star sail

Love it when this chat starts. We watch plays week in week out make the same mistakes. Poor decision making in good areas, allowing wingers and midfield players to ghost past them, misplaced passes over 10 yards etc, etc then we discover that it's all because the players don't like the manager and they are 'downing tools'. Think how good these players would be if they liked the manager. Maybe just as good as they were at the start of last season, after all they all loved Stuart McCall.

The loss of Pearson is proving to be telling. My feeling is that were Fletcher and Pearson playing in our first five games things would be looking much brighter. Added to that, McDonald has had a poor start to the season, probably due to a lack of pre-season. Very similar to the McFadden situation a few years ago. It is fine lines between success and failure in this league and I believe that the misfortunes of these three players are really costing us. Baraclough can't be blamed for the injuries or McDonald's lack of form (unless people believe that McDonald would be playing well under a different manager). Again there is a real old firm feel about this board at the moment with calls for the managers head and a real lack of patience. Martin Canning was a dud a few weeks back according to many and suddenly after a couple of good results, Accies are riding high again. Paul Hartely was in line for the World Manager of the year award after the Kilmarnock game and now Dundee are sitting mid table having had a mediocre start to the season. Things could all look very different in a months time. More time needed for the manager and the team. Also the young lad Taylor is not nearly as bad as some are making him out to be. I seem to remember this chat early doors with Long, Laing and Johnston.

Hammell cost us the second goal I felt. A terrible free kick that was floated in short of the 18 yard box thereby taking every Motherwell player out the game and allowing Aberdeen the perfect platform to break and get the free kick that led to the goal. He knew it to and let his head go down for the remainder of the game. Those suggesting that the four performances at the start of this season are as poor as the start of last season either have very poor memories or are just not prepared to give our current management and team any breathing space at all. Aberdeen will have much easier wins this year and with just a little bit more fortune we could have been sitting on 5 pts this evening with two home draws. I think we have played three of what could be the top four teams this year. It's what happens now that will make or break our season.

The thing is though that if as a support we genuinely believed that it is early days and that it is going to take time then we would not have had the mini meltdown we have seen after a difficult night at Tynecastle. Looking at it objectively we should be happy with 2 reasonable performances out of 3 and should be looking at today as a very difficult game where any sort of result would be welcome. The fact is though that football fans don't do objectivity well so, crazy as it is, there is already a feeling that anything short of a draw will make many Motherwell fans start to feel very edgy. For me a competitive performance will do today even if that results in a narrow defeat. A goal or two would be very welcome. 1-2 for the visitors I think. Would be very happy with a draw.

+3 I thought somebody was having a wee laugh at first until I saw that it was the topic starter that was resurrecting this. Must have been a long summer waiting to see if you would get the chance to get this going again. With last nights result it must have felt as if Christmas had come early.

Thought Ripley was excellent but Lasley was superb for the full 90 mins. Total commitment from the Captain so he get's my vote.

I was disappointed that this thread was ever started and I am still a bit mystified at the criticism he has received. When he took over in early December, I felt that top flight survival would be a massive success and he has achieved that. It is old ground now but at the time the injury list was at crisis levels, experienced players like McManus and Lasley were playing with little or no confidence, players like Ainsworth and Vigurs were going through the motions and there was a massive feeling of lethargy about the club. He is articulate and calm in interviews (a fault according to some of the fans), he has given the young players a chance, individual players have improved gradually since January (McManus, Lasley and Ainsworth being prime examples), he has brought in a whole new structure to the club (fitness coach, assistant manager) and brought in players in January that improved the squad significantly. Johnston looks like a great signing, Long showed in the last two games the potential he has, Grant is a very tidy, talented young player and Laing has I am sure a big future in the game. He has signed Dom Thomas on a long term deal and Erwin now has a reputation that few could have imagined pre Christmas. Then there is Pearson and McDonald. Again a section of the support were not prepared to give Baraclough any credit for these signings but lets not forget that McCall did not take up the option of Pearson back in the summer. To top it all off he has brought us the first victory against Rangers at Ibrox since 1997 and the first Firpark win since 2003. Billy Davis, Terry Butcher, Jim Gannon, Mark McGhee, Craig Brown and Stuart McCall (amongst others) have all held the managers seat in that time. I wanted Van der Gaag as the Motherwell manager so I have no hidden agenda but I think that Baraclough has done an outstanding job and has given this Well fan the best 3/4 days as a supporter since the 1991 Cup Semi final and Final. Congratulations Ian Baraclough. Onwards and upwards!!

