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2012/13 Pre Season Thread


Iain7_mfc
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Embarrassing result and performance. Easily could of been 3 up in the first 15 minutes if Murphy had showed a bit of composure. They scored with their first attack of the match with a deflected header, then a shocker of a Humphrey passback gifted them the second. The changes at half time did nothing and poor defending from the corner resulted in a third for Ayr.

 

I wouldn't give anybody passmarks today as they all looked unfit with no desire to win. Ramsden looks too small for a centre back and didn't impress me at all. Hope McCall doesn't sign him but the Bradford connections might swing it in Ramsdens favour. Daley has had a handful of good games since he's been with us but there is no way he should be on a 3 year contract as he is a passenger and looked dreadful again today.

 

 

Tough one for McCall but if we are to sign one player this summer i would prefer a centre mid rather than a centre back as Hateley is better at right back with Saunders at the centre of defence. Only problem with that is the lack of experience between Hutchy and Saunders.

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Pre season 09/10

 

I think we will struggle this season and would take avoiding relegation right now if offered.

 

I reckon we'll finish around 9th or 10th and if we do that, then Gannon will have done well in his first season up here.

 

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Pre season 10/11

 

 

I think our squad is a bit on the small side and I'm afraid I can see us struggling this season. I think we can forget about a top six finish this season and our main concern will be with matters near the bottom half of the table.

 

 

 

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Pre season 11/12

 

 

Motherwell will be fighting relegation, I know I say that before the start of every season but this season it's more likely than ever as we have a very poor squad and also a very poor manager

 

 

 

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Pre season 12/13

 

 

This could well be a long season for us and I think a relegation battle is on the horizon.

 

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Lets hope you keep up your fine form MJC

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Just a bounce game and the run out will do the lads good. Add to that, Ayr had a point to prove and we didn't.

 

Only points of concern to me, as it has been for some weeks now, is our central defence and central midfield. If Hutch is going to be sidelined we'll ship goals. Tuesday evening will be another bounce game but I don't think its unreasonable to expect an improvement. Presumably Adam Cummins is still injured?

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Fuck me! I can't believe anyone, even on here, would label a pre-season friendly defeat as "embarrassing". I naively thought the current crisis in Scottish football would maybe see a bit of understanding and reasoning amongst our fans.

 

Nah.

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Tough one for McCall but if we are to sign one player this summer i would prefer a centre mid rather than a centre back as Hateley is better at right back with Saunders at the centre of defence. Only problem with that is the lack of experience between Hutchy and Saunders.

How do you even know that?! How many games has Saunders played at centre-back that's proven he's the answer? How do we even know he'll be the right-back he was before such a serious injury?

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We could have easily been 4 or 5 up before they scored but not going to over react to the result. If we get gubbed by raith I may start to worry.

 

The centre of defence and midfield did look weak. What was ojamma all about elbowing that boy in the face and then squaring up to the other defender? He wasn't anything like that last season

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I would have agreed with that had we lost by the odd goal today, but we've just been pasted 4-0, FOUR-FUCKING-NIL by a second division club. That's worrying no matter how you dress it up. Our squad is small, even smaller than it was last year and it seems unlikely that we'll bring anyone else in, so God help us should we get a few injuries, especially to Hutchinson or Saunders because apart from them, we don't have any central defenders worthy of the name.

 

This could well be a long season for us and I think a relegation battle is on the horizon.

 

And there we have it. Season 12-13 officially under way.

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While the result was disappointing, it was just a friendly...

To be honest out of the starting 11 no one really impressed. But if theres positives to be taken, I thought out of the young boys that came on, hetherington and Francis-Angol really added something to the team and looked good whenever they got on the ball. In fact i actually thought that hetherington looked like a young, energetic Jennings! And if those half hour cameos are to go by then maybe the squad isn't so thin after all.

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one of the most important thigs that needs fixed from today is Ojamma needs his arse kicked and in no uncertain terms telt that elbowing opposition players and squaring up to them in a meaningless pre season game in Scotland is unacceptable.

