Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Pettigrew]

4 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Initially when I heard that my first thought was McCormack but then looking at Sloth you've got a player who's got caps for Denmark, signed for Leeds, was playing in the top flight in Denmark before we signed him. On paper it's hard to argue and equally I don't think anyone would have anticipated the consistency we've got from Polworth and Donnelly in the midfield this season when we brought the bold Casper in.

Robinson said as much last night, specifically the point on us not usually getting a sniff at someone with that pedigree.  Then made the point that we have seen the overseas players initially struggle with the pace / intensity in the league, citing Gorrin as an example.

[crazylegsjoe]

It does probably seem like a deal of risk/reward, sometimes you do need to pursue these in hope that they work and given we're fourth in the league it's hardly as if his underperforming has cost us anything at this stage.

In fairness to Robinson, citing Fisher and Taylor-Sinclair as the first two examples off the top of my head, if he does get a signing wrong, he's usually quick to rectify the situation. When you make the sheer number of signings he has to, your bound to get one wrong now and again.

[Swello]

If we as supporters were asked  in the close season if it was worth taking a gamble on a guy in his 20's with caps for Denmark, who would have said "no", considering our normal gamble is "looks good in English non-league". It was worth doing.

[thisGRAEME]

2 minutes ago, Swello said:

If we as supporters were asked  in the close season if it was worth taking a gamble on a guy in his 20's with caps for Denmark, who would have said "no", considering our normal gamble is "looks good in English non-league". It was worth doing.

Absoutely. Still assuming he'll be in the team in January when we get binned off Dundee in the cup and need a turnaround.

[one m in Motherwell]

He does seem to have been totally punted out the loop, any time you see any of his stuff on Instagram he's always either back home or posting weird model-esque shots - he's a handsome b*****d to be fair.

If he was genuinely being overlooked purely on form (which makes a lot of sense given how we've done so far), you'd still expect to see him turn out for the reserves and get the odd sub appearance.  The fact he rarely makes the bench - even for the reserves - is pretty weird.

[crazylegsjoe]

Tait, Maguire, Manzinga and Carson all start for the reserves today, but Sloth nowhere to be seen.

There's every possibility we are trying to avoid any threat of an injury scuppering offloading him in January.

[Big John Handsome]

Does anyone know what happens if our game in Dundee ends in a draw? Not sure if it's extra time / pens or a replay.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

11 minutes ago, Big John Handsome said:

Does anyone know what happens if our game in Dundee ends in a draw? Not sure if it's extra time / pens or a replay.

Scottish Cup is replays up until the semis.

[Casagolda]

Dream Jamie Murphy Motherwell return would be huge for Europe hopes says ex-teammate

Bit random.

Mind it was certainly mooted in the summer but it was a bit of non starter as he was determined to try and salvage his career at Ibrox. Which has obviously failed- only 2 sub appearances so far this season, the last of which was October. 

Would we want/need him? 

Have to say, if we’re to do anything in January, I’d still like it to be a striker. Still feel we're a bit short in that area and would like to see us sign a different option, more of a target man type. Suppose a lot might depend on what happens with Cole though.

[thisGRAEME]

I'd happily take Murphy, but I'm not entirely sure where he fits. Hylton, Scott, Ilic, Seedorf, Manzinga, Cole, Long and then Murphy into 3 forward spots may be a challenge.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I'd take him for the LCD Soundsystem references.

[Archie McSquackle]

That would depend on how good he is now. Peak Jamie Murphy would obviously be top of that list but where does he rank on current form? Has he even been playing reserve games?

[well fan for life]

I'd maybe take him if we weren't paying much for him. I'd grudge paying a big wage for a 30 year old who has only recently had his knee sellotaped back together. 

[Mr. Brightside]

I'd take him for the LCD Soundsystem references.

That's All I Want.

[thisGRAEME]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Brightside said:

That's All I Want.

I've just noticed your Av change and I'm here for it. Man like Dries.

[capt_oats]

I noticed the Paterson interview yesterday as well and thought the specificity of the headline was a bit weird. Like, has Murphy even been mooted recently as a thing?

It seems Gerrard was pretty accurate when he said that Murphy was about 6 months away from fitness. I can only think of a couple of times I've noticed his name on the bench so far this season. Transfermarkt has him having made 2 appearances and playing 53 minutes. In that respect the point @well fan for life makes above definitely holds.

