[In's And Out's]

I hope you´r right;)

 

MarcC, what makes you a Well fan? Interesting to have someone from Germany show an interest in us.

[In's And Out's]

heard we are gonna sign Freddie Dindeleux

 

 

Ya Beauty! He's brilliant! A real prospect!

 

Jonny have a look at the In's and Out's thread. Being discussed there but nothing much to report I'm afraid.

[In's And Out's]

Very reliable.

 

 

And, I think some people are missing the point with Hughes. Its not the fact he rejected £7,000-a-week and he thinks he can do better but more the fact he doesn't want to move or go back down to England (Norwich that offered him it, yeah?).

 

 

Do you mean doesn't want to move from Motherwell (the club) or doesn't want to move from Scotland?

[In's And Out's]

Thing is, we have to give the team time to gel together. Signing players before the St Johnstone game is all fair and well, but not much use if they don't know the names of half their team mates. So I reckon you're right to be worried at the pace of things. It's ealry yet, but if in another week to ten days we haven't seen at least 4 new faces in the door, I'll be very concerned...

 

I think we will see one more player by Thursday, using this wildcard option and it will probably be in the area needing the quickest fix (Goalkeeper?). Most of the activity does not happen untill the end of the transfer window when players/clubs have had the chance to assess their options.

[In's And Out's]

Arguably Hughes may have been a bit of a luxury given the new 4-2-3-1 formation. With two holding midfielders the emphasis is on players who can sit, break it up and pass it to a fairly mobile/fluid three sitting behind a target/pivot forward. Lasley, Fizzy, the new ex-Tranmere dude and Forbes (from what I've heard) would be ideal for this, I think Hughes would struggle in a more advanced role (anyone remember him as a wide player in the 5 in McGhee's 4-5-1 against St Mirren?). Hughes had his moments, albeit infrequently, and was undoubtedly an improvement over Brian Kerr ( ) but for me, happy with the way things are shaping up in the middle so far.

 

Have to be careful about building Forbes up too much. I thought he looked good against Llanelli and if he could produce performances like that in the SPL he would be a revelation but we have to remember the standard of the opposition. Also we have not seen our new signing in action yet so will have to wait and see.

As for Brian Kerr, remember he was too good for us.

[In's And Out's]

I can't understand all the hubub about Hughes. He played well for about 6 months of his two years here. He scored two goals for us and most times the games just passed him by. Will not miss him one jot to be honest.

 

Excellent first touch, could give himself time because of his ability to control the ball, everything went through him in the midfield. His good 6 months was the teams good six months. It's a team game. One player cannot do it on his own.

 

It's all about opinion but in my opinion he was a class apart.

[In's And Out's]

Point taken but would you believe a word that comes out of a football agent's mouth?? His public hints that he wasn't keen to move all the way up to Aberdeen won't have done any harm...

 

 

Would be sad to see him play for the opposition next year, particularly Hearts. He is one of the better players we have had in recent years. I had hoped he would stay but at the reported £7000 a week it was never really going to happen.

 

Have to say though that it is mildly satisfying that Aberdeen can't afford him either. Funny how Jim Paterson and Stephen Hughes have not jumped at the chance to be reunited with their old manager.

[All-time Fave 'well Line-up]

Dykstra

 

Nijholt

Martin

Teale

McKinnon

 

 

Cooper

McFadden

Lambert

O Donnell

 

Coyne

Arnott

 

Subs: Maxwell, McCart, Van der Gaag, Hughes, Porter

 

Edit: I forgot about Mio. Replace him with Teale.

[Worst Motherwell Team And Manager]

I am not going to try and argue that Harri Kampman's time was a success but I knew people who worked at the club at the time he took over and they were impressed by some of the things he tried to do.

 

McLeish (apparantly) ran a fairly relaxed ship and when Harri came in he insisted on better discipline from the players (better time keeping etc), controlled the players diets better and gave catering staff a programme of training a month in advance so that they could help with nutrition.

 

For what ever reason it did not work but we have to remember he was given very little time to make it work.

[Some Information About Llanelli]

I believe it's because they don't have their own notes and they are miffed because their emblems are used on UK coins ........... not sure tho' maybe the good lady who told me was pulling my leg but certainly in Aberystwyth I had a few funny looks while trying to spend my tenner in the chip shop, but i just started to eat the chips whilst they argued with me

 

 

The problem is the same in Scotland I'm afraid. I have a mate who comes over from Northern Ireland and he has real problems getting Scottish shops to accept Ulster Bank notes.

