Motherwell v Falkirk 18/10/2025

[Spiderpig]

32 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

ITo 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. 

Spot on Dave, the main criteria for any team is winning games, you get no prizes for playing entertaining total football, and losing, if we had shitfest our way to a 1-0 win yesterday the vast majority of our fans would have went home happy.

The new style JBA introduced is a welcome change from what weve had in recent seasons, its good to watch, creating chances etc, but unless we take those chances and then know how to protect a lead effectively etc etc, its all for nothing.

At the moment we are not getting the balance right, the midfield is doing its job but defensive errors and limited firepower up front are starting to cost us, so I hope JBA can get it sorted, if he can we can then enjoy the great football and a winning team.

[couttsy]

Outstanding 1st half as most have said. 

Just watched the Said goal on TV, how they have decided that’s a foul is ridiculous, VAR has to stay out of the game unless it’s a clear and obvious error, the ref is standing about 5 yards from the challenge in real time and doesn’t give a foul. If that goal stands I have no doubt we go on and win the game.

I still have huge faith in JBA and our style of play, but Individual errors really cost us in the 2nd half. Welsh for the 1st goal, Said & Fadinger for the 2nd and then Stama missing 2 really good chances.

Deffo think we need to stick with the team and hope we can put 90 mins together like the first 45 mins.

[joewarkfanclub]

There seems to be a couple of points of view here that folk are debating, when in fact both have merit and neither are wrong.

There is no doubt that our crowds are up because of the entertaining style of football we are playing. Id probably add in the general feel good factor around the club into that as well. Our support is engaged because they feel represented and listened to.

We have had plenty managers over the years that have put winning teams on the park and the attendances didnt move. During Alexanders period of success Id suggest the crowds even went down slightly as season ticket holders couldnt motivate themselves to go every week due to how painful it was to watch at times.

So the current upturn is no coincidence. That said, there is a pretty big BUT in the equation.

The entertainment factor will probably keep folk coming along in the hope that we can strike a better balance and convert our play into points. Where it becomes a problem is if we continue to slip down the table, the players lose confidence in what they are being asked to do, and before you know it performances also drop off.

We are not there yet, and the manager isnt stupid. You can tell by his comments and reactions that he is as frustrated as we are. Hopefully he can find the right balance in the weeks ahead.

Having a fully fit squad to chose from would be a help.

[gaz7]

1 hour ago, BigManTam said:

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.

This is where I am also. We had as many chances as Falkirk 2nd half and looked as dangerous so all this Falkirk were better i honestly didnt see it. They scored 2 to our none and obviously that is most important part and highlights our defencive weaknesses. Our problems are when we lose ball teams attack at will. I think we are sometimes too desperate to attack when we just need to slow game down a bit especially when other team are on a bit of a roll like at start of 2nd half.

[wellsince75]

I thought Falkirks gaffer nailed it when he said we gave them a doing first half but with only one goal in it there’s always a way back .

It’s stating the obvious but if we play that well we need to go 2-3 goals up and then can play more possession football and nullify the opposition 2nd half .

i know we’re not a Liverpool level team but when Klopp first came in they had similar issues for first season or so . 
 

I suspect we’ll get there and pick up wins . Not saying we’ll be top 6 but I do believe we’re moving forward in the right direction . 

[joewarkfanclub]

There also seems to be quite conflicting opinions over our striking situation.

As someone who has defended Stama quite strongly on here, I was certainly disappointed that he didnt start yesterday, especially given his goals in the last couple of games.

However, he did go off at Celtic Park with a bit of a knock, so I figured it was just a bit of a precaution ahead of the semi-final not to risk him from the start.

It was also a good chance to give Hendry some minutes now that he seems to have addressed his injury/fitness concerns.

Given our style of play, we will need both going forward.

I thought Hendry did well yesterday in the first half. Lots of energy, put himself about a bit, held the ball up well. Not sure he was absolutely done by HT, but it was certaianly no surprise when he was subbed on the hour mark.

I would tend to agree that his movement in the box wasnt as good as Stama's but its early days and that might improve.

I thought Stama was again generally fine when he came on. A little bit unlucky with the handball although, as other have said, a little more awareness of the situation might have allowed him to pass it for someone else to knock in, albeit the rule in that regard still hasnt been cleared up.

Comparing the 2, I think both are pretty similar players, and I think their work rate and hold up play are potentially more important than their goals, albeit, as strikers, that part cannot be ignored.

However, Maswanhise has already scored 8 this season, Longelo has good numbers and we have others chipping in as well, so goalscoring really hasnt been the issue (self inflicted goals and poor defending have).

Clearly it would be nice to have a lone striker who was the complete package, and we might be able to get one in January, but until then, Im reasonably happy to give Stama & Hendry the time to improve.

Re the defence, in hindsight, I think not playing Gordon yesterday was a mistake when you see what Falkirk had at their disposal, and although McGinn gives you more on the ball, there needs to be some balance in not being too soft at the back.

