Lobey_Dosser

Vale is a bit of a forgotten man but he would have a key player in linking us middle to front. The injuries to Nicholson and Callaghan though were entirely predictable and we seemingly haven’t done our due diligence on Watt. Long way to go in the season but at the moment recruitment isn’t looking great. My main frustration yesterday was the substitution of the front two but we really chucked the game by replacing Kaleta with Blaney. That signalled we had little intent on attacking. There were multiple better options to have made in that moment.

Can’t fault the effort but that was a really poor performance today. Whilst we are more defensively robust this season, we have a fraction of the quality we had going forward last season. The countless long balls played into Rangers hands and the long throw tactic needs to stop. The substitution of the front two was bizarre and killed any belief I had. Stama and JT fed off scraps but they both carried a threat and it would surely have been worthwhile moving Miller forward at 1-1 to see if he could create anything for them. Instead, we are left with the most ineffective front two I’ve seen since the dark days of Main and Sammon. Presumably Watt remains miles off it but for Moses not to get a minute to stretch his legs on such a big pitch baffles me. Credit to Ox and Kaleta, our two standouts.

As much as today was an off day for everyone, including the manager, I thought our performance confirmed how much of a miss McGinn is going to be. There isn’t much that can be done to replace his composure or reading of the game. However, we surely need to tweak the back 3 and select SoDs or Seddon to be the one that brings the ball into midfield. Put Balmer’s party trick back in its box until Hampden.

As someone that has been a big supporter of Kettlewell, my patience is starting to wear a little thin over our summer recruitment. With the repeated narrative that we have the 10/11th lowest budget and that there is no room to carry passengers, it baffles me that we have signed two injury prone players, Nicholson and Callachan, in an area of the park that we needed reliable reinforcements. Not only that, we appear to have signed a number of players from outwith Scotland that despite being here for most of pre-season are still not to the level required to contribute. Of course, some of these players may come good in time, like Gent last year, but having lost Kelly, Gent, Spittal and Bair surely we had to be signing one or two more that had the profile and credentials of a Liam Gordon to hit the ground running. All parties deserve great credit for the Bair project but we are now going to have to needlessly spend a fair proportion of that income to get us back on an even keel.

Kettlewell was determined to get the squad together early this summer, however there are no benefits to be witnessed yet. Sure, we’ve been hit with injuries and a few will take a while to get up to speed but I get the impression Kettlewell isn’t overly enamoured by one or two of the recent additions.

I bought into the home design but I can’t see me warming to the away effort. A subtle tartan trim can work lovely on a kit (previous Scotland top springs to mind) but our official tartan is far too garish imo. An issue that is compounded by the width of the sleeve trim. Carrying the tartan pattern through the grey is poorly thought out too, far too messy in the end.

I didn’t think we were particularly bad last night, certainly for this time of year and better from what I can recall from the trip to QoS last season. Interesting few weeks ahead. If the box midfield is going to remain plan A, then I’d like to think that we are holding out for attack minded players of a certain standard to replace Spittal’s quality and bring a bit of dynamism to the final third. Similarly, athletic wingbacks with good delivery are key to the success of this system. We did very well finding Spencer and Gent last summer but both arrived in the last week of the window. Hopefully there is a Gent replacement around the corner, ideally Georgie himself.

It’s been a while since I’ve bought a home top but I’m tempted by this one. I’d rather the white trim was finer but overall I like the C&A split. Decent effort.

Has he got a Scottish Granny?

I came away from Cappielow in the huff the other week thinking the only we can make up for this is with a win over Rangers. Job done. Delighted for anyone that headed through to Ibrox today. Makes the countess disappointments coming away from there, including a good few near misses and probably a few more humpings, all the more worthwhile. And credit to every single one of the players. We should have won there in September and to go back and do it today, particularly when their tails are up, is testament to the mentality and quality of our squad. Today is hopefully the first of many special victories that young Lennon will experience in his career.

I’m delighted that Kettlewell is the one that gets the biggest of monkey’s off our backs and secures his place in Motherwell history. In some respects, today didn’t come as a huge surprise to me as Kettlewell has shown time and time again that he can set up a team to compete with Rangers and Celtic and today he got his just rewards. The fact we’ve done it against an ‘in-form’ and slightly cocky Rangers makes it all the sweeter. He’s not had his challenges to seek this season and having battled his way through the budget constraints, the injuries, the loan-recalls and the off-field uncertainty, I get the impression that he could go on to do well at a higher level. Whilst he came in for understandable criticism between Oct-Dec, the players never looked like chucking it. I think that speaks volumes for his credentials and I think that run itself will stand him in good stead for the future. In the meantime, he and his players have delivered the result I’ve wanted more than any other over the last 20 years.

