[The Alfred Johansson Thread]

1 minute ago, grizzlyg said:

Poor Alfred got pressure on him now as if he can't beat that sellik team in 3 weeks then that peg is mega shoogily! 🤣🤣🤣

Just sent a txt to my mate saying the same. Celtic are pish but sadly we are facing them at the wrong time.... 

[The Alfred Johansson Thread]

Had the keeper not basically thrown the ball into the net for Dundee's second the worst we were getting yesterday was a point against a team everyone has been saying are excellent.

Sure there were issues with our set up and team selection but the only way a good Dundee team were beating us was if we shot ourselves in the foot and we duly obliged. Said it yesterday I don't think we were as bad as everyone was making out. We should have had a penalty and dare I say had we waltzed away with a draw the reaction would be more muted. I'm as frustrated as everyone but we have a squad that should allow refresh changes , particularly up front , the manager needs to start doing it.

Dundee got lucky, we won the game for them. We made them look very ordinary whilst not playing anything like we have in the past. Right now I don't think we are a million miles away from better outcomes. Will we be as good as last season? definitely not we don't have the players for that yet.  

 

We are a good way away from thinking about the managers position. Christ everyone and their granny had Steven Pressley for the high jump for most of last season. 

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

1 minute ago, texanwellfan said:

Hodge gets a lot of the ball but not much output for the amount of possession he gets. I think hodge is a good player to have but more about seeing games out when we are ahead. I’m hoping Oscar is back in the team beside Fadinger soon. 
I’d like to see JKL in for JGR and Johnny K or SOD at right back. Earlier in the season we were shooting and crossing a lot. I’d like to see us get back to that but with PH or Thor in the middle. 

Likewise , as you show we have options especially in the final 3rd its time to try them. Keep playing Maswanhise to try and keep his value up is killing us.

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

6 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Garbage. The manager doesn’t know what he’s doing. 

You might be right you may be wrong.... only time will tell , so would advocate sacking him now ?

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

4 minutes ago, wunderwell said:

Nice one, enjoy. All about opinions. 
I don't mind being wrong in the long term, in fact I would take great satisfaction in it.

We all want to see the same thing and being proved wrong about Motherwell is very often a real bonus.

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

1 minute ago, wunderwell said:

Herein lies my feelings thus far. I don't see that he has the rocket up the arse mentality. 
Cuddly managers like Klopp, Guardiola and to a degree Askou, have plenty of bite under the surface. 
O'Neill, McInnes have some quite aggressive attitudes. 
We've got a Gray/Goodwin....and that will inevitably fail imo.

who knows don't know enough about him to know what kind of character he is behind the scenes. However time will tell and if he is as you suggest he wont be long in being found out. However we are a good distance away from that judgement call right now. Anyway away to watch our old manager see if the pressure is still building on him in his game tonight. 

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

6 minutes ago, wellsince75 said:

Lots of good points here , agree with the majority - my frustration is the manager is the guy who could make the 7 changes you’ve outlined and hasn’t .
 

if we can all see the issues , which we can re the players mentioned then so should the gaffer and make changes 

 

I found today a hard watch , I can’t remember worrying their keeper 

I agree there were a number of negatives  but it wasn't as bad as some are making out, well in my mind anyway. We made two mistakes and got punished.   The final 3rd I totally agree we were very very ineffective today, but time has to be called on Maswanhise and RCC , suitable for the subs bench only. 

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

1 minute ago, wellsince75 said:

Lots of good points here , agree with the majority - my frustration is the manager is the guy who could make the 7 changes you’ve outlined and hasn’t .
 

if we can all see the issues , which we can re the players mentioned then so should the gaffer and make changes 

 

I found today a hard watch , I can’t remember worrying their keeper 

I get the impression he's been trying not upset the apple cart from JBA team, for those that are still with us and frankly we don't have the same players to play it exactly the same. I think he now has to step up and be his own man and put a rocket up the arse of some who look to be coasting. 

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

2 minutes ago, wunderwell said:

Why can't you predict anything negative? I've no need to have a long hard look at myself.
I've not seen anyone who wants the manager removed at this juncture and nor should we be even entertaining this.
However, my prediction is that he won't cut it, for a number of factors I have seen so far. 
We need to give him some time to figure out if my gut feeling comes correct.
 

I suggest you read twitter to see some saying the manager should be binned.

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

Now that Ive had the drive back from Dundee to calm down I'm probably going to be in a minority of one. I didn't think it was bad as the hysteria being spouted online suggests and those saying the managers a dud and needs removed are needing a long hard look at themselves.

We played better football today than we did against Aberdeen, particularly in the second half where we upped the pace of the press. First half the build up was slow and predictable and there is no hiding the fact we have fuck all up front with Maswanhise.