Ian Baraclough, the first Motherwell manager to win at Ibrox since 1997. Sunday will be a long day. Will enjoy it tonight though.

McCall thought Law was a player worth bringing to the club and Baraclough thinks he is good enough to keep. That'll do for me. Good news.

I agree whole heartedly with the 4-5-1 formation. I have always felt that Ramsden looks a bit lightweight in the miidle of the park (although agree he performed well in the Utd game Al B) so would go with Connor Grant, who has the makings of a very tidy football player indeed. Crazy as it may sound I would go with Sutton up top. With a strong 5 across the middle, providing width, service to the frontman should not be an issue. I would take Sutton to convert those chances over Erwin or McDonald. Erwin and McDonald are better at making something happen but with 5 in the middle (2 being wingers) they should have more than enough to get things going. So my prediction if it's Ibrox is a John Sutton hat-trick, all within the 6 yard box, with assists from Johnston (2) and Ainsworth (1). 0-3 to the good guys and all the pain of season 14-15 and the last decade of misery inflicted by Rangers slipping away down the Govan back streets. Easy!!!!!

A St Mirren win tomorrow and unbelievably our fate is back in our own hands given that Killie play RC on the last game of the season. The old achillies heal was back tonight of letting a poor Kilmarnock side back into the game at 2-0 when they should have been dead and buried but the win is all that matters. I just feel that some of the individual decision making is going to have to be better if we are to avoid the drop. edit: sorry our fate would not be back in our own hands. Could have a situation on the last day of the season where Killie and RC have a gentleman's agreement to play out a draw to both go on to 42 points. All lot of water to pass under the bridge before that right enough.

Is Martin Canning an imposter? What about Gary Locke? Jackie McNamara he must be an imposter too. I only mention them because their managerial records are worse than Baraclough's over the last few months. Jim McIntyre's record up until they went on their run was woeful spanning some five months from September to January. Was he an imposter back then too?

A lot of negativity on the boards yet again this evening, largely unmerited. Let's give the opposition some credit. RC battled hard today, played the referee to perfection and threw their bodies at everything. We matched them and could have with a bit of luck got the win. Let's not forget that this team have been for some weeks now on an incredible run. That does not happen by accident and today was always going to be very difficult. Much is being made of 1 point in three games but PT have hit a bit of form, their record in the last couple of month's being excellent and Accies are no mugs despite a dip in form. Yet again people are happy to jump on the Baraclough must go band wagon. I asked about a week ago on the Baraclough out thread for people to give some constructive comments on how the tactics could be improved or the team set up differently to make the difference and guess what there was not one single idea or reply. I have said for months now that this season was lost back in July. For Baraclough to get us 10th or above would have been a job well done. With three games to go that is still a possibility. That many have thrown in the towel displays the same lack of fight that we criticise the players for. On the transfer window chat, Pearson should have been a good signing as should McDonald. It was the experience we needed. These two players have not done enough. Grant and Johnston were good signings. Laing in my view has improved the solidity at the back. Long is maybe the one that will divide opinion. The signings were fine for a January transfer window. The problem is that it has not been enough to plug the massive weaknesses in the squad and the experienced players have not done enough. McDonald's decision making today was unacceptable for a player of his experience. I don't know how a manager can influence that. A win on Friday and it is game on again despite what the doom-mongers would have us believe.

I think that what you say is right but how can it be fixed? By making a change in one area of the park another area is compromised. For me the problem has been for some time that the squad is poor to the extent that when one hole is plugged another one opens. A few examples of this would play: Play two wide men and lose dominance in the middle of the park or pack the middle and lose the delivery from wide areas. Play Sutton and lose the mobility of Erwin or play Erwin and lose the goal threat of Sutton. These are just two very simple examples. There has been much criticism of Baraclough's tactics without any real suggestions on how to solve the problems. He can only work with what he has. I think he has done the right thing by sticking by Lasley but the reality is that our captain has only had half a dozen decent games all season. When such an influential player is having little influence and there is no obvious replacement the ramifications in other areas of the park are clear to see. I would be interested to hear peoples views on how these issues can be resolved going into the last four games. For example should Grant be given a chance in the middle of the park? The task to find a good balance is actually a very difficult one and as always it's easy to judge from the sidelines.

