wellsince75

Agree about the need to take a punt on a player. Like you say Higdon and Bair good examples. Add to that the likes of Sutton. FWIW I think Bair had a purple patch, I'm not sold he'd have continued the form but fair play for what he did. For me I just don't see a goal return beyond 1:4 games for Armstrong. He's coming towards 30 years old, been with several clubs around the 2nd division and National League and generally chipped in with a goal every 3-4 games. Pretty similar stats in his limited time here. Can see why people want him to sign, big hard working lad but for me personally I'd pass.

re Armstrong and Watt - personal view is neither should be retained. Watt now older than 30, good creative player who's not a natural striker. I don't see him fitting in our current style of play. Armstrong couldn't get a game for Carlisle - they want rid of him irrespective of struggling themselves to score and subsequently relegated from Division 2. A 29 year old target man who's likely to chip in with less than 10 goals per season (assuming plays all games) We need pace up front or an absolute predator who'll bang in goals , I'd rather we saved the cash. found a younger prospect or a decent loanee.

Results against Killie are about as tight as they come with several matches ending in draws or decided by a single goal. Be delighted if we got reversed the scoreline from last time we met. 2-0 to the Well please.

Similar rhetoric to how we were with GA. McInnes has delivered a very respectable 40% win record with Killie. His style is the issue, very similar to Alexander, fans want to be entertained with some semblance of football being played. Suspect McInnes will have Hearts in the top 4 again with lots of grumblings about style. Not sure how excited I would be if I were a jumbos fan right now. Meanwhile a win tonight for the mighty Well will be well received.

Similar to you . Getting top 6 every other year with the occasional euro spot and or cup run point is that was us but has become less us in the last 10ish years . i think we need stability of leadership and move away from the merry go round of players . Add to that more focus on youth

Agreed , we're regressing towards our average position which isn't catastrophic. It's a shame though that we've gone from having a 50% success of getting top 6 to the more recent 33% success rate. Ideal outcome is something like Wimmer sticks around for 3+ years (akin to Butcher/McCall/Robinson) build strength and continuity.

Yeah 14 wins & 50 points is about the most we've managed in the last 10 seasons. Feels like a lifetime ago that Mcall led us to 70 points. This is where I feel it's legit to challenge the club on its overall trajectory. Avoiding relegation seems to be the aim, being top flight for +40 years isn't showing any long term benefit. The data is quite telling . We've made top 6 on Ten Occasions since the current 12 team format. In last 10 years we've only managed 3 occasions. 2015/16 McGhee 2019/20 Covid season cut shot 2021/22 Alexander Simply put we're regressing a club.

Be good to get a couple of wins to end on a high and start building to a better future. we're +2 points better than last seasons points. -5 points to 22/23 season. -1 point to 21/22season (albeit that was top 6). we should be at least aiming to break even with the 22/23 season.

Happy birthday SOD . in fairness his strengths and weaknesses are there for all to see . He’s been asked to play in a position that doesn’t suit him. for a squad of +30 and a youth team it’s not great that an aging wingback is the medium term answer for an an aging right centre half who’s injured .

Slattery is the pick of the crop. Being brutal that's the only one I'd have signed, possibly 2 from the rest for squad members. Also worth noting the lack of pace from that group. Other than Slattery I just don't see them adding to the high press.

Agree - SOD is never a centre half, at best a wing back but now has no pace and can't get up the flanks. He's there to fill in for McGinn who's injured, who both get contracts and we'll rinse and repeat the same again next year. I worry that a few of the signings got a contract for being 'nice guys' rather than footballers who will make the team better.

Nice to see a Well manager smiling and laughing. A little more relaxed Motherwell could equate to even better football to watch. Suspect we'll play well against the jambo's.

@wellgirl point well made re the zero contract hours/pay as you play. McGinn has been very decent for us - I just don't believe he'll play many games. At his age and recent history it's unlikely he'll remain injury free. Time will tell , but fair challenge on my comments.

if we've signed him on a pay as you play then fair enough. No question a younger fitter Mcginn was an excellent signing. He'll be 35 this year, he missed several 3-4 months last season and missed c6 months this season. It's highly likely he'll miss a large chunk of next season. If this was a single signing of retaining experience then OK but that's Halliday/SOD/McGinn all been extended. We needed to have a massive clean up this season and move forward. I don't see us learning any lessons here at all.

The base is around 18 players but equally expect some coming/going within the 18. Still to sign. Wouldn't be surprised if Casey/Watt/Seddon/Paton all signed on. Perhaps McGinn as well. Contracted but could go Miller is obvious but suspect likes of Balmer/Robinson/Stuparevic all move on. (if fit) Before signings it could look something like : Ox Mcginn Gordon Casey Koutroumbis Sparrow Halliday Seddon Slattery Stam Maswanhise Subs Ward, Wilson, Watt, Paton , Ross OK base that can definitely be improved with 4-5 quality signings. Certainly need younger legs to come in.

Quite liked Wimmer outlining that he'll only bring in better players than the ones we've got. Very sensible. Only issue is he's happy with a lot of the player we have. Not as sensible. Overall signing c4 quality players in the transfer window also sounds sensible.

Good point - I’d forgotten about that one . 👍

Makes sense , hadn’t realised MC was now in 20s . Overall so far it’s a bit underwhelming as we have a lack of pace, guile and resigned a few mediocre players some of which unlikely to have much game time . Slattery aside , there’s not many resigning that make me think ‘oh good - I look forward to seeing them play’ appreciate some need of continuity , seasoned pros etc but we need to leave plenty of room for new blood.

Hard to argue with Halliday given his game time - experienced pro etc . Ward - really don't get it tbh. If he's not an upgrade on Balcome or Ox I don't see the point. If he is better than why's he had zero game time. A background in National league and Finland doesn't convince me. Overall Im not sure if Ox is the obvious No1 . If he is would prefer Connelly to be the back up.

Touting yourself for a role @mio. get stripped - you can have a run out on Saturday 😊

I was thinking about this and got me thinking about accountability or lack there of. Who's going to make the 'heads roll' for poor mgt. Previously we had an owner and if we pi55ed their money away with poor signings and bloated squads it was their cash they lost. Versus being in a community model does it hurt as much ? It could be a coincidence that since we've moved to the community model we've in tandem moved to signing +15 players every season. As I say appreciate it could easily be a coincidence but it has got me thinking about it.

re Watt - much would depend on our style of play. As part of a front 3 or sitting just behind the strikers he's an asset. The issue for me is 1) He's had all season to prove himself and show what he has. There's only been glimpses. 2) The formations we've often played haven't suited him. This could continue to be an issue. To retain him for me we'd have to get rid of of several other contracted forward players and play more than 1 up front. That being said he's the other loanee forward I'd consider retaining.

Falkirk have a much bigger support than Livingstone, as such resources should be stronger. I like the fact that they try and play football v's the eye bleeding Livi approach. Add to that Livi's plastic pitch, not sure when they're replacing but I'd much prefer all SPL clubs to have grass pitches. On a basic level it should be a standard requirement for any SPL club.

Agree @mio it's looking promising for us. As poor as we are there's 5 other clubs who are equally poor or worse. It's conceivable that we'll all pick up points against each other. Very glad not to be dragged into the mire.

great to get the points and move us play-offs . Bring back Ox, that's 21 goals in 11 games since Balcombe came in.