El Grew
-
Posts
1,255 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
20
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by El Grew
-
-
Allan Stubbs?
-
9 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:
In that case, Stevie's specific comment about that was also inadvisable. That might not have endeared him to certain players. Yes, there are indications that all might not have been well in the dressing room. We may be putting 2 and 2 together to make 5 though.
Sorry if it came across that I was having a pop at you. Far from it. I agree that comments from both parties may have been inadvisable. However in both cases, I sense a great deal of frustration. O’Donnell perhaps because of the way he was treated by the previous manager and that he couldn’t get a game in what is the the worst first team squad I can ever remember seeing at FP and Stevie Hammell because he’s shocked at the state of said first team squad.
Past experience shows that teams that get off to a poor start in this league rarely if ever recover and end up playing their football under pressure all season resulting in relegation at worst and the play-off place at best. So for me, I think it’s an unavoidable truth that if we are to stay in the top flight this season we need to identify and play the best players in our squad, few as they maybe, and take steps to get a few others in to to augment these.
-
27 minutes ago, wunderwell said:
It’s not one or the other.
Both Alexander and O’Donnell can get tae.Well that was short but not so sweet.
In case you missed the Pony Express, Alexander has gone and if I was Stephen O’Donnell I’d be on the lookout for another club because judging by some of the comments on this forum it’s becoming clear that some of our fans want him gone too!
-
2 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:
I've no wish to get involved in the convoluted rights ands wrongs of the O'Donnell/Alexander saga, but here's a slightly different take on the issue.
SOD seems a decent and sensible sort of guy to me, although I've never met him. However I think some of comments were "inadvisable" shall we say. We all agree that we need to bring fresh faces in to strengthen the team. Very few will argue about that. However, he should not have said that publicly. That will do little for squad unity. Some of his playing colleagues might think "Is it the strikeforce/defence he's referring to. Is he having a dig at me in the press?" What will that do for their confidence?
In his position as a senior player, he'd have been better to omit that particular comment.
Sure Stevie Hammell has said much the same so why pick on O’Donnell?
It’s now becoming obvious that all has not been well on the playing side for quite some time so all we can hope is that whoever gets the manager’s gig can re-unite the players and get the fans back on side again.
-
14 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:
Honestly I don’t get all the drama re O’Donnell. Just about every man and his dog stated he was awful and should not be playing in the first team, he was dropped. Suddenly that was now the wrong thing and he should have been playing week in week out because we were struggling. I though he was part of the problem. Again it’s simply a player dropped because he was not playing well enough who had a bit of a strop about it. If he called a meeting of the players behind Alexander’s back than frankly he was out of order, that’s not something a player of his status should be doing. Storm in a teacup.
Tell you what, if every time a player had a howler or series of howlers he was dropped, we’d be struggling to put 11 players onto the park. In that respect, O’Donnell was far from the worst culprit - Carroll, Mugabi, McGinley, Ojala and Solhom to name just a few, were way ahead of him on that score so I’d venture to suggest there was more to it than that. However if we can afford to keep a player on the bench who has 25 international caps we must be awash with talented defenders and from what I’m seeing that most certainly is not the case. Barring a handful of players, our present squad is shite - Stevie Hammell has recognised this however he has couched it in much more diplomatic language than that.
-
3
-
-
3 hours ago, David said:
Because it is possible to not be good enough for a starting spot, but good enough for a place on the bench. It doesn't have to be a game of absolutes. But let's be honest, if he did have a huge falling out, O'Donnell wouldn't even be training with the first team, let alone sitting on the bench.
What did Alexander do that wasn't professional? Drop a player from the starting eleven who he didn't deem good enough? A player who, by most fans accounts, simply wasn't performing well enough? A player who himself admitted that Alexander may have been correct?
I could understand if Alexander took the same approach as Paul Lambert did with Kayden Jackson and Jon Nolan at Ipswich, banishing them to train with the kids and making vague accusations about the player, but he didn't, did he? Did he disrespect O'Donnell in the media? In press interviews? Did he question O'Donnell's professionalism?
I honestly think he just didn't fancy him as a player. He didn't think he was good enough. Which is allowed, by the way. He's the manager, it's his job to make those calls. I don't personally think it was the right call, but that's on Alexander.
It wasn't unprofessional though.
Why would he? Do you think Alexander removed O'Donnell from the team because of what the fans thought? If he did, then he's got bigger problems than might first be apparent!
He dropped O'Donnell because he didn't think he was good enough. That's a managers prerogative.
Why was it vindictive? Was he banished from the first team? Made to train with the kids? Embarrassed and called out publicly? I don't think he was. He was, basically, seen as surplus to requirements. It happens.
