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Nuance & perspective are wonderful things! Clearly JBA isnt a Motherwell legend (yet), but he deserves a little more credit than he is being afforded in some quarters. The number of draws we got in the first quarter of the season were a little disappointing given how well we played at times, but they were achieved by a manager and team trying to bed in new players and a totally new system. Mistakes were made and a few wins slipped out of our grasp. Disapppointing but understable. However, we did slowly improve and after the League Cup semi final exit (reaching Hampden seems to have been turned into a negative) we seemed to have unlocked the secret to a water tight defence and results improved. Our record against the top 6 is held up as a weakness this season. Yet we are undefeated against Hearts, have drawn twice against Rangers at home, lost narrowly at Ibrox after a hotly disputed penalty claim. Beaten Celtic resoundingly at Fir Park, lost twice narrowly at Parkhead in keenly contested matches, unbeaten against Hibs home & away. Only Falkirk have got the better of us. So our poor record is actually a myth if you turn it around and ask what the top 6 teams record against Motherwell is. The Aberdeen Cup game was a sore one and Jens has to hold his hands up a little for the starting selection, but the the state of the pitch, weather and 2 red cards are at least mitigating factors. We have broken all sorts of records this season with least goals conceded at home, clean sheets records, longest home run without a defeat, attendances etc etc. Of course the wheels have come off a little bit and you could argue that the pressure of being involved in a potential title race got to us, but you have to factor in the recent injuries, suspensions and some really chronic refereeing decisions. Has Jens been perfect? No. Have the team been perfect? No. But whilst our deficiencies have been shown up in recent weeks, its still the best season I can remember for quality of football and entertainment, and we are still sitting with a GD of +25 in April. Picking holes in an otherwise fantastic season is easy to do and if you ignore the circumstances, you can make a compelling case, but just as circumstances can fall for you, they can also conspire against you, despite you having control over neither.

Wow. You just love getting the boot in. I have said it before and will again, we need to stop and remember where this team was last season and judge JBA on that. Yes we have had a dip in form but to pick apart the season with that statement above is ridiculous. I have absolutely loved this season, it’s the best football I have seen at Fir Park and long may it continue.

Just new to site. Ancient so expect many Ancell babes references and tales of horror and heroic failures particularly against Sundau's opponents. Feel we have lost a lot of zest recently and clearly see a Slattery effect in how our games are refereed. Hoping for a return to earlier control levels at the very least

Spot on Stewart gets banned from Hampden for speaking his mind that upset the sensitive souls at the SFA, yet 10's of thousands of uglies fans spout their bigoted sectarian bile on a regular basis and its radio silence from the SFA., a disgrace of an organisation.

So much negative nonsense on here lately if we were not in games and not competeing then have a serious cry most of our defeats have been by odd goal while being in matches and fighting for everything. This we have been found out,dont know where next win is coming from ffs picture a year ago and picture now where would you rather be regarding Motherwell if you dont understand progress or cant see progress then i dont know what to say to alot of you. Honestly reading posts back you would think we were down the bottom in the mud lol.

Some interesting comments from Lee Wilkie in today's Dundee Courier. "I would scrap VAR in Scottish football tomorrow. The technology affects the game far too much in a negative way and we saw the very worst of that in Dundee’s seemingly endless game at Kilmarnock. Of course, we want to help referees get really close calls correct but the technology gets involved far too much. And it affects the way players play the game, too. Again, not in a good way. I think players dive even more now than they did before. I’m not talking about blatant dives where there is no contact. I’m talking about situations where the forward feels a hand on the back and hits the deck. They do that knowing the Video Assistant Referee is watching and they might get a penalty out of very little. For me, that’s not what football should be about. It is a technical game but there should still be the physical aspect of battling for the ball with someone else. When VAR reviews a decision, they only look for contact but crucially not whether that contact is enough to constitute a foul. You will see strikers running into the box thinking more about initiating contact with a defender than actually scoring the chance. VAR in Scotland has not had many successes to shout about and Saturday at Rugby Park certainly wasn’t one of them. An eight-minute delay doesn’t help anyone. Spectators don’t want to be hanging about that long and, even though Dundee eventually got the penalty, it didn’t help them either. It doesn’t look good for our game. The SPFL and SFA are probably breathing a sigh of relief that didn’t happen in one of the title-deciding fixtures coming up."

That's me in the home left-back shirt! It was an amazing experience, I loved every minute of it and is was a privilege to play on such a good pitch. The ball was really zipping of the surface, something that is not obvious when watching games on TV. If anyone on here plays football to a reasonable level and hasn't given this a go, please do, you won't regret it. Hopefully they'll do this again next season. Starting shirts cost £200-£300, which is a small price to pay for such an amazing opportunity. Substitutes are drawn from a raffle of Well Society members. This will stay with me forever!