 

he did look keen however, greedy at points but at least with a desire to make things happen, but thats no use if he's suspended

 

we actually looked really good for 20?minutes, lots of good movmeent and touches , hit the post three times but after thet scored from their only venture into our half it was a different game, then Humphreys brain fart ( no not Dazzer the other one) killed the game off as competition, all out players heads went down and Ayr could see a big scalp.

 

Randolph looked rusty, Saunders got bullied for the first didnt think he looked all that bad, allowing for his lack of games in the last year, didnt like the centre pairing although they could be ok, midfield had no spark and struggled to stop Ayr, forwards could have changed the game if they were sharper but hey thats what today was about getting match fitness up and seeing some players in different positions

 

roll on tuesday

 

edit: oh and was it big Lee Erwin? with the dodgy barnet, 6'2" mobile striker decent touch? deserved man of the match just for that haircut!

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An eye-raising final score. I suppose with every defeat you look to see what positives you can take from the game. From this I guess the main thing will be that if any of our players had misguided notions about being able to coast on the back of recent achievements then today should be the wake call up that knocks that one on the head.

 

I fully accept that in the grand scheme of things friendlies are there solely to get the team prepared for the real stuff when it kicks in, but if we'd have won 6-0 today we wouldn't dismiss it as meaningless so by the same token I don't think we can just brush off a 4-0 defeat as meaningless just because it didn't happen to go our way.

 

At first glance the scoreline might not have been so surprising had we started a bit ring-rusty but we actually looked really decent in an attacking sense for the first 20 minutes. It just seemed a matter of time before the floodgates would open. Never saw it coming at our end mind you!

 

Sometimes, to quote our old pal Maurice, its just your Donald Duck when the opposition have little or nothing of the play yet manage to score three goals from three efforts on target but that was how it went today. That said it was a little concerning at how we just seemed to stop playing after Ayr went in front.

 

Clearly both as individuals and as a team there are several levels that they require to go up before the season starts in earnest. Whilst there a couple of positional changes I would have preferred to have seen today - such as Tom Hateley being in defence - over the next few friendlies we'll get an indication if today was the plan McCall has got in his mind to go with or a bit of a experiment.

 

Step up required on Tuesday though.

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We were always liable to ship goals today with a makeshift defence. On top of that, we have nobody in the Jennings mould to protect the defence at present.

 

Who knows how our squad will shape up come August but I look forward to the likes of Cummins, Hetherington, Devlin and Erwin making an impression.

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Wasn't at the game and probably won't see the team until the season prospers starts but a midfield with Hateleynin it gives me the fear.....it really does. We had a fairly reliable defence las season and McCall should be looking to keep it as consistent as possible. By playing Hateley in midfield he is weakening the defence further and not strengthening the midfield either.

If we are going to the season 'as is' then Hateley and Hamell have got to be the full backs, Hutch, Page and Saunders can cover centre back. He then has a decision to make on centre mid beside Lasley - 1 from Carswell, Law and Hetherington - but Hateley isn't the answer.

 

 

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Herts comfortably saw off Raith 3-0 today.

 

Just saw the goals there. Some downright shocking defending going on. Think we'll know more after next week and the last of the friendlies, but massive step up now required.

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Like others have said, Hateley in midfield is a concern to me. McCall will see something that we don't but I worry that his decision is driven by his lack of faith in a Hutch/ Saunders (or Hutch/Page) central defensive partnership rather than a belief that Hateley is really the man for the job in midfield.

 

What I don't get if this is the case is why not have faith in two players who have been part of (or on the fringes of) the first team squad for some time, both have played the position well in SPL matches and one of them is a Scotland U21 internationalist? How does Carswell fit into this picture also?

 

It frustrates me that there is an apparant lack of faith in our young Motherwell coached boys. Maybe I am reading it wrong but to play Hateley out of position ahead of Saunders/Page/ Carswell in natural positions does suggest a lack of faith in our home grown boys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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