El Grew

Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at your statement that he was the best footballer at the club - he may be. It was more that if he is, then it’s an indictment on the standard of player on our books. I’m no fan of our current manager but I think the reason he has persevered with his hoofball tactics this season is that he realises we don’t have any decent midfield players.

Motherwell legend Hugh Ferguson and his wife photographed with the FA Cup in 1927. Hugh scored the only goal for Cardiff City against Arsenal in the final at Wembley as the FA Cup left England for the first and to date, only time.

As others have posted I can’t argue with the release of the players on the club’s list. However I think there are still a few players left who IMO have shown that they’re not good enough to be playing at Premiership level: Mugabi (Contracted to May 2022) Carroll (Contracted to May 2023) Ojala (Contracted to May 2023) Goss (Contracted to May 2023) McGinley (Contracted to May 2024) Slattery (Contracted to May 2024) I appreciate that they are still under contract but they really do need to be gradually moved out. I also think that the manager has questions to answer surrounding his signing of Jordan Roberts and the loan signings of Liam Shaw and Victor Nirennold. Between them they only started 12 games and contributed the square root of f*ck all.

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are jesting however if not, then fuck right off!

The two major areas for concern are defence and midfield. Defence We need to become much harder to score against to give ourselves a solid platform to play from. In that respect I think we need 2 centre-backs and a left-back. Midfield I think we need a passer/playmaker who can bring our strikers more into play instead of firing long balls up to them. Also somebody who can play the ‘mopper-up’ role between the defence and half-way line. Forwards I don’t think we are too bad here. Connor Shields has come on a fair bit now that he is starting regularly and could be a big player for us next season. Other than that good to go. COYW.

Name and shame.

A real stalwart. Mr Dependable who always gave his all on the pitch. His start at the club wasn’t an easy one but he went on to be a certainty on the team sheet. For me he’s right up there with the late great Joe Wark. I’m sad to see him leave us but wish him all the very best in his new role at St.Mirren. He’ll always be more than welcome back at Fir Park.

Hybrid pitches seem to be the way to go. Lots of top clubs now have them. Club to be applauded for doing this. However a hybrid pitch in a stadium that always needs running repairs?? It’s like putting a Rolls Royce engine in an old banger!

Utterly speechless!! COYW.

Overall League Record V Hearts P136; W54; D24; L58 I really, really love it when we beat them - I still haven’t gotten over that Texaco Cup game.

I think we are on the same page.

Stephen O’Donnell is as good a full-back as we’ve had at the club for a long time. The guy gets picked for regularly for Scotland and has rarely if ever had a bad game. When he’s dropped he never complains and you never hear anything bad about him. In short, a model pro. Sure he’ll have some poor games. All players do. Even the late great Joe Wark wasn’t perfect in every game. He’s the best full-back at the club by a mile and the fans need to recognise it and get behind him.

At this stage of the season for most clubs in any league, the result is all that matters. Fans hope that their team wins games and are not too bothered about how this is achieved and this was never more clearly demonstrated than by the emotion and relief shown after yesterday’s win in Dingwall. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but in truth we were again quite inept. In fairness it was a very poor game and one which I thought had 0-0 written on it even before kick-off as there was so much at stake for both teams. In the final analysis it was a case of the ends justifying the means as we got the 3 points craved by both sides. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it took a ridiculous refereeing decision and a world class save from Liam Kelly to ensure we got the win. I feel that the major issue is that at no time during the season have we had a settled cohesive side. There has been far too much chopping and changing from one game to another as the manager doesn’t seem to know what his best 11 is. IMO this is result of having too many players at the club who are not up to playing at SPFL level. He picks his team, some players make schoolboy errors and are dropped in favour of others who in truth are no better. This undermines players confidence as they fear one error in a game will see them dropped. He must accept that the type of player we have, with a few exceptions, will make errors and he needs to stick with them, work with them and give them a decent run in the team. If after 5 or so games there is no improvement then look to try somebody else. As I have previously posted I believe some of the solutions lie in: 1. Making a drastic cull of the squad in terms of size to take out as much deadwood as possible. 2. The club trying to make funds available to bring in 3 or 4 players who are a cut above what we presently have. 3. Looking again at our youth policy which in the not too distant past has produced the likes of Murphy, Scott, Cadden and Turnbull.

Yes from DOWN SOUTH in Ireland!

Like many others, I’ve been a critic of our present players and manager however I’ve reviewed how our club has performed in the league since I became a fan in the mid-1960s. Now I know folk get switched-off by statistics but in Scottish football especially, they are an indisputable representation of past performance and a strong indicator as to future performance. Since I started supporting the ‘Well the accepted wisdom was that our city clubs dominated the league and always would. As a demonstration of this, since season 1960/61, only 1 non-city club has won the league. If this accepted wisdom prevailed, and I accept it hasn’t always, then the best we could hope for was to finish 7th and if we bettered this, it would be considered a good season. Since season 1960/61 and including this season but excluding seasons when we were relegated, we have finished higher than 7th place 20 times. That’s 20 from 62 seasons or just over 32%. I don’t have statistics for the other non-city clubs so I’m unable to say how that compares with them but I’d be willing to bet it must be close to being the best of the rest. I certainly do not enjoy watching the football we are serving up at present, however upon reflecting on the above review, I think perhaps my criticism has been a little over the top and that I should put things into perspective. Others may and likely will disagree but then that’s democracy and we are all ‘Well supporters.

Mixed record against Ross County in Dingwall: P15; W6; D3; L6: F19; A23; GD-4 Not much in it however they are clearly in much better fettle than us right now and with home advantage will most likely win. Hope I’m wrong because I doubt we’ll get anything from our final two games.

That is one of the poorest Dundee Utd teams I’ve seen and yet we still couldn’t even manage to get a draw out of them!!

