2025/26 Ins & Outs Discussion

[Mad Dog]

Do we have any updates for the injuries to Sule and Robinson? We may not need to spend any more money if they fit well with Askou's system.

[Kmcalpin]

The jury was already out on Robinson before his injury and many including myself concluded that he wasn't a goalscorer.  The only decent main striker we seem to have on our books just now is Sule and he's never really been tested. 

[joewarkfanclub]

I understand the debate and doubt over Stama and Hendry. Statistically you can make a case for saying neither are very good when it comes to measuring their worth as a striker.

However, that really depends on what their role in the team is and what they are being asked to do. 

No one actually knows that, and only Jens can really assess whether they are worth their place in the team or not.

For what its worth, I did think Stama would have come good by now and scored more goals from open play, and since that hasnt happened, Im willing to conceed that we will be looking for re-inforcements come January.

However, I keep hearing that Stama has continually fluffed his lines and Im struggling to recall this conveyor belt of sitters he has missed that proves any point. Similarly with Hendry.

We are not a team that continually gets to the by line and throws the ball into the box for a striker to attack or pays off second balls that they could exploit. Everything we do is very measured and controlled to the extent we look like we are trying to score thw perfect goal on every occasion.

As a result our strikers are lucky if they are getting 1 or 2 chances per game. Even Haaland would steuggle off that.

And for those complaining that Maswanhise is just a winger and as such his goals dont seem to count as much? Id point out he plays a similar position to Mo Salah, and no one is saying he isnt a striker......

[ropy]

Jens started by sorting the midfield, he now seems to have sorted the defence, next the attack? 

[mfc88]

Tbh my main worry is the potential loss of welsh. He has been brilliant for us. Could either see a few suitors coming in, or the new celtic manager fancying him back. Or knowing our luck, neither of the above but he gets injured 🙄

Could do with another ball playing centre half either way.

Imagine we will see a few outs as well.

[wellfan]

16 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said:

However, I keep hearing that Stama has continually fluffed his lines and Im struggling to recall this conveyor belt of sitters he has missed that proves any point.

You can add the glorious chance he missed around the 27–28 minute mark today to his ever-growing list of missed sitters. Look back through the threads and you’ll find plenty of references to his constant spurned chances, which is why he ended up with the “nearly man” nickname.

[Spiderpig]

2 hours ago, wellfan said:

You can add the glorious chance he missed around the 27–28 minute mark today to his ever-growing list of missed sitters. Look back through the threads and you’ll find plenty of references to his constant spurned chances, which is why he ended up with the “nearly man” nickname.

Spot on, and to avoid any confusion the one Stamatelopoulos missed and the one Hendry missed were as well were both sittters.

[texanwellfan]

Although I will give AP credit for his PKs. He exudes confidence, doesn’t Fanny about and has mixed them up. 

[Ya Bezzer!]

On 12/5/2025 at 11:48 AM, wellfan said:

Stama’s inability to score from anything other than the spot has nothing to do with our system. He’s had chance after chance under different managers and setups, and he keeps fluffing them for reasons we’ve all gone over already. At this point he’s just an expensive investment who hasn’t delivered what you expect from a number 9.

As for Hendry, I’m starting to think the jury isn’t out anymore and that he might not cut it either. We’re not short of goals right now, but we still need to go out in January and sign a proper striker. 

Stam's actual stats in a Motherwell shirt for league games are

21 (9) 11

Not really that bad.

All his goals last season came from open play and penalties still need to be scored.

He has missed chances but strikers will always miss chances.

You'd like him to be scoring more, especially this season but I do think there is something in the style of play argument.

And again 11 goals off 21 starts is really not that bad.

[texanwellfan]

11 minutes ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

Stam's actual stats in a Motherwell shirt for league games are

21 (9) 11

Not really that bad.

All his goals last season came from open play and penalties still need to be scored.

He has missed chances but strikers will always miss chances.

You'd like him to be scoring more, especially this season but I do think there is something in the style of play argument.

And again 11 goals off 21 starts is really not that bad.

Sometimes perception and facts just don’t match up. 

[Ya Bezzer!]

13 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

Sometimes perception and facts just don’t match up. 

