capt_oats

Would it be worth our while keeping an eye on Johnson's situation at Oxford as well given we're apparently due a % from any move?

Well, you can compare the two directly as they were both working with the same group of players. In fact, Robinson had fewer available to him. Whether Robinson is the right man for the job mid-long term is a different question as is whether or not the tactics he employed to keep us safe are a genuine reflection of how he wants his team's to play or whether they were simply a means to an end dictated by circumstance.

Well, quite. However it's worth looking at the For and Against columns, whilst acknowledging we're looking at a smaller sample for Robinson. With McGhee fielding (for the most part) his first choice goalkeeper and back 4 we were conceding on average just over 2 goals a game (2.03) and scoring an average of 1.15. Even taking out the 7 conceded against Aberdeen and 5 against Dundee and putting them down as freak results it's still an average of 1.7 GA per game. Robinson was parachuted in and ended up having to field a cobbled together defence that included arguably our best midfielder and a left back held together with sellotape as part of a back 3. The average goals against dropped to 1.33 PG and there's a marginal increase in goals for, again 1.33. When he got the job Robinson was saying he had to get us to stop leaking goals, he's (for the most part) managed to do that. Obviously there were cheap goals lost; Samson falling to bits against Dundee, Jules' inexplicable decision against Ross County but it's worth noting that Robinson actually dealt with that; Samson was dropped and Jules hasn't got on the park since.

This season: McGhee: P: 26 W: 6 D: 6 L: 14 F: 30 A: 53 GD: -23 (Points = 24 PPG = 0.92) Robinson: P: 12 W: 4 D: 2: L: 6 F: 16 A: 16 GD: 0 (Points = 14 PPG = 1.16) Edited to add: as a side-note all 6 of Robinson's losses have been by a single goal.

The actual quote was "I never want this again on my watch. I've inherited 14 players with 4 over 35 on 2 year contracts." Which, unless he's been misquoted (entirely possible), is incorrect. As far as I can see he's inherited a squad with 4 players over 34 (Hammell, McManus, Pearson and Lasley, though they'd all be over 35 next season) and 2 on 2 year contracts (Hammell, McManus). Either way, you can see what he's getting at.

Motherwell: Griffiths, Hammell, Heneghan, Ainsworth, McHugh, Moult, Cadden, Frear, Clay, Campbell, Gordon Motherwell subs: Pain, Bowman, Lasley, Jules, McFadden, Turnbull, Livingston

Aye, I heard that on the radio. He's under 23 so it'll be development fee/compensation hence the disparity between Scottish/English leagues.

Well, we've got an injured elderly centre half, a back 4 that fell to bits off the back of a single injury and let's face it has hardly been solid for a number of seasons so if there are options that may lead us to not haemorrhaging goals as we have been or find ourselves having to chuck in a Zak Jules-a-like then it'd probably be worth our while exploring them regardless of their age. As for Lucas. It's been clear his time's up for ages which wasn't the case when he signed his 6 month extension in January given he'd been involved in the team for a run of games before the break and we'd picked up some points. IIRC the general stance was that he was a low risk option, if he kicked on in the 2nd half of the season then great, if not we'd be shot of him in the summer and so it is the case.

In fairness Clint Hill's 38 and has been one of Sevco's best players along with Kenny Miller (37). Greer played 21 times this season for Blackburn in the Championship though hasn't played since February as far as I can see, his last game was against Man United in the cup I think.

As far as I can see it's as below: End of contract: Samson, Chalmers, Ferguson, Ainsworth, Lasley, Lucas, Pearson, McFadden, McDonald, Moore End of loan: Griffiths, Jules, Pain

I've no idea if he is or isn't either but the timing of the 2 year deal after he roasted Rangers in the play-off kind of made it feel like he was signed up as a key player. Obviously it's daft to make assumptions about that sort of thing but in terms of profile of re-signing I'd have thought we'd probably have offered him a decent (for us) amount.

I'd say the key point is how he fits into the side. Given his obvious inconsistency vs Cadden in that position it's been hard to make that much of an argument for him as a starter despite him offering far more in an attacking sense. Offering a contract that would (presumably even with a wage cut) be at the higher end of our pay scale for someone who's essentially an impact sub doesn't really seem to be something that makes sense for us. However if there's a way that Robinson can fit both him and Cadden into the side and would see Ainsworth at the very least get a run of games then I'd have thought there would be a conversation should probably be had, assuming he's genuine in saying he's up for staying. If he can get more money elsewhere then you can't really argue with that, good luck to him. Moving Cadden in centrally and having him play alongside McHugh seems like a natural progression tbh. He's always looke more like a box to box player than a wide midfielder to me. A midfield 4 of Ainsworth, Cadden, McHugh and Frear certainly wouldn't be the worst while MacLean and Thomas would hopefully offer options to rotate in wide positions and Campbell has shows in his handful of games that he's capable of cutting it at this level although there may be an argument for him going out on loan and getting 90 mins week in week out at a Championship side. Add another good central midfielder to that group and it could be competitive. With the past couple of seasons he's had it wouldn't really be much of a surprise if Ainsworth has explored other options and there's possibly even an argument that he could maybe use a fresh start at a different club. If it's the case, as Bop seemed to suggest, that he's got another club lined up then he may well be giving Motherwell the chance to match an offer. Who knows? Ultimately, for me, the key area for us to recruit this summer is defensively; goalkeeper, centre half and left back should be our absolute priorities. If Ainsworth wants to come on board then why not.

