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Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons


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1 hour ago, capt_oats said:

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Interesting, this. Following Turnbull/Campbell/Scott/Hastie it felt like there was a bit of a drop off (as we've seen in the first team certainly), probably not helped by a global pandemic interrupting all football, but reassuring to hear there's at least a handful more who can potentially make the grade.

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9 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

Interesting, this. Following Turnbull/Campbell/Scott/Hastie it felt like there was a bit of a drop off (as we've seen in the first team certainly), probably not helped by a global pandemic interrupting all football, but reassuring to hear there's at least a handful more who can potentially make the grade.

Big shoes to fill, those 4 made us £5m up front and potentially for another few with sell ons.

Exciting for the club and on the pitch if they come to fruition as Flao alludes.

Austria is 10 days away, maybe another couple before the trip. Loanees and another when we get close to the window shutting in August and clearing happens.

However if the next announcement is a 3rd choice keeper, this thread will meltdown for two pages.

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40 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

Interesting, this. Following Turnbull/Campbell/Scott/Hastie it felt like there was a bit of a drop off (as we've seen in the first team certainly), probably not helped by a global pandemic interrupting all football, but reassuring to hear there's at least a handful more who can potentially make the grade.

Aye, where it's also interesting is in what space they're actually going to develop. I'm assuming the Reserves league is still mothballed?

That leaves them either playing in the u18s or being loaned out. Campbell, Turnbull and Scott weren't loaned out but all 3 played regular Dev league football. That level doesn't exist any more and I'd imagine it's far more of an ask for a player to go from playing bounce games and u18s into the first team?

Although they were part of the Mo Ross group Cornelius and Johnston are probably the first of the players to come through post-pandemic. One made his debut at 16 but was loaned out at 17, one has been gradually integrated into the first team without a loan.

Edited by capt_oats
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33 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

Interesting, this. Following Turnbull/Campbell/Scott/Hastie it felt like there was a bit of a drop off (as we've seen in the first team certainly), probably not helped by a global pandemic interrupting all football, but reassuring to hear there's at least a handful more who can potentially make the grade.

It is. Tbf the club flagged in advance there'd be a break after those four as the two top prospects, McAlear and McKinstry, were snaffled before the first team stage. Had they progressed as planned they'd likely be moving on around now and the gap to players before and after them would have been much closer.

I do find it a little surprising AB is even hinting at what's to come though - the most hyped prospects have been Miller and Rice, who afaik are only 15 so they're not even getting token run outs till late next season at the very earliest. We haven't been getting much (any?) recognition at the international age groups above their level recently, again afaik, so unless he's talking about Johnston - odd given we'e just signed McGinn? - or Devine it's coming out of the blue somewhat.

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Heard a wee rumour from my friends in the WOSL that we've made enquiries about entering a B team into the Lowland League to join the OF.

Don't know if there's anything in it but would certainly give us a platform for regular meaningful games for the fringe/youth players.

Whether having a LL full of B teams is good for Scottish football and the pyramid system in general is a whole other argument though.

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36 minutes ago, santheman said:

Heard a wee rumour from my friends in the WOSL that we've made enquiries about entering a B team into the Lowland League to join the OF.

Don't know if there's anything in it but would certainly give us a platform for regular meaningful games for the fringe/youth players.

Whether having a LL full of B teams is good for Scottish football and the pyramid system in general is a whole other argument though.

Burrows was asked about this at the last AGM I was at a few years ago and the response was <paraphrase> it's something we'd be interested in, in principle, from the POV of player development as we felt the young players got more out of the competitive games they played in the Irn Bru Cup than the Dev league/Reserves but the associated costs of effectively running two teams would make it unrealistic </paraphrase>.

I wonder if the whole having a new, more robust pitch/playing surface at FP thing plus the additional backroom staff we seem to have hired might make it more viable on that front?

Edited by capt_oats
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1 hour ago, capt_oats said:

Burrows was asked about this at the last AGM I was at a few years ago and the response was <paraphrase> it's something we'd be interested in, in principle, from the POV of player development as we felt the young players got more out of the competitive games they played in the Irn Bru Cup than the Dev league/Reserves but the associated costs of effectively running two teams would make it unrealistic </paraphrase>.

I wonder if the whole having a new, more robust pitch/playing surface at FP thing plus the additional backroom staff we seem to have hired might make it more viable on that front?

It would certainly help in a development sense, proper competitive games on a decent pitch can only make them better players. 

I would certainly go and watch them if I wasn't going to an away game or we were playing at different times.

As you say finances would probably dictate in the end as well as the LL being open to such a move (they're not going to agree without some kind of sweetener)

I know my pyramidster friends are already frothing at the mouth at the mere suggestion and banging on about "integrity"

 

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1 minute ago, santheman said:

As you say finances would probably dictate in the end as well as the LL being open to such a move (they're not going to agree without some kind of sweetener)

About £20 should do it I reckon.

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It would certainly help in a development sense, proper competitive games on a decent pitch can only make them better players. 
I would certainly go and watch them if I wasn't going to an away game or we were playing at different times.
As you say finances would probably dictate in the end as well as the LL being open to such a move (they're not going to agree without some kind of sweetener)
I know my pyramidster friends are already frothing at the mouth at the mere suggestion and banging on about "integrity"
 

How would you feel if Man Utd or Chelsea put a B team in the Premiership?
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It’d probably be quite beneficial to us from a player development perspective, but I’d be quite opposed to a B team in the LL on a matter of principle. I’d be much happier to see us commit half a dozen loans to league 1/2 each season where players could still train with us throughout the week but still get competitive, meaningful football. 

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Not sure if this point has been made by someone else previously, but I thought it interesting that both signings made so far this season have been established senior SPFL players whereas last year we signed players from more or less everywhere but there (Scandinavia, EPL academies, lower league punts, etc). I wonder if that is just by coincidence or design. 

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14 minutes ago, stu92 said:

Not sure if this point has been made by someone else previously, but I thought it interesting that both signings made so far this season have been established senior SPFL players whereas last year we signed players from more or less everywhere but there (Scandinavia, EPL academies, lower league punts, etc). I wonder if that is just by coincidence or design. 

Aye, it's something that occurred to me when @Ron Aldo mentioned "Let me know when we've signed a 24 year old "anywhere across the front 3" striker from Kettering Town who has scored 5 goals in his entire career."

Between Spittal and McGinn they have 759 first team appearances between them. I've not checked but it feels like that's more than some of Robinson's entire trolly dash summers cumulatively.

I know it's become a bit talking about how predictable Robinson's 'anywhere across the front 3' and "he's a big, strong physical boy" signings are but in all seriousness Alexander's into his 3rd window proper (I don't think anyone really counts that January when he got the job) and honestly I have no fucking idea what a 'typical' Alexander signing is.

We've signed highly rated waifs from LOI, a dreamboat from Norway, an EPL academy prodigy who played in the Toulon tournament, a Finnish international and a bearded Dutch shithouse from various leagues across the continent and with ages ranging from 18 - 32.

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15 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

We've signed highly rated waifs from LOI, a dreamboat from Norway, an EPL academy prodigy who played in the Toulon tournament, a Finnish international and a bearded Dutch shithouse from various leagues across the continent and with ages ranging from 18 - 32.

When you see it all laid out like that it's more like some insane Jeux sans frontières comeback.

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1 hour ago, craigkillie said:


How would you feel if Man Utd or Chelsea put a B team in the Premiership?

It would be a change from watching 4 games against Livi and St Mirren etc that's for sure.

Not sure if their grounds would be up to SPL standard though.

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