All Activity

Jim Goodwin used to physically assault opposition players on the pitch and claim it wasn't a foul.

The Dundee Courier's take on events...no surprise there then. "A furious Jim Goodwin has slammed the “ridiculous” penalty kick award that sent Motherwell on their way to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Dundee United. The Steelmen broke down a stubborn Terrors resistance as half-time approached following an off-the ball clash between Vicko Sevelj and Tawanda Maswanhise. The United man swung his arm as he sought to shrug off the Zimbabwe international – undoubtedly ill-judged, and something that gave the officials a decision to make – but the footage was unclear regarding the severity of the contact. Nevertheless, referee Nick Walsh was evidently convinced by the footage presented by VAR Ryan Lee and pointed to the spot before booking Sevelj. “Motherwell didn’t have a shot on the target until the ridiculous (penalty) decision that went against us,” fumed Goodwin. “It was a sucker-punch and the players didn’t deserve it. “A decision like that really takes it out of the players – mentally, as well – after working so hard. “A coming together of two players like that happens 100 times in football. However, that’s what we’re used to this season, with the way games are being refereed.” However, all that decent defensive work was undone on the cusp of half-time when Sevelj and Maswanhise clashed. Maswanhise hit the deck like a ton of bricks – the second time in as many games that a Motherwell player has made a preposterous meal of a situation – and caught the attention of VAR. And, as is invariably the case, the on-field referee agreed with the team in the Baillieston HQ. Maswanhise managed to shake off any residual agony to clinically slot the ball past Maynard-Brewer. “Players have to take some responsibility,” continued Goodwin. “We had a similar type of incident against Hearts when their player (Marc Leonard) went down holding his face like he’d been hit hard (by Pan Camara) and conned the ref. “Today, Maswanhise went down like he’d been punched with full force in the ribs. It gives VAR something to look at – but I’d love a referee to see it and just say, ‘that’s not a penalty’. “It’s not a penalty and I wouldn’t want penalties like that given.”

A few contenders today but I plumped for TJ, given his match winning contribution and the fact that United targeted him from the off.

I was sorry to learn that John Boyle took unwell and collapsed at Fir Park this afternoon. Hopefully he's ok. Its great that he still takes an interest in us and I still have a lot of time for him. I met him on several occasions and he was always pleasant and approachable. Yes he made huge mistakes, but his heart was in the right place. Hopefully he'll be attending games again in the near future. As I say, I hope he's recovering and its nothing serious.

Another tough game. Another game we can win. Another game I wouldn't be surprised if we dropped points.

Welsh's pass to set up what should have been JT's hat trick was sublime.

A much harder game than today's in prospect and I'll happily settle for a point, although 3 would be even better.

A great home crowd of about 7,300 today. Great atmosphere too once the team got going. Who said we couldn't increase attendances? Lots of new faces in our part of the POD. Long may that continue. That will boost income considerably and I hope that translates into a jump in season ticket sales. A jump in attendances brings problems though - increased traffic congestion for one. In the southern part of the POD there were big problems at half time with congestion in the stair well and small concourse. Fans making their way down to hospitality; others queuing for the kiosk; and yet others queuing for the loos resulted in human gridlock. Yes the POD is well past its sell by date and large crowds are causing potential safety issues. Lest I be accused of being a miserable sod, they are pleasant problems to have and shouldn't be blown out of context.

Some interesting asides from today's fixture. I thought that Nick Walsh had an ok game but made perhaps 3 odd decisions. No 1: For the penalty, I don't understand why the defender wasn't red carded. It was deliberate and nor reckless but violent. No 2: the incident when Said was yellow carded, rightly so. There was a bit of an altercation between him and an opponent. The opponent pushed or slapped him in the dial he he responded in kind. Why wasn't the defender yellow carded? No 3: he was in a 50/50 tussle with defender and just about to break free when he was cynically hauled down. Why was United awarded the free kick? A special mention to the United fans. What a miserable lot they are (a tongue in cheek generalistion I know). They maintained their well earned reputation by booing JT mecilessly; booing Elijah Just; booing the ref; booing Jim Goodwin; and booing their own players.

A comfortable and deserved win for us today although, as others have said, we weren't at our best. United came for a point and altered their approach to nullify us. It didn't work. Right from the off, they niggled and timewasted and JT in particular came in for for some special treatment. We looked to be wasteful but the penalty set us on our way. Having reviewed the highlights it was a stick on penalty. The United defender was stupid in the extreme and took his instructions just too far. I was surprised that a foursome of United players were allowed to harass the match officials during the VAR review. Our second came quickly and unexpectedly just after the break. Although the ball took a slight lucky deflection it made up for rotten luck at other times in the game. Thereafter, we were content to let United come at us and became a little complacent and sloppy. Still, the 3 points were safe. I thought that the long ball tactic was interesting. A novel idea that caused United problems, but the execution didn't quite match the principle. Over the peice, I thought that Slattery, Said and JT were our best performers on the day. Thor also looked good when he came on and has a nice touch for a big man.

Dundee look to have improved quite a bit from earlier in the season. They gave Hibs a real run for their money today. Tough game, but these are the ones we need to win if we want to be taken seriously as title contenders. On a positive note, their pitch looks great, so our players should enjoy it a bit more than the surfaces they have played on lately, including ours.

As opposed to St Mirren and Utd, Dundee have some attacking threat of late, but also look to be shipping a few. If we keep up our form and dont get complacent, we should win, but i dont see us keeping a clean sheet this time.

I expect this to be a really difficult one. Obviously, I am hoping for 3 points, but Dundee will be difficult. However, win that game and the Celtic game becomes huge.

I didn't think that we were at our best today, but still got the points and, once again, didn't concede. This team just keeps delivering. Great home attendance, though a very flat atmosphere. It felt like the crowd just expected Motherwell to win. I'm sure the atmosphere will build as the top teams come to call. I'm very much looking forward to the remainder of the season.

Would that album be Grizzlyg’s Greatest Jokes? 😇🧐

This is interesting a great chance to rub it in by beating the two Tayside teams in a week. COYW

Exactly my take on it at the time... Didn't see the incident but sevelj seemed OTT defensive about it.

Elbow in the baws would be a cracking name for an album!!🤣

Elbow in the baws is an elbow in the baws. No hiding from that. The boy knew he was fucked with his reaction. End of the day Goodwin is an absolute shite bag. Came to Fir Park for a draw. No believe in his team. I give him two weeks.

His effort to get back goalside near the end to keep the clean sheet was immense. As was Manny's tracking back during the same move! Great teamwork! 🧡❤️🧡

Thought Welsh was different class today .. he reads the game so so well ..

Maybe i've got my claret and amber specs on, but having seen it on sportscene it was pretty clear cut, no? A bit of tit for tat grappling and shirt pulling by both of them then after the moments passed sevelj gives a cheap shot elbow. Completely stupid. Ricky Foster suggested JTs made the most of it, but he's every right to IMO.

And during the early season we were bemoaning the fact we were giving away soft goal, couldn't see out games, and lacked a goal scoring threat.

I've been looking around, as far as I can see only two other teams in a major European league have a better defensive record - Union St Gilloise (15) and Roma (16). We've also scored the same number of goals in the same number of games as Liverpool.

Thought Fadinger was very good. But given how critical I was of him last week, Ive voted for Slattery. Worked really hard and cut out any nonsense, including the lazy passes he is prone to playing. Everything he did was positive. He can enjoy his Saturday night knowing he was a very good team mate!