wellfan

I understand the idea of easing youngsters in but let’s not pretend this is the same situation. Miller has already racked up plenty of first team games for his age. A token 10 minutes at 3–0 down does nothing for his development and only wastes the opportunity to actually test him properly.

It was that UEFA Pro Licence science keeping him out of the team until 81 mins tonight.

Ten minutes at 3–0 down for his debut. Some man management. That’s UEFA Pro Licence science for you.

Football is football, regardless of language or country. You’d think from some comments that every player at Motherwell is Scottish. My earlier point was aimed at what I see as managerial bollocks, not at the fact a player has moved from one country to another.

RCC for his goal.

2-0 Welsh and Said.

Delighted with that. Good to see some tactical pragmatism as well. With a proper number 9, we’d have strolled it today.

And another sitter missed by our nearly man. Will others concede that he’s shite yet?

Osong genuinely looks like he’s never played football before.

Cracking shot from RCC. Makes up for his earlier sitter.

Another chance not taken by the nearly man.

Our lack of composure and killer instinct in the final third keeps costing us. What’s JBA going to do about it?

True, but we need Just and Slattery to exploit that space.

What a lot of managerial bollocks. Just put him on the park and let him play.

Robinson’s a prick and knows it. Kettlewell’s a prick but thinks he isn’t. I know which one I prefer.

After hearing JBA’s pre-match presser, I’ve got a feeling it’ll be a tactical deadlock and end 0-0 after 90 mins. I imagine Aberdeen fans will be thinking the same given their start to the season.

With all this week’s penalty practice, I guess another draw is pretty much nailed on.

This post unfairly singles me out. Since our last proper interaction on 30 March 2024, when you sent unsolicited private messages that I ignored, I haven’t engaged with you in any meaningful way. Referencing me here now is misleading and inaccurate. It’s also concerning that you keep dragging me into posts without reason. Frankly, I'm pissed off that your nonsense post has forced me to directly engage with you again. For the record, on 30 March 2024, here and here, we had a bit of a public back-and-forth, after which you sent two private messages. I ignored them and have deliberately avoided debating you since. Your forum behaviour follows a clear pattern. Personal experiences and private matters are brought into football discussions as a defence whenever someone disagrees with you and then the unsolicited private messages start. Stop involving me or making false accusations in future posts.

I hear what you’re saying and I share the concerns about injuries, but honestly, how many more chances does he need before he stops fluffing his lines or getting caught on his heels? With a clinical centre forward and sharper decision making across the team, several of those draws would already be wins. I’m still positive about JBA and the team in general, but I guess I just have to accept we’re stuck with a busted flush for another season at least.

I’m not disagreeing with that assessment, but if our number 9 got himself into better positions in the box, the others would have more options to pick out. Good centre forwards create options, whereas Stama always seems to be on his heels. Someone else called him the nearly man, and that feels pretty accurate. If we’re going to persist with him up front, and that’s if he hasn’t injured himself trying to take out the goalpost yesterday, we’ll probably need to adjust how we play in the final third and use him more as a creator for others rather than the finisher.

The reality is we’re generally playing very well, but struggling in the final third because we don’t have a proper number 9 to make the system truly effective and add more threat and goals. JBA isn’t going to change his system, so I expect more of the same until January when we (hopefully) sign someone. For those saying “we’ll come good” – we already are good in general play. And for those saying the goals will come for Stama if he just gets more time – he’s already had plenty of time and chances. The only real improvement we can make with the current squad is cutting out the defensive lapses in concentration. That’s the bigger picture for me: more of the same until we bring in a number 9 who can actually deliver.

I guess that just shows how differently we all see things in a game.

This is a League Cup game so it’s very much a must win game.

Aye, but they haven't met our backline and goalie yet.

Fadinger, again, he’s an excellent footballer.