Motherwell V Kilmarnock 14/05/2025

[grizzlyg]

Just saw clip of Ahmet after the game,  he is an absolute star,  love his attitude and enthusiasm 

[fizoxy]

We showed patience in breaking killie down. They pulled almost everyone behind the ball after the sending off, relied on counter attacks, and employed trademark mcinnes game management for most of the game. 

We did well to keep at it and not do anything silly, and kept knocking on the door. Once we got the opener we gained confidence and wiped the floor with them. Very professional performance in my book.

I couldn't watch the game live because I had a meeting at work, so just watched it tonight with the benefit of not shitting it the longer it was 0-0. Unfortunately, due to my superstitious nature, the same people are going to have to join that meeting again on Sunday.

Also, dundee were absolutely robbed with that County penalty, and st j must be furious that that was the decision that finally relegated them.

 

[Spiderpig]

6 hours ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

I thought we were pedestrian and pretty clueless for 75 mins and turned it around in the last 15. Maybe I'm hard to please but some of the great performance quotes leave me baffled. 

We had 80% possession 2nd half according to MW, the killie keeper had at least 3 great saves , they were offering feck all with 10 men behind the ball all the time. 

We played some great football and eventually scored 3 great goals and got what our play deserved..

A clean sheet, 3 great goals, a pumping  and some payback for killie and McInnes for their tactics, so all in all I would say it was a great performance.

[Yabba's Turd]

3 hours ago, fizoxy said:

 

Also, dundee were absolutely robbed with that County penalty, and st j must be furious that that was the decision that finally relegated them.

 

Being pish in more games than other teams is what relegated them

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 hour ago, Spiderpig said:

We had 80% possession 2nd half according to MW, the killie keeper had at least 3 great saves , they were offering feck all with 10 men behind the ball all the time. 

We played some great football and eventually scored 3 great goals and got what our play deserved..

A clean sheet, 3 great goals, a pumping  and some payback for killie and McInnes for their tactics, so all in all I would say it was a great performance.

At the game I genuinely thought we were very pedestrian for 75 mins. However when I rewatched the highlights we were probably better than I gave them credit for. Maybe I'm getting bored with football. 🫣

[wellfan]

8 hours ago, Well Well said:

🤣🤣🤣

Did you watch the first half and the majority of the second half? The very concept of a final ball eluded the entire team until SOD of all people managed to put in a great cross for the first goal. So, yeh, apart from 3 great goals in the last 15 minutes against 10 men, the outfield team struggled to do the basics for the most part last night. Silly emojis in response to others’ opinions won’t change that. 

[joewarkfanclub]

Thought it was a thoroughly decent performance last night rather than great. But it certainly wasnt pedestrian or boring.

I did have concerns before the game when I saw the team selection as it was clearly going to be 3 at the back with Sparrow and Wilson in the wing back roles and without Maswanhise in the team, I dont think there is a lot of pace. However, there was no Thompson and with the extra midfielder it did look like a team capable of keeping the ball.

Thought the game was pretty even up until the sending off, although up to that point Killie had created the better chances. Great save by Ox from the Armstrong free kick, albeit it was never a foul in the first place.

After the sending off, which was a stone waller, we were by far the better team. We knocked the ball about well, stayed patient and changed the point of attack to keep Killie doing all the running.

You could be picky and say the quality of our final ball could have been better at times, but Killie rode their luck a fair bit.

Second half was dominant. We never really looked under any threat, other than a couple of set pieces and we deserved our 3 goals for our patience and for working Killie so hard up to that point.

Slattery's goal was a thing of beauty  we havent scored a goal as good as that since Spittal left.

Overall, I left feeling pretty satisfied. We all know there needs to be changes in the summer if we want to improve but, for me, Wimmer is showing he is a tactically more astute manager than Kettlewell and his brand of football is infinitely better to watch.

Lets just hold onto that for now.

 

[MelvinBragg]

I thought in the first half we looked like we could play all night and not score. Second half initially the final ball was lacking but the switch to 352 definitely made a difference. I realise that the fashion is for a single striker with two wide but as we don't have a guy who can play as a lone striker, 352 is a no brainer for me. We look far more dangerous playing like that than we do with two "attacking midfielders" supporting a single striker. Attacking midfielders is in inverted commas as I don't think Paton or Slattery are cut out to play as "number 10s". No slight on them, just not a role they're best suited to...

