Motherwell vs St Mirren

[fat_tony]

Superb performance by the Well, thoroughly deserved your win, in all honesty it should have been by more, 
BTW that wee number 6 for you's is some player, 

Allan Campbell is an absolute machine. Hard to believe he's only what, 20? He's been one of the first names on the team sheet for a good couple of seasons now.

What a performance from Polworth today, he's been a great signing. Some of his passes were really creative, and he was excellent defensively, covering all over the pitch.

I thought losing a third of our Liam trinity might have been an issue today but young Barry Maguire looked really composed in the middle of the park.

[welldaft]

Strolled the 1st half and were it not for the St Mirren keeper we would have been a few goals to the good. You can see why he is so highly rated by Saints fans. 

Second half we looked determined to throw it away. We were almost as poor in the 1st 25 minutes of the 2nd half as we were good 1st half. St Mirren were not too bad and as they know with a bit more up front would have scored one or 2 goals. 

Gallacher is a fantastic signing but so equally is Polworth. His passing is the best I have seen at Fir Park for absolute ages. Campbell his usual dogged self. 

On to the negatives. I know they blow hot and cold but Seedorf and Cole were very poor. Long has to start v Aberdeen. Did more in his few minutes than Cole had previous 80 or so. 

Great goal by Scott. He is a terrific footballer. Yes he is young and so he is hit and miss but he has such promise. 

Good way to go into the International break.....

[Munoz]

9 corners today and not one of them looked like leading to a goal. Our set pieces really are terrible.

No complaints about the outcome in the end and were lucky it was only 1 at halftime.  The 2nd was better and we actually tested the Well keeper. 

I'm thankful of the international break next week. The last 3 games have sucked the life out of me. 

[Gianfranco]

That was a bit nervy for the last 15 minutes or so until Long scored the second. Saints had a decent chance at the edge of the box that ended up miles wide and Hartley made a great block with his head.

Both goals were excellent finishes. I like curlers into the top corner. Polworth had 2 great chances and Cole should have dinked his chance in the first half. Seedorf looked dangerous and Hylton was a bit more involved when he came on.

Liam Polworth is a baller and I can’t wait to see him and Turnbull in the same team.

[buddie06smfc]

9 corners today and not one of them looked like leading to a goal. Our set pieces really are terrible.

It looked more likely that Motherwell would score when we had a corner. I think there was 3 of them in the first half where a corner for us ended with Hladky making a save.

[Swello]

Enjoyed that.  I thought the 1st half performance was a little step up from what we've done so far - we moved the ball well, looked like we had a game plan and should probably have been at least another goal up at the break - so pleasing to see us developing as time goes on. We made heavy weather of it for 20 mins in the 2nd half but got a bit of control back before we scored the 2nd.

I'm mentioning them every week - but the level of performance and consistency from Campbell and Polworth is really impressive - on current levels, they are as good as any midfielders I've seen this season. Maguire had a really good game I thought (despite a few mistakes) in what (I think) was his first league start in midfield and it's really heartening to see us using more of our young players to fill gaps as needed.

Scott's goal was a fucking peach and on today's evidence, only a really good finish would have got past St Mirren's keeper who was fantastic I thought. St Mirren on the whole looked decent and competitive but as billed were utterly toothless up front - I think a better attacking team would have punished us during our poor spell.

We're clear in 3rd in the league, a full 12 points off the bottom team and looking like we're getting better - our start to the season has been upgraded to Fucking Outstanding.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

27 minutes ago, fat_tony said:

I thought losing a third of our Liam trinity might have been an issue today but young Barry Maguire looked really composed in the middle of the park.

Waiting on Liam Turnbull to slot back in as well.

[Joey Jo Jo Junior Shabadoo]

32 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

Waiting on Liam Turnbull to slot back in as well.

Champions League Final 2021 is a shoe in. I've booked my flights already.

[Munoz]

Thought the pitch looked in top condition. The days of your cow field are a distant memory. 

[thisGRAEME]

1 hour ago, Gallus Numpty said:

In the eating. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Gallus, thank you.

I think if you dropped any of our centre-forwards into St. Mirren's XI they'd improve immeasurably, but they're ours so we won.

Polworth and Campbell were very, very good, Barry Maguire was fucking brilliant, Tait looked a bit more like himself the longer the game went on and the centre-halves were dominant.

Fuckin love Hladky as well btw, would happily take him when the Buddies go down and we sell Gillespie.
 

