Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Handsome_Devil]

I can't bring myself to watch this but 10/10 trolling from the club. I'm convinced they do it on purpose to wind us up though quite why I've no idea.

[capt_oats]

Add me to the 'Calum Lang will be class' list as well.

In fairness, it was a really weird season but while he was fine he also felt like another of the long line of forwards/strikers Robinson signed that he wasn't really sure what to do with.

The fact that he seemed to be scoring every other week at Wigan when they recalled him kind of supported that (he scored 9 in 23 for them in the 2nd half of that season vs 5 in 21 for us).

1 hour ago, bunglebonce said:

I don’t subscribe to the Athletic but I did see a graphic outlining various modern positions at the elite level, last week.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Of those, I’d say Reid falls under ‘safety’. He played at wing-back sometimes but is more of a natural full-back. He was encouraged to get forward plenty when he played in the first team but it didn’t seem like the strongest part of his game. He occasionally put in a belter of a cross but there were plenty duds. I think he did have a good left foot on him technique-wise but it was composure from lack of experience that was letting him down.

He only played in County’s first team when matches were behind closed doors, so I never watched him at the ground. What struck me was his his plucky character, tenacity and lack of fear. He seemed like he was around 5’11” or 6’ tall and his pace was good enough but not blistering. He tucked in beside the centre-backs well enough. However he was drawn into two naive first-half yellow cards by St Mirren at home on his last start before he was sold to Coventry, which was down to exuberance and lack of experience.

He played way more in the first half of 2020/21 than was expected. Stuart Kettlewell signed Carl Tremarco to mentor Reid and start most matches, but Tremarco’s legs were already done (which was obvious before Kettlewell signed him), plus Reid took his chance when it arrived.

I expect his game will have developed since then, but as far as I can tell he’s not yet played any football in front of a big crowd. Winning in the League Cup at an empty Celtic Park is probably the closest to that. 

Reid looked very good in his debut vs Motherwell, but Hastie had no interest in staying wide so Reid had an easy afternoon to get up and down the flank unchallenged.

Cheers for that. It's helpful as we're kind of in a slightly odd position since beyond the limited interviews and the 3 games we've seen I don't think any of us really have any sort of handle on Hammell and what he wants from a player or his team.

Regardless of whether or not we sign Reid it's interesting to see if there's a thread in terms of the qualities we're looking at.

I mentioned it yesterday but it feels like SOD, McGinn and, until his knee fell apart, Carroll are closer to the type of full backs he's after compared to someone like McGinley.

15 minutes ago, Ron Aldo said:

Louis Moult has played 50 games since leaving us 4 and a half years ago. His knees are also held together with masking tape.

He was a great player for us but I have no idea why the usual morons in our support ask for him to return every transfer window.

Even setting aside his serious injuries - Moult was at his best playing as part of a pair, whether it was McDonald or Bowman. He was largely ineffective playing on his own as a focal point - whether it's needs must or because he has no other options that's pretty much how Hammell has set us up so far.

IMO we're looking for someone who is able to replicate what KVV does or to take it to an ideal - we're looking for another Higdon rather than a Moult.

[CoF]

35 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said:

I can't bring myself to watch this but 10/10 trolling from the club. I'm convinced they do it on purpose to wind us up though quite why I've no idea.

Anything the club posts that shows GA talking should come with a trigger warning. 

[thisGRAEME]

6 hours ago, Kapowzer said:

Tam Cowan is advocating Louis returning on his Instagram ..... what's the basis or this or is it just wishful thinking?

The basis is that he's a dumpling. 

Was advocating Leigh Griffiths and Scott Allan the other week as well.

['WellDel]

24 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

The basis is that he's a dumpling. 

Was advocating Leigh Griffiths and Scott Allan the other week as well.

Exactly.

Cowan is a lazy journalist who just picks easy, nonsense subjects to fill column inches and airtime. How he still gets away with stealing a wage for it, I don't know.

Joining the ranks of grown men who do things like suggest him as a serious option, or fawn over Moult and ask him to come back every time he shares or replies to the clubs media stuff is just an extension of that, looking for easy interactions and clicks.

Moult seems like a genuinely top drawer guy, but as a footballer, sady, he is very much fucked. Cowan knows that as well as the rest of us. Without any serious or credible input on the game, he needs to grasp for subject matter somewhere, and hence hits out with this type of moronic, easy-click pish.

