Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Busta Nut]

I also thought he was a cracking player but I too was annoyed at his powder puff shots.

52 minutes ago, Desp said:

I just got put into a rage too often after him having another shot on goal at 3.5mph.  He also blocked me on Twitter after I berated him for an quite shocking penalty against Aberdeen. 

This is perfect. Exactly what I would have said and he also blocked me after the same penalty. It was so crap.

I am not sure I even tagged him, I just told how shite it was.

Edited July 10, 2019 by Busta Nut

[well fan for life]

19 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

I also thought he was a cracking player but I too was annoyed at his powder puff shots.

This is perfect. Exactly what I would have said and he also blocked me after the same penalty. It was so crap.

I am not sure I even tagged him, I just told how shite it was.

He could dribble past folk and it looked like the ball was glued to his feet. Then he'd follow it up with a shot that looked like it was crawling through treacle.

[dezz]

Aye you’d have though the area from the penalty spot to the goal line was covered in fly paper when Murphy was taking a shot.

I agree with Desp that wouldn’t have him back now though. A 30 year old winger who’s knee ha recently exploded or a distant relative of Clarence Seedorf...I know who I’m picking.

[0Neils40yarder]

Tom Leighton released by Watford and on trial with they c***s from the East end of Glasgow... Wonder if we'd be at all interested in bringing him back

[Desp]

29 minutes ago, 0Neils40yarder said:

Tom Leighton released by Watford and on trial with they c***s from the East end of Glasgow... Wonder if we'd be at all interested in bringing him back

If he's any relation to Jim, then I'm sure we'll have a look. 

[supermarv]

1 hour ago, 0Neils40yarder said:

Tom Leighton released by Watford and on trial with they c***s from the East end of Glasgow... Wonder if we'd be at all interested in bringing him back

Was at us as a youth player, he has a few options.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

1 hour ago, supermarv said:

Was at us as a youth player

#ITK

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

5 hours ago, Desp said:

I assume I'm in the minority, aye, but I just never took to him.  Don't get me wrong, he was an effective player for us, he certainly was an inspirational figure on our run to the 2011 Cup Final, but I think I just got put into a rage too often after him having another shot on goal at 3.5mph.  He also blocked me on Twitter after I berated him for an quite shocking penalty against Aberdeen.  He remains the only professional footballer to have blocked me. 

He went on to prove me wrong though - I thought he'd never succeed in England due to him being too lightweight, but after a sticky start he did very well for himself.  However, with him now 30ish, and with only one working knee, him being back at Fir Park is not something I'm overly keen on.

You are an absolute roaster. We beat Aberdeen 4-1, Murphy sets up the first and scores two great goals but you go and abuse him over a missed penalty.

Murphy was an oustanding player for us.

Did you go on twitter and give Turnbull abuse when he missed his hattrick penalty against Livingston?

[Desp]

Thanks for posting that video, you confirmed what I already knew. 

That penalty really was fucking horrendous. 

[supermarv]

1 hour ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

#ITK

Haha it’s not unknown that he was here as a boy he signed for Watford from Motherwell as he was correct me if any knows not one who they were looking to sign full time, so he pursued another option, we got a nominal compensation fee. On the point regarding Murphy, if rangers are shipping him out (who he has played well for) and in our price range I’d take him back in a heartbeat an excellent player.

Edited July 10, 2019 by supermarv

[Desp]

8 minutes ago, supermarv said:

Haha it’s not unknown that he was here as a boy he signed for Watford from Motherwell as he was correct me if any knows not one who they were looking to sign full time, so he pursued another option, we got a nominal compensation fee.

Was he the lad that was training with a Portuguese team (Benfica, maybe?) before ending up at Watford? 

[capt_oats]

1 minute ago, Desp said:

Was he the lad that was training with a Portuguese team (Benfica, maybe?) before ending up at Watford? 

The very same: https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/14711158.tom-leighton-the-scottish-youngster-on-his-time-at-benfica-and-becoming-the-next-oliver-burke/

Quote

Motherwell, for one, would love to have him back.

“They would like me to go back. They have offered me a full-time contract and are in contact with me on regular basis. They have told me the door is open. I’m keeping my options open."

 

[MJC]

I was a fan of Jamie Murphy as a Motherwell player but I wouldn't take him back now and that is something that we as a club need to move away from, this culture of re-signing popular ex players who are injury prone and in their thirties. On the whole that's something that I've been impressed with Robinson by, that he has largely moved us away from that, though the recent Ross McCormack signing acted as a reminder as to why it's a bad idea. If you think back to pre-Robinson, we went through a period from 2013 - 2017 where we couldn't help ourselves but re-sign ax ex player who was the wrong side of 30 and with the exception of Scott McDonald, John Sutton and James McFadden for the first three months of his initial return, we got very little out of it. Offthe top of my head we signed McFadden three times, Stephen Pearson twice, David Clarkson and all offered very little to nothing. And of more recently we signed Ross McCormack who barely kicked a ball for us. Going further back we also signed Stephen Hughes under Stuart McCall and like those four offered us nothing in return.