I've not actually put in today's appearance yet so it's actually 22 (9) 11.

I dunno if that strengthens your case slightly!

[joewarkfanclub]

7 hours ago, wellfan said:

You can add the glorious chance he missed around the 27–28 minute mark today to his ever-growing list of missed sitters. Look back through the threads and you’ll find plenty of references to his constant spurned chances, which is why he ended up with the “nearly man” nickname.

Was waiting for this.

Yes, was a bad miss. Should have scored.

But point me in the direction of any other chances he had today other than his penalty.

On the other hand Hendry missed 2 just as bad but he runs about and does things so doesnt get the same criticism?

For clarity, Im not excusing Stama's misses. Just putting context around why his goal return might not be what would want/expect.

[Jonesy]

I'm not having Stama's miss today as a sitter. He should have done better with it right enough but that's hardly a sitter.

That Hendry header on the other hand.

[wunderwell]

I'm not Wellfans biggest advicator in his views "initially"

From Kettlewell to Stam he is proven right in the long haul usually.

The problem I now have with Stam is 2fold - and as an optimist I hope he cant  sort.

1. The ball bounces off him one foot every time it is played to him - we don't need someone necessarily that give more goals but what we do need is a striker is who can take the ball in and feed others.

2. If you listen closely to the coverage the commentator he says AP "was caught in his heels there" -a better aspect is finding someone who isn't

Over to you AP or Wellfan let's see who is right in the long haul.

 

[weeyin]

The way Stama's playing reminds me of the way Theo played in the first half of the season (but Theo only scored 4 goals during that period).

The question is will he be capable of producing a second half of the season like Theo.

He takes a good pen, though.

[The African]

With the January transfer window only a few weeks away, is there really the need for us to get involved?

I can only think of a couple of reasons we might want to bring in some new faces. Firstly, if we have some squad members going out the door and the manager thinks it is necessary to get in replacements. Secondly, if the manager is aware of players from Scandinavia who might be available because of their contracts ending and who would bolster our squad.

I genuinely feel that there is no urgent requirement to tinker with the current squad. The general standard available in January is not always great and the desperation of others together with the limited supply of any quality tends to inflate prices. Continuing to work with what we already have is probably the prudent course of action. Longer term plans for improvement in the playing stock can wait for the summer.

[wellfan]

10 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Was waiting for this.

Yes, was a bad miss. Should have scored.

But point me in the direction of any other chances he had today other than his penalty.

On the other hand Hendry missed 2 just as bad but he runs about and does things so doesnt get the same criticism?

For clarity, Im not excusing Stama's misses. Just putting context around why his goal return might not be what would want/expect.

He also missed a header from a set piece just before half-time. Not as bad as Hendry’s missed header, but still one you’d expect him to at least get on target. His penalty return and overall effort are great, but like I keep saying, we need a proper number 9 to take the chances he keeps spurning. At the moment it doesn’t look like Stama or Hendry is that man. We’ll be fine though as we’ve got goals coming from across the team. 

[wellfan]

8 hours ago, wunderwell said:

I'm not Wellfans biggest advicator in his views "initially"

From Kettlewell to Stam he is proven right in the long haul usually.

The problem I now have with Stam is 2fold - and as an optimist I hope he cant  sort.

1. The ball bounces off him one foot every time it is played to him - we don't need someone necessarily that give more goals but what we do need is a striker is who can take the ball in and feed others.

2. If you listen closely to the coverage the commentator he says AP "was caught in his heels there" -a better aspect is finding someone who isn't

Over to you AP or Wellfan let's see who is right in the long haul.

If Stama suddenly comes good in his third season in 2026/27, I’ll happily eat my hat. But the writing’s been on the wall for a while now, and we’re clearly not getting the return on a three-year investment that most of us thought we would.

[grizzlyg]

Stama is definitely a team player and does link up play well at times.  I do admit he is missing chances he shoukd do better with.  The header he pulled out as he thought keeper was colliding with him.   Hendry missed header was brutal.

However.............we have leagues top scorer in TJ and we are getting goals from other areas so it's not a major concern for me at moment.

