2025/26 Ins & Outs Discussion

[Kmcalpin]

16 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Forget what I said before. Today made it very clear this team is missing a spine. We need a GK, CH, CM, and CF. All of them starters.

Not 100% sure about GK but you're spot on about the other 3 positions.

[Spiderpig]

12 hours ago, wellfan said:

Forget what I said before. Today made it very clear this team is missing a spine. We need a GK, CH, CM, and CF. All of them starters.

Agreed, that was Alex Fergusons approach in every team he built, a solid spine in the team as you mentioned with the keeper and CH the priority.

Craig Brown done it when he took over, made us difficult to beat and built a decent team that took us to Europe.

[Ya Bezzer!]

35 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Agreed, that was Alex Fergusons approach in every team he built, a solid spine in the team as you mentioned with the keeper and CH the priority.

Craig Brown done it when he took over, made us difficult to beat and built a decent team that took us to Europe.

There was a time when we could bring in players from the English Championship or good level players from Rangers and Celtic.

Those days are gone.  

That makes finding a strong spine much harder than it used to be and the likleyhood is any good player brought in is leaving after a season.

If we'd kept all our good players over say, the last five seasons, we'd have a pretty good team.

But the financial reality in 2025 is it's very, very difficult for a club our size to build a side that's got any quality.

[Kmcalpin]

Understandably, after the frenetic pace of last week's arrivals, and yesterday's debacle in the sun, there's been more talk of the need for additional arrivals. Thats to be expected. However, JBA may also wish to loan out or mutual a few players he doesn't fancy to balance numbers.  An interesting few weeks ahead.  

[Lobey_Dosser]

14 hours ago, wellfan said:

Forget what I said before. Today made it very clear this team is missing a spine. We need a GK, CH, CM, and CF. All of them starters.

Agreed. As encouraging as some of our business felt last week, the spine of the team is obviously key to success and ours needs addressing. JBA did hint that he has to be patient in trying to acquire some of the players he wants. I think we will be pursuing a quality centre half, midfielder and possibly a goalkeeper. Striker probably depends on the perceived robustness of Stama. 

[wellon]

1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:

Understandably, after the frenetic pace of last week's arrivals, and yesterday's debacle in the sun, there's been more talk of the need for additional arrivals. Thats to be expected. However, JBA may also wish to loan out or mutual a few players he doesn't fancy to balance numbers.  An interesting few weeks ahead.  

Do uou really think yesterday was a debacle? 

I thought first half we played some nice stuff at times

Sule, Watt , Fadinger all looked decent 

[Kmcalpin]

50 minutes ago, wellon said:

Do uou really think yesterday was a debacle? 

It was a double edged sword. Result wise definitely. Clyde are a middling league 2 side and whilst we have no god given right to beat them  we really should be. Having watched the highlights, both goals we conceded were howlers and Clyde could've scored more. 

Preseason preparation wise it was a definite success. More gametime for the players and JBA got to see the players in competitive action being themselves. A chance too  to put across his ideas.

League Cup group games are about striking a balance between being competitive and getting gametime. We'll know if JBA got that right, once the group stage is over. 

[weeyin]

I'm not exactly sure how long the league cup groups have been in place now, but surely long enough for fans to recognise the fact the the first game at this time of the season is always a bit of a lottery. There are so many variables in play that won't be in play once the league is up an running.

There is usually one, often more, Premiership teams that fail to qualify from their group, and most struggle in a few games. The reasons are obvious:

• New managers not having time yet to implement new tactics
• Thinner squads with new recruits not yet signed, or signed during the week and not ready to play
• Players at different stages in their fitness due to longer breaks after international duty in the summer
• Players with trivial injuries not being risked
• New managers trying out different combinations and formations in competitive games for the first time
• Managers trying to load balance game time across the entire squad

And in the case of yesterday, playing on a plastic pitch on a hot day where the home team has kept it as dry as possible to slow down the tempo.

The starting line-up in the first game rarely bears any resemblance to the starting line-up that has taken shape in September. 

This is just a long way to say keep it in perspective, people - the league cup groups have rarely (never) been an indicator, good or bad, of our subsequent league form.

 

[Spiderpig]

The Daily Rancid, reporting that a bid for Miller is imminent, according to his Dad

Miller bid expected within weeks, says father - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cn7d85j76dko

[well_said]

26 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

The Daily Rancid, reporting that a bid for Miller is imminent, according to his Dad

Miller bid expected within weeks, says father - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cn7d85j76dko

As long as it's not Celtic offering two bob and a set of green and grey tracksuits.

[Mad Dog]

1 minute ago, well_said said:

As long as it's not Celtic offering two bob and a set of green and grey tracksuits.

Not going to click on that link, so going with this from the BBC instead:

"when asked if a move abroad was likely, Lee Miller replied: "Yeah, potentially.

"He's got ambition. He wants to play at the highest level possible.

"He had a great season last season, finishing off the season with two Scotland caps, which was tremendous. He wants to take it to another level and we'll see what happens over the next few weeks.

"He just wants to play football. He would've played in that game yesterday. He just wants to play football and enjoy it and that's what he does best."

[coldonmac]

Came across an article about the PFA camp in England for players without a Club to put themselves in the 'shop window'.

One of the players mentioned was the ex-Aberdeen striker Sam Cosgrove who they sold for (supposedly) £2m. Scored 47 in 103 games and only 28 years old.

