Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[SuperSaints1877]

37 minutes ago, dezz said:

Is Lee Erwin still kicking about Paisley? If so, stick him up top with Main to create the most impotent strikeforce the works has ever seen.

Thankfully we managed to offload him. Playing in Finland now I believe. 

[thisGRAEME]

Would be miles from surprised to see Grimmy turn up at Accies, where they'll play him in about 8 different positions and he'll score to put us out the cup.

[dezz]

Thankfully we managed to offload him. Playing in Finland now I believe. 

I completely missed that. The lad fairly gets about.

['WellDel]

53 minutes ago, dezz said:

I completely missed that. The lad fairly gets about.

I bet he's got a fair bank balance for a boy that had one good 6 month spell. Done the square root of hee haw since he left us.

[CoF]

I canny believe Lee Erwin is 28. Thought he was still about 19. 

[Busta Nut]

2 hours ago, CoF said:

I canny believe Lee Erwin is 28. Thought he was still about 19. 

Aye I looked him up anaw and 28 shocked me.

[Kapowzer]

7 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

Carson

Grimshaw - CB - Dunne - Tait

RM - Donnelly - O'Hara - LM

Main - CF

Getting remarkably close to a full 11.

You omitted Lasley pulling the strings, doing the deals like a sexy Arfur Daley

2 hours ago, CoF said:

I canny believe Lee Erwin is 28. Thought he was still about 19. 

Casagolda is 35 .........

[capt_oats]

Shout out to @thisGRAEME and @dezz, that season review is a thoroughly enjoyable 31 minutes of Patreon #content.

Smashing.

Edited May 26, 2022 by capt_oats

[Swello]

2 hours ago, capt_oats said:

Shout out to @thisGRAEME and @dezz, that season review is a thoroughly enjoyable 31 minutes of Patreon #content.

Smashing.

Morning listening sorted.

[Mainstand Sweary Mob]

With being a St. Mirren fan and with you letting Donnelly and Grimshaw leave, I feel it's highly likely we could sign them. They have worked with Robo before, know his ways of working and style etc. Donnelly from what I have seen is ok, but not seen much of Grimshaw. What would you say are the positions they play and where they are utilised the best?

[Al B]

6 minutes ago, Mainstand Sweary Mob said:

With being a St. Mirren fan and with you letting Donnelly and Grimshaw leave, I feel it's highly likely we could sign them. They have worked with Robo before, know his ways of working and style etc. Donnelly from what I have seen is ok, but not seen much of Grimshaw. What would you say are the positions they play and where they are utilised the best?

Much the same as all of the ex-Motherwell players you have signed, they are best utilised by punting them to St Mirren.

[AdamMFC]

Any update on the possible Blair Spittal signing? It's a deal I'd like to see us get done as soon as possible.

[ropy]

53 minutes ago, Mainstand Sweary Mob said:

With being a St. Mirren fan and with you letting Donnelly and Grimshaw leave, I feel it's highly likely we could sign them. They have worked with Robo before, know his ways of working and style etc. Donnelly from what I have seen is ok, but not seen much of Grimshaw. What would you say are the positions they play and where they are utilised the best?

Donnelly has a beard that I never took to. Grimshaw excels at a diagonal run from right back to inside left with no deviation.

[Marinello]

1 hour ago, Mainstand Sweary Mob said:

With being a St. Mirren fan and with you letting Donnelly and Grimshaw leave, I feel it's highly likely we could sign them. They have worked with Robo before, know his ways of working and style etc. Donnelly from what I have seen is ok, but not seen much of Grimshaw. What would you say are the positions they play and where they are utilised the best?

Cptn Oates will I'm sure give you a fuller account but imho here goes;

Donnelly would be the best of the ex 'Well cast of thousands at Paisley as he is very versatile whether as a midfielder, central defender or best of all sitting in front of the defence. Also capable of scoring goals. Downside is that he is injury prone.

 

Grimshaw is less effective than he was. Can play RB or RWB but his overall form has diminished compared to when we first signed him on loan from Man Utd. Only runs in straight lines and has an utterly indecipherable Burnley accent!!

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, Mainstand Sweary Mob said:

With being a St. Mirren fan and with you letting Donnelly and Grimshaw leave, I feel it's highly likely we could sign them. They have worked with Robo before, know his ways of working and style etc. Donnelly from what I have seen is ok, but not seen much of Grimshaw. What would you say are the positions they play and where they are utilised the best?

