Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Busta Nut]

She is miles out.

[AmericanFan]

How did the rivalry between Motherwell and St. Mirren come about?  Is it actually a thing or just of fans on P&B?

[ropy]

2 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

How did the rivalry between Motherwell and St. Mirren come about?  Is it actually a thing or just of fans on P&B?

It is purely statistical. 31 years of dominance is not to be thrown away.

We had a record of finishing above Hamilton every year since the ‘50s but we had to dip below them in 2015 to deal with an attempted incursion from Ibrox in a play off.  We finished 11th, St Mirren were 12th that year.

[ropy]

2 minutes ago, ropy said:

It is purely statistical. 31 years of dominance is not to be thrown away.

We had a record of finishing above Hamilton every year since the ‘50s but we had to dip below them in 2015 to deal with an attempted incursion from Ibrox in a play off.  We finished 11th, St Mirren were 12th that year.

Yassin hates them though.

[Swello]

4 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

How did the rivalry between Motherwell and St. Mirren come about?  Is it actually a thing or just of fans on P&B?

There's no rivalry - it's just quite funny that we've finished above a team that are ostensibly very similar to us for 3 decades straight when almost everyone else has finished above us - and if we did it again during this train wreck of a season, it would remain funny. Tin pot stuff like this keeps Scottish football going and I for one am happy to fully endorse it.

[Antiochas III]

2 hours ago, ropy said:

 

We had a record of finishing above Hamilton every year since the ‘50s but we had to dip below them in 2015 to deal with an attempted incursion from Ibrox in a play off.  We finished 11th, St Mirren were 12th that year.

It was a sacrifice we had to make sadly.  No one else in Scotland could be trusted with that important mission...  

[welldaft]

4 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

How did the rivalry between Motherwell and St. Mirren come about?  Is it actually a thing or just of fans on P&B?

I once had a bet with a St Mirren fan over whose team would win a league match a few seasons back. We did 2-0. St Mirren fan decided not to honour the bet. Kinda pissed me off at the time.

I have nothing against St Mirren as a club but I am also quite happy to see them make a mess of things when they start to get ahead of themselves.  I have taken to noising them up recently, usually when I have had a whisky or two late into the evening.  It is quite childish I admit but it gets a few bites from their amateur posters. 

It is not something I will continue with. Just a phase I am going through...

Good win yesterday. For once I enjoyed watching the match. Apart from a 15 minute spell in the 2nd half I felt we were the better team. Played some lovely football. I suspect Foley may get another couple of games to see whether he is worth offering a deal too. Especially if OHara is injured. Showed more panache than Crawford or Maguire. 

Kudos to the gaffer. From relegation zone to 7th and top of form table is good going. Hopefully can continue into the new season. 

 

[well fan for life]

5 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

How did the rivalry between Motherwell and St. Mirren come about?  Is it actually a thing or just of fans on P&B?

For me it's a tale as old as time.*

_{*If time means since someone declared this as the best St Mirren team in 30 years up against this complete gang of a Motherwell team.} 

[capt_oats]

Chickens, counting etc. I'm all for getting Decanter signed up but they're reaching a bit with this conclusion vs what Alexander actually said.

Quote

Alexander, who was delighted with his side's commitment after they moved up to seventh, said: "We spoke to him quite a while ago about a contract and it's still ongoing. But we would be delighted to keep him. I think we can help him improve and get to the next level.

"I think he needs a consistency of being at one club for a certain amount of time. He has led a little bit of a nomadic existence up to now but he certainly has the qualities of having a top-level career and I believe we can help him with that, but we will see how it goes."

Link

That's us now with only 1 loss in the past 10 with count 'em 6 (SIX) clean sheets...we're going to end up retaining most of this squad, aren't we?

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by capt_oats

[well fan for life]

As far as coaching attributes big Decanter is a much more exciting prospect than others. Once Alexander declared him as a centre forward and only a centre forward he's looked much more like it. I'd definitely feel happy if we had him nailed on as a starting striker going into next season.

As much as I thought the scorched earth policy would be patter I can see us keeping a fair amount of folk around. Kelly is the obvious one but that's more dependent on QPR than us I think. Foley looked good yesterday but I suppose it's dependent on fitness and wages as to whether he stays. I suppose it'll mainly be getting rid of the bad eggs in the squad and hopefully seeing more of what Alexander wants us to be like.

