El Grew

As Hamlet said “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. I fear bad times may lie ahead similar to those which occurred in 2006/07 under Malpas. Having only won 1 of our previous 10 games, we got humped 4-1 away by bottom of the table Dunfermline. The following week we had St. Mirren at home and contrived to toss away a 2-goal lead to lose 3-2. Fortunately, ICT beat Dunfermline to send them down. But it was a close run thing.

You beat me to that.

That’s it in a fucking nutshell. The key phrase is “the manager is responsible”. So let’s mark his report card in the areas you identify. Recruitment: Fail. Brought players that are no better than what he had and brought players on loan and hasn’t played them. Tactics: Fail. Has none. No midfield. Defenders pelting passes forward from deep like cruise missiles. Team Selection: Fail. Doesn’t know his best 11 and as a result there’s no consistency in selection leading to inconsistency of performance and poor results. Shape: Fail. Obsessed with 4-3-3 which is failing miserably - seems determined to stick to this like a lemming going over a cliff. Since beating Livingston 2-1 at FP on Boxing Day we’ve played 11 league games and only got 5 points (5 home: 3 draws; 2 defeats and 6 away: 2 draws; 4 defeats). On that form we’d be bottom of the league as Dundee in the same period got 7 points. We are quite clearly in relegation form.

Club Press Release 10th Jan 2022 Graham Alexander has signed a deal that will keep him at Fir Park until at least 2025. “I’m delighted to sign a new contract here at Motherwell and continue the progress we have all made in the last 12 months. Chris and I have received nothing but great support from everyone connected with the club, which has certainly helped us concentrate on our work. I have a brilliant relationship with the people I work with every day and the environment that we’re allowed to develop here to produce results is particularly rewarding. I also want to thank the chairman and the board for showing the faith in us from day one to be a success in this role. We know we have much more to achieve here. We will strive to work as hard as ever to serve Motherwell in the best way.” Appointed on 7 January 2021 he has presided over transformation of the playing squad. The team’s points tally of 59 in the 2021 calendar year was the third-highest in the top flight, with the club also currently occupying 4th spot. Statistically he ranks near the top of the modern-day Motherwell bosses with a win percentage of 47.8% and a league points per game record of 1.55. He is also the first manager outside of Celtic and Rangers to win 3 Premiership Manager of the Month awards in a calendar year, with only Neil Lennon (4), Steven Gerrard, Alex McLeish, Brendan Rodgers and Gordon Strachan (3) for company. Chairman Jim McMahon said “We have been absolutely delighted with Graham’s contribution since joining the club 12 months ago and we are excited about what he is trying to build with us. He is talented, hard-working, dedicated and fully buys into the multifaceted role at Motherwell. The board will continue to back him to help us achieve our goals both on and off the pitch.” I for one would be glad to be rid of him but given this mutual love-in was only about 3 months ago it’s extremely unlikely we’ll be getting shot of him any time soon!

I felt my eyes watering when I read this!

Aye and not just at football manager level!

It won’t be the first time Hibs have f*cked up with their managerial selection. Prior to being made Hibs manager Sean Maloney had zero experience of being a club manager. Yes, he was assistant coach to Roberto Martinez but there’s a world of difference from being an assistant coach to becoming the manager outright, as we witnessed when Malpas succeeded Butcher.

We’ve got a young 18 year old out on loan at QoS at present - Max Johnston. He’s been getting really good reviews recently, so much so that both Sheffield Utd and Luton Town have both had him watched regularly this season. Also, we signed 22 year old Daragh O’Connor in July 2021 and loaned him out to QoS in January. Wtf is the point of our bringing in these young players then not giving them game time?

Can we afford not to sack him? No matter how much it may cost to buy him out of his contract, it could be the most economic option for the club because the financial cost of relegation either this season or next would mean a massive loss of revenue.

It was absolutely brutal. We don't have great players but Alexander’s non-footballing tactics aren't doing them any favours. He needs to be shown the door and pretty quick. Tonight preferably. We cannot possibly countenance allowing him to take us into another season.

In 4-4-2 formation: Kelly O’Donnell, Sondre, Lamie, McGinley Woolery, Cornelius, Shaw, Efford Tierney, Van Veen Subs Fox, Mugabi, Carroll, Ojala, O’Hara, Donnelly, Slattery, Roberts, Shields.

Our all-time league record away to St. Johnstone reads: P74 ; W25; L29; D20; F110; A117 Our last win in Perth was 1-0 in September 2019.

Whether you think this league season has been good or bad will all depend on your viewpoint. Do you believe that our first priority should always be to ensure that we retain our top league status and that if we do so even by finishing 10th this is acceptable? Or do you believe that our first priority should be to aim for a European place by finishing 3rd/4th but be prepared to accept a top 6 spot at worst? If you believe that it should be the latter, then the club would probably need a significant financial injection to to afford better quality players than we have now and pay bigger salaries to retain them. However, remember this was tried before (by us and a number of other clubs) and it ended in tears and administration.

