Kmac

Can we get rid of this imposter yet?

--------------GK------GK--------GK ---------Law---Laing---McManus---Hammel -------------------------------------------Lasley--- ----Taylor WINGER----------------------------------------WINGER -----------------McDonald STRIKER----------STRIKER----STRIKER-----STRIKER Increasingly certain that this will closely resemble what Baraclough is imagining, until someone reminds him that we only are allowed 11 men, at which point he decides a midfield isn't that essential. 3-0 Accies.

Without a word of a lie, I would rather we gave long a place on the bench instead of Samson. Neither will be first choice anytime soon and we may as well give our own players experience of being around the match day squad than taking on a journeyman Scottish football goalkeeper. Feels kind of like we signed Gerry Britten again.

Do we even have a signing policy? Are we just throwing enough shite at the wall to hope some of it sticks?

I give up. Baraclough. 7 strikers and 3 goalkeepers. The guy hasn't got a fucking clue

Spot on. To me, that is the really noticeable thing. If you look at the highlights from yesterdays game, there are score of empty seats in the East Stand - go back even 3/4 years and that wouldn't have been the case. The bois (who should become this generations die hards) have now started walking away. Fans thrive on seeing players, who, if not blessed with huge quality, burst a gut for the team. I fear that both Baracloughs manner and his signing policy are manifest in a lack of 'soul' on the park - a little something to get behind. We are now inundated with players who have worked their way around the English lower leagues without settling and for good reason. I'm aware that we aren't blessed with cash however there are ways to put a squad together which gets everybody gelled and fighting a common cause. All I see however is three quarters of a team who are looking to move on elsewhere ASAP and a manager who isn't hard enough to knock that mentality out of them and have them playing for 'Motherwell'. Something fundamental needs to change at the club and that has to start with Baraclough. I want someone who shows ambition and is quite frankly willing to piss a few people off to achieve it. We are pandering to ego's and reputations at the moment and it's costing us dearly. The support can see through it and are walking away.

I got abuse on here when I said we were rank rotten, but I stick by the statement. We ARE rank rotten. Taylor shouldn't be anywhere near a Motherwell Jersey (bench would be a push) and I've totally lost the faith in Baraclough. We have no grit as a group, a lack of talent (filled with sub-standard players) and a manager who persists in setting us up the same bloody way every week when quite frankly 7 points from the season thus far flatters us.

I've given up thinking barackough Is Some tactical mastermind, so I'm now just starting to hope that we realise we have no "midfield" and are prepared to forget that idea all together. Thus: 4-2-4 ----------------------------Rippey------------ Kennedy-----McManus----Laing-----Hammell ------------------Lasley------Grimshaw------- Robinson--------McDonald----Moult------Thomas Subs: Twardzik Watt Chalmers Leitch Cadden Clarkson Johnson Ainsworth Back to basics, score more than the oppposition

Hugely Underwhelming

Two wins on the bounce haven't changed much - we are still rank rotten in midfield and look susceptible to conceding. Expecting to see a defensive central midfielder coming in and hopefully a right back. Will we see anyone going the other way? Maybe we don't have the budget to be freeing players, however I wouldnt be surprised to see Clarkson moved on and maybe Reid - although that is perhaps asking too much?

He is going to be exposed anyway. Leitch offers nothing and I don't believe we have anyone else capable of doing a job in the middle of the park.

Not at all. We know we have no "midfield" to speak of. What I'm suggesting is rather than trying to do a dodgy patch up job, playing players out of position or those who contribute nothing, we get our 'best'/fittest' 11 on the park and go at Kilmarnock. We know they concede goals, we know we have a shite midfield - I'm suggesting we should maximise our threat to their weakness and stop trying to patch up an area of the pitch which is desperately requiring reinforcements.

If it isn't already, baracloughs jacket will be on a shakey peg if we don't win today - rightly so. Considering we have a completely front heavy squad at the moment and virtually no central midfield, I'm hoping that we change our formation from this one up top crap and try to convert some chances - get the game done by half time - like Ross co did against killie. Considering that, I'd line up: ----------------------Ripley------------------ Kennedy------McManus------Laing------Chalmers ----------------------Lasley--------------------------- Ainsworth------------------------------Johnson ---------------------McDonald------------ --------------Fletcher--------Robinson Subs: Twardzik Hammell Watt Cadden Leitch Thomas Clarkson Moult

Bizarre. I thought we were streamlining the squad this season however we now have 5 strikers (assuming fletcher isn't crocked). Clarkson is now looking like we will be carrying a wage - like last seasons squad. What the hell is the point? McDonald should be playing further up top as he isn't being utilised properly atm. We are in glaring need of a central midfielder and a right back (we have 3 of them too - 2 of them are shite). Utterly bizarre. Unless we are setting up to play 4-2-4 of course and I will eat my words.

