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It doesn't matter what style of football you play fans like to moan. Even more so these days when pretty much everything is infused with a sense of entitlement. We put in a better performance against a better team in last year's semi final and the knives came out. It shouldn't surprise anyone. Right now we are Top 6 and got to a semi final. We are playing the best football since David Turnbull was in the side, which is 5 or 6 years ago now. The manager has less than 20 games in charge and we are a work in progress. There is areas we need to improve in but since football perfection can't be achieved by teams spending half a billion in the close season, why don't we just accept that and let the manager try to improve in those areas.

Not a former player, but definitely worth mentioning: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cn4j8dgk8ego

Chill out folks. Yes it was a bad day at the office, but we are essentially three months into the season, we have totally transformed our style of play and overall it’s been fantastic so far to watch. We got outfoxed yesterday by a very organised system, it happens. Also I think had we not lost that third goal then an equaliser could have maybe came, but St Mirren easily deserved their victory yesterday. I think the manager has recruited very well and when we get into January then he will have a much clearer understanding of what he might need to bring in during the window. To essentially write this whole project off due to one game seems mental to me, don’t understand what some of our fans want sometimes.

Why do people obsess what it looks like in TV, who gives a fuck about those watching on TV. They are putting fuck all into the fixture.

If Slattery was fully fit he would have started today. We have to remember that was his 3 rd game in a week after a return from injury. The manager has to manage those situations carefully. The game is won and lost on fine margins. The first, the referee helped to tee the corner up for Saints. The second, Just was unlucky that the ball hit off him and landed as it did. It was a great finish none the less. The 3rd could just as easily have been a great save but the ball looped into the back of the net For me the first goal set the tone and St Mirren managed the game very well from that point onwards. When I take a step back from the obvious disappointment of the evening, I would still rather be watching our brand of football than St Mirrens and I believe by seasons end we will still finish above them.

Now that we have gone through one round of games it's probably a good barometer on the team's progress. From my own point of view, I really think this is genuinely an exciting time for the club. The football we are playing is exceptional and like nothing I could ever have dreamed of seeing at Fir Park. I was chatting to a few mates, and I actually think the only game we have actually deserved to lose all season was the St Mirren semi final. If you look back at the league fixtures: Motherwell v Rangers - 1-1 - draw probably a fair result but could have nicked it. St Mirren 0 v 0 Motherwell - fair result Hearts 3 v 3 Motherwell -- should have won Motherwell 2- 2 Killie - Should have won Dundee 1 - 1 Motherwell - Should have won Motherwell 2- 0 Aberdeen - Justified Celtic 3 - 2 Motherwell - Draw probably would have been a fair result Motherwell 1 - 2 Falkirk - Game of two halfs- draw might have been a fair result. Livingston 1 - 2 - Fair result Motherwell 2 - 0 Dundee Utd - Fair result Aberdeen 1 - 1 Motherwell - Probably should have won it. Killie 1 - 3 Motherwell - Pumped them Motherwell 2 - 0 Hibs - Total domination. Every one of these games we have not been dominated by anyone and the really good thing about this is the trend we are moving towards - scoring goals and then controlling games, reducing the draws. Exciting times.

What would be brilliant is if this style of football was adopted right down to the young academy boys. As a club we push this style of play and it becomes the identity of the club.

Celtic and Rangers aren’t playing until Sunday either. I know quite a number of them from both sides who regularly go along to fir park when their “big team” aren’t playing. Might swell the crowd a bit too. i actually spoke to an old duffer of a Celtic fan last week who said he’d stopped going to Celtic games altogether and goes to all the Motherwell home games now… said it was a better experience as it’s been poisonous at parkhead….. didn’t want to say to him that it’s been poisonous forever at parkhead.

Ok nae Mary that talk.

Given my reservations that he was way down a pecking order that had Liam Scales on top… I’d be going all out to tie up Stephen Welsh for the long term.

You also forget even at our worst in the first half their keeper had to bring off a great save and Manwanhise fluffed an effort that should have been a goal. There is a lot of nonsense talked about St Mirren yesterday, plus they got the breaks. They basically just did their job effectively. They did nothing that we shouldn't have been able to deal with had our players turned up, there was no tactical masterclass. Virtually everyone of our player was posted missing or at best underperformed. Even as bad as we were we could have had them sweating but for a comedy of errors straight after we scored. On another day we'd take St Mirren, yesterday just wasn't our day. We forget it and move on.

