star sail

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.

I find some of the reactions on here baffling to say the least. We have taken four points from nine in the last three games, having played 2 of the top 3 teams and a Kilmarnock side that are on a very solid unbeaten run. The performances in these games have been considerably better than anything we have seen this season (Dundee Utd at home apart) and with the possible exception of Straker, Baraclough has strengthened the squad in every area of the park. The team is now playing with a desire that was noticeably lacking earlier in the season. Will we go down? Maybe, I am not going to predict the future and pass it off as fact but if we do go down it will because of failures throughout the season. I can't understand why some people are desperate to lay the blame at Baraclough's door. One fact is that if Ross County do win tomorrow they will be on a run of five victories in a row, making them the form team in the SPFL bar none. That is difficult for any team to compete against. My gut reaction is that Partick Thistle and St Mirren will finish 11th and 12th respectively, but my guess is as good (or bad) as anybody's.

Nathan Thomas scoring this eve, a goal and assist from Grant already, a goal from new defender Laing, a team that played with good shape, determination and communication at the weekend, a new fitness coach, a more commanding keeper............... It all adds up to one thing Steelboy: Baraclough must indeed be clueless?

This is Jim McIntyres record as Ross County manager: Appointed 9 September 2014 W 4 D 6 L 13 Win Percentage: 14% The important information for me is that he has had 5 months to turn RC around and it has only been in the last few weeks that they have started to turn the corner. The McIntyre/ Dodds combination seems to be a well respected coaching duo within the Scottish game, with good experience of the game in this country. I only put these stats up to show that it can take time for respected managers to turn difficult situations around. Anyone who thinks that our situation was not as desperate when Baraclough took over as Ross County's back in September is kidding themselves. I still think that the addition of Long, Pearson and Grant has enhanced the strength of the squad. Time will tell with the others. Maybe history will show that Baraclough was not the man for the job but from the day he walked into the job the task facing him was massive. He has had huge holes to fill in a squad that is not fit for purpose. I have seen performances as poor as yesterday's under every single manager we have had in my 30+ years of supporting the Well. To say that yesterday's performance was the worst ever suggests that people have already forgotten about the start of this season alone. I believe that Baraclough has conducted himself admirably in very trying circumstances and talk of protests outside the ground next weekend sadden me. I suspect that we would have been in this situation regardless of the man appointed by the board. Our current predicament was not created over the last three months, but over the last 12- 18 months. Good luck Ian Baraclough. You will need it!!!

I think some people on here are still massively underestimating the task Baraclough has to turn this team round. We cannot underestimate the mess McCall left behind. An ageing squad, lacking in fitness, belief and desire, not to mention one of the smallest squads in the league. Lets not forget, that under McCall the team did not put in a single decent performance from July to November. I find it interesting that his pre/post match interviews are being used as a stick with which to beat him. i think it is of real credit to him that, despite the circumstances, he has managed to maintain a positive, calm and rational outlook at these interviews. He has a very difficult task to keep experienced, influential players on side when I am sure he will be very frustrated by how little these players offer, McManus in particular must be a source of real frustration and yet, Baraclough is publicly at least, backing the player. We all saw what happened with Gannon when he used a heavy handed approach with the senior players. Baraclough can not afford to do this. I would be interested to know what people actually want him to say at these interviews? The injury list is horrific. He brings in Pearson (I think he will prove to be a great signing), who cracks a rib and has since been out, Laing gets sent off after 25 minutes in his first game and Hammell, Vigurs and Lawson are long term absentees.Yet despite all of this he has created an air of positivity that had most people believing that a result today was a real possibility. As a manager it is his job to create this positivity and he has managed it very well. Have the players he has brought in strengthened the squad? My belief is yes. Has he brought at least some spirit into the squad? St Johnstone and Dundee Utd games alone suggest yes. Is he giving the young players a chance? Yes. Does he shy away from touch decisions, his sacking of Black would suggest not (lets not forget as well that many on here have been desperate for that outcome). I am not a happy clapper. I was never hugely convinced by McCall and I wanted VDG as our new manager but I have been very impressed by the way in which Baraclough is going about his job. The results have not gone for him yet but then results had not gone for McIntyre and Dodds untill today, yet they have had longer to get their house in order and by all accounts are considered to be doing a good job. Despite the loss today, we are in a better position than Ross County. I would still not be surprised if Thistle get pulled into the relegation dogfight (do we still have to play them twice?)so there is still a lot of football to play. We beat Dundee next week and County lose and suddenly today's result is nullified. My gut feeling is that we will still be ok, starting with a victory against Dundee next week.

