wellfan

Absolute cnuts.

Given the extended break, anything less than a draw will be worrying.

Given the context includes he and his pregnant partner being subject to some pretty awful abuse and him underperforming and being dropped, which is likely due to the first point, he’s probably going to have to make a big decision in January to protect his mental health and his partner’s mental and physical health. With that said, coming back to somewhere he is loved in Scotland or England would be a no-brainer for him. However, Groningen would have to agree to any big decision and I doubt they will.

Bring him home to Fir Park.

Can't say I'm surprised or disappointed. We now get another week for Butcher to fully return, Biereth to get back into training with us, and our strikers more time to find their shooting boots…

Will we see his best tomorrow? Perhaps if we were playing in League 2, where he was at his best. So, maybe not. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/motherwell-fans-havent-seen-best-31230619

It is indeed optimistic, but honestly, it's all we have.

And gives Obika another week to further injure his injury.

Does anyone know how much the Club is likely to financially benefit (be compensated for) from having Liam Kelly in the squad for Euro 2024 qualification? I know national teams earn money from UEFA and then they pay their players a fee, but each club also receives a fee for releasing their players to their national team. I assume the Club would also be compensated should Kelly be in the squad that goes to Germany next summer 🤞 Although, that depends on if he's still with us next summer and the Craig Gordon situation. https://www.uefa.com/returntoplay/news/0274-14dc1ba1e69e-5f8560c74c66-1000--euro-2024-club-benefits-programme-approved/

I really don't know how to predict this one. St Johnstone are shit and couldn't buy a win so far this season, but we’re pretty leaky at the back and don't have any proper strikers. I'd take a 0-0 battle to stop the rot.

I thought the second-string squad played quite well last night (for the most part) as they executed their game plan, but were just completely undone by the quality of the French players. I also don't think either keeper was at fault for any of the goals conceded, but it must be tough for Kelly to have had three go in against him on his senior debut.

Some people love to be like you. I’m not jealous of that pursuit.

The entire Scotland A team. It contains players who qualified for the big time.

I agree. The more we moan should directly correlate with our monthly direct debits. Agreed?

Kelly v Giroud, Mbappe and Dembele tonight. Incredible. This has just earned Motherwell an extra wee wedge.

Graham Alexander was the best thing to ever happen to Sligo Rovers: https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/heres-how-much-sligo-rovers-27609424

Some familiar lunchtime reading to entertain your soul: https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9173&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9279&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9267&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9266&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9268&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9273&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe https://www.sitdownorwellstealyourclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9248&sid=e13f5a4a5c9f0298fe4559ec01e539fe

MK Dons fans aren't happy with Alexander. Shock horror. https://x.com/donsaction/status/1711321014242566283?s=46&t=wehikD-exiutCByWu64YEQ

Motherwell love to sign a player and play them out of position. In all seriousness, I agree. It's time to play Spencer on the right and SOD on the left unless Souare/Gent are any better there?!

Bair is, unfortunately, the fall guy because he's a 'project' that is being thrown under the bus by Kettlewell as he stubbornly 'hangs his hat' on him by continually selecting him. He isn't good enough (yet?), but, as I wrote previously, it's not his fault that Kettlewell keeps starting him alone up front. He tries hard, so fair play, but a team needs their solo striker to be a goalscorer. It should also be noted that Bair isn't at fault for our continual leaky defence. That's another issue that needs to be addressed. I agree, and I think we could all agree that that change should've happened for the Livi game. The St J game will be time for Kettlewell to show us what he's made of now that he's under justified scrutiny.

Bair is crap on his own up front, but it’s not his fault that Kettlewell keeps picking him to start up front alone. Today’s loss was entirely on the manager, and it’s not come out of the blue. I and others said that his over reliance on our midfield four to support a dud striker will see them tire, become jaded and easily sussed, and then turn in a performance like today. Kettlewell simply needs to change it up for the St Johnstone game. If he doesn’t, this forum will be a delight.

In the context of the last four games, yes, it is plan A, and it's failed. The plan A you talk about goes back to the start of the season when we had more options. My point was that a plan B (or C as you imply) should've been tried today because even a 2-year-old could see that it's not been working during the games before today. Even before the last four games, Bair wasn't scoring when deployed as the lone striker, our midfielders/defenders were, yet Kettlewell has persisted with it and we've lost four on the bounce whilst only scoring once. To be fair to Bair, he scored in the opening game, but that was when we deployed two forwards, although one goal in eight league starts is pretty crap for a striker. Therefore, as we have limited options, it makes sense to drop Bair or deploy him alongside another forward. It's that simple, and in a perfect world, he would be nowhere near our first team. And it's all semantics whether a plan A or plan whatever is considered here, because he's not good enough no matter the plan. But maybe Kettlewell doesn't want to drop him as that would indicate that his 'project' has been an immediate failure, or is it that Wilkinson and Shaw are even shiter?! If the latter is the case, we're even more fucked than we currently are until Biereth and Obika return. At the end of the day, Kettlewell has brought pressure on himself by signing a known dud and publicly 'hanging his hat' on that dud. He didn't have to do either.

Obviously no. I'm suggesting that his sticking with the same set-up for today against Livi was a mistake, given that it had failed for the previous three games on the bounce. Today was the day to drop Bair and start with two up top. We cannot persist with him as a solo striker. His record before joining us demonstrated that he was incapable, and his record since joining us has confirmed that. How many more games does Kettlewell need to see this? Another three or four? I hope not.

Agreed. Wilkinson hasn't shown anything to suggest he is any better/worse than Bair, and the jury is still out on Shaw. We all know what Obika gives, but we also know that he is a crock. And imagine we hadn't secured Biereth on loan; we'd be staring down the barrel of pure shite until the January window. Our signings in the forward department have more or less been a complete failure so far.