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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/04/2022 in all areas
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Kelly and (when he eventually got recalled) Lamie are about the only two that had 5 decent games all season. And they made mistakes as well. Plenty of others........to name a few in no particular order....Carroll, Mugabi, Goss, Shields, McGinley, MacGuire and even Watt and Van Veen....had a run of games where they made the same mistakes over and over. But they were not treated in the same way as O'Donnell. That is, benched and ignored until season end no matter how dire the situation got. Short time memory seems to work both ways. So no. I'm not going to scapegoat O'Donnell for making errors. He sure did, but so did everybody else. Almost the entire team was underperforming from January onwards, if not before. Just some were singled out more than others. O'Donnell was not alone in that but he suffered most. Grimshaw came close but in his case he disappeared from the matchday squad for not being good enough but was not made to sit on the bench game in game out. As for fan votes. I'll take those with a pinch of salt given that many of those voting would not have voted for O'Donnell if he had scored a hat trick in the last five minutes against Celtic/Rangers in a cup final. And if we are to believe fan votes online, then us Motherwell fans voted Goss as our player of the year in the matchday BBC poll. I think O'Donnell was treated appallingly. You don't. We'll just have to agree to differ.4 points
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One thing I hope for on Saturday is a cracking atmosphere and none of the behaviour witnessed at both Sligo games from some fans. We all need to get right behind the team, nothing worse for a player if getting dogs abuse every time a mistake is made. Sure , there are players I am not a fan of but I don't berate them when they are on the pitch. Let's hope for a 2nd league win and a happy forum ..COYW3 points
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I’m not convinced we are so much better than Sligo that we should have taken five off them, but we most certainly should not have lost 0-3 on aggregate to them while barely managing a meaningful effort on target over the two games. As I said last week that is right up there with the worst results we’ve had in our history. Though that’s always a risk when you shitfest your way into European football despite only winning three league games since the turn of the year with a manager who makes needless changes almost every single week, shows no gameplan and then tries to tell everyone that black is white after just about every abject, dismal performance.2 points
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Hearing a lot of talk about Lambert being a great choice. Not quite sure what that's based on to be honest. At one point with Ipswich he had won 2 games from 25, and the reaction of the fans when he was sacked was of the type of jubilation that makes Motherwell fans reaction to Alexander going look like nothing. In short, his style was turgid, he was actually arrogant and abrasive with media and even fans, showing indifference to the idea of him being sacked for terrible form. When asked if he fears for his job by a reporter he said: "As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, if Marcus (the owner) came to me today or tomorrow and said whatever... nae problem, I can’t do nothing about that, I can’t influence that." Some of our fans believe that Alexander fell out with O'Donnell and lost the dressing room? Lambert absolutely did fall out with Ipswich's players. He was sending guys to train with the under-23's, and when reporters were asking him who he was talking about when he was slagging players off in the media, he responded like... Basically, he would be a terrible choice. A great player, but a manager who's way past his best.2 points
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That doesn't inspire me but at end of the day whoever gets the job needs the fans to get behind them and give them a chance2 points
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Amen, I can’t remember a single time a players performance improved by getting abuse. On the other hand giving support has strange way of improving confidence.1 point
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I suppose the same could be said about Alexander. And, sadly, will no doubt be the case with whoever is next to take the reins at the club. Unless they're a former player who the majority of fans like. An example of that would be Paul Lambert. I've seen a number of fans saying they'd take him because he was a good player for us. I follow Ipswich Town, and if our fans think Graham Alexander's football was bad, they better hope Lambert never gets the job. At one point with Ipswich Lambert was sitting on 2 wins from 25 games. Oh, Alexander played a part in things. Where I tend to disagree is this notion in certain areas that Alexander dropped him and didn't bring him back because O'Donnell was reportedly a lone voice standing against the evil, arrogant manager who doesn't know what he's doing. I just think he saw, like the rest of us, the errors he was making quite consistently in games last season and thought that he wasn't good enough. Was he right in that assessment? I don't think so, and I certainly don't think he's worse than Mugabi or any of the other players he tried to shoehorn into that position. But I think it's an honest assessment. And it's not insane to believe that he just didn't rate O'Donnell. If there was animosity between the two of them why would he bother picking him at all? Surely having him on the bench suggests that he thought he was worth having as a backup, even if he didn't rate him as highly as some. Again, I honestly think if Alexander was arrogant and fighting with his own team, dropping people out of spite and so on, he wouldn't have the backing of the captain. Kelly had no reason to come out and say what he did. He didn't have to do it, but he did, which tells you the respect he has for him. I don't believe Kelly would feel that way if Alexander was the type who was ostracising his team-mates. I just think he didn't rate Stephen O'Donnell. Which isn't a crazy notion, as a large chunk of our fanbase don't rate him either. Oh, absolutely. He signed McGinn to replace O'Donnell. Now, here's a question. What if the next manager comes in and thinks McGinn is a better option than O'Donnell as well?1 point
