joewarkfanclub

So your basically saying there is no difference other than the personal characteristics of the person who holds the position? What you are describing is a Leader. Jens had stature. McGlynn has age and experience. Alfred has neither of those things, so he needs to be able to show that his tactics and philosophy work to gain the trust of the players. That takes time. Time you dont seem to be willing to give him.

Stephen Robinson was great for Motherwell at the time and I will always be grateful to him for the 2 Cup Finals and making us feel relevant again in Scottish Football. But the game in this country is moving on. His football/tactics are limited and no longer align with the club philosophy/identity. I think its a shame its not working out for him at Aberdeen, but not a surprise. We would be mental to consider having him back if it ever got to the stage Alfreds job is under threat (which it isnt).

What does that even mean? The days of football managers having control and responsibility for absolutely everything to do with the playing side of a football club are long gone. Most clubs (even us!) have a Head/Director of football, a team of analysts, sports scientists, and other individuals who assist them with the day to day running of the football department. Most modern managers are in fact just "Head Coaches". McGlynn is currently doing very well at a club that suits him. But lets not forget that he is coming towards the end of a somewhat ordinary managerial career during which he underwent an epiphany working under Brendan Rogers at Celtic. Before that, he was just another one of many average Scottish managers on the merry-go-round that would have been chased by our fans had he been suggested 10 years ago. Thats not to discredit his current achievements. Merely giving them context. Alfred on the other hand is a very young ambitious coach at the start of his career. Who is to say where he will end up at this stage.

It takes two to tango guys. If we could all get back to playing the ball instead of the man, it would be nice. And I know that works both ways.....

Sorry, I wasnt disagreeing with anything you said. Just putting context on the reactions of others. Im broadly in alignment with your position.

I think our problem as a support is that Jens moved the bar on everything for us. Pre Jens a point at Tannadice would have been considered most acceptable. I think Ive been there 4 times and seen us lose 4 times. It was always a difficult venue for us. This in a week when the BBC are running articles on United having the best midfield in Scotland! (The boy Iqbal is quality btw). All the stats yesterday say a draw was a fair result. It doesnt always work that way and I did think they edged it second half and as such were the more likely to win. But not by so much that I didnt think we deserved our point. Hopefully with the ship steadied, we will see more consistency of performance going forward and we can all relax a bit soon!

Ya Kid K! Everybodies Favourite Fifer! 😍😍😍

Even a broken clock is right twice a day! 😍😍😍

Im judging performances rather than results, albeit they are important if the manager wants to stay in a job. Looking at the bigger picture, we are clearly nowhere near the levels we set last season. But Im sure Ive seen you admit that was probably never going to be realistic. Alfred has a different style. Its still possession based, but he likes to get it wider and forward quicker, so we dont get the same control over games than we did before. My issue was that style disappeared for several weeks at a time he was getting much more time on the training pitch with the players and the injuries were subsiding. That was worrying and counter intuitive. But I think his style is back and clear to see. Much more like what we saw in Europe. Add Lowry back into the mix and I think we look like a team that can hurt other teams. We are also looking a bit steadier at the back. Albeit some of our players are still switching off at important times. (See their goal yesterday, and the big chance at the end). The glaring omission for me is in front of goal. We need someone to step up and start taking some of the chances we are creating. Im not naive however. The last few weeks have been an improvement. But its the direction of travel thats important. If we continue to get better then we will be mid table at worst. If we regress back to where we were, we could be back in the shit before we know it.

Well, thats us reached the international break and we have taken 5 points from the last 9 with 2 of the 3 games being away from home. Some will say we are only 4 points off bottom, but we are also 4 points off 5th. For me Alfred has steadied the ship and although he is far from out the woods, any immediate pressure regarding his position has been released. Some might still not be having him, and thats fair enough. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But Alfred isnt getting sacked this side of Xmas now.

Hoping Alfred has learned his lesson from the Celtic game and doesnt show Rangers too much respect. If we are as passive as the Celtic game we will be soundly beaten. However, if we get in their faces and put them under pressure we will get some joy. They have got some good players, but they are far from the finished article and their confidence can be somewhat fragile. Id like to see us go more solid in midfield with Oscar, Fadinger and Hodge all starting. We need workrate and endeavour and I dont think Kanga is there yet (absolutely fine as an impact sub). Be interesting to see if Lowry is back, albeit that might present more selection issues.

