The Alfred Johansson Thread

[Happy Dosser]

1 hour ago, David said:

Which is why they're likely enjoying watching the Motherwell fanbase lose their shit over our current plight less than ten games into the season. It provides an opportunity for them to point and say "Ah, you were lucky last year! JBA is obviously a great manager, and you lot just lucked out in getting him. We were correct though, and the answer is to end this silly 'experiment' with the foreigner who has never played the game and get back to reality!"

And this is why I would love AJ to succeed. He has a lot on his plate at the moment and Saturday is an important game to try to  reverse our setbacks. Let's hope he can reflect on what hasn't worked and make the necessary changes.

Fortunately Rugby Park has reverted to grass so we have no excuses in that regard.

[SteelmaninOZ]

11 minutes ago, Happy Dosser said:

And this is why I would love AJ to succeed. He has a lot on his plate at the moment and Saturday is an important game to try to  reverse our setbacks. Let's hope he can reflect on what hasn't worked and make the necessary changes.

Fortunately Rugby Park has reverted to grass so we have no excuses in that regard.

Cheers pal  🥃
I drank the claret 😎

[joewarkfanclub]

2 hours ago, David said:

Which is why they're likely enjoying watching the Motherwell fanbase lose their shit over our current plight less than ten games into the season. It provides an opportunity for them to point and say "Ah, you were lucky last year! JBA is obviously a great manager, and you lot just lucked out in getting him. We were correct though, and the answer is to end this silly 'experiment' with the foreigner who has never played the game and get back to reality!"

The Motherwell fanbase hasnt lost its shit though?

There are some dissenting voices, sure. But it was always thus.

What there has been is vigorous and open debate about our current shortcomings and what can be improved upon to get better results.

Any organisation that has a desire to improve needs that. Just nodding and pretending everything is fine never helped anyone.

[Happy Dosser]

54 minutes ago, SteelmaninOZ said:

Cheers pal  🥃
I drank the claret 😎

Yes, I noticed that..........

Thanks for the liquid amber.

Let's keep ingesting them together  to avoid  a glitch in the space-time continuum.

"Claret , amber, colours true:  far ahead of green and blue", after all.

Ahoo! Werewolves of London!

 

[grizzlyg]

Watched SOD's interview and thought it was very good and interesting how he finds AJ more approachable than Jens.

Peter Martin again like a dug with a bone with the questions but I thought SOD handled it perfectly 

[wellsince75]

1 hour ago, grizzlyg said:

Watched SOD's interview and thought it was very good and interesting how he finds AJ more approachable than Jens.

Peter Martin again like a dug with a bone with the questions but I thought SOD handled it perfectly 

wonder what SOD would have thought about McLean back in the day. 

JBA did have that side of 'don't pi%% me about'. 
 

[MJC]

Maybe I’m reading too much into it but for me SOD’s comments about finding Alfred more approachable than JBA are a bit concerning and supports the worry about him not having that leadership and presence. A soft touch perhaps. Last week you had Longelo walking away while he was trying to talk to him and others, that 100% would not have happened with Askou.

[grizzlyg]

4 hours ago, MJC said:

Maybe I’m reading too much into it but for me SOD’s comments about finding Alfred more approachable than JBA are a bit concerning and supports the worry about him not having that leadership and presence. A soft touch perhaps. Last week you had Longelo walking away while he was trying to talk to him and others, that 100% would not have happened with Askou.

Ye i think you are overanalysing. I took SOD'S comments as positive towards AJ

[MJC]

Just now, grizzlyg said:

Ye i think you are overanalysing. I took SOD'S comments as positive towards AJ

But saying he and others felt on edge around JBA? Surely footballers should feel a bit a bit edgy around their manager? He is there to command respect and lead them and if they’re not doing what he is asking him to then the players know he will come down on them. Klopp at Liverpool acted like a father figure to his players, always hugging them and embracing them at the end of games but he demanded maximum input from them at all times and they didn’t cross him.

Alfred needs to show that he can lead and manage the team and so far he’s fallen short on that front.

[grizzlyg]

4 minutes ago, MJC said:

But saying he and others felt on edge around JBA? Surely footballers should feel a bit a bit edgy around their manager? He is there to command respect and lead them and if they’re not doing what he is asking him to then the players know he will come down on them. Klopp at Liverpool acted like a father figure to his players, always hugging them and embracing them at the end of games but he demanded maximum input from them at all times and they didn’t cross him.

Alfred needs to show that he can lead and manage the team and so far he’s fallen short on that front.

To be honest pal we have no idea what its like behind the scenes. I have no reason to suspect things are bad.  

Hopefully a win today and we will all be smiling 

[Great Balls of Shire]

On 10/15/2026 at 5:36 PM, Lobey_Dosser said:

Meagre? I would say accurate. The Hibs win was excellent and the winning goal was memorable. We did however ride our luck. Against Helsinki, we were very good for 60 mins but we did require the individual magic of Said to make the breakthrough and clinch the win. 

Overall, I would say our performances have ranged from outstanding for the first 25 minutes in Paisley and very impressive against United, to alarm bells ringing against Aberdeen and dreadful versus Celtic and Stenhousemuir. 

Fair dues but initially you did say " lucky" and the Helsinki one was down to one player...lets see how it goes today, will settle for Lucky or a one man show 

[wellsince75]

Manager not helping himself here at all - the basics are not there .

