weeyin

328th detailed review of our training and injury protocols, incoming. Meanwhile, take your pick...

The last thing we need is a hulking target man. That is a recipe for 90 minutes of long punts from defence to "attack".

Waiting for an entertaining game played on plastic since 2014. Take your pick...

I believe the official term is "on the tractor" https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2025/01/07/kai-andrews-is-our-first-2025-arrival/

If yelling at players mean you didn't prepare properly or picked the wrong players, managers like Klopp and Mourinho must be useless.

Maswanhise for me. With Miller out the team, I think Halliday enjoyed the playmaker role and was also one of our better performers. Was happy to see Slattery get his 10 minutes too, and no yellow cards!

We have an OK record at Killie and Livi but that doesn't mean the games won't make your eyes bleed. It's not about excuses, it's about the astro making games unwatchable even when you win. I'd struggle to think of 3 great games I have ever seen on plastic.

The challenge is they need the game time in matches where making 17 mistakes in 30 minutes due to lack of game-speed practice won't cost us any points.

He's another one of many that needs a lot more game time. Not having a reserve league and not being able to play bounce games as much as we'd like is a big challenge to getting the long term injured up to match speed.

I think there's a bit of revisionism going on because during his first loan spell, and during his early performances after we signed him, he was an excellent performer (and even won the players' Player of the Year). He was certainly poor when everyone else in the team was poor too, but his overall contribution to the team during his spell was a net positive. I was never a fan of having him as a captain, and I always felt his form dipped after that. I've seen plenty of good keepers over the years that don't do crosses - it wasn't a problem for them, because they had central defenders that took care of them. Jim Leighton made a career out of never leaving his 6 yard box, but had guys like Big Eck to mop up.

Butland did Kelly things against us too - just had the Rangers VAR to save him.

Needed the win after the Hearts underperformance. Excellent 3 points against a team above us in the league, albeit on the slide.

Our 100% home record in 2025 continues. Take you your pick...

I think we are really struggling for fit midfielders in that role, but agree it's a risk.

TBF, it's rare any team gets a comfortable win in this league. There's not much to choose between 4th and 10th right now. I'm just glad we got the 2 goal lead before half time.

It's not enforced, very often, but the rule on violent conduct includes an "attempt" and doesn't need to connect: Violent conduct is when a player attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a team-mate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made. So by the strict letter of the law, if the ref thought that he tried (but failed) to headbutt Watt with excessive force, then he can give a straight red.

From the comments during the week, I'm not sure Slattery has 45 minutes in him yet. He was one of the players we've been desperate to get playing in the bounce games that keep getting cancelled. Would hook Davor though, as refs often look for chances to "even things up", especially after soft red cards.

Hope Apostolos is taking notes - exactly what's needed in games like this.

The Sparrow has returned to the flock. I left the 2 Wilsons as votes had been cast against both of them.

Not changing it until someone spells his name right.

Hands up who didn't see that coming? (Not you, Oxborough). Take your pick...

Happy New Year fellow dossers. Even to the posters who keep asking for a null vote in MOTM 🥳 And don't forget to move your calendars forward one year (I stole that one from Emo Philips).

The only sure things in life are death, taxes and Rangers getting the benefit of an incorrect VAR decision.

As I've said before, I can't think of any young player we have released that ended up playing at a higher level than us. And even the ones that chose to leave for "better things" (rather than be punted) have mostly struggled. Max Johnston is the rare exception in the latter category, and even Turnbull (after a good initial spell) has had a downturn in fortunes.

Casey's agression and attitude tend to distract from his lack of defending fundamentals. He was a key part of last year's defensive atrocities and, especially when starting with Blaney, is a guarantee we won't have a clean sheet. He is an asset when we have the ball, and great at causing disruption in the opponent's box. Below average when we don't have the ball, or when he's defending in our box. We've started to slip into our old habit of losing soft goals, and that needs to be addressed with some changes in the back 3.