[capt_oats]

1 minute ago, well fan for life said:

As far as coaching attributes big Decanter is a much more exciting prospect than others. Once Alexander declared him as a centre forward and only a centre forward he's looked much more like it. I'd definitely feel happy if we had him nailed on as a starting striker going into next season.

As much as I thought the scorched earth policy would be patter I can see us keeping a fair amount of folk around. Kelly is the obvious one but that's more dependent on QPR than us I think. Foley looked good yesterday but I suppose it's dependent on fitness and wages as to whether he stays. I suppose it'll mainly be getting rid of the bad eggs in the squad and hopefully seeing more of what Alexander wants us to be like.

Aye, as far as Foley goes even Lee Lucas had one good game for us so judging him purely on one game (and training) seems a bit premature but I thought Foley fitted in really well yesterday and, if nothing else, at least showed why we signed him.

This season has been an example of how a couple of injuries and a relatively poor transfer window can completely derail things but the relative form over the past while raises the question of at what point we reappraise the summer signings - Lamie being the obvious example - he made a few mistakes yesterday but overall he's been, I wouldn't go as far as to say good, but he's been fine. Toby McGinley falls into the same bracket.

There's a broader question in terms of the club stating their aim for a clear pathway to the first team then signing up a 34 year old even if it was/is only on a year deal as we've done with Crawford and Mugabi.

There are players who it seems obvious are away and I guess they're the ones we need to focus on replacing but with every passing win the scorched earth policy seems less likely.

[ropy]

What about Hastie? He clearly tried yesterday, wasn’t very effective but he looked up for it.  Alexander hasn’t given up on him, maybe he is good to have around the squad, he with Maguire would be a link back to the academy, is it worth pursuing another loan?

[Ron Aldo]

What about Hastie? He clearly tried yesterday, wasn’t very effective but he looked up for it.  Alexander hasn’t given up on him, maybe he is good to have around the squad, he with Maguire would be a link back to the academy, is it worth pursuing another loan?

I thought he was pretty poor yesterday. I wouldn't be bothered about bringing him back.

[RandomGuy.]

From a purely nerdy w****r point of view, it's pleasing to see Foley played well and helped the "balance" of your midfield.

[Gianfranco]

I’m sure I’ve said this before but I’d take Hastie back on two conditions.

1) it was a permanent signing on a free transfer.

2) He is on squad player wages.

Both are very unlikely so no thank you.

[Well Well]

Its interesting that we have not actually offered Cole a deal yet (despite what the Scotsman is saying) but Mugabi, Crawford and O'Donnell have all been offered new contracts and signed on. Same with Gallagher although to be fair I think the club maybe think its a foregone conclusion he is leaving anyway.

I don't think Foley will be offered a contract on the basis of what the manager said previously about wanting players to be able to cope with 40-50 games a season.

Unlike others I am still firmly in the belief we will see around 25 plus leaving at the end of the season between the First team and youth players.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Well Well

[Busta Nut]

I don't think Hastie has had a good performance for us since feb19

[santheman]

26 minutes ago, Ron Aldo said:

54 minutes ago, ropy said:

What about Hastie? He clearly tried yesterday, wasn’t very effective but he looked up for it.  Alexander hasn’t given up on him, maybe he is good to have around the squad, he with Maguire would be a link back to the academy, is it worth pursuing another loan?

I thought he was pretty poor yesterday. I wouldn't be bothered about bringing him back.

There must be a better winger than him kicking about the bottom end of the Championship or League 1 down south that Alexander knows could do us a turn even if it's a loan deal.

[Swello]

I think Hastie is looking improved from the wreck that we got back from Rangers and I thought he was quite decent yesterday - but is it enough and has it come too late? I would imagine that Rangers would be happy to have him off the books next season one way or the other but the player might not be so keen on the huge wage drop. 

I think McGinley/Toby is an interesting one - I think he's looked solid in defence and decent going forward of late (and Alexander looks like he prefers him over Carroll) - and might be part of the improvement we've seen defensively. I'd be fine with him starting at LB in July.

[Gianfranco]

Did Carroll do that much wrong? I’ve honestly blanked most of this season from my memory but I don’t remember him standing out in a bad sense.

Toby has been fine. I’d like to see him at centre back to see if he’s any good.