Toxteth O'Grady

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/15801495.There_s_more_to_Motherwell_s_slide_than_missing_Louis_Moult/?ref=appshr There's more to Motherwell's slide than missing Louis Moult Graeme McGarry Motherwell supporters will be concerned what life after Louis Moult will look like for their club. 0 comments The most obvious conclusion to draw when assessing Motherwells recent downward spiral from the high of reaching the Betfred Cup final as recently as late November, to Saturdays dismal defeat to Hamilton - their ninth game on the spin without a win - is that the Louis Moult-shaped hole in their sides attack has simply proven too big for anyone else at the club to fill. But there is more to the alarming slump in form than the simple fact that top scorer Moult has been missing for seven of the games since the Steelmen went down to that defeat to Celtic at Hampden. There is no denying that the number of goals they are scoring has tailed off. In the nine games prior to the League Cup final, they netted 15 times, with Moult getting six of those. The entire side has bagged just six goals in the same amount of matches since, so it is clear that finding the net regularly has become a problem. But is it all down to Moults absence? It could be argued that the injury to Chris Cadden, one of the teams main creative forces, has had just as big an impact. Without his penetrating runs and the sheer volume of chances that the youngster creates, the strikers who have stepped into the void are working with far less opportunities coming their way. Motherwell legend, Willie Pettigrew, a man who knew a thing or two about carrying the burden of responsibility for goalscoring down Fir Park way in his day, agrees that the hamstring injury suffered by Cadden is a major contributory factor to the blunting of his beloved sides attacking threat. I was at the game on Saturday and Stephen Robinson must have a plan to cope with life after Louis Moult, said Pettigrew. Hes known for a while that Moult wasnt going to be here after January, so hell be chasing targets down and he does have to be replaced. But the other thing he has had to contend with is the lad Cadden getting injured as well, because he is one of the bigger players. Hes the main supplier of balls into the box, and I think weve missed that. One thing that Moults departure has brought into stark focus, is how thinly spread the goals are in this Motherwell side. Ryan Bowman has tried to carry the fight up front, scoring five in the league, while Craig Tanner has bagged the same amount from his position just off the strikers. Alex Fisher has yet to score and looks to be fighting for his future at the club after some thinly-veiled criticisms of late from his manager, while young George Newell has only just returned from injury. In particular though, it is stark how few goals come from the centre of the park for Motherwell. Andy Rose has scored two and Elliott Frear has a single goal on league duty. Cadden, despite his creative input and four goals in the League Cup, has yet to score in the league, and not one of Carl McHugh, Allan Campbell, Liam Grimshaw or Gael Bigirimana have scored in the Premiership in a combined total of 41 starts between the four of them. The manager has asked the strikers that are there to man up and take the lead, but Ive always been a great believer that goals can come from anywhere, said Pettigrew. Of course, the manager will want more from the likes of Bowman and Fisher, but games arent only won by strikers, they are won by goals from midfield as well, and I think a few of them have to look at themselves as well and start scoring goals. Anybody playing Motherwell up to now has known that if they take Louis Moult out of the equation, then who else was going to score? The number of goals going in at the other end is also a cause for concern, something that cannot be pinned on Moults absence, and again the contrast prior and post-League Cup final is stark. They had lost just 19 goals in the entire league season to that point from 20 fixtures, while 18 have flown into their net in the last nine. That suggests that the high-pressing game that was the hallmark of their early season success has tailed off, and they are easier to play against now than they were at the start of the campaign. Fatigue, of course, could be the major factor behind that, with so much physical effort expended to this point, particularly in a gruelling six-day period when they faced Celtic on three occasions among some other tough fixtures. Thats a huge effort, said Pettigrew. You are playing the best team in the league and you want to do well, so you push yourself that bit harder. That will have taken a fair amount out of them. I think that once this spell is over they will regroup and come back stronger again. Were not reaching for the panic button yet. The good work has been done. The club is now fan-owned, the board are fans as well and theyve backed Stephen Robinson, and he has done really well. If the season ended now, youd be saying weve got to the League Cup final, theyre eighth in the table, thats decent. But they have to push it over the line now.

Played quite well in the first half. Hammell looking assured at left back. Accies hardly in it until the penalty. I'm up the other end of the East Stand but it looked like a handball to me, although Accies got away with a similar incident a few mins previous.

Motherwell: Carson, Tait, Hammell, Bigirimana, Hartley, Bowman, Rose, Kipre, Campbell, Newell, Tanner Xenodochov, Grimshaw, Fisher, MacLean, Livingstone, Turnbull, Maguire

Any plans to mark this? http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2017/12/29/remembering-phil-odonnell-2/

It's not just you.

No links?

Reasonable prospect of a stream for this one?

