Goggles & Flippers

As thisGraeme illustrated in this thread and Tweed in the McGhee vs Robinson thread the guy deserves his chance. He has outperformed his former boss. When McGhee and Robinson worked in tandem we finished 5th. He then left and before he returned we were shipping goals to the likes of Dundee. The only two things he's been guilty of in the past year is accepting a bit of a poison chalice at Oldham however I can appreciate his ambition and persevering with a back three after an impressive first half at Ibrox that defied expectation. However to counter the latter you could argue when you have a defensive roll call at training that resembles Labour's Scottish MP count, fielding three defenders and flooding the midfield is understandable. Especially when you have an effective strike partnership in Moult and McDonald, you plan to make the other team defend rather then you do it. Unfortunately as we saw, a good number of our league opponents have better functioning midfields. That is not aided when arguably our best midfielder is playing as a makeshift centre half and the other one with anything about him has already been written off by a lot of our support even though he outperformed Lucas and Clay. I would hope that scouting reports he amassed in his months with Oldham may help identify a few targets. Also, the club sees merit in cherry picking from our lower leagues too. I also suspect a few Northern Irish starlets from his U21 time there. It'll be interesting to see if he can help the young fringe players like Allan Campbell to step up and secure a weekly starting position. The squad he amasses will define him, if he can't get it right then he is looking like spending the next 5 years or so as an assistant to build his stock price up again. As for all the guys talking about McCulloch, maybe when he returned to Fir Park as a Rangers player (via Wigan where we received a nice payday) and was subjected to all sorts of cringeworthy shouts from our fans. Reynolds got it too and it doesn't really build any lingering affinity for the club that gave you your chance. Having him return to Motherwell when he left Rangers would have been a welcome addition to our squad. We could also have the services of a home grown lad who has performed really well at Killie since taking over. Their run in to the split was arguably the toughest in the league and they exceeded any expectations of their points haul. Some in the East Stand should maybe consider where they direct their vitriol in future.

Regardless if we want it or not, I'm pretty sure it was in Moult's career aspirations to move on after two years up here and that is what he was probably sold on to get a 3 year deal and a higher weekly wage. As for Griffiths, he certainly has the stature I like in a goalkeeper, but in the games I saw him I was far from impressed with how a guy with such a large physical presence commanded his box. Surely there must be others out there.

In the name of the wee man ..... please paste the link contents

Surprised by the loss of a few names you see regularly in U20's match reports, but as I've never watched a game I have to go with the judgement of Craggs. I sincerely hope we have a ruthless policy going forward. Managers and coaches reputations are staked on their success, not if they are a nice guy or not (although it helps). No more punting on 50-50's as it looks like here, so for that reason I'm happy with the club statement. Really disappointed with Pearson in his third stint from what I saw.

Safe to say securing him in 2015 has probably been one of the defining factors how we've avoided relegation repeatedly. Not oblivious to the fact that if it wasn't him we may have secured someone else equally or better suited to the ongoing survival and growth of the club, but we can only go on what evidence we have and in this case its more positive than negative.

Lets not be oblivious to the fact that sometimes for a player to shine he needs to be either: played in his preferred position played in a tactical system that compliments his style of play (counter attack - Ainsworth) played with someone to compliment him (Erwin - with McDonald coaching him)

Jesus .... "club is useless, can't get money in for player X" and in the same thread, "the money we did get for player Y was shite" Would be interested to know if anyone critical of the club has tried to sell something on eBay? You can only can bring in what someone is willing to offer. Ideally you get a bidding war but there's no guarantee that's going to happen. As for Moult the club depend and he expects to move on this summer, it's part of the big plan. Can't help but feel if he broached 20 goals again this season he'd be on a couple of other radars.

Seen a clip from Soccer AM where John Ruddy was supposedly looking to secure a move to West Ham to replace another former Well keeper you would imagine.

You overlooked the third option .... that Eddie is in fact Khaleesi

Ha ..... just getting my popcorn out for the response. Eddie ... unleash your dragon

Great post thisGraeme, not a single keypress in error. I think some of our fans were expecting a Jack & Victor 2010 run with the McGhee initial and subsequent Robinson appointments. Yes back in 2010 we had an unprecedented form, exhibited by a team that had lost direction (maybe deliberately so) to then on a run of 12ish games unbeaten and racking up a host of points. Lets not forget that squad had a lot of quality combined with the fact it's also in recent memory. Your summary of the past 10 games puts context to something that for some reason has been emotive and many have used as a stick to beat Robinson with. All the above highlights his arrival while far from spectacular is certainly above average.

It seems the naysayers are in the minority because every post on here that distinguishes the reality of the role of COO and the perception is getting a significant number of likes.

Manager in his post match seemed to think everything was down to Cadden switching sides with Ferguson's replacement Lionel and nullifying Jones. I went for Lionel in the end, I'm quick to pour scorn when he's lazy and happy to give plaudits. On his day he's up there and better than the majority in this league. His substitution did make a difference and maybe it was down to Cadden nullifying the Killie left wing. Personally I thought Jones especially plus McCulloch playing them on a high press prompted plenty of mistakes and turnovers from us in the first 45. Possibly Lionel's sub with them loosing juice may have dovetailed nicely for our perception of his impact. But his flicks and instinctive footballing brain had nothing to do with the opposition however.

Trivia Question: When was the last time before tonight we scored a goal direct from a free kick? I thought Hateley, I was advised it was probably Faddy in a 3-1 loss to Hertz.

