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Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons


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Happy with both Grimshaw and Long getting extended deals. Mentioned on a match thread a while back there aren't actual many strikers in the Scottish Premiership who hit double figures from open play, with 6 so far, Long is on track for double figures if he keeps it up and he has looked really sharp in a good few games lately. Grimshaw has had his usual committed, unspectacular consistent performances at right back.

As for the rest of the out of contract players, as things stand I reckon Gillespie must be offski and I'd keep Ferguson as backup to Carson.

Would be for Tait, Hartley and Dunne being offered new deals, although given both Hartley and Dunne have been susceptible to injury and we have Mugabi and Gallagher already signed, I can't see us paying all four a first-team wage. I remain unconvinced by Mugabi but I guess what he's shown, thus far anyway, that he can remain fit. I really like Dunne but I wonder if Robinson is paying any thought to the fact he's spent long periods out with similar injuries in the past two seasons. I'm sure he had similar problems in his Oldham days too. It's harsh on Tait that after playing out of position for so long, he now finds himself on the bench when we've found a proper left-back. I imagine we'll offer him a deal, but at 30, I can't see him staying unless he's going to be playing.

I'd keep Manzinga to see if he develops if his wages are low, but as things stand I'd probably get rid of Maguire, Livingstone and Ilic.

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2 hours ago, crazylegsjoe said:

Happy with both Grimshaw and Long getting extended deals. Mentioned on a match thread a while back there aren't actual many strikers in the Scottish Premiership who hit double figures from open play, with 6 so far, Long is on track for double figures if he keeps it up and he has looked really sharp in a good few games lately. Grimshaw has had his usual committed, unspectacular consistent performances at right back.

As for the rest of the out of contract players, as things stand I reckon Gillespie must be offski and I'd keep Ferguson as backup to Carson.

Would be for Tait, Hartley and Dunne being offered new deals, although given both Hartley and Dunne have been susceptible to injury and we have Mugabi and Gallagher already signed, I can't see us paying all four a first-team wage. I remain unconvinced by Mugabi but I guess what he's shown, thus far anyway, that he can remain fit. I really like Dunne but I wonder if Robinson is paying any thought to the fact he's spent long periods out with similar injuries in the past two seasons. I'm sure he had similar problems in his Oldham days too. It's harsh on Tait that after playing out of position for so long, he now finds himself on the bench when we've found a proper left-back. I imagine we'll offer him a deal, but at 30, I can't see him staying unless he's going to be playing.

I'd keep Manzinga to see if he develops if his wages are low, but as things stand I'd probably get rid of Maguire, Livingstone and Ilic.

I was thinking about the back-up goalie situation last night - because I'm exactly that sort of Sad Boi.

By all accounts we originally brought Gillespie in because - after the Celtic offer - we thought there would be interest in Carson and other than some vague shouts (Cardiff maybe?) offers never materialised so we were left in the position where we had 2 first team goalies which worked out for us with Carson's unexpected (and lengthy) absence. Given we've committed to Carson (and vice versa) I'd imagine the goalkeeper recruitment to replace Gillespie (assuming he's away) will be a tough sell.

Realistically we'd be looking at doing what Aberdeen have done with Cerny and bring in an experienced back-up whose only real expectation is to sit on the bench - which seems less risk but perhaps slightly more expensive or a younger option but run the risk of there being a serious drop off in quality - which is pretty much what we have on the books at the moment with Ferguson.

The thing with Ferguson is he's been playing regularly at Linfield so he's gone from first pick at Airdrie to 3rd choice here to first pick (and a short European run) at Linfield. Is he likely to fancy ditching first team football to sit on the bench behind Carson? Chances are he could probably drop to the Championship and get regular starts there.

Also, if Gillespie ends up away during this window I'd be surprised if we recalled Ferguson given Linfield are 3 points off the top of the league with a game in hand. Get big Rab signed up and give him a shot playing for his boyhood team I say.

We clearly like Maguire but he's another who at his age needs games. He's got time on his side and there's a lot to like about him but I'm not sure sitting on our bench is going to help him develop.

I don't know if he's been injured or not but Livingstone's only recently appeared in the Morton first team. He's only made 4 league appearances this season which doesn't really augur well for him. I completely understand why we gave him an extension - one last shot so to speak but if he's struggling to make any sort of impact for Morton it's difficult to imagine us doing anything other than shaking his hand and saying good luck.

On Tait, it (obviously) depends on him. I'd kind of look at it another way in so much as while he's not in the team at the moment he's only an injury or a dip in form from either Grimshaw or Carroll from being back in the side. With him we're getting cover for 2 positions with 1 player - an ML1 Phil Neville if you will. The cover is something that's probably worth paying a first team wage for. Also given he's vice-captain Robinson almost certainly trusts him implicitly.

Similar to Carson whose alternative first team options were reportedly Livi and St Mirren - unless a League 1 club wanted to take a punt on Tait and give him a wage bump you'd think that would be the sort of bracket he'd be looking at up here - maybe St Johnstone given they're stuck with Tony Ralston and haven't been able to replace Ricky Fister.

I could definitely see the handsome b*****d sticking around. And I'm absolutely fine with that.