Wonder if he's someone worth considering?

[numpty]

1 hour ago, Spiderpig said:

The Daily Rancid, reporting that a bid for Miller is imminent, according to his Dad

Miller bid expected within weeks, says father - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cn7d85j76dko

I'm not going to read the article, so which is it: "imminent", or—and this is very much the opposite of imminent—"within weeks"?

[mio]

6 minutes ago, coldonmac said:

Came across an article about the PFA camp in England for players without a Club to put themselves in the 'shop window'.

One of the players mentioned was the ex-Aberdeen striker Sam Cosgrove who they sold for (supposedly) £2m. Scored 47 in 103 games and only 28 years old.

Wonder if he's someone worth considering?

I think that is a player who would fit reasonably well at us. I suppose it just depends if he wants to go from earning circa £10k a week to £2k a week.

he may get some club in league 1 offering £5k plus. We just can’t compete with these teams unfortunately.

[coldonmac]

5 minutes ago, mio said:

I think that is a player who would fit reasonably well at us. I suppose it just depends if he wants to go from earning circa £10k a week to £2k a week.

he may get some club in league 1 offering £5k plus. We just can’t compete with these teams unfortunately.

Agree, the wages would likely be the stumbling block,  but the fact he's not currently earning may make £2k attractive.  

Interestingly 4 of his last 5 clubs have all been loan deals.  But likely a league 1 will take a chance on him as no fee involved.

[Spiderpig]

1 hour ago, numpty said:

I'm not going to read the article, so which is it: "imminent", or—and this is very much the opposite of imminent—"within weeks"?

Not that the timescale matters, but just so you can sleep soundly tonight here is a quote from the article

" Lennon Miller's father expects a bid for the Motherwell midfielder to come "if not this week, maybe next week".

So as imminent means its about to happen, does it matter if that's this week or next week, sleep tight.

[numpty]

2 hours ago, Spiderpig said:

Not that the timescale matters, but just so you can sleep soundly tonight here is a quote from the article

" Lennon Miller's father expects a bid for the Motherwell midfielder to come "if not this week, maybe next week".

Ta. Being the DR, I should have guessed that he wouldn't have said what the headline said he said.

[grizzlyg]

2 minutes ago, numpty said:

Ta. Being the DR, I should have guessed that he wouldn't have said what the headline said he said.

And winner of "I love the word Said goes toooooooooooo" 🤣🤣

[weeyin]

 

Quote

"Lennon has been great for Motherwell, and Motherwell has been great for Lennon.

"It has been a really good fit, and it has been carefully thought of beforehand. There has always been clubs in for him since he was 14 - whether it was down south or up here - but there has always been a path at Motherwell, and it has been carefully thought out.

"Some people would say 'why didn't you go to X,Y and Z club for this money?' - but he has played, he is is the youngest appearance holder for Motherwell and the youngster goalscorer - which is a testament to him."

"There is a lot that has happened in his life but he goes on the football pitch, plays his game and enjoys playing football."

 

And that was the quote where the DR claims "Miller didn't close the door totally on a switch to the Glasgow giants."

I've read it 3 times, but still don't see it,

[Mccus28]

If im totally honest, Im getting pretty bored of all the paper talk about Miller already.

 

Ive just watched JBA's presser there ahead of the game tomorrow and it seems, so is he.

 

The quicker Lennon goes, the better for all involved.

 

I also find it pretty cringeworthy that his dad keeps getting involved and adding to the speculation.

[Happyhonest]

Get what you mean with his dad adding to the speculation but if it gets us a few hundred thousand more by ramping up interest in him then the better for us and no doubt lennon too. Hope he goes  abroad, as I think he will develop more and be a future mainstay of the Scotland team.  Just hope he doesn’t put teams off like Sanders dad did in the NFL.

[weeyin]

Aye, JBA did a fine job swatting down the journos in his presser.

His dad has been a key influence in managing Miller's career and helping him make good choices (like staying at Fir Park and getting 75 first team appearances under his belt). I wish some of our other youngsters had similar guidance, and I'm OK with him talking to the media.

[Mccus28]

16 minutes ago, weeyin said:

Aye, JBA did a fine job swatting down the journos in his presser.

His dad has been a key influence in managing Miller's career and helping him make good choices (like staying at Fir Park and getting 75 first team appearances under his belt). I wish some of our other youngsters had similar guidance, and I'm OK with him talking to the media.

I had no issues with his dad speaking about him and he seems to have done well for him but it now feels like he is being quoted every 20mins in some sort of rag

 

We get it, you think he has his head screwed on and wants first team footy!!!!!!!

[weeyin]

14 minutes ago, Mccus28 said:

I had no issues with his dad speaking about him and he seems to have done well for him but it now feels like he is being quoted every 20mins in some sort of rag

Very true, but I don't blame his dad for that. It seems like the same interview cut up into pieces and reprinted multiple times in different places.

[Stuwell2]

1 hour ago, weeyin said:

Very true, but I don't blame his dad for that. It seems like the same interview cut up into pieces and reprinted multiple times in different places.

Don’t even know if it’s from an interview, I think he was on bbc radio Scotland sports show on Sunday afternoon and I’m assuming the journalists have all taken what they wanted to hear to suit whatever angle they want to pedal.