grumpy
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Posts posted by grumpy
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5 minutes ago, David said:
If only it were that simple, eh?
The current manager has probably had to work with one of the smallest playing budgets our club has had in recent times. That's clearly reflected in the players we have.
There are a lot of reasons why we don't start some games all that well. Factors such as early goals, injuries, or unexpected opposition tactics all necessitate on-the-fly adaptations by the manager. That applies to all managers of all teams, of course. There are times when we start a game really well, and it's then on the opposition coaching team to work out a way to combat that. I mean, generally, one of the two teams in any game has to start off as the better side. So there's a 50/50 chance it will be us.
Many people seem to overlook the fact that the opposition's response adds another layer of complexity. We don't operate in a vacuum. It's not just about what we do. The opposition plays a part in the game as well. They may make tactical changes during the game, requiring the manager to react accordingly, which Kettlewell has shown on a few occasions he's more than capable of doing.
How many fans of clubs do you hear moaning about no "plan B"? Well, that's not really a problem for us, as Kettlewell has shown he has the ability to read and react to a number of circumstances, which considering the quality and budget he has available, is admirable on its own.
I'd go as far as to say that a top six finish with the current squad we have would be nothing short of astounding.
Great post, after the 3-3 game at Pittodrie there were posters claiming that Kettlewell should have changed things at 3-0 up, today, there are posters claiming our starting XI was all wrong.
Make your F###ing minds up.
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3 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:
I thought the referee Matthew McDermid had a reasonable game yesterday but I was curious about his treatment of Hemming. He had a long word with him fairly early on in the game about blatant timewasting. Fair enough. However he then spoke to him again, but despite that Hemming simply refused to desist. Why not speak to him once and then bring out the yellow card. That would stamp out this practice.
Any views on Vale's yellow card for diving? Not many refs issue them these days, despite it being a common malpractice.
My view from the Cooper was that he went down under the slightest of contact, definitely not a penalty but that a yellow card was harsh, I've seen much more obvious dives go unpunished. Why referees don't book goalies earlier for time wasting is a mystery to me, Aberdeen's goalie was spoken to several times a fortnight ago, starting in the first half, and finally booked in the 93rd minute, one warning and then a card and it stops immediately. And I don't exclude Kelly from that statement.
As to the game, I think a point a piece was about right. Their goal was a joke from start to finish but they had a couple of other chances in the first half which could have put the game beyond us. I thought we were decent in the second half (compared to the first half) but seemed to lose all urgency once we equalised.
The defensive substitutions were baffling, especially as we were a goal down. Devine wasn't at his best, but taking him off for Bevis meant that the defence that started
Devine-O'Donnell-McGinn-Casey-Gent,
Became
O'Donnell-McGinn-Bevis-Casey-Gent
So 60% different with one substitution
O'Donnell's injury made it
McGinn-Casey-Bevis-Blaney-Gent
Only Gent finishing where he started, no wonder our defence is all over the shop, no settled back line over 90 minutes, never mind from week to week.
Oh, and I'm a happy clapper, so this isn't a moan for the sake of moaning
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A toss up between Davor & Gent, Davor gets my vote.
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Dan for me. Interesting the number of votes for Lennon Miller, I thought he had one of his poorer days yesterday, possibly because the system left him without any defensive midfield support.
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28 minutes ago, Mad Dog said:
There's tennis as well, Rublev was disqualified and lost his earnings after screaming at an official. Possibly the first high-profile case to be properly punished, yet folk had the nerve to say that it was harsh.
Except the ATP bottled it, he got his ranking points and winnings returned on appeal. He was fined and forfeited the game, which he was losing anyway, hence the abuse.
I agree that the backchat in football has reached ridiculous levels though, but until the authorities take proper action it will not change, and we know they wont in case they upset a big club It is exactly the same as trying to eradicate diving, the solution is relatively simple, but the associations are scared to go down that route.
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1 hour ago, Mad Dog said:
Sorry, must be missing something. What's the connection between this chap and Obileye at Livi?