I absolutely take on board the various reservations but in principle, I think we could definitely use an 'experienced' forward. Whether it's Murphy or someone else ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We've heard from Robinson and seen on the park the number of times that we're getting into the final third and moves are breaking down by players taking the wrong option. Which isn't a criticism, it's a result of the inexperience of the players we currently have. When you look at the benefit McDonald was to folk like Erwin and Moult in terms of development then there's definitely an argument in terms of the benefit to having that 'type' of player around.

It was interesting to hear that the word from the AGM (and Robinson's interview on the Longer Listen) the Hastie situation was resolved amicably and was included in our books with us getting a decent wedge and sell-on in the end without it going to tribunal. 

In other news according to Transfermarkt big weird Kyle's deal in Norway was apparently only for 6 months and is up at the end of the month (the team he signed for stayed up, Valakari's side was relegated). Actually, this Belfast Telegraph interview confirms it's a short term deal he initially signed.

It's fair to say he have a history of revisiting previous targets. If he was indeed a previous target.

Edited December 18, 2019 by capt_oats

[Swello]

I thought the Murphy thing was very weird when I read about it yesterday - how did that end up coming up (especially as Paterson and him were not teammates for a long time IIRC)? If that were to be a go-er, it would be in the "gamble" category like McCormack was last season and we got our fingers well and truly burnt there - but even so - I'd be 100% on-board with it TBH as I was a big fan of Murphy...

 

[crazylegsjoe]

I think I'm in the against camp.

No doubt he was great for us the first time around, but he's only had two sub appearances since doing his ACL. We've been stung recently by January "gambles" in forward areas. Ross McCormack obviously last year and despite the ridiculous salivation he causes in this thread, Nadir Ciftci. Both fell in to the same "he'd be a player if he got fit category" and neither did. I'm not letting Ciftci's display in a meaningless game against Accies distort his overall time with us.

We signed Ciftci when Moult had just left and we'd hit a bit of a mid season slump, we signed McCormack when we were struggling. This season we don't have that same struggle and we don't need someone to come in and save our season. 

I reckon he's as good as finished at Rangers, so they're not going to let him out on loan with a low percentage of his wages covered, so for me the move would represent us flinging money at 3rd place and I don't think it's wise to deviate that much from our modest business model which has served us well lately.

Call me boring or unromantic, but I think I'd sooner extend Cole's deal to the end of the season and have a bit of continuity.

 

[Ron Aldo]

4 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe said:

I think I'm in the against camp.

No doubt he was great for us the first time around, but he's only had two sub appearances since doing his ACL. We've been stung recently by January "gambles" in forward areas. Ross McCormack obviously last year and despite the ridiculous salivation he causes in this thread, Nadir Ciftci. Both fell in to the same "he'd be a player if he got fit category" and neither did. I'm not letting Ciftci's display in a meaningless game against Accies distort his overall time with us.

We signed Ciftci when Moult had just left and we'd hit a bit of a mid season slump, we signed McCormack when we were struggling. This season we don't have that same struggle and we don't need someone to come in and save our season. 

I reckon he's as good as finished at Rangers, so they're not going to let him out on loan with a low percentage of his wages covered, so for me the move would represent us flinging money at 3rd place and I don't think it's wise to deviate that much from our modest business model which has served us well lately.

Call me boring or unromantic, but I think I'd sooner extend Cole's deal to the end of the season and have a bit of continuity.

 

100% agree. Get this idea of signing Jamie Murphy put right in the bin.

[AndyRoss]

Has this just been conjured up as Jim Paterson is at EK just now?

Looks like it’s the Wishaw Press sports journalist, who has then asked a question about Motherwell to tick a few boxes in the one interview.

I’d be so reluctant to essentially provide a testing ground as to whether Murphy’s injury is a career ending one. The extent of the injury makes me feel that it’s unlikely he’d come in and hit the ground running too.

I liked him during his time with us and he was a big player for a number of years, but I’d prefer to us looking forward. Personally I prefer loan moves where there’s scope for that player to realistically remain at the club beyond that initial spell.

Maybe he’s made his money and he’d settle for a vastly reduced wage at FP, but I just don’t reckon it’s very realistic.