Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Phillips455]

To be clear, since the Rangers game is the only other game this month, if we do somehow win it, Kettlewell would win MOTM 2 months in a row.

 

So what I'm saying is were most likely to get thumped 

[rowsdower]

KVV needs 10 more goals this season to beat Moults overall total in about the same amount of games, and also higdons season total. I can see the lazy ginger doing it as well. 

The manager of the month conspiracy just shows what Celtic are up against, those plucky underdogs just never get a break. It's heartbreaking that there's some full strip wearing da out there trying to find a way to tell his weans that the silverware has dried up.

[capt_oats]

With the whole Max Johston: International Superstar situation it's mildly amusing that we're now potentially going from having 3 contracted right backs by mistake to 0.

I don't know if this whole 3412 set up is Kettlewell's preferred shape but this is how the players we currently have contracted for next season fit (there's no obvious role for Morris in this system and McGinley isn't really a wing back):

You'd think there are obvious questions over McGinley and Morris given both have been disappeared this season plus Maguire and Shields seeing as both are out on loan.

The OOC players are: O'Donnell, Carroll, McGinn, Johnston, Casey, Cornelius, Goss, Efford, Aitchison, Mandron.

Loans expiring: Furlong, Crankshaw, McKinstry, Obika

[thisGRAEME]

Fwiw I've had multiple Dundee fans claim we're signing McMullan, which makes no sense if we're continuing with a back three.

 

[Casagolda]

The formation has worked well so far but it probably won’t be long until other teams have it sussed out. 

You play each other so often and there’s generally very little between most teams at this level. Being flexible and able to adapt is half the battle. Hammell’s inability or unwillingness to change his methods after other managers had long since worked him out is ultimately what got him the sack. 

I wouldn’t tweak anything just now. The back 3 looks fairly solid. Obika has been a good foil for Van Veen. Spittal is like a new player playing off the pair of them. We’ve got plenty of pace and energy down the flanks. The midfield looks better balanced- with Cornelius I should add. Hopefully Saturday is the last we see of Goss/Spittal/Slattery as a trio. 

However if/when we’re safe it’ll be interesting to see if Kettlewell does tinker with the shape with one eye on next season. He has enough options to try just about any formation he likes and he also has a lot of decisions to make in terms of incoming/outgoings for next season. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Casagolda

[Swello]

6 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

The formation has worked well so far but it probably won’t be long until other teams have it sussed out. 

You play each other so often and there’s generally very little between most teams at this level. Being flexible and able to adapt is half the battle. Hammell’s inability or unwillingness to change his methods after other managers had long since worked him out is ultimately what got him the sack. 

I wonder if going into the season with an actual plan to deliberately change things (as opposed to doing it reactively) to avoid the familiarity thing would be a clever thing to do. First half of the season McCall/McGhee(1) all out attacking, we'll score more than you, fitba - after the winter break, Robinson Thunderdome festival of red cards, suspensions and crying Rangers players on twitter 

[capt_oats]

2 hours ago, thisGRAEME said:

Fwiw I've had multiple Dundee fans claim we're signing McMullan, which makes no sense if we're continuing with a back three.

Aye, @Ludo*1 tagged me in a post on their thread about that the other week (March 1st).

I mean, setting aside the fact that Dundee fans had us definitely having signed Danny Mullen on a PCA and Jordan McGhee was Fir Park bound last year, I'm sceptical but also have questions.

Basically, who'd have been driving that deal?

We sacked Hammell on 11th February when we were joint bottom of the league on points and appointed Kettlewell permanently on 22nd February so it seems unlikely that Kettlewell would have been making signing off on PCAs a priority and presumably any PCA negotiations would have been happening for a while before that.

Is it likely that we've had Hammell sorting out and committing to a deal with McMullen (he liked wingers) then we've reluctantly had to empty him because of the whole losing games of football thing?

It seems daft but probably doesn't seem that far fetched given we brought Connor Shields in on a PCA a few months after Alexander got the job in not dissimilar circumstances.

Edited March 8, 2023 by capt_oats

[Ludo*1]

For what it's worth, McMullan has an interview in The Courier saying he's not heard anything about getting a new deal from us or any other club's potential interest.

Who knows at this point.

[eliphas]

3 hours ago, capt_oats said:

Aye, @Ludo*1 tagged me in a post on their thread about that the other week (March 1st).

I mean, setting aside the fact that Dundee fans had us definitely having signed Danny Mullen on a PCA and Jordan McGhee was Fir Park bound last year, I'm sceptical but also have questions.

Basically, who'd have been driving that deal?

