Andy_P

Personally I think to an extent with the past loans what's done is done. I'm comfortable in the knowledge that the finance at the time dug the club out of a couple of fairly decent sized holes. That in part along with the emergence of Les and the various schemes there, allied to the hoped for increased revenues that are in the pipeline means I hope that loans will require to be a thing of the past.

The answers themselves notwithstanding it's a big step forward to have questions answered in such a fashion and it is to your credit that this has been achieved so soon after your election. Over time you may expect a dip in the number of questions asked but I do hope on behalf of the WS your seeking out questions from interested parties, members or otherwise, will continue on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. As an aside welcome though occasional interjections from WS officials on Steelmen Online in the past were I'm pleased the responses were put out officially on the WS site. For me that provides a touch more credence than a personal view on a forum. Well played all concerned.

Were it not for their result against Accies last midweek then going up there so soon might not have been such a bad thing given the potential for complacency on their part. Our visit up there towards the end of last season was hardly pleasant either so there may have been notions of just needing to turn up. Unfortunately given the freshness in the memory of that game at NDP I suspect that will no longer be a factor. But you never know. The personnel available means we can't start the game the way we finished at Killie even if we wanted to but then I'm not quite sure that would be such a good idea anyway. It is absolutely paramount we don't start the way we did up there last month so I can foresee a cautious bordering on the laboured approach at the start to feel our way into things and to prevent them getting a grip early on. An early concession would allow them to smell blood once again. Personally it has a little bit of an "end of an era" feel about the trip for me. My old man and old dear, before her passing, have been in Aberdeenshire for about six or seven years now and unless he gets called across as cover on site this will probably be the last "Aberdeen catch up weekend" with him, before he moves to Speyside (opens up some good opportunities for Caley and Dingwall weekends mind you!!) so it would be lovely to sign off with a good result a few great trips up there over recent years. We'll see how it goes.

I've spent the best part of half a dozen years listening to the Bully fan in work bemoan both Duffy and Ferguson their previous two coaches. His chat about Ferguson sticks more in the mind with him only recently departing but he was firmly of the view that Duffy was a very negative thinking coach. Ferguson he believed only lasted as long as he did because Clyde couldn't afford to sack him given the contract they'd put him on and the fact, by virtue of his connections, the revenue he helped bring to the club behind the scenes. He did complement Ferguson's work ethic and said there was no questioning his commitment but was unable to get his thinking across to the level of player he was operating with. He said during Ferguson's time he built three or four teams none of which had any great success. My mate said he when he couldn't progress after so long with what he had he would just get rid and start again. He tried a more youthful route which didn't work then went too far the other way with guys likes Marvin Andrews and Mark McLaughlin the old Accies defender struggling to last the pace on their astroturf pitch. In much the same way that Alex McLeish was rarely if ever taken to task about his role in Motherwell's plummet down the table it also irritated my mate that given both Duffy and Ferguson are media darlings similarly a positive slant was always put on proceedings given their relationship with the media. I remain pretty clueless as to who I would want as our manager but I can tell you plenty who I don't want to get it and these two fit firmly into that category.

Gie it a bye eh.

Your thoughts and votes please.

In the dim and distant I must have signed up Supporters Direct Scotland emails. One came in today which might be of interest in terms of the Project Brave stuff we've discussed in recent months....

Currently helping Wolves on their way to English League One.

I think when it comes to a new managerial appointment there's that initial rush of excitement when you see names ten aplenty linked but for me at least it very quickly becomes a fairly an anxious process. Reams and reams of uninspiring candidates linked because they're currently unemployed and desperate to get back in, folk like Craig Brown and media types trying to talk their pals into a job and all the while you've folk with distant links like Andy Walker or those who know the square root of fuck all about Motherwell like Chris Sutton chucking in their tuppenceworth. I can't imagine it being a particularly easy or pleasant experience for the board members involved in trying to pick the right man that's for sure.

Radio Clyde? Pfft. Hell mend you!

Nobody's said Tommy McLean yet. Where do I collect my prize?

