Motherwell v Falkirk 18/10/2025

[Richie]

8 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

Totally agree, that's why I said in my pre game predictions that this was an important game because I knew some fans are just waiting to declare "get this fancy football to fuck" and resort to the mind numbing shite of the last few years and sadly the defeat has brought some of that very reaction I was worried about.

Guy behind me was screaming "Get it up the park".

We are controlling games by not doing that.

Its execution and decision making that is the problem, not the way we are setting up.

Ironically in the first half (and start of second) we were getting balls into the sort of positions where Ap Stam would have been.

Being ultra harsh.

The Ap Stam handball goal, he should have perhaps had the presence of mind to try and find a pass, rather than putting in the net, as everyone in the ground know it would get overturned for the goalscorer-handball rule. As I say, being very harsh, but you wonder if players are thinking of this now.

[robsterwood]

These Motherwell games really helping me cut down on the alcohol on matchday. I only have a few beers if they win. 

[stv]

Need to get this fixed for the St Midden semi final. They will play like Falkirk did in the second half ,not letting us pass the ball around unchallenged, harassing us when we had the ball and getting aggressive. Except Saints will kick the shit out us as well.

We just faded away. We look a good footballing team but not a tough team. The manager should have a plan when the other team plays like this but I'm sure he will learn from this.

We were really good in the first half. Kudos to Saints manager for totally changing his game in second half to put us off ours.

Onwards and upwards.

[wellfan]

First things first, I’m fully on the JBA train and long may it continue. But I honestly can’t remember the last time I was as angry after a game. That second half was appalling.

Forget VAR re-refereeing it and robbing Said of a great goal. Where do you even start? Koutroumbis was rotten, Hendry was blowing out his arse, and nothing was sticking for Just. It was glaringly obvious to me, and probably everyone else and their dug, except JBA, that they should’ve been hooked at half-time for SOD, Stama and Charles-Cook.

It was clear Falkirk were going to come flying out the traps after the break, and they did. They battered us for ten minutes while we sat off them and waited to concede. Then I actually saw JBA telling the team to drop back. WTF?

We’re haemorrhaging points left, right and centre, and it can’t continue. JBA was outfoxed by McGlynn, and it’s becoming ever clearer he’s got no plan B. The next two games before the semi-final are massive for him and the team.

[Wellsince1976]

Drove back to Ayrshire wondering what I had just witnessed over the 90 mins. First half was as good as I`ve seen. Second half brought back nightmares of previous recent era`s. No panic from me. I think our season will be full of ups and downs. Apologies if I`ve missed it, but why didn`t Stama start today?

[grizzlyg]

Very frustrating and bit of a reality check as despite all the plaudits we are in 9th and 2pts off bottom place.

First half outstanding but final ball terrible and it came back to bite us.  We never turned up 2nd half and Falkirk obviously tweaked formation. 

Loving the new style and very much on JBA revolution but some fans need a grip. The guy standing at back of hunter stand almost having a coronary and screaming at everything, seriously mate,  if you can't get behind team maybe just not come to the games

[well_said]

36 minutes ago, Richie said:

Guy behind me was screaming "Get it up the park".

We are controlling games by not doing that.

Its execution and decision making that is the problem, not the way we are setting up.

Ironically in the first half (and start of second) we were getting balls into the sort of positions where Ap Stam would have been.

Being ultra harsh.

The Ap Stam handball goal, he should have perhaps had the presence of mind to try and find a pass, rather than putting in the net, as everyone in the ground know it would get overturned for the goalscorer-handball rule. As I say, being very harsh, but you wonder if players are thinking of this now.

I had a guy standing behind me today who talked the biggest load of shite I have ever heard at a motherwell  game for a while.

 When hendry was down injured in the box in the first half he asked his mate who was down , was it the aussie or was it masswanhise .

Not much later on he proceeded to shout at calum ward to fuck off back to east kilbride ya useless cunt .

This dickhead went on spouting utter shite the whole game .

 

 

 

[Kmcalpin]

57 minutes ago, gaz7 said:

Bloody hell. What a ridiculous take and unfortunately sums up social media fans.....

I am dismayed at response tonight. Some funny people about.

