joewarkfanclub

The Motherwell fanbase hasnt lost its shit though? There are some dissenting voices, sure. But it was always thus. What there has been is vigorous and open debate about our current shortcomings and what can be improved upon to get better results. Any organisation that has a desire to improve needs that. Just nodding and pretending everything is fine never helped anyone.

I see Johnny K is available for selection on Saturday. I wonder if we will see him make an appearance or whether SOD goes to RB with Sparrow in front of him. We certainly need to strengthen the RHS of the pitch somehow. We cant be go into Saturday as wide open as we were last week.

Exactly why he needs to get the team selection and tactics right on Saturday. Trust has to be earned before it is given.

I really hope not. That really would be verging on insanity. We need a result. He needs to play the players that have shown him he can trust.

I dont think we are actually miles apart in our viewpoints. I support a lot of what you are saying about the fans, lack of patience or knowledge about what may or may not be going on behind the scenes.

I think 20 - 30 minutes as a sub, and if successful putting him in against Kilmarnock away might have been kinder/less precipitous. But aye, its hard to see a way back for him now. I hope Im wrong. I really want him to make the grade.

I dont condone fans booing individual players at any time. As you say, it is entirely counter productive. Im also sympathetic to the general theme of your posts. But I agree wholeheartedly with the subsequent posts of KMcAlpin and Wellfan. Giving Willy Vogt his first start in weeks against the best team in the league was frought with danger. I could understand giving him 30 minutes at the end if the game was going well. But Alfred effectively threw him in at the deep end and told him to go swim.

GA 15 is a quality dram! 🧡❤️🧡

Thats absolutely fine. And if Willy hadnt been hopelessly out of his depth and harming the team, then no one would argue. But his first half was so bad that it was very clear that it wasnt going to end well. By not substituting him he merely prolonged the agony and risked damaging the player further due to the reaction from some if the less patient members in our support. FWIW, I wouldnt be championing Maswanhise right now given the form he has been in regardless of any rumours. Said on the other hand brings something to the table most weeks. Despite the chaotic nature of his play on the ball, he is quite disciplined tactically and always works hard for the team.

Has there been a media backlash against us? I dont buy newspapers, so no idea what they are saying. Sportsound was always anti Jens due to him showing their old boys network up. Halliday and Stewart were always pretty positive, Tom English a bit of a weather vane, the rest not so much.

Only got 20 minutes. Game was gone by then, so no real chance to impress.

It may well be that Alfred is well aware of where the problems lay on Sunday and is just protecting the player (a little too late imho). If that is the case then I would expect to see something very different on Saturday. If we do, lesson learned, we can move on. If not and we get another insipid, passive performance with no press and no control of the football, then more questions will arise. You cant win every game. But here is a way to lose football matches, and going down swinging, playing your way on the front foot is more palatable than what we saw on Sunday.

Mmmmm. Who did he play on the right side again? 🤔🤔🤔

Graeme McGarry nails Sunday (12mins). Obviously, he doesnt have his coaching badges either, so he might not be seeing the big picture.

Aye. Not expecting the team to reach Jens levels anytime soon, if at all this season. But Id like to see a shape, structure, patterns of play, any evidence really that we are trying to implement the clubs/managers philosophy. We really havent controlled games in the way we did last season, even in the games we have played well. Thats led to more pressure on our defence and in our box, so no surprise we have conceded some cheap goals. We either need to get back to the fundamentals that made us successful last year, or just not play out from the back quite as much, especially when teams have shown they are ready and equipped to deal with that. The little chipped ball into midfield or into wide areas seems to have been disgarded in favour of the long ball to Seb. Whether thats because Paulsen just isnt as good at it, or Alfred doesnt want him playing it, I dont know. But there are still opportunities to find space on the pitch that we are not utilizing right now.