Terrific wee mini-feature about Murphy on the 'fishel today as it happens (he said without the slightest hint of bias...) http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2017/02/26/made-in-motherwell-jamie-murphy/

I think it's very much each to their own. There was a time when I might have felt strongly that it didn't reflect well on us as a support at that punters left early if we were losing, voiced negative views from the stands rather and called for the manager's head, but these days not so much. The price folk pay to go to games, coupled with the the whole "own MFC" vibe means that whether the club believe it right or wrong, fans do feel they have an entitlement and should have an influence. I think the message from yesterday will have been received clearly in the boardroom from the emptying stands at half-time, those outside the ground and on social media. It would be impossible from the club not to be aware. Now that doesn't necessarily mean I agree with those protests for the manager's head or would encourage fellow supporters to boycott the club. But a decision will be made in due course whether that's this week or in the summer and the views expressed yesterday will surely be taken into account. For me personally however this isn't the time to turn our backs. As has been stated well by a few across various threads McGhee, Samson, Jules, Chalmers and all on the receiving end of flak will all be gone soon or later. If you want a new manager or a better side you want those players or coaches to come into the club in the best possible shape it can be. And that isn't in the Championship. Happy clapper it may very much be but in the knowledge that the point has been made yesterday it's a time for whoever is in charge next Saturday, whichever 18 pull on the jersey and for us punters to do all to do what we can collectively to try to turn the tide a bit, however unpalatable those coaches and players may be. I heard it said after the Malpas protest with the season ticket throwing was pointless because it came at the end of the season. For me though it was the ideal time. By hook or by crook we were safe and the message could be made clearly to the board without destabilising things further. If there isn't change imminently my hope would be that there isn't an ongoing sideshow running in tandem to a battle against relegation as I think however well intentioned that may be, it isn't going things on the park. We'll see what happens but for me, it's a time as was the feeling a season or two back not to "give up the fight" and turn our backs.

Jesus! See what happens when you take Hammell, McManus and Lasley out.... But seriously. Just utterly utterly abysmal, and for me worse than Pittodrie recently. Worse than Tynecastle and Parkhead last year. I don't consider hefty defeats pleasant in the least but when they are dished out by half decent teams with the bit between their teeths then sometimes you just have to suck it up and take it on the chin. To be 5-1 down to someone like Dundee at half-time however, at home, when you've gift wrapped just about every one of their goals. That is something different entirely. That is sacking material. The opening forty-five minutes was as horrific a display of defending and goalkeeping as you could imagine. No shape.Nobody taking responsibility. No leadership. I remember shaking my head and laughing as Chalmers looked up the line in the first half in front of the East Stand, looking to pass it forward he immediately kicked the ball straight out of the park not more than about 5 yards ahead of him. That this particular display of ineptitude probably doesn't fit into our 5 most shambolic incidents of the game says it all. It is obviously a huge worry where we go from here. The saving grace for us appeared to be the ability to eek out results against the teams around us. If that goes now too.....? This was supposed to be the first of a run of games that where we knew what had to be done and would deliver. That's been fair blown out of the water and as McGhee has put it in the past how does he sell them a story that'll make them believe they can go down to Kilmarnock and get a result after that? If he's still here, he and his coaching team have quite a week of work ahead of them to stabilise things after this.

I know, I know...

I liked him too. He had his failings but he was certainly a good finisher for us during for the time he was with us. It also irritated my Airdrie supporting mates immensely at the time that one of their heroes over a number years was playing and scoring goals for Motherwell. Another reason to like him!

That's my recollection also although I couldn't quite remember whether it was McLean or McPartland he alleged was trying to hasten his departure. Academic anyway I suppose as nobody seemed in the least bit fussed about how he departed when he was popping those goals away for Motherwell in yon Masters tournaments a few years back.

Not quite what you're meaning but for me Ainsworth doesn't need to kick another ball in anger for Motherwell and the love for Lionel will be everlasting. We'll always have that Thursday night at Ibrox...

Okay let me put it another way. We've fans who will routinely leap upon the outcomes of games against any given opponent and use it as an easy stick to beat the team or manager with despite the fact that taken in isolation the comparison generally proves little. I didn't actually have you in mind when I made the remark about point scoring but your original post is actually a reasonably good example. If the point you were making was that Kilmarnock beating Aberdeen illustrates that teams from the bottom half can beat the bottom half then why not just say that? Why the need for the "a Kilmarnock side managed by Lee McCulloch......" reference? To me that read little more than attempt to portray us in an even further negative light (as if anything to do with Wednesday could get much worse!) the inference being how truly awful we surely must be if a side managed by Lee McCulloch can be beating Aberdeen whereas us.... But as it happens Kilmarnock and Aberdeen is the perfect example of why such isolated comparisons prove little or nothing because as it happens having already been pumped 4-0 and 5-1 this season and now lost 19 on the spin against them rather than just one particularly awful game against them it transpires that Killie are actually even worse than us and are consistently dug shit against Aberdeen! I still stand by my point that some of our number can be a bit hasty in using a single result as "ammunition" for a negative "woe is me" style point to be made but if I've misread the intended point in your post then clearly I'm not going to disagree that we should be doing better against the top half sides.