I don't always agree with El Grew, but do so more often than not. On balance, I'm in agreement with his post. There is logic behind it. At the game and on leaving, I heard quite a few fans voicing the same opinion. Now, you may not agree with what he's written and what a significant number of others were saying and that's perfectly fine. I get where you're coming from. However, that doesn't make them funny people or their arguments ridiculous. 

[grizzlyg]

11 minutes ago, well_said said:

I had a guy standing behind me today who talked the biggest load of shite I have ever heard at a motherwell  game for a while.

 When hendry was down injured in the box in the first half he asked his mate who was down , was it the aussie or was it masswanhise .

Not much later on he proceeded to shout at calum ward to fuck off back to east kilbride ya useless cunt .

This dickhead went on spouting utter shite the whole game .

 

 

 

Sounds like same guy i was listening to in hunter stand

[joewarkfanclub]

The first half today was some of the best football I've ever seen at Fir Park in 50 years of attending.

Said, Maswanhise & Longelo were unplayable at times. All abely supported by Watt, Fadinger & Just.

I thought Hendry had a very good first half and put himself about. Looked much more like the player we thought we were signing and the 60 minutes today will have done him good.

The VAR decision for Said's goal is a shocker. I felt heart sorry for the boy, as the joy he felt in getting his first goal for the club was evident for all to see.

That said, we did get into the lead quickly thereafter and should have put the game to bed by half time.

The fact we didnt is fast becoming our achilles heal and if we dont rectify it soon, the manager and players could come under real pressure.

I really hope that doesnt happen, because some of the football we are playing is magnificent and its the most entertained I have felt at Fir Park in a long time. The second half drop off however, cant continue to happen.

A lot of credit has to go to McGlynn for changing things at half time. They pressed us much higher and got some success from it, but we still contributed to our own downfall by failing to remain calm and play our game. Everything got very hectic and rushed, resulting in some very poor decisions.

Very disappointed tonight in the result. But not in despair as there is still so much to like about what we do.

The next 3 games do really feel like they might be season defining though......

 

 

[Kmcalpin]

Just watched the highlights of today's game. I really cannot see what was wrong with Said's disallowed goal. IF it was a foul it was soft in the extreme and certainly not clear or obvious. Why did VAR get involved? 

[robsterwood]

Just now, Kmcalpin said:

Just watched the highlights of today's game. I really cannot see what was wrong with Said's disallowed goal. IF it was a foul it was soft in the extreme and certainly not clear or obvious. Why did VAR get involved? 

Agree. Nothing wrong with it. Falkirk player appears to fall down but didn't see a clear foul. They are actively trying to disallowed goals. Ruining game. Referees and bar in this country is a joke.

[joewarkfanclub]

3 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Just watched the highlights of today's game. I really cannot see what was wrong with Said's disallowed goal. IF it was a foul it was soft in the extreme and certainly not clear or obvious. Why did VAR get involved? 

There was no foul.

He clearly gets his body between the Falkirk player and the ball. If anything, HE is the one that is fouled!

McLean just shits it when VAR intervenes....

[Kmcalpin]

4 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

The first half today was some of the best football I've ever seen at Fir Park in 50 years of attending.

Said, Maswanhise & Longelo were unplayable at times. All abely supported by Watt, Fadinger & Just.

I thought Hendry had a very good first half and put himself about. Looked much more like the player we thought we were signing and the 60 minutes today will have done him good.

The VAR decision for Said's goala.is a shocker. I felt heart sorry for the boy, as the joy he felt in getting his first goal was evident for all to see.

That said, we did get into the lead quickly thereafter and dshould have put the game to bed by half time.

The fact we didnt is fast becoming our achilles heal and if we dont rectify it soon, the manager and players could come under pressure.

I really hope that doesnt happen, because some of the football we are playing is magnificent and its the most entertaianed I have felt at Fir Park in a long time, but the second half drop off cant continue to happen.

A lot of credit has to go to McGlynn for changing things at half time. They pressed us much higher and got some success from it, but we still contributed to our own downfall by failing to remain calm and play our game. Everything got very hectic and rushed, resulting in some very poor decisions.

Very disappointed tonight in the result. But not in despair as there is still so much to like about what we do.

The next 3 games do really feel like they might be season defining though......

A well constructed and thought out post Joe. I agree. We're playing very entertaining football but our tendency to lose leads is not a one off but is is now a serious weakness, which must be addressed. I'm not sure we can do that though until January. I hope we do. If this unfortunate trend continues, our crowds will drop off significantly. That's a fact. 