Down to 8th after Killie's win over Sevco

Thanks for the post, Andy. Just wondering if anything specific was mentioned in relation to the fall-out from the recent Celtic games, in particular: - the decision to allocate Celtic fans the upper tier of the South Stand at Hampden - the coin throwing incidents at Fir Park - the decision to release a statement following the game at Fir Park.

Full-time

Still got a bit of catching up to do here... https://twitter.com/LewisCumming/status/938915084948135936

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42269482 Three football clubs 'shamed' for underpaying staff 7 hours ago Motherwell, Greenock Morton and Falkirk football clubs all had to refund workers who were underpaid Three Scottish football clubs have been "named and shamed" for underpaying staff. Motherwell, Greenock Morton and Falkirk were on a list of employers not paying the minimum wage. A list of 28 employers breaching pay rules north of the border was released by the UK government in its campaign to force employers to pay workers properly. Those companies had to refund a total of £116,697 to 92 Scottish workers. It was the 13th time such a list has been compiled, and this year saw more workers receive payments than in previous years. Across the UK, a total of £1.7m in back pay was given to 16,000 workers. Fines totalling £1.3m for underpaying the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rate were handed out to 260 employers, with retail, hospitality and hairdressing being the most prolific sectors named. Employers often underpaid staff for reasons such as failing to pay workers travelling between jobs, deducting money from pay for uniforms and not paying for overtime. 'Every pound counts' Motherwell FC failed to pay £2,755.34 to 12 workers, with Greenock Morton FC keeping £2,382.46 from six members of staff. Falkirk FC had to pay back nearly £495 owed to one worker. The report comes from the UK government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). A spokesman for Motherwell Football Club said: "The club received an assessment from HM Revenue and Customs in May this year. "It stated that the club had failed to pay the minimum wage to a very small number of employees. "This was an administrative error on the club's part. The amount outstanding was immediately paid to employees in full." Minister for Scotland Lord Duncan said: "We simply will not stand by while companies diddle workers out of their pay. "Particularly at this time of year, every pound in workers' pockets counts. "The National Living Wage was established to ensure that everyone, everywhere, receives a decent income. "It is unacceptable that some companies in Scotland still think they can get away with underpaying their staff." The 28 Scottish firms named are: 1. Motherwell Football and Athletic Club Limited, trading as Motherwell FC - failed to pay £2,755.34 to 12 workers. 2. Greenock Morton Football Club Limited trading as Greenock Morton FC - failed to pay £2,382.46 to six workers. 3. Falkirk Football and Athletic Club, trading as Falkirk Athletic FC - failed to pay £494.51 to 1 worker. 4. Edward Mackay Contractor Ltd - failed to pay £51,403.65 to four workers. 5. D MacGillivray & Co Ltd, Western Isles - failed to pay £11,656.93 to 11 workers. 6. Global Voices Ltd, Stirling - failed to pay £8,026.13 to four workers. 7. Crook & Crook Limited, Inverness - failed to pay £5,726.77 to two workers. 8. Northumberland Hotel LLP trading as The Northumberland Hotel, Edinburgh - failed to pay £4,685.39 to two workers. 9. Salon Syndicate Limited trading as Shapes, Edinburgh - failed to pay £4,111.12 to four workers. 10. Mrs Rena Muir trading as TRC Hair Design, Renfrewshire - failed to pay £3,315.07 to one worker. 11. Mr Dhimiter Arkelaos trading as Handy Andy Car Wash, Renfrewshire - failed to pay £2,852.76 to two workers. 12. G3rry Limited trading as Hughes Chemist, Glasgow - failed to pay £2,423.74 to two workers. 13. The Holiday and Flight Centre Limited, South Lanarkshire - failed to pay £2,242.08 to one worker. 14. Moorlands Travel (Kelty) Limited, Fife - failed to pay £2,110.8 to two workers. 15. Annandale Bed and Bath Service Limited, Dumfries and Galloway - failed to pay £1,803.22 to three workers. 16. Influence Conditioned Air Limited, Glasgow - failed to pay £1,551.32 to one worker. 17. Hillfoot Homes Limited, Clackmannanshire - failed to pay £1,439.36 to two workers. 18. Mrs Therese McMonagle trading as Teri's Hair Salon, South Ayrshire - failed to pay £1,408.92 to two workers. 19. BM&AA Soluction Limited trading as A & K Hair Design, Edinburgh - failed to pay £1,172.83 to one worker. 20. Philosophi Limited, Glasgow - failed to pay £1,012.49 to one worker. 21. B & E Travel Limited trading as Barrhead Travel, Fife - failed to pay £994.56 to one worker. 22. May's @ The Hollybush Ltd trading as The Hollybush Inn, East Ayrshire - failed to pay £935.81 to one worker. 23. Arran Brew Ltd, North Ayrshire - failed to pay £872.77 to two workers. 24. Mrs Lynne McCullough trading as Lynne Capelli Salon, West Dunbartonshire - failed to pay £620.65 to three workers. 25. G.S. Associates (Scotland) Limited, Renfrewshire - failed to pay £241.20 to one worker. 26. The Nail and Beauty Zone Limited, Edinburgh - failed to pay £170.59 to four workers. 27. S.W. Enviro Limited, West Lothian - failed to pay £146.43 to two workers. 28. Irqa Spicy Food Ltd trading as Nosheen Tandoori, Aberdeenshire - failed to pay £140.07 to four workers.

