Sunday 15th August V Hibernian

[gdalli10]

the goals we conceded were pish. hibs didn't need to work to score. defensive improvement needed or OB will pump us.

 

thought we played really well in the 1st and poor in the latter part of the 2nd. Sutton should have had a hattrick by half time.

 

we will play a lot lot worse than that this season and win

[Finlay]

How the hell can you give Reynolds an 7 he was awfull, and Craigan 8 , every pass he tried to make he banged into the crowd, i am sorry i must of been watching a different game.

 

HUMPHREY, was outstanding today, yes a few wayward crosses but in genral he is hitting the right areas, to say he has no technique is damm right rude. Beating a man at full speed and getting a cross into the danger area is difficult, so if you have no technique you cant do that. A score of 6 does not reflect his effort today.

 

I am sorry i dont agree with scoring our defence higher than HUMPHREY on this occasion, if it wasnt for RANDOLPH we could easily have been on the end of a real pasting.

 

Ah, so only good performances get rewarded with capitals. It was like the bloody Da Vinci Code for a while there

[Welldaft Mk1]

Fucking nightmare aint it -totally ruins ones weekend disasters like that.

 

Awright smart ars3. In the grand scheme of things it is a minor irritation.

[Special aka]

Will have to stop giving goals away so cheaply, and bury more of our chances. We'll come up against lesser teams than Hibs this season, and will play worse and win ............. it's the Motherwell way.

 

Hold on tight to that Rollercoaster.

[Tweed]

I thought middle to front we were pretty good though some of the shooting was a bit tame. However defensively we were murder. I thought Craigan and Reynolds were absolutely appalling. And if we defend like that we can do as much as we like going forward we won't win many games.

 

On the plus side some good saves from Randolph, Humphrey was excellent and Sutton and Murphy their usual industrious selves.

 

I thought our penalty was a stone waller. From the natural angle on the telly you would never know it but from the East Stand it was a blatant tug and the ref was on the same side so no surprise he gave it. Though from a Hibs point of view it was a crazy bit of defending as Blackman was going nowhere

 

Thought Brown got the Humprhey sub wrong. Whilst he was burst and had to come off having already sacrificed Hateley to move to something akin to a 4-2-4 we became to stretched and we resorted to long balls and getting caught to deep and offered no threat. Forbes was the right move at that point to keep some shape to the team.

 

Overall though did enjoy the game. Buzzed from end to end and to be honest I thought we were unlucky not to get a point and I really don't think Hibs did enough to merit a win just that we gift wrapped them three goals irrespective of the dubiety of the second one.

[well_nuts]

Should have put the game to bed in the first 30 mins but missed a few chances that came back to cost us at the end of the day. Ref had a shocker. Is it me or does brownb seem to get smaller everytime you see him in the dugout or are the digging a hole in front of him very slowly?

[Shaka]

How the hell can you give Reynolds an 7 he was awfull, and Craigan 8 , every pass he tried to make he banged into the crowd, i am sorry i must of been watching a different game.

 

HUMPHREY, was outstanding today, yes a few wayward crosses but in genral he is hitting the right areas, to say he has no technique is damm right rude. Beating a man at full speed and getting a cross into the danger area is difficult, so if you have no technique you cant do that. A score of 6 does not reflect his effort today.

 

I am sorry i dont agree with scoring our defence higher than HUMPHREY on this occasion, if it wasnt for RANDOLPH we could easily have been on the end of a real pasting.

 

True there, no idea what game he was watching with those ratings, Reynolds was woeful, Craggs wasnt great, certainly not an 8. Humph was our best player.

 

few questions + observations

1.Stokes is a diving c**t,

2.If the ref is going to be consistent why didnt we have 3 or 4 pens? Our pen was soft as shite but the same thing or worse happened 3 or 4 times and we didnt get any other pens.

3.Stokes is a diving c**t.

4.Bamba is a fucking animal, couldnt help but laugh, he continually molests Sutton and gives away foul after foul then gets booked late on for timewasting?

