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Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons


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Last season, the two outfield players with most minutes were SOD and Mugabi, both of whom played most of their games at right-back. Add to that, our seemingly best youth product is a right-back. I actually think Paul McGinn is a good player and have no qualms about his ability to do us a turn, but what I do have issue with is Alexander signing a right-back when it was arguably our strongest area, when there are so many holes in the squad.

I’m also fairly certain that whoever the new manager is will have to get the best out of largely what we’ve got at least until January. I can think of probably five areas I’d like to improve, but I reckon we’ll be lucky to get one or two through the door and at that, I think with three weeks of the window left, anybody we sign will be a punt - might be better than what we’ve got, might not be. I don’t think the quality of our squad just now and the quality of the squad on September 1st will be drastically different.

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The replies though. Actual adults replying to a club account is some laugh. :lol:

Remember being about 10 and discovering Facebook, messaged the Motherwell Facebook page saying well done on the result after we beat Kilmarnock (or someone like that) and they replied “thanks”

I spent the rest of the night delighted thinking the players themselves were behind the account and replying to me on the bus home.

That was only 10/11 years ago but I feel like I’ve aged at least 40 years since watching our media content.
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4 hours ago, stu92 said:

Given that SODs and Hammy have (not so subtly) had a go at Alexander, and that we’ve all heard the rumours of him falling out with players over the course of his stay, it makes Kelly’s comments in the immediate aftermath all the more weird. I wonder if there  is some sort of anti-GA/pro-GA rift within the dressing room, which would add weight to O’Donnell’s comments about needing new players.

Pure speculation on my part. 

I don't know if there was a pro/anti alexander rift but there was a notable number of players he froze out. Slattery, O'Donnell and Woolery were on his shit list for sure. Possibly Carroll too.

Alexander too busy dealing with his petty grievances and took his eye off the ball. Seemingly didn't give a f**k about Woolery leaving. Went ofter McGinn to force O'Donnell out. Possibly re-signed McGinley to force Carroll out.

I don't know if Goss made his shit list after being something of a stalwart for Alexander last season but it was kind of shocking to me that he wasn't in the team for the Sligo home game.

I think Alexander had a jim Gannon-esque meltdown. Went out of his way to target certain guys, long term health of the squad and club be damned.

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52 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

Last season, the two outfield players with most minutes were SOD and Mugabi, both of whom played most of their games at right-back. Add to that, our seemingly best youth product is a right-back. I actually think Paul McGinn is a good player and have no qualms about his ability to do us a turn, but what I do have issue with is Alexander signing a right-back when it was arguably our strongest area, when there are so many holes in the squad.

I don't disagree but surely with hindsight, reading between the lines, it'd have been a possibility that SOD might have been expected to move on if there's been a fall out regardless of the minutes he played last season. So we've went out and brought in McGinn who by all accounts seems to be a right back who'd do what Alexander wanted.

He's not necessarily speaking about SOD here but it ties in with the quote attributed to Alexander when Woolery left: ""We have lost a couple of players but, not being disrespectful, we were comfortable with certain players moving on, because we felt we needed to trim the squad and redefine it a little bit."

Obviously Sligo happened, Alexander got his jotters and SODs is back in the fold now - which is good.

Taking a step back the scenario @Jim McLean's Ghost outlines above sounds entirely plausible IMO.

Edited by capt_oats
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I'd personally prefer SOD at right back but bringing in McGinn could work out to be good business too (regardless of why Alexander wanted to sign him). Been mentioned in the thread already that McGinn and SOD could play together if we switch to 3 CBs and wingbacks and that would probably suit their respective strengths better than either playing as a defensive minded full back. I think McGinn is best utilised as a mobile CB on the right of a back 3 anyway. And I'm not against SOD switching to the left if we don't sign a LB too - if the new manager perseveres with a back 4, he'd be a better option than Carrol or McGinley even if they weren't injured.

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I’d love to see us try 3 centre backs with Lamie, ? & McGinn, with O’Donnell at right wing back.

just need a left back / left wing back. Sure I read somewhere that Johnston can play that role.

Edited by Alanos
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I can't believe we are arguing over SOD and Paul McGinn. That's the real kicker here. 

There's not much between them tbh in my opinion. But I'd go with McGinn purely as he has a wee bit more pace. 

All the reasons aside, I'm not sure I remember us all clambering for SOD to be in the team before he got 'frozen out'!

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41 minutes ago, eliphas said:

I can't believe we are arguing over SOD and Paul McGinn. That's the real kicker here. 

