Motherwell v St Mirren 31/10/2026

[fizoxy]

1 hour ago, numpty said:

Whatever AJ thought about yesterday, he's apparently keeping it to himself.

They posted it to Instagram as well https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfKvDa2jRxW/?psln=MTlvMDU1djM2bHQ3aQ==

[well_said]

1 hour ago, grizzlyg said:

My mates wish I was like that with my jokes 🤣🤣

I thought I heard people laughing at your jokes in the hunter stand yesterday then I realised it was big thors diving header they were laughing at. 

[grizzlyg]

24 minutes ago, well_said said:

I thought I heard people laughing at your jokes in the hunter stand yesterday then I realised it was big thors diving header they were laughing at. 

Yup.....definitely wasn't folk laughing at my jokes 🤣🤣, other funny moment was when ball landed near us in hunter stand. Person threw it back but not far enough and I think hit someone on back.of head 🤣

[stv]

10 hours ago, wellfan said:

A much better overall performance and a deserved win. However, let’s not pretend that was anything other than two shite teams, and we only won by a penalty. St Mirren were awful and offered absolutely nothing except cheating and thuggery. And the referee was even worse.

Another concern is that MM and JGR don’t appear to communicate with each other at all. It’s a recurring feature across this team. The only time they actually spoke was when they appeared to be arguing as they walked down the tunnel at HT. What is the manager coaching them?!

Said it earlier on, there seems to be no communication on the pitch between any of them not just those two. Its like the are in wee bubbles of thier own. That has to change for the team to gel, you would think they know each other well enough by now to at least talk to each other on the park. Noticeable especially when we are defending corners. 

[Kmcalpin]

20 hours ago, wellfan said:

Another concern is that MM and JGR don’t appear to communicate with each other at all. It’s a recurring feature across this team. The only time they actually spoke was when they appeared to be arguing as they walked down the tunnel at HT. What is the manager coaching them?!

I'm wondering if MM and JGR is the right central defensive combination. Would either one benefit from playing alongside an experienced colleague like McGinn (possibly) or someone more physical in the Stephen Welsh or JKL mould. Whilst neither were overly troubled on Saturday in a pure footballing sense, both struggled badly against bigger more physical opponents in personal battles. 

[FirParkCornerExile]

2 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

I'm wondering if MM and JGR is the right central defensive combination. Would either one benefit from playing alongside an experienced colleague like McGinn (possibly) or someone more physical in the Stephen Welsh or JKL mould. Whilst neither were overly troubled on Saturday in a pure footballing sense, both struggled badly against bigger more physical opponents in personal battles. 

Whilst neither had a bad game on Saturday, on the basis of what Ive seen this season I'm not convinced they come close to last seasons defensive partnership. To me even a 35 year old Paul McGinn is better than both of them. However McGinn is not long term. If neither show much improvement between now and the January window I'd be looking to bring in others to beef up that area and perhaps find a central defender who can play it out from the back with a bit more pace. To be fair they tried to up the pace a bit on Saturday but JGR was still painfully slow moving the ball forward as the game went on, again trying to be fair players in front of him need to get into positions that make the quick play viable. He also isnt helped by the fact he has zero pace over the ground so if he fucks up a pass he will never catch a forward running away from him.  Maybe for that reason he lacks the confidence to play the quick pass but its not all down to him thats the managers job to address not mine.

[joewarkfanclub]

2 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

I'm wondering if MM and JGR is the right central defensive combination. Would either one benefit from playing alongside an experienced colleague like McGinn (possibly) or someone more physical in the Stephen Welsh or JKL mould. Whilst neither were overly troubled on Saturday in a pure footballing sense, both struggled badly against bigger more physical opponents in personal battles. 

For me Jake is the only CB we have that really seems to like a tackle and he is probably the best in the air. I thought Moorman was gonna be in that mould, but he really seems to have dropped off from the start of the season. Not sure if thats just a confidence thing or not.

JKL looks the most comfortable with the ball at his feet and coming out from the back. Not really seen any evidence of physicality, albeit from a smaller sample size.

McGinn certainly adds experience, as would McGhee, but Im not sure either of them are that physical either.

I think your previous observations about the defence getting protection from the midfield are probably on point. We didnt seem to need to be that physical last season and that was with a backline of supposed right backs at times.

I think if we get the balance of the team better in midfield and get back to controlling games a little better the physical aspect of the game will be less of a issue.

[SteelmaninOZ]

Finally the gaffer said 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wellsince75]

4 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said:

For me Jake is the only CB we have that really seems to like a tackle and he is probably the best in the air. I thought Moorman was gonna be in that mould, but he really seems to have dropped off from the start of the season. Not sure if thats just a confidence thing or not.

JKL looks the most comfortable with the ball at his feet and coming out from the back. Not really seen any evidence of physicality, albeit from a smaller sample size.

McGinn certainly adds experience, as would McGhee, but Im not sure either of them are that physical either.

