Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[21maxwell]

The team really lacks a leader. Players like Seedorf need talked through the game at times as his game understanding is rotten. Whether that leader is Hartley coming in for Dunne or if its an old experienced DM we can recruit from a loan down south, a balance between youthful potential and experience is what's needed. I'd rather the latter because the midfield is all over the place and getting that DM in at least means the other 2 cm's can afford to float around and chase whilst he maintains his discipline and brings balance to the middle of the park. 

The lack of balls in the box near the end concerned me. You are 2-1 down in a cup tie, even if Berra will win most of the headers, with conditions like tonight you never know, he could make a c**t of it and 2-2 there's yir wee slice of luck you need. 

My worry is lose at Accies a tricky venue, lose at home to Hibs and then the heads go down and the pressure from the fans goes to the manager. 

[Well Well]

I would be interested to know what Robinson budget is and what if any money for wages he actually has left. I know it's been mentioned he keeps some in reserve for January. Problem is I don't think we can wait for January. Only Gallagher in my eyes has been a solid signing and if he keeps playing the way he has he will be the first one sold in January. The rest (apart from Sloth) have been woeful. Some of these guys need serious time in the gym to build mass as they are like children playing against men when compared to the Hearts players last night and that's me just addressing a very small part of what's wrong with these guys. Maybe even ask the question why with a full preseason our coaches cant get these new guys reasonably fit. I hope their application in training is not the same as the effort they put into their warm ups pre match.

SO many things need looked at I don't even know where to begin other thats whats mentioned already. At least the park looks good I suppose.

Edited August 17, 2019 by Well Well

[MJC]

It's just so, so fucking scunnering to realise that we are yet again basically going to be relying on other teams being less shite than we are to keep us in the league this season. That is where we are at now under Robinson and his latest squad of mediocre, sub standard players. It's even worse this season because he recruited so many of them in a short space of time over the summer and bar Gallagher, they all look hopeless and one of them looks like he'll never play. As a club we can't afford that sort of poor business by the same manager two years running, as it will drive the support away in their hundreds.

I know it's early days, but there is nothing about that team that suggests we are going to be anything other than shite this season and the only thing that will keep the heat off Robinson will be if we do what we did last season and every now and again pull an unexpected result out of the bag, ie. the 3-0 win against Aberdeen, the 1-0 win against Hibs, the draws at home against Rangers and Celtic...results which just kicked the can down the road and kept Robinson in a job. We will do nothing in the Scottish Cup either as as sure as night follows day we will be paired with a Premiership side or a high flying Championship side in the first round we enter and as I said last night there is no David Turnbull waiting in the wings this time around to save the season and give the support something to be excited or positive about. All we've got to look forward to is a season of bottom feeding dross with a tactically inept manager and a squad full of shite.

Bleak, bleak times.

[Mr. Brightside]

The worst thing about us being shite is that it gives MJC the opportunity to post the same tl;dr rant over and over again.

[tam the bud]

I must say from looking from the outside, i thought yous guys were looking good based on all the result I saw before the league started. 

Only time I have watch yous was against Celtic and I thought the score line was unfair which was help by the usual suspect in the black. 

Certainly you guys will know your players better than me, but I still feel you wont be anywhere near the bottom of the table come next may. 

[Casagolda]

To be fair, you can only blame the new guys so much.

Gillespie, Tait and Campbell are three of our most consistent/reliable performers and they were all found wanting last night. Not for the first time this season either. 

Grimshaw once again got himself a new contract on the basis of a good run of form but once again has reverted back to looking poor ever since he signed it. Dunne is a conundrum- looks immense some weeks, looks Sunday League at others. When he’s not scoring, does Donnelly do enough to justify his selection?

Overall 9 of last nights starting 11 were either here last season or in Polworth/Gallagher’s case, had plenty of top flight experience prior to joining. 

Despite that, Hearts outfought and outthought us all over the pitch. As a team we simply failed to turn up and as individuals, far too many fell well below the standard required at this level.  