[sergie's no1 fan]

Gallus, thank you.
I think if you dropped any of our centre-forwards into St. Mirren's XI they'd improve immeasurably, but they're ours so we won.
Polworth and Campbell were very, very good, Barry Maguire was fucking brilliant, Tait looked a bit more like himself the longer the game went on and the centre-halves were dominant.
Fuckin love Hladky as well btw, would happily take him when the Buddies go down and we sell Gillespie.
 

I can see us selling him in January to fund a new strike force tbh.

Running out of words and superlatives to describe him though. If Samson was in goals it would have been at least 5 nil.

[thisGRAEME]

38 minutes ago, sergie's no1 fan said:

I can see us selling him in January to fund a new strike force tbh.

Running out of words and superlatives to describe him though. If Samson was in goals it would have been at least 5 nil.

Would be a mistake, imo. He's worth more for the points he'll win you than you'd get as a fee. Never fail to be impressed. 

[Demented Zebra]

2 hours ago, Munoz said:

9 corners today and not one of them looked like leading to a goal. Our set pieces really are terrible.

No complaints about the outcome in the end and were lucky it was only 1 at halftime.  The 2nd was better and we actually tested the Well keeper. 

I'm thankful of the international break next week. The last 3 games have sucked the life out of me. 

Well done Motherwell did not doubt your great start. A shining light I would love from St Mirren.  We have a major problem Munaz you have pointed it out sadly we have known of it for too long. Goodwin was always a midfield defender and still thinks about the game the same way. Needs an attacking coach. Thommo has said he can turn Junior into a proper striker.  Not pulling straws here it's what we need. I'm sure Thommo would take a part time role up if approached.  

Edited October 5, 2019 by Demented Zebra

[Swello]

Highlights.....

 

[dezz]

Enjoyed that today. I thought we were excellent first half and could have been a couple of goals to the good of it wasn’t for Hladky, who I’ve been impressed with every time I’ve seen him. Scott, Polworth, Campbell and Gallacher were immense.

 

Second half was a bit looser from our point of view and a better attacking force would probably have taken advantage.

 

Allan Campbell is just phenomenal and the heartbeat to our team though, if he plays well the team play well and he dictates the tempo of our play. Liam Polworth is an absolute baller as well. Him and DT in the same team will be silly.

 

2-0 was probably a fair reflection of the game but I think St Mirren will be okay this season. Defensively they are more than decent so if they can turn Mullen or Obika into a 8-10 a season striker they’ll be fine.

 

Sitting in 3rd wothbalmost a full round of fixtures gone is nice but the thing that excites me most about this team is that you feel there’s still more to come.

 

[ropy]

I thought St Mirren passed it around well, nice and tidy, nothing up front though.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

7 hours ago, TheScarf said:

Absolutely shocked that yet another Invernessian has the cigars out every week and setting up literally every goal for his team. 

Inverness really does produce the best players in the country. 

It's weird. I used to associate the Highlands with Grant Munro, Ross Tokely types but at some point the switch flicked and you started churning out cultured midfielders instead.

[TheScarf]

23 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

It's weird. I used to associate the Highlands with Grant Munro, Ross Tokely types but at some point the switch flicked and you started churning out cultured midfielders instead.

As a youth coach from 2006-2009 in Inverness, it was a period of lads born from about 1993-1997 where the talent and quality was unreal up here. 

The street league and youth league sides were winning national tournaments  and these guys were getting signed by ICT. We seem to be going through another cycle of great talent and they are again making their way into the first team. 

[YassinMoutaouakil]

3 hours ago, TheScarf said:

As a youth coach from 2006-2009 in Inverness, it was a period of lads born from about 1993-1997 where the talent and quality was unreal up here. 

The street league and youth league sides were winning national tournaments  and these guys were getting signed by ICT. We seem to be going through another cycle of great talent and they are again making their way into the first team. 

Interesting. Half my family are from the Black Isle and I used to spend most summers there as a kid. I'm shite at football and always have been but strangely was an absolute #baller compared to everyone else up North. 

I reckon if I'd been born in Raigmore I'd be captaining ICT right now.

[TheScarf]

3 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

Interesting. Half my family are from the Black Isle and I used to spend most summers there as a kid. I'm shite at football and always have been but strangely was an absolute #baller compared to everyone else up North. 

I reckon if I'd been born in Raigmore I'd be captaining ICT right now.

Yep guys around my age (born in 1985) who were deemed the best in the region all seemed to end up playing HL or North Caledonian. None of them became professional as far as I know.