Motherwell v Falkirk 04/04/2026

[wunderwell]

5 hours ago, ppower said:

All I will say is our record away from home against other Top 6 clubs is abysmal. He Managers tactics/selection also saw us wimp out of 2 cup competitions. The only things we can realistically win. Let's not get carried away with JBA. He has achieved nothing apart from pleasant on the eye  tippy tappy football which teams are getting wise to. There is no steel in the team. There is never plan B. He plays the same guys over and over again. Guys like Nicholson, McGee get about 10 to 15 minutes of play when the game is running away from us. Use of substitutes is not good. The only time yesterday we broke their lines was the consolation goal. Apart from that it was the usual slow pass to death build up combined with Kamikaze dithering at the back. There is nothing wrong with getting the ball forward quick but this seems anathema to JBA. So we get a Top 6 finish. The team we played yesterday also have a Top 6 finish and a winnable cup semi after getting promotion from the Championship. I would say John McGlynn has been a more effective manager than JBA. Motherwell fans need to get realistic about what has been achieved instead of drooling over passing drills.

European football is an achievement.,

We are in line to get it. Falkirk are not.

[texanwellfan]

25 minutes ago, wunderwell said:

European football is an achievement.,

We are in line to get it. Falkirk are not.

Unless they win the cup

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 hour ago, MJC said:

In fairness I would put Tommy Coyne in the legend category. He never won silverware with us but he was the spearhead of a fantastic Motherwell side and scored many a crucial goal. He was also a terrific footballer into the bargain. Likewise guys like Keith Lasley, Stephen Craigan and Stevie Hammell, all club legends in my book for the many years of great service they gave us.

I was referring to managers. 

[johnstone]

1 hour ago, MJC said:

I haven’t at any point said that we haven’t been very good this season overall. We have clearly surpassed all pre-season expectations and then some and indeed the football we have shown we are capable of playing has been the best in as long as I can remember, possibly since McGhee’s first season back in 07/08.

But nothing is black and white. There was nothing that I said earlier that wasn’t factual. We failed to win a league match until late September, throwing away a bucketload of points early season. We have a very poor record against the top six sides especially away from home. In both Cup competitions we exited in absolutely dismal fashion and the Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen saw the manager rotate the team for no good reason. And since mid-late February we have fallen away performance and result wise and from being talked about as potential title contenders we now look like we could throw away fourth place. Now, let me be clear, even if that does happen it will still have been a very good season for us but I think while there will be a great deal of fondness for this season, Jens and the way we have played when we are at our best, there will also be a degree of “what might have been” or even possibly “what should have been”.

JBA has been very good for us in his short time and I hope we can hang onto him. But he is not a club ‘legend’ yet as was suggested and he is certainly not the next Pep Guardiola as you would think with the way some both inside and outside our support have been gushing over him. He could very well go on to be a legend of Motherwell FC but he is nowhere near that yet.

Artichoke. Cholmondely. Pedigree CHUM.

You’ve done it again! In your previous message you claimed our manager is bang average and in this one you are doing the exact same thing in pulling out stats to suit a narrative. 
 

We are clearly not going to win every game so beyond that you look at the performances and most have been very good even when we have drawn or lost. 

Stop trying to make this something it’s not. We have had an excellent season, have a great team and a very good manager. 
 

[bobbybingo]

17 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

I was referring to managers. 

Before my time, but Bobby Ancell would probably qualify as a legend to most older fans. 

[bobbybingo]

57 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

Unless they win the cup

True. Personally, I hope they don't. Their fans seem to have a real problem with Motherwell, whether they're greetin about getting relegated at Fir Park, being refused promotion while we stayed up, or (as I read today) their keeper getting sent off in 1992 for mouthing off about a Falkirk free-kick that turned into a shy (immediately followed by a goal) for us. I suppose they had plenty of time to seethe in the lower divisions.

[Kmcalpin]

18 minutes ago, bobbybingo said:

True. Personally, I hope they don't. Their fans seem to have a real problem with Motherwell, whether they're greetin about getting relegated at Fir Park, being refused promotion while we stayed up, or (as I read today) their keeper getting sent off in 1992 for mouthing off about a Falkirk free-kick that turned into a shy (immediately followed by a goal) for us. I suppose they had plenty of time to seethe in the lower divisions.

I'll be rooting for the Pars to knock them out for these reasons. 

[MJC]

1 hour ago, johnstone said:

You’ve done it again! In your previous message you claimed our manager is bang average and in this one you are doing the exact same thing in pulling out stats to suit a narrative. 
 

We are clearly not going to win every game so beyond that you look at the performances and most have been very good even when we have drawn or lost. 

