Andy_P

Progress. Still not where we want to be but progress. An odd kind of game in a sense where we could quite easily have been three or four up yet were clinging on to the three points by the full-time whistle. The second goal today was crucial. Had that come through Anier, Lasley or McFadden I think we would have been quite comfortable winners in the end but at 1-0 you are always in danger. I read a tweet last week of the stats of PSG's game which illustrates that perfectly, where they had 17 shots on target to their opponents one - they drew 1-1! Anyway, get that second goal and for the game was won. I felt we grew as the first half went on, both in terms of confidence and in varying the style of football we were playing. Delighted to see Sutton get off the mark with a well worked move and finish. Thistle looked tidy enough but rarely threatened. Second half again we were reasonable enough to begin with and were carving out chances. The more we missed however the more you feared we would come to regret it. But basically the backside just fell out out if after about an hour. We may be in danger in of having tunnel vision about this mystical player with pace who is going to make it all, all right, but by God, how we could have done with him in that last half an hour as an outlet to both relieve the pressure and capitalise on Thistle as they pushed players forward. But in saying that. How many saves of real note did Hollis have to make? Sure they had tonnes of the ball and got into threatening positions but our defence coped admirably with what was thrown at them today and I'm sure both they and McCall will delighted after the public criticism that has come their way of late. So all in chuffed. Some very good individual displays in patches along the way from Carswell, Lasley, Hutchinson and Anier and a great three points when plenty of our own had written the team off before the game. Now to build on it and continue that progress.

Like that most regular of captures of Scottish sides - an Estonian from the Norwegian league? Or a Faroese keeper from Denmark? In all seriousness though I'm not sure you can say that with any assurance. Few if any of us have any idea of where McCall focuses his attentions, where he gets reports and videos from. The one thing he certainly seems to heavily utilise is former players from past clubs and from connections made. It cuts both ways. McGhee spoke often of connections but was slated as he rarely seemed to deliver from them, McCall has been criticised by some who perhaps believe he has overplayed the connections route.

I forecast this will be the game that McFadden will come to life, don't ask me why, just have that feeling. I can't remember who mentioned it previously but he did sign off first time around with a double against Thistle and whilst that ofcourse has sod all bearing on Saturday, there was always a strong dislike for Faddy from their fans that I'm sure they'll pick right back up on Saturday. I can actually see that being an extra wee spur that will see him begin to come good once again. 3-2 Motherwell. McFadden double and one from Vigurs to open his account.

Ahh Frazzie... Makes me smile and think of those amusing days when in between choosing Humphrey for his Man of the Match every week, predicting he would score every game, and doing his best to criticise Jennoe, West Midland's finest was accusing you of casual racism.... I wonder if I'll ever reach a level of boredom that'll make me peruse the PNE boards to see if our Dazzer has surfaced.

It may have changed since the formation of the SPFL, but certainly there used to be an obligation to have (two I think it was) U21 players on the bench. Doesn't detract from the point you are making ofcourse but for so many years there were so many young players stuck on benches that had as much chance of getting on as you or i, simply to satisfy SPL rules.

Your thoughts and votes please folks...

I can't imagine Anier's absence is down to form. Could only imagine he has either picked up a knock or is suffering the effects of being away on international duty during the week. The ZFA one however gives us back the impact sub option which I think is where he has performed most creditably.

The forecast is for rain, there's no beer in the fridge, the Pringles are out of date.....

Ha ha. I'm surprised it took you so long to pick up on that steelboy. As a previous critic of his involvement with Scotland when he said after Sunday we had almost a full week to before prepare for Inverness I thought you'd be all over it. You're slipping!

I didn't close the thread but will make a stab at guessing why it was. You've made your feelings known about Sutton on several occasions on several threads since he resigned not least the thread started on Sunday. That thread for me kind of discussed pretty much all there was to discuss and had gone round the houses a couple of times. Threads like that eventually only go one way when people get fed up reading the same points regurgitated over and over and that's when the abuse starts. It does little good either when you or those arguing with or against you start the 'told you so' stuff every other week as we saw with the Higdon thread for two years. That's been nipped in the bud. Arguably too early perhaps but with the best of intentions Consider also that there is a responsibility to all on here and not just you as the OP. By that I mean other folk who read the forum, plentt of whom who have walked over the years when threads like this get bogged down.