I honestly think its wild some of the comments on here. Yes, yesterday was terrible but some of the over the top comments regards the manager and players are just silly. The manager came in early to mid june, has changed a full system, has had only 1 transfer window to right the horror show that was Kettleball and for me has done a tremendous job. There will be ups and downs and the players probably still arent what or where the manager wants. If the players/mnager were all top notch and consistant they wouldnt be playing for/managing Motherwell so have a look at yourselves. We are all gutted and we all dreamt of a cup final but some need to get a grip.

In context, I don't think JBA was in any way having a go at Hanley. He was just trying to explain his approach during a live interview, while grasping for a few exact words using his second language. If you listen to any of his interviews, including his pre-match against Hibs, he never has anything but praise and respect for all our opponents. What I took from this interview, was that our tactic was to target the defenders with pace and a high press, and close down their usual outlets. Meaning Hanley (and the other defenders) were having to bring it out rather than being able to pass it to their regular ball carriers like Cadden. The fabricated fuss is a bit ironic given the experts in the media make a living telling everyone how terrible certain players and mangers are on a weekly basis. And they have English as their native language (allegedly).

Hearts were a more aggressive and more physical side than Hibs were and because of that sometimes our passing wasn't as slick as it was on Tuesday but I thought over all it was another good performance and we probably deserved the 3 points. Two disallowed goals and their keeper has made 3 or 4 smart saves. Hearts didn't create much and when we were under pressure I thought we defended really well. Overall you'll take 4 points out of 6 against the teams sitting 1st and 3rd in the league but the performances have been excellent and we've been the better team both times.

He also said that driving at 5mph in an area filled with prostitution was him just being a careful driver

Diddy cup anyway

Focusing on yesterday it appears that on here at least Ap Stam, our lack of a goal threat and Ward are being cited as the root cause of that performance. In fact some appear to be revelling in that reasoning. Ap Stam did not have a great game and we need improvement, but he and Ward were far from the worst players on view. Being let of lightly by most are Watt, Maswanhise, Fadinger, Longolo and McGinn who delivered far less than Stam and Ward. In fact Maswanhise, Watt and Longolo turned in performances almost as dire as they did against Livi. Except yesterday they did not have the convenient excuse of an artificial surface that seemingly affected their ability to run or pass the ball. On a Managerial comparison, Askou was completely out thought by Robinson who devised a system that negated the advantage we thought we would have given the larger playing surface. Can I suggest Robinson learned more from our earlier meeting than Askou did? Looked to me that Saints were perfectly happy to surrender space out wide knowing that we would more often than not slow the game down and eventually meekly surrender the ball. Time after time. Team selection wise, given the hype regarding the threat the Saints giants pose, I get why Askou selected Gordon. But not selecting Welsh and retaining McGinn was a huge error in my opinion. Welsh is the only Centre Back we have with the ability to pass the ball forward (through a pressing opposition) to the feet of our midfield/forwards. Driving us upfield. What we saw first half was the ball repeatedly played along the back line making it almost impossible for Said and Longolo to press forward quickly. On the right side, Katroumbis was a bit more effective offensively but sadly he received poor support from Maswanhise. I think Askou acknowledged that situation at Half Time which is why Welsh appeared. Why else bring on a Centre Back when losing 2-0? I also think Slattery should have started or at least been brought on along with Welsh. So, No, I don't believe Stam and Ward were the main reason we fell short yesterday. Far from it. Too many of our players had possibly their worst performance of the season, not assisted by team selection. I'm far from jumping ship as regards our new approach, but previous Managers were rightly slated for not having a plan B to revert to in times of need. So far I have seen nothing to suggest that Askou is any different. We have a difficult run of games coming up and we are far too predictable. Hopefully we will see some tactical changes that give opposition Managers food for thought. Surely that can be the case without moving away from our possession/passing approach. It was far too easy for Robinson and his players yesterday. Having said all that, it is astounding how one piece of refereeing incompetence can change the dynamics of a game.

St Mirren's game plan was successful last night but there is a ceiling to that style of play. That is why Scottish teams are embarrassed every July/ August by European minnows who'd style of play had moved on from the 1980's. Remember that Robinson's / Alexander's/ Kettlewell's style of football was generally rejected on this forum because of it's pragmatic industrial approach. A Motherwell team playing the traditional Scottish way could just as easily have lost that game last night. SR is very good at what he does. I don't doubt that this is an experiment that may not work. Our old Captain Stephen Craigan had already written it off during the League Cup group stage. Kris Boyd predicted us as relegation favourites but I think both of those dinosaurs have already been proved wrong. I think any one of us would have taken this season to date if we had been offered it back in August.