[joewarkfanclub]

5 minutes ago, MelvinBragg said:

I thought in the first half we looked like we could play all night and not score. Second half initially the final ball was lacking but the switch to 352 definitely made a difference. I realise that the fashion is for a single striker with two wide but as we don't have a guy who can play as a lone striker, 352 is a no brainer for me. We look far more dangerous playing like that than we do with two "attacking midfielders" supporting a single striker. Attacking midfielders is in inverted commas as I don't think Paton or Slattery are cut out to play as "number 10s". No slight on them, just not a role they're best suited to...

Paton I would agree is probably more of an 8. But Slattery has shown he can play the 10. His goals from midfield since his return have pretty much kept us safe.

[Spiderpig]

1 hour ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

At the game I genuinely thought we were very pedestrian for 75 mins. However when I rewatched the highlights we were probably better than I gave them credit for. Maybe I'm getting bored with football. 🫣

Bored or just older and more moaning faced like a lot of us 😀

[MelvinBragg]

7 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Paton I would agree is probably more of an 8. But Slattery has shown he can play the 10. His goals from midfield since his return have pretty much kept us safe.

I take your point but for me Slattery looks better arriving into dangerous areas from midfield rather than playing off a striker. But we're kind of splitting hairs there...👍

I'd still rather we went 352 if we're playing three at the back...

[twistandshout1983]

9 hours ago, grizzlyg said:

Just saw clip of Ahmet after the game,  he is an absolute star,  love his attitude and enthusiasm 

Very pleasing to see this guy's passion . Exactly the type of character we need around the club 

[joewarkfanclub]

3 minutes ago, MelvinBragg said:

I take your point but for me Slattery looks better arriving into dangerous areas from midfield rather than playing off a striker. But we're kind of splitting hairs there...👍

I'd still rather we went 352 if we're playing three at the back...

Probably.

I'd be ok with 3-5-2 with better wing backs. Sparrow is serviceable on the right but Wilson doesnt have the pace and Thompson continually gives the ball away.

I think Stama could be the striker we need if he can stay fit. But as you say, probably alongside someone like Watt or Armstrong as opposed ro on his own.

We could really do with making that work given the initial outlay on him.

[FirParkCornerExile]

17 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Probably.

I'd be ok with 3-5-2 with better wing backs. Sparrow is serviceable on the right but Wilson doesnt have the pace and Thompson continually gives the ball away.

I think Stama could be the striker we need if he can stay fit. But as you say, probably alongside someone like Watt or Armstrong as opposed ro on his own.

We could really do with making that work given the initial outlay on him.

I have to admit I was no fan of Slattery before his injury. I thought he spent most of his time on his arse involved in petty needless fouling adding nothing to our midfield.  Since he has come back in from injury his focus seems to be more on how he plays than fouling opponents to stop them playing. Whether this was tactical under SK or not I don't know but for me there's a definite change in style of play from Slattery and he's been worth watching since his return. 

[SteelmaninOZ]

Just in case you didn’t see this 

 

[wellfan]

1 hour ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Overall, I left feeling pretty satisfied. We all know there needs to be changes in the summer if we want to improve but, for me, Wimmer is showing he is a tactically more astute manager than Kettlewell and his brand of football is infinitely better to watch.

Lets just hold onto that for now.

Exactly. I’m really looking forward to next season for that very reason. 

[wellup83]

1 hour ago, SteelmaninOZ said:

Just in case you didn’t see this 

 

Beautiful wee dummy there from the referee and fair play to him for overturning what was a nailed on red card.

The second goal was indeed a thing of beauty, a great team goal with a great finish from Slatts. I also love how Armstrong celebrated his goals. Looked like it meant the world to him.

[weeyin]

12 hours ago, Yabba's Turd said:

Going against 10 men, grinding them down and winning 3-0 is impressive from the players on the park and being hamstrung by injuries. It wasn't Lambert. Davies, Coyne. But it does have merit.

Exactly this. We have seen plenty of examples over the years where we struggle to open up a 10-man or park-the-bus defence.

I thought we played some pretty decent stuff once we changed formation in the 2nd half and created some decent chances.

As much as anything, I was pleased that, at half time, Wimmer found a way to set them up to win and the players responded.