No, but it may well release McFadden to be involved in a more central role in support to the central striker be that Sutton or Anier. It will most certainly offer width and offer a greater variety of attacking options. Not a silver bullet by any manner of means, but would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Well we got the difficult game we expected. Shame again we were pretty culpable for the end result having been in such a great position. Absolutely fantastic start. Couldn't have dreamed for better. But we barely kicked a ball thereafter. By half-time you could argue it was about eaksy-peaksy. We had scored, they'd hit the bar a couple of times. The second half completely belonged to Aberdeen and despite having absolutely no idea what the second penalty was for, they fully deserved their win. Frustrating though that it was our own failing that gave them the opening with the first penalty. Hammy dithered, McManus took the bait and they immediately sniffed blood once they'd got level. Until then I thought we'd looked pretty well organised defensively if offering absolutely nothing going forward and thought we might well have been able to grind our way to a sneaky win. But after they scored you had the fear. Our forward play is a bit of a concern. Sutton is crying out for some decent service and Faddy continues to look some distance off of what we know he can bring to the team leaving us looking very one dimensional currently, albeit Anier again impressed today. Hurts to have lost. To have chucked away a lead and in particular to Aberdeen with all the recent history the fixture has but its far from a decisive blow in the direction of our season. Frustrating as it is it is a case of holding our tongues hoping McCall can add that offensive spark on the wings and that the team's style of play evolves creatively sooner rather than later.

Your thoughts and votes please folks...

He's only going to turn 34 this season, which when you consider modern day fitness, health and nutrition regimes allied to the fact he was never really blessed with great pace anyway, then it shouldn't automatically sound the death knell for his Motherwell career. Certainly to suggest that it would be criminal if he gets another deal just seems mental. But certainly it would seem mutually beneficial both for Lasley to extend his career and Carswell for the development of his, that over the course of the season (and future seasons if the case remains) that Keith is used more sparingly. But either way perhaps the time for such a debate would be later on in the season when we have actually seen how Lasley has coped with the rigours of the campaign?

From memory it came in, for the start of 2011'12 season brought in under the guise that because the SPL had chosen to start the league three weeks earlier than normal and Celtic had already signed up to a pre-season tournament, as a one-off they would allow clubs to scheduled to be at home in the opening two or three weeks to cancel their fixture. Celtic fucked off to Dublin and Rangers cancelled their game to play Chelsea. Their opponents Killie then subsequently arranged a game with Blackburn. The slightly surprising one was non-Old Firm side taking it up with Hibs, cancelling their game with St Johnstone to play Sunderland I think it was. As a one-off due to the tardiness of the SPL or opportunism/sleekitness of Celtic in confirming a pre-season arrangements too early (delete as applicable) I could understand the SPL allowing it, even though I personally thought it pandered and showed weakness to Celtic - no surprise there ofcourse - and belittled the status of the competition. But then the SPL chose to continue the arrangement last season albeit limiting it to the second week of the season and this is where it really began to rankle for me. Although they ended up outwith the SPL, the league had actually gone to the trouble of initially scheduling both Rangers and Celtic at home in week two, so two diddy teams would be shafted just so they could both make a mint. And so it has continued this season. I disagreed with the SPL's assertion at the time that teams cancelling league games to play friendlies benefits Scottish football as a whole and still do. It makes a mockery of the competition and is particularly irritating when you have someone like Neil Lennon whingeing about having to play actual competitive matches after they played Cliftonville yet here they are cancelling league matches to play a friendly a fortnight later Whilst it is true that the opportunity exists for all top flight teams scheduled to be at home on week two, the reality is that going forward it is a rule designed to line the pockets of the Old Firm alone. That Hibs managed to get lucky with that Sunderland fixture is the exception to the rule. Frankly any English side of note is unlikely to want to have their final pre-season match against the likes of Motherwell, Partick Thistle or Ross County when they can coin it in and play matches of higher standard of opposition from Spain or be well rewarded for exhibition games in the likes of Dublin or Helsinki. If the newly formed body really wanted to help boost Scottish football's profile across the world then the opportunity to cancel games before or after a European clash, allowing time for additional preparation and recovery, for me holds much more merit than letting teams cancel league games to play friendlies.

Your thoughts and votes please...