As a respected poster wrote elsewhere we don't seem to know how to defend when on the backfoot. Maybe, that indicates a weakness in our system. 

[gaz7]

32 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

I don't always agree with El Grew, but do so more often than not. On balance, I'm in agreement with his post. There is logic behind it. At the game and on leaving, I heard quite a few fans voicing the same opinion. Now, you may not agree with what he's written and what a significant number of others were saying and that's perfectly fine. I get where you're coming from. However, that doesn't make them funny people or their arguments ridiculous. 

I disagree and you have your opinion and I have mine. As ever it's what makes football greatest game in the world

[twistandshout1983]

44 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Very frustrating and bit of a reality check as despite all the plaudits we are in 9th and 2pts off bottom place.

First half outstanding but final ball terrible and it came back to bite us.  We never turned up 2nd half and Falkirk obviously tweaked formation. 

Loving the new style and very much on JBA revolution but some fans need a grip. The guy standing at back of hunter stand almost having a coronary and screaming at everything, seriously mate,  if you can't get behind team maybe just not come to the games

Absolutely 💯, I sit in the Hunter and there is certain individuals who like to slag everyone for years

Understand everyone being frustrated but not helpful at all some people

Heard much worse than anything today of course 🤣

[Motherwellfc1991]

Soon as I saw the starting 11 today I was a little shocked . Wasn’t a fan of Liam Gordon last season but he has been much improved this season . He also is really the only aerial threat we have defensively and attacking wise. Both goals came about today through defensive mistakes. Brian Graham bullied McGinn today as well physically when he came on. 
 

Starting Callum Hendry today was also strange . Read a few posts on here saying people thought he played well . Positionally he was extremely poor and on 4 occasions in the 1st half a striker with any goalscoring instinct has 3 tap ins. Yes he hasn’t had much game time but I’ve seen nothing so far to suggest he is any form of upgrade on Moses never mind anything else . His performance today very similar to when I watched him play for St Johnstone - no real end product and ran about rather aimlessly. 
 

Our manager has taken plenty plaudits so far for his style of football and rightly so but at the end of the day we still need to win our share of football games and so far he has only managed 1 out of 8 which no matter how it is glossed if this continues will see us slide closer to the foot of the table . 
 

Yes we have some cracking players , yes we have played some great stuff and at times have been great to watch but we don’t seem to be learning any lessons week on week on how to kill teams off and win games . The manager needs to sort this out quickly as this is on him. 

 

We have a distinct lack of fire power and we also seem to ship very soft goals - the manager has signed plenty players but looks to have wasted a fair bit of wages on players who are no where near as good as the starting 11 and he hasn’t managed to improve our weaker positions - January window is really important .

 

Our squad and style is Miles better than last season but I’m not sure our points tally or league position is or will be if we don’t learn any lessons week on week and don’t have a striker - it’s actually scary the lack of options - heaven forbid AP gets injured it will be a long few months to the window 

[Kmcalpin]

24 minutes ago, Motherwellfc1991 said:

Soon as I saw the starting 11 today I was a little shocked . Wasn’t a fan of Liam Gordon last season but he has been much improved this season . He also is really the only aerial threat we have defensively and attacking wise. Both goals came about today through defensive mistakes. Brian Graham bullied McGinn today as well physically when he came on. 
 

Starting Callum Hendry today was also strange . Read a few posts on here saying people thought he played well . Positionally he was extremely poor and on 4 occasions in the 1st half a striker with any goalscoring instinct has 3 tap ins. Yes he hasn’t had much game time but I’ve seen nothing so far to suggest he is any form of upgrade on Moses never mind anything else . His performance today very similar to when I watched him play for St Johnstone.

I agree about McGinn. He has his strengths but does tend to come off second best against big physical strikers. 

You're being a tad harsh about Hendry but overall I agree about your assessment. I thought at the time he was an odd signing. He's never been a prolific scorer  which is what our system needs, to be effective. He's more of a secondary striker to support the main man. I wouldn't be too hard on him today due to lack of match fitness, but didn't really see him contribute much. A decent scorer needs to be top of our shopping list come January. That could make or break our season. 

Finally  why don't we have a back up left back??? 