I thought today was a much improved performance from the last few weeks, with most of the starting 11 raising their levels. It was telling that McInnes sounded relieved at the end of the game and gave us some plaudits, albeit that doesnt really help us any in terms of points. We can talk about the refereeing (unless the rules have changed, I dont see how Kabore isnt enndangering himself by trying to head itnon the ground) but if we put any if the 4 chances away before that, then its less of a problem for us and may not even occcur. Overall, JT much better off the right side. Just fantastic thru the middle. I liked the 4-2-4, was a twist on our usual set up and played to our strengths. Fadinger much better without the mask. We will play worse and win before the end of the season.

I cant believe we are having this debate, what type of football would you really like to see at Fir park, the eye bleeding hoof and chase under kettlewell, or the free flowing, tippy tappy passing, playing out from the back, rock solid defence (mostly) etc under JBA, i know who my vote would be for.

I don't know why everyone dislikes Wimmer so much.

Voted by their peers. So it may be a confident foreign manager playing better football than everyone else, on a much smaller budget, isn’t particularly liked by certain old school managers throughout the country. Not a massive surprise.

Does it get any better sauntering into an office with a number of Rangers fans who said to me last week “not worried about Sunday…. We can blow anyone away at home the way we are playing” if only I were able to smoke cigars in the office…. The smugness is oozing from every one of my pores

I always assumed that I am one of the really old timers on this forum but when many of you are sharing memories of Ancell babes I realise that I am just a young thing. Willie Pettigrew was my first Motherwell hero and that was in the late 1970's when I would sneak in to watch the last quarter of games for free after they opened the big terracing gates. I am feeling good about tomorrow. I think the team will return to form and the bad luck with decisions has to change at some point even if it is Rangers at Ibrox. Biggest thing is to avoid getting any players sent off or making challenges in the box that give the referee a decision to make ( I know that is so much easier send than done). Take some of the chances we create and it will put Rangers under real pressure.

I was one of Ward’s biggest critics at the start of the season, but credit where it’s due. He’s not just a keeper benefitting from a good team, he’s a key part of why it’s good.

Featuring not 1, not 2, but 5 (FIVE) Motherwell players!

You seem to be evolving into MJC. Take a step back and some deep breaths it will all be ok in the end. I'm in the POD so its ok with me especially with the football iv witnessed this season.

It’s the inconsistency in decisions that’s actually doing my tits in. You can say what you want about Slattery, but the St Mirren player turned and actually swung at him. We were all debating afterwards if he’d caught him, it’s a red all day no question, but I always thought the intent was enough. Same as when a player flies in two-footed (like Lee Lucas did) but still misses, players know VAR is watching now so its a waste of time feigning things. Slattery still got utterly vilified, yet Cantwell was pretending he’d been elbowed in the face a few seasons ago at Fir Park, ironically against Slattery, and that just gets brushed off as per, no meltdown. Then you’ve got that 7-minute spell against Falkirk last week. The ref was atrocious - gave them a free kick when McGinn was fouled first, let a blatant foul on Just go without even a word, and then the coup de grâce: the missed penalty and the sending off. I say 7 minutes, but the whole game followed the same pattern. Even in one of Willie Collum’s reviews, he talks about a similar incident where no penalty was given when a player’s head was clipped at knee height, and the reasoning aligns with putting himself in danger. You just know he’ll be inconsistent again the next time he’s on. After all, he was greeting about the Balmer decision last season against Killie where the player was entitled to challenge for the ball, but Kofi wasn't. It still boggles my mind that we had 100 world class appilcants and he's the one for the role. Back in the day, when wrongful red cards were quickly appealed I think 8 or so from Collum was successfully appealed over the piece, whereas others were 1. Honestly, what is the game coming to when players are getting sent off for DOGSO on the halfway line? Or even reading Kevin Clancy's description of the Celtic incident. I would love to be optimistic and say it's going to get worse before it gets better, but I'll just stick to it's going to get worse. More changes around the World Cup will happen as per, then you have Arsene Wenger's offside rule currently getting tested, then that will be implemented no doubt, but it will still contain the same old annoyances. Apologies for the moan but I can seldom muster up the strength to post on here nowadays, so thankful that we have been playing the way we have been. It would be nice to see more emphasis put on it; they did a questionnaire in the summer and released the results, and most people who voted wanted it rid of. I think they even started a petition or something on change.org, I'm positive I remember that being at 1.5k signatories.

