Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, well fan for life said:

I think that's fair enough tbh. It would be pretty miserable of us if we'd cut him loose when he had no hope of passing a medical anywhere else. I'd love to see him back in amongst things at some point as he was turning in to an absolute baller before his knee disintegrated. 

Fully agree. We've definitely "done right" by him. The quotes from Robinson kind of clear up the question I had about his current "short-term" contract when I mentioned the "spirit" of the agreement the other day ie: was it simply a case of getting him fit enough to pass a medical at another club then release him by August once he's "fit".

It'd have been grim if we'd just binned him on expiry of his contract and from the club's POV we've put a fair bit of effort into his rehab so I can understand them not wanting to just chuck that away.

IIRC there was a secondary issue with an infection after he broke down on his initial comeback last year?

He was on his way to complete baller status before his knee fell to bits and he was well on his road to being our top scorer that season so if he can get back to that sort of level then he'd be a smashing player to have around the squad.

Pretty sure I've posted this before but weirdly his actual operation and explanation of his injury is up on YouTube. Tucked it in behind the spoiler because, well...folk having their knee sliced open isn't for everyone especially if you're on your lunch in work. Absolutely massive fan of it having a trance soundtrack though.

Spoiler

 

Either way it seems unlikely that he should be considered a "first team" player at the moment. I'd imagine that it'll be Reserves games for the foreseeable for him.

Edited August 22, 2019 by capt_oats

[Casagolda]

4 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Either way it seems unlikely that he should be considered a "first team" player at the moment. I'd imagine that it'll be Reserves games for the foreseeable for him.

Report in the Times has Robinson quoted as saying he might send him out on loan. 

Quote

Robinson revealed if Tanner does pen a new deal then Motherwell could send him out on loan to get the playing time he requires to get him up to speed for a first team return.

He said: “We’re still speaking with him and if he signs until Christmas then we’ll look to see what kind of game time we can give him, whether that be a loan move or whether that’s through the reserves but we have to try to get Craig back.

“It’s been a long road for the boy, it was a freak injury and he’s had set backs along the way in his rehabilitation and needed a second operation. That takes a lot out of you.

“Craig needs to play football matches, for me he’s not ready to play in the Premiership yet. He needs ten to 12 games under his belt and whether that’s reserve football or going on loan.

“It’s something we’re speaking about to try to get him back to the level where he was two years ago and be in position to be selected for the first team.”

 

[nsr]

We'd be lucky to get sixpence for him at the moment.

[capt_oats]

4 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

Report in the Times has Robinson quoted as saying he might send him out on loan. 

Ah, I hadn't seen that. It would definitely make sense as, no harm to him, I don't see him getting first team minutes with us before Christmas and Robinson's clear that he needs games as part of his rehab.

Edited August 22, 2019 by capt_oats

[well fan for life]

22 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Fully agree. We've definitely "done right" by him. The quotes from Robinson kind of clear up the question I had about his current "short-term" contract when I mentioned the "spirit" of the agreement the other day ie: was it simply a case of getting him fit enough to pass a medical at another club then release him by August once he's "fit".

It'd have been grim if we'd just binned him on expiry of his contract and from the club's POV we've put a fair bit of effort into his rehab so I can understand them not wanting to just chuck that away.

IIRC there was a secondary issue with an infection after he broke down on his initial comeback last year?

He was on his way to complete baller status before his knee fell to bits and he was well on his road to being our top scorer that season so if he can get back to that sort of level then he'd be a smashing player to have around the squad.

Pretty sure I've posted this before but weirdly his actual operation and explanation of his injury is up on YouTube. Tucked it in behind the spoiler because, well...folk having their knee sliced open isn't for everyone especially if you're on your lunch in work. Absolutely massive fan of it having a trance soundtrack though.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Either way it seems unlikely that he should be considered a "first team" player at the moment. I'd imagine that it'll be Reserves games for the foreseeable for him.

Boy oh boy am I glad I waited til after lunch to click that spoiler. 

"How bad can it be?" I thought.

[Ron Aldo]

I doubt Tanner will be back playing at any sort of decent level.

His knee might be perfectly fine but the mental aspect of having that type of injury must surely have an impact. I can't imagine he'd be keen to go into any kind of tackle, for example.

I'd love to be proven wrong as he was a great wee player for us. After the length of time he's been out for I just can't see it.

[eddiemunster]

Kyle Lafferty and his gypsy haircut and get tae f**k.

[ropy]

7 hours ago, Casagolda said:

Report in the Times has Robinson quoted as saying he might send him out on loan. 

 

Dundee would take him

[ZX1886]

Is it safe to say an absolute thrashing is on our way today?

[Desp]

Assuming its Dunne at left back today, that would put Adam Livingstone as 4th choice in that position, behind a right back and a centre half. 

The decision to give, and indeed accept, another contract seems like a strange decision. Let the lad go somewhere and play. 

[Casagolda]

On 12/08/2019 at 08:55, Casagolda said:

Was I the only one then that thought Long showed a bit of promise on Saturday?

First full 90 mins and now 2 in 2 for Long. 

That’s a guy who’s played nearly 120 games at English Championship/League One level who folk were quickly writing off. Yet even he’s taking his time to get fit and adapt to the pace of the game up here.

I know we were all a bit disturbed after last Friday’s performance but perhaps we should be looking to cut some our new signings a bit more slack before we write them off completely. Especially when you consider the level(s) they’re coming from.

Anyway, was watching BT earlier and Craigan confirmed we were indeed in talks about Hendry last week. Said Robinson would ideally like another centre back, plus a centre forward in and there could be a bit of movement before the window shuts. 

