joewarkfanclub

Im sure thats what he was trying to do when he made those signings......

Ok. Since your keen to answer the question I put to Yodo, which quality holding midfielder and striker would you have signed with the £3m at your disposal? Id also argue whether the squad gets worse with every window under Kettlewell. You were similarly critical of Robinson and Alexander and the players he signed. Kettlewell has got most of them out the door. He has also improved our defence which everyone agreed required attention. Clearly we still need to address certain areas of the squad and I agree signing more quality over quantity is advantageous for a club with our budget, but sometimes the players you want or need arent available and you need to make do with what you can get.

You obviously missed the part where he criticised the manager. Out of interest, which striker and quality holding midfielder do you suggest he signed?

Shite. Forgot about that. It was 2 games. Thats a shame. He woulda had a serious point to prove. Guess its Casey Balmer Blaney unless SOD makes a Lazarus type recovery. I just got a lot less confident about a result.

Just watched the highlights. Can I change my vote? The Ox was outstanding.

Fair enough! 😆😆😆

Im not saying for a minute that our recruitment has been flawless. Obviously you need a strategic plan for your squad, but sometimes circumstances are fluid at a football club and what seemed like a good decision at one point might not later on. I was fine with Halliday on loan last year but I wouldnt have given him a 1 year option. Without it, he may not have come, personally, I dont think that would have been any big loss, but I can see why the manager signed off on it. I wouldnt want to see him getting a further extension past the end of this season. Nicholson was already in the building and looked like he was being prepared as the Spittal replacement in case he went last January. Again Callachan is the outlier as he was the one we had the opportunity to not sign at the time. But Paton and Nicholson had just been injured and Slattery was a long termer. Would have made more sense to go for someone else, I think Gorrin was available, but again, he has had a serious injury as well, so do we know what kind of Gorrin we would be getting?

Nicholson had one serious injury before he signed for us. Should we never sign any player who has been previously injured? Paton literally got studs raked down the back of his achilles v Clyde. So how do you prevent that? Mcginn is 34. But has played over 400 senior games. He is an experienced pro with no significant injury history and most would agree he has been one of our best players for the past 2 seasons and we missed him big time on Sunday. I will give you Callachan, but Im thinking he was a stocking filler and therefore a cheap option as we knew Nicholson and Slattery wouldnt be back in the short term. Players also undergo medicals and are monitored by our medical team on a weekly basis. Are they shite too? Or is it just the stresses and strains put on professional players these days due to fixture schedules result in increasing numbers of injuries due to the pace of the modern game?

I really want Tony Watt to be a success with us this time round. Not least because he is clearly desperate for a new contract with us when his current one with United expires. The downside is he looks nowhere near fit. I really expected to see some improvement by now, but it doesnt look to be there. Now that could be just down to match fitness and if so, a run of games is maybe what he needs. I actually think the way we play at the moment he is likely to be the most effective foil for Stama and Id be tempted to take a punt on it, but only the manager and the fitness team will really know how far off it he is.

I think Kaleta looked like cramp again. He hasnt played a lot of senior football and puts in a power of running so probably not surprising. Hopefully he will be ok. I think Davor back in alongside Lennon to give him some protection alongside Sparrow or Wilson. I think we need Maswanhise up with Stama. Problem for me is that Halliday seems to be part of the leadership group and without McGinn or SOD he seems certain to start. To me, it looms like his legs have gone and he just cant get around the field quick enough anymore. Might be less of an issue against St Johnstone than it was against Celtic and Rangers. He does pass the ball better than Davor though so maybe he should be preferred? Expect another closely fought contest. Hopefully with us winning by the odd goal.

Yesterday was just a load of chickens coming home to roost. As KMcAlpin correctly identifies, we just dont have a lone striker capable of feeding off the scraps currently being served up. You could say that is a failure of recruitment, but I dont think SK started the season intending to play that way. The injury to Vale has been a big loss for me as I think he is the one player we had that could properly support a loan striker and connect the play. The injuries to Nicholson, Paton and Callachan have clearly impacted our midfield and we were getting by with McGinn and/or SOD distributing from the back. Now both of them are injured the balls out of defence are not of the quality required to keep possession. Sparrow and Wilson have done well when called upon but they offer legs and energy more than great quality. The only real footballer we have left in midfield is Lennon and he spent most of yesterday seeing the ball fly over his head. Some will say its all on SK due to poor recruitment, but we have had a lot of injuries to contend with and are already carrying quite a big squad. He would have to have had 100% success in recruitment to cover every eventuality and thats just not possible. Personally, I think we have over achieved so far this season. Im hoping it will improve as players return to fitness, although I accept, it doesnt always work out that way.