[Kmcalpin]

A disappointing outcome yesterday but in fairness Falkirk deserved all 3 points. I didn't like their tactics however and at risk of annoying the MSM, thought they were overly physical and relied on the long ball. They played a weak ref like a fiddle. 

In the first 45, we looked world beaters with some excellent expansive and fast football. The best I've seen for some time. However we were totally powder puff in and around the box and hardly troubled Bain for all our possession. One solitary goal was never going to be enough. If we'd gone in 4-0 up and break few would have argued and I include John McGlynn in that.

We were never going to keep that level up but I was surprised that the game turned as early as it did. McGlynn made some tactical and personnel changes and JBA was outthought. On the park our midfield crumbled and we had to endure mishit passes, unenforced errors and a drop in work rate. When Falkirk pressed our defence, we looked totally uncomfortable with panicky passing. Falkirk's first goal was late in coming but come it did and the second was inevitable. Thankfully we managed to avoid losing a third.   

For our part I echo much of what has already been said. We're conceding too many cheap goals and I just wonder if McGinn's best days are behind him.  It was noticeable that Falkirk targeted our left wing before, but especially after, Longelo retired. We sat too deep and just didn't have the midfielders to cope. We are very vulnerable under pressure. 

Up front our troubles continue and have now emerged as a very serious issue that threaten our season. I'm not an Ap Stam fan but presume he wasn't fit enough to start. Callum Hendry, even when match fit is not the kind of striker we need. He's not a natural chance converter.  We're making too many wrong decisons in the final third. 

I only hope lessons were learned yesterday.  

[Jonesy]

Yesterday was the first I've really been annoyed this season. I think it was mostly down to the players thinking it was all too easy and all they had to do was turn up for the season half and skoosh it. Even at the end of the first half rather than pushing for more they started to fuck about a bit too much and play some daft aimless passes that weren't going anywhere. I said then it would bite us on the arse and it did.

Hendry just isn't good enough, and he doesn't even fit into this system either. 3 or 4 times yesterday there was a good ball into the box and he was hiding behind a defender at the back post. On another occasion Just had knocked the ball over a defender and had a clear shot at a volley and Hendry got right in his road. I'm not convinced Charles-Cook is up to much either so far.

The only thing that's annoying me about Askou so far is constantly going on about load management. It's something Alexander used to do and he'd needlessly make 1 or 2 daft changes every week because of it. I could understand if we were playing Saturday, Tuesday and flying across Europe but we play 1 game a wee for fuck sake. Pick your best 11 and stick to it.

We'll be absolutely fine this year and it's still a million miles better than what we've been made to sit through in recent years but if it carries on it'll become more than just a slight annoyance.

[BigManTam]

My tuppenceworth on yesterday's game.

More than anything else, I think we were a bit unlucky, poor finishing and, maybe most importantly, poor individual defending at the back.

First half, as many have already said, was about as well as you can expect a Mothwrwell team to perform.

I'm not buying this narrative that we were terrible second half. Said and Stama x 2 had great chances to score. 

Falkirk's first goal came from a big hopeful punt into the box and poor defending. Credit where it's due though, they played well enough second half generally to take something from the game.

The decision to disallow our first was a real shocker. We do have a big problem up top - Stama again looked poor when he came on. Hendry looked OK but still early days from him so I'm hopeful he can improve. I do think he looks a beter option than Stama. Worrying though that he was never in the right place first half when all those crosses were coming into the 6 yard box.

RE boo boys - as annoying as they are, they are in the minority. About 6000 home supporters yesterday. When was the last time we had that for a random league match?

Will those extra fans come back based on that performance? Absolutely. I was entertained, and I'm already looking forward to Livingston next week.

Small margins missing for this team but the fundamentals are there. This may well turn out to be more of a building season than a high performing one in terms of points, but based on the joy I'm getting from following our team at the moment, I have absolutely no issue with that.

[BigManTam]

1 minute ago, Jonesy said:

Yesterday was the first I've really been annoyed this season. I think it was mostly down to the players thinking it was all too easy and all they had to do was turn up for the season half and skoosh it. Even at the end of the first half rather than pushing for more they started to fuck about a bit too much and play some daft aimless passes that weren't going anywhere. I said then it would bite us on the arse and it did.

