Andy_P

Which even the St Mirren fan at work conceded yesterday.....albeit with a beaming smile as he completely by accident no doubt, found an excuse to engage me in conversation....

I seem to have a bit more sympathy for the team than many who have posted so far. That game was dying on its arse until Brines intervention with the penalty award. St Mirren had shot their bolt long since and we were as comfortable as we'd been at any point in the game at that stage until the penalty. Criticise us for losing composure after that? Certainly. But it was a massive game changing fuck up of a decision from Brines that turned the game on its head. He had a pretty desperate forty-five minutes riddled with mistakes and inconsistencies. Aside from the penalty let's not forget how he bottled the second booking for Goodwin. Or the double standards that saw him pull up Motherwell players for time-wasting but let St Mirren players do exactly the same without it seemingly being a problem any longer. And he obviously took exception to what was being said to him by some players after the penalty because it was just foul after foul after foul against Motherwell for very little after that. First half I thought we looked pretty threatening going forward and scored two cracking goals. Saints looked threatening from set-pieces but weren't creating anything much in open play. They had passed up a couple of decent chances and it wasn't a great surprise when they pulled one back. Disappointing we couldn't have seen it out until the break. They were well on top for the first 20 odd minutes of the second half, where Nielsen had a couple of good saves, but we looked to have weathered the storm and seemed pretty comfortable. Had Ainsworth's shot gone in or Craig Moore taken his chance it was game over. And then Mr Brines played his decisive role... It's a bloody frustrating scoreline and it rankles that with a break there won't be an immediate opportunity for the players to use the frustration in a positive way by looking to bounce right back.

Your thoughts and votes please...

I can't remember the reason why or who gets a payment first but I've been at more than one meeting (MFC AGM and Well Society related) where the club have openly commented on the fact there is a different payment date structure for the top and bottom halves of the league. The very fact that the club had to go to the Well Society for funds last year to cover shortfalls until the next SPL payment was received, was in part down to that payment structure.

Manager of the Year is the very least he deserves if he can sign players for Motherwell a full six months before becoming manager. Impressive talent that.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Very disappointing stuff. Very reminiscent of our previous home matches but this time we weren't able to ride the "storm". It's fair to say we've had ample warning over the past three fixtures that something like that was coming. Not too much in it throughout I felt. Both teams had spells where they were dominant in terms of possession, both carved out a few chances. A draw for me would have been about right. A win for either side would have been arguably unmerited so a defeat and in the manner it came was a real boot in the chuckies. But we were far from great it has to be said. Missed the inventiveness of McFadden and the combativity of Carswell in the middle of the park and allied to that there were a couple well below par - I'm thinking Ainsworth in particular here. It rankles that it was such a good opportunity lost, that we had the lead and couldn't see it out and that if Sutton had put that header away early on in the 2nd half that would probably have been that. Only ourselves to blame though this time.

Your thoughts and votes please...

We'll cut to the chase. Going by his Twitter account......Frazzle got this.....

We're at the point of the season where the final outcome is the priority and we've got the required 3 points in each of our last two home matches without perhaps reaching the standards we are capable of. More than happy if we can keep doing that until the end of the season. Good persistence shown by the team to just keep doing what they were doing until the breakthrough eventually came. Pleasing to see them play the conditions too by firing in awkward efforts from distance which found Brown wanting and lead to both goals. A bit like in midweek the killer third, had it came, could have made so much difference to the final 20 minutes of the game. As was rightly mentioned by someone during the week, 2--0, however comfortable you may be, is an awkward scoreline to concede from. Difficult to know whether to try to hold what you have or try to regain the initiative against a side whose tempo and confidence are now much increased. And suddenly, that mental two minute spell in the first half apart where we gifted them possession about 6 times, we looked vulnerable for about the only time in the game. But we got there and that's all that matters.

That's a fair shout. Over to 2014'15 Ins and Outs Thread it is.....

Your thoughts and votes please...

I forgot you were relatively new around here. The guy you inadertently speak of disappeared from these boards curiously at the exactly the same time as Humphrey did. If you are ever really bored and I mean really really bored, pour your favourite tipple, nestle snuggly in your cosiest chair, fire up Steelmen Online and search for posts by a poster called "Dazzer". And enjoy!

Your thoughts and votes please....

I agree. But I do have to concede that your age and length of support can have a bearing on expectations too. Some of the older posters have stood accused in the past of being more happy clappy because their length of service has afforded them a greater mix of highs and lows and arguably more perspective on how to view disappointments when they arise. A younger 'Well fan who has known only top flight football, seen possibly three Cup Finals enjoyed a regular diet of top half finishes and European football will naturally have a different perspective. There has been quite an evolution over my lifetime in terms of our club. I remember the 80's where the club had tough times, could have gone under, could have gone part-time but rebounded back. The years where we held on to our top flight status by our fingernails. Then we solidified. Towards the end of the decade arrived fanzines where people sent articles in wondering if they'd ever see their team in a Cup Final or Europe. Then we won the Cup and played in Europe. And so it has gone from there. That some can be appear to be so blase that they can brush off Motherwell making Europe again. Wow! I say enjoy it. Embrace it. Savour it. Times change. Things happen. Some pish examples possibly but Killie, St Johnstone and Dunfermline were all in Europe, decades before Motherwell in fact, but 20/30 years down the line all three of them would spend time in the third tier of Scottish football. I'd like to think we're better than that. But I aim to savour every possible minute of Europe, Cup Finals and golden times like we're currently enjoying because you just never know what's down the line.