He just wasn't good enough, mate. There's no "patching up" to be done. It was on O'Donnell to up his game and prove to the manager that he was good enough to feature. Which he didn't do, and he knows it going by his admittance that Alexander may have been correct.
Maybe he got dropped initially and the head went down? He didn't respond as he should have? Hopefully he learns from it.
That squad isn't a shambles. We have some quality in there, it will just take a few key signings in certain areas to make the difference.
The recruitment thing is a fine line really. It depends who's available at any given time. It's easy for fans to say "get a striker in" but what if there's no decent strikers available within our budget? What then? Just magic one up out of thin air? Or do what we've seen managers in the past do, and sign any old shite as long as it represents a body in the door?
Often times clubs in our position have to play the waiting game and see who becomes available on a free or via loan once the bigger clubs have conducted their business and finalised their squads. That's why there's usually always a rush of signings in the last few weeks.
I said before the summer window opened that I'd rather we wait and sign decent quality than waste money on players who aren't going to make the cut just to get bodies in the door and keep the fans happy. If that means we're a bit light and not looking great for the first two or three games in the season then so be it.
However, we're now in a position where we still need those quality signings, but don't have a manager to rubber stamp them. So, whatever problems we had a few weeks ago are now exacerbated. Which is why I would have stuck with Alexander until around October or so to see how we got on. Or at least until we identified a decent replacement ahead of time.
But the fans wanted him out as "it couldn't possibly be any worse." So, let's see if that's true. There's no real outstanding candidate for the job out there at this stage of the season. There never is. We've gone down the crazy road of parting ways with a manager literally days before the season starts, and we have no one who can rubber stamp signings before the window closes, unless we want to bring a manager in a few weeks from now and hand him a squad that may include brand new signings he doesn't like the look of.
Truth is, the club should either have got rid of Alexander in the summer, or waited until October or November. It seemed quite simple really. But they haven't, they dithered about until he eventually came to them obviously looking for the club to either accept his resignation or signal their intent to back him for the next few months at least.
Let's hope we don't pay the ultimate price for that.
Thanks for that Graham!
-
1
-
-
5 hours ago, Great Balls of Shire said:
I didnt read that article as him being ostracised, he was on the bench , so hardly the case. He wasnt made to train with youths or anything.Sod , as good as says in interview that maybe the manager was right to drop him, so that is fairly honest of him.
I am still glad ga has gone as it clearly wasnt going well but things are seldom black and white
Dictionary definition of ostracise: To avoid someone intentionally or to prevent someone from taking part in the activities of a group.
Pretty much think that covers O’Donnell’s treatment.
-
Reading a lot of the comments on this board re-Stephen O’Donnell make it plain that he’s not a fans’ favourite, for whatever reason. And that’s fine because all fans have their favourites and players they don’t like.
He’s now publicly admitted that there was a rift between himself and Alexander without really divulging what caused it. Whatever the reason, Alexander felt it necessary to exclude O'Donnell thereafter from his starting 11.
Be interesting to know when this “exclusion” started especially since Alexander had previously been glowing in his praise for O’Donnell as witnessed by his statement of 30th September 2021 when he said “Stephen’s performances along with those of Liam Kelly as vice-captain and the other leaders within our squad set the standard of what we require from our players every day.”
-
Last week, Graham Alexander was busy getting a pre-emotive strike in concerning his sacking as he was busy telling everybody about the wonderful job he did as Motherwell manager! However as Shakespeare famously wrote “methinks he doth protest too much.”
Ah, but wait. For every action there is a reaction and it finally came over the weekend.
First, we get a damning indictment on the previous managerial regime from interim manager and ‘Well legend Stevie Hammell who has pulled no punches in stating that he believes the squad needs major surgery.
Then, Stephen O’Donnell finally publicly reveals what many suspected - that there was a rift between him and Alexander as he reveals he was stripped of the captaincy and ostracised.
A truly damning judgment and indictment on the previous managerial regime and also on those running the club.
-
There’s a very high probability the clubs that will spend most of the season in the bottom 6 of the league will be as follows:
Kilmarnock, Livingston, Motherwell Ross County, St. Johnstone and
St. Mirren.I regard this as our “peer group” and anything we manage to get from the clubs in the top 6 will be a (very welcome) bonus. That is the reality of where we are as a club at the present time, and maybe for some considerable time to come as we simply do not have the financial resources that the clubs in the top 6 have.
So the challenge for this season for the new manager, is to come top of this group of 6, but failing that, ensure we finish no worse than 10th and, if he achieves either he should be judged as successful. This will gain him time to begin to improve things for the longer term.
-
I thought the 2nd half today was a big improvement on the 1st half. Cornelius and Tierney allowed Goss to take-up a more central position in midfield which I think suits him better and this allowed him to be more positive and effective.
