joewarkfanclub

As one who supported GA longer than most on here, I find it perplexing that given the information that is leaking out now, that people continue to defend him. People need to pay attention to the nuance of the language being used. Its clear to me from the things that Steven Hammell has said and now SOD, that things behind the scenes were far from perfect and that players and staff alike werent happy with what was going on. Usually these things remain unsaid even once the manager has gone. The fact that they are not speaks volumes to me. I have no problem with agreeing that SODs performances for us were poor and that he could have no arguments about being dropped. But it did mystify me when I watched him play for Scotland. Particularly at Wembley when he was outstanding. Of course we dont know what really happened behind the scenes, but with Slattery disappearing for months, SOD being benched, so many players seemingly low on confidence and now comments from Hammy and SOD in the press, it appears that the working environment created by GA was part of the problem.

Why would Mackay or McInnes leave their current positions to come to us? Kilmarnock are a similar size of club as us with a similar size of support but a wealthy benefactor supporting their attempts to become fan owned. Ross County could be argued to be a smaller club and living outwith their means, but they too have a wealthy benefactor who shows no sign of stopping any time soon and has backed Mackay to the hilt. They would be mad to jump ship in the hope that they could sort us out. Its not like we would be paying them any more money or that we have any greater potential.

Agree with much of that. My concern is where do we get all these players at this stage? The decent ones will all be signed up. We will be left to choose from unsigned players or loan deals. Maybe that was always going to be the case, but whoever the new manager is, will have a tough task ahead of them.

Thats kinda where I am at. I just look around and feel that whoever we choose is going to be a gamble of some sort. Even someone like Lambert who has experience of managing and playing at the highest level is a gamble. Would he be able to work with the limited resources we can offer? Would he be able to motivate the players we currently have? Would that level of arrogance he has bubble to the surface and prove counter productive? Would he bugger off at the first sign of a better gig? Not saying Hammell should annointed now. There may well be someone on the shortlist that we dont know about, but he is far from the worst candidate.

I understand the desire for an experienced manager given where we are currently. Someone who knows what they are doing, knows Scottish football and can get us organised quickly so we get some sort of bounce to buy us time in rebalancing the squad. But from the list of names available there is no one on it that I would trust to improve us. Tommy Wright and Paul Lambert are available but neither fill me with joy for various reasons. Genuine question, who would others suggest we go for?

Cheers, totally missed that. Not good.

As far as the game itself was concerned, first half was very poor. Slow, pedestrian, no movement, poor first touches all over the pitch and gifted them a goal. Felt a lot like the Sligo games. 2nd half was a lot better. Credit to Hammy for making the changes quickly and but for some better finishing and decision making in the final 3rd we should really have got the equaliser long before we did. To get the equaliser so late and then give it straight back with such poor defending is just criminal. Other observations, Collum is still a really shite referee. Not the reason we lost the game, but the 2 penalty decisions are huge, particularly when you see what he is giving free kicks for all over the rest of the pitch. Finally, 90% of our support, me included, had no idea what the bois were demonstrating about. As stated previously you cant see the banners from the East Stand so it just looked like idiotic behaviour and a disruptuon to the game. I realise that to be effective protests generally need to be spontaneous, and unannounced, but maybe a wee bit more forethought is needed as to how to take the whole support with you. Even if our support do push the boundaries at times, no one can deny the stewarding at St Mirren can be over officious, so there would be general support for the point made. That was lost today.

Anyone know why Carroll wasnt in the squad? No mention of an injury in training......

Goss. Very few with pass marks but he was always available for the ball and looking to play a forward pass despite being very few available. Was more effective in the 2nd half in a more central role.

Hope he is found safe and well. Thoughts with the family.

Some have alluded to a personal relationship with a staff member whilst in his previous post. I have no information in that regard one way or another.

Im not saying for a minute Stevie Hammell is criticising GA. I think he tried very hard not to do that. However, listening very closely to the nuance of the language, thats what I took from it, and I personally think thats damning of GA and something I never thought Id criticise him for, as he was always on about getting the "free stuff" right.