Ever dwelling on the positives eh!

We're maybe veering away slightly from the match itself but there's a good debate to be had about the make up of the side. I personally think it comes down to the footballing philosophies of each one of us and that includes the managers. Our current and previous incumbents are markedly different in their approach which perhaps makes the differences all the more distinct. You had Craig Brown whose primary aim first and foremost was not to concede and he looked for his teams to build from there. Hence the reason why we had so many shut-outs and were so well organised in that department, particularly when he first took charge. If we got a raft of goals thereafter and it happened to be entertaining then that was a bonus rather than the plan. McCall is different. Perhaps not the polar opposite of Brown but he has said on more than occasion that he would rather win 5-4 than 1-0 and looks to build attractive attacking teams rather than a more functional and pragmatic unit. It seems that he is - happy would be the wrong word here - willing, shall we say, to sacrifice a bit on the defensive front if it means we have a greater emphasis on attacking entertaining football. It boils down to which one of those outlooks sit most easy with you. Both have succeeded I'd say in doing what they wanted with their Motherwell teams but I do think there needs to be a shade more appreciation of what McCall's outlook is when pointing out the failings of the defence and acknowledging that yes, whilst we are conceding 2's and 3's a bit more routinely than we would all like, since December and things have clicked a little more we've also been fortunate to see our team dish out a fair smattering of 3's, 4's and 5's themselves. I suppose in a sense it's one the beauties of the game - there's more than one way to win a fitba match!

Again, apologies for the delay in posting but your thoughts and votes please...

I'm like you daver a little before my time but for guys of a certain generation, my old man included, these Texaco/Anglo Scottish Cup games definitely hold a lasting appeal. He too speaks fondly of that game against Tottenham at Fir Park and I recall him telling me how a group of his mates drove down to Carrow Road for a game against Norwich. Stopped by the polis curious as to why these scarves and lion rampants were covering this motor. "Going to the gemme" they say to the confused English polis. He's also got a fantastic wee bit of memorabilia where a letter from the club is inviting him to join them on the charter flight to one of the games, which he has autographed by some of the players of the day.

Apologies for the belated post. Sometimes something even more important than MFC can take up your attention.... Still. Your thoughts and votes please....

Your thoughts and votes please...

A not entirely unexpected outcome I suppose. Dundee Utd have certainly had the rub of the green against us in the past two fixtures when you consider the strength and fitness of the teams they've faced, the gift of a first goal last night, the failure to spot a foul in the second (although I must admit I didn't see it at the game myself), the penalty claim on Vigs which could have brought us back within a goal and a deflected third. But in fairness we've pretty much got what we've deserved in each. Very disappointing that after a decent enough start we were the architechts of our own downfall with that awful attempted pass-back. Oddly enough McCall made a point at the AGM the other night that Hutchy is far from the finished article, still has flaws and it may well be such errors that put off some potential suitors and strengthen our chances of retaining him. Well a fuck up like that, live on the telly when there's little or no other games for managers to watch as they sit in their living room and with teams in hotels up and down the country..... The second was awful timing shortly before the break but just appeared bad defending at the time. Although a flood of texts pointing out a foul on Hammell suggested we may have had cause for complaint, as we most certainly did with the Vigurs penalty claim. But 2-0 at half time, few complaints. We hadn't played well, couple of half chances and a penalty claim. No more than that. The third again was awfully timed and carried some further bad luck for us. Again from my vantage point at the time I didn't quite see where our penalty had come from until baldy pointed to an outstretched arm. I was actually more concerned that we weren't going to get a corner for the deflection off the wall when he awarded it. Bit more like ourselves after going 3-0 down that prevented it becoming a real pasting but nothing too troubling for United to deal with thereafter. An awkward fixture chalked off the list, we move on.....and hope Thistle can do us a turn later.

Your thoughts and votes please..

I think the key thing is that whatever valuation the club have in mind for a player, you can't actually make someone bid for them, or bid at the desired level. Nor can you force them to move when under contract. Goodwillie's fee was actually mentioned and whilst no figure was quoted the club clearly had a figure in mind that was far far in excess of what was eventually received for Murphy. But the point was made with Murph - who you'll remember he knocked back a move the previous January and also with Nicky Law and Hutch that the bids received for those players were of an amount that it was a real quandry for the club as to whether to sell or keep them in hope that they could help the club finish further up the table.

Tricky to say Dave, I was fairly close to the front but I wouldn't estimate the number present to be beyond 30 or so. Like you another shareholder happened to remark that the numbers get lower with each passing year.