Maxi Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 From the official site. The following player will leave the club after retiring from football: 5. Stephen Craigan Leaving the club after their contracts expire will be: 18. Ross Forbes, 19. Gary Smith, 21. Jamie Pollock, 23. Jordan Halsman, 25. Steven Lawless, 27. Ross McKinnon, 31. Tom Bradley The following players have been offered extended terms: 3. Steven Hammell, 8. Steve Jennings, 12. Lee Hollis, 14. Keith Lasley, 22. Tim Clancy The following U20 players have been offered extended terms: 38. Joshua Watt, 39. Adam Cummins, 40. Nicky Devlin, 43. Zane Francis-Angol, 44. Stevie Hetherington The following U20 players have signed extended terms: 32. Lee Irwin, 37. Euan Murray The following U20 players have been released: 30. Herman Mboa Mekongo, 33. Michael Lynch, 34. Keiran McGachie, 35. Keiran MacDonald, 46. Darren Brownlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 McGachie who got poty released? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwellhighland Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 McGachie who got poty released? yeah what's that all about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONeils40yarder Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 yeah what's that all about He wisnae up to much from what I seen of him. Lots of effort, but would never make it in thE SPL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Stall Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Pollok and lawless away? I thought the reviews said they were both good players, they do a decent turn for me in football manager! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 He wisnae up to much from what I seen of him. Lots of effort, but would never make it in thE SPL What about Mboa Mekongo? Based on early reports, I gathered there was a bit of promise about him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 What about Mboa Mekongo? Based on early reports, I gathered there was a bit of promise about him. He certainly looked a decent prospect any time I saw him on the MFC TV highlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East_Stand_Al Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Surprised at the young lads we've let go especially with the U20s League coming in next season, however in the club we must trust. Perhaps a smaller squad for the U20s to keep more senior players unfortunate trade off but perhaps we had little choice. Hope they all go on to do well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEWELL Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Yes in McCall and coaching staff we must trust. If our youngsters aren't showing any promise then let them play at a lower level. Next season is a massive one again for us and we must use our limited funds wisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldonmac Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Hopefully Forbes goes on to carve out a decent enough career. Would really love to see him prove a few folk wrong. His natural ability with the ball and eye for a pass are unquestionable IMO. Whether he has sufficient fitness levels to cut it remains open to debate. It would be nice to see him get a run-out on Sunday. Thanks for a few amazing memories Ross. Totally agree, reckon he was one of the most skillfull footballers at Fir Park, unfortunately he didn't deliver on his ability. Also the fact a lot of fans got on his back wouldn't have helped his confidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 The club keeps telling us that our youth system is the future of the club and I've no reason whatosever to disbelieve that. I can only assume that our management team don't think that the young lads they've released are going to make it. Why on earth would they release players that they rate highly? As for the youngsters that have been offered new deals but have still to put pen to paper they'd do well to ponder over the careers of Paul Slane and Alan Martin both of whom felt they had outgrown us. We only need to cast our minds back a few short years to the Terry Butcher era when a few of our fans had a right good go at him in person for preferring Paul Quinn to Willie Kinniburgh - we have to trust the guys in charge, as they work with the lads day in and day out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Surprised at the young lads we've let go especially with the U20s League coming in next season, however in the club we must trust. Perhaps a smaller squad for the U20s to keep more senior players unfortunate trade off but perhaps we had little choice. Hope they all go on to do well there will be boys moving up from u17 and probably some fresh faces coming in to fill out the u20 squad. i think pollock and lawless were just too wee. there's not many 5ft 2 players out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al B Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 I'd agree with that, Lawless to me looked a player and I'd have liked to have seen a bit more of him, but I think he'd get battered in the SPL. You'd have to have a special kind of (dare I say it, Nevin-esque) talent to overcome that kind of physical limitation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquid_football Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 (edited) McGachie who got poty released? McGachie will be over the age limit for U-19 league at the start of next season, I think that has more to do with him being released than his talent/lack of it. If McHugh can barely get a game I highly doubt McGachie would get the kind of regular first team football needed for him to develop. All the best to him anyway. Personally, I'm most disapointed about Lawless, he was excellent against Clyde early in the season and always looked full of running on the ball and off whenever I saw him. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up at Albion Rovers given he's spent more most of the season there. EDIT - forgot the U-20 league had been given the go ahead from the start of next season, rather spoils my argument Edited May 11, 2012 by liquid_football Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 French Herman is gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 As for the youngsters that have been offered new deals but have still to put pen to paper they'd do well to ponder over the careers of Paul Slane and Alan Martin both of whom felt they had outgrown us. What about the youngster that have signed on, impressed or showed promise when given very limited opportunities and then have been ignored for the rest of the season? The guys that signed on last term pretty much wasted a year of their career. Some managers are good at bringing through young players, others aren't and I'm not convinced that McCall is a manager that is going to give younger players a fair crack of the whip. He is by nature a cautious manager in a number of ways and I think we'll only ever see young players come through if it is absolutely forced upon him. The only reason we've seen Carswell play lately is because Craigan was injured and Clancy had to play in the middle, requiring Hateley at right back. If young players aren't going to get a chance here then why shouldn't they leave? If I was a young player looking at McCalls record of bringing through 19, 20, 21 year old players I'd probably be thinking 'I'm probably going to have to leave to get games'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well 4 Europe Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 What about the youngster that have signed on, impressed or showed promise when given very limited opportunities and then have been ignored for the rest of the season? The guys that signed on last term pretty much wasted a year of their career. Some managers are good at bringing through young players, others aren't and I'm not convinced that McCall is a manager that is going to give younger players a fair crack of the whip. He is by nature a cautious manager in a number of ways and I think we'll only ever see young players come through if it is absolutely