Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Guest superward]

On the face of it there are some similarities in the potential Foley move to Tait going in the other direction.

Well respected, experienced, player of the year type performances, wears the captain's armband, losing some pace, suddenly not playing week in week out after a good season....if it works out as well as Tait has done for St Mirren then it will be a good signing. 

I can see the logic to getting an experienced/leader type head into midfield and also some cover and centre back. Especially if we intend to send Crawford back and/or lose Campbell.

Edited January 28, 2021 by superward

[djchapsticks]

15 minutes ago, superward said:

On the face of it there are some similarities in the potential Foley move to Tait going in the other direction.

Well respected, experienced, player of the year type performances, wears the captain's armband, losing some pace, suddenly not playing week in week out after a good season....if it works out as well as Tait has done for St Mirren then it will be a good signing. 

I can see the logic to getting an experienced/leader type head into midfield and also some cover and centre back. Especially if we intend to send Crawford back and/or lose Campbell.

Difference is that at 34, Foley's legs seemed to struggle to adapt to the enforced 5 month pre season break. 

He came back this season and it was immediately obvious to everyone he was struggling. His legs had completely gone by looks of it and it was a steep and massive drop off. 

[crazylegsjoe_mfc]

10 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

Has Mugabi been better than Gallagher this season?

I'd probably say as a relegated-league two centre-half who we signed in an emergency, because he didn't have a club, Mugabi has probably slightly over-performed, despite the fact I do remain unconvinced by him at times. Gallagher, the captain, a Scottish international, who has aspirations of playing at a higher level next season, has massively underperformed. However, I still think it would be a stretch to say Mugabi has been better than Gallagher.

First half was pretty poor last night, but there were positives from the second half, Cole scoring his 3rd in 4 games since Alexander took over. Watt also ran himself into the ground. The slight tweak of putting him out left and putting Cole through the middle seems to have helped both. Long didn't seem to contribute much, aside from his part in the goal, which was disappointing. Be good to see Lawless come in on the right in time. I thought Carroll was good again too.

If it looks like Foley is signing, I hope it's not at the expense of Barry Maguire, who I thought was decent last night. However, we didn't have a centre mid on the bench last night among nine subs, so I recognise we maybe do need a bit of cover. I do hope for a 34 year old it's a 6 month deal and not an 18 month one though. 

[Gianfranco]

I thought Long looked much more interested and was trying hard last night but it wasn’t really happening for him. I think a goal would give him a confidence boost.

You can clearly see Alexander has worked on how we get the ball to our front three. Cole has been good and Watt’s teamwork is immense but if he keeps missing some of the sitters he has I don’t think GA will fancy him long term. The miss vs Hamilton at 0-0, the header vs St Mirren and the chance that lead to our opening goal tonight he’d have expected to bury.

[Coventry Saint]

1 hour ago, djchapsticks said:

Difference is that at 34, Foley's legs seemed to struggle to adapt to the enforced 5 month pre season break. 

He came back this season and it was immediately obvious to everyone he was struggling. His legs had completely gone by looks of it and it was a steep and massive drop off. 

I feel that, with that post, you've set the stage perfectly for Foley to burst onto the scene and enjoy an 18-month Indian summer at Fir Park.

What I would say is that although 'the way we play' isn't always obvious, what is clear is that Goodwin really prizes pace and mobility. Almost certainly why Morias continued to get games before whatever happened, happened. Sadly Foley was just too cumbersome and looked a shadow of last season's player. At least Motherwell would be signing a guy chock full of antibodies.

[Gianfranco]

Read that as a cock full of antibodies [emoji1787]

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, djchapsticks said:

Difference is that at 34, Foley's legs seemed to struggle to adapt to the enforced 5 month pre season break. 

He came back this season and it was immediately obvious to everyone he was struggling. His legs had completely gone by looks of it and it was a steep and massive drop off. 

 

52 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

I feel that, with that post, you've set the stage perfectly for Foley to burst onto the scene and enjoy an 18-month Indian summer at Fir Park.

What I would say is that although 'the way we play' isn't always obvious, what is clear is that Goodwin really prizes pace and mobility. Almost certainly why Morias continued to get games before whatever happened, happened. Sadly Foley was just too cumbersome and looked a shadow of last season's player. At least Motherwell would be signing a guy chock full of antibodies.

