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Rickoza

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Everything posted by Rickoza

  1. Ojamma's back!!!! Jonne Lindblom‏@JonneLindblom21 secsHenrik Ojamaa returns to Motherwell FC on loan from Legia Warszawa
  2. Apparently.............. Scott Burns‏@ScottBurns751mDecent move for @HenriAnier. Also great bit of business by @MotherwellFC getting a substantial 6 figure sum for a player they got for free.
  3. Ainsworth signs on for another year..... Linky
  4. I always remember the bizarre sight of Jordi Cruyff at Cliftonhill to watch Martinez make his debut in a 2-0 friendly win.
  5. Rumour on twitter we've enquired about David Good willie.
  6. Sky say Ainsworth released today by Rotherham.
  7. We've also scored in our last 12 matches, that's an achievement in itself.
  8. That's exactly it for me. The only team who wanted to do something at the goal were Motherwell, Aberdeen stood and watched. Play to the whistle as all of us were told as a nipper. Seen fouls given and not for that kind of challenge, suppose I'd have been screaming for a foul had it been the other end.
  9. Thought we'd win 4 and draw at Tannadice. Huge credit to bounce back after that defeat with 3 wins to take us second. Marvellous.
  10. From what I hear and have seen ICT scraped a point against a wasteful United side. Nothing to fear here, do our job and take it onto a cup-finalesque last day battle for 2nd place.
  11. I was one of the 150 or so of us who actually managed to get tickets. One of the best days ever following Motherwell. Our section was crawling with their fans but you sensed something special when it took Rangers over 4 minutes to get out of their own half at the start of the game. Brilliant occasion, tremendous to see their fans leaving our section after the pen and getting pelters.
  12. Oooof, where do I start? In my first season watching Motherwell, seeing our unbeaten run come to an end at Douglas Park was hard to take. 1-6 at Tannadice when TC scored early in the pishing rain, they got relegated that year too though beating Celtic 1-0 next game made up somewhat. The Forfar LC game was dire. I remember that one at Kilmarnock well, the 1-4 game in horrendous weather. We were almost casualties ourselves, didn't make the game as on the way there one of our front wheels became detached shortly after leaving the motorway, scary times. Most gutted I ever was though was in Finland, so near yet so far all because of one bloody divot of grass. That hit hard that night.
  13. After losing to Queen's Park in February 1933, we went 30 unbeaten in the league into the next season, including 10 straight wins so we've a bit to go yet.
  14. After a 1-1 draw at home to Celtic, we beat Falkirk 5-3 (H), Aberdeen 3-1 (A), Rangers 2-1 (H), Kilmarnock 3-2 (H) and Hearts 2-1 (A) before drawing our next two 1-1 (H) Dundee United and 2-2 (H) Hibs. The next game was a 3-1 win home to Partick which I remember John Lambie saying Motherwell absolutely hammered them in the first half, it was a brilliant 45 as I recall. 2-2 away to Celtic before the run came to an end home to Aberdeen (0-1). Think it was 15 league games unbeaten after we'd lost the opening league game at Ibrox to a, I'm sure, 99th minute winner.......
  15. Had a check, in 1991 we lost 0-2 home to Aberdeen then won five in-a-row before losing agin to Aberdeen. 1994 after drawing 1-1 with Celtic it again was five on the bounce before a 1-1 draw with Dundee United. Two years later we lost 2-3 at Ibrox then won six of the next seven, four in-a-row then 0-0 with Celtic and a futher two wins. 1999 after the 5-6 special it was three wins, a 1-1 draw at Tynecastle then another three wins. And more recently in 2007 a 1-1 draw with Saint Mirren was followed by five wins before losing 0-3 at home to Falkirk. In terms of league wins at the top level, this would be a first since 1937.
  16. Pretty sure that a win on Saturday would be the first time we will have won six top flight league games in a row since 1937. That run ended with an 8-0 drubbing of Celtic.....