forced upon him. The only reason we've seen Carswell play lately is because Craigan was injured and Clancy had to play in the middle, requiring Hateley at right back. If young players aren't going to get a chance here then why shouldn't they leave? If I was a young player looking at McCalls record of bringing through 19, 20, 21 year old players I'd probably be thinking 'I'm probably going to have to leave to get games'. "Wasted a year of their careers", who done that exactly. I'm sure guys like Halsman, Pollock, Bradley, Mckinnon & Lawless will look back at the year they spent being professional footballers earning decent money quite fondly when they're turning out part-time for Clyde, Abroath, Bo'ness United and the likes whilst having regular jobs like the rest of us. Harsh but true. These boys were given an extra year to act as cover and a last chance to impress, none of them were good enough. Simple as that. Lawless may have looked good against a third division outfit but McCall see's him day in day out and I trust his judgement that he along with the others aren't good enough. McCall's isn't refusing to give youth a chance because he's 'cautious', I believe it's because they're simply not good enough. We don't owe these boys a living, we look after them very well from a young age & help prepare them for a possible life outside of football. It's not up to us to simply hand these boys a chance, they have to earn it. The best players will always make their way through. To disprove my point above, can you name me one player that has been let go by Motherwell and not given a chance in recent years and actually gone on to have a decent career elsewhere? I can't... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquid_football Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 To disprove my point above, can you name me one player that has been let go by Motherwell and not given a chance in recent years and actually gone on to have a decent career elsewhere? I can't... Chris Higgins? Stats That's a grand total of one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al B Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 Hang on, McCall not giving them a chance because they aren't good enough? McCall not giving them a chance because he's too cautious? It's neither of those things! They didn't get a chance this season for the same reason Hollis didn't get a chance this season. Can you imagine a season where we spend half of it fighting for 2nd, and the trying to secure third and Champions League football, and McCall thinks "hmmm...I think i'll leave Darren on the bench and see what Tom Bradley can do". The fans would have gone apoplectic! He played the young boys when it was required, and if we'd been relatively mid-table I'm sure we'd have seen a fair bit more of them and maybe a few would have secured longer contracts, but this isn't the kinda season where kids were going to get a chance, and rightly so. A club such as ours can't have it both ways...seasons where we're not doing as well, we'll bring kids through because we can afford to. Seasons where we're managing relative success, we won't because the risk isn't required. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggischomper Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 Team pretty much picked itself this year. No wonder the youngsters 'didn't get a chance". Given where we ended up it stands to reason that the only chance they would get would be due to a first teamer having a long term injury. Plus, we picked up Ojamaa in January, further limiting chances for squad players. Wouldn't have had it any other way under these circumstances Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 "Wasted a year of their careers", who done that exactly. I'm sure guys like Halsman, Pollock, Bradley, Mckinnon & Lawless will look back at the year they spent being professional footballers earning decent money quite fondly when they're turning out part-time for Clyde, Abroath, Bo'ness United and the likes whilst having regular jobs like the rest of us. Harsh but true. These boys were given an extra year to act as cover and a last chance to impress, none of them were good enough. Simple as that. Lawless may have looked good against a third division outfit but McCall see's him day in day out and I trust his judgement that he along with the others aren't good enough. Pretty well sums it up for me. We all like to see youngsters get on in the game but like it or not, very few will actually make it at SPL level or above. I'm struggling to think of many youngsters we've released who have then gone on to bigger and better things. Alan Martin at about 18 felt that he should be getting first team exposure, was desperate for a move and convinced Leeds to give him a chance. He didn't make the grade, ended up on loan at Barrow I think, and the last I heard was playing for Ayr United. We all know about Paul Slane. Our management's primary obligation is to put as strong a first 11 on the park as possible and get results and if that means leaving out young lads they'll do it. But they also have an important duty to look after young lads and if they aren't ready for first team duty they'll be told. Its doing them no favours to pitch them into the hurly burly of SPL action if they aren't ready for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONeils40yarder Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 What about Mboa Mekongo? Based on early reports, I gathered there was a bit of promise about him. Mekongo looked like a haddy the 1st time I seen him, but with each week he seemed to get better and better and to be honest I was surprised to see his name on the list, but I've not seen them play since February so I've nae idea whats happened since then. It might even be that he was getting paid more than his peers and the Club didnt think it was worth it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Dosser Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 Couple of points I'd like to throw in re the youngsters, McGachie being released looks a bit of a surprise but he was not as highly rated as Erwin, so in real terms he was further down the pecking order than his POTY award would suggest. I liked the big guy he is an honest, hard working team player, but IMHO was a wee bit lacking in out and out skill for the top level. Having said that he might be the one that comes back to bite Well. I am led to believe that there may have been a fee due to a team in France relative to some form of compensation for Mekongo. I have heard this 2nd hand so can't verify one way or another. He did have some good games but at times looked to be playing to a different script to the rest. Don't think he was really suited to Scottish football (not sure if that says more about Scotland than the boy!) The others released are all a good standard of player and will I'm sure get fixed up elsewhere. I wish all of them well and good luck for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Made Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 I am led to believe that there may have been a fee due to a team in France relative to some form of compensation for Mekongo. I have heard this 2nd hand so can't verify one way or another. He did have some good games but at times looked to be playing to a different script to the rest. Don't think he was really suited to Scottish football (not sure if that says more about Scotland than the boy!) The reports last year when he was signed last year, he was signed as an amateur because of this. It worked out that it was going to be a fair whack that would have to paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Dosser Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 The reports last year when he was signed last year, he was signed as an amateur because of this. It worked out that it was going to be a fair whack that would have to paid. Thanks for that mate, thought there was something, but as I said wasn't confirmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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