Catweazles ring piece

A good few folk on this site were predicting a monumental collapse this season, after poor decisions made regarding playing structures and with the cash and upheaval at board level.Shame that most pointing this out were castigated on here. Ian Baraclough needs to be totally ruthless here with a vast number in this squad and he needs immediate backing from the board to freshen things up.Failure to do this will be catastrophic to Motherwell Fc We are where we are and the decisions made as of today will shape the following seasons. no fucking mercy!

Out their depth!Nothing will be done.

A football club bereft of leadership across the whole structure.No one fit for purpose.

I came to the same conclusion mascot. It's a wee bit unfair due to the fact that he's just in the door, but alarm bells started ringing after the interview post Accies.Over the years I've encountered many folk in the work place who talked the talk, however not many of them walked the walk. I guess we'll find out in due course.I hope he does go on to be a huge success, but I'm not convinced at this minute.

I'm slightly baffled after all the talk about pressing teams, ball retention etc etc etc.I've yet to see any of this and it's been more of the same, with route 1 football to Sutton. 4 weeks is a short time in charge but I'd have thought some of the philosophy would be be starting to develop in some aspects of our play. I'm of the opinion that Ian Baraclough is no mark McGhee but I guess he does need time.However, if he didn't quite grasp the enormity of the task, I'm sure it's now kicking in. One thing is for sure, he needs to keep mfc in this league and he needs to weed out and strengthen the team because next season will be even tougher with hearts and another coming up.I just hope you can walk the walk after all the talk. P.s. IB has inherited the most unbalanced team that I've witnessed in many years, this is no fault of his! Best of luck of Ian

If we capitulate today after Ian Baraclough's comments earlier about lack of desire and the youth having no fear etc he's made an idiot of himself! However if players don't perform and he's backed them after these comments, some shouldn't wear the jersey again. Here's hoping for a good performance!

Well a certain young player that managed a move to a London club, abstained from clubbing/drinking and watched his dietary intake on the night before matches. I guess that's the difference being professional and trying to better yourself and being a typical Scottish footballer. Shaun Hutchinson plays now at Fulham and is doing well. Mean while back at FirPark!!

Oh no.............Prepare for more of this

If ever a buy out was on the cards, this is it! Club going cheap, management team out and plans for importing talent to move on to EPL for profit. Solano at Fir Park on a cold Friday night in November? Probably 2+2=5, but.......whatever happens, interesting times.

Best of luck to Stuart McCall, I'm sure he will be back in management in the near future. He'll leave with a fantastic record over his tenure and although the wheels have fell off this season, he at least has done the honourable thing in resigning. Time for B.O.D. to get the finger out and sort this out quickly!

Here is a potential outcome coming soon; Relegation combined with administration. Hearts and The Rangers being promoted. Increased attendances in The Premier Division with the above support. A new sponsorship deal -15 point deduction in The Championship as still in administration. Next to no players and no finances. Fighting relegation once more Time for the B.O.D. to take action NOW, before this becomes a reality. It is imperative we stay up this season!!!!!!!!!!

These seem like basics to me. The correct players signed Unsuitable players moved on Correct fitness plan for squad/individual players The team and players able to play systems IMO none of the above apply. Add in whatever is happening in the background and this is what you see on match day. How long before leaks of unrest emerging from F.P.?

SM has assembled a present squad (youth lads excluded) that is unbalanced, pedestrian and now look disinterested on match day. I think the question fast approaching is, can we afford not to sack SM. SM does deserve loyalty, but not to the detriment of MFC. The next few weeks are massive for both club and manager.

There's no point in SM saying week in, week out, that we need to work harder. That should have been done preseason along with set ups and formations. The team don't look fit enough although a lack of pace throughout this team might be the problem. Couple this, with tactical set ups and continual rotations of players that unbalance the team, could be having an effect on players attitudes come match day. Whatever the reason, SM needs to find a solution PDQ or the consequence could be dire for MFC. MFC needs to survive this season and lay foundations for the long term, otherwise we could languish down the leagues for years to come. Time for BOD's, management and players to show some mettle. COYW

Excessive smoke belching from your back peddling. Here, dampen the flames with some of my excessive pant juice!

Alarm bells must surely be ringing at Fir Park! The BOD must surely now, make some statement of intent.

FFS, forget who's fault it is! Dear MFC, We seem to be in melt down! What is being done to address this?

The Board Of Directors are accountable for these decisions Peter! I argued about this preseason saying that Flow would be hung out to dry if there was a downturn in fortunes, which many believed would happen. Flow shouldn't have been appointed IMO, but this isn't down to him. Time for some explanations from the BOD!

Tick Tock! A football club with no money and no strategy! Who didn't see this coming?

Any debate that is constructive, can make me think differently with decent counter arguments - so fair play guys. I've seen the good and bad of Motherwell Football Club since the late 60's until the present date, so I don't consider myself a pant wetter or a doom monger. However, what I do see, is the effect of not having a benefactor injecting sustainable cash into the club and with the lack of sponsorship etc, the club's having to tailor its cloth. However, under this financial climate, we need experienced heads at the club to steer us through this difficult time. S.M has done a fantastic job the past few season, but under the current climate, I see things gradually unraveling. There's no money for players and we're bereft of a youth system. I do think unless the club secures a major cash injection, we will be forced to overhaul our youth system and I fully expect a new manager to come in to oversee this. A long hard season ahead by the looks of things.

Most probably down a division with no finances or no structure to come back up. That unfortunately is a highly possible outcome. L.D. left for a reason -she knew that financial hardships were about to unfold and moved with a high reputation intact. A.B. stayed, due to being a loyal Motherwell fan (and an undoubted talent on the media front.) However, being offered the G.M. position seemed a panicked reaction and now that we appear to have hit the buffers, there is no one of note capable of steadying the ship. Someone mentioned earlier in the thread about team selections, unbalanced formations etc and the need to get back to basics and get in their faces. The fitness is so bad, there's no more gears left in this team. The spine of the team have plenty of experience, but the truth is, they've all lost a further yard in pace and are pedestrian at best. Couple this in with wide players not tracking back and we are exposed and over run, time after time in most games. We are unfit, unbalanced, lazy and I don't believe this team are capable of winning a dog fight if/when the time comes. Someone at F.P. has to take this by the scruff of the neck ASAP before it is too late. I expect to be slaughtered - but that's an honest assessment from being outside looking in.

Barcelona run a pyramid system where every team under their control (which incidentally is massive) teach kids not only positional skills but also formations and play patterns. So in short, players within the squad can rotate positions or if a few injuries create issues, second team players step in with no variation or disruption to tactics. By the time young kids have honed their skills and formations and worked through the age groups, the pyramid system promotes them through the tiers leaving the best available to FC Barcelona. It's well run and keeps an ever ending supply of fresh talent at their finger tips.

Most European clubs set up all their youth teams to play exactly the same system as the first team. This is the reason when injuries occur, these teams draft someone in seamlessly without major team restructuring. Can anyone who watches the u20's and youth teams shed light on formations etc? or are they all independent with different tactics? The main gripe I have, is SM/KB don't appear to learn from previous mistakes. Why do they keep doing the same things over and over again and somehow expect a different outcome. Only a few games in, but I sense hard times ahead I'm afraid!

I just hope one other team in this league is worse than us. If not, we've got serious problems. Injuries aside, the same mistakes are being made time and time again and we never seem to learn anything. Unfit, unbalanced and tactically unaware, has the hallmarks of a grim season. Finding it hard to sugar coat anything that's happening on or off the park. Worrying times!