Leaderboard

One point was much more than I expected us to get today so from that point of view it was a bonus. The however is we are awful , pedestrian , slow , unfit and lacking in any style, but most alarmingly we look lost without leadership or real bite or dig to win a game of football. Alexander , the board and Burrows have lots to be blamed for the however is ; - Hammell has had 6 months with team and his points record is shocking - Hammell was in charge of youth for years and no one has come through from 30 plus players - Hammell has had 5 plus months to motivate a team , get a game plan and style and he hasn’t - Hammell picks spittal and Shields most if not every week - that’s a massive reason why we are in the position we are in. Two out and out passengers His win ratio is worse than Baracloughs - there is only one outcome coming with this guy in charge. We have a bowling club well society committee and board with massive conflicts of interest with the personal on it involved in the club board and the club board has made some very poor decisions that reflects where we now are . there’s two options ; 1. keep Hammell and go down - he’s shown nothing to suggest otherwise 2. change manager and have a very slim hope he gets more out the poor squad than Hammell has in 6 months but either way Hammell isn’t the man in This league or the first division.

The question I have is why above average players like Watt and O'Hara ...to a lesser degree Donnelly.....wanted to leave in the first place. In my opinion that was down to Alexander and the way they they were unfairly treated/ignored. For a time Slattery was in the same boat. I don't believe for a second it was about the cash which is the reason often put forward on here. Bottom line is that Alexander did not want them. It was a choice, however, that he was entitled to make. But that is the same Alexander who believed Shields and Efford were the answer to Watt leaving and that his old pal Morris was an upgrade on O'Hara for this season. Watt and O'Hara would walk into the current team. So what does that say about Alexander's judgement. Hammell may or may not be the man to move us forward and early indications are not that positive. But it is not down to Hammell that decent players and most peoples' first choices like Kelly, Lamie, McGinn, KVV regularly forget the basics, have brain farts and cost us matches. It is not down to Hammell that he has few other options player wise. He can only pish with the cock he has. But anyone who believes we would be in a better position if Alexander had stayed is deluded. How quickly they forget what we were subjected to from January onwards and the way his reign ended. The way this thread is going all that is missing is the Yorky and David "Bring Back Graham" petition. Get over it lads, He's gone. So much for the..".Hammell needs time to rebuild, give him two or three transfer windows, time to all pull together" chat. Fickle hardly covers it.

Those "duds" finished 5th last season. And I know, "lucky, nothing to do with Alexander, every other team was crap etc" but the facts are the facts. His record over his time with us is an 8th place and 5th place finish. And while the results weren't great in the 2022 half of the season, we secured 46 points last season for a 5th place finish. By comparison we finished 8th on 45 points the season before when Alexander took over from Robinson, and the year previous when we finished 3rd under Robinson, which was looked upon as a successful season, we finished 3rd on 46 points. So it's not as if we were terrible but secured 5th on a lower points threshold than ever before. Alexander attained success by any barometer a club like Motherwell can be measured by. But the fans weren't happy with that, they wanted more exciting football and a manager who was more likeable. Now we've got that. There's every chance that we excitingly play our way into the Championship.

Absolutely spot on. However it should be pointed out that our own support put massive pressure on the club to get what they wanted. It might not have been possible to keep Alexander even if the club backed him. I said it at the time and I'll say it again. Our supporters can shoulder a lot the blame over what has happened, and potentially, what does happen this season. Not that anyone will ever admit that of course. You still get people blaming Alexander for our results this season.

I’ve never actually rated Alexander that much, would not want him back, and as you rightly state “ get over it lads he’s gone”. Unfortunately at this rate I could see us midtable in the championship with people still stating it’s all Alexander’s fault. At the moment it seems nothing is Hammell fault, fitness, organisation, confidence gone, players like Kelly and Lamie going backwards. We could put the tea lady in charge and she would be safe from criticism. Sorry but at this stage we need to look at performances under this manager, not the last one. He has been in charge since August of last year.

If we announced that we were singing a 34 year old defender that has been playing in India the last few years, most of us would be furious. The Griffiths talk needs to get in the bin, he was finished last year when he couldn't cut it at Falkirk.

The problem is, he was brought in literally two days before the league season started, and was given the job on a permanent basis on August 11th, two games in. It was the worst possible scenario, as I've said a few times before. At that stage we should have kept Alexander until December or so and seen if he could get the players back on track. It was sheer madness to give him the summer, allowing him to bring in three first-team players on permanent contracts then part ways days before the league season started. We should either have parted company at the end of last season, or stuck with him until November/December depending on results. This mess is as a result of the board royally fucking up. And it's out of character, as we normally don't do that when it comes to how we work with managers. If we appoint Hammell in August then bin him before he's really had a transfer window to work with it'll just add to the chaos, as the next manager will be coming in with the January window already open and in progress and will have to rush some signings in and try to get the team on track. That kind of behaviour is what leads to relegation. We've thrown ourselves into this position with some horrific decision making. Now the board must decide if they follow that up with some more mental decision making or stick with a young manager that seemingly impressed enough to get the job on a permanent basis only five months ago, giving him a window to get some players in who can play how he wants the team to play, and then reassess in the summer.

Yorky, youre not one for knee jerk reactions, so it's worrying when you say that

How anybody can prefer McGinn to O’Donnell is beyond me.

This has all the makings of a hard slog and an utter shitfest but if we are to avoid relegation then games like these are the types we need to win or at the very least not lose.

