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This is Alexander’s squad - no mistake about it. He built a squad to play with his style which is eye bleeding shite. A horsing has been coming for weeks. Our tactics and shape are predictable all over the park (short corners and 11 men’s defending a corner) through to camping in our final third and allowing sides to pick passes in and around our box and clearing to a striker to drag us up the pitch in the Hope we win a throw or free kick - it’s fucking dreadful. We have nothing about us. We’re carrying players that are either not interested or not good enough. The three centre halves in Ojala, solholm and Mugabe have been our best performers of the season (alongside watt) however the full backs have been Shite beyond belief. Exploited by our shape or not, both Mcginley and O’Donnell have been woeful. Goss is basically Alan Gow; a ghost of a player who cannot read a game. Shields is a trier but not up to the level and the options off the bench aren’t much better but we have the ability to bring in Donnelly and Maguire in midfield who can add a bit of dig which we are missing badly (not the best players but with a change of shape will be a Mile better than the shite we’re seeing just now). Grim

A pitch inspection has already taken place and the ref has declared a penalty to Rangers...

We've won 4 games this season and O'Donnell missed 3 of them. Coincidence? EDIT - Oh and Mugabi was right back for all of them.

Its Madden's call end of. The linesman can only advise, and in this case he may have done. However the referee can choose to overrule his linesman and many do so. The linesman cannot overrule his referee.

At a stage of the season when only 33 points have been available in total. We are also only 6 points off a European place. Alexander has to be given more time and I'm afraid we just have to hunker down and deal with the situation that the club was left in. As you said you re-assess it after the 2nd round of matches are played.

The second half was a disaster but the first half did go well for 40 minutes and Watt missed an open goal for 2 nil. If Alexander keeps on picking SOD, McGinley and Goss he's going to be under pressure but if he sorts the selection he can turn this round.

I blame Alexander 100%. It is total anti football . 3 strikers picking up scraps and high balls launched from Kelly . Midfield overrun every game this season because to many strikers on doing nothing . Allowing teams to cross balls into our box . What training manual did that come from . Finally his interviews summing up of games is dillusional . Right now we’re are a terrible watch . Burrows get him out now he’s a total clown of a manager and will get us relegated . Get your big boys pants on get him to …. and bring in a decent manager. Alan I’d like to ask you this . Do you seriously think this is acceptable for a Motherwell team to play like this . Entertainment value is Zero .

I'm afraid that this result is down to the manager, pure and simple. Our weaknesses today have been discussed ad nauseum for months on this board. Nothing new except the opposition showed clinical finshing up front, which others haven't. I don't mind us playing boring football as long as its effective but our brand isn't. Graham Alexander is fast losing the backing of the fans and thats never a good sign.

No sign of a midfield worthy of the name. No effort to stop teams bombarding a weak defence and a goalkeeper whose Achilles heel is crosses with, eh, crosses. No variation on the highly successful short corner routine. Persistent, or just clueless?

Aside from 90 mins Vs Hibs and that bit of skill to skin Tevernier at Ibrox, I think Van Veen has been fairly anonymous.

Can’t ever see mugabi getting a game at right back ahead of SOD. I don’t think we’re playing any differently to when we had our run . Luck ran out. The 1-1 game with rangers is a good example - they missed a ton of chances that day - vs today they buried them . there’s been a case to change formation since pre season when 2nd tier teams controlled most of the game - but we got points earlier and put up with the dross . mid we start winning I suspect we will continue to accept points over performance - in short I don’t see GA having any flex to his very limited style

I agree with pretty much everything said in this thread - Alex Neil was excellent in summing up out deficiencies

Before Alexander arrived it was always stop the cross coming in and deal with it when it comes into the box . That’s what you do A don’t think Alex Neil could believe what he was watching . And yes would take him as a manager in a heartbeat . No bullshit like current manager .

I was all I favour of GA and not calling for his head....but.....there is a stubbornness and arrogance I don't like and seems totally clueless. The 4 3 3 is a farce and the tactics of allowing opposition space to put in crosses is embarrassing. I played amateur football for 25 years and never once remember a team talk of 'stand off opposition and let them put in crosses', Alex Neil at game today....tell ye what, if things don't lmprove I would give him a call

I don't believe blaming the Robinson era is reasonable. GA has signed/resigned +16 players. GA is accountable for the majority of this squad.

It's greener than it was when we were 11th and sitting on 19 points in January '21. And Robinson had league runs of 1 win in 14 and another of 1 win in 13. Alexander longest run is 5. There is currently no comparison between Alexander and Robinsons performance. If at any point there is, I certainly won't be defending him.

Sensible posts like this have no place on this forum

He needs to change things full stop. The football and lack of possession will lose him support over time regardless of results, it’s pretty grim to watch. We don’t have the midfielders for the formation and I’m really surprised. he’s still not changed that aspect when it’s clearly not working. Saying that I hate chopping and changing managers because it rarely works, how many time under Robinsons tenure did people want him out because of course the grass is always greener, it rarely is. Nope we need to stick with him for the season and see how things develop. He’s supposedly gone with quality over quantity which most people wanted and as much as I’m sure many will say that’s not actually happened I believe it has.

