joewarkfanclub

Took a night off to digest that yesterday and offer thoughts when less emotional. Firstly what a great away support yesterday. Large in numbers, but also started the game in good voice. Much better than the team. Couldnt really argue much with the starting line up due to injuries and differing levels of fitness, but it wasnt long before the same old mistakes reared their ugly head. Slow ponderous possession. Wing backs way too deep to help an overun midfield and literally zero secure possession to build any play from. The worrying thing for me was the body language of some of the players. Something has changed and some of them clearly look like they no longer believe what the manager is telling them. Others look like they dont understand what they are being asked to do and as a result you get the impression of a team that isnt trying. I dont believe that to be the case, but its very difficult to give your best if none of the building blocks are there to allow you to do so. Felt really sorry for Kai Andrews yesterday. He was having a poor game no doubt. But he is one of the few actual footballers we have at the club and he was left cruelly exposed yesterday with little or no support. Hooking him felt harsh, and I felt there were other options that could have been explored to support him rather than remove him from the game. Thought the one bright spot in the first half was Nicholson. I had forgotten what a good footballer he is. Hopefully he can build up his fitness and become an integral part of the team in the second half of the season. Second half was a bit better, was just a shame Nicholson couldnt last the 90 minutes as it would have been nice to have seen him and Slattery on the pitch together but clearly they need their minutes carefully managed to prevent any relapse. Overall, a depressingly predictable performance and result which reduces the second half of the season to a scrap towards safety. The supports patience with the manager is clearly wearing thin and he will have to dig out some results in the next few weeks if he is going to avoid it all turning a bit toxic. Our league position keeps him safe for now, but if we get dragged down into the battle for the play off place, the wolves will rightly start to circle. He needs a tactical re-think or a big window (or both) to stall the immediate decline in our fortunes until he can get our better players back fit and into the first team. If he does that he will survive. If he doesnt, then this happy clapper will have to admit its time for him to go.

I think you are confusing the entire Motherwell Support for this place. If we win tomorrow Im pretty sure the entire 1700 Motherwell fans or whatever the number is will go mental and appreciate the players for keeping a dream alive.

Does he really though? Last seasons midfield was Spittal, Miller, Paton and Slattery. He then signed Nicholson in the window when Slattery was injured. Bair was a big boy, but not your traditional target man until he worked out how to better use his physicality. Was the same in the van Veen season. I see the current style of play as a means to an end because our entire midfield was basically injured at the start of the season. I had expected it to improve by now but further injuries have conspired against us. If Armstrong is a target man, I think it makes direct football a better option, but I would hope we are looking at doing more business than that now with Seddon, McGinn, Ox, Miller and Stama all still out......

Not every loanee can be the quality of Mika Biereth. Much as I would love us to unearth another one like him. All depends on who is available. Folks have been shouting for a big target man to allow us to be more productive the way we are playing. Given the injuries and the continuing inability to field a functioning midfield, I dont think he would be the worst signing on a loan deal. Has heavy Ryan Bowman vibes.

6ft target man scores 1 in every 3 games. Seems the right profile.

I would imagine the end section will defo be cordoned off given the Fair City lot stand in that corner......

SOD has struggled to display his best football for us for a variety of reasons. This season he looked like a new player. Slimmer, quicker and putting in some really good performances. I was delighted for him as I think THAT SOD, together with his offield attributes, shows enough on the pitch to make him a useful squad member. Then he got injured. Unfortunately since his return we got the old SOD back. Hopefully, its just being thrown back into a team that is now underperforming and he can recover his early season form.

Why let that get in the way of a good story!

I thought straight reds for endangering opponents were cross competition? Or is that just violent conduct? Not sure what the difference is. It would ve a real break for us if he can play.....

Dundee showed tonight how to play counter attack from very low levels of possession. Keeping it on the ground and playing into feet is the key. If only we had a rapid diminutive player who was great with the ball at his feet......