What is wrong with Fletcher? Anyone know when he will be back? I really don't rate Moult - he tries hard but lacks quality whilst Clarkson looks like a sympathy signing.

Still can't believe watching that yesterday. First half an hour or so, we looked relatively comfortable without ever dominating. Johnson had a one on one with the the keeper only to hit it straight at him, whilst on another Occassion, Law found himself free in the box and tried to cut it back for what would have been a tap in, only to play it straight to a St Johnstone Jersey. Then, the demise started. the natural emergence of st's into the game saw us completely loose our shape entirely. As st's slowly worked Into the match, we panicked. We set up with two wingers yet after 30 minutes, we resorted to playing it back to ripely who launched it up the park to moult who had no one within 20 yards of him - missing out our midfield. For the rest of the game, we had no game plan. No sense of tactics. We were content to play it high to the St Johnston back line for them to have another go at us - utterly baffling. Added to the fact that we had no sense of a system (play with two wingers yet don't use them) we had far too many passengers on the park and quite frankly no one who would get pass marks over the piece, out with Ripley who made a couple of decent stops. Where to begin... 1- Law - an absolute fucking imposter. No positional sense whatsoever, got done for the first goal yesterday. Quite honestly should never Be seen in a Motherwell jersey again. I cannot for the life of me make sense of having Kenndey who is a right back in the bench and playing Law. Shite is not a sufficient term to describe him. There is not a single ounce of quality about him. Passing is poor, can't tackle for a desire to backtrack, awful positioning, crossing is generally poor. Brutal. 2 - Laing and McManus - as a pair, quite simply, they don't boss the game enough. Too many individual errors or slips which put you on the back foot. 3 - Hammel - injured or otherwise, he got absolutely roasted in the first half yesterday by O'Hallaran (who for a lack of composure could have punished us). Really poor. Unwilling to let the guy know he was at least there. Charmers matched O'Hallaran much better physically when he came on. Might not be the best technical full-back we have seen but head and shoulders above the quality of Law on the other side. 4 - Taylor - firstly, slightly unfortunate to get sent off however both bookings were rather stupid on his part. Away, from that... He is a passenger. Doesn't compete or contribute anything. Passing isn't great, can't tackle, isn't physically imposing. Waste of a jersey. 5 - Lasley - guilty of trying to do too much. Runs around trying to fix other people's mistakes but someone really needs to have a word. Age means he isn't the quickest and needs to adapt. No doubt in my mind that he is head and shoulders the best midfielder we have a available however we need to utilise him more wisely (which is the managers job). 6 - Jonson - don't actually remember him ever beating his man or passing to a Motherwell player. Unable to header a ball - which makes the decision to play him up front and hammer high balls to him more baffling. 7 - Ainsworth - largely anonymous. Again, has moments where he looks dangerous however fades too much. Was probably the wrong man to take off yesterday however he wasn't contributing and doesn't to dig in when required. Should have changed the full back behind him and allowed him to worry more about attacking. 8 - McDonald - let down by a shite system from Baraclough and seeing too many others not pulling weight, trying to do the job of 3 and up not really doing much. You can see the quality he has when further up he park, sense of awareness is far higher than anyone else. Use he guy properly Ffs. Can understand his strop when taken off. Crazy decision. Play him up top or at lest off the front man - not 20 yards behind. 9 - Moult - the guy tries hard however he isn't going to cut it. Isn't a bad player however he doesn't have the quality to be a guy when can rely on. For a bigger guy, he doesn't win much in the air, can't beat a man and has no pace. Give him his due for the effort but he isn't someone we can rely on as a lone striker or stick on starter for that matter. Subs - by the time the end of the match came, we had the air of a school boys team. So many 'wee' players (literally) who ran around but didn't actually do anything. I'm sorry to offend the happy clappers on here, but Leitch isn't going to make it. Has no imposition on the game whatsoever. Thomas is too lightweight for professional football at the minute. Too easily bullied. We clearly need at least 2 players before the window closes. We have no strength in depth and a central midfielder and right back are a must. Baraclough, in my opinion should now go. We look devoid of ideas after only 5 games. We have no discernible system or at least one which suits the players he selects and a mentality problem where the heads drop at the first sign of competition. He is also apparently unable to read a game during a make appropriate changes in personnel or shape or get any obvious sign of fire into the bellies of the squad. We look so flat. Drastic changes are required. Baraclough, I'm afraid, time is up.

