn, but there's a player there and he's very aggressive... the moment he went right over the top of Nade to win it in the air was a straightforward 'yes please'.

Was also impressed by the extent to which we appeared to have worked on the formation and the way the players immediately understood the rotation when the subs were made. No problem with the basic strategy of going long, pressing the ball, and playing from the opposition's half, but felt we overdid it once we were comfortably in front. Maybe we'll make better decisons about when to go long and when to play it on the deck once they get more used to each other.

Overall, we're big (!), aggressive, they look as though they know exactly what's expected of them, and there's a wee bit of quality. Another defender or two and -- apologies -- a credible keeper and we might actually have a season to enjoy.

Edited July 25, 2019 by The Ghost of B A R P

[madton]

1 hour ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

Good to see us line up not only 4-4-2 last night, but with a diamond in midfield. Even allowing for the opposition, Cadden, Nesbitt, and Lyons could be big players for us this season; they all have quality and they all do different types of things when we get on the ball. Also allows us to get two up front, which looks as though it's going to be a standard 'big one and a wee one'. Thought Sutton did OK, but there could be a lot more to come from him once the players around him learn to read the situation better. Was a bit puzzled by the signing, but even if it's only a way of saying to Muirhead 'you're no getting in this team until you get the finger out and learn what the position requires', it will be worth it.

Strapp and Tumilty looked like guys who know they're playing for their places and both did well; Strapp clearly has a bit to learn, but there's a player there and he's very aggressive... the moment he went right over the top of Nade to win it in the air was a straightforward 'yes please'.

Was also impressed by the extent to which we appeared to have worked on the formation and the way the players immediately understood the rotation when the subs were made. No problem with the basic stategy of going long, pressing the ball, and playing from the opposition's half, but felt we overdid it once we were comfortably in front. Maybe we'll make better decisons about when to go long and when to play it on the deck once they get more used to each other.

Overall, we're big (!), aggressive, they look as though they know exactly what's expected of them, and there's a wee bit of quality. Another defender or two and -- apologies -- a credible keeper and we might actually have a season to enjoy.

Are we really a big team?

From lasts nights starting 11, I'd say only Sutton, Lyon and Grant are big players ( and of course the keeper)

When you look at Cadden, Jacobs, Nesbitt, McHugh, Tumilty and Strapp, they are pretty small or average.

I know McLean and Muirhead would add to that if/when they start.

Would imagine we will certainly play taller teams this season. Gd mix I'd say.

 

[The Ghost of B A R P]

9 minutes ago, madton said:

Are we really a big team?

From lasts nights starting 11, I'd say only Sutton, Lyon and Grant are big players ( and of course the keeper)

When you look at Cadden, Jacobs, Nesbitt, McHugh, Tumilty and Strapp, they are pretty small or average.

I know McLean and Muirhead would add to that if/when they start.

Would imagine we will certainly play taller teams this season. Gd mix I'd say.

 

Yeah, it's a mix, but in general we're bigger and stronger than last year; there are no waifs like Telfer or Oliver, Nesbitt has more physical presence than when he was here last time, Cadden is strong (even to the point of being a bit chunky), Tumilty looked like a centre half at times last night, and Strapp is no longer a wee boy. Add in McLean, Salkeld, and Muirhead to the starting eleven and I'm pretty sure that at times we'll look physically dominant.

Different way of putting it: I don't see us getting bullied in the same way we sometimes did under Johansson; we were as soft as piss at times last year and good Morton teams over the years have been the opposite...