[Yoshi-1991]

There's no turning this around. Times up. 

[Orinoco]

Players are obviously not scared off him. He needs to get angry and nasty to save his job. 

Our players should never throw a game like they have this afternoon.

He needs to bin quite a few players.

[El Grew]

I think the board needs to wake up and start looking for a replacement manager as this chappie is clearly in over his head.

[grizzlyg]

Next game v hearts we need a reaction and personnel changes. Hopefully sneak something.   For me the 2 games after that away to St J and home to buddies are massive. 

 

[wunderwell]

He shouldn’t be given any longer. 
Said it last week.

Sure there will be a six paragraph post explaining why I’m wrong again this week

[grizzlyg]

2 minutes ago, wunderwell said:

He shouldn’t be given any longer. 
Said it last week.

Sure there will be a six paragraph post explaining why I’m wrong again this week

Only one paragraph from me. That's your opinion and fully entitled to it. I aint happy and yes concerned but I think too soon to press panic button. Even Kettlewell had a 17 game unbeaten run and board stood by him. If players aren't playing for AJ then they need look at themselves also.  Next week line-up will be a big point as we will see if problems being addressed 

[wunderwell]

3 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Only one paragraph from me. That's your opinion and fully entitled to it. I aint happy and yes concerned but I think too soon to press panic button. Even Kettlewell had a 17 game unbeaten run and board stood by him. If players aren't playing for AJ then they need look at themselves also.  Next week line-up will be a big point as we will see if problems being addressed 

You know me grizzly would never fight with you and it’s all opinion driven.

I think we might be repeating ourselves with the next week is all important though.

What we all wanted to see, was that today was the day.

Got to look at hearts midweek 

Pace, dynamism and bite. I fear for us. 

[Spiderpig]

2 minutes ago, wunderwell said:

He shouldn’t be given any longer. 
Said it last week.

Sure there will be a six paragraph post explaining why I’m wrong again this week

I'll be short and sweet, i can see why you think AJ should go now, but for me 8 games in is far too early, and given how tight the league is, 2 wins could see us 4th. That said, unless we get a positive reaction from the team over the next 3 games ie at least 7 points then the board should be looking at AJ's position.

The silky football we had last season under JBA and an exceptional team was great to watch, and we hoped it would continue this year, but if not, staying in the Premiership is the priority and that might involve a change of mansger and style.

I

[grizzlyg]

2 minutes ago, wunderwell said:

You know me grizzly would never fight with you and it’s all opinion driven.

I think we might be repeating ourselves with the next week is all important though.

What we all wanted to see, was that today was the day.

Got to look at hearts midweek 

Pace, dynamism and bite. I fear for us. 

Jambos away in Turkey on Thursday so hopefully tired but I admit that is desperation.   He needs to bring in a new defence.  If it doesn't work then folk cant say problems weren't addressed.

But yup..it is worrying 

.

[Great Balls of Shire]

14 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Only one paragraph from me. That's your opinion and fully entitled to it. I aint happy and yes concerned but I think too soon to press panic button. Even Kettlewell had a 17 game unbeaten run and board stood by him. If players aren't playing for AJ then they need look at themselves also.  Next week line-up will be a big point as we will see if problems being addressed 

Playing for mgr or not, we cannot go on with that defence...moorman looked good at start but he is being brought down to level of others.

Alf needs to start dropping people or hes out a job.

Paulsen is costing him too many points too...its like how many mistakes can you make to lose a goal.

[Orinoco]

Something has happened behind the scenes. How else can you explain the sudden lack of effort. 

Sure confidence has been dented but the players are not running on or off the ball. The live wire Said has stopped smiling and everything seems flat.

In flashes we have seen what they are capable off but overall theres a sniff of disinterest. 

Is the dressing room split?

Jens obviously scared the shit out of players and they dared not do what was asked. By all accounts Alfred is different. So who is kicking backsides and demanding maximum effort. Is that whats missing and players like JT and Longelo are going threw the motions, stinking the place out and causing issues.

We know we lack leadership on the park, but off it there is no excuses for someone not standing up to any nonsence.

The board need to be having a look at what is going on.

We all want Alfred to succeed but its getting harder for him by each passing game.

 

 

 

[wellsince75]

Just had a look at how have we performance since July - to try and get a view of bigger picture. 


Played 18 games 
Won 5.  Last win was Utd in September. 
Lost 10  
drawn 3

Conceded 33
Scored 24  (15 of them were in July/Aug) 

The goals conceded are such a clear and obvious issue that really hasn't been addressed . It's not just the defence, it's how we do (or don't) defend as a team.

So perhaps worth parking it's just the last 5 games  - it's a poor report card by any previous managers standard. 

 

[MJC]

On paper it definitely is too early to be questioning the manager but in reality he has shown absolutely nothing to suggest that he’s the man for the job. 
 

We are getting worse by the week…he keeps picking players like Sparrow and SOD who keep costing us goals…he delays making subs when we badly need them and it costs us. And without wanting to sound too personal he just looks and sounds like a wee boy who is completely out of his depth.

I said it last week, but it just looks like we pinned our hopes on AJ being JBA mk2 but unfortunately he is proving to be Stevie Hammell mk2.