I think your previous observations about the defence getting protection from the midfield are probably on point. We didnt seem to need to be that physical last season and that was with a backline of supposed right backs at times.

I think if we get the balance of the team better in midfield and get back to controlling games a little better the physical aspect of the game will be less of an issue.

It’s odd that JKL hasn’t had more games - he started well and like you mention has all the attributes .

i thought he and Moorman were both decent together . 

Goven our defensive challenges o had thought a back 3 might help but there’s been no sign of that 

id certainly be keen to see JKL on the starting  11 

[grizzlyg]

2 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

It’s odd that JKL hasn’t had more games - he started well and like you mention has all the attributes .

i thought he and Moorman were both decent together . 

Goven our defensive challenges o had thought a back 3 might help but there’s been no sign of that 

id certainly be keen to see JKL on the starting  11 

Yep that confuses me also. Even JKL and big Jake could be combination until mcginn fully up to speed.  But will defo be jake and MM on Saturday as they have earned the reich....ehhhh I mean right 🤪

[well_said]

4 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Yep that confuses me also. Even JKL and big Jake could be combination until mcginn fully up to speed.  But will defo be jake and MM on Saturday as they have earned the reich....ehhhh I mean right 🤪

Anymore crap jokes and the Gestapo will be paying you a visit.😂

[joewarkfanclub]

2 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

It’s odd that JKL hasn’t had more games - he started well and like you mention has all the attributes .

i thought he and Moorman were both decent together . 

Goven our defensive challenges o had thought a back 3 might help but there’s been no sign of that 

id certainly be keen to see JKL on the starting  11 

I kinda get that Jake is our player and JKL is a loan player, so we probably want to give priority to developing Jake as there is money in it for us.

However, you still need to win football matches and when you go 6 defeats on the bounce conceding goals for fun, you think he might have been given a chance.

Now we have a win and a clean sheet, I suspect it might become even more difficult for him to get game time.

Of course, there is always the possibility tge manager see's something different in training that has caused him to stick with Jake / Moorman.

[texanwellfan]

Just watched the highlights again and still can’t believe the St Mirren defender done that for the PK. WTF was he thinking!!! No real danger and he deliberately does that. Their manager must be raging. 

[grizzlyg]

21 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

Just watched the highlights again and still can’t believe the St Mirren defender done that for the PK. WTF was he thinking!!! No real danger and he deliberately does that. Their manager must be raging. 

I know......brilliant innit? 🤣🤣

[Lobey_Dosser]

JKL was the one that looked most promising to me early on. However, he was like a rabbit in the headlights when we capitulated in Paisley and has barely featured since. 

Saturday was the best I’ve seen of JGR so far, although it’s hard to judge given how little St Mirren offered. If he copes with the Dundee Utd forward line this weekend then that will be a big sign of progress. Assuming JGR is the centre half that the club are pinning their hopes on, he could really do with an experienced head alongside him that reads the game well. Moorman might come onto a game but he’s evidently struggling to come to terms with the demands of the league. 

[MelvinBragg]

There's a case to be made for prioritising Girdwood-Reich over Knight-Lebel as he's our player that we've paid money for and are looking to develop as long as Knight-Lebel isn't a marked upgrade..

What I think would help (and I know it's a squad game) is to stick with thw same back four for a few games (I know injuries haven't helped on occasion). The manager has made several references to building connections and relationships in the team, that comes with consistency of team selection. There is no point of playing O'Donnell for a couple of games then Girdwood-Reich for a couple and now maybe bringing in Knight-Lebel. And I say that as someone who was impressed by Knight-Lebel. 

Defensively, I think we're all hoping and thinking that the return of Priestman in front of the back four will help hugely...

[well_said]

1 hour ago, texanwellfan said:

Just watched the highlights again and still can’t believe the St Mirren defender done that for the PK. WTF was he thinking!!! No real danger and he deliberately does that. Their manager must be raging. 

I couldn't believe the linesman didn't see it , or chose not to see it. Absolutely horrendous officiating from from both the ref and linesman. But par for the course from our incompetent shower of officials. 

[santheman]

2 hours ago, texanwellfan said:

Just watched the highlights again and still can’t believe the St Mirren defender done that for the PK. WTF was he thinking!!! No real danger and he deliberately does that. Their manager must be raging. 

And yet some Midden supporters still claiming Cook pushed his arm forward onto the ball from the back and it was never a penalty.

[Kmcalpin]

34 minutes ago, well_said said:

I couldn't believe the linesman didn't see it , or chose not to see it. Absolutely horrendous officiating from from both the ref and linesman. But par for the course from our incompetent shower of officials. 

The linesman was a standing only a few yards away and should have spotted it. I can only assume he was unsighted? 

[well_said]

13 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

The linesman was a standing only a few yards away and should have spotted it. I can only assume he was unsighted? 

Most likely incompetent. 

[weeyin]

1 minute ago, well_said said:

Most likely incompetent. 

Do linesman even award pens any more? I think, at most, they might ask VAR to look.

Last thing they want is to make an actual decision.