We sacked Hammell on 11th February when we were joint bottom of the league on points and appointed Kettlewell permanently on 22nd February so it seems unlikely that Kettlewell would have been making signing off on PCAs a priority and presumably any PCA negotiations would have been happening for a while before that.

Is it likely that we've had Hammell sorting out and committing to a deal with McMullen (he liked wingers) then we've reluctantly had to empty him because of the whole losing games of football thing?

It seems daft but probably doesn't seem that far fetched given we brought Connor Shields in on a PCA a few months after Alexander got the job in not dissimilar circumstances.

I think you are probably more or less right with that one. 

Also would make sense to me that the club keep any future deals ticking over while the new manager settles in to give him some options to immediately bat away or look at in a bit more detail.

A PCA can be canceled at anytime - not really worth the paper it's written on.

[Antiochas III]

 

[rowsdower]

6 minutes ago, Antiochas III said:

 

Kyogo should have got it.

[capt_oats]

17 hours ago, eliphas said:

I think you are probably more or less right with that one. 

Also would make sense to me that the club keep any future deals ticking over while the new manager settles in to give him some options to immediately bat away or look at in a bit more detail.

A PCA can be canceled at anytime - not really worth the paper it's written on.

Agree that a PCA can be cancelled at any time but it needs to be a mutual agreement, one side can't just unilaterally say "Actually, nah" - the Richie Brittain controversy is an example of precisely that as it, roughly, resulted in Ross County having to pay St Johnstone to retain their own player.

In the case of Lamie to Dundee there were clearly safeguards in place in terms of relegation clauses that gave both parties an out. Which made sense given the money Dundee were supposedly ready to chuck at the Bathgate Maldini.

In this hypothetical, presumably if there's an agreement in place with McMullan and he still wanted to sign with our great wee club and join our squad of elite level #ballers we couldn't just say "No".

Well, we could but not without it getting messy.

I suppose it's why it's often said that PCAs aren't worth the paper they're written on but it's fairly uncommon for those that are confirmed or announced to actually be cancelled.

Which is why I'd have raised an eyebrow at us cracking on and making a commitment given the circumstances. That said, it'd be entirely in keeping with our ongoing series of bad choices over the past while so I guess you can't rule it out.

I can fully see why we'd keep conversations ongoing with a range of potential options but it's the idea of actually making an agreement at a point where we risk saddling a new manager with a player he doesn't need/want that seems questionable.

As I say, I'm kind of sceptical given the number of rumours about this sort of stuff that come from Dundee that invariably fall on their arse (Mullen and McGhee to us were two recent examples). The posters on their other forum (TDBF) fall over themselves to take a rumour as fact - the noise from a WUM over there got Gavin Strachan as their new manager into the papers.

Also, as @Ludo*1 posted yesterday McMullan has been in the local press saying he's not agreed anything one way or another - so you can really only take him at face value on that score.

Edited March 9, 2023 by capt_oats

[Swello]

You can tell things have calmed down from the relegation frenzy at the start of the year when some 2010's style wholesome twitter #content can now safely appear without someone replying "You're no that accurate on the fuckin park!! #burrowsout"

 

[Handsome_Devil]

39 minutes ago, Swello said:

You can tell things have calmed down from the relegation frenzy at the start of the year when some 2010's style wholesome twitter #content can now safely appear without someone replying "You're no that accurate on the fuckin park!! #burrowsout"

 

The return of the #content makes me long for the days we were shite and relegation certainties tbh.

[thisGRAEME]

I'm just quite happy that we're back to making stuff that's a good laugh, tbh.

[capt_oats]

[Gianfranco]

Did anyone else get a weird email from the club talking about watching highlights in 5g and EE are now Motherwell’s official partner of something?

We don’t even do blooming highlights anymore ffs.

[capt_oats]

1 minute ago, Gianfranco said:

Did anyone else get a weird email from the club talking about watching highlights in 5g and EE are now Motherwell’s official partner of something?

We don’t even do blooming highlights anymore ffs.

Aye, I got that this morning.

It was a mailshot for our "official mobile parter" TCL who have our shorts sponsorship.

[Swello]

1 hour ago, thisGRAEME said:

I'm just quite happy that we're back to making stuff that's a good laugh, tbh.

Yep - daft wee videos reached their height in the McCall era where most of the first team squad were filmed admitting they fancied Darren Randolph - hard to top that really (although the Bigi/Goat video came close).

The Grant n' Laura era will be remembered for ever more professional/corporate/brand but also more boring stuff. Give me players chipping a golf ball into a bucket over a 60 minute documentary about DT getting his dream move to Celtic any day.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

Liam Kelly seems a bit annoying