capt_oats Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 (edited) On the Donnelly thing, you only need to look at the language about Celtic apparently "monitoring" and "reportedly tracking" him and it's enough to fire it in the "absolute fucking nonsense" bin. As @Casagolda says it looks like Robinson's already done that. Edited January 21, 2020 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Robinson being a bit less closed in terms of folk coming in (around 3min 33): Quote "Some things come up right at the last minute. There were a few things came up last year right at the end of the window that really tempted me that we couldn't get done. So you're still always looking. We have got targets, there are maybe areas where if the right player became available within our budget that we would strengthen but I'm happy with the squad. As I say I think there are players coming back; Charles Dunne will train more than he has done today, David Turnbull's making progress, Christian Ilic scored two yesterday in the reserves and I think he could be a bigger player for us in the second half of the season." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qos1990 Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Any info on David Devine? Meant to be coming to us on loan 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, qos1990 said: Any info on David Devine? Meant to be coming to us on lpan He's a young centre back, made his league debut last season in the 3-2 win over Livi. Signed an extension during the summer that keeps him at the club until 2021. He's far younger (18) than Barry Maguire who was 20 when he ended up on loan with you last season but he seems to be "highly regarded" by our coaches. From the sound of things he's kind of being fast-tracked - he was promoted to u20s/Reserve level from the u18s in January last year and as I said he made his first team debut off the bench by the end of the season. I don't think many of us really knew much about him then his name started popping up in interviews with Mo Ross as a player who we thought could become a first team player. The coverage of our Reserves has been condensed into bite-size packages these days and the club don't upload full highlights of those games any more so unless you're actually pitching up at the Reserve games there's definitely less general awareness of what the players are actually like than there was in the Cadden, Thomas, Campbell, Turnbull and Hastie days. One thing of note is that Allan Johnston's son is part of our Academy and started alongside Devine on Monday in the Reserves 2-1 win over County - so I'd think AJ would be aware of most - if not all -. of our players at that level. Edited January 22, 2020 by capt_oats 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezz Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Div/P&B over on twitter has just brought it to my attention that our win last night was our fourth on the bounce away from home which is some effort. I’m generally err on the side of caution with all things Motherwell but with 11 games to go before the split and a 17 point gap (realistically 18 with GD) over 7th I’ve finally accepted we’ll be top 6 this season. I’ve still got some concerns over Hibs putting together a run to challenge for 3rd/4th but what a season this is shaping up to be. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) 27 minutes ago, dezz said: Div/P&B over on twitter has just brought it to my attention that our win last night was our fourth on the bounce away from home which is some effort. I’m generally err on the side of caution with all things Motherwell but with 11 games to go before the split and a 17 point gap (realistically 18 with GD) over 7th I’ve finally accepted we’ll be top 6 this season. I’ve still got some concerns over Hibs putting together a run to challenge for 3rd/4th but what a season this is shaping up to be. I just posted in the match thread but since the end of November that's our 6th clean sheet in 9 games (in all competitons). We're on 14 clean sheets for the season in all competitions - the record for most clean sheets in a season is 20 in 2017/18. We've scored 15 in our last 9 and conceded 5 (2 against Rangers, 1 against County and 2 against Accies). Ballon d'Onnelly is now on 10 goals in all competitions. That's 2 seasons in a row we've had a centre mid in double figures. We're 6 points ahead of our total after 22 games in McCall's first 2nd place season in 12/13. Spoiler Obviously the wheels could still come off and there are a multitude of caveats but it's a decent position to be in. Edited January 23, 2020 by capt_oats 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 I seriously doubt Hibs will finish above The Well this season. Their defence is shot to pieces. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casagolda Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 1 hour ago, dezz said: Div/P&B over on twitter has just brought it to my attention that our win last night was our fourth on the bounce away from home which is some effort. It’s 5 in a row if you include the cup game at Dens. Only conceded 1 goal across all five games as well, whilst scoring 10. Some team. Top 6 is a certainty. Top 4 is there for us but we still look light up front. If Long’s injury is a bad one, then it might be a struggle. In saying that, we did just beat our nearest rivals on their own patch with a front three of O’Hara, Ilic and Scott. Plus, we look pretty well stocked everywhere else. So I’d say there’s nothing really stopping us from getting a European spot. Although, I suppose a lot could depend on who or what Aberdeen/Hibs do in the final week of the window. Where as it looks like our business is pretty much done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nsr Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 All this and we still have Big Bad Davie Turnbull to return. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Casagolda said: It’s 5 in a row if you include the cup game at Dens. Only conceded 1 goal across all five games as well, whilst scoring 10. Some team. Top 6 is a certainty. Top 4 is there for us but we still look light up front. If Long’s injury is a bad one, then it might be a struggle. In saying that, we did just beat our nearest rivals on their own patch with a front three of O’Hara, Ilic and Scott. Plus, we look pretty well stocked everywhere else. So I’d say there’s nothing really stopping us from getting a European spot. Although, I suppose a lot could depend on who or what Aberdeen/Hibs do in the final week of the window. Where as it looks like our business is pretty much done. I'd hope that the Long situation would be enough to start a conversation. If the injury is likely to keep him out for any length of time then last night's makeshift front 3 highlighted that we're probably a player light. Robinson's press conference kind of stuck to the line that we're open to bringing someone in but it has to be the right player. He's not ruling out bringing another body in but equally he's not explicitly saying there are more to come in. FWIW: I think his broad point is correct. Add Div Turnbull and Charlie Dunne to a fully fit squad and there's more than enough there that we probably don't need to be taking punts if our specific targets aren't available. That