2026-27 Pre Season

[Kmcalpin]

11 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

was positive to hear Dawes is busy 

Yes and no. Player "trading" suggests not just comings but also goings. 

[Spiderpig]

59 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Its not been said, but I assume a broken jaw will sideline him for a wee while. He certainly won't be able to eat at the moment.  

Its a bit concerning though that we're playing so many young lads in games we should be using to prepare for the impending Conference League ties. Giving the development squad some gametime is no bad thing though, just not quite so much of it just now.  

Spot on Dave, im all for giving the academy plsyers game time but AJ should be concentrating on what our 1st choice starting 11 will be, the ECL game is in two weeks and the league starts three weeks today.

For me the squad looks a bit threadbare in certain areas, cenral  defence, goal keeper and striking options up top so i hope our recruitment team are working hard to fill the gaps.

[thewelllfan]

36 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Spot on Dave, im all for giving the academy plsyers game time but AJ should be concentrating on what our 1st choice starting 11 will be, the ECL game is in two weeks and the league starts three weeks today.

For me the squad looks a bit threadbare in certain areas, cenral  defence, goal keeper and striking options up top so i hope our recruitment team are working hard to fill the gaps.

Team for the game v HB will be:

Connelly

JK SOD Moormann Longelo

Watt Fadinger

Said Just RCC

Maswanhise (If fit) if not 1 of Vogt or Stama

[Kmcalpin]

17 minutes ago, thewelllfan said:

Team for the game v HB will be:

Connelly

JK SOD Moormann Longelo

Watt Fadinger

Said Just RCC

Maswanhise (If fit) if not 1 of Vogt or Stama

I think its too early to say. The Genk friendly next week should give us a better idea. Will our better players have moved on by the first HB game? Will we see more arrivals by then? Was Stama taken off injured against Aarhus? Little mention so far of Longelo or Thor in pre season games. So many unknowns at the moment.  

[Big Stall]

21 minutes ago, thewelllfan said:

Team for the game v HB will be:

Connelly

JK SOD Moormann Longelo

Watt Fadinger

Said Just RCC

Maswanhise (If fit) if not 1 of Vogt or Stama

Priestman will play.  Has SOD, Longello or jonny K featured yet?

[thewelllfan]

1 minute ago, Big Stall said:

Priestman will play.  Has SOD, Longello or jonny K featured yet?

SOD and JK both started v Aarhus, Just will come in for Preistman as he is our best player, Longelo I take your point on but if he's fit he plays. You'd hope he gives the 11 he plans on starting v HB 60 against Genk minus Just who he'll probably only let play 45 as he only came back on Thursday

[joewarkfanclub]

I would hope that unless negotiations for any of our better players are at a significantly advanced stage, then all of them should be playing v HB (unless injured).

I get that we are a selling club, and I get that we cant stand in the way of players progressing their careers, we literally sell ourselves as the vehicle for that, but deals can fall through and the club has a duty to the fans first and foremost.

[0Neils40yarder]

1 hour ago, thewelllfan said:

Team for the game v HB will be:

Connelly

JK SOD Moormann Longelo

Watt Fadinger

Said Just RCC

Maswanhise (If fit) if not 1 of Vogt or Stama

SOD is out for weeks

[Spiderpig]

1 hour ago, thewelllfan said:

Team for the game v HB will be:

Connelly

JK SOD Moormann Longelo

Watt Fadinger

Said Just RCC

Maswanhise (If fit) if not 1 of Vogt or Stama

Hopefully by then we will have conned some team to take Stamatelopolous from us, hes worse than a man short.

Id have Thor and the new boy Vogt up top alongside TJ if hes fit to play.

[thewelllfan]

13 minutes ago, 0Neils40yarder said:

SOD is out for weeks

When did that news get broken? In that case I guess McGhee CB unless we bring someone in that is fit to play

[sinjy]

The injuries pre season are concerning. I have often heard players who missed large chunks of preseason saying it took them months to catch up once they were fit again.

[0Neils40yarder]

42 minutes ago, thewelllfan said:

When did that news get broken? In that case I guess McGhee CB unless we bring someone in that is fit to play

McGhee also came off injured yesterday 

[Kmcalpin]

So, from our limited squad, it seems that McGinn, Hendry, TJ, SOD, McGhee and possibly Stam have picked up knocks of varying severity. Thats the ones we know about. 

[wellfan]

McGhee, Hendry, Stama, and unfortunately McGinn should all be written off now, and replacements need to be identified quickly. We can’t be going into the HB game with the squad looking anything like it likely will in less than two weeks’ time.

[weeyin]

Just now, wellfan said:

McGhee, Hendry, Stama, and unfortunately McGinn should all be written off now, and replacements need to be identified quickly. We can’t be going into the HB game with the squad looking anything like it likely will in less than two weeks’ time.

I'd also suggest the team that starts the HB game will be pretty different from the team that starts against Hibs.

[thewelllfan]

52 minutes ago, 0Neils40yarder said:

McGhee also came off injured yesterday 

Who did we have playing CB then? I know we've got a guy called Aaron Thompson who captains Scotland u17's as he's been on the social media posts during last season so I'd imagine he'd be next in line but don't know too much about the rest of the youth players who play in defence

[Motherwell Daft]

For me it all sounds a bit chaotic at the moment, I’m essentially a glass half full positive guy when it comes to the Mighty Well, I would expect, or like, 2 or 3 signings across the line this week to allow the new boys some minutes against Genk and then training until the Euro game, sounds as though Daws n his crew know what is needed but I’d include a goalkeeper too as Connolly is not a first team player for me, I’d rather start Ox than Connolly any day, prob hear that Watt is away this week n likely Just won’t be risked..protect your £6m pay day at all costs I think.Mas could play n wear one of the Zoro like masks but again will Alfred risk a £4m payday?

