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I like Girdwood-Reich, he's solid and comfortable with the ball at his feet. He seems quite slow though, particularly on the turn, and I think teams may have identified him as the weak link in our defence already.

You tend to get a couple of games a season like last night where your coming away thinking what the fuck have i just witnessed,between that and the stenhousemuir game,hopefully we don't see many more throughout the season.i think a big part of the problem is were chopping and changing too much,the manager needs to figure out his best 11 and get it on the park with how he wants his team to play,last night made no sense we start with a forward line with no height or physicality but the plan seems to put crossed into the box when we get the chance,who is it were expecting to get on the end of these crosses,considering houlden scored from a cross in our last game at home,why is he sitting on the bench and as for cook,he isn't the answer to any of our problems.its a time for calm heads,o'donnell needs brought in as were all over the place in defence,a bit of experience will be welcome.i would like too see us move longelo into an attacking role on the left,he would bring a bit of pace and direct running and can be a goal threat,maybe bringing williams in at left back will help also,last night was definitely a worrying performance but we have the chance to get it out our system very quickly,the line up for dens will be very interesting to say the least.

I actually think we have a stronger squad than last season. I think the players we have added, in general are good. We still have Priestman Koutroumbis and SODs to come back in when fully fit …. McGinn if he ever gets back…as well as guys like Williams Kanga Levitt JKL still to get regular game time. I think we’ll be ok.

Some fair points there. Its too early to judge AJ but the warning lights are blinking but not flashing. A member of our group commented last night that we looked a poorly coached team and we did. We lost some very good players in Ward, Watt, Welsh and Just and we're suffering because of that. They all moved on for a reason. Again its, too early to judge our overall summer recruitment but what is apparent is our failure to bring in some physicality and leadership. I get that physicality and ability don't come cheap. Our style of football is somewhat different from last year and I'm not sure we have the players to replicate that solid possession based approach. A lot more reliance on long high balls, despite not having the players (on the park) to effect that. If we're going to go down that route then Thor and SPH must start. Somewhat unfairly, AJ will not be given unlimited time to get things right and he'll need to sort things out and quick. Last night's debacle, which I'd rate as being worse than last season's Hampden defeat to St Mirren, was the worst I can recall for several years and many fans streamed out last night extremely unimpressed. Lets hope we're not going backwards and last season's progress quickly becomes history.

Exactly...look at the players and manager we lost. It was always going to be a transition that will take time. I certainly don't think Alfred out his depth, he is working with a new squad and implementing his own ideas which will take time

Shocker of a scoreline last night, but definetly some perspective needed as we are very much still in a transitional period and there will be definete bumps along the way. Disappointing, but nothing to worry about yet. Could be doing with 3 points on Saturday as a confidence booster

We don't have the players or the Manager we had last season. This team is going to struggle and Alfred looks out of his depth already.

The bedwetting from some on here and other SM is outrageous, yet sadly predictable. To say after 1 really bad result, and I`m not shying away from that, he is a poor manager or loose to Dundee and the end is nigh is laughable. There was never a chance we would reach the highs of last season, nor do I think it will happen any time soon again, but there are genuinly good signings been made and a decent wad of cash spent bringing them in. I do think the line up was wrong last night, but hopefully he has seen that and will shuffle things for Saturday. Lets keep the faith and get behind the team.

I said you weren't a comedian , and I was right.

Woke up this morning and realised it wasnt a bad dream, we actually did get pumped 4-0 by Dons. Lot of mixed opinions which is natural and what debate is all about but I am more glass half-full and don't suddenly think after one game we have a bad manager, players that wont cut it ....etc etc. Last season we were blessed with an outstanding manager ( not legend though). Whoever was replacing him was always having a big job and rebuild. What i don't get last night is the set up in forward line. RCC hasnt been on form anyway but against a big physical defence where we fling in crosses? Seb or Thor should have started. Right-back is another issue of mines, Sparrow does not look comfortable there. Kanga as David said has only been here 18 days. Players need time to settle and also let's remember that Just was different class so we can't expect Kanga to suddenly hit those levels. Maswanhise for me is really frustrating, yes I dont doubt his workrate but there is just nothing there and he has taken over the Slattery role of going down far too easily. Saturday is a big wake up call and I expect a big reaction from the players plus Alfred needs to make changes. Get Williams, Levitt, Knight-Lebel and SOD in line-up. COYW

4-0 or not 4-0 i couldn’t turn up every week to watch Robinsons teams or that style of football. Hopefully that was a blip, we had so many players off it last night, it was a bit st Mirren semi final flashbacks for me. Jens had some of these games as well last year, there was a few games we got beat that we could have been given more of a hiding. anyway….. I still think we will win on Saturday

😂 so the answer is to back to the good old days of booting the ball up to the big man. We didn’t have a physically big squad last year, that went ok. I think last night goals just came at bad times. 1st was after us have a good amount of sustained possession and it knocked us and then the second killed us. Game was gone then. Its a bad result no doubt, but we have been pretty good this season so I’m not panicking yet

Yes and looks like a schoolboy. What is he 5ft 6ins tall and about 9 stone. Looks like another Willie Vogts. What's the plan? Assemble the most lightweight squad in a league that is all about physical strength.

Trying to compare our start this season to this time last year is pointless, it is not the same at all. For all we couldn’t buy a win at the beginning of 25/26 you could see what we were trying to do football wise, even if we weren’t able to make it count yet. And JBA was a leader, a proper boss, a figurehead who you just felt had that something about him that would work for us. It was always going to be difficult to follow on from that, but sadly AJ doesn’t look anywhere near capable of bringing the same to the table. Yes we have lost some top class players and that was always going to hamper us, but we have no leadership in that team whatsoever.