Stop trying to make this something it’s not. We have had an excellent season, have a great team and a very good manager. 
 

I think it’s you who is trying to make something of nothing.

I will say it again, this has been a very good season and JBA has been very good for us, surpassing all expectations. Obviously he is not perfect but we are never going to have the perfect manager.

A poster earlier in the thread described him as a legend, which I completely disagree with because he hasn’t been here anywhere near long enough and we don’t yet know how this season is going to pan out. We might still get Europe, we might not but whatever happens it will still have been a good season. It’s just that it could have been even better.

[wellon]

13 minutes ago, MJC said:

I think it’s you who is trying to make something of nothing.

I will say it again, this has been a very good season and JBA has been very good for us, surpassing all expectations. Obviously he is not perfect but we are never going to have the perfect manager.

A poster earlier in the thread described him as a legend, which I completely disagree with because he hasn’t been here anywhere near long enough and we don’t yet know how this season is going to pan out. We might still get Europe, we might not but whatever happens it will still have been a good season. It’s just that it could have been even better.

Have you got any other hobbies?

[MJC]

12 minutes ago, wellon said:

Have you got any other hobbies?

Sometimes I like to ride bareback through the fields with the wind in my hair. Only when the mood takes me though.

[grizzlyg]

54 minutes ago, MJC said:

I think it’s you who is trying to make something of nothing.

I will say it again, this has been a very good season and JBA has been very good for us, surpassing all expectations. Obviously he is not perfect but we are never going to have the perfect manager.

A poster earlier in the thread described him as a legend, which I completely disagree with because he hasn’t been here anywhere near long enough and we don’t yet know how this season is going to pan out. We might still get Europe, we might not but whatever happens it will still have been a good season. It’s just that it could have been even better.

Poster something I have not been called before.  I just wish I had said JBA was rank rotten, would have got less coverage.   This forum defies belief.   Been brilliant to watch all season but minute we go on a bad run its back to reality 

[wunderwell]

1 hour ago, grizzlyg said:

Poster something I have not been called before.  I just wish I had said JBA was rank rotten, would have got less coverage.   This forum defies belief.   Been brilliant to watch all season but minute we go on a bad run its back to reality 

All forums are like this. I read a lot of them. 
Celtic won the league by beating Motherwell
Celtic lost the league against Dundee United. 
Iheanacho couldn't score in a barrel of.....worst signing of all time
Goal: Iheanacho
 

[joewarkfanclub]

Nuance & perspective are wonderful things!

Clearly JBA isnt a Motherwell legend (yet), but he deserves a little more credit than he is being afforded in some quarters.

The number of draws we got in the first quarter of the season were a little disappointing given how well we played at times, but they were achieved by a manager and team trying to bed in new players and a totally new system. Mistakes were made and a few wins slipped out of our grasp. Disapppointing but understable.

However, we did slowly improve and after the League Cup semi final exit (reaching Hampden seems to have been turned into a negative) we seemed to have unlocked the secret to a water tight defence and results improved.

Our record against the top 6 is held up as a weakness this season. Yet we are undefeated against Hearts, have drawn twice against Rangers at home, lost narrowly at Ibrox after a hotly disputed penalty claim. Beaten Celtic resoundingly at Fir Park, lost twice narrowly at Parkhead in keenly contested matches, unbeaten against Hibs home & away. Only Falkirk have got the better of us. So our poor record is actually a myth if you turn it around and ask what the top 6 teams record against Motherwell is.

The Aberdeen Cup game was a sore one and Jens has to hold his hands up a little for the starting selection, but the the state of the pitch, weather and 2 red cards are at least mitigating factors.

We have broken all sorts of records this season with least goals conceded at home, clean sheets records, longest home run without a defeat, attendances etc etc.

Of course the wheels have come off a little bit and you could argue that the pressure of being involved in a potential title race got to us, but you have to factor in the recent injuries, suspensions and some really chronic refereeing decisions.

Has Jens been perfect? No.

Have the team been perfect? No.

But whilst our deficiencies have been shown up in recent weeks, its still the best season I can remember for quality of football and entertainment, and we are still sitting with a GD of +25 in April.

Picking holes in an otherwise fantastic season is easy to do and if you ignore the circumstances, you can make a compelling case, but just as circumstances can fall for you, they can also conspire against you, despite you having control over neither.

 

[Spiderpig]

MJC is a troll, posting negative shite about Motherwell or rousing defences of his or her big team to extract a reaction, its a public forum so everyone is entitled to their opinions, but in my experience its best to ignore these posts as there is nothing to be gained in starting a debate, dont feed the trolls..