joewarkfanclub

Dougie Imrie away. What could possibly go wrong! 😆

You've obviously taken that quite personally. You are normally one of the more sensible posters on here so my comment certainly wasnt directed at you. However on this point I happen to disagree with you. Some of what you say is true. But you need to add the context of the circumstances and what SK has been asked to do by the board and what he has had to face. There is much mitigation to be found if anyone cares to look. You also have to add in, what is the chance of getting someone better in at this stage of the season. In response to your specific points, he never threw Gent under the bus at all. Sure you can take his comments out of context and make it sound that way if you like, but it would be disingenuous. Gent clearly hasnt taken the huff and probably had his best game in a Motherwell jersey yesterday in a position he is more suited to. Wilkinson has been moved on, Obika may or may not be shortly, and where would we have been without Theo Bair in the last few weeks? SK did very well last season. This season he has been asked to do the same job with one hand tied behind his back. Yes he has made mistakes and for a long time results and performances werent great. However, he has steadied the ship and our record in the last 8 games isnt actually that bad. He deserves this window to add to the squad and see where we go from here. If he fucks it up and we end up in a relegation battle then his position is back up for discussion.

I agree. Theo did the best he could yesterday in the circumstances. There were times where the gap between him and the nearest support was about 30 yards. Thats just no good when your job is to hold it up and bring others into play. He also doesnt have the natural strikers instinct to gamble on the ball arriving in good areas. Some of Gents crosses were just begging to be knocked in the net. Its no criticism of the big man. We know what he is and what he isnt. He is a decent back up steiker at our level probably best suited in a 2. As you say, play to his strengths. Hopefully have someone in to play alongside him for St Johnstone.

Thought there were some tidy performances today. Montgomery had a very good first half. Quieter second. Paton and Davor both had decent games. Spittal gave the ball away a few times, his corners were rank and he missed a pen, but he scored 2 absolute rakers. Lennon Miller was excellent when he came on and McGinn probably the pick of the defenders. MOTM though is Georgie Gent by a distance. Looked far more comfortable in a forward role. Has pace to burn, scored a peach of a goal and put some really tasty balls across the 6 yard box that a better striker (lets call him Mika Biereth) would have gobbled up. Really pleased for the young man. Seemed pretty emotional at the end, so well done!

Derek Adams is an absolute bombscare. His implosion is as funny as it was predictible. It should act as a warning for those still advocating us binning Kettlewell. But obviously it wont.

That would be sweet for him and us! Its about time we had a former player that loved getting one over on their old club! Seems to happen to us all the time! Connor Sammon and PJ Morrison just being the latest!

Exactly! Folk think its easy to turn a squad around. But there are so many variables. If Gary Neville was struggling at Salford City with his cash and Roy Keane at Sunderland and Ipswich, then how much harder is it on our budget?

Thought it was a competent enough performance yesterday, given the circumstances. Threadbare squad with injuries and departures. Alloa played tidy football in spells, but didnt threaten us as much as I thought they would and at no stage did I think we were at risk of losing the game. Got off to a great start first half and if we had a more instinctive striker available we could have been out of sight before they scored. Their goal is definitely on Butcher. Poor mistake to give Sammon so much space and then show him inside. That said, it was still a great finish. Second half was much better, especially after Miller came on. Boy is a class act and Davor is gonna love playing alongside him. He just brings a calmness to everything we do. Loved the partnership between Montgomery and Gent. Both young guys with bags of talent and potential. If we can find a way to replicate that on the other side of the pitch we should be able to hurt teams in the second half of the season. Someone mentioned Luca Ross in the advanced position and that could work, but we still need a more dynamic RWB than SOD, albeit he has been absolutely fine at RCB and Id be happy enough with him in a flat four. To those slaughtering Spittal, I really do wonder what your expectation levels are for a Motherwell midfielder? Without his assists and goals this season we would be in deep shit! The guy isnt perfect, and his corners frustrate me as much as everyone else, but he is one of our most important players. Theres 4 or 5 clubs in our league that would be happy to take him off our hands. Yes, I was annoyed about the penalty miss and I did think the free kick was more suited to a left footer, but then he does that! I guess some folk are just happier being miserable! Anyway, comfortable passage into the next round. Another cup tie to look forward to and fingers crossed for another couple of decent signings before the window closes. Up The 'Well!

Some of our fans might want to watch this and consider adjusting their expectations...... https://www.facebook.com/share/r/bNoL1YiQHuUMFuF2/

He wouldnt be with the right player alongside him. Unfortunately the right player just signed for Sturm Graz. Playing him alongside Bair would be utterly pointless.

He was a last minute panic buy due to the injuries to Obika, Wilkinson and Biereth. At that point the only fit striker we had was Bair. The fact that we might have moved him on at least shows the manager isnt as blind as some would have you believe. What you need and what you can get arent always the same thing.

Actually wouldnt be against that. Its exactly the kind if game a young player could flourish in. Given how threadbare our squad is it wouldnt be the maddest thing SK has done this season.

