Jump to content

Scottish League Cup - First Round Motherwell V Rangers Sat 16 Jul 15:00


texanwellfan
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hammell is being scape goated here, again.

We sat in far too deep in the second half, Thomas didn't provide effective cover down the left either.

At least we made a handful of clear cut chances.

New guys all fitted in pretty well, Tait took a while to get into the rhythm of the game, but looked better as the game went on.

Only problem for me- Joe Chalmers. I've no doubt he's got skills, but he is waaaay too pedestrian , in speed of thought and in his movement. Just not for me at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only problem for me- Joe Chalmers. I've no doubt he's got skills, but he is waaaay too pedestrian , in speed of thought and in his movement. Just not for me at all.

McGhee's comments on Chalmers post-match were quite revealing. They were general platitudes; he did alright, played a disciplined role, we think he's a good player etc but qualified with Joe's got a future here "if he really buckles down & grabs his chance" and oddly "we're still not quite sure what his position is. Is he left midfield, left back, left wing".

 

Again, a fair few of my recent posts on here have been saying that you take most of what McGhee says publicly with a pinch of salt but Chalmers has been here a year. If the management and coaching staff still haven't worked out where he fits then it doesn't really bode well for him long term.

 

Edit: For what it's worth I though Chalmers was alright, certainly by no means the worst player on the park and the shift in shape when he went off left us that bit more open.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...we do struggle to get any half decent support these days.

To be honest we have always struggled, even when we had relatively successful teams on the park. I suppose we just need to accept that we now have a hardcore home support of around 3,500 and anymore is a bonus. It’s just that todays crowd looked particularly sparse in the home end and the maths seem to back that up. Not to worry, when we reach the Final (that’ll be the day) there will be 25,000 wanting tickets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A strange game today and I agree with many of the individual points made. Injuries and suspensions limited Mark McGhee's options, but I think mistakes were made off the field. Overall the gameplan of sitting back and hitting Rangers on the break almost worked but for some poor finishing. However for long spells MacDonald was left isolated with little support. Johnson played far too deeply. In general we defended far too deeply and lacked a bit ambition or perhaps confidence at times. From start to finish Rangers caused trouble on both our flanks.

 

Had we been 3-0 up after 30 minutes or so it would not have been injustice but poor finishing cost us. By half time the scoreline could have been 6-3 to us. At full time it was about could have been 12-9 to Rangers. Rangers were the better team although both defences were shockingly poor. After the 30 minute mark we began to fall out of the game and that was certainly true of the second 45. Individually it was a mixed bag. Oddly enough given the chances created by both sides neither keeper was really troubled. Samson had a reasonably solid game but he really does need to communicate better with his defenders. By failing to shout he cost us at least 2 avoidable corners.

 

The new boys showed some promise especially McHugh but he fell out of the game after about 30 minutes or so not surprising given his lack of game time. Looks a real find though. Heneghan had a reasonable game but both he and McManus were left badly exposed at times. Unlike others, I wasn't totally convinced of Tait as he was caught out a few times but that said he had little cover in front of him. Hammell had a very poor game and was caught out time and again. Cadden tried his best but has had better games. I wasn't overly impressed by Chalmers - his lack of pace was badly exposed. Up front Skippy tried hard but some of the service to him was appalling. Of the subs, Dom Thomas worried me. This will be a big season for him but again although showing some trickery was too easily bundled off the ball.

 

Some pluses too though. We did create a fair few chances and played some decent football on the break and the new lads by and large acquitted themselves well. You'd think too that they have still to gel fully with their teammates. I really like the look of McHugh and think he'll be an asset when fully fit. My big concern continues to be central midfield. We are far too light there and surely we have to sign an attacking central player.

 

On a side not a wee bit disappointed with some of Tam Cowan's comments on BBC radio about 2 incidents. I did not think it a penalty when the ball was blasted at Heneghan's hand at close range - does anyone disagree? Also the incident where Samson handled out of his box - the Rangers player, Waghorn, was clearly well offside when the ball was played to him and the ref was only "evening things up" as his linesman missed that.

 

Many of us suspected that to qualify from the group we'd have to do so as runners ups and so it has transpired.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first 20 minutes were pretty encouraging and we really should have bagged 2 or 3 goals. Hopefully a few more weeks and come the killie game those sorts of chances will be hitting the back of the net.

 

I thought all the new guys showed up pretty well. Mchugh tired in the second half but looks like he should be more than capable. Henegan was steady and made a few decent blocks and Tait was probably my man of the match, defended well and looked good technically.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chalmers looked alright but was pish, out of position too much, left side was very poor, Rangers were free to play down that side and Johnson hardly tried a leg, Stevie Hammell not at the pace for the SPFL. On a positive note Tait(MOTM), Heneghan and Mchugh all looked very good

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a side not a wee bit disappointed with some of Tam Cowan's comments on BBC radio about 2 incidents. I did not think it a penalty when the ball was blasted at Heneghan's hand at close range - does anyone disagree? Also the incident where Samson handled out of his box - the Rangers player, Waghorn, was clearly well offside when the ball was played to him and the ref was only "evening things up" as his linesman missed that.