5.Stokes is a diving c**t,

6.Linesman cant see 2 handballs by Hanlon for their 2nd goal? come on

7.Bamba is a big clumsy Fudface

 

Its been coming all pre season tho, our defence is shite and anyone with a half decent attack will tear us apart, Breidablik, who lets be honest would struggle in the 1st division here should have scored 4 or 5 against us,Hibs could have had 7 today and we`d have few complaints.

Odense will kill this euro game before it gets back to Fir Park if we defend like that again on thurs!

 

Would give Blackman a bigger chance thurs nite,either instead of Sutton or at the very least 30 mins, looked very promising in his cameo, Big Guy,Rapid,Good Feet, could be a real Gem.

[underboyleheating]

I see we had the lowest attendance of all the SPL’s weekend fixtures. St.Mirren and Dundee United managed 5618, while us and Hibernian could only achieve 5172.

 

I know it’s probably not any different from previous seasons, but with the good weather I thought we might have added a few more to the gate.

[Lobey_Dosser]

I see we had the lowest attendance of all the SPL's weekend fixtures. St.Mirren and Dundee United managed 5618, while us and Hibernian could only achieve 5172.

 

I know it's probably not any different from previous seasons, but with the good weather I thought we might have added a few more to the gate.

 

There would have been another 1500 on the gate had it been 3pm Saturday.

[Steve Diggle]

A decent enough game to kick things off and unlucky not to get anything from the game. Punished heavily for a few mistakes and suffered from a piss poor ref.

 

However. When you see you're getting no change from the ref (no matter how poor that is) and Bamba is being allowed to climb all over Sutton / whoever then - it's blatantly obvious that we needed to change something.

 

Although Randy's kicking at times is bang on, I think allowing our central defenders to continually punt it long and high eventually led to us inviting Hibs back into the game. When we got it on the deck and ran at them we got results. Distribution from the defence was poor today. We need to get back to moving the ball out of defence rapid and on the deck. (The last cuppla managers tried to knock that outta them )

 

No major worries though - we were miles ahead - a bit more of a killer instinct in front of goals and we'd have been outta sight in the first 30 mins - so we're not far away.

[Ya Bezzer!]

Humph was the best player?

 

For a start he was hobbled for most of the second half and didn't last the game because he was absolutely fucked with cramp. He played better than the other two games this season but I don't think he actually beat a man or put a cross in under pressure. He's fine running into space or taking on players in a race but he gives the ball away far too often if he has a man on or he has pressure put on him. His feet are poor. He can't create space for himself in a tight corner. He's a runner, he tries hard, his crossing was better when he had space and not much better when he didn't.

 

As for Craigan's passing he is a central defender I don't judge him on his passing, I judge him on his defensive ability and his team leadership and I thought he did very well considering Hibs attack was completely nullified in the first half and in the second half we were under pressure from perhaps the most potent attack in the league. Craigan did 80 - 90% of his job. Humphry did 50 - 60% of his but Humphry ran around fast so let's give it to him, eh?

 

It pisses me off when our stalwart players get heavily criticized and players that have never really done it get hailed as heros because they have 'novelty' value or that some people think adopting players that aren't that good makes them 'better' supporters.

 

And while everyone goes on about the 'pish' defending of Craigan and Reynolds where was Saunders for the third goal? He was miles out of position and sure someone could have been tracking back (wasn't it Humphry that was supposed to be playing on that side...oh I forgot...he couldn't run by that stage) but it was Saunders mistake that killed the game for us but it's not mentioned it's Craigan and Reynolds that get it. Imagine if Stevie Hammell hadn't been our best player this season so far - he'd probably be getting it in the neck as well.

[Jimmo]

I thought we were great first half and should've went in at half time two or 3 up. I think second half we looked a bit tired and invited hibs to have a go at us which is dangerous with their attack. No doubt the ref done us no favours with some shocking decisions, he looked at the linesman for ages before he gave them their second goal. I think if we can build on our first half performance and get a bit fitter/sharper we could have a decent season. New guys looked like they will cause teams problems and Humphrey is improving all the time although he is not yet fully match fit and Randolph looks quality. Still would like to see a left winger as didn't feel there was much happening for us down that side. No need to panic yet, I thought loosing the game was harsh on us but a lot of positives to take away.