Calderwood's win % at Kilmarnock was 30.5% over 23 games. Baraclough's at Motherwell is currently 33% over 18 games. His record at Ross County was admittedly better but how these stats can give you 90% confidence, I'm not sure. The point I am trying to make is that people have been far too quick to lay the blame at Baraclough's door. The problems with our squad of players run far deeper than the manager and people have been keen to forget the woeful displays from July to December.

I would be one of those fans, so if I now have to 'suck it up' for daring to believe we could do better than Jimmy Calderwood then so be it. That's life. I'd be interested to know however what makes you 90% sure that Calderwood would have kept us in the division. It's very easy to say these things when it's never going to be tested. Was Calderwood going to ease the injury list quicker, find gems in the transfer market that was going to strengthen the squad significantly, wind back two or three years for Lasley, give Erwin confidence in front of goal, give Sutton an extra yard of pace, make McManus look like the International standard player we thought he was going to be,..............? (the list goes on) If Jimmy is this good, why has he been at 4 clubs in 4 years?

I like your sentiment with this and there is a lot to be said for playing in a league you actually have a chance of winning. I think that the problem is that financially the drop can be almost catastrophic. I hope that the people that run the club have kept one eye on the possibility of Championship football next season since the moment Baraclough came in because If they have gone for an approach of throwing money at the problem to keep us up (a win or bust approach) then next season could be very bleak indeed. I get the fear every time I hear the world journeyman, whether it be manager or player because it suggests to me a short term approach, the very approach that has brought about our ultimate demise this season (I'm thinking of a list of Bradford players that McCall rolled in and players at the very end of their careers like McManus). Also the journeyman managers like Calderwood and Jeffries that some would have because they know the Scottish game is a turn off for me. I have been a strong supporter of Baraclough and I was a very encouraged by Jim Gannon's appointment because it was an attempt to try something different. The difference between Accies and ourselves is that Accies have built a team over three, four seasons and we have continually papered over cracks with journeymen and players past their prime. If the drop is not going to be financially catastrophic then maybe the drop could work out well in the long term. I just hope that the club have been preparing for this and that they see baraclough as a man who has the attributes to build for the future.

I would like Ross County at home as the first game post split. Win that and it sets the tone for the rest of the games, ourselves with a bit of momentum and Ross County suddenly having a few questions asked of them. Lose that game and the rest of the campaign can be spent preparing for the play offs.

We need 5 wins but it is possible. Here's the scenario. Team A and Team B can be Kilmarnock or Partick Thistle. Motherwell 15pts (5 wins) Motherwell 15pts Motherwell 15pts Ross County 12 pts (4 wins) Team A 12pts Team A 12pts Team A 9 pts (3 wins) Ross C 9pts Team B 9 pts Team B 6pts (2 wins) Team B 6pts Ross C 6pts M/well beat Team B by 2pts Motherwell beat Team B by 2 pts Motherwell beat Ross C by 3pts . Draws are a possibility but the same model still applies: eg Motherwell 15pts (5 wins) Ross C 10 pts (3 wins and a draw) Team A 10 pts (3 wins and a draw) Team B 4 pts (1 win and a draw) Motherwell bt Team B by 4 points. This discounts completely St Mirren and Accies but any points they can take off the other teams can only help the cause. So it becomes like a mini Scottish cup run, 5 wins to lift the Cup, without the likes of Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, heart, hibs or rangers to overcome. It's time for the season past to be left behind no matter the views on McCall or Baraclough and for every Well fan to get fully behind the team for what are effectively 5 knock out games. Note: If Kilmarnock beat Celtic it could be out of our own hands.

I think the answer to that is no. If we win 5 then the best anybody else can do is win 4. If RC win 4 then the best anyone else can do is win 3. If that is one of Killie or PT we can catch the other as they could only win two making 6 points available. Given that they are 7 ahead just now we could beat either team by 2 points, (this is assuming Celtic beat Killie before the split). If Killie do beat Celtic there may be a scenario where we cannot finish better than 11th if Thistle win 3 games. If Accies or St Mirren pick up any points against the other teams it would help our case further. Ofcourse if we win 5 and RC only win 3 then we could beat them on GD although that is looking difficult at the moment. There may permutations that I have not thought of but I think that 5 wins wld be enough, just!!!