[Kmcalpin]

A fine way to round off our last home game and worthy winners. Some cracking goals too. Almost 70% possession too.

I thought our starting line up was overly cautious and the game was finely balanced until the red card. Killie posed our makeshift defence serious questions in the first half hour or so.  I was gobsmacked that the rookie referee required VAR intervention before he showed a red card to Deas, but hey ho. From then until the break we were on top but lacked the pace and creativity to really trouble Killie. Some nice football in flashes but the final ball was missing and we seemed somewhat toothless. I did wonder if MW would change things before the break but he resisted that.  Paton was like a fish out of water in that advanced role. 

His changes after the break did the trick and Armstrong gave us more bite up front. I thought the gaols would never come but good defending and Killie's good luck kept us at bay. Once the first went in I thought we'd get more and we did. 3 quality goals with Slattery's being the pick of the bunch. I'm a wee bit concerned that Ewan Wilson isn't really cut out for the wing back role - maybe a season out on loan next term? Callum Slattery had a patchy game but really came good in the second half. 

Not a bad performance, although there were weaknesses ie lack of pace and a suspect defence. I've rarely seen us have so much possession. We've sometimes struggled against 10 men so can't complain at a 3-0 win to seal 8th spot and the welcome additional cash that brings.

 

[SteelmaninOZ]

3 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

A fine way to round off our last home game and worthy winners. Some cracking goals too. Almost 70% possession too.

I thought our starting line up was overly cautious and the game was finely balanced until the red card. Killie posed our makeshift defence serious questions in the first half hour or so.  I was gobsmacked that the rookie referee required VAR intervention before he showed a red card to Deas, but hey ho. From then until the break we were on top but lacked the pace and creativity to really trouble Killie. Some nice football in flashes but the final ball was missing and we seemed somewhat toothless. I did wonder if MW would change things before the break but he resisted that.  Paton was like a fish out of water in that advanced role. 

His changes after the break did the trick and Armstrong gave us more bite up front. I thought the gaols would never come but good defending and Killie's good luck kept us at bay. Once the first went in I thought we'd get more and we did. 3 quality goals with Slattery's being the pick of the bunch. I'm a wee bit concerned that Ewan Wilson isn't really cut out for the wing back role - maybe a season out on loan next term? Callum Slattery had a patchy game but really came good in the second half. 

Not a bad performance, although there were weaknesses ie lack of pace and a suspect defence. I've rarely seen us have so much possession. We've sometimes struggled against 10 men so can't complain at a 3-0 win to seal 7th spot and the welcome additional cash that brings.

 

That’s similar to my thoughts on the game Dave. Herr Wimmer has done well with the players he has inherited, looking forward to his squad next season. 

[grizzlyg]

2 hours ago, wellfan said:

Exactly. I’m really looking forward to next season for that very reason. 

Positive outlook,  it will never catch on 🤣🤣

[Well Well]

4 hours ago, wellfan said:

Did you watch the first half and the majority of the second half? The very concept of a final ball eluded the entire team until SOD of all people managed to put in a great cross for the first goal. So, yeh, apart from 3 great goals in the last 15 minutes against 10 men, the outfield team struggled to do the basics for the most part last night. Silly emojis in response to others’ opinions won’t change that. 

I was at the game and most of the games this season so yes is the answer. I am just glad  my coupon never has to rely on your predictions as almost every one has been wrong. Despite your desperate attempts at downplaying a 3-0 win at home. So I don't really take any of your opinion on board apart from the obvious that it will probably be the exact opposite of what you are saying and has been proven on many many occasions. Just keep being you its entertaining if nothing else.

[Spit_It_Out]

Having just watched the highlights it's been a long while since all the goals we scored were total belters!Everyone of them had  decent play before the ball went in the net and that Slattery goal was sensual.

We could have had about 5-6 last night looking back.

Hope the board back Wimmer properly something magical forming in the air I can sense it.

[grizzlyg]

Takes a lot of stick but to be fair never hides so a big shout out to SOD for cracking cross for first goal

[Spit_It_Out]

50 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Takes a lot of stick but to be fair never hides so a big shout out to SOD for cracking cross for first goal

What we have lacked all season long that type of cross on a regular basis hope this changes for next season and see more attacking down the flanks with a decent cross put in.