The important points as I saw it. We beat ourselves, it was all self inflicted  I.d be more worried if Dundee were a better team than us. This was a Dundee team getting plaudits from everywhere at how good they were and had we not shot ourselves in the foot they were never beating us today.. 

1. We gifted Dundee two goals, they didn't have to work hard for them.

2. Maswanhise should now  be benched, he's not even nuisance value.

3. SOD needs brought back into the team. He can deliver decent balls into the area and with Eythor Bjørgolfsson in the forward line we have someone who could take advantage and unsettle the opposition. Maswanhise couldn't unsettle me..

4 Sparrow was far too content to turn back and play the safe easy ball and creating fuck all.

5. Hodge ain't doing it for me as yet, we badly need Preistman back. 

6. Jake Girdwood- Reich is slower than a week in the jail and again nearly cost us .His style of play actually encourages the slow pedestrian build up. When the ball is played out to him he never does anything at pace its slow and pedestrian and it allows our opponents to set up in positions to stifle us. 

7. Its time for Eythor Bjørgolfsson to start . He did more to unsettle Dundees defence in 8 minutes than Maswanhise or RCC have done in 8 games.

8. Manager is being too predictable and loyal in his team selection. We have a big squad and we have different options the manager now needs to use them.

I actually don't think we are too far away we just need the manager to make the necessary sacrifices among some of his automatic picks and for the players to learn that they don't need to take 4 or 5 touches in the box. If he sticks with his predictable first team picks we are going to see more of the same.

 

 

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

24 minutes ago, andalg said:

My take is that the starting line up was wrong with three players up front who all play in a similar style, wanting the ball too feet and trying to lay it off.  Unfortunately there was no one to lay it off to.  In my opinion the three of them should never start together again.  If we had three different styles up front it would give more options and problems for defenses.  Said, Palmer-Houlden &  Maswanhise for example. We have the players at the moment but not necessarily in the right places 

For  me the jury is still out whether "we have the players" other than Lowry I've not see the levels of consistency  from the rest to categorically agree with that statement. Before the happy clappers get their knickers in an uproar I'm NOT saying we haven't I just need to see more before I can make that call.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

I'm over it now, its history, no amount of racking over it changes anything. Based on what I've seen so far this season I'm 50/50 whether the we have what it takes to finish top 6. That can of course change in a heartbeat to being totally pish or excellent, time will tell. I'd like to think having invested more money in the squad than we've done for 25 years that its the latter.   Two out of next three at home and a tough run of three games to come but we need something to steady the ship after 3 games where we've basically been effective for 25 minutes out of 270.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

6 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Utterly horrendous tonight. No press. No urgency. No second balls. No idea. And that’s entirely on the manager. Lose against Dundee and it’s the beginning of the end. 

Long way short of the "beginning of the end" even if we lose. Certainly will go a long way to denting confidence and that makes the games against Celtic and Hearts a bit more difficult. That said if we win (which I dont think we will) it puts the feel good factor back on the boil for two big home games.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

Just now, joewarkfanclub said:

Not sure what part of my post you are diagreeing with?

Im not disagreeing with you, I'm agreeing that stats can be very misleading. 

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

Just now, Ya Bezzer! said:

It's to do with people over reacting to a single defeat.

It's one match that got away from us.

  

 

 

Who is over reacting?? people are commenting on where we are now. No one is saying we are relegation material , no one is saying we will not make top 6. 

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

1 minute ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Pretty sobering experience tonight.

We played some nice stuff and controlled the game for the first 30 minutes, but failed to score and Aberdeen grew into the game.

We got a couple of warning shots that went wide before the goal, so no surprise when Molloy scored.

Expected us to re-organise at HT and come out re-energised so to lose a self inflicted goal within 30 seconds of the re-start was a dagger to the heart and truth be told the game was dead there and then.

After that, for all our possession and passing percentages, we were so indisciplined and wide open on the transition.

To say we had 68% possession of the ball and that Aberdeen had 4 shots on target and scored 4 goals suggests that it was a bit of smash and grab by Aberdeen, but in truth it didnt feel that way.

We got well and truly Robbo'd tonight and Alfred will have to sit down and contemplate where we go from here. Its defintely his League Cup semi final moment.

We deserved to lose , the stats are very misleading. We had a pass accuracy of 87% but most of that was in our own half across the back and middle. We were slow and ponderous and never really threatened Aberdeen at any time. Even though they had far less possession they looked more likely to score than us and I wasn't shocked when they did cos as you say they went very close twice before they score and they showed all night if we gave them a sniff at goal they shoot from distance..

[Dundee v Motherwell 19/09/2026]

Right now wish I hadn't got a ticket but that will change by Saturday. Right now Id bite your hand off for a point considering we follow up with Celtic and Hearts.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

Just now, grizzlyg said:

We won 2 out of 17? Jeez!! Never realised,   aye that Jens was overrated 🤣🤣

I really dont see what thats got to do with anything , people are commenting on what we are watching now not where we will finish at season end.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

2 minutes ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

Seems like some people need a bit of a reminder.