You make some good points. But you undermine them with your visceral dislike of the manager. Yesterday wasnt his best day at the office. But he is also the same manager that got us to the semi final and had us sitting 4th in the league (before yesterday) and 3 points behind Rangers. Some of our recruitment doesnt look great (Robinson, Tavares, Watt) but others have shown they have something (Kaleta, Balmer, Gordon, Seddon, Maswanhise, Stama). I dont think the tactics were intended to be negative, but they turned out that way as Rangers turned up and played some decent football in midfield. I will give you the substutions, as they were honking. But Im not sure Watt and Moses would have altered the outcome.

Thought first half today was passable, albeit we werent brilliant. Limited Rangers to 2 decent chances and scored a very good goal. Second half, I expected us to tweak things a little to get more control of the midfield, but if anything we regressed. Not sure whether that was down to tactical failure or whether Rangers were just better then us at moving the ball. The subs were wrong and made us weaker instead of better and thats on Ketts. Cant fault the players for endeavour, but feels like an opportunity lost.

Not the point I was making. You said Watt would be raging. He would have a cheek. Just get fit.

Not saying I wouldnt have brought Watt and Moses on instead of Robinson and Tavares, but Watt would have no right to be raging. If he put the work in to lose weight and get fitter he would be a shoe in for a start far less as a second half sub. He is a shadow of the player we had before and if he isnt willing or able to get himself in shape, I would have no interest in offering him a contract at the end of his loan.

Kaleta. Pace to burn. If we actually ever work out how to use him properly we might create more chances for our forward players.

Lets do this! 🧡❤️🧡

There are so many variables tomorrow there isnt really any point trying to predict what is going to happen. Needless to say we will have to play close to our best and hope Rangers have an off day to get a result. Lets just get to Hampden tomorrow and enjoy the occasion. Its a no lose situation for us as we arent a team that is expected to get to cup finals on a regular basis, just getting to a semi final is a big deal. Enjoy Lennon Miller leading the team out. Enjoy being part of a big Motherwell support. Enjoy the fact that we have a chance of doing something really special, even if it doesnt pan out that way. And maybe, just maybe, this underdog will have its day! Up The 'Well! 🧡❤️🧡

Steelboy raised it in the CEO monthly chat thread. Got a reply from Brian Caldwell claiming there was no overcrowding, merely migration from top tier. Followed by some debate questioning how that could be the case when it appeared visibly to the contrary. The thread then turned into another binfire.

For me the major benefit is that it shuts up all the naysayers who kept moaning about lack of follow through by the WS Board on strategic partners. First ones in the bag less than 4 months after Barmack got chased. Hopefully more to follow.....

Just bumping this for those at work....

Hey folks. I have one spare ticket for Sunday. East stand Motherwell section, fairly well back in the corner so should be a decent view. If anyone is interested please message me directly.

SOD confirmed as out on Sunday. So midfield is really the only question mark. For me Sparrow has to play, so the only question is, do we play Wilson in midfield and 1 up top or leave him at full back and go 2 up top. Neither have been that successful for our strikers. But I like the control we get with the extra midfielder. Id go....... Ox Balmer Gordon Casey Kaleta Wilson Halliday Miller Sparrow Maswanhise Stamatelopoulos

Id play Sparrow from the start with Miller in the middle and bring Halliday on later when we need an experienced head to close the game out. But SK obviously rested Halliday last night as he intends to play him on Sunday so you are probably not far away with that. I hope its not going to be a return to Davor and Halliday in the middle with Miller further forward again, as that would be a step back imho. I think the last 2 games should have shown SK how important legs and energy are in midfield the way we set up.

Clement and Rangers under serious pressure. The Bears wont be doing patience on Sunday. We need to be in their faces from the start and show them we wont be bullied. Dont let them play and we might have a chance.