The only real similarities are that it's two players who weren't/aren't getting games for their clubs moving between Motherwell and St Mirren.

In Tait's case Saints signed him to go into their starting XI and with the benefit of hindsight his form has made us look like fucking idiots for not just signing him up as we've just ended up flapping around trying to play centre backs at left back and our manager eventually resigning because there's been a massive drop in standards in the dressing room. IMO Tait (and Hartley) played a big part in the 'culture' around the club that fitted in with what Robinson was trying to do.

With Foley, I say this as someone who genuinely hasn't seen much of him, if everyone's fit then he probably won't start ahead of Campbell, Donnelly, Polworth, O'Hara and possibly even Maguire.

What we are short of is an experienced option on the bench and also him being able to fill in as a centre half is interesting given there's been chat about Nathan McGinley not really having settled up here, Charlie Dunne's short term contract is up this month and our other back up in that position is Ricki fucking Lamie.

Edited January 28, 2021 by capt_oats

[Al B]

It was my birthday yesterday so enjoyed the win over a home-made mozzarella chicken with sweet potato and mange-tout (Rodney), served up by the wife. Lovely way to spend the evening, and saves my first Paneer-fest for the weekend.

Im thinking South Indian Garlic Chilli Chicken and getting in some Cobra, I like matching my beer to my grub.

Edited January 28, 2021 by Al B

[well fan for life]

I reckon if Crawford leaves I'd probably be fine seeing Maguire get a reasonable run in the team. I thought it was good last night and seems to be able to shift the ball around the pitch better than Crawford can. 

Would still like to see a centre back in, though. Bringing on Lamie last night gave me the utter fear. McGinlay is probably a decent enough player but hasn't settled. And I can understand that since moving up here by yourself mid pandemic is probably a fairly shit thing to do.

[Swello]

Whoever supplies lanarkshire with Paneer is going to the get the shock of their lives this weekend - sales up 1000%

[capt_oats]

Fwiw: I thought Alexander sounded quite open to us bringing in some new players in his post-match. Albeit also saying that he likes the group of players he has here.

From 3:46 below: "We'll see what we can do, we've got the capability of bringing players in. We have the green light to do that if we can."

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by capt_oats

[well fan for life]

4 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Fwiw: I thought Alexander sounded quite open to us bringing in some new players in his post-match. Albeit also saying that he likes the group of players he has here.

From 3:46 below: "We'll see what we can do, we've got the capability of bringing players in. We have the green light to do that if we can."

 

As hilarious as Straker Day was I would be fine if we didn't repeat that experience. This is probably the hardest transfer window in history since players won't necessarily want to move a great distance and everyone in the bottom 8 in the league is probably fishing in the same very small, very shallow pond. If we are going to bring anyone in I'd be wanting someone who's going to be starting most games rather than a Nathan Thomas/Wes Fletcher/Casper Sloth missing person. 

[thisGRAEME]

12 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

Has Mugabi been better than Gallagher this season?

Overall, yes, imo.

Bevis isn't playing with a gun to his head though, so I guess that's understandable.

[capt_oats]

6 minutes ago, well fan for life said:

As hilarious as Straker Day was I would be fine if we didn't repeat that experience. This is probably the hardest transfer window in history since players won't necessarily want to move a great distance and everyone in the bottom 8 in the league is probably fishing in the same very small, very shallow pond. If we are going to bring anyone in I'd be wanting someone who's going to be starting most games rather than a Nathan Thomas/Wes Fletcher/Casper Sloth missing person. 

100%.

I'm definitely not advocating a trolley dash round the bargain bins but I thought his response was a bit more open to the idea of bringing a couple in than he had been previously when he was talking about wanting to assess the squad first. He's also saying that he's only planning on bringing folk in if they'll improve the team and/or the squad. I mean, I've yet to hear a manager say they're actively looking to sign shite players but it at the very least gives the indication that we're looking about.

Clearly he caveats that by saying he likes the squad and if we can't bring in bodies who are better than what we have then he's happy to work with what he has (or words to that effect).

[Gianfranco]

I reckon if Crawford leaves I'd probably be fine seeing Maguire get a reasonable run in the team. I thought it was good last night and seems to be able to shift the ball around the pitch better than Crawford can. 
Would still like to see a centre back in, though. Bringing on Lamie last night gave me the utter fear. McGinlay is probably a decent enough player but hasn't settled. And I can understand that since moving up here by yourself mid pandemic is probably a fairly shit thing to do.

