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We have played 15 games under AJ. 2 bad defeats and suddenly its talk of not picking senior players, not listening to coaching staff, etc etc. I certainly don't see signs of a team not playing for him. Against Aberdeen we were absolutely fine for the first 35 mins, we just fell apart after 2nd goal. Against St mirren we wwre great at start then had a crazy 9 minute spell. As for not picking senior players, mcginn is out with long-term injury. I would have SOD in asap but he was out injured at start of season. Maybe not fully ready yet. 3 week break so hopefully ready for sellik game as we can all see that Sparrow is struggling there and also not captain material. I am as frustrated as everyone else but the idea of replacing a manager after a few bad results is crazy. As for Rosenborg he was there 2 1/2 years so was given plenty of time before they decided to part with him. Last season we would never have envisaged 4th and with an outstanding manager and also lets remember we have lost Welsh, Just, Watt, Slattery and Ward. What other SPFL side lost such a core of their side? And as said before AJ is manager and responsibility ends with him but a good few players need a hard look at themselves also. Maswanhise needs dropped and also maybe coincidence but Longelo been off form since transfer window closed. I look at that squad and I think there is a lot of quality but we are not using them properly. Paulsen is a concern and I am not convinced Matty is any better. Up top we need to get good deliveries into either Seb or Thor. Last thing we need is negativity in the stands, that solves nothing. It's not great just now but jeez lets not forget the shit show we were experiencing under Kettlewell and the 16 game run without a win. We are nowhere near that stage. Heid up Folks and COYW

Hibs were hardly in freefall on day 1 of the season.

Something is nor right just now. Is AJ too rigid in his approach. Has he alienated the senior players and other coaches? Anyway, I'm looking at Dec 5th before a win. A few draws before then and a few skelpings starting with Celtic. I sincerely hope I'm wrong but I've stayed with the team throughout, the Roger Hynd era and the Harri Kampman era( he pissed off the senior players too) Jens would not stand for the dross being delivered or the lack of fight. Who in this team would run through a brick wall for the manager?

Ffs, what game he was watching. They hit the post twice. Paulsen had to make two great saves. It could have been 5. It is becoming increasingly difficult to hear the same message about process, development, training drills and a new squad after every defeat. This guy is a walking text book. With each passing game he is being found out. Sacked from Rosenberg when it went tits up. Rosenberg statement "The results have not been achieved over time. We have been patient and we have let it work, but when the results have not come, the board has unanimously decided that the club and Alfred will go their separate ways at this time" said Gotaas Johnsen during the press conference. Look for him and Motherwell going their separate ways very soon. Out of his depth.

I think thats fair comment. The team does look devoid of confidence just now and that usually only occurs after a sustained run of poor results. Thats down to the management team to motivate them. Why are the players not fulfilling their potential? Maybe there's a range of reasons including new lads still settling in; players being asked to play differently from how they've done in the past; lack of onfield leadership; some individuals not being team players; and yet others not being as good as expected. Its up to the manager to man manage them. The comparison with last season is quite stark. Last year the mixed bag of players inherited by JBA surprisingly bought into his system quickly and you could see what quite clearly they were trying to do, albeit not very successfully in the early stages. This year, even with some continuity of personnel, we're struggling to see quite what they're trying to do. What exactly is our Plan A?

The other teams in Scotland have well sussed us now forcing us to play across , not forward . We seem happy to do it and the manager is not modifying our game enough to counteract that . Seem a bit leaderless on the park aswell. We are not direct enough in the box and too slow in crossing it into the box. Trying to keep passing our way into a packed defence and penalty box until we loose the ball suited Aberdeen and Dundee perfectly. Our goal came from an early cross in but we never persisted with them.Only when Thor came on did we actually cause problems in their box in the second half. Too late by then. Hopefully manager will be working on plan Bs for the next three weeks.

Nope

We’ve gifted a goal in 3 games that has contributed significantly to us loosing the last 3 games. We strolled thru first half at Ibrox but Ramgers had much better secomd half. Neither Aberdeen or Dundee are a better footballing side than us. So first thing is to cut out the stupid mistakes which falls on the players. AJ Needs to get them motivated amd up their energy levels and sharpen up the tactics

The drop of from the dundee Utd game until now is pretty staggering,we have looked a really poorly coached team the last couple of games to the point were seeing none of the basics being done.i get the manager is under the spotlight but there's to many players that have switched off all of a sudden that need to buck there ideas up, cut out the idiotic mistakes and give the manager a fighting chance.ive questioned his team selection a couple of times this season but at the same time,it was the players on the park that couldn't put a dent in stenhousmuir over 120 minutes and to lose heavily to that aberdeen side was embarrassing.im not saying alfred isn't blameless,it's his job to find the answers to the current problems and get the best out his players.the lack of experience in the team is a concern for me but it's been a hectic start to the season and hopefully things will settle and we will soon be out of this sticky patch were in.

