johnstone

Marcus: Yet another two points dropped due to our inability to consistently put the ball in the back of the net. I am also not completely convinced on Jens Berthel Askou, I just do not think this preferred style is suited to scottish football and I still maintain the idea that someone like Jack Ross or Malky Mackay would have been better suited to achieve success in this league. I want to see my team try and score goals not just win the 'highest possession stats trophy'. This was a comment on the BBC - 😂😂😂 Malky Mackay 😂😂

Another point on the board I suppose. If someone said to me that at the start of the season after 15 games you would only have two defeats, then aye I’m going to bite your hand off for that. Actually looking at the table this must be some kind of record for the number of draws so far for all teams.

What would be brilliant is if this style of football was adopted right down to the young academy boys. As a club we push this style of play and it becomes the identity of the club.

Now that we have gone through one round of games it's probably a good barometer on the team's progress. From my own point of view, I really think this is genuinely an exciting time for the club. The football we are playing is exceptional and like nothing I could ever have dreamed of seeing at Fir Park. I was chatting to a few mates, and I actually think the only game we have actually deserved to lose all season was the St Mirren semi final. If you look back at the league fixtures: Motherwell v Rangers - 1-1 - draw probably a fair result but could have nicked it. St Mirren 0 v 0 Motherwell - fair result Hearts 3 v 3 Motherwell -- should have won Motherwell 2- 2 Killie - Should have won Dundee 1 - 1 Motherwell - Should have won Motherwell 2- 0 Aberdeen - Justified Celtic 3 - 2 Motherwell - Draw probably would have been a fair result Motherwell 1 - 2 Falkirk - Game of two halfs- draw might have been a fair result. Livingston 1 - 2 - Fair result Motherwell 2 - 0 Dundee Utd - Fair result Aberdeen 1 - 1 Motherwell - Probably should have won it. Killie 1 - 3 Motherwell - Pumped them Motherwell 2 - 0 Hibs - Total domination. Every one of these games we have not been dominated by anyone and the really good thing about this is the trend we are moving towards - scoring goals and then controlling games, reducing the draws. Exciting times.

Even before the sending off that is one of the most controlled and professional performances I have ever seen from a Motherwell side. Over 700 passes - I doubt we managed that in a full Graham Alexander season.

Chill out folks. Yes it was a bad day at the office, but we are essentially three months into the season, we have totally transformed our style of play and overall it’s been fantastic so far to watch. We got outfoxed yesterday by a very organised system, it happens. Also I think had we not lost that third goal then an equaliser could have maybe came, but St Mirren easily deserved their victory yesterday. I think the manager has recruited very well and when we get into January then he will have a much clearer understanding of what he might need to bring in during the window. To essentially write this whole project off due to one game seems mental to me, don’t understand what some of our fans want sometimes.

But surely you would accept that our style of play means any gk who plays for us will potentially make the same error. I accept it’s a bad mistake but I am not sure what is achieved by hounding him out. like I said earlier he on numerous occasions broke their press with his passes to open up the play.

This was never going to be instant success though. The manager keeps going on about the learning process here. Mistakes will be made. We just have to accept this. I feel a lot on here are being way too critical of the team, you need to look at the bigger picture.

All this chat of get Ward out is so frustrating to read. I would be interested to see how many passes he made in his box while Celtic pushed up to around our 18 yard line, I would guess a fair few. He is being asked to play like this by his manager and is integral to the style of play we now embrace. As soon as he plays it through their press we find gaps and this has been evident in most games this season. Issue is the more you play that move the more chance there is of a mistake happening, which the manager pointed out in his interview. I don’t think Ox can play this way and I would be he would make more mistakes than Ward. It’s the nature of the position that a mistake can lead to a goal, but I don’t think it’s all wards fault. Put it this way if let’s say Welsh made a mistake that led to a goal would we all be jumping on wanting him out the door?

Will need to sharpen up a wee bit at the back. A more clinical team could have had a couple against us last night. But they are there for the taking, especially with their European games in the mix. A good test for the boys to see where they are to be honest.

I’m sure Andy will keep that in mind when looking for work…

I think people are just looking at current trends, most of this season we have been the better team in the games we have played. Fans are just approaching games with confidence, a bit like the players.

We certainly won’t fear them. We controlled large chunks of the game up north. Thelin looked a bit shell shocked in the interviews after the match. No doubt freaking out that he has us again next week and defeat will probably lose him his job.

Win lose or draw this is the most entertained I have ever been at Fir Park. Long may in continue, it’s unbelievably a good feeling going into games with this confidence. Every team we have played this season we have dominated for huge parts of the game. Might not have fully clicked yet, but I’d much rather be watching this instead of the Ayrshire Kettleball.

I’m not sure he made a poor choice. He broke into that Rangers team aged 16. He has been unlucky with injuries and also the constant change of managers at the club. I think an injury free Rice within a stable environment would have played 50 plus games for them. I agree staying at Motherwell would probably have resulted in more performances, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Can I just say the football we are playing right now is an absolute joy to watch. We are totally dominating teams in terms of possession and are brave in all areas of the park. We need to be more clinical but that will come. All I can say is I was really struggling the last few years watching Motherwell - it was a real chore at times, but now it’s fantastic to see us play actual football and get the rewards for being brave.

Ronan Hale from Ross County fits the bill. Suprised he has not moved on yet…

He is good and I’m pretty sure he is still at the club. Not 100% as I’ve not really kept up to speed with what’s going on. So maybe we have a Miller 2.0 😂😂

Absolutely chuffed for Miller. My son spent a bit of time at Motherwell Academy and before his training would start the under 16s would be finishing up and I remember Miller and also Rice being total stand outs. Then his younger brother was in the same team as my boy and he was always watching from the sidelines with his dad. He even turned up to prize giving for the young lads. Not Suprised one bit that he has made this move, his performances over the last season and a bit have been phenomenal, a true talent and it’s also no shock he has pretty much confirmed his place in the national side. It’s also fabulous for the club and shows that their youth system works and has for last wee while been outstandingly successful.

I’ve no idea how you fitted that in due to all the fishing trips you go on.

Long shot but we are looking for three tickets to the match today. So if anyone can’t make it last minute then let me know. we are still heading up. Tickets in the away end 😪

Kevin Van Veen was absolutely box office. Incredible season with us, right up there with probably the best striker performance in one season in the SPL. His goal versus St Johnstone where he put two boys on their arse was exceptional.

Eh? Over the last few years we have had Johnston, Turnbull, Campbell, Hastie and now Miller and Wilson all playing for the first team and getting good moves to bigger clubs. We do a hell of a lot better than most teams in the league in promoting academy players.

End of the day the optics of this in the media for the club are horrendous. I can’t imagine Kettlewell made this decision lightly so I would tend to believe that the abuse has been more than just fans shouting from the stands. I am usually in the east stand and have certainly not heard much against him. So you have to think that this goes further and maybe is social media abuse? End of the day it looks awful for us and is not going to help attract a new manger or players to the club.

If it is personal abuse is the reason he has left and let’s say the players were behind him, then it could spell disaster for the rest of the season. Players might be totally pissed off. Very messy situation this. If Frail stays then he is the obvious choice to keep things going until the end of the season. Personally there is very little between all the clubs in the SPL right now, we are going through a bad patch, just like every other club has or will. Not sure there is a magic wand that will see us playing silky football!! Also no surprise form dips when we don’t have Miller in the team.