Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[mjw]

On a slightly unrelated note, but still saucy news nonetheless, that’s Mark McGhee been sacked from Barnet after starting off as manager, and then becoming a kind of director of football role before being punted today. Will do well to manage his 1,000th game that he was saying he desperately wants!

Barnet is where Murrant ended up.

[nsr]

1 hour ago, Estragon said:

I've felt for a while that Motherwell are due a result against Celtic, maybe you'll get it in May....

If we're up against them in the final, no doubt the referee will be hand-picked to ensure the treble happens so they can make and sell a DVD about it. 

[capt_oats]

30 minutes ago, mjw said:

Barnet is where Murrant ended up.

It’s Brentford he’s at. https://www.brentfordfc.com/news/2018/february/lr-fans-consultation---meeting-three/

Edited March 19, 2018 by capt_oats

[Busta Nut]

Carson, Tait, Dunne & Aldred where like a brick wall yesterday. Amazing. Alan Campbell, Bowman and Curtis Main also fantastic.

 

 

9 hours ago, WellView said:

^^I better not make any comment in case I upset the sensitive wee souls. 

..........

Outstanding by Tait today. 

 

any feedback is greatly appreciated. 

[mjw]

It’s Brentford he’s at. https://www.brentfordfc.com/news/2018/february/lr-fans-consultation---meeting-three/

So it is.
They sound the same [emoji853]

[Swello]

43 minutes ago, nsr said:

If we're up against them in the final, no doubt the referee will be hand-picked to ensure the treble happens so they can make and sell a DVD about it. 

Joking aside, is this not Thomson's last season? If so, it's surely a stick on that he'll get the final regardless of who's in it?

[neildrake]

Appeal against the red card lodged today. If it is not upheld the game up here's a bogy

[capt_oats]

Seeing as it's the international break and it's relatively quiet as we're heading toward the split 11 and 14 pts clear of 11th and 12th places respectively with 8 games to go I thought I'd post up the imminent contract situations plus 2019 as well.

I noticed Busta commenting on Twitter that Aldred is still getting a hard time from Bury fans and it looks like they're pretty much guaranteed to be relegated, I wonder if we'd be looking to keep him on permanently or alternatively extend his loan for another season (his deal at Bury is up next summer apparently). If Kipré's someone who could move in the summer then you could be looking at a back 3 of Aldred, Hartley and Dunne.

Obviously it depends on which contracted players we've got earmarked to cash in on this summer but of those who are out of contract in 2018 only Dunne, Rose and Bowman would really be considered established 1st team players. With all the "Tait for Scotland" shouts over the past couple of weeks I wouldn't be surprised if there was interest in him and given he's 28 just now if he's going to get a move to cash in this is probably the window for him to do it.

There are a couple in the 2019 bracket who we should probably be looking to for extensions, *looks intently at Curtis Main and Craig Tanner*.

For all we've got a settled XI plus some who are pretty competitive there are probably areas of the park that could obviously use improving/strengthening.

Anyway, this is how it looks as far as I can see:

2018:
Peter Morrison
Russell Griffiths 
Ellis Plummer
Charles Dunne (unless his extension has been triggered)
Luke Watt
Adam Livingstone
Barry Maguire
Liam Grimshaw
Andy Rose
Deimantas Petravičius 
Shea Gordon
Ryan Bowman
George Newell
Dylan Falconer

Loans expiring:
Stephen Hendrie
Tom Aldred
Nadir Ciftci

2019:
Richard Tait
Cédric Kipré
Gael Bigirimana
Chris Cadden
Carl McHugh
Elliot Frear
Ross MacLean
Craig Tanner
David Turnbull
Curtis Main
Jake Hastie

Edited March 20, 2018 by capt_oats

[Del_Superwell]

Barry Maguire will get an extension, he's regularly training with 1st team now and I know Craigan really rates him, think Robinson likes what he sees from him as well I expect him and Turnbull to get a bit of game time possibly after the split when we hopefully know where we are likely to finish,   I can see the likes of Grimshaw, Plummer, Gordon, Falconer, Newell, Petravicius, Watt, Griffiths and Morrison being shown the door this summer.   Dunne id imagine will have triggered his extension by now and Rose has been offered a deal but club I think are waiting on an answer.   Would love to see us sign Aldred permanently as well, having him and Hartley would be quite a partnership but i'd imagine unlikely unless we received an offer for someone like Kipre.

