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David

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Posts posted by David

  2. Posted · Report reply

    14 hours ago, ohwulliewullie said:

    It would be a nice touch to make a pre-match announcement on Saturday to acknowledge the part that Gordon, Souttar and O'Donnell played for Scotland on Monday night   

    That idea may be applicable if we win the world cup. As it is? I don't think so.

    • Like 1

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Just now, Busta Nut said:

    Cos he has had a decent game for Scotland?

    Even if he is decent at the weekend to deny he's been utter shite for us is fucking stupid. 

    He certainly hasn't been at his best for us of late, I'll give you that.

    But is he "utter shite"? I'd say no. And thankfully Steve Clarke and Graham Alexander seem to think the same.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    On 11/2/2021 at 1:57 PM, wellsince75 said:

    Watt will need to prove himself over a more sustained period of time before being considered for Scotland.  

    Like Jacob Brown has over the past two seasons?

    On last night's performance, O'Donnell was superb. The only thing that really prevents him playing at a level above us is consistency at club level.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    3 hours ago, Yorkyred said:

    The amount of possession and shots given to the opposition does worry me, I’m just not convinced it’s a sound tactic moving forward if we want to try and build something which I thought was the whole point of giving longer contracts. Maybe it is looked at as a short term fix until he gets the midfield he really wants which is fine by me, I just hope that’s the case.

    I do think there's maybe something to that. I know we tend to think that it's as easy as just getting rid of players we don't want, but when managers have to work with limited transfer time due to the windows, and we have players under contract that aren't wanting to move on or haven't been offered anything suitable, it can be a difficult process.

    I have heard it said that a manager really needs three windows, two of which should be summer windows, to really sort out a team, which obviously isn't always an option, but I think if we can maintain a decent league position Alexander will be given the time needed to put his own team together.

    • Like 1

  9. Posted · Report reply

    21 hours ago, AllyMax said:

    So you fully believe we can give opposition teams 70% possession and 15-20 attempts on goal on a weekly basis and come out on top more often than not ??

    We only need to come out on top more often than four to six other clubs over the course of the season.

    Would I be right in saying that Graham Alexander teams have a history of playing football that isn't easy on the eye? Salford City fans were grumbling about the same thing it seems.

    Coincidentally, when Alexander was sacked Salford were 5th in League 2 and unbeaten in their first five games. Now they're 19th with four wins out of 15 this season.

    I read they're a lot nicer to watch now though, so there is that (legit what I've read, not sarcasm for those who are interested ;))

  13. Posted · Report reply

    18 hours ago, Well Well said:

    That's why its a fans forum :huh:. If your looking for something more serious think you need to look elsewhere. Everyone is entitled to their opinion no matter how deluded.

    That'll be a bit of a whoosh then? It was a sarcastic post, I'm not actually saying no one should post unless they have hard stats to back up their information! 

    The stats in question are very telling, mind you.

     

  14. Posted · Report reply

    4 hours ago, weeyin said:

    Two interesting stats I read in today's Scotsman that I'll post here rather than in a new thread.

    Callum Slattery has contested more defensive duels (121) than any other player in the Premiership this season. He also heads the list for most fouls won per 90 mins and total fouls won, as well as being the leader in total fouls conceded.

    Liam Kelly is first for both saves and shots faced, (but not for goals conceded).

    Stats? Pffft! No place for that kind of chat round these parts! who needs stats when you have under-qualified opinions and rants? 

  15. Posted · Report reply

    13 hours ago, Busta Nut said:

    Hey guys, I am calm cos I am a much better fan. Entertainment? Not for me, I'd like to stand there bored for 82 mins and hope we sneak a goal in the few minutes we play football.

    A better fan? Not at all, and I never said I was. I'm just not losing the heid because we've lost a few games of football and haven't looked good of late. We've been down this road before, and it's on the manager and his staff to get us out of it. 

    If he doesn't, then there'll be questions to answer. But when we're sitting 7th (on equal points with the team in 5th) I'm not going to cry too much. I know certain people on this forum seem to thrive on the negative, and that's their choice, but I'm not there quite yet!

  16. Posted · Report reply

    9 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

    I dont think the reaction is to the Rangers game alone. I dont think its even due to the other negative results you mention. 

    Personally Im usually the last to turn on a mamager and have no issue with being considered a "happy clapper" as a result of trying to see the positives in our performances.

    However, its impossible to ignore how disjointed we are as a team and how poor we are on the ball.  Trying to identify the positives in our performances right now is difficult. 

    As I posted a week or 2 ago, our "style" will be suffered by the majority of fans as long as we are getting results. But when we dont, it becomes way more difficult and thats where we are right now.

