Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Ron Aldo]

Sounds like exactly what we need. Another midfielder who's no better than anything we currently have.

Have we learned nothing from the summer window?

[ropy]

Alexander will build a team in his own image which means most signings will be late 30s

[sergie's no1 fan]

Sam Foley was great for them last season.
St. Mirren making weird choices at the moment, imo.

Without wanting to write the guy off like the Well fans with Tait, his legs appear to have gone after the lockdown break.

He was superb last season but doesn't have the same hussle about him this season. He hasn't started a game for quite a while. We vastly improved when he was taken out the team, sadly. Quite a likeable player too.

[RandomGuy.]

On 24/01/2021 at 18:06, RandomGuy. said:

FWIW Donnelly recorded the most "ball recoveries" in the league for CMs last season (14.39 p90), and it looks like the rest of the midfield this season have had to try and pick up the slack with him missing (Campbell/Polworth numbers are up), again probably something that's obvious to fans watching every week, but getting someone in to fill that gap maybe key to getting Polworth playing well again.

 

On 24/01/2021 at 18:29, RandomGuy. said:

Aye. Liam Craig missing from 4th in that list on 13.4 because I've 2 versions of him due to having a St Johnstone only section, but thats the top 5 plus O'Hara from last season.

 

*coughs*

[capt_oats]

I'll not profess to knowing much (anything) about Foley or even what type of midfielder he is (though @RandomGuy.'s post above is interesting). He's definitely not a sexy signing and let's face it a 34 year old who's not getting a game with St Mirren isn't someone who screams 'marquee signing'. So yeah, I probably land in the 'underwhelmed' group while acknowledging that he seems to have previously had a good season at St Mirren.

Ultimately though, the market we're in is 100% players who aren't getting a game elsewhere with the 'rona situation limiting options even more:

Kelly - 3rd/4th choice at QPR = an upgrade on Chapman (the lowest bar possible)
Lawleff - not getting a game at Burton = an upgrade on Seedorf/Hastie?
Smith - out the picture at Northampton = straight swap for Jordan White

Going by RG's point about ball recoveries I'd guess Foley sounds like a swap for Crawford (whose loan ends this month). Equally though I don't think someone like Foley addresses our creativity problem although possibly he might lighten the load on Polworth and Campbell.

It's kind of the worst patter going but if we're restricted to more Scottish based players than usual who realistically are we looking at as options to improve our 'quality'? ie: who isn't getting a game for their present club?

White to County, Middleton to St Johnstone, Foley to us etc...it's pretty much a shuffle of squad players between clubs.

Edited January 27, 2021 by capt_oats

[welldaft]

Another midfielder not getting a game for potential relegation candidates..hardly gets the juices flowing so to speak.

I do wonder if our view on squad changes might change depending on the result tonight.  Win and the management team may think we are coming good and a tweak here and their my be enough to save us this season. Lose and we are even more in the sh1t than we are currently. 

Relegation would cost the club at least £1m and that is if it is only for one season. You could end up doing a Dundee United and stay for a few seasons. 

We have a healthy and positive balance sheet. Maybe we need to speculate and secure a few signings that will actually help us to get out of this predicament.  Surely we could get some loan signings from championship / premiership down south that would cost more in wages but have a greater impact than players not getting games for our rivals. 

We get this transfer window wrong and it could and probably will prove significant in the final outcome. 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by welldaft

[Desp]

Are we playing tonight?

I might get a wee curry to celebrate! 

[Billy Jean King]

Sounds like exactly what we need. Another midfielder who's no better than anything we currently have.

Have we learned nothing from the summer window?

Foley probably isn't a midfielder anymore. Hasn't had a good game for us in midfield for yonks. OK backup Central defender but that was about it. Age caught up I suspect

[welldaft]

To add to my previous post above.

So far we have had Archer and Lang leave this window with White rumoured to follow after tonight’s game. We have brought in Kelly, Lawless and Smith. I don’t know whether the wages for the 3 coming in would be bigger than the three moved / moving on but I would not imagine there would be much in it. 

I get we have a largish squad and ideally could do with shifting a few more on. 

But with a few days left in the window would you say we have strengthened our squad yet ? Marginally but it would be debatable. 

Alexander coming in you would imagine partially for contacts he has down south and yet the signings we have made (and Foley) seem to have been identified beforehand. 

The next two fixtures and next 4 days in the window will have a huge bearing on whether we can get away from bottom 2 places. We are due some luck but I am not seeing evidence in the transfer dealings that gives me much confidence for now anyway. 

Finally I am not saying go out and be irresponsible. But to invest £150- 200k in wages bringing in 3 or 4 players on loan till the summer to avoid losing £1m + seems like a prudent option. 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by welldaft

[Casagolda]

I think as been mentioned, the biggest problem is getting players to come to up to Scotland in the current circumstances. 

Even outside of us, a lot of the signings being made by other teams seem to be either guys from Scotland or who have played/lived here before. I've not really seen anyone else make a signing that'd significantly improve us. Maybe Jackson Irvine but we can't exactly compete with Hibs for players.

That aside it's largely guys like Oakley, Middleton, Longridge, Andreu, Reilly, Brophy, Cadden etc.

We're all shopping in the same bargain basement. Even Ross County with their millionaire owner are sniffing about Jordan White. I think anybody pinning their hopes on us pulling 2 or 3 big signings out the bag before the window shuts are going to be extremely disappointed. 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Casagolda

[Mitch]

Are we playing tonight?
I might get a wee curry to celebrate! 

Paneer Korma with a Peshwari Naan by any chance?