[Swello]

On Aldred, I'm struggling to see why we wouldn't try to get him in the Summer. He has slotted in bizarrely well (has he been worse than a 7/10 in any game since he joined?) and even if we keep all of Kipre, Dunne and Hartley - having a fourth experienced centre half is surely a necessity when you play 3 at the back (as Hartley's injury has underlined)? 

On the other out of contract players, Dunne aside, there is no pivotal player in that list (which shows that we are doing our contractual business really effectively these days).

Edited March 20, 2018 by Swello

[capt_oats]

1 minute ago, Swello said:

On Aldred, I'm struggling to see why we wouldn't try to get him in the Summer. He has slotted in bizarrely well (has he been worse than a 7/10 in any game since he joined?) and even if we keep all of Kipre, Dunne and Hartley - having a fourth experienced centre half is surely a necessity when you play 3 at the back (as Hartley's injury has underlined)? 

On the other out of contract players, Dunne aside, there is no pivotal player in that list (which shows that we are doing our contractual business really effectively these days).

Pretty much.

The only real reason I could suggest is that it's really up to him a temporary loan is probably easier to agree to than a permanent move so it depends whether he's happy at the club (and how it affects his Herbalife empire). It's more than likely that Bury will want shot of him. The abuse he's getting on a regular basis from Bury fans is up there with the grief McHugh got from Plymouth supporters. I'd imagine that he/they will be open to offers.

Either way it'd be mental for us not to look to keep him even if no one moves.

Fwiw there are a few tweaks to the squad we could make without actually recruiting so I'm not sure whether that might give us some budget to play with:

Ferguson for Griffiths
Maguire for Plummer
Livingstone (assuming he gets an extension) for Hendrie
Hastie for Newell

I'd imagine that Andy Rose will be away what with his wife being American, her family being US based and the new kid and all that.

I know we say this every summer window but it'd be good if we could bring in two or three *ahem* quality players on top of the core we currently have.

[Archie McSquackle]

Aldred was brought in before Hartley was injured, presumably as back-up and to provide competition for places and it turned out to be fortuitous timing. I can't see why we wouldn't be trying to sign him in the summer unless wages are an issue.

[Desp]

I think there's every chance we'll see Rohan Ferguson, Barry Maguire, David Turnbull and probably Jake Hastie promoted to the first team squad, so there's no hassle if we lose four of the fringe players.

If an offer came in for Kipré, and we got Aldred signed, I'd be more than happy with Aldred, Hartley & Dunne at the back, with Maguire back-up.

I'd have no issue in us losing/releasing Grimshaw, Bigirimana & Rose.  We can still have a good midfield three from Campbell, McHugh, Cadden, Turnbull and Tanner (plus whoever else gets brought in).

Up top, I don't think Ciftci will be here next season, and I think we're a year or so too early for the likes of Semple, Scott or Agyeman.  Another striker to be brought in to either play with Main, or to provide good backup to Main/Bowman.  Punt Newall & the Lithuanian boy.

[Desp]

Providing we keep who we want to, and don't get an offer we can't refuse for anyone, we've got a good base to build from;

                                  Carson

                    Kipré  Hartley  Dunne

Tait  Campbell  Cadden  McHugh  Frear

                         Bowman  Main

Subs/Backup:  Ferguson, Aldred, Maguire, Livingstone, Turnbull, MacLean, Tanner

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, Desp said:

Providing we keep who we want to, and don't get an offer we can't refuse for anyone, we've got a good base to build from;

                                  Carson

                    Kipré  Hartley  Dunne

Tait  Campbell  Cadden  McHugh  Frear

                         Bowman  Main

Subs/Backup:  Ferguson, Aldred, Maguire, Livingstone, Turnbull, MacLean, Tanner

Aye, it feels like like we're more in a position where rather than any sort of radical overhaul we just need some improvements here and there. Even if there were to be a few outgoings as part of "the strategy" it could be quite a fluid transition (unless we get shot of half our starting XI) ie: going by your formation there Aldred for Kipré, Maclean for Cadden.