Happy to park my personal feelings about Halliday, mainly because they are based on perception of him as an individual from social media rather than any actual personal knowledge. What is not in doubt is his experience and ability. Given where we are, he is exactly the kind of signing we need. Hopefully he can hit the ground running and bolster our beleaguered midfield. With Davor looking decent and Miller coming back, it no longer looks as desperately thin as it was. However, it would be nice to get the boy Fraser in as well......

Not going to say Im not concerned about Saturday, because I am. We could really do with a cup run to improve our finances and lower league opposition at home gives us a good chance for comfortable progression to the next round. I was confident that would be achieved even with a threadbare squad and the departures of Spencer and Wilko. However, the injury to Slattery and the departure of Biereth now make that more difficult than it might have been. As for the league though, can we not just wait for the window to be closed and assess our chances once we have seen what business has been done instead of pissing ourselves and forecasting Armageddon?

Hear, here. Keep fighting the good fight bud. This place needs some sanity.

Dont know if it was on here or P&B but someone said KVV had returned to Groningen in poor shape and has been sent to train with the youths. If thats the case Im not sure Id be pushing the boat out for him. Could be weeks before he is any use to us.

With Slatterys injury and Biereth being recalled, I may have to review my comfortable 3-0 prediction! Depending on what SK comes up with re team selection, it could be a very uncomfortable afternoon altogether.....

As others have said, theres not much we can do about Mika being recalled, he is Arsenals player after all, but it is still a bit annoying. You do wonder what the point is of calling it a season long loan when they can be recalled at any time and then moved on for a better offer. Definitely puts more pressure on the management and recruitment team which they could have done without. But lets wait and see what they produce before we start dooming us to relegation already.

That leaves us with some difficulties. More so from the bench. I think the best we can put out is..... KELLY MCGINN MUGABI BUTCHER SOD GENT PATON DAVOR SPITTAL BAIR BIERETH Subs Ox, Montgomery, McGinley, Maguire, Obika and some young boys. Should still be enough to get the job done. But its clear to see why we need more bodies. If SK wants to stick with his 3 up top Id be tempted to see what young Luca Ross could do. Alternatively you are bringing Montgomery in and pushing either him or Gent further up.

Have we replaced Spencer though. Montgomery is supposed to be left sided same as Gent. Or have I missed something?

Slattery getting injured isnt great for us or him in the circumstances. Even with Miller back training and Maguire returning from loan, I felt we were at least 1 midfielder down from where we would like to be. So we are now looking at needing 2 in. From Slattery's perspective, his deal is up in the summer and he clearly isnt going to be getting any gametime to put himself in the shop window for a move. Im sure we will look after him medically but it will be interesting to see what happens now in May. Still cant fathom the chat about Montgomery. Off the back of the Furlong and Penney rumours, it appears we are definitely in the market for another LWB. However, he looks to be a very similar player to Gent (as were Penney and Furlong tbf) so not sure what the thought process is unless McGinley is being moved on again and we need cover. RWB for me is a priority with Spencer away. We just cant be going into the run in playing 3 at the back with SOD or McGinn at RWB. Both can do a job, but neither has the pace to be a serious attacking threat. Depending on how much longer Casey is going to be out, we probably need another CB and with Wilkinson being moved on there should be scope for another striker. That takes SKs initial 1-2 signings up to 5 or 6! Mr Daws is going to be busy!

I think Bobby Bingo has pretty much covered what my response would have been so no point repeating it. I think its fair enough for fans to have had concerns this season about the direction of the club and what the future was going to look like. Budgets were cut, player recruitment was underwhelming, we had a terrible run of results all in a climate of pretty much silence from the board. However, they have clearly been stung by that and come out fighting. For me if the content of the 2 interviews by Derek Weir and Jim McMahon had been drip fed to the support throughout the season, as we had become used to under Alan Burrows stewardship, then I dont think there would have been anywhere near as much unrest. Having listened carefully to both interviews, it seems to me much of what has occurred this season has been entirely understandable. Just not communicated to us. The decision to cut the media/comms budget quite so drastically might ve something they would wish to review in the future. Its such a big part of modern day sports. The fact that the Chairman and CEO have gone to such lengths to try and right that wrong and people are still doubling down on their original position does mystify me though. Im not sure what kind of action it would take to make people happy.

Can you provide any evidence of the club being run in an amateurish way, other than just your opinion? It seems to have become a trope on here and has been accepted as fact. Ive never run my own business. But Jim McMahon and Derek Weir both have and been relatively successful. McMahon has also been on the board and been chairman during what most would describe as being a fairly successful period with high league finishes, cup finals and European qualifications. We have also broke even during that period which is no mean feat. I get that we are in a period of transition and uncertainty spooks people, and of course we would all prefer to have a permanent CEO and Chairman in place so we can get some stability going forward. But to suggest that we are utterly rudderless when we have someone with pretty decent business acumen in place doing the job on an interim basis doesnt bare scrutiny. People complained about communication, and we got it. People complained about the lack of a strategy and it was explained. I do wonder at what point these guys throw in the towel as they cant seem to win.

Certainly not the way I would have done it. I think you can be funny without being cringey and achieve the same goal. But it is what it is. Certainly not worth getting bent out of shape for.

I dont think anyone is getting giddy about him. Just a few of us stating that he has done better than we thought he would. Its not that hard to do.