I’d quite like to see Maguire’s win ratio this season on games he’s started. I thought he was very harshly dropped after the Scotland Under 21s covid fiasco after he’d started in our up turn in form. He hasn’t been a world beater by any stretch of the imagination but I don’t think he did anything that warranted being dropped either at that time. We need to give him a chance to see if he’s shite or not.

[Swello]

7 minutes ago, Gianfranco said:

I’d quite like to see Maguire’s win ratio this season on games he’s started. I thought he was very harshly dropped after the Scotland Under 21s covid fiasco after he’d started in our up turn in form. He hasn’t been a world beater by any stretch of the imagination but I don’t think he did anything that warranted being dropped either at that time. We need to give him a chance to see if he’s shite or not.

Aye - Maguire is at the age where we either trust him and help him develop by giving him a decent run of games or we don't whereby he'll kick around the fringes of the team until his contract runs down. He could certainly do the job Crawford has been doing and I wasn't seeing a huge drop off between what Maguire offered last night and 20/21 Polworth.

[well fan for life]

1 hour ago, Gianfranco said:

I thought Long looked much more interested and was trying hard last night but it wasn’t really happening for him. I think a goal would give him a confidence boost.

You can clearly see Alexander has worked on how we get the ball to our front three. Cole has been good and Watt’s teamwork is immense but if he keeps missing some of the sitters he has I don’t think GA will fancy him long term. The miss vs Hamilton at 0-0, the header vs St Mirren and the chance that lead to our opening goal tonight he’d have expected to bury.

I think this is being pretty unfair on Watt. Last night's shot was half blocked by a defender and hitting the target was the priority. How many times do we see a ball cut back like that and the shot ending up disappearing into orbit?

 

 

[Casagolda]

I thought Maguire was pretty decent last night as well, his wee turn and ball out wide for the goal was delightful. Exactly what you need if you're trying to play through midfield-thoroughly enjoyed his his two footed corner attempts as well.

With Polworth, O'Hara and Donnelly all to still come back in, I'm struggling to see where 34 year old Foley is going to get the regular game time he desires- even if Crawford leaves. It's a an experienced squad option for us I suppose and his ability to cover at centre back might come in handy.

You sense last night was massive for us though and we did it with largely the same team we've had all season- bar Liam Kelly. Which perhaps justifies some of Alexander's faith in the squad as going by his interviews, he's always seemed to be of the opinion that most of our problems were mental rather than lack of ability.

First win in 3 months, a bit of fight/bottle shown to turn it around and we managed to leave White in Dingwall.

A good day all round for the 'Well.

Edited January 28, 2021 by Casagolda

[Gianfranco]

I think this is being pretty unfair on Watt. Last night's shot was half blocked by a defender and hitting the target was the priority. How many times do we see a ball cut back like that and the shot ending up disappearing into orbit?
 
 

There was an angle from behind the goal where it appeared he scuffed it straight at the keeper. My favourite cut back goal like that was Higdon vs Inverness at Fir Park where he just about burst the net sticking into the top corner. Sensational stuff.

[capt_oats]

25 minutes ago, Gianfranco said:

I’d quite like to see Maguire’s win ratio this season on games he’s started. I thought he was very harshly dropped after the Scotland Under 21s covid fiasco after he’d started in our up turn in form. He hasn’t been a world beater by any stretch of the imagination but I don’t think he did anything that warranted being dropped either at that time. We need to give him a chance to see if he’s shite or not.

Aye, he's seemed to be unlucky in that respect.

I mean last season he was smashing against St Mirren at FP but then got ran over the top of when Aberdeen threw all their defenders into the starting XI and was on the bench for the next 3 games. This season he played the full 90 in the two wins against County and Livi then after the Scotland u21s shambles he's back to being a bit part player where he's an unused sub or getting 5 - 10 mins off the bench.

I think one of the general problems with Maguire (apart from the lack of games) is not really finding a position for him. Robinson clearly didn't trust him at centre back and tried to convert him into a midfielder and from that POV it's not really clear whether he's a #6 or an #8 or a holding midfielder. 

As @Swello says there wasn't a massive drop in him taking over from Polworth last night.

Edited January 28, 2021 by capt_oats