For the first time in years we seem fairly sorted at the back but given we were in for another striker on deadline day (McCall confirmed it was one of his players at Bradford) it still feels like we could probably do with a bit more up front. Based on the make up of the squad just now you'd think that'd mean Robinson would be looking at running with 4 strikers plus a Newell-a-like (Jake Hastie would be my shout for that role).

Bowman's quite interesting in that respect as I'd imagine that 3rd choice striker at Motherwell is a pretty niché role to fill if you're recruiting. So it's a question of whether we stick with him as we know what he's about and what he can offer or try and upgrade the forward line en masse. Either way you're probably looking at us adding at least 2 forwards.

Edited March 20, 2018 by capt_oats

[Casagolda]

I thought it was noticeable on Sunday that we looked a lot better going forward lined up like Desp has us above, with Frear on the left. I think first half against Celtic along with probably the first half against Killie has been the best football we’ve played so far in 2018 and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Frear started in both.

Just having a natural winger with some pace really opens up the pitch, we seem a lot less reliant on hoofing it forward and actually look to play through the middle instead of just bypassing it altogether. Having said that I’m still not entirely sold on Frear, especially as a wing back, however I do think he offers something that nobody else in the squad can at the minute and would look to give him a run in the team in Tanner’s absence. 

As an aside, I thought Cadden was having a really good game in the middle until the sending off. Looked a lot better than he has at wing back in recent times- although he did do a stellar job at right back as well in the 2nd half. 

Edited March 20, 2018 by Casagolda

[thisGRAEME]

18 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

As an aside, I thought Cadden was having a really good game in the middle until the sending off. Looked a lot better than he has at wing back in recent times- although he did do a stellar job at right back as well in the 2nd half. 

I think our right-hand side of Bowman and Cadden keeping McGregor and Sinclair fairly quiet was fucking astonishing, tbqhwy.

[Casagolda]

7 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

I think our right-hand side of Bowman and Cadden keeping McGregor and Sinclair fairly quiet was fucking astonishing, tbqhwy.

Indeed.

Actually felt sorry for Bowman to be honest, has waited for nearly 3 months to get a start and after a decent showing first half he’s then shunted to the right wing and spent most of the 2nd half chasing after McGregor. Although like Cadden, he has to be commended for the job he done for the team.

Based on what we did see of him and Main as a partnership first half though,  have to say I’d stick with it for the next game and keep Ciftci on the bench. 

[dezz]

As others have said, we can shed quite a few ‘first team’ players from this season and replace them with current Under 20’s and it will have little to no detrimental impact on the squad whilst likely saving a bit of cash at the same time - Ferguson for Griffiths, Livingstone for Hendrie, Turnbull for Grimshaw, McLean/Hastie for Petravicius and McGuire for Plummer.

I reckon we will lose two of Kipre, Cadden and Carson with the latter certainly the most difficult to replace. Any outside chance of Dunne knocking back the contract extension and leaving given his performances since Jan? Or was the extension in the clubs favour? It’s all been suspiciously quiet since Robbo first mentioned it.

I also expect to Rose to leave given the contract/family situation and possibly Bigi if he doesn’t get more game time.

I hope we see a summer of tweaking and improving rather than a full overhaul as it has been in recent summers. Get Big Nadz back in too so he can get the Robbo pre-season treatment.

[capt_oats]

Indeed.
Actually felt sorry for Bowman to be honest, has waited for nearly 3 months to get a start and after a decent showing first half he’s then shunted to the right wing and spent most of the 2nd half chasing after McGregor. Although like Cadden, he has to be commended for the job he done for the team.
Based on what we did see of him and Main as a partnership first half though,  have to say I’d stick with it for the next game and keep Ciftci on the bench.

Ryan Bowman gets the opportunity to break Fabio Cardoso’s face again...and we are so here for that.