couttsy
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Posts posted by couttsy
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As if we weren’t already under enough pressure to get a result on Saturday, that late St Johnstone goal just cranks it up a little more 😞
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39 minutes ago, David said:
The problem is, we've gone from having nine midfielders in the squad last season, to having five. One of which is out injured for a fairly lengthy amount of time, and another who seemingly can't buy himself a game despite being signed in the summer.
Kettlewell and the recruitment team have painted themselves into a corner in that regard. We can't get more bodies in the middle of the park because we don't really have any.
Agree the recruitment has been poor and that Miller has been a big miss (bigger than I expected or than he should be at 17), but looking specifically at last night he could easily have started Davor and/or Butcher in there.
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Ive defended Kettlewell on here and being honest I thought he would turn it around, however last nights team selection after what we watched on Saturday was crazy, if anything we should have been looking at how we get more bodies in the middle of the park, not less! To start with only Spittal & Slattery as proper midfield players playing away from home was mad!
However to suggest he’s lost the dressing is nonsense (last night apart) the one thing we have shown in recent weeks is a great spirit to get back into games! St Johnstone away, County at home and Celtic away, all in recent weeks.
i think he’ll get Saturday, but with confidence shot to pieces, injuries piling, and a manager that seems to have lost the ability to set us up hard to beat I’m not confident to say the least.
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I assume we’re now 3-5-2 with O’Donnell right side of the 3 at the back. Much more like what we should have started with.
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Hope I’m wrong but a team with only 2 genuine midfield players away from home doesn’t normally end well.
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Not sure we can say whether a draw tonight is a good result or not without considering Saturday. Despite the situation we’re in I still think a point tonight is a good result, however only if we do what is expect of us (bookies will have us as favourites) and win on Saturday. 4 points out of these 2 games would see us going to Paisley unbeaten in 4. I’d take that!
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Have to be honest I’m very surprised at so many votes for Bevis. Maybe I need to see the goals again on TV, but thought he played his part in some very poor defending for the goals we conceded!
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At least we got a point, that’s the positives out the way!
In fairness I thought SK picked the right team, however it was apparent half way through the first half that Dundee were being afforded far too much space (number 10 in particular)
Didnt make it to Celtic park last week but Butcher in Midfield was horrible today, he sat too deep, didn’t pick up runners and was generally too slow. That position is a big problem with young Miller out.
We deffo have more problems than solutions after today!
Fair play to Wilkinson for keeping his composure and winning us a point. Particularly given he’d been terrible up until then!
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Interesting to say the least that we appear to have changed nothing at half time.
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Have been firmly in the Kettlewell in camp, but that first half was tactically horrific. So so obvious even at 1-0 that it was just a matter of time before we lost goals. Giving up far too much possession at home against Dundee. Worrying times.
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A bit of Biereth magic apart, they look a league above us in terms of their passing and creativity.
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Wish I was playing 10 for Dundee today, freedom of fir park every time they come forward.
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6 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:
So who’s going to get the stupid yellow card if he is out?
Butcher I suspect!
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2 hours ago, grizzlyg said:
Is it not just Scottish cup Slattery is Suspended for?
Nope, Kettlewell deffo said in his interview that Slattery is suspended for tomorrow.
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Suspect the team picks itself tomorrow with Slattery out.
Kelly
Casey Mugabi Blaney
SOD Paton Butcher Spittal Spencer
Biereth Obika
Suppose the only concern would be is if Obika is fit enough to start.
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No doubt the bar was low yesterday, has to be Spittal for me, did well in an unusual position in the 1st half, ran himself into the ground trying to create in the 2nd half, and then took a very good penalty for our goal.
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36 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:
Here are my thoughts on yesterday's game and they more, or less, reflect other views on here.
We were beaten before we started. The formation, personnel and tactics were all wrong. We all know Blair Spittal's strengths and weaknesses, at least we should. Pace is not one of his strengths. Why play him at LWB? He's simply not cut out for it. Likewise we've also played the exact same "front" 3 formation and it simply hasn't worked. So why play it again? Biereth is not a target man and doesn't like long high balls. Bair and Wilkinson are not wingers and never will be. The latter is a limited penalty box striker. Why all these needless square pegs in round holes? SK's early success was based on keeping it simple and concentraing on what the players at his disposal could do rather than on what they couldn't. Again yesterday Biereth was left isolated far too often and Bair and Wilkinson dropped deep at times into an advanced midfield role. The aimless long ball tactics simply didn't work.
The defence and midfield were disorgainsed, or at least thats how it appeared. A bang average Hearts side were given loads of space and time especially in the middle and on the left.
The referee was again inconsistent and the constant VAR delays didn't help. Boyes' penaly claim was rightly dismissed, after unnecessary fuss and delay. He was on his way down at the edge of or outside the box when contact was made. A boot struck his chest, at normal waist height and he dropped to the deck as if poleaxed with a head knock. Surely a yellow card. His theatrics in the remaining minutes also warranted a yellow card.
My final word is about a minor but curious incident in the second half. Toby Sibbick stole quite a few yards at a throw in in front of the POD Stand. Despite being warned several times by the ref to stop he continued to advance to maybe 10 yards and was eventually carded. Fine you might think, but he took the throw in from the spot he was booked for. That begs the question why was he not told ordered to go back?
Anyway a below par performance against a poor Hearts side, despite what the BBC thinks.
Yeh, agree, the team selection was horrible and completely ruined the first half for us. No surprise that we improved after the break with Spittal further forward and Spencer at full back. Kettlewell has to get back to doing the obvious/sensible things. For the first 6/7 months of his tenure I thought he was great, finally we had a manager that didn’t try to over think and played players in position and in a system that worked for them. We have to get back to that.