[Best Players Of Recent Times]

McFadden by a country mile. Everytime he got the ball the excitement level would rise. That still happens now when he is playing for Scotland.

 

Great player who scored one of the most memorable goals in Scottish Football history.

[Shooting From The Hip]

A week is certainly a long time in football. Last Monday the sun was shining, we were getting excited about our new manager, Stockport fans were telling us about his qualities and we were excited about the new players coming in.

 

Reading through this thread the mood has changed somewhat. Concerns about Gannon's man management, concerns about English players fitting in to the Scottish game, Clarkson and Quinn sounding more like superstars with every passing day. In reality nothing has changed since last Monday, except that we lost 1-0 to Llanelli, a game that Gannon cannot be judged on and Gannon has commented on our captain's lack of command at the corner that led to the goal.

 

Before we start talking about the drive and determination of Quinn/Clarkson lets remember they were both playing in the two defeats by St Mirren (cup and top six game). They also played against Nancy and were somewhat out of there depth along with the rest of the team admittedly.

 

Stephen Hughes is not an 'SPL type' player and yet he has been Motherwell's best player over the last couple of seasons. I also remember a midfield player McCormack? (excuse my memory) who played with us (possibly under Billy Davies). He came from the English lower divisions and more that held his own, infact if we get players of his quality we will be laughing.

 

If the comment's about Craigan causes problems then that says more about Craigan than Gannon. The comments were right so hopefully Craigan will use any anger to channel it into aggression on the pitch. To be fair, I heard Craigan on the radio on Saturday and he was talking very positively so it should not be an issue. That Gannon spoke out in public may cause some unease but again go back a week and we were all applauding that very style (Sky box etc).

 

I can understand the unease but we have to keep things in perspective. We need to give the new man a chance and yet I sense that even after one week his honeymoon period is over.

[Shooting From The Hip]

If some players do take the huff and don't perform, the fans will turn on them and not on JG. He's like a breath of fresh air though - open and honest.

 

 

I would like to hope that was the case but unfortunately it does not seem to work out that way. Supporters tend to make excuses for players (unless it's Marc Fitzpatrick) blaming the board or the manager for a teams dip in form.

 

I would guess that if the form of Craigan, O Brien etc drops because they do take the huff most supporters will turn on Gannon saying he can't motivate the players etc. I hope I am wrong but I have seen it to often before to be confident (Barry Feruson, Kris Boyd v Paul Le Guen) being the perfect example.

[Shooting From The Hip]

I agree with the general thrust of your argument, star sail, and you make it very well. Such an embarrassing defeat isn't excusable, though to be fair, nobody seems to be saying as much. Rather, some are fatalistically saying the writing was on the wall due to last night's team in comparison to last season's. Motherwell should beat Llanelli every time, no question, some are just making the point that Llanelli caught 'Well at the perfect time i.e. during a time of huge transition. Gannon was right to speak to his mind and to demand better, and the guy's record shows he has to the ability to get that.

 

 

I think I am just letting out frustrations that have been building for some time about the professional game in Scotland.

I hope that it is the transition that is the problem and that after next Thursday I can laugh at my misplaced angst when we come out comfortably on top. I suppose I should wait untill then before being too critical.

[In's And Out's]

Agreed

 

 

Lets face it, we were not at Home despite the home tie

 

We were six first team starters short from Last season ( seven including McLean) so only four first team starters from last season played

 

11 Full Time Players v 11 Part Time Players. Should have won regardless of circumstances.

[Shooting From The Hip]

Really pleased to hear Gannon speak honestly. He was absolutely spot on. I am really surprised that people on here are defending the players for what happened last night. I understand the need to support the team but there comes a point when a situation or performance becomes unacceptable and last night was one such example.

 

How often over the last few years have we lost goals at corners? How often have we lost games because of poor defending at corners? The conclusion you come to is that our Central Defenders are poor at defending corners, regardless of whether or not one of them has played for Northern Ireland. The manager says we should be doing better at corners. He is absolutely right and should not need to apologise for saying so. The important point is will the manager fix the problem or just talk about it for two years like our previous manager.