Big decisions for JBA next week.

[joewarkfanclub]

7 minutes ago, gaz7 said:

This is where I am also. We had as many chances as Falkirk 2nd half and looked as dangerous so all this Falkirk were better i honestly didnt see it. They scored 2 to our none and obviously that is most important part and highlights our defencive weaknesses. Our problems are when we lose ball teams attack at will. I think we are sometimes too desperate to attack when we just need to slow game down a bit especially when other team are on a bit of a roll like at start of 2nd half.

I think thats exactly the point JBA was making post match. If we slow the ball down and take the sting out of the game we maybe stop them building up a head of steam, and dont leave ourselves so open to the counter attack.

Its still early in the process, but we do need to address our rin game management.

[gaz7]

48 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Spot on Dave, the main criteria for any team is winning games, you get no prizes for playing entertaining total football, and losing, if we had shitfest our way to a 1-0 win yesterday the vast majority of our fans would have went home happy.

You might be right there spider but if you remember Alexander's team that was winning there was moans at that and then his luck ran out.

And only last week scotland won 2 games and the response of fans was negative. 

I do honestly feel that unless it's perfection then a lot of the football fandom do like to moan so they can have a look at me moment.

[wellon]

29 minutes ago, couttsy said:

Outstanding 1st half as most have said. 

Just watched the Said goal on TV, how they have decided that’s a foul is ridiculous, VAR has to stay out of the game unless it’s a clear and obvious error, the ref is standing about 5 yards from the challenge in real time and doesn’t give a foul. If that goal stands I have no doubt we go on and win the game.

I still have huge faith in JBA and our style of play, but Individual errors really cost us in the 2nd half. Welsh for the 1st goal, Said & Fadinger for the 2nd and then Stama missing 2 really good chances.

Deffo think we need to stick with the team and hope we can put 90 mins together like the first 45 mins.

After his goal v celtic I'd hoped stam was going to go on a run but he keeps half hitting things or not at all, hendry looked miles off it too

[gaz7]

1 minute ago, joewarkfanclub said:

I think thats exactly the point JBA was making post match. If we slow the ball down and take the sting out of the game we maybe stop them building up a head of steam, and dont leave ourselves so open to the counter attack.

Its still early in the process, but we do need to address our rin game management.

Our midfield are all tremendous footballers but maybe not disciplined enough to just defend when needed.

I think Welsh could do in there 2nd half yesterday just to sit and Gordon brought on to deal with their height when we were on back foot but that's hindsight.

When just went off we lost a body from the middle and that left us more open also. I'm sure JBA will have noticed as his interviews seem to suggest he has.

[wellon]

12 hours 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? 

Just wish some refs had the balls to stick with their initial decision 

[wellon]

12 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

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. 

Jordan Mcghee...is he a long way off fitness.?

Probably need some solidity in .midfield,  priestman looks very lightweight,  early days I know, be interesting to see him over 90 mins...at the moment reminds me of davor but hope I'm wrong 

[Ya Bezzer!]

First half Falkirk should have scored, they missed a sitter but I felt comfortable for the 45 minutes, from a defensive view.

We were playing good stuff and I thought we were comfortable at the back outside that one chance.

Second half we were so open from more or less the kick off.  Didn't help that our passing got sloppy.

So what was the difference?

I just feel like teams work us out and if that's happening within matches, what's going to happen over a season when we are playing teams 3 or 4 times?

I don't actually see the problem as an offensive problem.  We've scored in all but one match this season and we've scored multiples in 4 out of 8 league matches.

We have a defensive problem.  Now I can't pin point exactly what it is, you'd probably have to go back and analyse all the goals we've lost but for me that's where the issue is.

[Kmcalpin]

7 minutes ago, gaz7 said:

I do honestly feel that unless it's perfection then a lot of the football fandom do like to moan so they can have a look at me moment.

Not sure about that Gaz. Yes, of course there's some; there always are. Our support like all others contains a mix of types. Some purists like pure entertainment end of. The result is almost a crude outcome. At the other extreme you have those to whom the results the end all and be all. That doesn't mean that it's about "Look at me". 

You're probably too young to recall the great Dundee side of the early 60s. The exact same discussion was had about them. 

[grizzlyg]

JBA still only been on job 4 months so it's a long term project and what he has done so far has been great but victories are what we need.

Disallowed goal is an absolute farce and how mclean agreed with VAR panel is beyond me.

1st Falkirk goal Welsh very poor as he loses man. For their 2nd goal no idea what Fadinger was doing and I know I don't rate him but if Ward outstretches arms he might have saved it but again maybe I am being a bit harsh.

League is really tight so a couple of wins moves us right up.  The football at times is great but sometimes one pass too many and final ball needs to be better.