The Dundee game at FP is now huge, I’m assuming (even if we play well) we’ll lose at Parkhead, that’ll be 2 points from 30, lose to Dundee and the pressure on the club/manager for change maybe too much to resist.
3-5-2 Kelly, Casey, Butcher, Blaney
Spencer, Slattery, Paton, Spittal, Gent (might not be great but gives us balance)
Obika, Bierth
I think we’ve all now seen enough of Bair and Wilkinson for the time being, and O’Donnell looks finished at this level I’m afraid.
Could make a case for Mugabi at CH and Butcher in the holding midfielder role instead of Paton, but I fear the time playing at the back and his recent injury would render him too slow.
Oh, and I think Sibbicks yellow card was for time wasting, not even sure the ref noticed the stolen yards!
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3 forwards and no left back. Hmmm…. Spittal left wing back? Blaney left back in a back 4? Who knows but I can’t say I’m a fan.
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I’m hopeful we’ll see a starting line up of Kelly, Spencer, Casey, Butcher, Blaney, Gent, Paton, Spittal, Slattery, Bair & Biereth.
Think a 3-5-2 suits us best at the moment and to have left footed players on the left (Blaney, Gent) gives us much better balance. Would have dropped Slattery as he’s been poor of late, but not sure we have any better options, and he played very well against Hearts at Tynecastle earlier in the season, so fingers crossed he can replicate that.
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1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:
Yes, but no moreso than it was last weekend. Tuesday's result was inconclusive in my view. It may have bought him a little more time. On its own it wasn't a bad result, at a difficult venue, as time will show. A loss today, especially a heavy one, will not help matters. We can take the Celtic game out of the equation. I'd say that the 2 home games in early December will be make or break. They fall several weeks before the transfer window opens.
We've got to be looking for a win today. A draw suits no-one. I'm really hoping our defence and midfield are a lot steadier today than they have been for weeks.
Zero chance of a Motherwell manager being sacked with a record of 31 played, 15 won, 7 drawn and 9 lost (presuming those stats are correct), and nor should he be in my opinion. He’s earned the right to the time to turn it around.
No doubt we’re going through a tough spell, however unless we’re marooned at the bottom of the table Kettlewell will be with us until at least the end of year.
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2 hours ago, wellsince75 said:
I'm hoping we return to winning ways - 3 points will make a huge difference
I'd set the team up as 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 depending how you look at it. This is due to personnel rather than any benefit/magical formation.
Several players could be replaced and it's an either/or situation.
The way I see it is I'd have players in their natural positions and go back to a formation that everyone is familiar with.
Kelly/Oxborough
McGinn Butcher Casey
Spencer Slattery/Spittal Davor/Miller Paton GentBair/Wilkinson/Shaw Mika
Yeh, I agree wellsince75, we know that we have a core that are good enough for this league Kelly, Butcher, Casey, McGinn, Spencer, Spittal, Slattery, Paton, Biereth, and whilst some of them have been playing poorly recently, I think we have to persevere with them.
Just need to work out who the other 2 should be. I’d go Gent and Bair. Gent as he’ll give us better balance and allow us to get Spencer on the right where I think he’ll be more effective, and Bair as he’s probably the best foil for Biereth.
If McGinn and/or Butcher are missing then Blaney followed by Mugabi to come in.
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9 minutes ago, well_said said:
Lots of us have also sat through Randolph, Ruddy, Carson and Gillespie . Kelly is much nearer the list of goalkeepers you mention than my list.
Think we might need to agree to disagree there!
Whilst Kelly is not in the Randolph/Ruddy class, maybe not even Gillespie, but he’s a million miles from the duds in my original list.
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14 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:
And those that are old enough to remember the mid 1980's will remember John Gardiner!!. Believe me....Kelly is not as bad as a lot of previous keepers
Haha remember him well unfortunately! Although in my opinion Stevie Woods is the all time worst in my lifetime!
Hadnt thought about it before but it seems like we’ve either had really good or really bad goalkeepers over the last 30/40 years, not much in between!
Good = Goram, Ruddy, Randolph, Gillespie, Carson and Kelly.
Bad = Woods, Gardner, Howie, Dubourdeau, Marshall and the others I mentioned earlier.
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3 hours ago, wellsince75 said:
I've got a great deal of empathy for Kelly. He's the last line of defence and should have much better support from the rest of the team. Yes I think he could have done better with some of the goals recently but as I see it, he's offered very little protection.
Examples from last 2 games.
Wilkinson up front. Nothing stuck, he gave the ball away.
Teams have been walking through the midfield with very little to stop them.Defenssively basic errors, not marking and not defending the 6 yard box.
Our keeper doesn't deal with with crosses, we know this but he makes up for it in other qualities. He needs to take some accountability but we're not losing games because of him.
Be careful what you wish for, assuming we can get a better keeper than someone who's kicking around the Scotland squad is a dangerous assumption to make.
Completely agree with the watch what you wish for comment. Kelly is going through a poor patch of form, although arguably from my perspective only the 4th goal on Wed night should sit at his door in terms of a bad mistake. Those of us who’ve sat through the Samson’s, Hollis’s, Twardzik’s and Nielsen’s of the world know only too well that it’s not always easy to find a decent keeper! Kelly is far from our biggest issue right now.
2023/24 ins & outs discussion
in Club Chat
Posted
I think you’re letting very recent performances cloud your judgement slightly here. In my opinion Kelly, Butcher, McGinn and Spittal have all proved over a much longer period than the last couple of months that they are more than good enough in this league. Suppose there is a question mark over Mcginn and Butcher age wise but still.
Id be happy to keep those 4 and Casey. The 2 loan boys in Beireth and Spencer are deffo good enough but not likely to stay. Miller will come back in after injury, those apart I’d be happy to see the rest go.