wellfan

Kelly v Giroud, Mbappe and Dembele tonight. Incredible. This has just earned Motherwell an extra wee wedge.

Graham Alexander was the best thing to ever happen to Sligo Rovers: https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/heres-how-much-sligo-rovers-27609424

Some familiar lunchtime reading to entertain your soul: https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9173&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9279&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9267&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9266&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9268&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9273&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9248&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe

MK Dons fans aren't happy with Alexander. Shock horror. https://x.com/donsaction/status/1711321014242566283?s=46&t=wehikD-exiutCByWu64YEQ

Motherwell love to sign a player and play them out of position. In all seriousness, I agree. It's time to play Spencer on the right and SOD on the left unless Souare/Gent are any better there?!

Bair is, unfortunately, the fall guy because he's a 'project' that is being thrown under the bus by Kettlewell as he stubbornly 'hangs his hat' on him by continually selecting him. He isn't good enough (yet?), but, as I wrote previously, it's not his fault that Kettlewell keeps starting him alone up front. He tries hard, so fair play, but a team needs their solo striker to be a goalscorer. It should also be noted that Bair isn't at fault for our continual leaky defence. That's another issue that needs to be addressed. I agree, and I think we could all agree that that change should've happened for the Livi game. The St J game will be time for Kettlewell to show us what he's made of now that he's under justified scrutiny.

Bair is crap on his own up front, but it’s not his fault that Kettlewell keeps picking him to start up front alone. Today’s loss was entirely on the manager, and it’s not come out of the blue. I and others said that his over reliance on our midfield four to support a dud striker will see them tire, become jaded and easily sussed, and then turn in a performance like today. Kettlewell simply needs to change it up for the St Johnstone game. If he doesn’t, this forum will be a delight.

In the context of the last four games, yes, it is plan A, and it's failed. The plan A you talk about goes back to the start of the season when we had more options. My point was that a plan B (or C as you imply) should've been tried today because even a 2-year-old could see that it's not been working during the games before today. Even before the last four games, Bair wasn't scoring when deployed as the lone striker, our midfielders/defenders were, yet Kettlewell has persisted with it and we've lost four on the bounce whilst only scoring once. To be fair to Bair, he scored in the opening game, but that was when we deployed two forwards, although one goal in eight league starts is pretty crap for a striker. Therefore, as we have limited options, it makes sense to drop Bair or deploy him alongside another forward. It's that simple, and in a perfect world, he would be nowhere near our first team. And it's all semantics whether a plan A or plan whatever is considered here, because he's not good enough no matter the plan. But maybe Kettlewell doesn't want to drop him as that would indicate that his 'project' has been an immediate failure, or is it that Wilkinson and Shaw are even shiter?! If the latter is the case, we're even more fucked than we currently are until Biereth and Obika return. At the end of the day, Kettlewell has brought pressure on himself by signing a known dud and publicly 'hanging his hat' on that dud. He didn't have to do either.

Obviously no. I'm suggesting that his sticking with the same set-up for today against Livi was a mistake, given that it had failed for the previous three games on the bounce. Today was the day to drop Bair and start with two up top. We cannot persist with him as a solo striker. His record before joining us demonstrated that he was incapable, and his record since joining us has confirmed that. How many more games does Kettlewell need to see this? Another three or four? I hope not.

Agreed. Wilkinson hasn't shown anything to suggest he is any better/worse than Bair, and the jury is still out on Shaw. We all know what Obika gives, but we also know that he is a crock. And imagine we hadn't secured Biereth on loan; we'd be staring down the barrel of pure shite until the January window. Our signings in the forward department have more or less been a complete failure so far.

Yep, Kettlewell is already starting to look silly for boldly saying that during the presser, but who could've seen that coming, eh?!

Fair play to Livi, we were shite all over the place, but I still stand by the majority of my previous post. Given the four defeats in a row and his continual selection of the hopeless Bair as a starter, it's clear that Kettlewell doesn't have (or want) a plan B yet. If he starts with his proven failure of a plan A for the next game, I'll rapidly lose faith in him as our manager, and I'm sure I won't be alone in that. We've not been good enough, as performances don't win games; goals and clean sheets do. The international break couldn't have come at a better time for him, but the St J game will be the first real test of his mettle.

The Met Office has issued an Amber/Yellow warning for rain tomorrow across the Central Belt.

We've scored 7 goals across the first 7 league games - which is decent - but I don't see that return improving as long as we rely on a one-man battering ram and hope our midfielders continually chip in. The latter will tire soon enough and the only current replacement is Davor. Perhaps we need to start exploring other striking options soon, or do we wait until Livi shitfest their way to a 0-0 where we dominate with yet another good midfield performance?!

https://queensparkfc.co.uk/stuart-mckinstry-comes-on-board/

Presumably, St. Brendan appeared and was, again, allowed to prevent a steward from doing their job.

Agreed. But the happy clappers here will say that we can't drop Bair because our performances have been great with him as the big battering ram and that's all that matters.

I agree, but it’s the responsibility of the stewards/supervisors and police paid for by the Club to prevent this and implement a delay and/or abandonment. I can also guarantee that the kickoff would’ve been delayed to sort this out had the game not involved Celtic (or Rangers). However, I also don’t think this type of scummy behaviour would happen at another game in Scotland not involving those two. As usual with the policing/stewarding of fans in Scottish football, it's one rule for those two and another for the rest of us. And that's why I rarely go to matches involving them

The hubris and sectarian seethe is strong in this type. They walk and work among us, unfortunately.

The Green Brigade and Union Bears are one and the same; scummy wee pricks. You can also add some of the Well Bois to that pot of steaming piss.

I don't see us scoring unless it comes from a midfielder, but I also don't see us conceding in this game. 0-0 or 0-1 (Spittal).

I am absolutely encouraged by and pleased with our progress under Kettlewell and how well we’ve played in midfield and defence in general, but absolutely scunnered by the poor striker recruitment being the dominant factor this season. If Biereth doesn't come good, we’ll likely be in the market for a proven (likely costly) striker in January whilst paying the wages of several duds/crocks. Not an easy task for Kettlewell to remedy this situation.

Biereth aside, our recruitment in the striker department has been appalling. That Bair is our only current option (he's the best of a bad bunch) is not good news for us going forward this season. Kettlewell needs to fix it quickly.

It's that bad we really are now in the position of choosing between being booted in the left or right nut.

Obviously not, I was being facetious. However, a team shouldn't expect to win any games when it doesn't have an effective striker in it.