[MJC]

5 minutes ago, tam the bud said:

I must say from looking from the outside, i thought yous guys were looking good based on all the result I saw before the league started. 

Only time I have watch yous was against Celtic and I thought the score line was unfair which was help by the usual suspect in the black. 

Certainly you guys will know your players better than me, but I still feel you wont be anywhere near the bottom of the table come next may. 

We comfortably came through the League Cup group stages but that was against lower League and let's be honest, low quality opposition. In three matches against Premiership sides (two League, one cup) we have been awful and are lucky to be sitting with one point as we were second best against Livingston on day one, been hammered against Celtic and we'll beaten by an average Hearts side.

That would point to us having a squad which is of Championship level, or at the very best a 12th-10th Premiership level but if that's all we have to look forward to then it all points to a long, hard season with little to be positive about.

[Mr Pikey]

The tactic of playing the ball back n forth across the back till Dunne decides he can fire the ball forwards is bad enough. But when you you do it for the full fist half , you see its utter shite and not working one bit, to then send the team out 2nd half  to keep doing it  is inexcusable.  Robinson needs his bawz blootered for that. If that's our plan A we're screwed. Cos we ain't got no plan B by the looks of things.

[tam the bud]

3 minutes ago, MJC said:

We comfortably came through the League Cup group stages but that was against lower League and let's be honest, low quality opposition. In three matches against Premiership sides (two League, one cup) we have been awful and are lucky to be sitting with one point as we were second best against Livingston on day one, been hammered against Celtic and we'll beaten by an average Hearts side.

That would point to us having a squad which is of Championship level, or at the very best a 12th-10th Premiership level but if that's all we have to look forward to then it all points to a long, hard season with little to be positive about.

As I said, yous guys will know your team better. We have done the opposite and was awful in the league cup but improved in the league.

What I do think is apart from the bigots, the gap between 3rd and 12th won't be as much this season as last.

 

[Coooombe]

Robinson's comments on the BBC seem extremely harsh. I know it's been a poor start to the season but throwing most of his new signings under this bus this early seems a bit drastic, no?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/49377750?__twitter_impression=true

[RandomGuy.]

1 hour ago, Mr. Brightside said:

The worst thing about us being shite is that it gives MJC the opportunity to post the same tl;dr rant over and over again.

I get the impression he'll be delighted if Turnbull struggles on his return, as he'll be able to swing into some wild theory around Celtic ruining him.

[Well Well]

10 minutes ago, Coooombe said:

Robinson's comments on the BBC seem extremely harsh. I know it's been a poor start to the season but throwing most of his new signings under this bus this early seems a bit drastic, no?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/49377750?__twitter_impression=true

Nope, richly deserved and at the end of the day its his signings, he needs to get them to play. They need to wake up and seemed happy to hide the entire game. Robinson got it spot on

 

[Mr Hahn]

8 minutes ago, Coooombe said:

Robinson's comments on the BBC seem extremely harsh. I know it's been a poor start to the season but throwing most of his new signings under this bus this early seems a bit drastic, no?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/49377750?__twitter_impression=true

Probably a calculated risk on Robinson's part.

He's right, the new signings, Gallagher and Polworth  aside, were dreadful last night. The judgement from Robinson comes from if he thinks this public calling them out is what they need to give them a kick up the arse. If it turns out they're the kind of players that don't respond well to that then we might have a problem here but if he thinks these lads will respond well to a challenge being laid down to them publicly then I'd hope to see a response soon.

Having listened  to his interview on youtube with Well TV, I agreed with everything he said. Our play lacked speed, and it was all just too pedestrian and predictable. Giving a few players a boot up the arse to try and raise the tempo of their play in public is an interesting decision but might be what some of them need.

[MJC]

They are Robinson's players though, he signed them so if they are not producing the goods then that's 100 per cent at his door. He better hope that they have more mental strength than they do quality, because throwing them under the bus like that has the potential to backfire on him big time, which could well have a detrimental effect on the squad.