COYW

[stv]

16 hours ago, Big Stall said:

 

Complete turnaround. No composure on the ball, no tight triangles, sitting back rather than hunting in packs. It was as if they believed their own hype at half time & went home. That will teach them!

There were two teams playing today Falkirk sussed us out in second half the gave us no room for wee triangles and closed us down quickly. We kept trying to play same way.

[Spiderpig]

33 minutes ago, stv said:

There were two teams playing today Falkirk sussed us out in second half the gave us no room for wee triangles and closed us down quickly. We kept trying to play same way.

Correct right from the start of the 2nd half they were pressing higher up the pitch and in our faces quicker that said we should be coping with that as every team we play will  do the same so we need to defend better.

As I said in an earlier post its about getting the balance right, ie knowing  when to play out from the back and when to take the long ball option and clear your lines.

[well_said]

14 hours 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

Any chance you could come and sit beside me in the back row and tell some of your jokes , that will soon move them.

[robsterwood]

We could be bottom of league by Saturday if Livi beat us and that's a real possibility as Dundee beating Celtic. 

[grizzlyg]

9 minutes ago, well_said said:

Any chance you could come and sit beside me in the back row and tell some of your jokes , that will soon move them.

I was so tempted to fire a few at them yesterday,  that would have left them speechless.  My mates would happily agree with your request to move 🤣🤣

[grizzlyg]

4 minutes ago, robsterwood said:

We could be bottom of league by Saturday if Livi beat us and that's a real possibility as Dundee beating Celtic. 

Sellik will comeback and win i am certain but also funny seeing them lose at moment after the embarrassing delay to game by 'best fans in world', aye let's throw loads of balls into pitch...wooooooahhhhh that's tough 

[robsterwood]

1 minute ago, grizzlyg said:

Sellik will comeback and win i am certain but also funny seeing them lose at moment after the embarrassing delay to game by 'best fans in world', aye let's throw loads of balls into pitch...wooooooahhhhh that's tough 

Lol yes very mature of them. Embarrassing. All I want for Saturday is a win and hope vat don't ruin it again. That goal on Saturday would have helped confidence of Said and team. 

[grizzlyg]

Currently 10th at moment but in a very glass half full attitude we are 3pts off 3rd!, league so tight

[dennyc]

Usually try to avoid posting immediately after games to give me time to clear my head. But yesterday was too much.

in no way do I condone any of the irrational abuse aimed at some players which others have highlighted earlier in the thread. Maybe having to put up with some of that stuff is the price we have to pay for playing the attractive football that has seen a sizeable increase in the number of fans attending games?

But I do think fans are justified in calling out our Manager after performances like the second half yesterday. He rightly has had plenty of praise for changing our approach and making football fun again. But he must also expect criticism after days like yesterday. It's not all down to the players. He has the power to alter things if needed.

My view leading up to half time was that Katroumbis was done, having been injured when fouled and then seconds later further aggravating the injury with a block tackle. He battled through until the break but did not look like he had recovered. He was kept on regardless and really struggled in the second half. I consider that a managerial error. I mistake which Falkirk exploited time after time down that wing. I lost count of the number of times they got in behind and should have punished us.

Team selection wise I had hoped to see Welsh return at CB, pairing up with Gordon. I am not Gordon's biggest fan but have to admit that he and Welsh have been great as a pairing. Welsh seems to have helped Gordon regain his confidence and composure. McGinn may be Club captain but for me he finds it challenging playing centrally given our new approach. Even panics at times. If he cannot make the team at right back then he should not be squeezed in out of position just because he wears the armband. I thought our central defending was poor yesterday and  I believe Askou's team selection played a part.

Up front I thought Hendry did ok, and was perhaps a bit more mobile than Ap Stam. But he was no better in the box. What was the reason for starting Hendry ahead of a striker who was excellent at Celtic Park and who at last looked to have found his goal scoring touch? Unless Ap Stam was carrying an injury being dropped will hardly have helped his confidence. Admittedly he did miss a chance when SOD put in one of the few decent balls into the box that we saw all game. On that front both Katroumbis and Langelo wasted too many opportunities.

So! Frustrated but not bailing ship yet. I love our style of play and find it refreshing and enjoyable.  I took along a couple of Falkirk fans to the game and they thought we were fantastic, more so first half of course. The drive back to Fife was a tough ask! 

Still relatively early days, but we need to start winning games we dominate and our Manager has a part to play in that. He also has to reflect on his own contribution when things do not work out. Evidence suggests it's not only the players that have things to learn. 

[mfc]

We aren't anywhere near good enough defensively,we keep getting into winning positions in games and it's the daft goals and individual mistakes that are costing us,all the nice football in the world will count for nothing if we don't sort it out,we have a semi final coming up and it will be no surprise to anyone if we play well and don't make the final.yesterday feels much worse than letting the lead slip at parkhead or the collapse at tyne castle,we need to start learning our lessons and quick as this is a really bad habit we have developed so soon into the season.