4-0 against Celtic is nothing new. Craig Brown managed to provide a good few of those. The players unavailable tonight were- Lasley, Vigurs, Ojamma, Lawson and Hammell. Massive gaps from an already very small squad of players. Baraclough has a massive task to turn this around and he will have known that from the day he stepped into the job. He must be given time to turn things around.

Surprised by the criticism the manager is getting. The rot set in over a year ago for this group of players and Baraclough is left to pick up the pieces. The starting 11 picked itself yesterday because there was no other options due to possibly the worst injury list in the SPFL. The only major surprise for me over the last 12 months is that the current team of players managed to finish 2nd in the SPFL. I honestly have no idea how that happened. I remember a year ago members on this forum defending Vigurs and Ainsworth because they could only produce 20-25 minutes of good football in 90 ,mins. The argument was that if they could do better they would be playing at a higher level. Well fans were happy to accept the unacceptable just 12 months ago. A few low-lights of the last year for me: 1) Two defeats to part time teams in 12 months. This should be unacceptable. 2) Very few if any strong 90 min performance from the team in the last 12 months . 3) A lack of any sort of forward planning by the previous manager. 4) Public promotion of the Rangers style piss up on the bus home after the Aberdeen game. No wonder these players do not act like professional athletes when a manager encourages this behavior. 5) A team that are visibly unfit in comparison to their rivals. The new man has a mountain to climb. These players have been picking up a wage for half-hearted performances for months. What incentive is there for them to change. Fear of relegation is not one because i am sure that many of these players will believe that they can find a club elsewhere. Anybody that thinks that Van der Gaag would have waved a magic wand and that we would be watching a football team now is kidding themselves. There are noises about honest and hard working players coming out of St Mirren and Ross County. There can be no such praise attributed to our players. Good luck to the new man. He will need it. He has a mountain to climb and my feeling is that on current performance Motherwell must quickly be becoming favourites for the drop.

I am convinced that lack of fitness has played a part. A growing injury list can point to this for a start, although I admit that bad luck is also a factor with injury. The lack of fitness however was evident last year. The last quarter of the season saw game after game where Motherwell came flying out the blocks for 20-25 mins blowing teams away, only to tire and hold on for much of the second half. Ross County, Kilmarnock and ICT at home were all examples of this towards the end of the season. When the same pattern was repeated in the European game the writing was on the wall for this season. Confidence may well be a factor now but it wasn't at the end of last season. I have no doubts that fitness has been and is an issue.

Who would be a manager? I think people are underestimating the problems the new man faces at the moment. Carswell, Lawson, Vigurs and Leitch are all out at the moment. The only first choice midfield player left is Lasley who is showing real signs of a player at the end of his career. It is very difficult to take control of a game with a make shift midfield. Hammell has been missing for large parts of the season, confidence is low and even with all players fit, Motherwelll have one of the smallest first team squads in the league. The problems that Baraclough has inherited are clear for all to see. He cannot come out and slate publicly players that are already low on confidence. He cannot afford to alienate one single player at this time as he may just need to call on them should the injury list grow longer. I have been very impressed with his pre and post match interviews. He is striking what must be a very difficult balance between realism and positivety. He has already given the young players a chance, something the people on this board have been crying out for. Avoiding relegation will be a major achievement this year and will require some calm and assured management. From what I have seen so far I believe that Baraclough is the man to do it.