Shouty players being good leaders is an old fashioned trope. We need players that are not shite, and preferably not slow. How they choose to communicate is way down the priority list. On loan Peter Hartley was excellent, but post injury he was as bad as what we currently have now, and spent a season on the bench before taking it easy in the Indian league. Players that wear their hearts on their sleeves can be endearing to fans, but if we signed a unknown player with all Hartley's attributes and similar career path, this place would meltdown. As bad as we've looked at the back, we have been in every single game this season, and I feel that our lack of cutting edge up front is our biggest problem. If we had taken a handful of our chances we wouldn't be as panicky as we are right now. Having an actual threat up front would make it a lot harder for teams to throw everything at us in the latter stages. Right now there is no risk to teams leaving themselves more open at the back. If we don't sign a halfway competent striker, we're screwed.

McKinstry and Coreneliues get away with murder with the fans because their "love of the club" McKinstry couldnt cross a bridge and Cornelieus couldnt fight off a cold.

That's the thing grizzly we are relying on having an almost perfect transfer window to hopefully give us the lift that we need but that will only get us so far,hammell needs a lot more out of what he has,there is no alternative,we are in real trouble.lose another game at home this time to hibs and he needs to go for me.

Agree 100%. Lets make sure the defence is watertight first.

To do the job that the number one should be doing?

I'm happy to back Hammell and don't particularly lay the blame for current results with him. I agree about the signing 1 or 2 being terrifying. There's a time for people to show their teeth, as you say we need multiple signings and be far more confident to hear SH talking about expecting several new faces. Shame on Burrows et all - they should be getting stuck in here and ensuring we make plenty of signings , give a bit of backing to their man.

I believe that due to some selective memory many Motherwell fans think we are a bigger club than we are. Sure, we have been in the top league for as long as even fairly old supporters have been following the club but only because we got lucky with relegation three times and had the fortune to meet a Rangers in disarray in the play off. As the situation currently stands I think it's almost inevitable that we will be relegated in the short to medium future. We have used up our luck in escaping relegation in the past and now, with the club being self financing and clearly struggling, over half a dozen seasons now, to attract good quality players or management it is always going to be a a difficult task. We are pulling in less than 4,000 supporters most weeks and that's all that's keeping the lights on. We are unlikely to have a slew of transfer fees coming in the immediate future. Things are going to be tough and supporters need to get their head around the reality of fan ownership.

That's where I am too. It doesn't matter how we do it we must pick up at least 4 points. If not it should be time up. If Hammy was at the vast majority of other clubs he'd go after such a poor run. We need a couple of new signings at least. That's not enough though. They have to arrive quickly and hit the ground running. A tall order.

I think Stevie will do the best with the players on hand, but the club needs to get some proper recruiting done.

watch him when heez playin , he looks to play up the line then checks n plays vv into feet, where as others whip balls into his space which is then basically a lottery for him, i am not a big SOD fan but credit where its due

You can compare how they competed against their contemporaries and how the standard of the day was. For instance when we won the league championship in the 1930's Scottish football was probably as good as anywhere in the world. So our league winning side was probably close to the pinnacle of world football at the time. Heady days. I also think top players find a way to win so I buy into the 'show us your medals' philosophy. If you put everything together I'd give you Wilson Humphries. Won both the Scottish and League Cups, was capped for Scotland, is just short of 300 league appearances so is one of the players with most appearances for the club and is also one of our top post war goal scorers, with over 100 goals. So in terms of success at the club, longevity, club records and international recognition he ticks all the boxes. Worth noting he also scored 6 goals in the clubs biggest ever win, 12-1 vs Dundee Utd.

He has about the lowest win percentage of any manager since I think the 1980s. There has to be a point that someone else gets a shot at it.

Just when you think you have seen it all as regards utter shite. Motherwell and Livingston serve that up. Only in Scotland would teams like that be in the top league. Last 3 games Dundee Utd pick up 7 points. We pick up 2pts. Alarm bells should be ringing long and loud. Thank goodness we have KVV.

For professional footballers who practice every day the control and skill level of both teams is atrocious.

The game has become very open, we are a better footballing team than Livi so this SHOULD suit us. Would like to see McKinstrey ASAP and maybe Tierney too to get into those pockets.

And why is it not being rectified ?

Not surprised having to watch that team on that pitch every other week.

If I remember correctly from the Euro games, he's a left-footer so ideally won't play alongside Lamie.

KVV must pass there, but in fairness he looked up and saw it was shields

Were you expecting one, like??

As I've said before, we've been in this kind of position before, where fans are writing us off and claiming we're done for, only for us to go out and win 3-0. Outside the Cold Firm and whichever team is sitting third most seasons, every other Scottish side couldn't be separated with a fag paper. We could just as easily win this 3-0 as we could lose it 3-0. I fancy us for the draw, but wouldn't be surprised if we absolute run over them, or if they run over us.

Delighted to see Cornelius start but shields starting ahead of McKinstry and megaphone Sol back doesn't fill me with confidence but here's hoping we can dig out a huge victory today....COYW

easier said than done

Turnbull not even in the Green uglies squad today, so as you say the manager obviously does not rate him.

We seem to have problems everywhere, if you read all the comments on this forum. For me the biggest problem is midfield. we don't have players who track back, tackle and support the defence when the other team is on the ball. Or support the front men going forward. The fact that Goss and Slattery are there every week, shows the lack of depth we have in that area. Not an easy fix.

Whilst a win would be very welcome, I'd say that this is a must not lose game. A draw would be a decent result.

Hartley was one thing we don’t have, a leader.

IMO You can only go with players you've actually seen play in the flesh so for me it's got to be El Grew.

Well the plus point is we didn’t get beat but we should have won that imo and other results now see us joint second bottom. Next Sunday against Hibs is now must win, no ifs and not buts, it’s must win.

I know that but the results today don't help. We could have moved a little further clear of Utd and closer to St Johnstone. today. The fact that the reverse has happened makes it a real bad day. Time to roll out our "saviour signings" this month

thats when you know your fucked