I disagree. Blaming Slattery here gives the officials a pass. He’s already been punished, so anything that happens to him or his teammates following this should be judged on its own merits, not dragged in from previous incidents. We’ve already seen that different standard applied against Falkirk and Hearts. If officials can’t apply the laws fairly and impartially regardless of history, they shouldn’t be in the job. Suggesting a player or team can be refereed to a different standard because of the past just excuses poor officiating, normalises inconsistency and, at worst, bias. That’s on the referees, not the player.

Two things can be true at once. We haven’t been good enough against the top six this season, and the officials have cost us on multiple occasions.

In 50 plus years, most of the time it has been the best football I have seen played and the best crowds ive seen too...if you can't see that , maybe you need some other hobbies too

That's the spirit!

MJC is a troll, posting negative shite about Motherwell or rousing defences of his or her big team to extract a reaction, its a public forum so everyone is entitled to their opinions, but in my experience its best to ignore these posts as there is nothing to be gained in starting a debate, dont feed the trolls..

Garbage is what we watched last season, ok we’ve been poor the last couple of games - mainly due to not adapting to teams pushing up on us and some slack passing - but garbage? Think you need to get a bit of perspective mate.

You’ve done it again! In your previous message you claimed our manager is bang average and in this one you are doing the exact same thing in pulling out stats to suit a narrative. We are clearly not going to win every game so beyond that you look at the performances and most have been very good even when we have drawn or lost. Stop trying to make this something it’s not. We have had an excellent season, have a great team and a very good manager.

There definitely was a mental block that ran right through the club for far too long when it came to these types of games. IMO it could be traced all the way back to Butcher and then Alan Burrows banging the “punching above our weight” drum for years and numerous managers, coaches, players and supporters fully bought into that. Before the March ‘24 win at Ibrox I genuinely thought we would never beat either OF side ever again but breaking that duck gave us the shot in the arm that we had been in desperate need of for years. On a side note and I know this doesn’t matter much to many, but it does to me…I was delighted to see us beat Rangers at Ibrox for the third year running but this time wearing our proper C&A kit. The last three league wins there we’ve been in our change kits going back to Owen Coyle day in ‘97. So Sunday must have been the first league win at Ibrox wearing our first kit since 94 or 95. 🍻

As we dont have a home game on Saturday, Motherwell fans can get their Saturday football fix at Rockburn Park Bellshill the home of the second biggest team and second best run team in the shire. Get along and cheer the Athletic on to victory in their quest to win the West of Scotland league division 2 title where at present they are 8 points clear at the top of the table. Bellshill Athletic v Maybole Juniors = kick off 2pm Rockburn Park Bellshill . Admission price = Adults £7 ( compare that to what price you pay for an away ticket for well matches) Concessions = £4 The chairman of the club is David Brown who is a big Motherwell fan, and a number of the playing squad are well fans also. PROS cheap admission easy parking on north road or any of the side streets off North Road Better referees( not much but they are not up their own arses like the ones in the SPFL) NO VAR ALCOHOL available in the clubhouse(pies , snacks and soft drinks also available.) good atmosphere. NO BIGOTRY CONS no seats not much cover but the sun always shines in Bellshill ( except when it rains/ snows). So there you go , get yourselves along to the Rockburn on Saturday and you could still be home in time to catch the second half of the well game on your firestick.

Likewise… I personally can’t wait til our game with them at fir park. I fully expect to beat them. If they win the league (doubtful) fair enough but I’d love to screw it up for them and McIness in particular

Ahem? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Only good thing about Celtic winning for me is 5th is guaranteed Europe should they win it Much better to finish 4th of course and hopefully will do

The cosy clique that is the SFA dont give a toss how bad it looks, they are all far too busy organising their expense account trips to the USA over the summer. The whole set up is a shambles full of freeloading chancers who care more about their benefits and committee positions than they do about the clubs and fans. Will it change, i doubt it, the turkeys never vote for christmas, the member clubs have the power to change it but again self interest comes first, not whats best for the game. So for me fair play to michael stewart for calling them out, more people need to do the same.

Maybe a wee read at rule book would help yourself and some others.

Good non emotional response from JBA. of course he’s right, once again we gave ourselves several opportunities to win the game but didn’t take them and that’s when the other things beyond your control can affect the result. while we have hit a bad patch, results wise, there is no league game where we have been completely outplayed. Yes, some games have been tagged by fans as poor performance but that’s only because we reached such high standards during the season. But if you look at the stats, even in the games we have lost, we come out looking very well. So let’s hope the next step in our development is converting our superior stats into goals and points So despite some recent frustration and disappointment we are still in control of attaining euro spot amd still playing some good football and will hopefully get back to winning ways soon with the return of JK and Slattery.