I am loving this season and that 3rd goal was a pure joy to watch

[Kmcalpin]

2 hours ago, The African said:

With the January transfer window only a few weeks away, is there really the need for us to get involved?

I can only think of a couple of reasons we might want to bring in some new faces. Firstly, if we have some squad members going out the door and the manager thinks it is necessary to get in replacements. Secondly, if the manager is aware of players from Scandinavia who might be available because of their contracts ending and who would bolster our squad.

Some merit in this view. You'd hope that we're monitoring Welsh's position very carefully; not to secure him on a longer deal, of course, but in case Celtic decide to flog him to a Championship team down south. Its also possible bigger fish in the food chain are eyeing up other players like JT, Just or Watt. 

I still think we're short of a main striker up front. Stama is falling short of what we need and Hendry isn't the kind of player we need, bless him. His signing raised a few eyebrows at the time, as he's never been a true goalscorer.  

[joewarkfanclub]

1 hour ago, wellfan said:

He also missed a header from a set piece just before half-time. Not as bad as Hendry’s missed header, but still one you’d expect him to at least get on target. His penalty return and overall effort are great, but like I keep saying, we need a proper number 9 to take the chances he keeps spurning. At the moment it doesn’t look like Stama or Hendry is that man. We’ll be fine though as we’ve got goals coming from across the team. 

I dont recall the header but take your word for it. My eyesight isnt what it used to be!

I agree with the rest though. Even if Jens is happy with what Stama and Hendry do for the team, another striker in a different mould is a must in January. We cant keep relying on Maswanhises goals, espencially when he will be away to Afcon shortly.

No idea if Sule would be that man or if he will even be fit by January, but it would be a lot to expect him to hit the ground running so Id be wanting us to have someone else in mind.

[wellsince75]

AP is a bit of an odd one and to be fair to him has a goal ratio of 1:3 which isn't terrible.  

He's got decent pace, works hard and knows where the goals are.  Although he's missed a few chances he's not regularly lurking enough in the penalty box.

This is where the issue I think is, he's a penalty box striker who if we whip in loads of crosses etc into the box I'd wager he'll stick a few away BUT that's not how we're playing the game.  

I do think a confident AP with a certain type of play would work well for him but that's not how we're playing.  Not can I see it working for Hendry.  Sule maybe if he return but for now I could see us being more effective without either AP or Hendry. 

[joewarkfanclub]

3 minutes ago, wellsince75 said:

AP is a bit of an odd one and to be fair to him has a goal ratio of 1:3 which isn't terrible.  

He's got decent pace, works hard and knows where the goals are.  Although he's missed a few chances he's not regularly lurking enough in the penalty box.

This is where the issue I think is, he's a penalty box striker who if we whip in loads of crosses etc into the box I'd wager he'll stick a few away BUT that's not how we're playing the game.  

I do think a confident AP with a certain type of play would work well for him but that's not how we're playing.  Not can I see it working for Hendry.  Sule maybe if he return but for now I could see us being more effective without either AP or Hendry. 

I think it says a lot that when we played without AP or Hendry against Hibs we didnt lose anything. We just put someone else in there to do the job and continued regardless.

Albeit it was a very specific tactic to try and isolate Hanley and make sure we stopped them building anything.

Again yesterday, Livvy tried something different to put us off our game, but we found a way to adjust and figured it out. The manager just continues to impress. 

I think we need to enjoy it while it lasts as he is clearly destined for bigger things.

[Jonesy]

49 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

I dont recall the header but take your word for it. My eyesight isnt what it used to be!

The header, I'm assuming, is the one he launched himself full stretch at a free kick swung into the box. Incredibly harsh to 'expect that to be on target' and shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as the Hendry one

[joewarkfanclub]

8 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

The header, I'm assuming, is the one he launched himself full stretch at a free kick swung into the box. Incredibly harsh to 'expect that to be on target' and shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as the Hendry one

Need to see the highlights back. I dont recall it, so cant think that it could be that bad.

The shot in the first half is a bad miss though. I know you are taught to go back across goal but its mid height and no power in it.

He should have smashed it. Left or right side, matters not.

The keeper got plenty time to look at it.