Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Gianfranco]

I can’t remember if it was here or steelmen but I remember reading something about reserve players getting moved on to give the 18s squad more of a game there.

[capt_oats]

2 minutes ago, Gianfranco said:

I can’t remember if it was here or steelmen but I remember reading something about reserve players getting moved on to give the 18s squad more of a game there.

Pretty sure it was Steelmen. Presumably part of the review the club have done post-Craigan.

Looking at the Reserves/u18s page on the official it's pretty thin given we've moved/released MacLean, Krones, Armstrong and Alfie with Morrison, Maguire, Gordon and McLaughlin out on loan. Also Turnbull and Hastie are pretty much viewed as first team players now.

I count 15 bodies once you remove those out on loan/part of the first team.

Here's Flow's spiel from the news story. It's interesting to read that it's viewed as a newly created role rather than simply "Reserves manager":

Quote

Chief executive Alan Burrows added: “We are very pleased to have appointed Maurice in this newly created role. We are at the final stages of reviewing our pathway at that level, but Maurice will play a key part in player development at what is clearly a critical age in a young player’s career.

“As well as his duties with the first team and the reserves, an important aspect of the role is working with Steven Hammell to provide continuity between the later stages of our Club Academy Scotland setup at Braidhurst and our professional teams.

“His remit from the board is clear and that is to develop our talented players to a point when they are primed for first team football. With his skill set, drive and determination, we believe we have the best man for the job.”

 

[Casagolda]

David Turnbull hoping to tie up new Motherwell contract at long last

10 year deal please. 

[Ron Aldo]

I see we're being linked with a loan move for Jordan Rossiter according to the Daily Express.

[AndyRoss]

Another central midfielder - just what we need...

I see it's dependent on moving out a few from the wage bill, given there's next to no chance that we'll be signing a permanent deal for him then I'm totally against this one - why sacrifice the  development of our own players to give game time to an injury prone Rangers player?

Really hope there's nothing in this.

[Swello]

35 minutes ago, Ron Aldo said:

Daily Express

As a reliable source of news, the Express ranks somewhere below* the Sunday Sport. Also - no thanks.

 

 

*Unless it's some shit about the weather or immigrants

[Casagolda]

I saw an interview Robinson done with Sky the other night after the Hibs game and he did  actually say he had a few things lined up, however he wasn’t able to move on them till he got some people out the door.

Who or what that is, f**k knows. Guys like Main, Frear, Gorrin etc who I’d have thought would have been prime candidates for the chop have all started games this week. Even the likes of Sammon and Bigi came off the bench the other night. At this stage I’m not even sure what Robinson wants in mind you, so it’s kind of hard to guess who he’s trying to move out. 

Should be an interesting last few days of the window anyway.

[Desp]

Doesn't Scott Burns write for the Express?  He's generally not far away when it comes to Motherwell stories.

Providing he's fit, Rossiter would be a tremendous signing for us.  There's no doubting his quality, he just needs a run of games.  I don't see it as developing a Rangers player, as I doubt he's got a future there.  So I see it as us getting a quality player for a few months to get him in the shop window.  Again, as long as he's fit, it's a win-win for me. 

[AndyRoss]

It's a huge if though mate, he's made nine starts for Rangers since joining in July 2016. 

I think with the depth we have in that area of the pitch too then it's a bit of a fruitless exercise, bearing in mind the likes of Allan Campbell has quite often had to settle for a place on the bench in our team. 

 

 

[Desp]

Absolutely, I agree there's risk involved.  That's why I had mentioned ensuring he was fit before committing to anything.  I'd also be ensuring Motherwell have themselves a good deal when it comes to Rangers covering more of his wages if he's injured. 

If you're asking me, from Wednesday night's midfield three, if I could have Campbell, Turnbull + one other, and I have the choice of Rossiter, Gorrin or McHugh, it would be Rossiter all day long. 

 

[Swello]

23 minutes ago, Desp said:

Doesn't Scott Burns write for the Express?  He's generally not far away when it comes to Motherwell stories.

Providing he's fit, Rossiter would be a tremendous signing for us.  There's no doubting his quality, he just needs a run of games.  I don't see it as developing a Rangers player, as I doubt he's got a future there.  So I see it as us getting a quality player for a few months to get him in the shop window.  Again, as long as he's fit, it's a win-win for me. 

I think we can occasionally take gambles on players of questionable (match) fitness (Citci, McCormack) and I've got no problem with it if it means we get access to better players than we can afford to add something different. But if McCormack is already taking up one berth and ATS already looks like a failed gamble, would it make sense to do it again?

[well fan for life]

1 minute ago, Swello said:

I think we can occasionally take gambles on players of questionable (match) fitness (Citci, McCormack) and I've got no problem with it if it means we get access to better players than we can afford to add something different. But if McCormack is already taking up one berth and ATS already looks like a failed gamble, would it make sense to do it again?

This is kind of my stance on it as well. I'm fine with us taking a gamble on a good quality player if they're not 100% fit but Rossiter's injury record at Rangers makes ATS look like he's an ever present in our side.

[AndyRoss]

If you're asking me, from Wednesday night's midfield three, if I could have Campbell, Turnbull + one other, and I have the choice of Rossiter, Gorrin or McHugh, it would be Rossiter all day long. 