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

If it's a case of Crawford out, Foley in, then I could live with it. As below, he's been over the course down south a fair bit. If he's seen as an enhancement on our current options, then I would be slightly worried.

However, January is lean at the best of times, never mind during COVID, so I really don't think there will be much movement. I don't think we'll get the centre half and creative midfielder that I am after.

 

 

[welldaft]

5 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

I think as been mentioned, the biggest problem is getting players to come to up to Scotland in the current circumstances. 

Even outside of us, a lot of the signings being made by other teams seem to be either guys from Scotland or who have played/lived here before. I've not really seen anyone else make a signing that'd significantly improve us. Maybe Jackson Irvine but we can't exactly compete with Hibs for players.

That aside it's largely guys like Oakley, Middleton, Longridge, Andreu, Reilly, Brophy, Cadden etc.

We're all shopping in the same bargain basement. Even Ross County with their millionaire owner are sniffing about Jordan White. I think anybody pinning their hopes on us pulling 2 or 3 big signings out the bag before the window shuts are going to be extremely disappointed. 

All valid points and that assumes we don’t lose SOD, Campbell or Gallacher over next 4 days. Otherwise we could come out in a weaker rather than stronger position. 

I get the pandemic makes it more difficult. But even taking Jones from Rangers would surely be a step up from our wingers apart from hopefully Lawless. 

As I said the result tonight may focus the minds more were we to lose. I am hoping we put in a good display and get some decisions in our favour and come away with a positive result. One thing is for sure Hughes will have Ross C well fired up and our players need to be prepared to battle and give 100%. Our previous gaffer favourite saying was earning the right to win.. we shall see. 

 

[Mitch]

I’ve hardly shown much interest this season and couldn’t quite get excited about it. That being said, the shambles of a position we have found ourselves in at the moment is giving it far more of an edge than expected.
Anything but confident for tonight and it is a must not lose for us. We really need to get quality in over quantity this window (easier said than done) or we are in the shit.
Lose tonight and the 12/1 on us to finish bottom won’t be available!

[Luke92]

I'm not going to slate the guy Foley, we definitely need something in midfield but it is hard not to be underwhelmed by him. St Mirren fans seem to think he was a decent player who has probably lost a step of two, so he clearly had something and if anything might bring a bit of experience and nous to the squad.

On a more general note, I don't think our business thus far has been an adequate reaction to where we are just now. Most of us agree the problem was the players as well as the manager but we seem to be making only modest upgrades rather than having somewhat of a mini clear out.

I'm not expecting us to move mountains particularly in this economic climate but we need to make more changes than we are seeing. There was an acceptance within the support that a lot of the players didn't want to be here, I don't think that has gone away because of the appointment of a new manager.  I don't want to be melodramatic, but if we go down and this is the size of our January window folk will rightly be asking questions.

There is a middle ground between expecting glamour signings and what we are seeing just now. I think most of us would be satisfied with 2-3 more changes of note.

[Swello]

16 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

We're all shopping in the same bargain basement.

I think this is the key point - clubs' resources (and their appetite to take financial risks) will be as low as they've ever been due to the write off of a season and uncertainty about future income. I could be proved wrong but I can't see any club buying their way out of trouble this year and I think that "marquee signings" will be an endangered species.

I think the 3 signings we have made so far all make sense and are potentially useful for us. If we see Foley as a stop gap until Donnelly is finally back (although time is running short on him being up to speed enough to make a contribution this season), I would be fine with that. I think when fit, that our first choice midfield will still be Campbell, Donnelly & Polworth unless wee Alan is sold.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Swello

[BigTamMuller]

Not posted much this season, out of a general apathy than anything else. Popping up to say I too enjoy Paneer. 

Signing a 34 year old from St Mirren would ordinarily struggle to have me whelmed at normal times. But, given the current circumstances and we're seeing players like McGinley seemingly coming up and struggle to settle due to only being able to look at their own 4 walls, then going for players with ties to the somewhat local area that can do a job will have to do.

[Ric]

Just as a side note, Goodwin is always keen to shift on midfielders when they become a "bit leggy". Stephen McGinn being a perfect example, who Jack Ross deemed useful enough to bring to Hibs. Like McGinn, Foley would be, imo, a useful pair of legs later on in a game to "steady the ship".  Foley has the benefit that he is a very decent option to come on as a defender too. Unlike McGinn though, Foley was a winger for most of his career, then dropped to central mid, then to defensive mid and now flirting with defence. Make of that what you will.

The jury is still very much out on whether he (a) has lost pace, (b) been hit by covid, (c) just fallen out of favour, or (d) has lost the motivation for whatever reason. The difficulty is that others are ahead of him in the pecking order and he's just not been given the opportunity for us to see for ourselves. That said, Goodwin will see him daily in training so you've got to take that into consideration.

As I said in my previous post there is the "Tait caveat". While he's maybe dropped off from his initial level, he is still a very useful player for us, even though it's clear he's not the fastest lad out there. A move may be the motivation to get the best out of him at least until the end of the season when you can make a better judgement.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Ric

[Swello]

One of the main killers for us this season is that any change we make off the bench has significantly weakened us - the drop off in quality between the first choice 11 that has been generally available and what we can bring on has been as big as I can ever remember. 

If we are bringing in players that strengthen the dreaded 12-18, then that is a positive in my view as even with everything I've seen, I still think our best 11 are at a reasonable mid-table level...

[harry94]

Is Crawford finished at Motherwell? It looks like we're in the market for a box to box midfielder with McGhee out.