Clubs like ours need to develop and nurture our own talent, not look to the past and 'wonderkids' from the early 2000s.

Edited July 10, 2019 by MJC

[Casagolda]

Re-signing Pearson was absolutely vital to us staying up under Baraclough. He then scored 9 goals in less than 30 games the following season as we finished top 6 under McGhee. He also netted us a transfer fee when he moved back to India.

Admittedly when we re-signed him the following year after his 2nd spell in India he was done but he was an excellent signing 1st time round. 

[thisGRAEME]

We'd have gone down without Pearson, imo.

McFadden was great in his first spell back as well, when we were swashbuckling ballers.

Understand why people are wary of returning players, because folk love to remember bad stuff first, but in a daft world where Murphy is within our price range, we'd be daft not to take him tbh. 

[supermarv]

Re-signing players has evidently worked for us many times. Not only have they performed but gives the fans that extra bit of buzz. For example, Skippy pivotal in keeping us up against the h***, Pearson aswell. Faddy at first was immense when he came back, the list goes on. Of course it won’t work with times like McCormack and Clarkson. Always worth the chance IMO, only if they are available and in budget with something to offer to the squad.

[Londonwell]

I’d take Murphy back in a second. Surprised to see people wouldn’t tbh.

[MJC]

17 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

Re-signing Pearson was absolutely vital to us staying up under Baraclough. He then scored 9 goals in less than 30 games the following season as we finished top 6 under McGhee. He also netted us a transfer fee when he moved back to India.

Admittedly when we re-signed him the following year after his 2nd spell in India he was done but he was an excellent signing 1st time round. 

My memory might be playing tricks here and happy to be corrected, but was Pearson not in and out the side through injury when he returned in the playoff season? He did admittedly play a big part in that win and like everyone else who played in those ties, deserves huge credit for what was one of the most significant results in our recent history. 

Signing players who are over 30 is always a huge risk and even more so when it's a popular ex player, because their cult status with the support and from some inside the club affords them alot more 'grace' than they would otherwise get if they are not delivering - see McFadden's second and third spells with us as a classic example of that. Obviously there are occasions where it has worked well for us, Scott McDonald who saved us from relegation in 2016/17 and Phil O'Donnell who after a slow start to his second spell, went on to be an integral part of the team and squad and became club captain.

I prefer to see us developing our own players and bringing them into the first team as youngsters - Faddy, Pearson, Hammell, Turnbull and Hastie - than signing ex players who are more or less over the hill. As much as I loved James McFadden playing for us as a youngster and when he returned and played in the team with Law, Ojamaa(another returnee who flopped), Higdon and Humphrey, but it was positively painful to watch him play in his next spells as injury and age had well and truly caught up with him by then and it was just, well, pretty sad to be honest seeing him like that.

[Swello]

6 minutes ago, MJC said:

My memory might be playing tricks here and happy to be corrected, but was Pearson not in and out the side through injury when he returned in the playoff season? He did admittedly play a big part in that win and like everyone else who played in those ties, deserves huge credit for what was one of the most significant results in our recent history. 

Signing players who are over 30 is always a huge risk and even more so when it's a popular ex player, because their cult status with the support and from some inside the club affords them alot more 'grace' than they would otherwise get if they are not delivering - see McFadden's second and third spells with us as a classic example of that. Obviously there are occasions where it has worked well for us, Scott McDonald who saved us from relegation in 2016/17 and Phil O'Donnell who after a slow start to his second spell, went on to be an integral part of the team and squad and became club captain.

I prefer to see us developing our own players and bringing them into the first team as youngsters - Faddy, Pearson, Hammell, Turnbull and Hastie - than signing ex players who are more or less over the hill. As much as I loved James McFadden playing for us as a youngster and when he returned and played in the team with Law, Ojamaa(another returnee who flopped), Higdon and Humphrey, but it was positively painful to watch him play in his next spells as injury and age had well and truly caught up with him by then and it was just, well, pretty sad to be honest seeing him like that.

Pearson was injury prone the whole time he was here in his 2nd and 3rd spells - but in his 2nd spell, he was really effective when he played. In the playoff games, having experienced players that didn't absolutely shite themselves at the sight of Ibrox was pivotal to us staying up - McDonald was *immense* in midfield at Ibrox, Pearson wasn't far behind him and McManus had a really good game too (and it was no surprise they put him in front of the media in the run up). 

TBH - we should never rule out a player just because they've played for us and over 30 - the same judgement on the guy's temperament and desire needs to be applied just like any other player. The fact we treat players well when they are here occasionally gets us access to guys that would never be joining a team like us, so we shouldn't lose that option...

[YassinMoutaouakil]

Even this was a fucking daisy cutter