Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Yorky]

5 hours ago, Kapowzer said:

He got 73' vs Celtic and picked up a yellow card, which meant 1 games grace (St Johnstone) before he served a ban against Livingston. While not finishing the 90 at Parkhead his inclusion the following week shows he was deemed fit. Maybe made sense to bench him to have him as an option if the player brought into the team (Cornelius) came up short but gets familiarisation and minutes in the tank for the game Slattery definitely can't contribute to (Livvy). Maguire was used against St Johnstone. However since then he's been benched in Dingwall and Morton (however getting 14' in the Cup).

Based on his game of primarily disrupting the opposition and performances, Ross County screamed for his involvement when it seemed to be one way traffic after the equaliser.

Today's continued benching can only suggest it's one of three, persevere with Tuesday's team and allow them a chance for making up for a shitty performance, minor niggle that could allow involvement but ideally left to give max chance of it not getting worse and finally Grezza not selecting for some other issue.

His last competitive action was six weeks ago, any injury has not been deemed serious enough to remove him from contention. However every chance this is training related and recurring. Sincerely hope it is he's at +85% and precautionary and nothing else.

I thought he was out due to covid ?

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

I might be thinking in Ye Olde Fashioned way, but isn't there still an argument for not bulking up... some players are better when they're lighter on their feet.  Tierney looks like he might be that sort.
One of our previous decent players (and of course I can't remember which one) suffered an injury, came back with twice as much muscle but ended up making half the impact he previously did. 

Pretty sure it's Charlie Dunne you're thinking of.

He had a history of injuries when he signed but when he came back at the start of 18/19 season he looked massively bulked and picked up a groin injury almost straight away.

https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2018/07/27/charles-dunne-sidelined-with-groin-injury/

Edited January 23 by capt_oats

[MP_MFC]

Tait. He had hit the CrossFit gym so much during a long lay off he was playing like he was carrying a fridge and was kept out the team by Liam grimshaw.

[Archie McSquackle]

Tierney looked as though he was well used to being absolutely clattered.

[ropy]

22 minutes ago, Archie McSquackle said:

Tierney looked as though he was well used to being absolutely clattered.

I bet he used to play up the park with his pals rather than attending an Academy.

[JamesP_81]

Thought Tierney looked really good when he came on , definitely looks like the type of player that can provide a spark that could change a game.  For such a small guy he definitely didn't seem shy at putting it about.  

[Casagolda]

Tierney looked very promising and showed he has a role to play even at this early stage. Sadly it also looked like he injured himself in the build up to the winning goal. 

The front 3 sans Van Veen and Watt didn’t really click, as mentioned elsewhere we lacked a focal point(and quality) in the final third until Van Veen came on. Given his penchant for bookings and his injury record, we surely have to look into bringing in another forward option before the window closes.

Like others, I find it bizarre that Slattery continues to be over looked when based on both ability and performances he’s our best midfielder. Also find it strange that one of the best crossers of the ball at the club was playing centre back while McGinley continues to amble up and down the line not offering a great deal. 

Can only assume there’s more to it than meets the eye. Overall though I thought we were the better team who deserved to go through and did so job done I suppose. 

Edited January 23 by Casagolda

[YassinMoutaouakil]

The way you are all talking about him I absolutely cannot wait to see this midget in the flesh

[santheman]

2 hours ago, Yorky said:

I thought he was out due to covid ?

That was the chat at Ross County

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, Casagolda said:

Tierney looked very promising and showed he has a role to play even at this early stage. Sadly it also looked like he injured himself in the build up to the winning goal. 

The front 3 sans Van Veen and Watt didn’t really click, as mentioned elsewhere we lacked a focal point(and quality) in the final third until Van Veen came on. Given his penchant for bookings and his injury record, we surely have to look into bringing in another forward option before the window closes.

Like others, I find it bizarre that Slattery continues to be over looked when based on both ability and performances he’s our best midfielder. Also find it strange that one of the best crossers of the ball at the club was playing centre back while McGinley continues to amble up and down the line not offering a great deal. 

Can only assume there’s more to it than meets the eye. Overall though I thought we were the better team who deserved to go through and did so job done I suppose. 

The fact that we've gone from pretty much publishing players medical histories to secret squirrel means it's quite difficult to get a handle on things with players being disappeared from the team/squad. That was Bevis and Grimshaw missing from the match squad yesterday.

It seems clear Alexander fancies Carroll as a centre back more than McGinley (ironic given McGinley was supposedly signed as a CB) so with Ojala and O'Connor both coming back from injury and Lamie presumably still carrying whatever he picked up against Hibs last month it's not ideal but I guess it is what it is.

@Yorky alludes to it at the top of the page but I had wondered if Slattery was maybe one of the group who had Covid over Christmas and is maybe being eased back. I get he was benched pre-break but there's a chance that was down to the suspension situation.