    I believe most of our fans are pretty realistic about our place in world footballa and our league position and points total right now is acceptable. The lack of football we are playing against pretty mediocre teams is not.

    The thing is, we've been down this road before, haven't we? Fans loved a good moan about the way Robinson set out his stall as well, and it was only when things got really bad and he decided he'd had enough that we switched things up as far as the manager goes.

    If I was given the option of playing as we are and being where we are in the league table, or playing nice football but being where Ross County are, I know which I would choose. 

    Unless he decides to quit, or we fall into the relegation places, the manager is going nowhere, so it's pointless even looking at that scenario. Especially when he has us sitting 7th in the league and just picked up a manager of the month award. Not to mention he's been allowed to bring in players on long-term deals. This is clearly a project from both his and the clubs viewpoint. Arrogant or not, he's here for the long haul.

    And for the record, I'd disagree. I think a good percentage of our fans are entirely unrealistic about their expectations from our club. Be that because they've been spoiled of late with top half finishes or whatever, but like most lower league clubs in leagues around the world, playing attractive football comes a distant second to our league position. If we can get points on the board and look decent while doing so, then great, but we all know what the priority is.

     

  17. Posted · Report reply

    I'd happily take a point from Pittodrie at the best of times, and that will never change. 

    This is Scottish football though. I've seen us lose in the past, with everyone talking about how we'll never get anything from our next game against in-form team X, only for us to go in and win comfortably. 

  18. Posted · Report reply

    I knew we'd see this hysterical reaction when we hit this run of games, so I can't say I'm surprised.

    For me, Hearts and Dundee United away, with Celtic and Rangers at home was always going to be a tough run of games. I thought we'd maybe get a point out of that lot at best, but although we didn't, we did get a point at Ibrox which was unexpected.

    The St Mirren game is the only real bugbear I have at the moment. We should have won that one, and although there were extenuating circumstances involved, we didn't really deserve more than the point we got.

    However, before the aforementioned run we managed to draw away at St Johnstone and Rangers, while beating Livingston, and we beat Dundee, Aberdeen and Ross County at home, only losing to Hibs in the season opener.

    We're currently sitting 7th, although we're joint 5th really on points with Aberdeen and Hibs, which isn't bad at all. 

    We're playing Aberdeen and Dundee away this month, with Hearts and Dundee United at home. I'd be looking for 4 points minimum from those games, with 5 or more being a good return. 

    Everyone knows the directives our manager has at the start of the season. Avoid relegation, challenge for top six if we can. Personally, I didn't think top six was going to be realistic this season with the quality in the league. I see Rangers and Celtic in some form taking the top two slots, with Hearts, Hibs and Dundee United taking three. It'll likely be between Aberdeen, and one of St Mirren, St Johnstone or ourselves for that final place.

    If we can nab that we can consider this a very good season.

    Is the football entertaining? I guess not, but I find it strange when Motherwell fans talk about entertaining football. I honestly don't even realise if we're playing attractive football, as my main concern is us winning. I'm invested in the result, and kicking every ball during the 90 minutes. If entertaining football was the prerequisite for supporting a football team the majority of sides would have no fans. 

    If I want entertainment I'll fire on the Sky box and watch Chelsea or Man City. More often than not the big teams with the most talented footballers can provide entertainment. I watch Motherwell not to be entertained, but because it's just what I've always done. 

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  19. Posted · Report reply

    3 hours ago, gazzetta19 said:

    Absolutely dire today. Alexander's sole objective is to secure enough points to stay in the league. If we sneak into the Top 6 - bonus. It is going to be a helluva bumpy road this season with zero football played. Is that going to be acceptable to the majority of Well fans? Not sure...

    That's the objective of any manager we bring in, isn't it? 

    As for playing football the right way? If it happens then great, but my main concern is ensuring our premier league status first of all, then hopefully pushing on for top six if we can. Ross County have had plenty of plaudits for their football, and they're currently six points from safety at the bottom of the table.

    I've seen Livi mentioned as well, having taken points off Celtic. Again, where are they in the league? I'd take not being relegated, some top six (and even top four) finishes, and a few European games over beating either of the Old Firm in the league over recent years.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    17 minutes ago, MJC_mkII said:

    But we as a club always seem to look at these games as playing the name, or the budget if you prefer, rather than what is in front of us on the park. Yes they have better players, but in one off games if we are to have any hope of getting a result then we can’t just focus on budgets and basically write the game off beforehand. 

    I don't think for a second that the manager and players do that. Not at all. And that's what matters. The fans opinions on budgets, players, excuses etc matters not a jot.