Him and Mas both turned their back on the ball for first goal, you don't need to be match fit to block a shot. I will be delighted if he turns out to half as good as Just.

Tough stuff, a good start without any clear chances then dugmeat after the first goal. Aberdeen didn’t have to work hard for any of the goals, we gifted them the opportunities. Girdwood-Reich scares the shite out of me.

You must be delighted.

Lowry. Until his free kick.

The coach.

I'm not sure it would be the beginning of the end but I agree it would be very damaging for AJ. Tonight was one of those games where we were beaten before a ball was kicked. Individual errors only compounded that. The starting line up raised a few eye brows. Most obvious was the inclusion of the ineffective RCC. Just why? Questionmarks too over Sparrow's inclusion before SOD; Girdwood Reich before KL; and Kanga in preference to Said. Substitutions? Why were they left so late when it was patently clear the team needed a shake up well before the break. Tactics wise, we didn't seem to have any Plan A never mind Plan B. The team was poor in transition and its clear we badly lack physicality and leadership. Its also worrying when stalwarts like Fadinger are right off the boil. We're not controlling games like we did last season (even when we weren't winning). I just don't get the long ball tactic - it simply didn't work tonight. Also why sling over crosses when we don't have a recognised striker on the pitch? Did anybody from the club bother to watch Aberdeen last weekend? It certainly didn't seem like it as we had no idea how to break them down. Its concerning when, after a 10 day break to allow us to work on the training ground, we seem to have regressed. The players looked jaded, slow and lacking in energy. I can't put my finger on it but something just doesn't seem right.

Good post and thanks for bringing a number of people on board with the terminology and implications (albeit from the outside looking in). I was inclined not to get into this debate for a number of reasons, the most prominent is I've now reached a stage where I think change needs a groundswell of the membership to offer the board pause. Outwith impending doom or selling the club for a ginger bottle, wider fan interest has fallen off massively since the summer of 2024. Therefore we may see the odd tweak here and there but nothing substantial. The second is I prickle at the reframing of the WS as a subscription model. That is patently untrue and covered in another thread where I posted the summary of a meeting in the Cooper Suite where it was discussed. While it may be convenient to characterise it as such, the direct debit was introduced to allow people to attain the base membership of £300 in easier chunks than a lump sum. It was up to them to continue on if they were inclined to the next tier. Supporters will say, well if you want fan ownership it needs constant nurturing, it's naive to think you can contribute £300 in 2011 and that's you. The converse of that is Motherwell is a business that we patronise, most of us with a season ticket. £10 per month to the WS could be looked at as a 25-30% tax the person sitting next to you who's not a member or who is but doesn't wish to contribute and already thinks £25 per game is approaching a high water mark. Many of us may also own a nominal amount of shares in various companies, none of these companies contact us regularly as a shareholder asking for a contribution to advance or safeguard that business. It's also worth noting that Motherwell's shares are not publicly traded. I've already advocated using some of the WS pot in the Old Chestnut thread, I said £500k in that which in theory could enhance the cost of the facility by 25% (if a £2m build cost is assumed). The reason for this is our academy and player trading dwarf our gate receipt income, therefore it makes sense to make whatever we aspire to the very best it can be in scale and ambition. The reason I was happy to advocate this was I think the vast majority of WS members would support it, improving a youth academy is usually catnip to an average football fan. Second it would be something the WS could point to rather than the £868k debt sitting on the club's balance sheet or the countless other amounts frittered away into the ether over the years. Another reason is something that has came up on this thread repeatedly, the relegation/rainy day/slush/break in case of emergency fund (pick your poison). There was a number identified that allowed us to continue our top flight operations but without top flight incomes for one season (ideally two - just in case). It will allow us breathing space not to have a player fire sale and maintain staff. As has been pointed out, figures in 2011 don't hold water in 2026 due to inflation and new costs that weren't a thing back then (employers NI jumping). However, I think this is pertinent to this debate, the environment and place the club was in 15 years ago. Every penny was a prisoner and we robbed Peter to pay Paul. Due to breaking our transfer record twice within a calendar year, we're in the black and much, much healthier today. As conveyed at the AGM, Lennon's fee consisted of eight payments, staggered, so mid-summer and January? So three banked already? Would it be safe to assume Swansea negotiated a similar schedule for Eli Just? If so, the club is due an injection of cash probably in excess of the presumed cost of relegation for the next four seasons. Income of over one million a year (from each player) was not a thing in 2011 and unless that income is already sidelined or apportioned, then it's in play (if we assume Watt and Ward's income has covered our summer spending spree). With respect to the WS debt the club holds. At the outset we were sold on it would move to and fro between the society and the club in times of need. The analogy used was a bellows. The £868k has sat on the clubs books for a number of years, could it have been repaid? Maybe after Turnbull or a significant amount returned but there's been no desire by the debtor or request from the creditor. It's presence undoubtedly helped with Erik as he showed his hand and it became yet another straw for that poor camel. However the question on it I have is two-fold: If the club endeavoured to return the money to the WS, the clubs accounts would be improved? Holding stagnant debt, approximately 15% of your turnover isn't ideal if the club ever needed to engage with banks, financial institutions or lenders. Second, if the club was in dire straits then the first port of call would always be the WS and under the arrangement, funds released to the club as a secured loan. Therefore the facility we currently have in place and some are loathe to change because of the security, could that still be invoked but the WS holding onto all monies until it was asked for them?

You're not, but some are.

Lowry for me but yup Willy deserves credit for 2 cracking crosses

You weren't saying that the other day 🤣🤣