[steelman1991]

I think Scott Allan would be a great addition. Leigh Griffith and Louis less so.

[Handsome_Devil]

13 minutes ago, 'WellDel said:

Exactly.

Cowan is a lazy journalist who just picks easy, nonsense subjects to fill column inches and airtime. How he still gets away with stealing a wage for it, I don't know.

Joining the ranks of grown men who do things like suggest him as a serious option, or fawn over Moult and ask him to come back every time he shares or replies to the clubs media stuff is just an extension of that, looking for easy interactions and clicks.

Moult seems like a genuinely top drawer guy, but as a footballer, sady, he is very much fucked. Cowan knows that as well as the rest of us. Without any serious or credible input on the game, he needs to grasp for subject matter somewhere, and hence hits out with this type of moronic, easy-click pish.

He's not a journalist though, criticising him as if he was is pointless. He's a comedian who is both very good at what he does and excellent at hitting his target market - hence why he can say bring back Moult, let's move the Europa League final from Seville or whatever nonsense. You're not supposed to take his views seriously, they're just a basis for setting up punchlines. 

[capt_oats]

Small victories and all that but in the wake of Alexanderball the whoscored.com match summary is a laugh.

[Swello]

1 hour ago, Ron Aldo said:

Louis Moult has played 50 games since leaving us 4 and a half years ago. His knees are also held together with masking tape.

He was a great player for us but I have no idea why the usual morons in our support ask for him to return every transfer window.

Aye - folk need to let it go. He was an excellent striker who seemed to have a lot of presumably straight men acting like teenage K-Pop fans on social media - I've never seen anything like it. 

KVV is prone to picking up knocks and will spend 4 or 5 games suspended every season - any other striker that we bring in needs to be of the reliable variety and these days, that is not Moulty

[Desp]

Tam Cowan is what he is.  He's a man in his early 50's, but his tastes and interests are that of someone 25 years older than that.  He's not there to appeal to guys in their 20s, 30s or 40s. 

He's obviously successful at what he does, hence his 17 holidays a year and going out for dinner 300 nights a year.  Fair play to him.  It's not my cup of tea but there seems to be plenty of folk who like his stuff.  Again, fair play to them.

He's a good Motherwell fan and he's well known to work his arse off, for free, on many occasions for many different charities up and down the land.  Despite his awful patter, I'll give him good guy status.

[Dosser1886]

3 minutes ago, Desp said:

He's a good Motherwell fan and he's well known to work his arse off, for free, on many occasions for many different charities up and down the land.  Despite his awful patter, I'll give him good guy status.

This.

[thisGRAEME]

20 minutes ago, steelman1991 said:

I think Scott Allan would be a great addition. Leigh Griffith and Louis less so.

Listen, don't get me wrong, when Scott Allan is doing what he's best at, he's as good as just about anyone in the division. His ability with the ball is without doubt.

He can't and he won't though, IMO. He played the equivalent of about 5 games last season and even less the season before. 

I do hope he finds a club, but I think his time as a top flight player is over. Head to Dundee and be an absolute baller at a slower pace.

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

Generally agree with @Desp's take on Tam Cowan.

The best way I've heard him described is that there's a difference between "Football" and "The Fitba" and that Tam Cowan is in to the latter.

Someone who is only in to "The Fitba" (i.e the experience of football) is far more likely to suggest signings like Allan, Griffiths and Moult, names very well known to the club and Scottish Football, rather than a bit more depth of thought on who might actually improve the team.

Him being more in to "The Fitba" than "Football" is fully backed up by the fact he posted a video of his all time Motherwell XI on his instagram yesterday, which had three left backs in it.

['WellDel]

6 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

Generally agree with @Desp's take on Tam Cowan.

The best way I've heard him described is that there's a difference between "Football" and "The Fitba" and that Tam Cowan is in to the latter.

Someone who is only in to "The Fitba" (i.e the experience of football) is far more likely to suggest signings like Allan, Griffiths and Moult, names very well known to the club and Scottish Football, rather than a bit more depth of thought on who might actually improve the team.

Him being more in to "The Fitba" than "Football" is fully backed up by the fact he posted a video of his all time Motherwell XI on his instagram yesterday, which had three left backs in it.

Are any of them available for the weekend?