Sincerely hoping the management and recruitment get to grips quickly otherwise being dumped out of Europe at second round stage will be  embarrassing.

[MJC]

Getting dumped out of Europe will likely be the least of our worries if we don’t get our recruitment absolutely spot on over the next few weeks. I’ve already written off the Euro tie because as much as I’d love to see us progress or at the very least not whimper out like we always do, our priority is the league and the domestic cups. But here we are three weeks away from our league opener and we barely have a first team to field with more departures likely. We are going to recruit in every single position which is a very tall order especially with a new manager just in the door.

[texanwellfan]

11 days and counting 🫪

WWJD? 😂

[texanwellfan]

I’m hoping that AJ can attract some gems to Fir Park like JBA did. 

[thewelllfan]

1 hour ago, Motherwell Daft said:

For me it all sounds a bit chaotic at the moment, I’m essentially a glass half full positive guy when it comes to the Mighty Well, I would expect, or like, 2 or 3 signings across the line this week to allow the new boys some minutes against Genk and then training until the Euro game, sounds as though Daws n his crew know what is needed but I’d include a goalkeeper too as Connolly is not a first team player for me, I’d rather start Ox than Connolly any day, prob hear that Watt is away this week n likely Just won’t be risked..protect your £6m pay day at all costs I think.Mas could play n wear one of the Zoro like masks but again will Alfred risk a £4m payday?

Sincerely hoping the management and recruitment get to grips quickly otherwise being dumped out of Europe at second round stage will be  embarrassing.

I agree with Ox being better than Connelly but given he's started the pre-season games I think he'll start where I disagree though is Just, Watt, Maswanhise will all play the Euro ties if fit and bids for them haven't been accepted. None of them have played European football before and all of them have spoke of their desire to play in Europe at various points last season. Each round we go through is worth about £250k to the club it's not like with Miller last season where he wasn't risked against lower league opposition. To me we need about 8/9 in the door before the end of the window we're light in basically every area other than RB but we also don't want to end up with a bloated squad like the Kettlewell and Alexander eras.

[Stuwell2]

Just googled Motherwell transfer news and AI gave me this insightful piece o pish  

Motherwell have been highly active in the summer 2026 transfer window under manager Alfred Johansson, bringing in Austrian defender Martin Moormann, forward Willy Vogt, winger Dylan Wells, and midfielder Sam Nicholson

[weeyin]

44 minutes ago, Stuwell2 said:

Just googled Motherwell transfer news and AI gave me this insightful piece o pish  

Motherwell have been highly active in the summer 2026 transfer window under manager Alfred Johansson, bringing in Austrian defender Martin Moormann, forward Willy Vogt, winger Dylan Wells, and midfielder Sam Nicholson

I always tell people if they want to test how good AI actually is, ask a question on a subject where you have decent knowledge. 

[Kmcalpin]

17 hours ago, Motherwell Daft said:

For me it all sounds a bit chaotic at the moment, I’m essentially a glass half full positive guy when it comes to the Mighty Well, I would expect, or like, 2 or 3 signings across the line this week to allow the new boys some minutes against Genk and then training until the Euro game, sounds as though Daws n his crew know what is needed but I’d include a goalkeeper too as Connolly is not a first team player for me, I’d rather start Ox than Connolly any day...Sincerely hoping the management and recruitment get to grips quickly otherwise being dumped out of Europe at second round stage will be  embarrassing.

Yes our pre season does seem a bit chaotic doesn't it, despite being told previously everything was in hand, or words to that effect. Certainly no-one could predict our most recent and disruptive injuries. I just wonder what has happened to our recruitment. As I've written before you'd think that we'd have have identified our targets at least 6 months ago and been working on them. They may have been reshaped a little by long term injuries to McGinn and Hendry, but again they would have been known quite some time ago.  The usual caveat, of course, applies. New signings do take time and not all targets come to fruition. No doubt we have had to work our way down lists as some opt for better offers elsewhere.  The only conclusion I can come to though, is that AJ has either changed that list and has asked ND to rework it or has put a hold on it until he's fully assessed the current squad, such as he has been able to do given the recent spate of injuries. 

Our pre season friendlies don't seem to have gone well in terms of injuries, getting a settled team, results and possibly morale. Game time in some legs, many young, though. 

I agree about Matty Connelly. A decent guy by all accounts and home grown but I don't see him as being anything other than emergency cover or back up. 

I'm a bit more relaxed about Europe than some but we can't take the HB games for granted and they won't be a walkover. I'd be looking for a 3-0 lead from Fir Park as the away tie could be tricky. As Handsome Devil wrote on P & B the ties could be season defining like Sligo if things go belly up. As it turns out, the Faroese football league is on a 4 week break just now so that might just work in our favour.  However if we can't progress against the Harbour Football Club then serious questions will have to be asked about our preparation. 

[wellfan]

I wasn’t thinking like this a week or two ago, but the negativity has started to creep in because of the lack of signings, the pre-season starting XIs, and reports of yet more injuries adding to our ever-increasing list of crocks and duds.

If we go out of the UCL to HB without so much as a whimper, I’d say it’s game over for AJ before the league season has even started. It might not be entirely his fault, but the buck will stop with him. A defeat like that would be terminal, just as it was for Alexander after Sligo.

That said, a busy week in the transfer market, both in and out, could quickly change the mood. The concern is that, even if it does, it’ll still leave little time for AJ to get his preferred XI ready for next Thursday.