I'd much prefer Gorrin (or if we somehow source a left back), Grimshaw would be my preferred options. Albeit I've seen very little of Rossiter to draw any fair comparisons. 

 

[thisGRAEME]

1 minute ago, AndyRoss said:

I'd much prefer Gorrin or if we somehow source a left back, Grimshaw would be my preferred options. Albeit I've seen very little of Rossiter to draw any fair comparisons. 

Pretty much.

Gorrin was great value on Wednesday, I thought, and kind of highlighted why we'd been trying to hard to get him. Whether that's a one off or not, it remains to be seen.

[Pettigrew]

4 minutes ago, AndyRoss said:

I'd much prefer Gorrin or if we somehow source a left back, Grimshaw would be my preferred options. Albeit I've seen very little of Rossiter to draw any fair comparisons. 

Noone has, assuming Wiki is to be believed, he's played 11 senior games.  

Not for me Clive...

[capt_oats]

53 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

I saw an interview Robinson done with Sky the other night after the Hibs game and he did  actually say he had a few things lined up, however he wasn’t able to move on them till he got some people out the door.

Who or what that is, f**k knows. Guys like Main, Frear, Gorrin etc who I’d have thought would have been prime candidates for the chop have all started games this week. Even the likes of Sammon and Bigi came off the bench the other night. At this stage I’m not even sure what Robinson wants in mind you, so it’s kind of hard to guess who he’s trying to move out. 

Should be an interesting last few days of the window anyway.

I was thinking this the other day. Burrows was saying to a boy on Twitter last week that we were "still looking to do a bit of wheeling and dealing".

At the start of the window I thought I had a pretty good handle on how the window would play out and potentially see any of: Main, Frear, Gorrin, Sammon, Bigi, Newell, ATS etc on their way but barring ATS and Newell all of them have been involved in the last two games and rumours of interest have been pretty thin on the groud. So quite frankly f**k knows who could be likely to move on.

Assuming Turnbull's being legit about extending and we're clear that Grimshaw's now a right back then the CMs we have out of contract in summer are: McHugh, Bigi, Ally Gorrin, Given the strategy we're likely to avoid letting players walk away from the end of their deal. Putting 2+2 together if we were looking at Rossiter then I'd guess we'd be looking at playing him and for all the criticism he takes McHugh's probably a sellable asset and he's been here a while now.

I didn't hear him say at the AGM as I was sat up the back but IIRC @Swello mentioned Robinson commenting along the lines of we'd be "surprised" at the players there was interest in.

I have no strong opinion on us signing Rossiter tbh. I'm not particularly militant about loans in principle if we're getting quality and a good deal. Also, if it's a CM that's moving on then I wouldn't be surprised to see us bring another one in as if we're committing to a 433/451 then as it stands we only have 5 players for 3 spots so moving one on would leave us a bit thin (surprisingly).

Edited January 25, 2019 by capt_oats

[Swello]

8 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Robinson commenting along the lines of we'd be "surprised" at the players there was interest in.

I'd assumed that (throwaway) comment was regarding getting money, real actual money for Herbalife, which must have been in the works by that point - could be wrong though...

[Busta Nut]

@Desp I haven't seen much at all of Rossiter, what's the basis he'd be tremendous? It also appears he's made of chocolate.

I wouldn't be very keen on him from the very few times I have seen him. Interested as I know he was hyped up by the deluded when they signed him as some sort of wonderkid.

[Desp]

1 minute ago, Busta Nut said:

@Desp I haven't seen much at all of Rossiter, what's the basis he'd be tremendous? It also appears he's made of chocolate.

I wouldn't be very keen on him from the very few times I have seen him. Interested as I know he was hyped up by the deluded when they signed him as some sort of wonderkid.

I think he's a very good player.  I watched a fair bit of him in the Liverpool youth/reserve teams a few years back, and he also had a few European games with the Liverpool first team (he certainly appeared more than once for the first team, despite what Wikipedia states).  He was highly rated down there, and his reasoning for leaving was a determination to play first team football, week-in, week-out. 

Look, all of this comes with, of course, a big f**k off caveat that he needs to be fit.  If he can't play 15 games in a row, he's of no use.  We've all seen plenty of these wonderkids over the years who end up playing part-time fitba by the time they're in their mid 20s because either they're made of glass or their attitude is all wrong.

If Motherwell do the correct due diligence, and we get a good deal, I'll stand by my comment he'll be a very good signing for us.

[Pettigrew]

LFC History would indeed suggest Wiki is wrong, but not massively materially so and highlights he came out the same box as ATS...  

Quote

In 2015/16 Rossiter looked like he was on the brink of a first team breakthrough, coming on as a substitute in an early league game away to Arsenal and starting the first Europa League game away to Bordeaux. However an injury while on international duty with England under 21's prevented him being able to make an impression after Jürgen Klopp's arrival. He came back for a Europa League game at Sion but aggravated his hamstring and didn't feature any more. In May 2016 Rossiter announced that he had signed a pre-contract with Glasgow Rangers which he joined on 1 July 2016 as his Liverpool contract expired. However after six appearances he suffered a calf injury that ended up keeping him out for the season. He returned for pre season training in 2017-18 and featured in both legs of a Europa League qualifier, only for the injury to reoccur. He did play  in the last game of the season, scoring in a 5-5 draw at Hibernian.