  17. Analysis We start this analysis with a disclaimer: prior to undertaking the research we had no inclination of what would be discovered. There were no preconceptions regarding any particularly system, style or player; we merely knew that Motherwell had conceded a lot of goals for a club with European aspirations and were intrigued to find out why. Overall, what we found is that the 4-4-2 that Stuart McCall prefers is unbalanced and doesn't offer enough midfield protection to the back four, particularly the two centre backs. However, we also uncovered the fact that in dealing with such situations, along with a few other errors, one member of the defence has been culpable for goals conceded more than any other member of the team. The Fir Park support certainly viewed him as a good acquisition and still may view him as a valuable first team player. What we found is that is really needs to try adapting his game to cover for what this Motherwell team is exposing him too. So, who is the player in question? It's Stephen McManus. The capture of McManus this summer was met with universal approval from the Motherwell fans and Scottish football observers. His poor stint at Middlesborough and falling out of the national team set-up meant that he was no longer held in the same high regard as he was in his Celtic days, but it was presumed that the experienced defender would do an excellent job out of the limelight and back in the familiar comforts of Scottish football. Furthermore, he could act as mentor to his new centre back partner Shaun Hutchinson. The young Englishman was forced into the role of leader last season following Stephen Craigan's retirement. In the end he adapted well but it was still thought that he would do better if he could concentrate on developing his own game and leave the organisational duties to a more experienced head. Maybe the signing has been of benefit to Hutchinson and who knows, maybe McManus has just been unlucky that on the occasions he has made a mistake he has been punished for it. All we know is that those mistakes have led to goals and we have a number of examples to demonstrate that. A common factor in goals conceded by Motherwell is their inability to deal with the opposition when the match is stretched. Under the current system Stuart McCall doesn't deploy a defensive midfielder to sweep up any potential problems and act as protection for the back four. Because of this we can often see attackers running at the unprotected centre-backs. For Melvin de Leeuw's goal he doesn't quite commit himself as much, but the shading over still leaves de Leeuw with a completely free shot at goal 14 yards out. We started this clip earlier in the move to highlight the fact it was McManus tracking the Ross County attacker when he makes the initial pass out wide. In the end, he not only leaves an attacker unmarked, he also crowds the area in front of the goalkeeper and gives his teammate no chance when the ball deflects off his ankle and goes in off the far corner. There's no doubt that both goals are also the fault of players further forward - Iain Vigurs and his "leisurely stroll" brand of defence for the first and James McFadden (not even pictured) for failing to track the full-back in the second instance. The problem is if you are going to play 4-4-2 with one, or sometimes both, of those guys in the team then you're going to leave your defenders exposed. Note that once more Lasley tries in vain to get across and assist but has to make up too much ground trying to do so. Again, we can give McManus a pass for such mistakes. He's learning with new teammates and it takes time. It doesn't, however, explain any of these. If the reader is at all confused by the last example, be sure to track Stevie May's movement from the start of the clip and identify his marker who then ball watches while the striker nips in behind.McManus is far from being the only Motherwell player who deserves blame. The problem is that he was brought in over the summer to improve a defence that, while it wasn't bad, wasn't as a tight as one would expect from a team comfortably finishing second place in the table. Instead, they are currently on track to concede six more league goals this campaign. Perhaps he is suffering from a confidence problem after his career stalled down south; maybe he's taking a little longer to adjust. Whatever the reason, Motherwell will need him to be dependable over the next couple of months if they are going to stay in the hunt for consecutive runner-up finishes.
  18. First leg officials are from Switzerland. In the wake of Ruban appointing a Romanian as manager, it's intersting to note the officials from the 2nd leg are from....Romania. http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2014/matches/round=2000467/match=2012402/prematch/officials/index.html
  19. Apparently in today's Sun........ MOTHERWELL frontman Henrik Ojamaa faces being DUMPED by his national team. He asked to be left out of Estonia’s squad for three end-of-season friendlies claiming he had SCHOOL duties to attend to. But instead he flew to Poland to watch Lech Poznan play Korona Kielce. The Polish outfit have had two bids for the striker turned down — the most recent last week. Coach Tarmo Ruutli left Ojamaa out of the squad for the friendlies against Belarus, Trinidad and Kyrgyzstan after the striker told him he had ‘school duty’ to deal with. But he was spotted in Poznan and after the defeat to Belarus, furious Ruutli said: “It doesn’t matter whether he’s studying or watching a game in Poland. “I’m still sure he would have found time for the national team if he had really wanted to. This means a lot to me and I haven’t failed to make a note of it. “He’s made his choice — we’ll see what to make of it in due course.” But Ruutli suggested Ojamaa’s future could still be in his own hands. He added: “If he keeps playing well, I won’t hold a grudge for long.” Ojamaa is not the only Motherwell striker in demand, with PFA Scotland Player of the Year Michael Higdon wanted by Barnsley. Oakwell manager David Flitcroft hopes to lure the out-of contract marksman, who scored 27 goals in 43 appearances last season. Motherwell have been hoping to persuade Higdon to sign a new contract. But at 29, the ex-Crewe, Falkirk and St Mirren marksman is likely to jump at the chance of a move to the Championship. Meanwhile, winger Chris Humphrey has left Fir Park after agreeing a two-year deal with League One Preston North End. The Jamaica star, 25, said: “I think this is a club which is moving the right way. I’ve met with the boss Simon Grayson a couple of times and everything he spoke about I liked. “I had four great years at Motherwell and the people at the club were fantastic. It was a tough decision to leave but I feel it’s right to pursue a new challenge.” Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4955533/Ojamaa-dodger-is-national-outcast.html#ixzz2VKqicWZZ
  20. Looks like Humphrey to Sevco as well. Sad day. Still, we move on.
  21. Apparently the club have agreed £130,000 compensation with Sheffield United. To be confirmed of course..........
  22. Law has signed pre-contract with Sevco, signs on 1st september. Step down Nicky, way better than that trash. Money talks sadly.
  23. Lovely chat eh?..... Blades Forum
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