 

Many of us suspected that to qualify from the group we'd have to do so as runners ups and so it has transpired.

 

On the Samson one, Heneghan was playing Waghorn on - the other three moved out but he was a yard behind.

 

On the Heneghan one, the ball took a deflection but his hand was high and moved towards the ball - that one was open to interpretation but I think most referees would have given it and I would have struggled to argue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the back of the Cooper (a long way away but looking directly at both incidents) I, and those around me, were stunned it wasn't a red for Samson and a penalty against Heneghan. We certainly seemed to get away with those two but I haven't seen any tv.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of the subs, Dom Thomas worried me. This will be a big season for him but again although showing some trickery was too easily bundled off the ball.

Make or break for Dom to see whether he can cut it at this level. To me he looks more like a modern day John Gahagan when in reality we would all prefer a Bobby Russel or Davie Cooper. Fingers crossed he makes the grade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

On the Samson one, Heneghan was playing Waghorn on - the other three moved out but he was a yard behind.

 

On the Heneghan one, the ball took a deflection but his hand was high and moved towards the ball - that one was open to interpretation but I think most referees would have given it and I would have struggled to argue.

We'll agree to differ on that Tweed and leave it at that. We reckoned Waghorn was off by about 2-3 metres at the instant the ball was played.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the back of the Cooper (a long way away but looking directly at both incidents) I, and those around me, were stunned it wasn't a red for Samson and a penalty against Heneghan. We certainly seemed to get away with those two but I haven't seen any tv.

In my opinion both incidents should have been penalised. If they went against us I would have been fuming.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just watched the full game there on BT, i'm also not so sure about the penalty claim against Heneghan, it was deflected up into his body and wasn't intentional IMO. (Samson should've walked, also imo)

 

On a side note why is Chris Sutton on TV? for a guy who's had a career out the game he struggles with the rules. You could see Michael Stewart and Craigan ready to smack him at the end. He was stood there just repeating himself saying "unnatural position" and definite penalty" as if he'd taken some sort of stroke.

 

Absolute Warmer of a guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the Heneghan incident I think it's the deviation of the ball from the deflection that raises the doubt and I can understand why the ref didn't give it, though equally wouldn't really have had an argument if it had.

 

The Samson one was just a remarkable (non)decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually thought listening to Sutton was more painful than watching the game at Easter Road.

 

You know the mentality of a person who, upon arriving in Glasgow to play for Celtic, spent his first night wondering about a casino asking random people, 'are you a h*n?'

 

 

 

Just watched the full game there on BT, i'm also not so sure about the penalty claim against Heneghan, it was deflected up into his body and wasn't intentional IMO. (Samson should've walked, also imo)

 

On a side note why is Chris Sutton on TV? for a guy who's had a career out the game he struggles with the rules. You could see Michael Stewart and Craigan ready to smack him at the end. He was stood there just repeating himself saying "unnatural position" and definite penalty" as if he'd taken some sort of stroke.

 

Absolute Warmer of a guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually feel more positive about the season ahead than what i did before the match. We easily could have been 4 or 5 up at half-time. I felt Moult improved us dramatically in the second half when he came on and it's disappointing that he's now going to be out for a couple of months as he was one of our best players.


Marvin Johnson frustrates the hell out of me trying those long shots from outside the box instead of providing a cross for someone else. Twice he did it in the second half and the shots were never in danger of making the keeper work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got to disagree completely. Old firm opposition reduces the home crowd by 100 max.

 

Unless there's some answers from the club about the shameful scenes in the east at the end, I dare say there'll be a good few more than that for future Old Firm games if that's how they'll be policed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a side note why is Chris Sutton on TV? for a guy who's had a career out the game he struggles with the rules. You could see Michael Stewart and Craigan ready to smack him at the end. He was stood there just repeating himself saying "unnatural position" and definite penalty" as if he'd taken some sort of stroke.

 

Absolute Warmer of a guy.

He is like a real life pantomime baddie. I can’t work out if he really believes what he is saying, or he is just doing it for show. Either way the guy needs help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Load of police came in from the south stand gate about 10 to go and stood up the back until about 88 mins when they formed a line from the back wall down the stairs blocking fans from leaving and this was before the second goal.

 

A few folk managed to leave via going through the toilet and they then blocked that off. They begin pushing and shoving anyone trying to leave back and then the second goal went in and everyone tried to leave en masse leading inevitably to what was becoming a crush situation and they still refused to move which then began to draw people from further up the stand to wander down to have a go at the cops and also try and help folk get out.

 

Saw a few younger people and girls extremely upset by it.

 

All the while, of course, Rangers fired up the sectarian songs, smoke bombs and what I assume was a flash bang.

 

Absolute joke and still silence from the club a good 16 or so hours from when they said they would find out from security what happened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All the while, of course, Rangers fired up the sectarian songs, smoke bombs and what I assume was a flash bang.

 

Absolute joke and still silence from the club a good 16 or so hours from when they said they would find out from security what happened.

Agree about the unsatisfactory policing. Don't be too hard on the club perhaps they are still waiting to hear back from the Police who knows? I think you'd be better advised to contact Police Scotland direct as they were directly involved. Why complicate matters by going through a third party.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...