There's not much between them tbh in my opinion. But I'd go with McGinn purely as he has a wee bit more pace. 

All the reasons aside, I'm not sure I remember us all clambering for SOD to be in the team before he got 'frozen out'!

I think the point is that, for me, there's an argument that SODs poor form, that he was taking a kicking from a section of the support for, can at least in part be directly attributed to what he was being instructed to do by the manager. It's becoming increasingly clear that if you didn't follow those instructions to the letter you were bombed out the team.

@well fan for life mentioned it yesterday but the way Alexander wanted his full backs to play was the complete opposite of the things SOD is actually good at. It made sense that oftentimes GA seemed to settle on a centre back (Mugabi) and a more defensive minded player (McGinley) to play the positions and get better results from that because that's pretty much what he wanted his full backs to do.

It's possible that I'm reading too much into this and he was just being nice but even Hammell commenting about Carroll's injury that he was "a big part of what we wanted to do" begins to feel like an acknowledgement that we're wanting to pivot to having attacking full backs or at least play to their strengths.

Edited by capt_oats
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1 hour ago, eliphas said:

All the reasons aside, I'm not sure I remember us all clambering for SOD to be in the team before he got 'frozen out'!

There wasn't but he was excellent against both County and Hearts at the end of last season.

Alexander admitted he made a mistake in using SOD through the LC group in 2021 straight after he came out the Euros and he also had corona at some point. So while there was no doubt he'd had a largely miserable season, and was deservedly dropped at points, there were obvious reasons and a logical expectation that with his form picking up in May we would handle him better over summer and he'd have a stronger 2022/23.

Managers fall out with players all the time - but you'd expect that to be the more temperamental sort or maybe a Billy Big Baws from England. 

Managers decide players aren't good enough all the time and encourage them to move - but heavily backing McGinley, Mugabi and god knows who else while picking on a near life-long top-flight player with two dozen Scotland caps who you'd previously named captain is rather contradictory.

 So the red flag issue isn't the fact he didn't pick SOD, it's the fact all the available evidence suggests it wasn't just professional judgement on the starting XI but a massive falling out. Now I've never met SOD, maybe he's an absolute arsehole who had it coming, but everything we know publicly suggests that's unlikely to be the case.

And while SOD is likely just one small part on the collapse of the last era, he does rather symbolize that GA had lost the plot somewhat and made his position untenable. 

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Anyone going along to the colt's game, just five minutes down the road for me so will wonder over. Anyone to keep an eye on, presumably Lennon miller, Kian spiers as well?

Reckon EK will have too much for them, some good players in that team. Neil Mcglauchlin who was on our books a few years ago, is a cracking player at that level.

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6 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said:

Now I've never met SOD, maybe he's an absolute arsehole who had it coming, but everything we know publicly suggests that's unlikely to be the case.

If only there was someone available who perhaps had met him. Maybe even rustled up some empire biscuits with him. 

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20 minutes ago, Neil86 said:

Anyone going along to the colt's game, just five minutes down the road for me so will wonder over. Anyone to keep an eye on, presumably Lennon miller, Kian spiers as well?

Reckon EK will have too much for them, some good players in that team. Neil Mcglauchlin who was on our books a few years ago, is a cracking player at that level.

Seems we've got an Arran Bone playing at the back for us, who I'm going to assume is a relative of mine. If you could let me know if I'm likely to be able to freeload my way to fame and fortune by association in a few years, that would be grand 👍🏻

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I've decided on balance that Paul Lambert would be my last choice of the names mentioned so far.

Every Motherwell-related piece on every newspaper website would contain the words "Celtic Legend" as the SEO-goodness would be too good an opportunity to pass up. It's also easy to imagine every press conference - "So Paul, Ross County at the weekend; what was it like to shower with Henrik Larsson?"

I barely survived the McCall era due to excessive boke - I couldn't take it all over again.

 

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2 hours ago, eliphas said:

I can't believe we are arguing over SOD and Paul McGinn. That's the real kicker here. 

There's not much between them tbh in my opinion. But I'd go with McGinn purely as he has a wee bit more pace. 

All the reasons aside, I'm not sure I remember us all clambering for SOD to be in the team before he got 'frozen out'!

On the evidence so far I would lean towards McGinn. He may be the best of a bad bunch but I think his performances have been decent and contrast the two RB we have in our squad (both with International caps) with the shit show that is our LB position 🙈.

Surprised to have not heard any more rumours re the Managers position.  Speculation about Simo, Lambert etc but not a lot else. Keeping it quiet obviously.  

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