Yes, I vividly recall one game in March 2004 when we played them off the park and missed a barrow load of chances. They were never in the game as an attacking force. Then late in the game, they brought Jason Scotland on as a sub and he scored within minutes of coming on. We lost 1-0 and I remember coming out with my mates and wondering how we’d lost having dominated for most of the game.

I see Jamie McCart, Shaun Rooney and Callum Hendry are all out of contract at St. Johnstone at the end of the season. Are any of them worth consideration?

I doubt it will make any difference which 11 is picked to play because our league record at Tannadice is pretty poor to say the least:- P94; W18; L42; D34; GF95; GA158 Our last win there was in February 2016 and better Motherwell sides than the current one have struggled up there so I don’t see this being improved upon. Hope they prove me wrong.

Wonder if it would be worthwhile casting an eye over the clubs in the Championship that are involved in the play-offs.

Ah, the old argument “the ends justify the means”. Well I’m sorry not for me. Claret and amber runs like blood through my family from my grandfather, my father and my uncles down to me. I love it and wouldn’t change it. Like every provincial club we’ve had our ups and downs, highs and lows and doubtless this will continue ad infinitum. However, I like to be able to see footballers, either as individuals or as a team being entertaining first and foremost. I remember a few years back when the late. great Davie Cooper signed for us. I’m the first to admit that I was against it as I thought he was well past his best. Well I went to see us playing Dundee Utd at FP not long after he signed for us. He produced a couple of moments of sheer magic. For the first, he picked up the ball just inside his own half and proceeded to slalom past 3 defenders and placed the ball into the corner of the net. For the second, he produced a sublimely disguised reverse pass into the path of Dougie Arnott in the penalty area and Dougie duly dispatched it into the net beyond the advancing keeper. Genius at work even in the twilight of his football career. I was forced to admit I’d been wrong and remember telling my mates that those two moments alone were worth the entrance money. To see people doing something that you can’t is what entertainment is all about. I’m afraid however that it’s in extremely short supply at FP just now.

Picked up this from another site: First team squad and their contracts GOALKEEPERS Liam Kelly (2024) Scott Fox (2023) PJ Morrison (2022 - loan to Alloa) DEFENDERS Max Johnston (2023 loan to QoS) Stephen O'Donnell (2023) David Devine (2023 loan to E. Fife) Darragh O'Connor (2022 loan to QoS) Sondre Solholm Johansen (2024) Liam Grimshaw (2022) Jake Carroll (2023) Ricki Lamie (2022) Nathan McGinley (2024) Bevis Mugabi (2024) Juhani Ojala (2023) Victor Nirennold (2022) MIDFIELDERS Ross Tierney (2025) Barry Maguire (2024) Dean Cornelius (2023) Mark O'Hara (2022) Liam Donnelly (2022) Callum Slattery (2024) Sean Goss (2023) Liam Shaw (loaned from Celtic) FORWARDS Connor Shields (2024) Kevin Van Veen (2023) Kaiyne Woolery (2024) Justin Amaluzor (2022) Jordan Roberts (2022) Joe Efford (2023) That’s a total of 29 players in our first team squad. That’s far too many and a cull is required. IMO, including goalkeepers, it should be kept to a maximum of 22 players. That would mean getting rid of 7 players but given O’Hara, Lamie and Shaw will be leaving us, we only need to drop another 4 to achieve a squad of 22 players. Next, the players I’ve highlighted in bold and italics (11) are the only ones that I would retain. This means we would be on the look out to add 11 players to our first team squad. Whilst I know this is radical and drastic we must purge all the dross and deadwood. In doing so we could free-up much needed cash to be used to help find replacements and in this respect I we must prioritise quality over quantity. I know it’s a big ask to get shot of 11 players and that it probably can’t happen in one tranche, but it’s by no means an impossible task. It was an aspect of management in which Tommy McLean excelled for us. Over time he gradually wheeled and dealed players out and in until the quality of the squad was to his liking and standards. If we have the right manager in place this could be replicated. Oh and we must cease looking to non-league and lower league clubs in England for players. This policy has produced quantity not quality and with a couple of exceptions has introduced far to much dross into the club.

Ya Bezzer, whilst I support your right to express your opinions on the present state of our football club and the abilities, or lack thereof, of our current players and manager and admire your loyalty no matter how misplaced, I think you are deluded and, judging by remarks made in response by a fair number of posters, you are in a minority of one. For my own sins, I’ve been a diehard fan since 1967 and like countless others I’ve ridden the Motherwell emotional rollercoaster that comes with that and I can honestly say that in all that time, the present squad of players is the worst I’ve ever seen. As for the manager and his football philosophy (for lack of a better adjective or perhaps a piss-poor vocabulary on my part) I think that it can best be described as, well, shite. Like many others, I can no longer work up any enthusiasm for going out to pay to suffer what can only be described as the equivalent of having your balls jammed in a vice whilst your teeth are pulled out one by one, and all without the benefit of anaesthetic. Make no mistake, if this guy is permitted to remain as manager, then at the end of next season, we will be relegated and consigned to the Championship and as other clubs of our ilk have discovered, it is no easy task to get back out. In some of your posts under this topic, you have berated fellow fans for expressing honestly held views with contemptuous ripostes like “When we are on the ball we are hopeless. I know that and Alexander knows that but a lot of our fans haven’t caught on to that yet cos they operate on mollusc level logic.” AND “Its easy to mock when folk display a complete lack of understanding of the whole situation around Motherwell FC.” Now, this seems to imply that you alone possess personal insight into these matters that us lesser mortals lack. If this is the case, then perhaps you could enlighten the rest of us; but if not please accept this in the same spirit as your aforementioned ripostes, and f*ck right off.