capt_oats

I don't think he was last night, though for what it's worth I didn't see that much of it as I was flicking between the United vs Hibs, Forest v Newcastle and Oxford games. Didn't even realise Oxford were on telly until well into their 2nd half. He's played left back/left wing back a few times for them recently though. He definitely came on as a sub and played there in their loss to AFC Wimbledon that was on the telly a while back. They don't really seem to know what to do with him tbh. So far I think they've tried playing him as a winger in a 4231, wing back in a 532, and both left mid and LB in a 442.

^^^ 100% this. I thought it was a good press conference from McFadden but completely agree, if those quotes had been attributed to McGhee folk on Facebook and Twitter would be in absolute meltdown.

As you say, we'll never know but on the face of it it's not *that* difficult to imagine why we'd take him on for 6 months; West Ham/agent: "Would you like to take a highly rated West Ham academy player on loan for 6 months? He plays as a forward/attacking midfielder and is capped through the age groups at international level and currently has 11 u19 caps." Us: "Sure, why not." I mentioned over on P&B in a discussion on this season's transfers but looking at McGhee's quotes about Belic when he signed (essentially an appropriation of Terry Westley's when he signed for West Ham) it sounds like Belic was brought in as a squad player or someone for us to have a look at. The fact that the quotes attributed to McGhee look cribbed from the West Ham site lend some weight to the idea that it's been a last minute punt though (especially when you compare with Bowman who we had up at the 7-0 game at Parkhead and who was Martin Foyle's top scorer when he was managing Hereford United in 2012/13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_Hereford_United_F.C._season ) McGhee 31/08/16: "Luka is a wiry forward who can play through the middle or on the flanks. He works extremely hard, particularly without the ball and knows where the net is. He'll give us competition in that area." http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2016/08/31/well-sign-hammers-starlet-belic/ Westley 13/09/15: "We'd watched him a few times, he's enthusiastic, he works really hard out of possession and is a good finisher. He presses from the front really well, always looking to search in behind. His work rate and desire to get in behind and get on the ball is exceptional and he's been impressive in the time that we've seen him." http://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2015/september/13-september/hammers-sign-serbian-starlet-belic Given he's only here on a 6 month deal it'd seem Belic was a fairly low risk option. I'm not 100% but I think his deal at West Ham may be up at the end of this season so we may well have seen him as someone like Grimshaw that, if he made an impression we may have been able to look at on a permanent deal further down the line. As it is we get to have a look at him, see if he's as good as he's supposed to be on Football Manager, if not there's a fairly easy out after 6 months and he goes back to his parent club. No harm, no foul.

I think there's definitely something in that. I suppose you'll get a better idea as to whether that is or isn't the case when (if?) Lucas is fit and whether he takes the place of one of either Lasley or Clay. If Pearson does come back as has been hinted at then a midfield of McHugh as an anchor with Pearson, Lucas and Cadden playing ahead of him could change the entire dynamic of our midfield. Edit: Given Lucas' contract is up in January and he's started 1 game since he's signed (impressive a performance as it was) there's surely a question mark over whether he'll actually be here come the cup tie.

They're pish. They've taken last minute goals to get results against us, Dundee and Thistle this season with draws against Accies, Killie and County. Absolutely no reason why we can't win this if we turn up. Their home record in the league is; Accies 1-1 (X) Motherwell 2-1 (W) Ross County 0-0(X) Thistle 2-0 (W) St Johnstone 1-1 (X) Killie 3-0 (W) Dundee 1-0 (W) They've conceded first in 3 of those 7 home games and 7 of their 14 league fixtures this season. They've still got Aberdeen, Hearts and Celtic to play at Ibrox before the cup game so it'll be interesting to see how they get on there.

If nothing else the fact that the nature of his injury will have meant he'll have been unable to do any sort of training since the injury occurred at the start of August will mean he'll be starting from a really low base level of fitness. He's had the best part of 4 months out with presumably the bare minimum of activity (no weights, cardio etc). Even overlooking any protocols that need to be followed it'd be mental to expect him to be anywhere near fitness until the new year. Edit: just saw I've pretty much said the same thing as superward. Apologies, hadn't seen your post before I commented.

