SC Freiburg v Motherwell 27/08

[mio]

When it was 11 v 11 in both games, there really wasn’t too much in it !! Ok Freiburg had some real class in their side but We certainly held our own.

i think we did show our naivety against an experienced European team though but I’m in no means criticising. The 2 sending offs were poor and both players involved will learn from it.

when our walking wounded get back fit and if we can add another quality player to the side, I really think we could have another great season. 

 

[Happy Dosser]

4 hours ago, MJC said:

Claret shorts

Love to see it. Makes the home kit look so much better.

Like most of your comments, I disagree. The white shorts emphasise our beautiful colours by contrast.

Opinions, eh?

[Happy Dosser]

2 hours ago, Spiderpig said:

Have a day off ffs, Im glad the team dont take that " we know our level" attitude, our level is whatever we want it to be, play to win every game we take part in and see where we end up.

We wont win them all but with the right attitude we can be the best we can be.

This has probably been our best ever Euro adventure, 4 great results in Q2 and Q3 and eliminated by a far better team who struggled to break us down until we went down to 10 men in both games.

So why not try some positivity for a change instead of your usual negative doom and gloom trolling shite, you might actually enjoy it

Oh, dear God,  yes! It's the same "great wee team" attitude he deplores in Tam Cowan's haverings  until it doesn't support his narrative. 

[Yabba's Turd]

2 hours ago, MJC said:

I thought I was being quite positive about our efforts. 
 

I acknowledged that we were beaten by a far superior side and that it was good for the club that we reached this stage. I also mentioned that I was pleased for the travelling support that they got something to cheer about with the goal to make it 1-1.

Europe is not our level. It just isn’t. But the domestic game and competitions are because we stand a(n albeit outside) chance of actually going all the way and winning the entire thing. 
 

For that reason I would much rather we focused our attentions on domestic fixtures like the League cup than some ‘glamour’ Euro tie that we have no chance of winning.

Tell that to Cape Vedre. Scotland were an embarrassment in the USA, Cape Verde said fuck it, we're here, have a go.

Such defeatist pish.

[wellfan]

4 minutes ago, MelvinBragg said:

What senior players? The 25 year olds in the team..?

Senior/junior is a grade (or level) not an age bracket.

[johnstone]

I think the League Cup / Euro argument is flawed. 

AJ had to make a call on how to manage his squad, clearly the club decided that the best approach was to give Europe a real shot. 

League form was solid and on the back of a monumental effort in the home HJK game we then have the Stenny game, for me there is a number of factors in that game. 

Squad size at the time due to injuries.

The artificial pitch meaning the worry about injuries.

The upcoming Frieburg game.

For me he thought the players he played would do a job and unfortunately it never happened. That’s football sometimes.

But I do think it was the right decision to rotate the team, also you have to look at it from the players perspective, they would 100% want to be fit for that Frieburg game, it’s probably the biggest two games of their careers.

Also Europe is not something to dismiss, I am convinced with a better draw we would have got through and then it’s a whole new level for the club. The big money is in Europe and the ability to grow as a club is much higher in Europe than in the league cup. 

The job the manager and team has done this season is first class considering it’s a new spine of a team and the injury crisis we have had. Fair play to AJ, I can’t remember a more memorable start to a season ever.

[Prestwickwell]

For me the arguments not flawed on Europe / cup 

 

if we beat stenhousemuir ( which we should regardless ) it’s a great start to the season…..but we didn’t 

 

hibs great result….

 

Falkirk never seen as I was away but they were terrible against st Mirren….

 

faroes & Finnish mobs great days but for me we should win them

 

& put up a great effort against a team that’s levels above 

 

season will come down to whether we can get a couple in attacking wise for me that can contribute, don’t buy into the injury crisis ( we’ve got injuries but very few are 1st 11 ) & we’re certainly not Cape Verde 😂

[Kmcalpin]

54 minutes ago, Prestwickwell said:

For me the arguments not flawed on Europe / cup 

 

if we beat stenhousemuir ( which we should regardless ) it’s a great start to the season…..but we didn’t 

 

hibs great result….

 

Falkirk never seen as I was away but they were terrible against st Mirren….

 

faroes & Finnish mobs great days but for me we should win them

 

& put up a great effort against a team that’s levels above 

 

season will come down to whether we can get a couple in attacking wise for me that can contribute, don’t buy into the injury crisis ( we’ve got injuries but very few are 1st 11 ) & we’re certainly not Cape Verde 😂

Not sure what to make of us so far this season. We've had a spate of injuries; a few players departing and arriving; a hectic schedule; new manager and played against 3 sides we wouldn't normally meet. You could say we were expected to beat HB; HFK Helsinki were about on a par; and Freiburg were several levels above.  Its very hard to gauge those performances in domestic terms. Potentially we have a very strong squad, with some decent signings on paper (with quality we couldn't afford previously), but how will they match up domestically. We did well at Easter Road, struggled against Falkirk again, and flopped against Stenhousemuir. 