We have some players who will do a job for us, namely Gallagher, Tait, Gillespie/Carson, Campbell and potentially Polworth. Obviously Gillespie has had a nightmare in the last two games but he has proved that he is a good, solid goalkeeper for us and I don't think he deserves to be dropped quite yet, although the case for Carson returning will obviously strengthen if things don't improve. James Scott, as has been said, does have ability but he's simply not ready yet and it's unfair to expect him to be our main striker this season.

The rest of the squad is average bordering on garbage and that's down to the manager as he recruited them, so if he's calling them out like that then that should be raising serious questions over his position.

I know he's just been given a new contract but I genuinely would sack him today, because he's failed yet again to sign the right players for the team and it appears that he has learnt nothing tactically. He won't be sacked just now, obviously, but unless something drastic happens that improves our fortunes on the park then the support will turn on him big time. It was telling the amount of fans pouring out of the East Stand at half time last night, people are seriously fed up.

[AndyRoss]

Quote

 

'It's a bit harsh on his players' - analysis

Former Motherwell and Scotland forward James McFadden

I think [Robinson's criticism of his players] is unfair. The recruitment has been good, on the face of it. He talks about budget - he's competing with certainly half of the league for the same type of players under the same budget.

I think it's a bit harsh on his players. They've had a decent pre-season campaign. I don't think they turned up until the last half-hour, I don't think it was good enough. But it's early days and you still need to encourage the performances.

 

Faddy coming at it from totally opposite prescriptive here. 

[0Neils40yarder]

On 14/08/2019 at 14:52, Ron Aldo said:

 

The players were punished with an extra training session at Dalziel today, on what was meant to be a day off... Punished, as in playing heidy tennis and 5-a-sides.

 

 

I've heard there is a striker incoming, but I think we need a winger in from a reasonable standard of fitba as well. 

[capt_oats]

I don't see much about Robinson's comments that's particularly contentious. His pre-match was talking about how if players keep making mistakes then they won't play. There's nothing different to what he's saying there to the sort of stuff that was said on the regular in the general direction of Bigi.

He was quoted in the press before the game talking up Donnelly for a re-call to the N.I squad...

Interesting (and mildly re-assuring) to see we're still in the market:

Quote

Robinson has made nine summer signings and is eager to add more - a "big target man" is at the top of his list.

The implication there is that it's players (plural) we're looking at.

Strongly agree with both @YassinMoutaouakil and @Desp below:

15 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said:

Signing 3 punts as our wide options was absolutely fucking mental. If we had at least one proven, quality winger then I'd be on board with bringing in a Seedorf, Hylton, Ilic type as an option off the bench or a project to develop, but to pin all our hopes on them when the position relies so heavily on wingers is lunacy.

 

14 hours ago, Desp said:

None of those wingers look good enough. None of them can be trusted. Therefore, we simply cannot continue with 4-3-3 with the emphasis on getting the ball to the wingers. Its lunacy and will see us in the Championship next season. 

 

[RandomGuy.]

Theres a Celtic fan on Twitter seemingly demanding lower prices at Fir Park for the "restricted view" seats they get.

Seemingly you can't see a section of the pitch from the top tier behind the goal 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by RandomGuy.

[0Neils40yarder]

1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

Theres a Celtic fan on Twitter seemingly demanding lower prices at Fir Park for the "restricted view" seats they get.

Seemingly you can't see a section of the pitch from the top tier behind the goal 

We should erect a pole right in front of the c***s seat

[RandomGuy.]

Just now, 0Neils40yarder said:

We should erect a pole right in front of the c***s seat

Aye, she claimed Celtic fans pay over the odds for restricted view seats at "every ground they visit" and is now, incredibly, trying to back it up instead of just bailing out. No idea what she'll say when a Livingston/St Johnstone/St Mirren fan asks her about their grounds if this is the standard we're at.