You've formed your opinion, and thats fair enough. I was getting to the officially "concerned" stage after the Celtic game. That was so bad you would have to be delusional to see any good in it. However, there has been steady improvement in the last few weeks, so I cant agree that we are "still pish." We are far from the finished article and there is still much to improve upon. But there is clear evidence for me that the squad are still together, playing for the manager and taking on board his coaching. A striker that can score goals would help as we do create a lot of chances, but we are stuck with what we have until January, or JT finds any form.

Hodge for me. Has looked much more confident and assured the last couple of weeks. Loved seeing him drive into midfield with purpose. Honorable mentions for Fadinger, Sparrow, Said and Girdwood-Reich.

Decent away performance and a good point. Thought the first half was end to end and very even. Both teams had lots if chances so 1-1 at half time just about right. Thought United edged the second half. They showed a bit more quality on the ball and created the better chances. Agree, the subs were weird. Said was doing fine and Fadinger was playing well. Can only assume Fadinger did pick up a knock as it makes no sense otherwise. Early days for Hendry on his return from injury, but he has already reminded me why I hadnt missed him. I really wouldnt have him on the field at the same time as SPH or Eythor. One of any of them is plenty. Overall, pretty pleased with the point, but moreso the performance. The passivity is gone and we look far more comfortable with what we are trying to do. It appears talk of Alfreds demise may have been premature.

The white Pony "floodlight" shirt is a belter. One of my all time favourites!

Would be great if he can start. Absolutely no question he improves us. I guess it depends on how Alfred sees the midfield going forward. Is there room for Fadinger, Hodge & Oscar in the engine room? Id like to see it given a go. Should make us more difficult to play through. I agree in that line up McGhee seems a natural replacement for Oscar. Kanga for Maswanhise later on unless he is on a hat-trick! 😍

Dont think Oscar will start. Much as I would like it. Alfred was very clear that the returnees would be phased in. Whether that refers to all of them or not, I dont know. But Id be surprised. Another 30 minutes from the bench, couple good weeks training and he might be good to go after the break.

This was my fear for Lennon going to Udinese. Too much coming and going of managers. No stability. No real chance to develop. I hope things settle down for him and it doesnt slow him down too much. But I have my doubts.

Welcome! I think the players generally arrive around 1pm for a 3pm ko. They park up the end of Fir Park St, so your best bet is to hang around outside the main entrance to the Phil O'Donnell Stand and you should meet most of them coming in there. The players are usually pretty good about stopping for autographs/selfies. If you contact the club/Well Society directly they might be able to make more specific arrangements for you.

I kinda get that Jake is our player and JKL is a loan player, so we probably want to give priority to developing Jake as there is money in it for us. However, you still need to win football matches and when you go 6 defeats on the bounce conceding goals for fun, you think he might have been given a chance. Now we have a win and a clean sheet, I suspect it might become even more difficult for him to get game time. Of course, there is always the possibility the manager see's something different in training that has caused him to stick with Jake / Moorman.

For me Jake is the only CB we have that really seems to like a tackle and he is probably the best in the air. I thought Moorman was gonna be in that mould, but he really seems to have dropped off from the start of the season. Not sure if thats just a confidence thing or not. JKL looks the most comfortable with the ball at his feet and coming out from the back. Not really seen any evidence of physicality, albeit from a smaller sample size. McGinn certainly adds experience, as would McGhee, but Im not sure either of them are that physical either. I think your previous observations about the defence getting protection from the midfield are probably on point. We didnt seem to need to be that physical last season and that was with a backline of supposed right backs at times. I think if we get the balance of the team better in midfield and get back to controlling games a little better the physical aspect of the game will be less of a issue.

Looking forward to seeing how we fare against an 11 man Dundee United and finding out if Goodwin really has become a convert to The Church of Jens. If he has, we might be able to get some joy up top. But will we be able to keep the door shut at the back? Could be an interesting game. Would shake hands on a draw right now. But back to back wins would be a pretty nice feeling going into the break.

Maybe Alfred needs to do a Jens and go without a recognised striker? Problem with that is he would have to give up going long, unless it is the ball over the top for Maswanhise to chase.

Vigurs was a talented footballer. His problem was the desire to be one. No hunger, no fight. When the going got tough, he went missing. But then, I guess thats why someone with his ability was with us in the first place and not playing at a higher level.

I thought Kanga had a decent second half. He struggled first half with the pace & physicality of the game, slipping a fair few times on a slick pitch. But he grew into the game and was one of the few constantly showing for a pass into midfield. He is young and inexperienced, but I think the raw materials are there.