[Gianfranco]

It’ll be interesting to see what we do in the last week of this transfer window.

[AndyRoss]

On 24/08/2019 at 13:51, Desp said:

Assuming its Dunne at left back today, that would put Adam Livingstone as 4th choice in that position, behind a right back and a centre half. 

The decision to give, and indeed accept, another contract seems like a strange decision. Let the lad go somewhere and play. 

0 minutes in the Betfred too when almost everyone else in the first team squad was given some game time. Surely he's going to head out on loan?

Just had a look and only Trevor Carson, Craig Tanner, Dean Cornelius and David Devine didn't get game time during these games. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by AndyRoss

[capt_oats]

Given the performances Dunne and Hartley put in on the left side of a back 4 against County in the SC last season Saturday could have been a lot worse.

Craigan's chat about us/Robinson being after a centre half and a centre forward is hardly a surprise seeing as there's been "paper talk" along those lines but it's still hard to see how a centre back is viable unless one (presumably Hartley or Dunne) is moving on. I'm not sure Hartley having a good game at the weekend necessarily changes the fact that prior to 3pm on Saturday he hadn't played a league game in 2019.

I suppose it's possible Saturday was a dry run in terms of re-positioning Dunne to allow someone who's more comfortable with distributing the ball to come in at CB but even in that scenario you'd have both Carroll and Hartley on the bench.

I'm not sure that Robinson would necessarily have learned much about Livingstone by chucking him on for 15 mins against 10 man Accies though equally the fact he didn't probably says something. The fact that we've seen Maguire and Semple both getting starts (and completing 90 mins) in the Betfred games or sub appearances in the league highlight Livingstone's lack of minutes even more.

Having said that, ultimately if Robinson doesn't "trust" Livingstone or doesn't think he's ready then he absolutely shouldn't be chucking him in just for the sake of it.

I like Livingstone and he's shown himself to be a very capable left back at u20/Reserve level (I've no idea how his loan at East Fife went) but as @Desp says he's got Carroll, Tait, now Dunne ahead of him and while he's hardly hit the ground running Ilic is a left back who we've been trying to make happen as a right winger. Far be it from me to jump to conclusions but it's possible one may be linked to the other in terms of him...struggling a bit to adapt.

Interesting (though not surprising) that Barry Maguire got a short run out replacing Polworth (like for like would probably have been Semple, no?). We seem quite committed to making him a midfielder. Which is fine IMO.

Sloth's absence raised my eyebrow given he's not on the Team News page as carrying an injury but I had a look at his Transfermarkt page and prior to signing for us he hadn't actually kicked a ball for Silkeborg since September 2018 (apparently he was in dispute with the club). With all the intensity chat I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise if he's not there yet in terms of levels.

I thought Scott showed up well as a 'wide forward' (as distinct to a Frear-style winger) on Saturday. When he's been playing as a #9 his natural instinct seems to be to drift wide and drop deep anyway so actually having him doing that with another striker on the park along with he fact that he's more physical than both Hylton and especially Seedorf seems like a good thing.

The last week of this window should be interesting to see if there's any trimming done and also to get an idea of what Robinson thinks we need along with who's available. He's already spoken about Tanner possibly going on loan to get games (if he signs a short term extension) and there are probably question marks over how settled Hartley and Carson will be not getting minutes.

Agree with @Casagolda's point the other day:

On 25/08/2019 at 12:37, Casagolda said:

First full 90 mins and now 2 in 2 for Long. 

That’s a guy who’s played nearly 120 games at English Championship/League One level who folk were quickly writing off. Yet even he’s taking his time to get fit and adapt to the pace of the game up here.

I know we were all a bit disturbed after last Friday’s performance but perhaps we should be looking to cut some our new signings a bit more slack before we write them off completely. Especially when you consider the level(s) they’re coming from.

We've brought in a ton of players so it's natural that there are still questions over the team/squad as a whole but this was our first game against Accies last season so I suppose it's nice that it wasn't a repeat...

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by capt_oats

[thisGRAEME]

have we signed lafferty yet

[YassinMoutaouakil]

Why the f**k was Long shooting from there?  Fair enough it went in like but it must say a lot about his opinion of our other attacking options that he chose to do a lap of the pitch rather than pass to them.

[capt_oats]

That must have been some amount of paperwork....

Quote

Marcelo Bielsa’s side agreed a compensation package that will see Motherwell receive a guaranteed fee with the opportunity to earn further, should he progress and/or Leeds sell him in the future.

“In an ideal world, we would have like to have kept Stuart for a bit longer and integrated him into the first-team pool,” chief executive Alan Burrows said.

“However, we were also understanding of the opportunity this was for Stuart and importantly, his desire to move there.

“The deal was actually agreed with Leeds back in the spring and Stuart has been down there with his new club since this summer, but it has taken a significant amount of time to complete and the paperwork and receive the necessary clearance, which was finally concluded last week.

All the best and that...

Edited August 26, 2019 by capt_oats

[Busta Nut]

It was supposed to happen last January. That is mad how long all that took.

[Antiochas III]

Think it will have been to do with his age, more than anything.  Making sure there could be no comeback from FIFA or UEFA.  

Edited August 26, 2019 by Antiochas III

[Marinello]

Agree with Cpt Oats re Hartley . Don't see last Saturday materially changing his position.

IMHO I feel he played because of Robinson's limited options following Tait and Carroll's illness.

Real pity that he will likely move on as when he was at his peak he was the closest in style to Shaun Teale and Buff.