He looks an exciting prospect though. Most of the goals in the video seemed to involve horrendous goalkeeping so he should do well in the SPL.
None, other than a rumour during the transfer window that Obileye had signed a pre-contract with us.
Ebiye's video suggests he may be a bit of a six-yard box poacher, something we haven't had for quite some time. These video's often flatter to deceive, but here's hoping.
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I assume all of you making the biblical jokes don't know that Moses led the Israelites aimlessly round the desert for 40 years and then died when the promised land was within eyesight.
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9 hours ago, texanwellfan said:
So what are we hoping for or what would be the best results for us in the 2 games next Wednesday evening, the 13th ? Being positive (some may say dumb) that we can take care of our own business I think defeats for Hibs and Dundee would be best for our top 6 hopes. Failing that 2 draws would help us for top 6 and avoiding play off spot.
We are on the cusp of safety and have a reasonable chance of the top six so wins for Ross County and Aberdeen would help us most. That said, if Ross County could overhaul Aberdeen that would be hilarious so my personal preference is a Hibs loss and a Dundee win or draw.
On balance though, I'm going to wait till after the games are played and then spin the results as exactly what we wanted.
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1 hour ago, grizzlyg said:
Classic Faddy last night on sportscene as he scored winner on boxing day 2002, last time we had beaten them in league..."I've lost my hair since then......twice" 😅😅
Certainly a much better pundit than Neil McCann, his classic yesterday was "The result at Tynecastle tomorrow will go a long way to deciding who is top of the League come Monday"
Sherlock + Shit + no, please rearrange into a coherent sentence.
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1 hour ago, texanwellfan said:
Any one else just wandering around the house singing to themselves?
No, but I will admit to, on about four occasions, stopping what I'm doing, doing a double fisted crouch and shouting "Yes, you f@cking beauty."
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59 minutes ago, AllyMax said:
Choice between a creepy, condescending prick of a manager and a 'team' that by rights, shouldn't even exist. It's a tough one right enough.
Indeed, I hate the one we have had most recent contact with the most, currently that's "arse cheek green", from Saturday it will be "arse cheek blue". If we don't make the top six, I will happily ignore both sets of odious c@nts till next season.
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4 hours ago, wellfan said:
I hear what you're saying, but my calculation factored in Dundee (6th with 32 pts) and Hibs (7th with 31 pts) each having 6 games to go, over our 5 to go. Let's break even and call the magic number 40 pts.
Fair do's, I hadn't checked the remaining fixtures, it was just an instinctive reaction to your first guess. I think your second effort is probably pretty close to right.
Interestingly, and at this stage arguably more importantly, over the same seasons the most points accrued by the 11th placed team is 36. Given that Ross County would need 13 points from 11 games to achieve that, that looks like my usual target of 38 points will be sufficient. Hopefully we will get more than that though.
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Eh, 43-45 pts this season? That would mean both Hibs & Dundee winning 4 of their remaining games, or Aberdeen or St. Johnstone winning 5. I suspect 35 may be enough, but that is just a guess.
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1 hour ago, David said:
I'm not that young either, but I'd also like to think we're leaving behind a solid community club for our children and their children.
Football, for the most part, has become the game of the rich and wealthy. Bought up by millionaires, billionaires, and oil-rich nations. With very few exceptions, that is all that football fans of a certain age know. They buy their overpriced English Premiership jersey of choice, pay to have their favourite multi-millionaire mercenary's name added to the back of it, and watch their team on their large 4K telly in surround sound.
Motherwell and clubs like us are different. When I go to a game with a young family member, their heroes can be accosted outside Fir Park for a photo, autograph, and a chat.
Our young fans don't need to be happy with briefly seeing their favourite player walk past, head down and headphones on, behind a wall of security as they head into the stadium.
Our younger generation can sit in the season ticket seat that our father or grandfather once sat in. For the most part, they can rest assured that they won't be priced out of that, to be replaced with some foreigner who's here on a "football holiday" wearing a half-and-half scarf and paying over the odds to some company that snaps up seats by the tens or hundreds to sell in packages.