    I'm simply giving my own personal opinion. Which is, that we need to be on our game and hope that they're not. If that's the case then magical things can happen. 

    Unless the ref fancies a few free pints down his local, of course :ph34r:

  21. Posted · Report reply

    3 minutes ago, MJC_mkII said:

    Yet you are on here describing a decision in a match that had nothing to do with us as “an avalanche”.

    It was a figure of speech. I'd hoped that would be clear, with me mentioning mountains and suchlike. Basically, what I'm saying is that it's hard enough to win these games against Rangers and Celtic without the inept officials being swayed by the crowd and the fact they're under the spotlight.

    4 minutes ago, MJC_mkII said:

    And on the budget issue, again I accept that the sides with bigger budgets will always win the majority of games and thus, the trophies. That happens in every country all over the world.

    However as I said we have some in our club and support who use this as a pre-made excuse for not getting results against them in one off games every time we play them. This is why, imo, other clubs have been able to beat both of them (in one off games, not to win the league title) all in the same time that we have failed miserably to do so.

    It's not an excuse, I already told you that. It's called going into a game with realism. I also said that for us to win we need Rangers or Celtic to be off their game, and for us to be switched on. However, let's be honest here, if either of those clubs come to play us and they're up for the game and firing on all cylinders it won't matter what we do.

    As for failing to beat them? I'll take that if it means us having the sort of league record we've had the past ten years or so. It's only three points, after all. There's no bonus points for beating Celtic or Rangers.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    15 minutes ago, MJC_mkII said:

    I have to add as well, that is absolute bullshit. This is another pre-made excuse that people have “the refs are all pro-Rangers/Old Firm”.

    No, the refs are inept and they tend to give decisions based on what would be the easiest outcome to deal with. Deny Rangers or Celtic a last minute penalty in their title race and scrutiny follows from all sides. Give the penalty and all he'll have to deal with is the opposition manager raging.

    17 minutes ago, MJC_mkII said:

    Bad decisions happen, the referees are largely useless but like the budget excuse it’s just another cop out for not getting results in games against Rangers or Celtic.

    It's not a budget "excuse," it's simply fact. Why do you think, 99% of the time the league titles in most leagues are won by the teams who have the largest budgets? When was the last time a non-old firm side won the Scottish league? 

    Money buys quality, and quality more often than not wins games. You may not like it, but that's how it is.

    • Like 1

  23. Posted · Report reply

    My opinion heading into any game against the cold firm is the same. For us to really have a chance of getting anything we need them to be off their game to an extent, while we're up for it and everything clicks.

    It's always worth remembering that Rangers wage bill is reportedly over ten times the size of ours, and Celtic's is almost 13 times bigger. I also saw an interesting article a few years back that said that there is less of a resource gulf between Celtic and PSG than there is between Celtic and most of the clubs who sit in the bottom half of the SPL financial table. Think about that for a second.

    And yes, I know that wages and money don't always win football games, but as we've seen in our game and throughout Europe, most of the time the team with the larger financial resources tends to win out, simply because they have more quality.

    Throw in the fact that offside goals, penalty decisions and suchlike always seem to go against us in favour of those bigger teams and not only are we climbing a large mountain to begin with, but the match officials are continually causing avalanches to make our job even harder.

    We live in hope, but as we saw last night, a team can be two goals up and outplaying Rangers and still come away with a draw. That avalanche at the end was sickening.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    11 hours ago, MFCL84 said:

    What can you say about yet another brutal performance. We are by far the worst team in the league to watch. Every other team appears to be technically better on the ball and better at moving off the ball. Our brand of football is awful to watch. We are outplayed every week. It is a small miracle that we have the points that we do so far. I long for a game where we dominate possession and look like a well drilled, capable team.

    Don't you find it amazing that of the 11 technically superior teams the majority are behind us in the league? Insane, isn't it? 

    We may be the worst team in the league to watch (we're actually not though), technically inept (not really), and outplayed every week (nope), but we're currently in the top six, have a better goal difference than every team below us, and have won more games.

    Basically, we're not here by some "small miracle," we are where we are on merit. We've hit a rough patch, as most teams in the league will at various points, but we'll pull through it and will be challenging for top six this season. 

  25. Posted · Report reply

    9 minutes ago, wellup83 said:

    Between Watt and Kelly for me but I think the latter is culpable for the first goal. 

    Goalkeepers get held to an unfair standard in comparison to their team mates though, don't they? A striker misses a shot, the fans grumble and the game continues. A goalkeeper makes a split decision and it can affect the entire game.

    Kelly gets the MOTM award for me because he not only ensured we won a point at the end with two excellent saves in succession, but legit saved a penalty in my opinion. That should never have been a retake. 

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