Hendry just isn't good enough, and he doesn't even fit into this system either. 3 or 4 times yesterday there was a good ball into the box and he was hiding behind a defender at the back post. On another occasion Just had knocked the ball over a defender and had a clear shot at a volley and Hendry got right in his road. I'm not convinced Charles-Cook is up to much either so far.

The only thing that's annoying me about Askou so far is constantly going on about load management. It's something Alexander used to do and he'd needlessly make 1 or 2 daft changes every week because of it. I could understand if we were playing Saturday, Tuesday and flying across Europe but we play 1 game a wee for fuck sake. Pick your best 11 and stick to it.

We'll be absolutely fine this year and it's still a million miles better than what we've been made to sit through in recent years but if it carries on it'll become more than just a slight annoyance.

Agree 100% about needlessly taking off players playing well. Could say taking Just off yesterday was due to returning from injury, but he did it earlier in the season as well.

[BigManTam]

7 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

A disappointing outcome yesterday but in fairness Falkirk deserved all 3 points. I didn't like their tactics however and at risk of annoying the MSM, thought they were overly physical and relied on the long ball. They played a weak ref like a fiddle. 

In the first 45, we looked world beaters with some excellent expansive and fast football. The best I've seen for some time. However we were totally powder puff in and around the box and hardly troubled Bain for all our possession. One solitary goal was never going to be enough. If we'd gone in 4-0 up and break few would have argued and I include John McGlynn in that.

We were never going to keep that level up but I was surprised that the game turned as early as it did. McGlynn made some tactical and personnel changes and JBA was outthought. On the park our midfield crumbled and we had to endure mishit passes, unenforced errors and a drop in work rate. When Falkirk pressed our defence, we looked totally uncomfortable with panicky passing. Falkirk's first goal was late in coming but come it did and the second was inevitable. Thankfully we managed to avoid losing a third.   

For our part I echo much of what has already been said. We're conceding too many cheap goals and I just wonder if McGinn's best days are behind him.  It was noticeable that Falkirk targeted our left wing before, but especially after, Longelo retired. We sat too deep and just didn't have the midfielders to cope. We are very vulnerable under pressure. 

Up front our troubles continue and have now emerged as a very serious issue that threaten our season. I'm not an Ap Stam fan but presume he wasn't fit enough to start. Callum Hendry, even when match fit is not the kind of striker we need. He's not a natural chance converter.  We're making too many wrong decisons in the final third. 

I only hope lessons were learned yesterday.  

Just because Falkirk did get all 3 points yesterday doesn't automatically mean they 'deserved' them.

[Kmcalpin]

13 minutes ago, BigManTam said:

Will those extra fans come back based on that performance? Absolutely. I was entertained, and I'm already looking forward to Livingston next week.

I sincerely hope they do, but don't think they will. If we see more performances and results like yesterday crowds will inevitably fall. I spoke to a few punters post match and commented, tongue in cheek, that both sets of fans would leave the ground happy.  Our lot for having been thoroughly entertained even if only for 45 minutes, and the other lot for have taken the 3 points. That was met by a few choice remarks, which I won't repeat.  Not happy campers! To attract larger crowds and retain them we need a balance of entertaining football and good results on the park.  We're not doing that presently but can we achieve it? I don't honestly know - time will tell. 

[BigManTam]

18 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

I sincerely hope they do, but don't think they will. If we see more performances and results like yesterday crowds will inevitably fall. I spoke to a few punters post match and commented, tongue in cheek, that both sets of fans would leave the ground happy.  Our lot for having been thoroughly entertained even if only for 45 minutes, and the other lot for have taken the 3 points. That was met by a few choice remarks, which I won't repeat.  Not happy campers! To attract larger crowds and retain them we need a balance of entertaining football and good results on the park.  We're not doing that presently but can we achieve it? I don't honestly know - time will tell. 

You may be right about future crowds, but why did near enough 2000 extra people turn up yesterday?

Because we're sitting top of the table? Because we're on a run of 3 or 5 wins?

They turned up yesterday because everyone is talking about us. Go read the match report on BBC or full highlights and analysis on Sportscene. We're getting praised. And rightly so.

Someone mentioned on here that attendances had barely shifted in the past 10-15 years. During that time, we've put together decent runs and league finishes. But still, folk weren't turning up regularly.

The extended supporter base don't need (they might want it) top 6. They need to turn up and know they'll see a show, even if we lose(i.e. yesterday). And I put myself in that boat as well.