I'm not really sure it does. We were absolutely awful against Aberdeen in midweek. Whether Kilmarnock were beating Aberdeen or otherwise it still wouldn't change the fact we were absolutely awful against Aberdeen in midweek. Setting one specific outcome against other. How much does it really prove? Does that mean we should all be cock-a-hoop because we only lost 2-0 at Parkhead yesterday because Inverness lost 6-0 the week before? What perspective does that put on yesterday's result? Surely that proves we must be significantly better than Inverness no? Of course it doesn't. I think if you're using a broader range than one game against another - such as our league record against Rangers for example - then sure you can say definitively we've a real issue with a team. Or to use that game earlier as an example the stat that Kilmarnock have lost something like 19 successive league games against Aberdeen. But selectively comparing two teams results against the same opposition I'd suggest is more useful for pointing scoring than gaining any real perspective.

I was relatively pleased with that today, all things considered. In the context of what has gone on in the week before a wee bit of pride restored I felt. We had a shape that we stuck to, defended generally well, created one or two opportunities - that we could have done better with and showed a decent measure of ambition. I've seen plenty worse in there. Interesting to note the views in the thread about the penalty. I must admit at first glance I'm thinking would we have got that up the other end? Hmm.. but perhaps it was more clear cut than I first thought. We passed up a decent opportunity to level through Pearo and soon after lost the second but I thought we showed a decent measure of character not to collapse and the longer the second half went on the more we grew into it. Pearo had another half chance and there was a claim for handball too. Not brilliant but very much a ship steadying display that gives a bit more hope after midweek. But I do agree with several who have already posted that Dundee onwards now really is the time to begin to deliver on something like a consistent basis. We've had all the stuff about stop-start seasons and things not really having got going. The time is now.

Your thoughts and votes please...

I agree that the frequency of such hammerings is currently happening much more regularly than it should and it is an obvious concern why games can slip away from us to such an extent, but by the same token I think these kind of results are far from uncommon. We probably average at least one five goal humping a season. I can remember a couple of 6-1's at the hands of Hibs, there was a 6-1 at Tannadice against Dundee Utd and that was in a season we came in second. We also lost 5-1 there only a couple of years before re-grouping and again finishing second. There was a painful 5-1 at home to Livingston and how can we forget New Douglas Park! And that's before you take into account some of the drubbings endured at the hands of the Old Firm. The flip side to that is that equally I can remember both good and bad Motherwell sides doing the same to others like beating Hearts 6-1, Livingston 6-2 and 5-0, Raith 5-0 and 5-1, St Johnstone 5-1 etc. Even Maurice Malpas managed to steer a side to a 5-0 win over Kilmarnock. So these kind of results can and do happen to teams in our league. But of course the frequency of them currently has to be addressed. Whilst I'm replying I know you've made the point about Lasley and Hammell a couple of times but I'm also sticking to my guns in terms of their re-signing. I'll be in an ever reducing number who believe it was the right thing to do but at the time I believed it was. Old ground but getting the two on reduced terms for the overall player/coaching package was for me a fairly sound move Yeah the extra year Hammell got was perhaps excessive but the principle of them being around another year and being gradually phased out whilst younger members of the squad gained an extra years development alongside them was not unreasonable to me. Now clearly for various reasons that hasn't happened anything like as well as hoped but it still doesn't mean the original intention was wrong. Hammell has unfortunately never managed to maintain a sufficient level of fitness and of course I would have to concede his form has rarely reached previous levels of consistency that served us so well for so long either. I'm dubious that Chalmers is his long term successor but any succession plan there might have been never had a chance with him being injured even more than Hammell. McMillan at least will have benefited from his presence around the club. As for Lasley, I do think he's been used more than had been originally intended and odd as it might sound I think we might have benefited from a "less is more" approach. Any such plans became largely redundant with injuries to McHugh and to a lesser extent Lucas although again I will concede I am a little disappointed Allan Campbell wasn't able to benefit a wee bit more from the availability in centre midfield.

Not so sure about that. The last time Aberdeen horsed us in such a manner they beat us 8-0 whilst recording our biggest ever defeat. This was a fortnight after losing 6-0 away to Morton. In the midst losing nine successive games. Said run also included a 4-0 loss and two 3-0's.

Your thoughts and votes please...