StAndrew7

This is another issue. Kettlewell doesn't really drop players unless he absolutely has to.

That's isn't the role he plays though and never has been. You can hammer him as much as you want for not being an effective contributor in the final third but if he's asked to be the holding/sitting midfielder and not be an attacking threat that's not on him. Miller and Halliday there to perform that role so he doesn't have to. If Halliday is shite at it that's not Davor's fault and leaves him even more exposed to criticism and being caught out. He came off against Livi and from what I recall (although I wasn't there, so correct me if I'm wrong) we played a slightly different system when he did; Miller went deeper, I think?

We set up to play a pretty direct counter attacking style no matter the opposition; I'd not really expect us to be retaining that much of the ball. Aberdeen and Hearts you'd expect that, despite how badly the latter are playing. St Mirren play a different style to us with wingers and it's no surprise they'd have more of the ball than we do. I agree it's a poor show against St Johnstone. On your other point, one of your main criticisms that seems to persist is Davor not playing forward passes, but you openly admit our forwards and his fellow midfielders can't retain possession. Which do you want? If he gives it to Robinson who then loses it immediately we're instantly back defending; if he recycles it backwards or out wide, he's at least removing pressure, even for a brief period of time. The system is on the manager and the job he's asking the players to execute. It's currently working relatively well; I accept improvements can be made on an individual level but they always can, no matter how well we're playing.

Yeah, we had the same frustration yesterday too. Especially when it went to 10 v 10; as much as it annoyed me, it did end up working. They created very little once we set up like that. I think it must have been instructions from SK. Sparrow coming on to replace him was clearly given instructions to get in their face more and we did look better as a result, I agree.

We've gone back and forth on Davor a fair bit the last wee while. I get that you don't rate him but I think you're being quite harsh. I think he does retain possession and then gives it to wider players (which seems to be Kettlewell's preference for moving the ball/patterns of play). Davor gets caught out because he has a lack of support and it normally leads to an opposition attack when he does; so it's more noticeable than Miller or someone else losing it further up the pitch. @MFCL84 makes a valid point and he does appear to be isolated in the pivot/anchor role. That, for me, is on Halliday who always seems to disappear up towards the final third when we're looking to build an attack, or hides behind one of the opposition.

I raise you Paul Keegan the Domino's manager.

I'm by no means a Davor fanboy; he has his limitations and often dwells on the ball too long and is caught out as a result. He's also not strong enough at times but his energy and willingness to get across the front of the back door does make up for that. But what I don't understand is the extent of the stick he gets for not playing forward passes. That's not the role he plays and isn't the role he's asked to play in our system, so why criticise him for it? He looks a far better player with Miller alongside him, because he can give him the ball to play it forward. Halliday, I agree, is a man down. The ball sailed over his head continuously yesterday. He was outstanding versus Hearts and played well against United too, but he does have a tendency to disappear for a run of games which we can't maintain. Sparrow looks like he has some energy and dig from the appearnes I've seen and it'd be good to see him starting in there at some point. When you think that of our remaining injuries, three of them are central midfielders, I think we're coping quite well. There's improvements to be made in the final third but we've definitely addressed the main deficiencies of last season at the back. Would it be wrong of me to say I hope Casey doesn't win any appeal so we get a better look at Balmer?

Mark O'Hara, Kevin Van Veen, Jimmy Scott, Mikael Mandron and Charles Dunne all got their arses handed to them yesterday. 😅

It would absolutely have been a handball last season, the fact they've relaxed the rules there a bit shows how ridiculous it was last year! Loved today. Absolute chaos and got one over on Robbo and his absolute haddies when normally it would have been the other way round.

Gordon recovered well after his mistake which led to the goal, agreed. I went for Miller but it was a flip of a coin between him and Ox.

I think you're spot on with your middle point. The rest I think might be passing judgement a little too soon/making some presumptions (which we all are at this point, it's a forum for discussion after all). We've seen SK mutual players he felt were useless (Danzaki etc.) and given he's not really needed by us currently, this makes most sense for his development and integration into the Scottish game. Like you say, he's got a 2-year deal; hopefully this helps him settle down and apply himself to be a part of the squad next year, or before if we recall him. I do wonder if this points to us extending Maswanhise? Kettlewell has a good record of developing strikers/getting the best out of them; however, that's been whilst playing them consistently and also giving them coaching. Stup was never going to get the former this season, given Robinson, Moses and Stama are in front of him in the pecking order. I'm not going to give up on him yet, but I can see some warning signs much like you.

