MFCL84

A bit of an improvement today, but still hugely frustrating. We were, amazingly, still in the game at 90 minutes, but for some reason didn't seem to think that we should or could take a risk in the final 10 mins or so try to win the ball and push for an unlikely point. Once again, a very passive performance from the midfield and defensive areas. Good debuts by Thomson and Armstrong. The other debutants didn't really have enough time to show much. Sparrow was our most effective midfield player.

Sparrow for me. Armstrong caught the eye based on attitude and work rate, and of course he got our goal, but Sparrow's all round contribution edged it for me.

I expect that we'll put up a reasonably dogged defensive performance in the first half, going in 1 goal down and then capitulate in the final quarter of the game, finally losing about 4-0. I hope that I am wrong.

I have no problem with that, it is just the way that I saw it.

This is a huge part of the problem that we have. Lack of worthwhile possession puts the back line under constant pressure. This leads to the guys at the back making mistakes. Keep the ball better and play as much of the game as possible on your own terms in the opposition half and the defence will make fewer mistakes.

Having watched that interview, I got the distinct feeling that he didn't care.

Can I ask why you go to the games and what you get from them if survival is the main thing. Don't you go to the games to be entertained? As I said when I opened this thread, going to games seems like no more than a bad habit now, I certainly get very little enjoyment from the football on display.

I think the fact that we are talking about this when sitting in 5th says a lot about how bad the football has been. Motherwell fans would usually be happy with their team sitting in this position. Why is it different this time? Probably because the football on show is brutal.

Are you happy with points or do you want more entertainment? I’ll start by saying that I am satisfied with the points tally and league position at this time. Indeed, given the horrendous list of injuries experienced this season, the points tally is commendable. However, the entertainment on show is non-existent. The persistent use of an overly negative approach, combined with hit-and-hope hoofball is absolutely dreadful to watch. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been just for the past few games, but has been the case for most/all of this season. I used to look forward to going to the game on a Saturday, but now it just feels like a bad-habit that I should give up. What really frustrates me is that I don’t think that the squad at Motherwell is any worse than most of the squads in the league, but week-in-week-out I see the opposition dominate possession, while appearing to be technically better on the ball and playing with more cohesion and purpose. I haven’t bothered to look at the possession stats, pass completion stats or number of goal attempts made; I don’t need to, because I know that to be entertained I want Motherwell to do better in all of those areas. Maybe I’m in the minority, maybe many are being entertained with this brand of football. I most certainly am not. Are you happy with the entertainment provided by Motherwell?

I have to agree. He was very slow to react on a number of occasions today and didn't look interested. Maybe he was suffering from a knock or a virus. Definitely should have been replaced earlier than he was.

A bit off topic, but the Sportscene coverage was absolutely appalling. All about Rangers, no real analysis of the key points in the game. Completely amateurish production and presentation. Finally, does anyone think that Rangers first goal had a distinct possibility of offside? It looked to me that a Rangers player, in an offside position, interfered with Ox line of sight to the ball.

I just watched back the Sportscene coverage of the game today. Butland's error was just that. From what i saw on Sportscene, Watt held his ground, Butland tried to jump over him to punch clear and simply made a mess of it. For me, a ridiculous decision to rule out a goal for that. There was a much more blatant push on a keeper shown on Match of the Day tonight and VAR decided that the goal stood. What a state our game is in.

Indeed and Davor does not too bad a job. However, he seems to be being asked to take more of a creative role. A large proportion of the play through midfield seems to go through Davor. This is something that, in the current setup, Halliday should be doing.

Interesting stats. They certainly don't reflect my perception of what Davor does for the team. Those stats would suggest that Davor is the most effective midfielder that we have. His pass accuracy is better than Miller's across the board. Maybe we should be asking big money for Davor. Davor is decent at breaking up play and retaining possession by going sideways and back. It would be interesting to understand what constitutes a forward pass in this context.

I have to agree with this. Davor is a breaker of play, not a play maker. That said, the way that we currently setup in midfield means that Davor frequently has to become a bit of a play maker. His tendency to turn back means that opportunities to make something happen in the final third are often lost, and we make so few chances from open play. That may be where some of the fan frustraion comes from.