Early doors we have had a mixed record in scoring; mixed in conceding; there are questionmarks over our physicality (rivals have some pretty big units in their squads too) and defending set pieces; and been somewhat naive (domestic rivals will be every bit as cute and streetwise as Freiburg). Ball retention has been poorer than last term. A few comings and goings too over the next week or two. 

So, all in all a lot of unknowns so far and we won't get a clear picture of where we're at for another 5 weeks or so until these factors settle down.  This has easily been the strangest and most complicated start to a season that I can remember. Interesting times ahead! 

[SteelmaninOZ]

The gaffer said 

 

[Wellfan91]

Very noticeable Stama was not out on the pitch at full time last night applauding the away support….what’s the crack there? Did he spit the dummy or what? 

[MJC]

9 hours ago, Happy Dosser said:

Oh, dear God,  yes! It's the same "great wee team" attitude he deplores in Tam Cowan's haverings  until it doesn't support his narrative. 

I don’t think so. As I’ve already said we were simply beaten over two legs by a much stronger side, there’s no shame in that.

Had we got a more favourable draw we might have stood a chance of getting to the group stages but we would have been cannon fodder if we had. Hearts are a far bigger club than us with far greater resources, but they will likely be the whipping boys in the conference league group stages. 
 

It was good for the club that we got there and we certainly did give it a go this time around. It was certainly a lot better than any of our recent ‘euro tours’ which have yielded nothing but embarrassment for us.

Finally, Tam Cowan comes out with that nonsense (wee diddy club)in relation to us in the domestic game and if we had managed to make it to the group stages he would be straight on his radio platform to tell all and sundry that it would only be a matter of time before AJ is poached and “come on big clubs, sign half our team” bla bla bla. But of course he cares more about his own reputation and taking photos of his fish suppers than Motherwell FC.

[johnstone]

21 minutes ago, MJC said:

I don’t think so. As I’ve already said we were simply beaten over two legs by a much stronger side, there’s no shame in that.

Had we got a more favourable draw we might have stood a chance of getting to the group stages but we would have been cannon fodder if we had. Hearts are a far bigger club than us with far greater resources, but they will likely be the whipping boys in the conference league group stages. 
 

It was good for the club that we got there and we certainly did give it a go this time around. It was certainly a lot better than any of our recent ‘euro tours’ which have yielded nothing but embarrassment for us.

Finally, Tam Cowan comes out with that nonsense (wee diddy club)in relation to us in the domestic game and if we had managed to make it to the group stages he would be straight on his radio platform to tell all and sundry that it would only be a matter of time before AJ is poached and “come on big clubs, sign half our team” bla bla bla. But of course he cares more about his own reputation and taking photos of his fish suppers than Motherwell FC.

I don’t in any way we would have been whipping boys. 

In the last season and this current season we have very rarely if at not been competitive in games against supposed bigger teams. 

Even against Frieburg it’s was relatively close, only when we lost a man in each game did we struggle. 

We are a very good side who are well coached and I’m convinced we will get another crack at Europe next season.

[robsterwood]

2 hours ago, MJC said:

I don’t think so. As I’ve already said we were simply beaten over two legs by a much stronger side, there’s no shame in that.

Had we got a more favourable draw we might have stood a chance of getting to the group stages but we would have been cannon fodder if we had. Hearts are a far bigger club than us with far greater resources, but they will likely be the whipping boys in the conference league group stages. 
 

It was good for the club that we got there and we certainly did give it a go this time around. It was certainly a lot better than any of our recent ‘euro tours’ which have yielded nothing but embarrassment for us.

Finally, Tam Cowan comes out with that nonsense (wee diddy club)in relation to us in the domestic game and if we had managed to make it to the group stages he would be straight on his radio platform to tell all and sundry that it would only be a matter of time before AJ is poached and “come on big clubs, sign half our team” bla bla bla. But of course he cares more about his own reputation and taking photos of his fish suppers than Motherwell FC.

Tam Cowans a moron. He's pretty irrelevant. 

[Spiderpig]

14 hours ago, Orinoco said:

European football is a joke. Hearts have not won a game in 90 mins, yet like Celtic find themselves in the league setup. This getting beat and dropping into another competition needs to be stopped. Give the smaller teams a chance of getting the big money to help them improve.

Correct its nonsense, more UEFA interfering to generate cash and give the bigger teams more TV revenue etc.