This boy doesn't miss on Hughes: https://twitter.com/ScotMailSport/status/864051403660161029 I tried to embed the image but it's not letting me and I can only find the as part of the tweet so I'm guessing the article only appears in the Scottish print edition (it should be readable if you open the image and zoom in). There are quite a few really erm...good, honest (sorry) pieces about what's happened at Raith this season around. Andy Harrow's article over on The Terrace gives a fair bit of insight. Link is here if you want to check it out: http://terracepodcast.net/raiths-annus-horribilis/it's not MFC related so I won't bother copy & pasting but it's worth a read if you're so inclined. It definitely seems like there's been a bit of a sea change in terms of the perception of Hughes though.

Pretty much. He was quite unequivocal in the comments he gave to the press ruling himself out for the actual manager's job prior to Robinson getting it. He seems comfortable with his situation as it is (who can blame him?) and let's face it he's been doing a cracking job with the u20s why would the club wilfully decide to disrupt that given that it's entirely fundamental to our "strategy"?

He played with McHugh at Plymouth I'd imagine that'd be a fairly rational reason to him being there. Having read the article, they're still pretty seething about McHugh electing to move here eh?

The reports in the press last week were that Mannus was about to sign a new deal with St. Johnstone. I suppose Wright said pretty much the same thing about Swanson who ended up signing a pre-contract with Hibs but the fact that he's been getting games recently and St Johnstone finishing in a European spot may well mean he'd be happy enough to stay put. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/st-johnstone/424369/alan-mannus-set-sign-new-deal-st-johnstone/

Prolific with our u20s & he's scored a couple for Alloa.

There's some footage of him playing with the u20s (vs Dunfermline) that wouldn't exactly fill you with confidence tbh. Shots just seem to fly straight through him. I'd like to think that this season has been an eye-opener for those involved in recruitment in so much as there are clearly positions in the team where a team like ours simply can't afford to just say "ach, he'll do" and goalkeeper is top of that list IMO. Samson to me seemed 100% a sympathy signing as he'd been patient and waited for a chance last season. Let's not do that again. Ever.

I don't disagree that we've not exactly been a fluid side under Robinson however by my count we've scored 11 goals in the 10 games he's been in charge. 6 of them have been from open play so 54.5% of the goals scored have been from open play. The 6 by my count are: McDonald's against St Johnstone The 4 against ICT Cadden's against Dundee

They're definitely missing a trick not doing the good ones like that as screen prints to retail.

Mmmmmm hmmmmmm.

Not watched the McGhee interview but reading the copy it seems quite remiss of them not to have at the very least highlighted that he'd have been suspended for 6 games regardless. Since the Dundee game we've won 2, drawn 2 and lost 5 so it's hardly a bold claim for him to say he may have picked up a few more points than Robinson has. He may have, he may not. However if your side has been scudded 7-2 and 5-1 in quick succession and had an aggregate of 17-3 against over the space of 4 games AND you're looking at a suspension ruling you out from the dug out for half your remaining fixtures you're really in no position to whinge about getting your jotters tbh.

All depends on what league we're in next season I suppose but Moult to Rangers has been mentioned in the "gossip" pages loads in the same way that Johnson was frequently an "Old Firm target". I don't know whether it's a conscious policy on the part of the club or not but very few of our outgoing sales have been to other clubs in Scotland. Law obviously went to Rangers but was out of contract, I think you'd have to go back to McDonald for the last time we sold a first team player to either of the ugly sisters. Obviously out of contract players have moved to other sides in Scotland (Vigurs back to ICT, Sutton to St Johnstone etc) but we don't actively seem to sell to rivals unlike say, ICT who have become Aberdeen's feeder club. Looking back you've had: Johnson > Oxford, Pearson > Atletico de Kolkata, Anier > Erzgebirge Aue, Ojamaa > Legia Warsaw, Murphy > Sheffield Utd, Reynolds > Sheffield Weds, Quinn > Cardiff, Clarkson > Bristol City, Porter > Derby, McCormack > Cardiff. Even the development moves like Erwin, Hall and Leitch were to Leeds, Brighton and Burnley. Hutchinson ended up at Fulham and your out of contract guys like Randolph > Birmingham, Humphrey > Preston, Higdon > NEC Nimegen amongst others. There may be something in the new club's interest in both Heneghan and Moult, there may not but based on the business we've done in recent history (and longer) I'd have thought our preferred market to sell would be England.

Going by his stats Thomas played, in total, 106 mins of football for us that season. 1 start and 1 sub appearance and made the bench twice without getting on. Then he just seemed to be disappeared. His deal, according to the statement at the time, was til end of season with an option for an extra year so it doesn't seem a huge leap to take in thinking he was a punt/fall back for Johnson.