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Hartley and Dunne are a bit different. As you point out Dunne signed an extension at the end of the Cup Finals season but has missed large chunks of the subsequent seasons. Also, Hartley and Gallagher have been by far a more solid partnership. I've a feeling Dunne changed agents at some point last year.

On the flip with Hartley he's been absolutely phenomenal since he's got back in the side but he'll be another year older and Robinson's big thing is pace. I thought Hartley seemed understandably non-committal when he was asked about his contract on The Longer Listen.

Reading the announcement there's actually an option for a second year on Manzinga's deal. It's not clear how that's triggered though. Ilic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Obviously player trading is our business model so there's likely to be some movement over the summer but I'd guess there's a fine balance between keeping the core of what we have and making sure we freshen things up to avoid becoming stale. 

Edited by capt_oats
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Might be slightly harsh on Tait but I wouldn't be terribly upset about him leaving at the end of the season. He's been a great player for us  but he has looked slower than a week in the jail for the last while now. He was never quick but he looks so vunerable to any sort of pace these days. We can blame it on lack of game time but I'm not so sure. Judging by his IG he is in tremendous shape but maybe more sprints and less cross fit is required.. In all seriousness, I think we should look at other options before renewing. Hartley could fall into a similar bracket, we will see how they both go in the second half of the season i guess.

Dunne I would be keen to keep due to this raw attributes. I have a feeling Robinson is a big fan of his and will try to keep him regardless of his injury record. His record was pretty bad when we signed him so this isn't exactly new information.

I suspect we are likely to see another decent turnover of players in the summer but I think we have a decent core nailed down so hopefully not too much upheaval.

Edited by Luke92
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Yeah, I can't argue with much of that.

It's a weird one with Ferguson, where he's probably over qualified to be our number two, but under qualified to be our number one. If he's willing to stay on as backup then I'd probably take it.

As for Maguire and Livingstone, I tend to be of the line of thinking that once a player hits about 21 and isn't really a first pick it does neither them nor us any favours keeping them. Thinking along the lines of Bob McHugh. I think both of them are in that category now.

I was thinking Tait's options would probably be league two in England and for some reason Livingston was the team I had in my head if he left us and stayed in Scotland. Would be a great backup option for us if he was willing to be that.

I thought Hartley would've been a goner in the summer, but he has come back in and done well. I'm still dumbfounded as to why he didn't start against Accies when we had no game for 20 days after it. Despite having a couple of good chants, I've found Mugabi to be clumsy with poor distribution so far.

Edited by crazylegsjoe
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48 minutes ago, Luke92 said:

Might be slightly harsh on Tait but I wouldn't be terribly upset about him leaving at the end of the season. He's been a great player for us  but he has looked slower than a week in the jail for the last while now. He was never quick but he looks so vunerable to any sort of pace these days. We can blame it on lack of game time but I'm not so sure. Judging by his IG he is in tremendous shape but maybe more sprints and less cross fit is required.. In all seriousness, I think we should look at other options before renewing.

FWIW, that's entirely fair comment.

I suppose the way I'm looking at it is if Grimshaw signs a 2 year extension as is rumoured then you're looking at him and Carroll being our 2 first picks so anyone we bring in will be back up. It's a trade-off between the sort of player who'd be willing to come to the club as a back up full back (initially at least) vs a more experienced and versatile albeit slower option in Tait.

I'd be far more comfortable with Tait knocking about the squad than a Josh Law or a Stephen Hendrie type.

Edited by capt_oats
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I'll be a bit disappointed if we start next season with Tait and Grimshaw as our right back options. I can fault either of them for attitude and they've been smashing servants for the club, but Tait is obviously past his best and Grimshaw is for me still the weakest link in our starting eleven. No qualms with either of them hanging around the squad I'd like to think we can afford someone to at least challenge Grimshaw for the position. 

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2 hours ago, capt_oats said:

Get big Rab signed up and give him a shot playing for his boyhood team I say.

Was this triggered by looking back at the photo of that cracking squad from the mid 90's and remembering the Ray Allan signing? 

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I'd take Tait at Saints without even thinking about it.

Reliable, experienced full backs, who can play both sides, are rare. Ricky Foster was one and he was a great signing for us well into his 30s and is still going strong with County.

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23 minutes ago, weemac said:

Was this triggered by looking back at the photo of that cracking squad from the mid 90's and remembering the Ray Allan signing? 

Aye. Sure he was signed as an emergency goalie, think he played once  in a cup game. musta been about 40.

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4 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

I'd take Tait at Saints without even thinking about it.

Reliable, experienced full backs, who can play both sides, are rare. Ricky Foster was one and he was a great signing for us well into his 30s and is still going strong with County.

Aye Tait is good but he's not what he was. He needs to change something about what he does to adjust to his downward spiral.

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2 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

McIver?

I was going to say Jamie Semple. The guy with the camera is actually in Gran Canaria so they can fit his heed in the full screen. 

Sorry that's unfair but if it's the guy on the bike then it's definitely semple 

Edited by weemac
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Fair fucks to him if he’s managed to get a move there. Didn’t expect him to get a half decent Championship gig after not getting a sniff at a pretty woeful Wigan and a reasonable/passable dozen games for us.

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