Hearts played 6 games in Europe, CL, EL and scraped into the conference league with 4 defeats and 2 draws and a -12 goal difference ffs, its a joke.

[grizzlyg]

5 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Correct its nonsense, more UEFA interfering to generate cash and give the bigger teams more TV revenue etc.

Hearts played 6 games in Europe, CL, EL and scraped into the conference league with 4 defeats and 2 draws and a -12 goal difference ffs, its a joke.

Agree totally. This is what I hate.  Basically you play in one competition,  you lose....tough s**t. No 2nd or 3rd chances 

[grizzlyg]

5 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Correct its nonsense, more UEFA interfering to generate cash and give the bigger teams more TV revenue etc.

Hearts played 6 games in Europe, CL, EL and scraped into the conference league with 4 defeats and 2 draws and a -12 goal difference ffs, its a joke.

Agree totally. This is what I hate.  Basically you play in one competition,  you lose....tough s**t. No 2nd or 3rd chances 

[stv]

3 hours ago, MJC said:

 

Finally, Tam Cowan comes out with that nonsense (wee diddy club)in relation to us in the domestic game and if we had managed to make it to the group stages he would be straight on his radio platform to tell all and sundry that it would only be a matter of time before AJ is poached and “come on big clubs, sign half our team” bla bla bla. But of course he cares more about his own reputation and taking photos of his fish suppers than Motherwell FC.

I would have thought you of all people would have under stood the meaning of sarcasm.  I'm  sure Tam does.😉

[MJC]

23 minutes ago, robsterwood said:

Tam Cowans a moron. He's pretty irrelevant. 

He’s a moron with a big mouth and a big platform to air his ramblings. And when he’s on national radio telling everyone that we are this cuddly wee diddy team and practically begging clubs to sign our best players then that’s the image people get of the club. Oh aye, and he also said on radio that Sam Nicholson definitely handled the ball when the rest of the footballing world was ridiculing that call and calling it out for the absolute nonsense that it was.

[MJC]

5 minutes ago, stv said:

I would have thought you of all people would have under stood the meaning of sarcasm.  I'm  sure Tam does.😉

There probably is a degree of sarcasm with his use of “wee diddy team” but it still doesn’t look or sound good.

However there was absolutely no sarcasm from him when he went straight on the radio after we’d just beaten Celtic and played them off the park and the first thing he said was “you’ve got tae wonder how long we’ll be able to keep that manager, be lucky if he’s not gone before the end of the season” or words to that effect. Nothing about the result, nothing about the performance, just doom and gloom and pouring cold water on a great night for us.

[grizzlyg]

48 minutes ago, MJC said:

There probably is a degree of sarcasm with his use of “wee diddy team” but it still doesn’t look or sound good.

However there was absolutely no sarcasm from him when he went straight on the radio after we’d just beaten Celtic and played them off the park and the first thing he said was “you’ve got tae wonder how long we’ll be able to keep that manager, be lucky if he’s not gone before the end of the season” or words to that effect. Nothing about the result, nothing about the performance, just doom and gloom and pouring cold water on a great night for us.

When you are accusing someone of doom and gloom then it must be bad! 🤣🤣

[joewarkfanclub]

16 hours ago, MJC said:

Europe is not our level. It just isn’t. But the domestic game and competitions are because we stand a(n albeit outside) chance of actually going all the way and winning the entire thing. 
 

For that reason I would much rather we focused our attentions on domestic fixtures like the League cup than some ‘glamour’ Euro tie that we have no chance of winning.

You were the very person that used to complain about our record at Ibrox and Parkhead because we had the wrong mentality and never went into those games believing we could win.

Whats the difference here?

[El Grew]

 

There is absolutely no disgrace in losing to a club of Freiburg’s size and yes we had to play on the back foot more than we’d have liked but in both legs they were only able to subdue us after we had gone down to 10 men. That fact is worth remembering in that we had to play for just over a third of this tie with only 10 men.

I do think we were really unlucky in the draw for the play-off round in getting Freiburg - Larne for example got Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar and our two biggest clubs got very favourable draws against clubs they were expected to beat but couldn’t.

Also don’t forget that In 9 games so far this season we have only lost twice in 90 minutes and both against last season’s Europa League runners-up who brought in roughly £70 million worth of transfer fees this summer alone. Their average home gate is about 34,000 and they have access to much more TV revenue in a year than we’ll see in 10 years.

All in all a lot to be proud of so far and hopefully we can build on this and have another good season in the league and maybe qualify for Europe again. The only way to improve at that level is to get more regular exposure. That will raise the club’s standing and make us an attractive option for players we might want to bring to the club.  COYW. 🇪🇸