Aye, I think it's probably best for him. He's behind Maswanhise, Tavares, Stama, Robinson, Moses and Watt in the pecking order. He'd basically just be training and not playing unless we have another mental run of injuries.

Been charged with assaulting a woman in a takeaway and one other count of breach of the peace. Chat is he allegedly used a homophobic slur. I can't see him playing, or having a contract beyond the weekend tbh. Although the usual innocent until proven guilty caveats apply, clearly. Robbo hasn't painted himself in glory, either. The phrase "These things happen." was used in a response to a question about him being unavailable.

You'd be leaving him out permanently, then. 😉

Did we not decide (along with United) to not have VAR in place? Saved us £16k or something I thought. Aberdeen did the same.

Fitness update from Ketts saying that SOD's injury isn't as bad as feared but he's not trained this week. He's to be assessed before the game. Johnny K is back in full contact, as is Blaney. Paton a few weeks away from full contact, Callachan (mind him?) has his brace off and both Nicholson and Slatts are making good progress. I doubt we'll see any of them other than SODs at the weekend, right enough. Maybe a spot on the bench for JK but I doubt it if we've got cover that's fitter.

Aye, I experienced that at one of the league cup finals. Fucking horrendous behaviour.

It'll definitely be interesting to see who Ketts starts. I'm not convinced Watt is a starter just yet, same with Stama and Tavares. Robinson just scored his first goal, so you can't really drop him from the starting 11. Maswanhise wasn't as effective against United but he didn't have a lot of space or time on the ball because they realised he was a main threat of ours. I can't see him dropping either Davor or Halliday; they're starting to form a solid partnership which is giving Miller freedom to be creative. It's really a question of if SODs is fit enough; I can see the same team from Friday starting with Kaleta in if SODs is struggling. He wasn't listed as doubtful, so he might be OK.

Mate of mine has heard it has been looked at and nothing seems to be "up" (someone has said the same over on P&B). Like even discussing methods and drills with other teams and experts and there's nothing there other than bad luck. Kettlewell has been on the record several times saying that we investigated all the training injuries last season and made adjustments as a result of them, too. It's perhaps bad luck, it's perhaps our medical team missing things. Vale trained with us for half a season last year and didn't get crocked like this. Thankfully we're pretty stacked up top even with injuries right now so I'm not too concerned.

Casey for me, he was absolutely brilliant. Can totally see why Balmer isn't getting a look in right now. Miller was class but it's now at the stage where it's just expected. What a fucking talent.

That strike had all kinds of FUCK YOU levels of power written all over it. 🤣

A quick check (correct me if I'm wrong @David), 4,500/32,000 (census population of Motherwell) = 14%. We absolutely should be targeting areas further afield, like the Society (and the Club) have proposed; e.g. outlying towns and villages like Lanark, Law, Hamilton, Strathaven etc. Campaigns like the one for tonight, I imagine, are only the beginning. I think it's fair to say that these efforts should absolutely be applauded and if this is the kind of work we're going to be seeing moving forward, it's an indicator of how seriously things are being taken to increase ticket sales. Especially when you consider that an increase in crowds doesn't provide an increase in revenue from pie stalls, merchandise etc. as the terms of those deals aren't in favour of the Club right now. Others can correct me, but I think the Club have made money on shirt sales on maybe one occasion in the last 10-15 years? Pie stalls are a flat fee per game/season and then the rest goes to the franchise who runs them. As others have said, time will tell, but this is a promising start.

Shia Laboeuf Applause.gif

I think there'll be a fair few people buying on Friday; it's pay day for quite a few folks so they might have to wait. If I get along it'll be a game time (probably within an hour of kick off) decision for a variety of reasons, so hopefully there's more folk in that boat, too.

It's not directed at you, the Club have put in place "safeguards" specifically around games involving Rangers and Celtic to prevent their fans entering the home end. No one here is disputing you being real Motherwell fans.