@Marinello has given a better, more succinct version but anyway...

They're both extremely Robinson-type players in so much as they're not necessarily technically great footballers but they were useful in his squad and he was able to find a tune from them (playing in positions that totally weren't where we signed them to play). Them leaving at this point felt like a fairly natural outcome in terms of things having run their course.

Grimshaw's main plus point is that he'll give a team energy and will run for days (he also seem to be a really good lad around the dressing room). He originally signed as a midfielder but he was never technically good for the role at this level (IMO) but he offered a lot of energy. He had a stand out game in a midfield diamond at Pittodrie in the 17/18 where his instructions seemed essentially to be for him to just chase the ball and press.

He eventually found a spot at right back where he held his own and took Tait's place (with Tait moving over to the left). He absolutely peaked for us at right back in the 19/20 team. The following season he seemed to go off a cliff, other teams were identifying him as a weak link and targeting him.

He picked up an illness, IIRC it was glandular fever, and completely disappeared from the team. He didn't get an opportunity to play for Alexander until this season where he was initially tried at RB (we lost to Dundee in the Betfred) before getting a fairly solid run in midfield (he started 9 of our opening 11 league games) but dropped out for the next 3 before he got a start but was hooked at HT when we were bodied 3-0 by Dundee at Dens. He only made 3 sub appearances in the rest of the season.

Donnelly signed as a centre back but really struggled. He only made 7 league appearances in his first season. IIRC Robinson commented that he'd misjudged the step up in level and his strength and conditioning was no where near what it should have been, he continually picked up knocks and niggles.

That said, he found his niche as a midfielder when Alex Gorrin moved to Oxford and was part of a nicely balanced midfield 3 alongside Polworth and Campbell. There was a purple patch of goal scoring and he can strike a ball but he picked up a serious knee injury (there's a video on Motherwell's YouTube about his rehab) and missed almost the entire 20/21 season (save the opening game where he missed a penalty when we lost 1-0 to Ross County).

By the time he came back Robinson had been emptied Alexander's team was a bit less fluid and he picked up another injury which meant he missed the first half of last season as well. In Alexander's team he looked more like someone playing out of position he'd get caught on the ball, players would run off him. They're faults that were there when he was playing for Robinson but they were less of an issue because there was a bit more rotation.

Of the two I could imagine Donnelly being the one who may have more options given he's a NI international. I mentioned it before but I could see Donnelly finding a club at L1 level in England and being absolutely fine. Although, the same could be said for Grimshaw I guess.

1 hour ago, AdamMFC said:

Any update on the possible Blair Spittal signing? It's a deal I'd like to see us get done as soon as possible.

Scott Burns tagged this on to the end of his Express piece about Lamie's new deal the other day...

Edited May 26, 2022 by capt_oats

[CoF]

10 hours ago, Busta Nut said:

Aye I looked him up anaw and 28 shocked me.

Theres definitely something in players leaving at a young age aging far more rapidly than those that stay the club. I am convinced if Allan Campbell left at 19 he'd be about 29 by now. 

 

P.s. Can someone try shoehorn the "only 28" / "he's no Finnish" patter into this Lee Erwin chat before the opportunity passes? I just don't have the willpower. 

[thisGRAEME]

1 hour ago, CoF said:

P.s. Can someone try shoehorn the "only 28" / "he's no Finnish" patter into this Lee Erwin chat before the opportunity passes? I just don't have the willpower. 

No.

[Kapowzer]

With all this talk of former Motherwell players ending up in Paisley, it got me thinking about Las.

The chance of the gig there must have been floated about 3 months ago, 2 at the earliest based on when it first came to light in the press and on here. Obviously as part of the backroom team at Motherwell he would have been aware of targets we are chasing and negotiations. In his new role he has effectively got access to two scouting networks (albeit the new one seems to consist of "have you ever eaten at Upper Crust?").

Of course there will be some cross over as we exist in a place where we're chasing the same pool of players who would also consider a move to us and financially within our means. But Las certainly goes to his new job armed with a bit more info potentially to our detriment unless when he first discussed the move at FP he was either removed (or removed himself) from discussions of that nature or was included but an understanding not to pursue anyone who was floated. I don't know it would have been a tricky one to manage.

[well fan for life]

We're already collectively hoping to bin one finished Finnish. That should cover any of that patter.

[Gianfranco]

St Mirren have signed the old wall.