He could go out on an "emergency loan" (Emergency Temporary Transfer) to a side in the Championship and lower for a minimum of 28 days and maximum of 93 days. From the looks of things now if he's going to move it'd probably be in the next transfer window. Having said that, another side has to want to take him. You can't just arbitrarily decide he's going out on loan and force him on some lower league side.

I'm not entirely sure I buy the "he's too small" line of argument. It's slightly disingenuous on my part but at 5' 7" he's taller than Jonny Hayes, Patrick Roberts, Ryan Gauld, Danny Swanson (who's one of the least "athletic" players I can think of) and the same height as Shaun Maloney. I'll not list all the players who are the same height as him but you get the point passing off on the idea that he'll not make it because he's not 6'+ is simply looking for an excuse. Having said that, it's fair comment that he's often seemed to be brushed off the ball too easily in first team games. I like Dom as a player but while he's been consistently good at u20 level and can turn full backs inside out he hasn't offered much by way of end product in terms of goals and the regular comment is that he needs to improve his final ball, unlike some of those that players I've mentioned above. I'm not sure what his goalscoring record is like for the 20s but it's been a while since I remember him scoring. That aspect of his game has nothing to do with his height or his weight.

Surprisingly the attendance on Saturday wasn't far off the first home fixture against Thistle last season (Craigan's first game in interim charge). 204 down which given the publicity surrounding the road closure, weather, Dundee result etc is less than I was expecting it to be. 26th September 2015 - Motherwell 2 - 1 Partick Thistle att: 3,963 19th November 2016 - Motherwell 2 - 0 Partick Thistle att: 3,759 Edit: I noticed on Thistle's forum folk moaning about the cost to get in. One guy saying for him and 2 kids it ended up costing £41. I know the club do a family ticket for £29 but it seems fairly ridiculous to have that offer with a juvenile ticket effectively costing £6 then doubling that if you happen to have a 2nd kid with you. I noticed that Thistle have a flat £5 entry for under 16s. Surely that makes much more sense? https://ptfc.co.uk/tickets-matchday/help-for-away-fans/

Probably worth pointing out that Hearts haven't lost at home in the league since the opening day of the season against Celtic. Their record is: LWWXWX

He was playing right back in their 3-0 home loss to Newport yesterday.

Not that it changes the crux of the point above but as far as I'm aware Laing's is just a standard loan, not a development loan.

That was pretty much my initial thought when I saw the questions. How does someone quantify "feeling valued as a fan", the emphasis and relevance of that and interpretation of the question itself will vary from person to person (wildly, in some cases). All those questions are going to generate is anecdotal evidence, there won't be any actual data. However, it's entirely possible that's the point. From reading Mr. Murrant's quotes it appears that they're specifically looking to try and get a handle on people's subjective experiences. It'd seem that this would be intended as an entry point of engagement for the club and it doesn't seem too outlandish to imagine that it's wide ranging for a reason. I pity the person who's going to read through them though I'd be genuinely interested to hear what people think makes them feel "valued" as a fan etc.

I watched Blyth in the 45mins (first half) of the 20s game at Firhill I managed to get along to the other week. It was the first I'd seen on him. He missed a sitter of a header, fell on his arse a few times, it was a really good team performance both Hastie and Thomas were excellent but Blyth was by no means a stand out. He was, by and large, as I expected him to be from the clips I'd seen online. He held the ball up reasonably well, brought others into play but other than that he looked like the sort of striker you'd imagine someone with his stats to be. Belic's tea's oot I'd think.

The full table of results is available via the link below and you're completely correct season ticket/match day tickets are, on the whole, comparable with Leagues 1 & 2 in England indeed the £19 lowest matchday ticket at Fir Park isn't that far off National League prices (Aldershot £17, Dagenham & Redbridge £18, Lincoln City £18, Tranmere £19). Given that the English Premier League and Championship are among the most lucrative sports leagues in the world (as Well Up For It! points out) it's hardly a fair comparison especially as Scottish sides will be much more reliant on season tickets and match day income. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37953195

Fairly dull on my part to start a post with "McGhee said..." but anyway McGhee said in a press conference after Laing had left on loan that it was as much about balancing the books as anything 4:25 here https://youtu.be/0Gukb8ECWiE?t=4m25s It's definitely an odd turn of phrase on their part as I don't really see any correlation between his relative success on the park with us and finances per se. As far as I can see he's been loaned out because he was a fairly expendable player on a first team wage whose contract is up at the end of the season and was unlikely to be renewed with a club willing to take him. FWIW I quite liked Laing.