I like who we are as a club. I like that we employ financial responsibility and don't rely on money from elsewhere. I also like that we are very much community-based. I know that angle gets a lot of slating on here, but I like that our social media account bears the tagline that we exist to improve people's lives.
If football doesn't exist to provide value and enjoyment and to improve the lives of those who follow it, then what's the point? To fill the coffers of the wealthy owners? To sell jerseys?
We'd all love to win a cup, but I'd honestly much rather we had a fan-owned club that we could be proud of, and that will be there for future generations in a stadium that holds a lot of family memories than anything else.
If our fanbase can only afford to support a club that ends up playing in the Championship or even lower, then so be it. I'll still be there, hoping to win the next game and pouring over the stats of our next unknown signing before writing them off and then being proved beautifully wrong as they defy the odds and come good.
I whole-heartedly agree with pretty much all of that. I've been going to Fir Park for (scarily) nearly 57 years, I've seen good teams that won nothing, a cup win, multiple semi-final and final heart breaks, relegations and promotions, and loads of seasons in-between. I sit and watch games from the cooper stand with my daughter and brother-in-law and I hope that, sooner rather than later, at least one of my grand children will take up a seat close to me. If (when) we get relegated, will I be happy? No. If and when we do go down, will I be happy if we end up like Dunfermline or Falkirk, or worse still Cowdenbeath or Albion Rovers? No. But I wouldn't swap those eventualities for five years of relative success, funded by a megalomaniac which led to the death of the club I love.
If I was a St. Johnstone fan, I would be very wary of what is to come.
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Plenty of options tonight, Bair, Spittal, McGinn and Gent all impressed. The obvious choice would be Spittal, but I voted for Davor, he is becoming a very important fixture in the middle of the park and never stopped running all night.
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Big Theo, what a shift and a great finish too. Honourable mentions for Davor & Paton.
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15 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:
We ain't exactly great at welcoming former players. I remember Lambert getting booked when returning with sellik. His crime.....leaving us to join Dortmund and win champions League
Was the ref a 'Well fan?
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5 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:
Who was keeper when we got beat 4-0 by accies with Lesley as interim coach. He’s hard to beat a worst keeper surely??
Dan Twardzik.
I still think Gardner was worse, probably because he played more. -
1 minute ago, texanwellfan said:
No clue how it really works but I’m sure there could be many variations. I think there is currently some rule or other about the owners not being owners of multiple clubs. I’m sure someone on here is more familiar with the rules and can enlighten us.
According to the BBC (I know, I know), they can own no more than 29.9% of another club.
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John Gardner is the worst keeper in Motherwell history.
IMHO.
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I'll see your Jock Wallace and raise you Roger Hynd.
Tough call right enough.
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A very decent first half performance. We were by far the better team and 3-1 flattered them hugely. We retained possession well and moved the ball forward quickly when the chance arose. For some reason, we started the second have very flatly and found it difficult to get any sort of control. Understandably, given the shocking run we have been on, the longer the game went, the more nervous we looked. That said, Livingstone didn't offer much threat at all.
No great failures today, Davor, Spencer, Gent and McGinn all played well but Bair had, arguably, his best game for us.
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Theo Bair, two goals and an assist, plus what a finish for the third goal. McGinn, Spittal, Gent and Davor all worthy of honourable mentions.
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Davor played well and makes me wonder why he hasn't featured more. But Georgie Gent gets my vote.
2024/25 Ins & Outs Discussion
in Club Chat
Posted
I'm resigned to losing Miller sooner rather than later, that seems to be how it goes now. In an ideal world, Man City give us a few million quid and loan him back to us for a season or two, I'm not holding my breath though.
Bair can be viewed two ways, we have picked him up under freedom of contract, and I suspect his wage is pretty low relative to a lot of the rest of the squad. He has rewarded us, and Kettlewell, with 12 goals and a few assists and is probably a season ahead of where Kettlewell hoped he would be after he was signed. Do we reward him with a new improved and longer contract, in the hope that he replicates, or improves, this form next year, or do we cash in a-la KVV, assuming a good offer is received of course.