 

What does that change. It doesn't change how we are playing now.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

1 minute ago, David said:

If there's an exact opposite of papering over the cracks, what you've posted is exactly it. 

Hibs away "decent enough." I disagree there, you're not giving us enough credit for a very good away win. This is the same Hibs that went on to beat Rangers at Ibrox in their next game, and didn't lose in the league until they played Hearts. So that was a good performance and win, especially away from home.

Falkirk at home "struggled." I don't know if I'd agree with that. We did okay, and Falkirk are a decent enough side. They'll take points off other teams this season.

Stenhousemuir was a game that victim to our European run. We chose the side based on other competitions, unfortunately. It is what it was. Not ideal, but again, we have to pick and choose our battles at that stage of the season. 

Dundee United was a very good, comprehensive win. Them being down to 10 men is neither here nor there. We won 3-0. 

St Mirren. "Could have conceded five" but we could very easily have scored five as well! It was one of those games.

Rangers, we lost to the better side fair and square. No issues there. Same with Aberdeen. 

I'm certainly not going to be proclaiming us as finishing top four this season, but we've been fine so far. We're fifth in the league, we've won two, drawn two, lost two, and our goal difference is close to neutral. 

Oh, and for those saying we're not scoring enough? Only Hearts and Celtic have scored more in the league so far. 

So yeah, not amazing. Not terrible. 

We see it differently

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

1 minute ago, grizzlyg said:

Just watched highlights.....o mean lowlights.

1) what were the banners in Block E about? "SPEAK UP , SPEAK OUT" 

2) kanga terrible for 1st goal

3) Hodge at fault for 2nd goal ( still been very good so far)

3) what is sparrow doing for 3rd goal?

4) moormann and JGR poor for 4th goal

Aye......not great

No two ways about it that was abysmal. Its not as if Aberdeen didn't play as anyone would expect. Its an absolute embarrassment losing 4 goals at home to that Aberdeen team. Long ball merchants all game and we couldnt deal with it.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

Just now, grizzlyg said:

I am certainly not papering over any cracks. I am just saying yes of course it ain't good enough tonight but we are very much in transition.  I expect a reaction on Saturday and there definitely needs to be changes to that line up

I think Dundee are a better team than us right now , so a point would be a great result. Dont think we will get it cos that defence will concede and just don't see us scoring.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

18 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Well said.   Yup its always the same, anytime we lose a game its suddenly a crisis.

It was terrible tonight and we all know that but no reason why we cant bounce back

Far too early in the season to say crisis but not to early to say we have basically been mediocre at best and utter shite tonight.

We did as well as could be expected in Europe. In the League very Iffy

Hibs away decent enough

Falkirk at home struggled

Stenhousemuir abysmal , poor team selection

Dundee UTD at home played very well but helped by playing against 10 men for 75 mins

St Mirren outstanding for 25 mins , could have conceded 5 , scraped a draw

Rangers lucky not to get a hiding 

Aberdeen , horsed by a team of hoofball merchants. 

 

No crisis but let not paper over the cracks. 

 

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

58 minutes ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

I'm prepared to put that down as just one of those nights.

Thought we played some good stuff in the first half an hour but we found it difficult to find space with Aberdeen basically playing 8 at the back.

They score with their only shot on target and we go in at half time 1-0 down in a match we've totally controlled and dominated.  I think we had something like 80% of possession at that point.

Second half we give a goal away with a mistake within seconds and then the game is gone and a lot of heads went down.

Might as well blown for full time then as we just weren't at the races 2nd half but that can happen when things go against you.

Worth noting we have 8 points after 6 games when it took us 8 matches to achieve that last season.  I think the season can still go either way but we can't afford too many more losses like that because they absolutely kill confidence.

They were a baw from scoring twice before they did. The warning signs were there. First Aberdeen team to beat us by a 4 goal margin since Alex Ferguson days. That sums us up tonight. The defence is piss poor and we have zero up front. Maswanhise and RCC are not going to score many goals. I'm not convinced by this squad, yet. Not saying it wont change but still not convinced . I think there has been a lot of hype about a good bit of it unjustified. Pretty patterns with nothing at the end of it was pointless. We badly need to take something from Dens but I fear another grim day ahead.

[Motherwell v Aberdeen 15/09/2026]

2 hours ago, MJC said:

0-4

You can dress this up any way you want but that is an absolute disgrace.

Against a team who’ve not been able to buy a win of late too.

I repeat, we are in trouble this season.

You may not be wrong but long road to go. 3 goals to St Mirren, Rangers should have taken 4 off us and a piss poor Aberdeen took 4 off us. Nothing up front and a piss poor defence.