Whilst I appreciate your opinion, I would say that the time when a foul is committed is irrelevant, whether it be in the first minute or the last and it must be adjudicated solely on its merits as a foul whether minor or otherwise. Further, if VAR had been available yesterday and it confirmed the referee’s red card decision, we’d still have had to sit through 89 minutes of a game that was effectively over. VAR, as has been well demonstrated in the English Premiership, is far from being a panacea to help football make “the right calls”. Consider how many pundits and fans (from both clubs including many on this forum) forensically analysed the same TV replays and freeze-frames of Bevis Mugabi’s tackle yesterday. Now consider that having done so, opinions are still divided between those who think it warranted a red card and those who think it should’ve been a yellow. My point is, that referees only have a split second in real time to make a decision based on what they’ve seen and that even with VAR, there’s still room for doubt or debate as to the “final” decision. For my own part, when I saw the tackle in real time, admittedly from much further away than the referee, I thought it looked a bad one and risked a red card. Having reviewed it on TV, and, whilst I’m absolutely certain there was no malice on Bevis Mugabi’s part, I’m sorry to say that I still believe that it warranted a red card. What pissed me off yesterday, was seeing a number of Hibs players running at the referee waving their arms and demanding he send Mugabi and then later, Roberts off. This is despicable and has no place in football and I hope the referee has the guts to make comment in his match report on the conduct of the Hibs players involved at these incidents and that the SFA take appropriate action towards those players and send a message that this kind of conduct won’t be tolerated. If he fails to do so then Motherwell should raise the issue with the SFA direct.

Our chances of winning were in doubt with the manager’s team selection and went right out the window when Mugabi was sent off. We gave away 2 really cheap goals. At the 1st, McGinley and Ojala both culpable. McGinley was too easily beaten to let the Hibs winger get the cross in and Ojala allowed the Hibs striker to get in front of him on the near post. At the 2nd, one long ball over the top took out both of our centre-backs. At 1 goal down it was an uphill task but at 2 it became a lost cause. Credit to the guys for coming out in tbe 2nd half and making the game competitive and with a wee bit of luck might even have got back level. With 4 at the back I thought we seemed better balanced. Solhelm looked more comfortable with Lamie beside him and O’Donnell gave us width on the right. Efford, Van Veen and Roberts worked their socks off up front and gave the Hibs back line plenty of scares. However, my man of the match was young Dean Cornelius, who I thought was outstanding and our best player by a mile. The failures for me were McGinley, Ojala and Donnelly. Where we go from here is anybody’s guess but the manager must surely be under scrutiny by the board.

Hibs had a really good side at that time with a number of Scottish internationalists - Eric Schaedler, John Brownlie, Pat Stanton, John Blackley, Des Bremner, Arthur Duncan all played in these games. Later that year they beat Liverpool 1-0 in the UEFA Cup 1st Round 1st Leg at Easter Road.

Yes there was outbreak of flu and as Kmcalpin posted many of our players were out on their feet at the end. Marinello wasn’t fully fit but was on the bench and had to come on as a sub.

Agreed. My favourite Motherwell team. Pat Gardner was a lovely passer of the ball from midfield and could slide well-weighted passes into both inside forward positions where Davidson, Pettigrew and Graham would invariably be making runs. This was a really solid side with very few shortcomings. We could’ve done with a better centre-half as big Willie McVie could be a bit erratic and Bobby Graham could’ve been greedier in front of goal instead of trying to lay off for Willie P. Oh and we were cheated out of two Scottish Cup finals on the trot by really dodgy refereeing decisions.

This is only the 3rd time we’ve had a home draw against Hibs in the Cup. The 1st was the 2nd round in 1921 when we won 3-2. The 2nd was the quarter-final is f 6th March 1976. Details below: Motherwell 2 V Hibs 2 Scorers: Motherwell: Pettigrew, Marinello Hibs: Spalding, Duncan Crowd: 18,000 Team: Rennie, W. Watson, Wark R. Watson, McVie, McLaren, Gardner, Pettigrew, Graham, Davidson, Marinello. Replay 10 March 1976 Hibs 1 V Motherwell 1 Scorers: Hibs: Stanton Motherwell: Graham Crowd: 26,000 Team: Rennie, W. Watson, Wark, R. Watson, McVie, McLaren, Gardner, Pettigrew, Graham, Davidson, Marinello. Replay 15 March 1976 Ibrox Motherwell 2 V Hibs 1 Scorers: Hibs: Harper Motherwell: Taylor, Marinello Team: Rennie, W. Watson. Wark, R. Watson, McVie, McLaren, Gardner, Pettigrew, Graham, Davidson, Taylor. Crowd 16,000

Why is young Dean Cornelius not getting more game time. I know he’s only 20 and the club might want to nurse him along slowly. So far, he’s only had a handful of games but has always acquitted himself very well and he’s one of the few midfield players to have scored this season. He reminds me of a young Phil O’Donnell when he was just starting out with us - box to box, good at breaking-up and disrupting opposition play and always looking to get forward. I think he would do very well slotted into 4-4-2 formation playing with O’Hara, Slattery and Woolery. He must be worth a run in the team especially given some of the dross in the midfield just now.

Great post. Clearly and accurately identifies the root of the problems at the club.

Great post. Clearly and accurately identifies the root of the problems at the club.

Sorry, but no offer. They were all shite today.

Agreed, and he’s not the only one.

Team selections on postcards please to: The Manager, Motherwell FC, Fir Park Stadium, Motherwell.