 

Laslay was not interested last night so was replaced at half time. Spot on. Jim O Brien was ineffectual so was replaced. Spot on. The senior players took no responsibility last night and the manager realised this and said so. Spot on.

 

Could Motherwell go to the San Siro and beat Milan 1-0 in the Europa Cup? I don't think that would ever, ever happen and yet Motherwell are a professional team. A Part Time team comes to Scotland and beats Motherwell 1-0 and some people are making excuses for the players. 'It's the first game of the season' ,'It was the wrong formation','the manager got the tactics wrong' etc. Defenders played in defense, midfielders played in midfield and strikers played up front from where I was sitting and collectively they managed 2/3 attempts on goal the whole night. Is the manager to blame for that?

 

If last night is in some way acceptable, because we are Motherwell and because we lose these types of games fairly regularly, then why not go Part Time? That way the next time we lose to a Division 1 team' or Division 3 team or a Welsh team at least we would not have payed these players a decent wage for the privilege.

 

 

I am really excited so see what Jim Gannon does at Motherwell. He may just be the man who finally shakes things up a bit in the SPL.

[In's And Out's]

Folk are being a bit too critical are they not!?

 

No.

[Motherwell Vs Llanelli]

Anyone else think that Stevie Hammell has put on few pounds over the short close season - looked he was wearing a 'M' when he could have been doing with an 'XL' (Or are the Canterbury just a shade neater in size?)

 

 

You could criticise much of the team but Hammell particularly just did not look interested. He was playing in front of the East Stand Second Half so he was close to us, and his body language said it all. Also he was giving no encouragement to the younger players in front of him.

[Motherwell Vs Llanelli]

But YOU WEREN"T THERE!! ARRRRGH!

 

It was ALWAYS going to be difficult going through to the next round due to 1) the stupid earliness of it and 2) being hamstrung by personnel issues (management AND players). Difficult, but not impossible.

 

Normally I would agree with that, first game of season, new manager etc but to put this into perspective, I counted three of their players that had beer bellies, I kid you not and they were coasting.

 

What we watched tonight was disgraceful and some of the so called senior players should be embarrassed about taking a wage for that dross.

 

Gannon takes no blame for this, but I would imagine that he is wondering what he has let himself in for.

 

That's two games in a week, conceded 4, scored 1 against two Part time teams. How many times does this have to happen before we realise that Scottish Football is shit!

[Motherwell Vs Llanelli]

There is parking available at New Broomfield.

 

I think they usually charge a couple of quid to use it but there is definately enough space to accommodate a fair number of cars.

 

There isn't much in the way of on street parking nearby as they usually put cones everywhere near the stadium.

 

Sorry but I think my driveway is already full tonight.

 

Thanks mate. Would be ideal if we could park at the stadium.

[Motherwell Vs Llanelli]

Somebody told me that the Excelsior Stadium has designated parking. Is this true or is it a case of parking out in the street?

[Motherwell Vs Llanelli]

Is Paul Quinn likely to play? He did not play on Saturday

[In's And Out's]

I think we might find Clarkson harder to replace. Hughes has more natural ability than the others, but in terms of effectiveness in a team unit others were more pivotal. He was our "creative player" who was left way, way behind our left back in terms of assists...

 

 

I know that statistics cannot be disgarded but there are other factors. When we had that excellent spell during McGhee's first season, Hughes was pulling the strings. I see him more as a link man than someone who sets up goals. I agree however that playing killer balls and scoring goals is the weaker part of his game.

 

The sad aspect thought is could he have kept up that level if Phil was still there to play along side him? One of those questions we will never know the answer to.

[In's And Out's]

McLean, Quinn and Clarkson are all replaceable without breaking the bank. A player of Hughes ability will be difficult to replace. I know he did not have as good a season last year but he is still one of the better players in the SPL.

 

I think we are going to have some players that we have never heard of before with us in a few weeks all from the middle divisions in England. If they are anything like the quality of Chris Porter we may be in for a decent season.

 

Jim Hamiltons free.

[Strikeforce For Thursday?]

Unlikely to be anyone else, unless we can get a new signing in before tomorrow night.

 

 

I think the team had to be submitted a few days back so no chance to add new faces I don't think. Wish Quinn and Clarky had held their move untill Friday as they are both named in the squad.

 

I think the reality is if the players that we have cannot do a job and get us through then they are simply not good enough to play in the SPL.