^^^ Basically this. From what I've seen of Thomas lately he's totally plateaued at that level, though I'd say he seems to have shown a bit more since he's come back from his stint out of the u20s & first team. Overall he can turn up week in week out and be one of the best players on the park playing against development league players. He was outstanding the other week against Thistle but while the left back he was playing against was one of Thistle's 'bright hopes' (Penrice) he's also 17. A friend of mine who covers Thistle's u20s for their in house comms was watching the game with me and pointed out that Thomas was taking them apart and that was a fair assessment tbh. He's got a lot to offer, and still does IMO, but he's currently coasting at development league level. There's a huge difference between that and playing first team football in the Premiership.

Definitely agree with this. I think McGhee has a very real decision to make about the role of guys like Hammell and Lasley now. I had a feeling that the plan would be to reduce their involvement over the course of the season but it may be the case that it may have to be more immediate than that. Obviously Lucas starting against County was dictated by Lasley's injury but had Lasley been fit I'd have been surprised if Lucas would have started ahead of him. So far this season we've found ourselves having to sacrifice Lasley around 60-70mins as we've been losing and chasing the game (County, Thistle, Hearts, Dundee etc). While I'm all for having "experience" around the squad it shouldn't be to the detriment of the side. Based on nothing other than a gut feeling I'd imagine that if both are fit then McGhee would go with Lasley as his first choice and we'd see Lucas on the bench. If he's not been willing to drop Samson for Brill then I'd be surprised if he'd be willing to drop not only a senior player but the captain. However, if those 'experienced' players are no longer the best option to start in their position then we absolutely need to be playing the players who give us the best balance. Up until this season there's always been a reasonable argument that we've looked a relatively better side with both Lasley and Hammell playing, I'm not sure that this is the case any more. I suppose it's difficult to read too much into Lucas' performance against County. Who knows, it may just have been a one off against a side with a midfield that was worse than ours but given that game seems to have been our most complete showing thus far then it's difficult to argue against giving that side a run regardless of whether that might be inconvenient as far as our "perceived" best XI goes. Delighted to hear that McHugh and Moore both seem to be on their way back too. Edit: there's maybe a bit of confirmation bias at play on my part here but looking at it 8 of our 12 points thus far have been gained without Lasley on the park. He was suspended against Killie, injured vs County at FP and had been subbed off at 1-0 down against both Thistle and County at Dingwall. Obviously it's stretching things to make a direct correlation but equally it's quite a difference from last season where we seemed to fall apart without him there.

Agree completely about Campbell he's been thoroughly consistent in the centre of the park, is disciplined, keeps the game simple. He's a big part of how the current u20s side is playing through the midfield with him as an anchor. I'm a big fan of Turnbull as well, he looks like a natural footballer (if that doesn't sound too daft). Good first touch, composed, plays with his head up and a bit of vision.

McGhee played the same side at Firhill after the 4-2 Accies game so I'd think (hope) he goes with the same side as last week today. I seem to remember him saying last season that his preference is to get a settled side out playing consistently (or words to that effect). Given last week was, by all accounts, the first time this season we've put in a consistently good 90 mins then it'd make sense to give the same side a run.

Aye, it's not easy to find. I remembered the tweet from the club but only found the full list via a thread on P&B

Cumbernauld Colts. It's a home tie IIRC. Edit: fixtures here http://www.eosfl.com/news.asp#149 https://twitter.com/motherwellfc/status/781159924713807872

Mackin looks a lot more mobile IMO and there's a bit of skill there to add to the fact that he seems to be a very decent finisher, his goal the other week was a superb hit. He definitely seems to be becoming a much more rounded striker rather than just a big lump to hit up front. His set up and cross for Blyth's chance early on was a fine bit of football.

Went along and caught the first half before 7s this evening. It was a tremendous performance. They looked a yard quicker and sharper than Thistle. More physically robust too. Dom Thomas was outstanding. He took the Thistle left back to bits.