Kmcalpin

An article in the Herald this morning which is worth reading. https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/24886398.motherwell-fans-turning-stuart-kettlewell/ The best media summing up I've come across was by Craggs on the BBC on Saturday. Basically our league position & semi final appearance are at odds with our stats, fan unrest and current bad run. This is because we got a bit lucky earlier but now teams have worked us out and we have been found out.

Excellent, a well researched and compiled piece of work. Well done. Unsurprisingly our personnel changes have been greatly influenced by injuries and long term ones at that. I agree that SK's signing policy hasn't been chaotic or scattergun in that he has addressed areas of need that most of us would have identified anyway. There are one or possibly two exceptions. A defensive midfielder, although a deal is in the pipeline. However, it does seem a bit unbalanced with the number of strikers that we've signed despite only playing one for most of gametimes. My gripe would be that despite playing that system, which relies heavily on fielding a target man, we haven't signed one. Perhaps Armstrong will fit that bill, although I'm not so sure. Where I think SK has fallen down is that many individual signings were high risk. Ross Callachan is a case in point. No manager will have a 100% success rate with transfers, but I think we've fared a bit poorly. Koutroumbis, Davor, Jair, Ebiye, Robinson, Balmer. Maybe scope to add one or two more? I'm expecting some transfer actiivty before the deadline but mainly outwards. Jordan McGhee could be an exception. Lennon MIller is anyone's guess. Its not unlikely that one or more of Koutroumbis, Davor, Callachan, Ebiye or Stuparevic could leave either permanently or on loan.

I agree with Wellfan's comments about the detrimental effect on ticket sales and the bond between club and fans. However, I'd also pose the question what if we retain SK until the end of the season, despite continuing poor results, and we end up in 11th spot or even worse? I think we have a lot to lose through inaction. All that said, no-one knows the precise optimum time to call it a day. Its a judgement call.

Agree 100% with that. In SOD's defence yesterday, he had to act as minder to Tom Sparrow and bale him out a few times as St Johnstone targeted him. Sparrow looked really good going forward with his raw energy but was all over the place defensively. In the latter stages "old hands" Balmer and Casey should have been brought on to shore up our defence. As it was our rearguard was chopped and changed with the introduction of Thompson and Koutroumbis: not a good idea when you're under extreme pressure (granted Kaleta looked to be injured). SK has had plenty of more appropriate opportunities in the past to ease Koutroumbis into the set up and chose not to exercise them.

A very reasonable view to take Jim. Unfortunately, I've not been so reasonable these past 2 games, when I've let my frustration boil over a little at McDiarmid Park at the end of the games. Football is an emotional game and the day I couldn't care less about a result or performance is the day I'll give up attending games. I've not been as bad for many a year! That said, I never resort to swearing or abuse. Whatever I may think of SK's management of the team, he is a human being and deserves respect for his hard work and dedication. I fully accept he's trying his best. Thats not in any doubt. I really don't want the situation with the fans become toxic. That benefits no-one. Currently things are at tipping point.

I get that Ian, but of late my expectations have been very modest. I really thought that we'd see a positive reaction yesterday at Perth but it ended up much the same as our cup exit. Its not so much the line ups and tactics its more the attitude of the players, under instruction of course. A very passive, stand offish attitude and an unwillingness to get stuck in old fashioned parlance. I really hoped that SK would have fed them raw meat before yesterday's game but that wasn't on the menu.

Just keep the score respectable; no red cards and no injuries. That's all I ask.

There were several crosses that he could have come for but elected to stay rooted to his line. That caused uncertainty for those in front of him.

Pre match I thought our line up looked very risky in defence. Either a managerial masterstroke or an own goal. Anyway onto the game. We started reasonably positively an a slight improvement on last week. Sparrow looked fine going forward but totally lost defensively and St Johnstone soon picked up on this. That pattern persisted until Sparrow retired. We scored from the penalty after a blatant hand ball that everyone except the referee saw. After that things went downhill. We sat deeper and deeper and our forays upfield became rarer and more half hearted. Like last week St Johnstone were far better when off the ball they harried, chased and got in our faces. In contrast we sat off them, gave them space and looked passive. After the break things continued in the same vein but got worse. Our midfield simply disappeared and a raft of changes didn’t help, especially bringing on so many new boys. Paton’s energy was missed when he tired and went off. Watt ploughed a lone furrow up front and suffered from lack of support. I thought that at about the 55 minute mark we needed to bolster the defence, probably by taking off O’Donnell and bringing on Casey for his height and aerial ability. The final 35 minutes comprised a siege on our goal with countless corners and crosses and the huge surprise was that St Johnstone didn’t score more and sooner. A very slight improvement on last week for the opening spell but thereafter the same flat turgid and half hearted performance. Although the cast of actors was different the performance was just the same. All talk and no action. At full time the fans certainly let the players and management know what they thought in no uncertain terms. I can't speak for all fans but my impression is that SK has lost the support of over 50% of them.

He's 6-2, played in the Premiership before and at 25 is no spring chicken. So no excuses for looking very unsure in the air. That will only affect the confidence of an already poor central defence. St Mirren fans said exactly the same about him. A good shot stopper but poor in the air.

He also said that our league position is at odds with how we play and are now getting found out or words to that effect.

It's even harder when we don't have possession and can't win it back.

It looked like a 5-3-1-1 to me for the vast majority of the game.

A problem for the entire 95 minutes. Sparrow was OK going forward but he couldn't defend to save himself. Not the lads fault as he was played out of position and hung out to dry.

I didn't know about that but Balcombe gave me the fear. He doesn't like high balls and was glued to his line today.

Yes, spot on.

Having sat through another 95 minutes of a turgid, flat and passive performance today, I've come off the fence and now believe it's time to part company with SK. Wasn't impressed with his post match comments blaming the players. He really needs to take responsibility. It's time to go Stuart.

"It was the players' fault:.

If we wrest Jordan McGhee from Dundee this month, and land Dom Thompson then that's our problem positions addressed, at least on paper. However we will then have a huge squad albeit with a substantial injured component. Surely some need for trimming around the edges.

If his comments were simply clumsily phrased and he wasn't referring to the fans then all he has to do is to clarify what he meant. Hopefully someone at the club has had a tactful word in his ear. No manager can afford to alienate fans unnecessarily.

I don't know the details of these deals obviously, but that implies that we now have no control over the length of the loans. As such, serious questions need to be asked as to why we agreed to these deals in the first place.

I think we also need another LWB as Wilson seems burn out and Seddon is out of action for a good month or two.

Thats exactly it for me. We badly need someone up front to compete physically with the Jack Sanders of the world, hold the ball up and bring others like Vale, Stama or Manwhanise (if he's played close enough) into play. Thats what we've missed and a physical target man was a must last summer. I have no idea why one wasn't signed.

There are options to trim the squad. The likes of Callachan could be mutualled surely? The loans for Tavares or even Watt could be terminated presumably? Could Ebiye and Koutroumbis be loaned out? If Jordan McGhee signs this month could Davor be loaned out or mutualled? Not all of these options would be feasible of course but there are possibilities. SK did hint at one or two moving out.

According to Met Office forecasts, by mid afternoon the conditions shouldn't be too bad, although not great. However the pitch is notoriously poor and some time ago, St Johnstone decided not to invest in it as they had other spending priorities.