Mc call is an ex football manager and will continue to be an ex football manager , dinosaur is the best description for that fud.

Devlin is a annoying wee dirty bastard who got away with murder today from Clancy, there was probably a queue to have a go at him.

Makes me nervous with so much “feel-good” press going on. Glad to see MJC prediction as I don’t like to see him forecasting wins for us.

Quick shout for Calum last night, ok he had little to do bar a couple of punches but his distribution was superb all night; he is integral to our new style of play.

Are we on the brink of a bright new dawn? Probably not but enjoy the ride just now...we will lose a few goals by playing out from back, the fans need to accept that.

I came across this analysis on X by @johnwalker_1986 and was going to share on the Hibs thread, but this seems a more appropriate place given it shows how much of a transformation has taken place in such a short period of time. Frankly, it's astonishing; < Motherwell: Dominating Without the Ball A lot of praise has rightly went to Motherwell & Jens Berthel Askou for their work "With the Ball" but last night was a clinic on how to control a game "Without the Ball". Hibs Analysis > Wing-Backs High & Wide to Deliver > Hanley "Limited" Distribution Quality > Barlaser Key in Building Through Lines Motherwell Press: > Leave Hanley Spare > Front 2 Pressing Outside CB's > Just Blocking Barlaser > Triggers to Jump on Hanley After Bushiri Pass inside > Frustrates Wing-Backs to Drop Deeper & Deeper Just Intelligence & Scanning Elijah Just is one of the signings of the season, he has absolutely everything but last night his intelligence and technical ability without the ball was exceptional: > Regularity of Scanning for Barlaser > Blocks Barlaser & Creates Chances to Jump > Wins Penalty & Scores off the Back of that work Work-Rate When Broken Albeit happened only once in the 30mins the game was 11v11, it helps when players work-rate is at such a high intensity when Hibs did break through, Motherwell got back behind the ball & forced an error. Best Coached Side in the Country Currently 👌 >

Last night proved we can rotate the starting eleven without shifting our fundamental approach. It also underlined JBA’s tactical nous in adapting formations to the game while keeping our style intact. With a few January ins/outs, we should only get better as the season progresses.

Don’t see us getting anything from this one infact I think we could actually be on the end of a drubbing. 1-5 Hearts

Even before the sending off that is one of the most controlled and professional performances I have ever seen from a Motherwell side. Over 700 passes - I doubt we managed that in a full Graham Alexander season.

The Kilmarnock X account makes for some glorious reading about Kettlewell. ”6 defeats in a row, no one else would get away with that. Sack him” ”Kettlewell out. A cheap appointment playing out as we all predicted. Utter dross from recruitment to tactics. Get him binned tonight” “SK it’s time to go” Bascially EVERYTHING that was being said by our fans over the last two years. ‘Some Motherwell fans really are deplorable human beings’ though eh???

We held on to the lead for the entire match.

Hartley was the Piers Morgan of the puppet world. Pretty sure he killed the old man too as part of a power grab.

Always did like St Brendan then. A man of true principals. 🥱

Kilmarnock fans might!

I always thought Imrie would have done well with us, he was an annoying wee git as a player but I always thought there were a lot of comparisons to Dougie Arnott, just a total nuisance who opposing players hated playing against. im glad him and his family got support from the fans message, its nice to hear.

Dwelling on the result won’t do us any good unless we actually learn from it and start showing it in how we set up and how we play from here on. Most of us can agree that JBA got this badly wrong, a few players just didn’t turn up, and we were outfought and outthought all over the park. Looking ahead, there’ll likely be a fair bit of movement in January. And while we’re used to getting decent cup runs, actually turning them into something meaningful hasn’t been happening. So the focus now has to be on making real progress in the league and putting together a proper push for top six.

I'm thinking along similar lines. Robinson and his squad for me are more streetwise, been kicking around long enough and more accustomed to these types of big events. I'm a huge fan of our gaffer , squad and everything we're trying to do but I do feel the occasion overwhelmed the team . Fair play to StMirren they executed their plan ruthlessly. Overall it became a non event all too quickly and I just hope we can bounce back and put some results together. It could easily become a tipping point , it's essential that we come through the next few games with wins.

I’m not overly upset at 4-1. At 2-1 we had abandoned defending to try and save the game. We didn’t manage to score again amd they punished us at the back.