[johnstone]

I would love Sol Bamba on my team. The big man was immense yesterday.

 

He gets my man of the match.

[Steve Diggle]

Humph was the best player?

 

For a start he was hobbled for most of the second half and didn't last the game because he was absolutely fucked with cramp. He played better than the other two games this season but I don't think he actually beat a man or put a cross in under pressure. He's fine running into space or taking on players in a race but he gives the ball away far too often if he has a man on or he has pressure put on him. His feet are poor. He can't create space for himself in a tight corner. He's a runner, he tries hard, his crossing was better when he had space and not much better when he didn't.

 

As for Craigan's passing he is a central defender I don't judge him on his passing, I judge him on his defensive ability and his team leadership and I thought he did very well considering Hibs attack was completely nullified in the first half and in the second half we were under pressure from perhaps the most potent attack in the league. Craigan did 80 - 90% of his job. Humphry did 50 - 60% of his but Humphry ran around fast so let's give it to him, eh?

 

It pisses me off when our stalwart players get heavily criticized and players that have never really done it get hailed as heros because they have 'novelty' value or that some people think adopting players that aren't that good makes them 'better' supporters.

 

And while everyone goes on about the 'pish' defending of Craigan and Reynolds where was Saunders for the third goal? He was miles out of position and sure someone could have been tracking back (wasn't it Humphry that was supposed to be playing on that side...oh I forgot...he couldn't run by that stage) but it was Saunders mistake that killed the game for us but it's not mentioned it's Craigan and Reynolds that get it. Imagine if Stevie Hammell hadn't been our best player this season so far - he'd probably be getting it in the neck as well.

 

Almost 100% off the mark Ya Bezzer.

 

Central defenders need to be able to pass otherwise they invite the opposition on almost immediately the ball leaves their foot. Keeping possession and building an attack is the name of the game. if you continually punt it long and see the ball coming back at you due to a dire refereeing performance / dominance in the air of the opposition you try something different. I'm not having a major pop at the guys - but to say that we nullified the Hibs attack in the first half isn't exactly accurate. We pressed them high up the park - and had some good pressure from midfield forward - but when they broke - you could harly say we were 'comfortable' at the back.

 

The tired old criticism that Humphrey can't cross is piss poor - it was true to an extent last year - but he's been regularly throwing in dangerous crosses this year. in the first half in particular on Sunday he made space for a cross through beating players a good few times.

 

no one's making him out to be a hero - folk are just saying he had a good game on Sun. Nothing like a finished article.

[Lobey_Dosser]

I would love Sol Bamba on my team. The big man was immense yesterday.

 

He gets my man of the match.

 

Exactly. Dirty big boy but he knows how to clear his lines. Mind you, I don't think Hibs see that type of performance from him every week.

[Neil]

Just watched the highlights. They are a joke, makes it look like Hibs pumped us all game, none of our decent penalty shouts shown or any attack other than Humphrey's cross and the goal, nothing about Lasley's last min drive, the Bamba handball.

 

Welcome back ...to Scottish football, terrible coverage and terrible refs.

[Welldel]

Exactly. Dirty big boy but he knows how to clear his lines. Mind you, I don't think Hibs see that type of performance from him every week.

 

 

He is a filthy animal and a liability, who on another day with a ref who knew what he was doing, would have been sent off in the first 20 minutes.

[johnstone]

Aye Humphrey played well and was making lots of decent runs. Some of his corners and crosses were quite poor and never got past the first man. On the other side Riordans crossing was superb and created two goals.

 

If he can improve that final ball then the assists will start to come along a bit more.

[huggins]

Anyone know the 50/50 draw numbers or where I can find them on the official site?