We have not beaten hearts this season....bit of a bogey team 🤪🤪

John Mcglynn is a good manager as is jens...some merit in what you say but i don't agree with most of what uou say....I doubt the board do either. He's managed to just about double the home support which I thought was impossible and something I haven't seen in about 50 years even with teams who have won cups. So the majority of punters must like " tippy tappy " football. We really missed Slattery which I suspected we would.

Very sorry to learn of the passing of Willie Watson at the age of 76. Condolences to his friends and family. He was a real stalwart in the best Well side that I've seen. My abiding memory of him was in that famous 1977 cup game at Fir Park when we defeated St Mirren 2-1. He moved in to tackle Bobby Torrance, who under instruction from Alex Ferguson leapt 7 feet into the air and landed in a heap rolling about in mock agony. The only problem was that Willie was wise to this tactic and stopped short without actually making the challenge. RIP Willie.

48 hrs later and I am still buzzing!! The joy of football!

Always been a big Slatts and will be sorry to see him go. Although we didn't get to see it often, Miller-Spittal-Slattery was a great combo. Who knew we end up with an even better one? I'm assuming he's not off to St Mirren.

I had the radio commentary on, from half time I was outside, folding towels, washed the dishes, brushed the cats, tried to solve world hunger and anything else to distract me from the obvious comeback, came back in to do a rubik's cube and heard "Ward to O'Donnell.... Longeloooooooooooo!" I thought our bubble had burst and we'd shit the bed as we seem to have done so often in the past. What a season this has been, let's hope it gets better.

That 2nd goal we scored was probably my goal of the season everything about it was so clinical from back to front if that wasnt total football i dont know what is. What a season so many highs.

Pat's a great speaker and has a lot of good stories to tell. He came over to Guernsey for our annual literary festival after his book came out (which I bought, read and enjoyed). He's really not the pantomime villain that a lot of Motherwell fans want him to be, so I highly recommend going along and listening to what he has to say about our club that he still has a great deal of affection for.

Unbelievably good day throats f*cked but what a result huge credit to the team today because we could have easily folded great result

Scottish Football is incredibly frustrating. VAR is awful (being polite). Having likes of pundits being banned for sharing an opinion which is no different to that of the paying public is a joke. @wellfan called it - a circling of wagons is accurate. Add to that the recent treatment we've been singled out for appear to be 'put Motherwell back in their box' Recent decisions have been staggering and can't help but feel there's an element of showing who's boss. Slattery's suspension wouldn't have happened to any of the top 3. The non penalty for TW against falkirk Hearts penalty decision. The general everything a Well player does must be a foul or a dive. How dare Motherwell do something as bold as play great football and start challenging at the top end of the league. I simply hope that's an end of the poor decisions for now and we can get some enjoyment back for the final 5 games.

My point about a deteriorating product relates to poor officiating and VAR undermining the matchday experience, not the quality of football on display. I’ll still be renewing my season ticket, but with fans being asked to pay more each year, it’s reasonable to expect the club to advocate on our behalf and address the elephant in the room.

I just wonder if Jens is getting as pissed off as the rest of us with the downright incompetence of our officials both on and off the field. It is quite possible that he will feel he can't continue here and look for a move to the English Championship or nearer home in Europe. If that happens I hope the powers in the game are ashamed that they have driven away one of the most innovative managers this country has seen in years.

I’m not blaming officials for our defeat. I’m calling them out for not knowing the rules. I’m not 100% sure but did the Hearts player actually move the ball with his head? Even if he didn’t, It looked to me like he tried to play the ball with his head while on the ground. So should be indirect kick for us.

Getting to the point that there’s no point turning up for games. The opposition are getting everything from referees. The last 2 free kicks given against Said were an absolute joke as well.

We were second best over the piece yesterday, no getting away from that, but that is going to happen when you are motherwell. Goals change games though, and f**k me we were hard done by from the officials. Seriously, what is the point in VAR - get involved when they shouldn't and posted missing when needed. Genuinely sick to death of it. Jens has every right to have a pop given what we have been on the end of recently. I wonder if lissah will get the same retrospective punishment as slattery, because said having his arms out certainly didnt make him fall to the ground.

Johnny Koutroumbis signs a 2 year extension. https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2026/04/03/contract-extension-for-johnny-koutroumbis/

I get that you are trying to beat the drum for impartiality and fairness and I commend you for it. But we dont live in an ideal world. We all know this. So until we do, I think its fair enough to be annoyed.....

No it was'nt, if he had went down easily or for you " dived" won us a penalty that won the cup etc, would we all be complaining, i think not, so lighten up on Slattery. The real embarrassment is the standard of refereeing in Scotland which is 100% responsible for this whole shit show.