When all is said and done the better team has gone through but its frustrating that we've been as culpable as we have in our exit. From Hammy's give away last week to an utterly horrendous OG from McManus to McHugh missing a penalty. It seems be going against the grain but again like last week I don't think McCall was a million miles off the mark with his tactics and again individuals in the team have had a major bearing on the outcome. I thought we played pretty well tonight. Well organised for the most part and had decent possession. Seemed to me the game plan was fine to a point. We didn't lose the early goal so there was no danger of them sniffing blood. Then took it half-time. The question mark would be at what stage in the game did he intend to make a fist at trying to claw back the two goals in the second half, if he had any intention that is. The OG obviously killed any notions of that happening if it ever was in the plan. Good penalty save from Nielson. I was impressed with Anier also. A very willing runner and did well off the scraps that came his way. The penalty miss at the death though just seems to have magnified the frustration of it all though.

MOTM: McManus 2nd Place: Hutchinson 3rd Place:Vigurs

Okay then Last post by. let's put your proposal to the test.... Hopefully covered most bases for a "weekend" slot. What would you preference be? Poll now active.

Their first away game of the season on the back of a win and the usual hype of their second coming could have had the £££ rolling in. Will still be a good support I'm sure but maybe not quite so lucrative as it might have been for the club had it been a Saturday instead of Sunday. Still. One of the bigger league games of the season to look forward to.

Not overly concerned about Sutton just yet. As has been said earlier in the thread, the two half decent chances he's had he hit the woodwork on Thursday and forced a decent save from Williams yesterday. He always was a streaky kind of player where he could a few without scoring and then hit a purple patch and score something like half-a-dozen in a month. And not that you are comparing like-for-like with Higgy but in each of his two seasons it was something like the 5th or 6th competitive games of the season before he got off the mark.

Your thoughts and votes please...

It's getting boring now. Well you have the security of knowing that you've at least a similar standard of goalkeeper waiting in the wings and it won't be a laddie thrown in at the deep end if Hollis gets injured and the fact they are of a similar standard will ensure competition for the place which should ensure the current incumbent is kept fully on his toes. There's two reasons for a start. He wouldn't have been my first choice admittedly but McCall's made he's decision. There's fuck all we can do about that other than make the very most of it which in this case is try to give the guy as much vocal backing as possible in the hope it boosts his confidence and game. Which let's face he should be getting as a given whether its Randolph. Hollis or Sieb fucking Dyskstra between the sticks.

I think it's ludicrous to imply he was involved in the team because his Dad happened to play in the side Rangers side as Stuart McCall. That barely warrants a response. But what I would say is that rightly or wrongly there was certainly a feeling, if you want to call it that, that Hateley seemed to have a status in the side that perhaps wasn't quite warranted. I recollect once or twice he was handed the captain's armband during a game when the captain went off. I remember thinking it a little curious at the time how high up the pecking order he appeared to be. For a good too while there seemed to be something of an unwritten rule that he would be the man to take almost all the set pieces. Then there is the Hateley Snr factor. Perhaps it shouldn't really come into it but the fact is that many Motherwell fans find his father utterly loathsome and I think he was seen as guilty by association. In a similar way because of who his father was I believe he enjoyed a press that sometimes bordered on the undeserved. If it had been say Steven Saunders who had been in his shoes for the last four years he certainly wouldn't have been as well regarded by the Scottish football media as Hateley was. So I think there's been a mixture of things that have contributed to a general lack of love for him. Evidently though he was well thought of by the management. And why not? Four years where he hardly missed a game through injury or suspension - a manager's dream. Whilst the media perception that he was some shit shot set-piece specialist was overplayed, so to was the belief that every corner or free-kick was wasted. The truth is much more middle ground. He did have a really good number of assists even if he had days where his corners and free-kicks were utterly apalling. He was a generally sound SPL standard full-back who also gave us an option in midfield when the occasion arose. I actually think he might well have done pretty well with us had he hung around. Certainly if we were to deploy him as right wing-back, whilst no Chris Humphrey, would certainly offer something more going forward than we have on the right currently, and with three central defenders would have less defensive duties to worry about, where he could sometimes be suspect. Given the chance if it were in our budget I would have him back. I'm fairly sure that's an unrealistic proposition however given finances and our weight of numbers in that part of the squad. Kilmarnock though just seems something of a face saving exercise. A reality check and a return to the comfort zone of the SPL after discovering perhaps he isn't as sought after as his father and his father's cronies in the media would have him believe. What can he do there that he hasn't already done or would still have been able to at Fir Park? I don't feel hatred for him at all. It's a little amusing that he didn't make it to Ibrox certainly, particularly since one of his old team-mates did. No I actually feel a little sorry him. He's been poorly advised and is suffering for that now.

Aye. Sky Sports something or other.