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1 point
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Spud did you not notice Efford passing the ball straight to a St Mirren player resulting in Lamie getting sent off? He's a diddy.1 point
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Not to take this post in isolation - club haven’t asked for applications as that’s rarely the process. Registering of interest comes in differing ways.1 point
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I suppose it's really how you view it. For me most of the fans that wanted SOD dropped never wanted him at the Club in the first place. I'm not going to trawl back but the comments when he signed were out of order. Some even held his supposed liking of Celtic against him. So when he had a dip in form it just played into their narrative. When he had a decent game those fans were noticeably quiet. His winner in Europe some time back as a classic example. So his form was not their main motivation, even when it was poor. When he had a decent game for Scotland those same fans also used that against him. I think we agree he was probably our best right back whether he was playing or not. We were certainly both supportive of him and thought some of the comments against him were OTT. Where we differ seems to be when it comes to Alexander's part in things. Even when Mugabi was really struggling and becoming a liability out wide, Alexander insisted on sticking with him in that position. Not only on a game by game basis, but also during games when Mugabi was almost pleading to be replaced. And O'Donnell was on the Bench, fit and unused. When Alexander eventually decided to change things, he ignored SOD and even turned to O'Hara in one game. So, if O'Donnell was injured why was he on the Bench? If he was not injured why was he ignored when everybody could see Mugabi was struggling. If Alexander did not rate O'Donnell why pick him in the first place, even on the Bench. The logical answer I can come up with was that it was personal between the two. Otherwise, when the team you are responsible for is struggling badly and ultimately your job will be on the line, why not turn to the best, fit right back you have at your disposal. Nobody is saying O'Donnell is a world beater. But Alexander's treatment of him was mystifying and in my opinion hurt the team (and Mugabi as an individual) . And to finish it off I believe the signing of McGinn was another attempt at forcing O'Donnell to leave. It clearly was not with the intention of playing both on the right in a formation that just might have gotten the best out of both players.1 point
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thought sod cme on on sunday and looked quite good but at times was lucky to be getting in Motherwell team , never mind Scotland Woolery again was limited but had great pace, havent heard anything about supposed fall out? Slattery , there may be more to it than simply getting dropped That only leaves Watt, who has doubled his wages Not sticking up for GA but sometimes the truth is a whole lot duller than people want to believe1 point
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David and Yorkyred I admire you for your ongoing robust defence of our former Manager. If you believe there was no animosity between Alexander and former/current players which affected moral within the squad then I think you are in the minority. Like everyone else you are entitled to your opinion and you fight your corner well. Whether any such animosity was justified or otherwise at times is another discussion. As for O'Donnell being "shit", even an out of form O'Donnell was miles better than Mugabi at right back. And I'm not having a dig at Mugabi as he was clearly trying his best and doing as he was instructed. SOD is one who certainly has his detractors (as you highlighted) but how many of them were on his back before he even kicked a ball for us? Whatever, he certainly brought a better balance to the team when he featured. That's the same Mugabi who was repeatedly exposed at right back by Alexander ( and we are seeing the effect on Mugabi to this day) whilst a reportedly fully fit SOD was left to rot on the bench. Why, if not for spite? Drop him altogether if he has no chance of featuring. Like he did with Liam Grimshaw. Alexander even resorted to O'Hara rather than O'Donnell on occasion. Seems quite clear to me, as it did with Slattery, Woolery and others who seemed to be ignored no matter what. One thing you cannot deny or deflect from is that the performances on the pitch were really what was "shit" for 6 months, and arguably longer. Both in a tactical sense and a results sense. And that in most people's view was down to Alexander's refusal to adapt or try a fresh approach when his approach was failing. Sure, the players were not blameless, but it was the depressing and seemingly clueless match day performances that brought his time as Manager to an end. In fact but for a loyalty shown by our Board Alexander might not have lasted to season end. He was given credit for earlier achievements and allowed to take us into a new season in the hope that he could improve the situation. Had he shown any inclination to adapt he may well have survived a bit longer. Alexander does have his supporters amongst the players he left behind, but I honestly think the number thankful to see the back of him will be in the majority. Whatever, as professionals they all need to pull together to take the Club forward. No matter who the new Manager is.1 point
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