I understand the emotion attached to the above posts, and whilst I share it to an extent, is it really a good enough reason not to give Hammell the job if he appears to be the best fit for the club/role at this point in time? None of the candidates named so far has universal support and all have their deficiencies that are putting some of us off. He could go on to be the best Motherwell manager of all time and cement his status as a club icon. Personally, I still havent seen a name I would prefer over Crags, but the rumours of his departure appear to be an impedement to his return. I hope that isnt the case because he ticks many of the boxes Hammell ticks and I could see the 2 of them working well in tandem to ensure our academy players get the pathway to the first team that the club desperately needs. I also think Craigan has a stature about him that would demand respect from the players......

So I took out of that, we arent fit enough. Some players didnt get enough minutes in pre season to give us options and some of the players are low in confidence and need built back up. Quite a damning indictment on our recently departed manager.......

Oh magic!

I think our hand will be forced somewhat tomorrow with injuries and suspensions. With McGinn, Lamie and Slattery all likely to be out. Id still like to see us move away from 4-3-3 and with a weeks extra training it should be possible. Something like Kelly SOD Mugabi Sol Carroll Maguire Cornelius Spittal Goss Tierney KVV

Wow! Thats a total car crash. No thanks.

Not sure if its just me, but Im not sure what it is about Kevin Thomsons managerial record that makes folk think that he is a future managerial success story? I think the jury is still very much out on that one and, if he hadnt played for one of the big 2, the media wouldnt push him anywhere near as much as they are doing right now. PS thats not a dig at you Spit it Out, but I he does seem to be flavour of the month right now in the media when jobs come up.

Thats my gut reaction right now. I understand why others would prefer him to stay where he is as the first team coach role can be a poisoned chalice and Id hate to see Hammy legacy as a player tarnished. However, sometimes you just have to take that chance and he ticks a lot of boxes for me. The one big gap is experience with first team players. Leaving aside Craigans alleged reasons for departing last time round, he would be my other choice for similar reasons. Lambert is interesting and has managed at a high level, but does that make him a good fit at our level? Simo also seems to be a good fit but he has been passed over at least twice before. Only the board will know whether thats an impedement this time round. Hopefully we will start to see firmer news by the weekend.

Wasnt Fox on the bench on Sunday? It looked like him involved in the warm up with the other keepers.......

Hopefully Hammy will get a bit more chance to put his stamp on the team with a full week of training the players. For me if KVV isnt fully fit then dont play him. His workrate has been very poor and he is a shadow of the player he can be if fit and interested. Lamie will be a big miss. Probably means Bevis coming back in with Sol, unless McGinn is over his head knock and can move inside with SOD keeping his place after a solid showing at St Mirren. Id like to see Cornelius on from the start to get some energy into the midfield and mix it up a bit so St Johnstone dont get the examinatiin they are expecting.

Id much rather have Hammy than Thomson or O'Dea. No more of a risk than they are and has a lot more going for him in other areas. Not sure about Brian Rice. Wasnt universally liked at Accies which in itself will make him a non starter for some of our fans. Be interesting to see who is on the list of 50 cv's but I guess we will only get to know the shortlist once it starts to leak out.

I dont think Kelly is going to make a decision on where he plays his football off the back of criticism from a minority of reactionary idiots who really should know better. He got a standing ovation leaving the pitch yesterday. He knows the majority of fans appreciate him. We may well lose him in Junuary, butnit wil be because another club with more money recognises his talent too.

That is certainly true. The way I look at it though, is that the quality of exeprienced player we are able to bring in now has fallen so low, the risk of playing a young player you have faith in is becoming negligible. Id much rather watch a team of our youngsters have a go an develop than a group of journeyman that are never going to improve. Balancing the two is the trick, and finding a manager brave enough and with the skills to do is the key.

Im more than happy with Spittal and McGinn (albeit you could argue whether we needed McGinn) and I think Morris could have something to offer in a settled side. I thought it signalled a slight change in signing policy. Those are probably the kind of signings I think we need to support the young players coming through. Another Cooper or Phil O'Donnell would be even better, although probably a little fanciful in the current climate.