obviously changes (IMO) if our main striker is out for any length of time. Incidentally, on Ilic: I didn't see the full game but going by the highlights were we using him on the left - rather than on the right as an inverted winger - it looked that way on the highlights. Edited January 23, 2020 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoss Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 This team continues to surprise throughout this season.Looking back on defeats against Ross County, Aberdeen and Accies I think there was a feeling after those games that we’d been found out and we’d subsequently struggle. Instead every single time we find a positive response.I love that Stephen Robinson is always keen to emphasise there’s more to come from the team too. Anyone playing for Motherwell isn’t going to be the complete package, but what seems abundantly clear is that we’ve got a group who are determined to improve and work incredibly hard.We had a few spells where we had to dig deep last night, though I thought we produced almost the ideal away performance. Aberdeen surprised me when they didn’t begin the game on the front foot (I thought given home advantage and the significance of the game they would have), we were incredibly well organised and created the much better of the chances too.The second half was pretty nervy, but again the battling qualities were there for all to see. Special mention for Mark O’Hara too, who I’ve struggled to really figure out in his time in our team. His energy levels as well as his ability to break up the play and remain calm on the ball was crucial in the win. He’s rarely going to grab any headlines, but he worked himself into the ground by doing the ‘free stuff’.Tbh, it was a class night and the first time I’ve properly bought into the possibility of finishing third. Long way to go, but let’s enjoy it - sure there’s still more to come. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Brian Graham leaves Ross County, we're going to win the fucking league. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 13 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said: Brian Graham leaves Ross County, we're going to win the fucking league. Fucking delighted. Our habit of making him look like Zlatan was starting to grate on me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brightside Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Swapping Kenny Miller for Brian Graham is decent business tbf. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 That's yer David Devine away on loan to Queen of The South til the end of the season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke92 Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) I didn't see any of the game last night other than the 'highlights', sounded like a total a shitfest as predicted but what a class result from the boys. Robinson needs to get massive credit for what he is doing just now. He has us punching above our weight massively. Football isn't played on paper and all that but If you look at some of the boys playing last night. Illic, O'Hara, Mugabi & MacIver, these are boys that haven't had a huge amount of football but are doing a job against our main competition for 3rd place. This bodes really well for the second half of the season. Only one concern is the striking department, as I said last week I feel like we need another out and out striker in. I wouldn't fancy a prolonged period with Ndojli/Mazinga/Scott as our only options for #9. edit: GET THE PASSPORTS OOT Edited January 23, 2020 by Luke92 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Get Barry Maguire up front, flick ons and bumping defenders about, men running off him. Just needs a bit of direction from the boss. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Hahn Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 9 hours ago, capt_oats said: Incidentally, on Ilic: I didn't see the full game but going by the highlights were we using him on the left - rather than on the right as an inverted winger - it looked that way on the highlights. He was definitely playing on the left, occasionally interchanging with Scott through the middle (before Scott got subbed). I noted in one of Robinson's conferences, he said he thinks Ilic might become a decent player for us second half of the season and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by him last night. He looked pretty naf in the cup games early in the season which is pretty much the last time any of us have really seen him but he was fairly decent when he came on IMO. Not a world beater but, judging by this game and the Dundee game, he's MILES better than Seedorf. He did get the old subbed sub treatment but I think that was more Robinson doing what he needed to do to win the game shapewise than any reflection on the man's performance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Mr Hahn said: He was definitely playing on the left, occasionally interchanging with Scott through the middle (before Scott got subbed). I noted in one of Robinson's conferences, he said he thinks Ilic might become a decent player for us second half of the season and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by him last night. He looked pretty naf in the cup games early in the season which is pretty much the last time any of us have really seen him but he was fairly decent when he came on IMO. Not a world beater but, judging by this game and the Dundee game, he's MILES better than Seedorf. He did get the old subbed sub treatment but I think that was more Robinson doing what he needed to do to win the game shapewise than any reflection on the man's performance. Cheers. When he signed I was banging on about how the bits and pieces I could find about him suggested he was a left back so I'd always thought that us trying to make him happen as an inverted right winger was potentially hanging him out to dry a bit - even more so given that he was coming to the club from Austrian football. Even going back to the LC groups I seem to remember him having been involved in Donnelly's goal against Morton standing a decent ball up from the left that the 'keeper flapped at. So in that respect it was interesting to see that the bits of footage in the highlights seemed to have him predominately on what seems to be his natural side. I mean, playing as an inverted winger isn't a role that's for everyone especially not if you've largely been playing on the left flank - it worked with Hastie because he was never really a 'winger' in the first place and cutting in off the right on to his left suited him. When you saw the sub that was made it was pretty clear it was tactical. We took a winger/forward off and replaced him with a centre half at 1-0 up with about 15 to go. It didn't seem like it was a reflection on Ilic. The big man should definitely get that fade back on point though. Edited January 23, 2020 by capt_oats 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisGRAEME Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 1 hour ago, ropy said: Get Barry Maguire up front, flick ons and bumping defenders about, men running off him. Just needs a bit of direction from the boss. BRING ME BEVIS OR BRING ME DEATH 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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