Nope, just thought he looked as if losing a few pounds wouldnt hurt him (people in glass houses and all that )

Assuming Clarkson isn't taking part in the fitness stuff? He looks about half a stone overweight.

You are bang on with this point. I've been quiet on Baraclough and tried not to be too judgemental however this is the infuriating thing. He talks a good game and I think he has the best intentions regarding the players and the club, however the feeling I get from him is what is translated to the park. We have no grit. Baraclough has the philosophy that players should go an express themselves and his signings suggest, by in large, that it is this which he is trying to install in us. The amount of times we capitulate in games or aren't able to do the nasty things is what is costing us. I would argue that both today and the UTD game could have seen us have 5 points from the opening 4 games instead of 3, if we had the mentality of "we might not win this but I'm sure as fuck the opposition aren't either". We are almost in the position of having too many flare players in the side now. It's great when everyone has a good day and I am certain that we will dish out a few 4/5 nil hammerings this season (like we did at the end of thye last), however we need to compete every week. I view this as a mentality issue more than anything and that is a fault of management as far as I am concerned. There are still weak areas which need adressed. Law needs shown the door. He has been dross from the minute he arrived and despite the lovefest he gets on here, is still well below average. Hammell looks really un-sharp and it could be after last season that we are now well and truly in his twilight years. Taylor is a passenger and is symptomatic of the mentality described above. We have some really good players at the club however a bad result next week and I would personally be acting extremely quickly to re-assess the management before we end up trapping ourselves in another un-necessary relegation scrap.

Still early days however a poor result at the weekend and 1 or 2 people, including myself, will start to ask questions of the manager. He has been given scope to develop a squad as he wanted - including paying fees for some players. 1 goal in 3 matches is a sluggish start and despite it all, we are no better off than where we were this time last season. On paper, we should be a top 5 side. Of course we are going to lose matches however I'm concerned that for whatever reason, we don't seem to have a bit of grit or killer (Winner) instinct in the side...

Hmmmmmm

Would be tempted to drop Law for this one as he was rank rotten on Saturday, however I cant see Bara throwing in Kennedy or Watt at the deep end... I reckon we will go with -----------------------Ripley------------------------ Law--------Laing--------McManus-------Hammell ----------------Lasley----Taylor----------------------- Ainsworth-------------------------------Johnson ---------------------McDonald----------------- ---------------------Fletcher------------------- Subs: Twardzik Chalmers Kennedy Watt Leitch Moult Clarkson On paper, it is quite a decent side which certainly should be looking to push top 5 - time will tell. Not many expecting us to get anything from this one however, so I'm quietly confident that we will come away with a 2-1 win.

Good choice by the club. Jury is out on Moore at the moment and would be 5th choice striker at fir park

Personally, I dont think we are doing ourselves any favours by having Thomas playing only 15-20 minutes in games for another half/ three-quarters of a season. The boy is 19 going on 20 and if he is going to go far in the game then we should be looking for him to have a positive impact this season and be looking to establish himself as a first team player next season, when he will be 21. It might sound harsh however if we are going to operate as a commercial entity, we should be ensuring that we create players able to withstand game pressure and perform - giving them sell on value. I don't believe that we are doing ourselves or Thomas any favours if we see him as only a bit part player for another season and a half. I'm sure the club will be well aware that we will get mximum sell-on value when he is around the age of 23/24 at a club like Motherwell. It's important that we create as rounded a player by that point as possible - that isnt always achieved by wrapping people in cotton wool. I'm not suggesting Bara will treat him like that, more suggesting that I think you are doing Thomas and other young players like him a slight injustice by eeking out appearance minutes.

That's my point. Surely in someone like Thomas, we have the natural replacement for Ainsworth? How is Thomas going to develop when we dont give him the chance to play his natural position when the man in front of him gets injured. Are we willing to shoe horn in a guy out of position to cover? That would seem McCall logic (or lack of)