As far as KVV goes he's 30+ and has a patchy injury record so I get why we'd have rotated him out yesterday given we played on Tuesday past and have games on Wednesday/Saturday. I think yesterday was a good argument for why we need a KVV alternative though.

For the most part we were fine yesterday and definitely deserved to go through IMO. There was just a lack of threat, which as learning curves go shouldn't be a massive surprise when you've sold your top scorer and benched the guy who was 2nd top.

Edited January 23 by capt_oats

[dezz]

Agree with the comments on Tierney, definitely looks like he’ll offer something a bit different in an attacking sense.
What I liked about him was that everything he did during his time on the park was positive, whether it was running or passing, he was always looking to positively progress the ball. There’s probably some analytical acronym for it that I don’t know about.
Good to see Slattery back on the park too, hopefully it’s the start of a sustained run of starts for him. I still don’t think we’ve quite got the balance to our midfield right, but on paper Donnelly, Slattery and Goss look like it should tick most of the boxes - I’ve no idea if they’ve started a game together yet?
Not going to dwell on the negatives too much but so much of our play broke down with the full backs yesterday…

[CoF]

11 minutes ago, dezz said:

Agree with the comments on Tierney, definitely looks like he’ll offer something a bit different in an attacking sense.
What I liked about him was that everything he did during his time on the park was positive, whether it was running or passing, he was always looking to positively progress the ball. There’s probably some analytical acronym for it that I don’t know about.

Also good to see Tierney, 5 minutes into his debut, giving Van Veen pelters for shooting and not passing to him. 

[ropy]

I actually thought SOD was one of few who made positive forward passes, very often connecting with one of the attackers coming short.  He had a poor first 10 minutes in the second half but overall held his own.

And to add, his quick throw ins were effective early on although this impact faded.

Edited January 23 by ropy

[ropy]

5 minutes ago, CoF said:

Also good to see Tierney, 5 minutes into his debut, giving Van Veen pelters for shooting and not passing to him. 

I am a bit conflicted with KVV’s greed, there are often options to play a pass but the thing we were missing was attempts on goal.  Until he came on the ball would always be swept wide rather than into the box.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I sort of get why managers (like Robinson and Alexander) love anywhere-across-the-front-three-ers so much. Competent, out and out, strikers are a pretty rare commodity in our market- we fairly lucked out in ending up with Watt and KVV at the same time, while the rest of teams at our level have to gamble on guys like Cummings and Griffiths or persist with the likes of Kane and Main etc. 

I do feel this leads to situations like ours though, where our striking options are now essentially a talented, but angry, old Dutch man and four wingers. Even a Jordan White shaped lump to throw on in the last 15 minutes would give us something different imo.

[well fan for life]

49 minutes ago, CoF said:

Also good to see Tierney, 5 minutes into his debut, giving Van Veen pelters for shooting and not passing to him. 

There was a honking dive from Amaluzor and I swear Tierney was shouting at him to get up.

I like the cut of this young man's jib.

[MP_MFC]

I actually thought SOD was one of few who made positive forward passes, very often connecting with one of the attackers coming short.  He had a poor first 10 minutes in the second half but overall held his own.
And to add, his quick throw ins were effective early on although this impact faded.

Sod was fine yesterday, the amount of shocking balls he received from either Kelly or, usually Maguire, was unreal. Maguire in particular seemed to be blootering them towards his bad foot at every opportunity.

[Archie McSquackle]

I sort of get why managers (like Robinson and Alexander) love anywhere-across-the-front-three-ers so much. Competent, out and out, strikers are a pretty rare commodity in our market- we fairly lucked out in ending up with Watt and KVV at the same time, while the rest of teams at our level have to gamble on guys like Cummings and Griffiths or persist with the likes of Kane and Main etc. 
I do feel this leads to situations like ours though, where our striking options are now essentially a talented, but angry, old Dutch man and four wingers. Even a Jordan White shaped lump to throw on in the last 15 minutes would give us something different imo.

I thought Shields looked OK but got very little to work with yesterday. He completely disappeared when put out wide though.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

I guess no one in our Award Winning™ Social Media Team listened to the audio on this.

 

[welldaft]

4 minutes ago, Jim McLean's Ghost said:

I guess no one in our Award Winning™ Social Media Team listened to the audio on this.

 

Hilarious. I assume that was a Morton player.

The good news is he did not miss it. 

Overall a good result but disappointing performance. I would have started Slattery, Van Veen and Tierney and that is before what I saw unfold. Maybe they were being rested or protected as busy schedule but we looked a much better team when all 3 were on the pitch.

I was getting a lift home so when my driver said shall we go at HT of ET I said happy to ! That teaches me, but I am also one of those who genuinely believe had I / we stayed we would be out of the cup. No logic at all but…