As much as i agree with what you are saying, i just can't believe that these players are as bad as they look. I think they are being told to play in a certain way that they are not capable of playing. I think the coaching is what is lacking, just look how other teams we have played this year have been able to pass the ball around something that our players seem incapable of doing, we don't at the moment have any identity. In the first game of the season Van Veen looked world class could hold the ball up, flicks set others up, that's all disappeared. We don't have wingers passing players, or others that are capable of running with the ball. Slattery today actually had a we bit of skill beat a player in the middle of the park (only one mind you) . Our forwards today had to come into the middle of our half to get the ball. We leave no one forward at corners and this two man corners is a joke its never mixed up. As for long throw even I know Mugabi goes to the front post every time (it worked in the first few games but its like the corners never anything different). Hence i think the manager is caught in a frame of mind this is how we will play every week come hell or high water never mind what it looks like or if its affective. IMO he needs to find at least one other way to make this group of players into a team, switching players in and out is not working either. This is 100% our managers tactics, team and the buck will stop with him.

heres another expresion " you cant polish a shite " the problem with that one is which of our first 11 do we try to polish first ???

Of course SG means GA I'm raging fingers all over the keyboard LOL

Another point is when Rangers got a corner, we had no out ball. Nobody up the park to make Rangers put players on them. Rangers could put every player they wanted in the box and if the ball was headed out, it could only go to a Rangers player. Rubbish.

There is an expression that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Alexander inherited a sow's ear. People forget we were genuine relegation candidates when he came in and he's turned us into a mid table side. Has it been pretty? Certainly not but there is only so much you can do with the players we have. The standard of the player in the squad has been very poor for a long, long time and you don't turn that round in one transfer window. We have to play a certain style of football with the players we have. We are never going to play football that's easy on the eye with what's available. It's a totally different situation from when Robinson had class players on the sidelines and then brought them in. Pretty much everyone, especially in midfield, is much of a muchness. Until we improve the quality of player at the club it's not going to be pretty but let's just all remember were we've come from. And just for clarification there are definitely things I'd do differently from Alexander but overall I don't see a huge number of game changing options open to him. Right now we are 9 points clear of the relegation place and we are equalling or bettering Hibs, Aberdeen and St Johnstone's points tally. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water here.

For 42 mins they were still all over us, the difference was they didn't take any of their chances, so if 'how you wanted it to go' was camped in your own penalty box and breaking up the park 3 times in 42 mins, then he's right. It was going well.

Can we never allow any of our Managers to accept the manager of the month award from now on please.

4 3 3 is not working. Alexander seems incapable if seeing that. We're getting overrun in midfield every week which leaves us exposed defensively. We can't rely on the front 3 to take the pressure off so it's not working. We yet again allowed so many crosses into our box today. Surely after that debacle a formation change must happen.

We have issues that run beyond the manager, I’ve said that before and I’ll say it again. I don’t care how many times we ‘overhaul’ our recruitment team, we are still incapable of making signings that make a difference. That said Alexanders pig headed stubbornness when it comes to line ups and tactics is doing him no favours whatsoever.

First 5 matches of the season we conceded 5 goals with (mostly) Mugabi at right back and Carroll at left back. Last 5 matches of the season we conceded 14 goals with O'Donnell at right back and McGinley at left back. What changed?

The last game we played anything Mugabi was right back and O'Donnell was injured. BTW Mugabi has been our best player over the last few games.

Alexander took over one of the worst Motherwell squads in my lifetime, we’ve slightly improved and got a better squad but he needs to continue the turnover of players in January. McGinley needs replaced and ideally someone has to come in for S.O.D, even if it’s pushing Mugabi out on the right. Tactics need to change, no point in having 3 attackers if we’re being completely overrun in the midfield.

Stephen O'Donnell is a disgrace. He does not want to be here.

There's a load of them guising as fitba players week after week. And one dressed up as a manager.

wee yin you and texan sleeping late wish to fuck i had done the same bit of advice here dont watch the highlights its halloween

Alexander is dropping his players in it before a ball is even kicked,his tactics and choice of formation are doing us no favours.

Didn't bother getting up early to watch this. Did I miss anything?

VAR disallows that

O’Donnell can keep walking down that tunnel and out the door. Offers us nothing.

Now all we have to do is get rid of McGinley

Thank fuck. A week without O’Donnell in the team

This team is boring as fuck,the same shite everyweek.

Give up majority of possession, give up wide areas and you are fucked

It’s not about the fullbacks, it’s the mentality of the team as a whole and the possession we are giving them.

Both fullbacks doing their usual selling the goals. The pair of them are fucking hopeless.

Need to press these crosses. Absolutely does my nut in. Also need to be pressing far tighter in Midfield. Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

A couple of crosses like the one he put in for the first goal on Wednesday would certainly get the fans on board.

Absofuckinlutely. Madden has no say in the re-take of the penalty, it is all down to the linesman. The Old Firm levels of paranoia about him ordering retakes and not ordering one today is nonsensical.

That's my feeling too. If Collum is in the video booth instead of on the pitch, he's going to have even more opportunity to give bad decisions against us.

To be fair, the more important question is who the linesman was. He should be the one to make that call.

Eh SG is now playing his team his signings his tactics so nobody to blame bar him