You can read his quotes here if you really want to. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/celtic-boss-brendan-rodgers-slaughters-11628868

Motherwell: Carson, Tait, Hartley, Cadden, Moult, Bowman, Rose, Dunne, Kipre, Campbell, Tanner. Motherwell subs: Griffiths, Grimshaw, Bigirimana, McHugh, Frear, Plummer, Petravicius.

Oh my gosh. I actually agree with this moron for once. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/brendan-rodgers-celtic-stars-hypocrites-11621266

Easy one. Carson.

What exactly does he have to do to get booked? Tugs a shirt early on and has at least two more fouls, meanwhile Alan Campbell is shown a yellow for virtually the same offence.

Griffiths stars for Celtic, Sinclair only on the bench

Maybe I've missed it, but have McFadden's comments been posted yet?

Thought Tait had a great game.

Just over 10,000 earlier in the week.

We are overdue a decent away trip in the Scottish.

Motherwell: Carson, Tait, Grimshaw, Hartley, Cadden, McHugh, Moult, Bowman, Rose, Dunne, Kipré Motherwell subs: Griffiths, Frear, Plummer, Fisher, Petravicius, Campbell, Tanner

http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2017/11/17/phil-odonnell-cup-final-tribute/ Phil O’Donnell cup final tributeFriday, November 17, 2017 Members of Phil O’Donnell’s family have been invited to attend the Betfred Cup final on November 26 at Hampden as guests of the SPFL, Motherwell and Celtic. Phil, who represented both clubs during his playing career, sadly passed away due to heart failure at the age of 35 in December 2007. Phil’s youngest son Luc, 14, will also parade the trophy to both sets of supporters and place it on the tunnel plinth directly before both teams take to the pitch, a key role in the day’s proceedings. An article in the match day programme will also pay tribute to Phil, as well as raise awareness of the work carried out by the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). The O’Donnell family are strong supporters of CRY, who offer bereavement support to families affected by young sudden cardiac death and offer cardiac screening for young people aged 14-35 to try to prevent such tragedies. CRY also supports young people diagnosed with potentially life-threatening cardiac conditions. Phil’s daughter Megan said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the SPFL and both clubs for inviting my family to the Betfred Cup final. “It is so heartwarming to see my dad honoured in such a special way, especially as my youngest brother, Luc, will be presenting the trophy to the fans on the day. “Luc has little memory of my dad but I’m sure next Sunday will stay with him forever. It will be so nice for him to witness first-hand the extent to which my dad was liked by everyone. “Unfortunately I won’t be present as I’m currently living in Australia, but I will be watching the game in Sydney at 2am. I brought one of my dad’s football strips away with me as a good luck charm and I’m delighted I’m getting this opportunity to wear it with pride.” Motherwell’s Chief Operating Officer Alan Burrows added: “We are always eager to remember and honour Phil O’Donnell, a fantastic captain, role model and man, at any opportunity and it’s fitting that ten years after his untimely and tragic passing, two of his former clubs meet in the Betfred Cup final. “As a club, we are fortunate to have enjoyed Phil’s company and talent on two separate spells and his memory and legacy is all around us at Fir Park, each and every day. “We are delighted members of Phil’s family will be there to watch the game and are obviously excited and keen to play in what hopefully be a memorable and poignant occasion for everyone.” Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell commented: “It is very fitting that the League Cup final will honour and remember Phil – such a special man, who gave so much to both Celtic and Motherwell. “Phil was taken from us far too early – but in his life he made such a great contribution to football and more importantly to his family as both a father and a husband. “We are sure the Betfred Cup final will be a great occasion. We are delighted to be taking part and we look forward to working with Motherwell and the SPFL to ensure that the match is the fitting tribute to Phil, which he richly deserves.” SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster said: “It seems fitting that, as we approach the tenth anniversary of Phil’s untimely death, two of the clubs he represented with such distinction should meet in the Betfred Cup final. “We are pleased that Phil’s family will attend Hampden for the match, and that one of his children will play a role in the pre-match proceedings.”

I think also having the game on a Sunday on a (likely) cold November day would probably dissuade a number of floating fans from attending.