You can ad Milo to your list

What I saw was a guy who grew up on the other side of the town, would have had a soft spot St Mirren or one of the OF. However has spent the vast majority of his professional career here, has been a constant through many upheavals (and allegedly sowed some discontent at times too). He became one of us. In an age where many see the vast majority of footballers as mercenaries, allegiance only for whoever is paying them in that instant, then I think its safe to say Keith breaks that mould, if you cut him he is as C&A as anyone else in the East Stand, there was a definite lump in the throat as he turned away.

Yes Ainsworth was probably the defining factor tonight and yes on his day he is a game winner however lets take off our top flight tinted glasses here, those days can be and proved to be around 1 in 6. He is the ultimate fair weather player. And that's the dilemma, it's a tad infuriating that someone of his ability has had application issues. Without them he becomes as respected and loved among the support as Louis. I fear he may look back as a 40 year old and wonder if he could have played at a higher level if he applied himself differently. 4 managers now has failed to make starting him automatic. If you look at his history before Motherwell, it was a host of loans, from memory I think 11 clubs before he came to us in his mid 20's. While McHugh has to be what our club is built around in the next few years, Ainsworth could be a welcome addition, however I think what the club and manager fear is that you end up with the 1 in 6 player opposed to lesser ability but more solid 4 in 6 which we kinda need. While I will look back on his time positively (and I wanted him never in C&A after a game at Dundee 18 months ago), I will also consider him one of the great "what if's". As for the keeper, that's two games now with basic mistakes (Jules goal and tonights). For a guy as big he seems rooted to his line and I counted two occasions where a more commanding presence would have saved a shaky 50p header from a defender. Let him go back to Everton and onto the market. There has to be other options.

Anyone not using their companion ticket? Work schedule changed so I'm at home now. Eternally grateful to the supplier, there's a pie in it for you.

Dummy thrown I guess

Nae "tic"

For the love of God, copy and past the article text, not just the link as it gives that rag more hits and it's a tad kinder to your peers on here.

A lumberjack or the grim reaper would be on my list

Just because I take exception to the vitriol and bullshit written on here or spouted in pubs about him, doesn't mean I'm close or connected. I do know him personally and see him as a human being would would bleed for the club, much of the ire or pain we're feeling is manifested by him. He also has a family who care about him and no doubt are probably warned to avoid on here for obvious reasons. Quite simply he doesn't deserve some of the lumping together all of the clubs woes as some would like to do. He has a specific remit and by all means question that if it is underperforming. I've read complaints of the business model, the appointment of the past 3 managers, recruitment policy, spending sprees, ownership and "players not up to it", "not good enough", etc. I've watched up go toe to toe with Celtic this season (3-4), Rangers at Ibrox twice so I know the squad is capable to compete against better teams in intimidating atmospheres. Yesterday I saw countless crosses and 8-10 corners not beat the first man or being an abject waste by the first shot on target (McDonald from 20 yards on the 32nd minute). By all means have a go at Robinson, he was lured into a false sense of hope by a first half at Ibrox where we ran rampant and has defaulted to the 3 at the back setup as a result. But individually and collectively there has been no cohesion or spirit from the players and they ultimately should be the target of criticism. Too many in the past few weeks are willing to blame the bigger sphere of MFC, however too few are holding the players to account collectively. As for you and your constant snide little poison, you are close to being a whiney little bitch, quick to point fingers and not really have any empathy to the context or circumstances surrounding an issue. However I don't go implying that you are any way connected to Donald Trump.

OK, so points addressed in order: What inner workings of the business model are you referring to or are you using conjecture and cobbled together arguments on here to suggest that its all down to him? But feel free to share what the model as you see it is. Again, going back to an earlier post. He is not part of the scouting network, he actions the request of the manager. If, however, we signed players on crappy contracts with no protection for the club then there would be merit in this argument. However at present he was responsible for signing Marvin and selling him on. It's already been quoted as possibly the most lucrative sale in the past 20 years for the club. Finally, I guess this refers to January 2016 when the cash appeared to be flying. If you are under any illusion this was anything other than Les playing football manager 2016 with real cash and players and anything could have been said to mitigate it then it is beyond belief. McGhee probably deserved a borderline stay of execution based on what he achieved in the past. With hindsight he tapped out after the Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox. As for the appointment, he was one of 6 who rubber stamped it. Maybe a bit quick to criticise when you're not fully aware of who the others who were available, what terms and conditions they demanded and ultimately who was interested in managing the team. For all we know (apart from some walking Fortune Cookies) it could have been a shortlist of one. I'll direct you to the above about being one of six. As for bragging, yes he came out and waxed about the scouting software and how they hoped it was give the club an edge. We don't know who it identified and which players were hyped by former staff/associates. Ultimately the decision to hire them was taken by the team manager. On the final point I'll take that, when Robinson moved ot Oldham he ditched the NI job, but to be fair he was leaving an assistant job to step up. McGhee had a precedent set by McCall but even if there wasn't I doubt he would have relinquished. How full of praise we all were when McGhee managed a mini bump after his inspired arrival, when we stood up to Oxford's bullying, when we told Rangers to go fuck themselves and gave them the 5% of the seats we were obliged to give them. I'm listing these, Flow would himself but is delayed at his trial in Nuremberg, also has to clear up the Brexit mess he caused, El Nino and not clamping down on Asad enough in Syria. For me the only major fuckup he has made is signing up that rambling trumpet Murrant. Oh yeah .... and assuming his peers who care a fraction of what he does would not be fucking cunts.

So if we distinguish between on field performance and the running of the club as they are two distinct entities, explain how the latter needs heads to roll?