I suspect, more than expect, we won't replicate last season, because experience shows how hard that is, even with the same group of players. Our one victory at this stage last year came courtesy of the Aberdeen keeper having an injury time brain fart. Yeah, we'd undoubtedly been showing signs of being a very good side, but I recall a few folk on here questioning how long JBA would last without a win, and bemoaning our Tynecastle meltdown at 3 nil up. Things can change helluva fast. We need something to go for us again, because the team looks bereft of confidence, and that's a killer for our style of play.

I think maybe way to lighten the mood is i took a 2 week sabbatical away from the forum, the joy would make everyone forget about the last 2 results 🤪🤪🤪

We’ve brought in millions from sales which is the business model ( to me that should negate clubs having more money in crowds coz there’s money there ) as I said we’ve consistently outperformed bigger teams for years on the whole….its how you spend the money hopefully works out but I’d take 8th & a cup run just now hopefully the break sees us get it together, don’t buy into this small club mentality though 🤞

If i had a gun to my head I would shout "OK!!!!........NO MORE JOKES.......I PROMISE"

Crowds have been very decent, but there's a marked difference between 7,000 or so average attendance and 18,000 or so, isn't there? So there is that. We're one of the smaller clubs in the league. We're not Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts or Hibs. Doesn't mean we can't be ambitious, which we certainly are, and we are absolutely entertaining. Teams like ourselves, Dundee, Falkirk, St Mirren, St Johnstone, Kilmarnock are always looking to secure safety as a priority. Once we do that, we should be looking to push for top six for sure. But as has been said elsewhere, it seems that there's been a bit of a feeling that we'd come into this season, and despite losing our manager, and our best players, that we'd be winning at Ibrox and making a charge for fourth as a continuation of last season. That was never likely. I still think we'll do okay. AJ will get things moving, and we'll see a challenge for top six and one or two players will stand out and hopefully bring us some good offers in the summer.

I just mean its not a good look fir the club if we don't give him a fair chance. We have had 2 honking results which of course no-one is happy about but he needs a fair chance to rectify it and also the players need to look at themselves. I feel we have the players. We just need the right formation. We are missing priestman big time but we need to get SOD, williams, Levitt, thor in and I think Kanga will come good ( been here less than a month) COYW

To be honest, I'm struggling to see how this season's approach is similar to last season's. Much more reliance on long high balls, and crosses into the box.

Yes that’s correct, which is why I don’t think anyone seriously wants to see him fail or us to say “cheerio” at this point. Any Motherwell fan worth their salt wants the manager and the team to do well but at the same time we can’t ignore some glaring concerns about the way we are playing and the results. And those come back to the manager I’m afraid.

Sure if the manager ends up going no one decent will want the Motherwell job 🥴

Toulouse won 3-2 , their first league win. Well done Jens, hope toulouse fans are giving you plenty time to bring in your style

Crowds have been decent away crowds 1 of the best in the league bigger clubs than us have been a shambles for years so money can’t be the main denominator we’re not a small club & we’re a club that should expect to be pushing top 6, entertaining & having decent cup runs

Hope it isn't even being considered but if AJ got punted you can kiss goodbye to our new model as no decent manager would come anywhere near us. " ye come to Motherwell but please note if within 2 months we have some bad results then its cheerio". Look at killie.....dons.....dun utd......hearts. all had bad runs but bounced back

Because we're one of the smaller clubs in the league? Last season was amazing, but I think it was very much catching lightning in a bottle, especially when it came to our signings. I mean, if you think we should be starting each season expecting to finish 4th then fair enough, that's your choice. But you're probably setting yourself up for disappointment. We start every season in the same position for me. We look to ensure we're not fighting at the bottom of the table, then look to push for top six, and anything beyond that is a bonus. We certainly hope we can finish top six and even push for fourth, but we're not Hearts, we don't have their resources.

Think the point I’m trying to make is there’s an expectation that this season shouldn’t be as good as last why is that though?? we’ve shown it can be done, the next step is the processes to continue that on whether we lose a manager, centre mid, 20 goal a season striker felt we were on the road to that but signs aren’t there for me early but as others have said manager needs to learn quick

I wasn’t at Dundee today but I think it’s inevitable that there will be a parting of the ways within the next couple of months. He labelled himself as the continuity appointment but week by week we are getting further away from last season’s approach. Of course, he had an incredibly tough act to follow but it shouldn’t be forgotten that few Motherwell managers will have been as well backed as Alfred in assembling a squad. Unfortunately though, this does feel similar to the Hammell experiment where he may have a philosophy in his head, but struggles to communicate and implement it. A niggling concern from the outset was that he reportedly fell out with senior players at Rosenborg. Choosing not to recruit any player over 25 and opting not to play SoDs despite Sparrow toiling with a bad back, suggests to me that he may not be too comfortable with having senior players around. That’s in sharp contrast to Jens who took McGinn and SoDs to new levels, and had the unused Halliday singing his praises at every opportunity. i get that any new appointment needs time but this one isn’t going to work out. Once a manager starts floundering in the post match press conferences, as he has done since Ibrox, the writing is on the wall.

They're a good bet for 3rd, which is the least their fans expect. I suppose success will be measured by how far behind they finish this year. As for Europe, good luck to them. They took a couple of real hammerings on the way, but credit where it's due for getting there in the end.