We’ve not won away since our last trip to Tynecastle have we? That was a bodies on the line kinda job that day. If fit, get Casey in for Butcher and play Mugabi in the middle. Should we stick with Devine, he’d have the experience of McGinn alongside him. Miller obviously didn’t play well at Cappielow but I fully expected him to come on tonight to try and settle the game down. If fit, I’d have him alongside Paton. Wee Davor is toiling at the moment.

Really not sure what to make of that tonight. Credit for storming into a lead, albeit against a bonkers Warnock lineup, and credit for regaining a foothold in the last half hour. The nature of our collapse on the half hour mark though sets off alarm bells, particularly after a panic stricken performance at Cappielow. Our in-game management, both from the players and the sidelines, to respond to adversity, has been dreadful.

I’m glad we’ve got a game hot on the heels of last night. Would anticipate 2-3 changes. Halliday presumably wasn’t fit enough to start last night and his experience was missed in midfield. Devine has done more than enough to earn a start and that back three needs shaken up so Casey may get the nod, probably at the expense of Mugabi although Butcher was given the runaround by Oakley. Should Miller start, I’ll be hoping he can rekindle his early season form. As a young lad returning from injury he can be somewhat excused for being terrible in Greenock. Given how exceptional we think his talent is though with composure and maturity two of his greatest attributes, that was a concerning contribution against Robbie Crawford & co. Hopefully no more than rustiness. Getting one over Warnock would lessen the blow of yet another early tame cup exit.

Dingwall aside, I‘ve pretty much stood by Kettlewell but tonight is a black mark. There’s little to dispute with the starting line up but the in-game management was poor. A change in personnel should have arguably happened at half time but to then make 3 subs as soon as it went 2-0 smacked of panic and whilst Devine and Vale made positive contributions, we played out the 95 mins with three centre halves and absolutely nothing in midfield. Kettlewell will see out the season and hopefully keep us in the league but both of our tame cup games exits have to be taken into consideration with respect to a contract renewal. In the meantime, he must refrain from pleading poverty for a while. We’ve once again thrown away a golden opportunity to earn a decent wedge of cash.

Motm goes to our poty. Outstanding performance from Spittal! Love Gent!

Really pleased for Gent. I look forward to seeing the partnership he and Montgomery can build.

I hate to think how many senior figures from the club and well society reviewed that video before its release. Utterly pathetic. Putting the cringe and desperation aside though, is this campaign genuinely aligned to the investment initiative that’s been in the pipeline for the last couple of years?

I had a wobble after the Ross County game given the starting lineup and performance. That aside though, my support for Kettlewell largely remains. In my book, he still has a little credit in the bank for the remarkable turnaround after the Hammell disaster. The players are clearly behind him too, which is a telling factor. Of course though, he needs to get the monkey off his back with a win and ideally pick up minimum 4-6 points between now and 2nd Jan to keep himself in a job and readdress the balance of the squad during the window after a poor summer spend.

Despite our run of poor results, I’ve got lots of faith in Kettlewell and this group of players and was quietly confident going into tonight. The performance though was shocking, not miles off the real lows we experienced under Hammell. Two tricky away trips ahead. Big response needed or the pressure will build. If the players are all pulling in the same direction, I’m sure we’ll be fine. I am however wary that with so many key players in the last year of their contracts, heads may start to turn and relationships may fracture - hopefully I’m a mile out with that inclination.

As much as I rate Turnbull and want to see him do well, I don’t see him getting near a Steve Clarke starting XI, even if he was playing regularly. He doesn’t do enough off the ball, nor play at the required tempo for many managers. It’s a shame really, I think his quality would have been far more appreciated 10-20 years ago and I’m interested to see where he ends up next. I’d say Lewis Ferguson is the lesser talent, by some distance, but he’s doing very well in Italy.

I may have got caught up in the emotion of the game but I couldn’t contemplate throwing any criticism at the players just now. I thought we were excellent, the players ran themselves into the ground and the last two performances against Rangers and Celtic have been miles ahead of the insipid performances that we’re routinely watched for much of the last 10 years. Full credit to Kettlewell and Frail for that. No harm to Theo who did well but we’re a proper striker away from being a right good team. Devastated today, that was up there with Kane in 2017 for me. Onto Livingston though, we need to return to gaining points rather than prolong a hard luck story.

Paton. An outstanding footballer.

Hard lines today. I thought we played really well in spells and largely controlled the 2nd half. There’s few games we don’t score in but the absence of 3 strikers is obviously going to cost us as times. Hopefully Wilkinson is back by the start of the October. The bench was very inexperienced today and whilst I’m pleased to see the club significantly reduce our staff costs this summer, we could be in for a lean spell on the pitch at some point this season. Particularly if Spittal, Slattery and Miller run out of juice, which feels kinda inevitable. In the meantime though, we have a team that is good to watch and we have little to fear going to Ibrox next week. McGinn for Blaney should be the only change.

I thought everyone was very good and young Spencer looks a very promising signing. Mugabi just edges the motm award for me though, got his head on absolutely everything.