Better when you say nothing at all 😃

One thing I'd like to pull you up on - unless my memory is failing me, we were utter dug meat in last year's semi final. Our goal came from a big hopeful boot into the box and we could barely string two passes together the entire game. Last night was poor - poorer than we've become accustomed to this season. We still scored a goal and missed another couple of well-worked chances. We were miles better yesterday than the semi last year.

The macaroni and Scotch pie combo I got after their second goal. They charged and refunded my card at the same time and I only noticed today. Winner. Small victories in a day of shite.

I believe our starting lineup reflected an intention to get in behind St Mirren on either flank - hence Said and Maswanhise and not Slattery. But neither Said nor Maswanhise offered anything like what they should have and this was compounded by Koutrumbus and Longelo being far too tentative and lacking in any menace. So Stamatulopoulos had little or no chance of being effective. I’m with mio - I despise St Mirren and their ethos of robust directness. They are ugly to watch, graceless in victory and were given, rather than created, three of their goals. It wasn’t their tactics or their style that beat us - although to listen to their self analysis that is what they are claiming. They broke up play by going down at almost every contact, they stole yards after every dead ball and slowed the game down as often as they could. A weak referee and our failure to stay firm at the back were our undoing, not a Robinson masterclass. I am sorry that such a remarkable turnout if our fans were so sadly disappointed - they deserved better - but I doubt we were beaten by the better team

Sounds like Rugby Park is the place for you.

I am loving this season and fact team applauded off park on Saturday shows how much fans are appreciating style. I still feel we are trying one pass too many and decision making at times not great ( Said is great entertainer but final pass needs worked on). We have a manager that fears no one and players have bought into it. I also feel we are a very attractive proposition for future transfer targets. And finally can be summed up with fact we sold our star man for £4.5 million and it hasn't impacted us in the slightest. Would have been interesting seeing Lennon in that team, I think a season under Jens would have been great for him but obviously we wouldn't have got that transfer fee COYW

Although the pundits may be slow to praise our style of play, I’d say almost every game we have played has seen comments from opposition fans acknowledging the type of football we play. So while the there maybe voices saying this is not Scottish fitba, it’s obviously the kind of football that a lot of fans are dying to see.

I thought that was a damn decent game - we prob deserved to win . we gave a very good hearts team very little opportunity - another clean sheet is key .

To be fair, like many teams visiting Fir Park this season, the version of Hibs that turned up tonight was the version our players and tactics created.

Does anyone remember the 25th of Oct, half time, when we were 1-0 down to livi ?? There was relegation chat and 'does the manager have a clue' chat. Things have changed a bit 😉 Given the wholesale changes about everything we do, i'd have been happy with a consolidation season to develop the new style and let the players get used to it, weed out the ones who weren't going to cut it and maybe get a couple in, with a view to being a well developed side next season. To be fair, I think it's coming together really well, and the football tonight was just brilliant at times. We've shown periods of what we can do, but tonight we were great. Don't forget we were already playing well before the pen and the sending off. Everyone was proper 'on it' tonight and the players who came in were clearly up for giving the manager a selection headache.

Mods can you check MJC's account. I think he has been hacked. This positivity is unnerving

The issue with our current style is that it too often slips into slow, sideways pish, like driving from Glasgow to Edinburgh via Inverness and then sticking it in reverse. We need to be more direct and move the ball quicker through the back line and midfield. Otherwise, we’re just keeping the ball for the sake of it in safe areas. And that’s the point. It doesn’t matter if it’s a front two, Stama and Hendry, or a Bair regen up top on his own. None of them will get the service if the build-up is that slow. I’m not saying JBA needs to rip up the game plan. The style itself is fine when it’s played with tempo and intent, which we didn’t see against St Mirren. The question is whether we have the players to sustain it across a season, especially against teams who are happy to sit in a low block and wait for us to make the inevitable mistake or just outmuscle us, or whether the current lot just completely shat the bed on the day. Or both.

To these people saying we need to abandon the style play , you are talking nonsense. What we need is to replace players with guys who can do it and that's why the January window will be important. I'd rather watch us playing like we do even if we lose than watch the utter shite Kilmarnock fans are watching when they lose.

I know people are upset, but if we're going to abandon everything after a poor game, then we might was well bring back Hammell or Malpas and play "proper" Scottish football. Go back and reed last season's match threads if you want to see what's in store if we go back down that path. I'd rather we keep developing and bring in a few more players that fit in January than go back to Kettle-ball.