[Shaka]

Can someone let me know the score from yesterday cause It turns out I mustve been watching another Well v Hibs game. Several times Humphrey was so fast he had to stop,hold the ball up and beat his man before crossing,not every ball was perfect but most were pretty damn good wether he had time or not. Even in the second half when he was struggling,he carved out 2 of our best chances. Hanlon had a roasting the entire time Humphrey was on the park. And as for being comfortable with Hibs attack in the first half, whos keeper was busiest in that half? cause the game I watched it was Rudolf (our new keeper according to the radio commentry team)

 

Craggs + Reynolds were pulled apart the whole game, on several attacks Hibs had extra men over or acres of space. Im not knocking Craggs cause he`s been solid so far but to overlook his distribution is blinkered in the extreme. Its a defenders job to defend,its also his job to try build attacks + try keep posession. launching the ball out the park or to Hibs players invites pressure! Not as bad as Reynolds performance but cretainly not an 8/10 performance

[steelboy]

And while everyone goes on about the 'pish' defending of Craigan and Reynolds where was Saunders for the third goal? He was miles out of position and sure someone could have been tracking back (wasn't it Humphry that was supposed to be playing on that side...oh I forgot...he couldn't run by that stage) but it was Saunders mistake that killed the game for us but it's not mentioned it's Craigan and Reynolds that get it.

 

have a look at the highlights, saunders is exactly where he should be for the third goal. he's got riordan on the edge of the box before he slips the ball to miller.

 

the problem with the third goal was the full midfield being far too far up the park away from the defence.

[Malky79]

We should have won the game but defending was woeful so can't really complain.

 

No real complaints on the handball, watched it a few times and definately comes off his arm but also other parts of his body and don't see any clear hand to ball movements. I'd be raging if we had similar chopped off. Only real mistake by Randolph as he flaps at the cross, but if he'd stayed on line it would have made little difference anyhow.

 

Only criticism of the management is that it all well and good having 4 forwards but if we have to lump it to them it hardly worth having them on and that seemed to kill a wee bit of momentum we looked like building after the 2nd. Hibs looked there for taking again and wee ran out of steam.

 

All well and good having Blackman and Casagolda but where do we turn when we need service for them and Humphrey off with cramp. Lack of wide options in midfield.

 

Frustrating as hell game but we played not to badly and not many teams will cause our iffy defence as many problems with movement and link up play as Stokes, Riordan and Miller will. 3 points dropped today but no reason to panic.

 

Certainly won't beat Odense defending like that, but to be fair we were having a go at Hibs and left ourselves more exposed we'll be much more cautious in the euro tie.

[Welldaft Mk1]

Certainly won't beat Odense defending like that, but to be fair we were having a go at Hibs and left ourselves more exposed we'll be much more cautious in the euro tie.

 

I thought our defending against Aalesund at Fir Park was immense and that both Craigan and Reynolds were terrific.....but here's the rub.......Aalesund for the most part threw balls into the box from distance and 99.9% of the time this was cleared.

 

When you get a team like Hibs with more mobile forwards like Stokes and Riordan then our defence and midfield struggle big time. At times yesterday Hibs just cut through us.

 

I still do not know what standard Odense are apart from the fact I do expect them to be better than us. If they have a mobile midfield and forwards it will be like yesterday, Nancy and St Bucharest. I assume their Manager was the game yesterday. I would tell them to attack from the right flank and whip balls into the box and put our Goalie and central defenders under physical pressure.

 

Bigger teams aka Sol Bamba do it to us all the time. Very rarely do I see opposing defences under such an aerial bombardment and concerted pressure.

[Rickoza]

Their assistant manager was in the main stand. I don't think they'll have as much movement up front as Hibs had, though in saying that I imagine they'll have a stronger midfield. Keep it tight and all to play for a week on Thursday.

[Welldaft Mk1]

That John Utaka scored 18 goals last season. The defence and midfiled appear to be mainly scandanavian with the forwards from Mali, Brazil, Nigeria et etc. Straying from the Hibs thread a wee bit - just have to move on to the Odense thread noo.