I think it’s obvious a number of the players we have won’t do and so a huge task for the new manager will be trying to shift them on.
The biggest problem for the new manager however will be a lack of time between being appointed and the transfer window closing on 1st September.
-
3 hours ago, Spiderpig said:
So your an educated bilingual prick then, take a chill pill ffs.
Nobody asked for your pennyworth.
-
12 minutes ago, GazzyB said:
Haha okay mate, you just talk pish and when it gets rightly challenged just hide behind you being entitled to an opinion.
First, I’m not your mate. Second so anybody that disagrees with you is talking pish? How very democratic of you. So in closing, all I’ll say is va te faire foutre.
-
1
-
3
-
-
That’s 3 of the 4 midfield players Hammell started with been hooked!
-
1
-
-
3 minutes ago, GazzyB said:
What are you talking about? Goss is running the show. Put a bit of quality and energy in beside him and we’ll see what he can do.
You are entitled to your opinion on Goss and I’m entitled to mine so do one!
-
Case made - Morris and Maguire both hooked at half-time. Won’t be long before Spittal and Goss get the same.
-
Fourth game of the season and we’ve not scored or looked like scoring a goal from open play in any of them.
Another poster described our attack as toothless but Pele and Maradona would struggle to score for us because there’s absolutely no service from the so-called midfield players.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, we simply do not have a creative midfield player at the club. Morris, Goss, Maguire and Spittal just won’t do!
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, wellsince75 said:
I’d rather we play a back 3. For this game hoping ojala is back and play McGinn , Solhom and ojala
That enables slattery as a holding midfielder to connect play and add width and depth to the misfiled
Time is our biggest enemy , not sold 7 days will have been enough time for hammel to make the changes he alluded to
Solhom and Ojala are slower than a sloth on speed!
-
2 hours ago, FirParkCornerExile said:
Im in a minority of one. I couldn't care less who we get because no fans myself included are in anyway qualified to determine whether someone will be good bad or indifferent managing Motherwell. There are no guarantees no matter who they are. We will get who we will get and those in charge of the club are paid to do the necessary due diligence.
I wouldn’t trust them to do the necessary due diligence on a lucky bag!
-
6 hours ago, Onthefringes said:
Behave yourself. What was constructive in your criticism? Take my coaching quip away, how can you quantify your point of view ‘We don't currently have any midfielders at the club who have any creative ability’? To say we don’t is crass at best. Possibly confusing creativity with flair?
Suppose for those who understand, there are those who won’t accept explanation - for repeat, when the midfield is briefed to retain a shape rather than retain the ball which has been the set up you get the showings we have stifling creativity. Let’s see if a fresh philosophy bears fruit, in my opinion it will.
Our midfield retains shape?? You must be joking unless you mean a zigzag shape.
I don’t know what your idea of a creative midfield player is but mine is one that plays an attacking support role with the capability to play defence opening passes and create chances for teammates. They should also have a decent range of passing, a good first touch and an awareness of what’s happening around them.
As far as I am aware, but I’m willing to be proved wrong, there are no such players in our current squad.
-
2
-
-
I think Stevie Hammell would be good No.2 for whoever gets the manager job - knows the club and Scottish football inside out.
-
12 hours ago, Onthefringes said:
Do us a favour and let us know the coaching qualifications you’ve attained to come to that conclusion? Have you never thought that the midfielders are just playing to instruction?
Oh bully for you. Decry everybody and anybody who has the temerity to offer serious constructive criticism about the team.
-
3
-
-
Everybody seems to be of the view that we need another striker and that may very well be so. However I don’t care who the strikers are they cannot contribute anything positive unless they get good service and support from midfield.
Discounting the farcical friendly in Austria, we’ve now played 4 games and in those 4 games there has been a complete dearth of any creative play from our midfield. We have been and are absolutely dire in this respect. Both previous managers failed to remedy this shortcoming and both adopted back to front football in the hope we’d win second balls in the opposition third. Not surprisingly it failed miserably however Robinson eventually was fortunate that Turnbull and Hastie made the breakthrough and allowed the tactics to change allowing more build-up through midfield.
We don't currently have any midfielders at the club who have any creative ability. So before we go looking for another striker we need to look to improve our midfield by adding a couple of footballers who can support our strikers and make passes to their forward runs.
-
Like the majority I watched the Sligo game game on TV and I have to say that after about 10 minutes or so I thought our players didn’t seem up for it.
Next Motherwell Manager - Steven Hammell
in Club Chat
Posted
Speculation rife. Shortlist of 4. Hammell and Valikari definitely on it plus 2 others already under contract at other clubs. If the other 2 already under contract applied, it might be they are looking for a step up.