I don't think anybody really does think we can win 5. It was just an illustration to show how difficult it would be even if we did win all 5. What we need is for Ross County's run to come to an end tonight and for them to have a howler after the split. The most likely option by some considerable way now is that we will finish 11th.

Just to show how tough the task is and how tough the task has been for some time, lets say Motherwell win all five games after the split, our nearest rivals Ross County win 4, Killie or PT win 3 (the other 2) and Hamilton win 1 the table would finish like this Assuming a RC victory this eve and a Killie defeat later in the week: 7. Ross County 49 8. Killie or PT 47 9. Hamilton/ Motherwell 46 10. Hamilton/ Motherwell 46 11. Killie/ PT 44 12. St Mirren 21 This would mean safety by 2 points having lost only 2 of the last 12 games and winning 8 of them. It would be unlikely to happen this way but it shows that even with 5 victories it could be very tight indeed, I suppose what this shows more than anything else is that the damage was done some time ago. I think that a St Mirren victory this eve is realistically the best half chance we have.

I don't agree with much of what you say. The fitness issue is of great importance. Maybe unfit is the wrong word to use to describe a professional football player (although Kris Boyd comes to mind) but in a league like ours where every advantage has to be maximised, small improvements in fitness can make the difference. When 5000m runners line up for a race, they are all fit but then take somebody like Mo Farah who has improved every single area of his training regarding nutrition, endurance work, speed work, flexibility, strength etc and you have an athlete that has the edge to win races. Look at Mark McGhee's first season. Many Well fans use Jim Paterson as the example of a player who improved noticeably as the result of a strong fitness regime. Why would Motherwell have invested in a dedicated fitness coach if there is just an acceptance that every pro player is fit? Obviously I have not analysed Motherwell's fitness regimes over the last decade but I will tell you why I do feel that fitness was an issue Jan- December 2014 in particularly. How often did we see a confident Motherwell play well for the first 20-25 mins, often going ahead by a goal or two to eventually hang on for dear life going into the final 10 minutes. I don't have the stats but I would not be surprised if Motherwell had lost more goals in the last 5-10 minutes of games than any senior team UK wide in 2014. The Europa Cup game in the summer was a perfect example of that type of game and that was against a Part- time team. One question I would like to ask from your post as well is what is this long list of mistakes and errors that Baraclough made that you are referring to? I really cannot see where he supposedly got it so badly wrong. If you want me to list what I see as his successes since he came in, I will do so but I am scratching my head to list the catalogue of errors that is being referred to.

Using that basic principle, it was a bit too early back in January for yourself and others to be calling for his head. Also even if we do get relegated I think that Baraclough has already gone a long way to deserving to stay with the club next year. That statistic in isolation does indeed sound poor but it does not take any account of the circumstances Baraclough faced at that time. You are right, not many managers do survive that but this says more about the unhealthy culture in football to sack managers on a whim and gives credence to our board who could look beyond the headlines at the set of circumstances that prevailed.

It baffled me back in January that Baraclough got such a hard time from sections of our support, given the mess he inherited and the horrendous injury list that he had to deal with. It baffles me still further than some of these same people are still questioning the job he has done and is doing. These people are keen to focus on the January/ February spell but let's not forget just how bad this team was July to December. That we were above the relegation zone in December was only because St Mirren and Ross County were in a sorry state at that time. The performances to that point (Dundee Utd at home apart) were dreadful. Remember also that 20-25 mins in under McCall performance levels were dropping because of a clear lack of fitness. This has nothing to do with not having money to spend in the transfer window. The January/ February spell had more to do with what had gone before rather than what Baraclough was doing at that time. What Baraclough did do at that point was sow the seeds for the performances that we are now seeing. I will not list his achievements because anybody with a semblance of objectivity can see them clearly but for me the job Baraclough has done from the moment he arrived has been first class. Somebody made the point about our team being a laughing stock on the radio in Jan/Feb. Why were they not a laughing stock when the same team were putting in inept performances under McCall? Why were Ross County not a laughing stock with their inept performances in the early days of McIntyre/ Dodds, why have St Mirren not been ridiculed for a season that has been terrible from start to finish? My answer to that is that these teams at these times were all run by managers that have allies in the media. Baraclough was an unknown Englishman being judged by a bunch of pundits whose knowledge of Motherwell is poor to non existent at the best of times. Baraclough should be here next season SPFL or Championship if the current level of performance is maintained, that is unless someone bigger recognises his achievements and comes courting.