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I found myself listening to Off The Ball at the weekend for the first time in an at least 2 or 3 years and was surprised to be quite enjoying it, until I realised that Cowan wasn't on.

[Swami]

Off The Ball is more insightful than Sportsound these days. 

[Luke92]

Encouraging to see Hammell looks to be addressing some areas which were quite obvious to most watching. It does beg the question what planet Alexander was living on for the last couple of months though(?) As I said earlier in the window, I'm in favour of us using the loan market if that lets us get increased quality into the first team.

- McKinstry on loan was always going to be a good get, clear talent and youthful energy injected into the team

- A Left back in, perhaps this Reid boy from Coventry. Has a decent write up from what i can tell

Hoping these guys are in before the weekend.

What else remains on the shopping list?

I'd be looking for a first team striker for sure. A centre back, for quite obvious reasons. I also would like to see another midfielder and winger. Sounds like quite a lot, but this is what I think we need. I think much of this would depend on shifting guys out the door. Whether that is realistic in such a short period of time is questionable.

Re Tam Cowan i used to be quite into OTB but stopped listening during lockdown. The combination of the same patter and Jason Leitch guest starring on a weekly basis put me off. Became pretty depressing to listen to. I agree Cowan seems like a good guy but his patter appeals more to old men i think. He also has the musical taste of an 85 year old woman.

[dezz]

11 minutes ago, Luke92 said:

I'd be looking for a first team striker for sure.

Are Hibs still trying to punt Christian Doidge? He was a player I really liked a couple of seasons ago and I’m sure there were some rumours about us being in for him last year, but I get the impression his most recent injury has completely knackered him. Might fall into the ‘worth a punt’ category if his legs still work, but dropping from (presumably) a Hibs first team wage to a Motherwell bench/squad player wage is likely to be an issue.

Edited August 17, 2022 by dezz

[welldaft]

21 minutes ago, Swami said:

Off The Ball is more insightful than Sportsound these days. 

Unless you are a Celtic fan.

I listened to one of their podcasts the other day (I try not too). Think it was the same day or day after Hammell was confirmed as permanent Manager. Quite sure it did not even get a mention. 

Hardly surprising when they normally devote 20 minutes to the shade of green on the new Celtic top. 

[capt_oats]

48 minutes ago, Luke92 said:

What else remains on the shopping list?

I'd be looking for a first team striker for sure. A centre back, for quite obvious reasons. I also would like to see another midfielder and winger. Sounds like quite a lot, but this is what I think we need. I think much of this would depend on shifting guys out the door. Whether that is realistic in such a short period of time is questionable.

As it stands the first team squad is 25 bodies, which sounds a lot.

However it includes Fox who's doubling as GK coach for the interim at least, Carroll who's out for the season along with Connelly, Johnston, Devine and Mahon (a couple of whom you wouldn't be surprised to see loaned out) plus you've got the obvious question mark over McGinley.

That's before you get to the question of whether or not there are any in the group who might be open to moving on. Given our sales pitch to a lot of our signings is that we're offering a platform to develop their career there may be a couple who might see the change of manager and the direction he's looking in going as an opportunity to explore other options.

All of that is just a long winded way of saying that despite the 25 bodies we probably have a bit of flexibility and I agree with Hammell when he says that the squad is 'thin'. Not least in the fact that we have only have one out and out centre forward but 10 listed defenders (albeit one is ruled out for the season).

McKinstry would be a step in the right direction if he signs but he's 19 and it's a big ask to expect him to have a Turnbull style impact on our season. That's a lot to put on his shoulders.

Hammell's already said that we need to add to our attacking options and he's on record about a left back.

As far as that goes my essential shopping list would be a left back, a wide option (McKinstry) and a centre forward/wide option (not necessarily him exactly but someone who'd offer the same options as Jimmy Scott ie: has potential to develop as a #9 but is effective wide). I've said it before but it feels like we know KVV is our first pick #9 and for all he's susceptible to picking up knocks/suspensions/dips in form a back up striker at Motherwell is a tough sell if we're only playing 1 up front.

After that it's just dependent on what happens with the squad - a centre half would be nice but we already have 4 (5 if you include Devine) so that would be contingent on someone moving on, if we're sticking with this style/shape then an alternative to Goss in the quarterback role would be good as Big Sean hasn't been blessed with consistency.

Edited August 17, 2022 by capt_oats