Thats about what he had scored this time last year. He should do double digits in the second half of the season! 😆

Ooft! Thats rough. I can make peace with the exciting 4-3 much quicker. Im getting older, I dont like to waste what time I have left! 😆😆😆

Winning is the most important thing. There are different ways to win though and they way we are currently doing it is the hardest to like. This is mainly because the margins are so narrow it doesnt take a lot to go wrong for a win to turn into a draw or even a loss. We have seen that a lot recently. There are mitigating factors. But they are wearing thin. If our injury crisis isnt going to clear any time soon we need to be more active in the transfer window than we had anticipated. If we are only a few weeks away from things improving that may be less urgent. Going forward Id like to see us playing a little bit more possession based football. With Slattery and Andrews we have 2 players that can actually keep the ball. Paton could have a role to play and hopefully Miller heals quicker than anticipated. Attacking from secure possession would expose us to less risk at the back and would give a platform for creating better chances than we have been used to of late. Doesnt mean we cant go long or in behind when necessary. As someone else said, there are different ways to be entertained. I quite like nice interplay, but Im also partial to a bit of thunderdome and excitement of just getting the ball in the box. We have done that at points this season. Just not often enough to change the narrative....

For balance you should add that if we lose a really turgid game 1-0 I will be even less happy! Other permutations are also available. 😉

Cant even contemplate this game until the cup game is out of the way. That has to be the priority right now. With the larger than normal away support the manager surely needs to win that one. How many players we have left standing at the end of it will determine whats possible the following week.

Anyway, back to the game. Hopefully the players have enjoyed their day off and taken time to recuperate. Interested to see what comes out of the club in the next few days regarding injuries, comebacks, signings. We could do with some good news for a change. There hasnt been much of it lately.

It is the way........😆😆😆

Slattery. Played precious little football until he came on and scored a really good goal.

Was he any good? And hows his barnet looking?

100%

I will wait to see who is available to play before making any predictions about this game. Glad we have a full weeks rest between games at last. We are going to need it.

Why wouldnt you expect things to change when better players become available? SK hasnt always been anti-football. Its just the way things have gone this season. Last season we went to Ibrox with Slattery, Paton, Miller and Spittal and played some of the best football Ive seen from us in years. Miller is obviously injured and likely to be sold on soon, but a midfield of Andrews, Slattery, Paton and Nicholson could be decent. In that company Halliday would probably show up better as well. Obviously not going to happen in time for Saturday and things look pretty bleak right now, but the darkest sky is always before the dawn! 😉

First and foremost football managers need to win games. If they dont do that they will be out of a job as the same fans complaining about lack of entertainment will be the ones demanding their head. That said, the football has been generally brutal this season and save for the odd game when things have clicked into place, there hasnt been much entertainment on offer. Id like to think there is a happy medium to be had where there is sufficient entertainment to be had whilst also picking up the necessary points. Lets not forget that this is the same squad that beat United 4-3 and drew 2-2 with Rangers. Both thoroughly entertaining games. It has been the exception to the rule though and it is something that does require to be addressed. A football club is nothing without its supporters to play in front of.

There is some merit to this argument. I do feel that SK sees the same problems as the rest of us. Its just his solutions to those problems often seem quite mental. Same with his in game management. That said, I know you are a big advocate of going to a back 4, and under different circumstances I would agree. But the majority of our injuries this season have been to midfield players so dropping a defender to put in an extra midfielder would be next to impossible, paricularly as we dont have a decent defensive mid to sit in front of a 4. With Vale back, I do think 4-3-3 is a possibility, but with his red card, it definitely wont be on Saturday. In short. SK has had a really shit hand dealt to him this season. I think there ARE things he could have done to make life easier for himself, but we arent in possession of all the facts and information he has at his disposal, so he will continue to get the benefit of any doubt from me for the moment. If we get knocked out of the cup and get dragged into a relegation battle and he is still doing the same things, then my patience will be severely tested. Right now, I will continue to suffer like everyone else.

This is where Im at. Unfortunately, up until this point, we havent had enough fit midfielders to successfully play more attacking football, or change from 5 at the back to a 4. With the signing of Andrews and with Slattery, Nicholson and Paton all coming back, I would expect to see a move towards more of a passing game. The first half yesterday was generally fine out of possession, other than the 2 absolute abherrations from Halliday and Wilson, but in possession we were brutal. Zero shots at goal in 45 minutes is horrific. Second half was much better once Slattery came on. He, Andrews, Vale and TJ all have that little bit more quality about them. I actually feel sorry for Ewan Wilson. He has needed rested for a few weeks now, but the injury to Seddon has cost him that opportunity. That said, his positioning for the first goal and decision making for the second were very poor. SOD has also looked well off it since his injury and his positioning for the corner leading to the penalty was criminal. Pretty disappointing as he had started this season pretty well. SK has some big decisions to make for the Cup game. We are back to where we were after the Hibs game at Fir Park where things looked very bleak. He managed to turn that around with a couple of good performances and wins and he needs to do the same again.