I'm not sure where you get this feeling from. I think the press conference suggested that the new man will have his own ideas and that he will run with them. I expect a few surprises in the team today and have a feeling that even the captain's berth in the team will not be secure. If the players can't raise their game for this today it will speak volumes but I think they will turn it on. A silly goal or two lost in the 90 mins but 2-3 for the Well.

My thoughts also. Gannon's time at the club did not work out but the idea was absolutely the right one. I thourougly enjoyed Gannon's time at the club so if Baraclough could bring better man management qualities I will be delighted. The interview is impressive. Articulate and upbeat. Welcome Ian!!!!!!! Intrigued by Infamous wee Grafters comment about the no 2. JG could not be on his way back could he?

I would not be disappointed by the appointment of Kenny Shiels. His record at Kilmarnock was good. Kilmarnock have struggled since he left. I think the Morton job was probably a lost cause before he ever took it on. The big thing for me though is that he his passionate about coaching players and has proved that he has some aptitude at it. If we want to get away from the short sighted approach that seems to plague the game then is his philosophy not the kind that many of us have been crying out for? Slightly Gannonesque maybe but then I have very fond memories of the few months big Jim spent with us and I still believe that Gannon's appointment was almost a master stroke by the club. History tells us that in the end it did not work but the idea was absolutely correct. Shiels may be a bit of a maverick but sometimes the gamble can pay dividends.

Really enjoyed the game last night. It has been a long time since a Well team has displayed passion like that. It was so refreshing to see players prepared to get their strips dirty when going in for a tackle, McManus being a perfect example of this. He, like many others, had a great game. It does make you wonder why a team of players, who are apparently distraught at the loss of their manager, could not muster up a display like that for him. Yet again I was left thinking that Vigurs is the man that can transform our season. Yes he is incredibly infuriating at times but he is capable of moments of quality that is far above SPFL standard. His pass for the Ainsworth goal was world class. I am not saying that Vigurs is world class, but the pass was perfectly weighted and showed real vision. I was surprised that there was not more made of it in commentary. Ainsworth's finish was also top drawer. I don't understand the Utd love. Truth was in 90 mins they could not score and we scored two excellent goals. We deserved the victory and there are many times over the last year when I have walked away from a Well game having won when I could not say that,

I think that it is too early to think about a new manager. Maybe we do need a bit of perspective. I am sure that most of us would be shocked if St Johnstone sacked Tommy Wright on the back of a defeat to Rangers this evening and yet there are many parallels between St Johnstone and ourselves. Two teams with a similar budget, both having a considerable amount of league success over the last few seasons, Motherwell more so than St Johnstone. St Johnstones cup efforts have been noticably better both domestically and in Europe but that possibly only balances out Motherwell's league success. Notably both these teams have struggled to perform this term. Does Tommy Wright deserve the time to turn their season round? For me the trouble with our team goes back to the summer of 2013. The signing of Vigurs and Lawson in particular seemed to bring an imbalance to the squad that McCall has since struggled to address. I remember sitting at the european game at the start of that season (Levante I think it was) not being able to work out how our midfield was going to shape up for the new season. For that reason and others that have been well documented, 2nd place last season was nothing short of a minor miracle. I don't have the tactical knowledge that others on here have but for me the way forward is to build a team round about Vigurs. He has no engine but he is the most talanted player in the squad. I think that if Vigurs was playing with confidence both creatively and by contributing a few goals from midfield, that in itself would be enough to see off relegation this year. How you build a team round Vigurs, I have no idea but I would think that there must be a way to set up the team to allow Vigurs to play to his strengths whilst minimising his weaknesses. McCall deserves our support for a while longer. A win against St Johnstone might just be enough to kickstart the season.

This is not a prediction of what will happen, but it is worth remembering how often teams in the SPFL can have purple patches than can move them up several positions in the league. Accies are clearly in the middle of a purple patch that they will find very difficult to sustain week after week. Dundee and ICT it could be argued have already had a small purple patch at the start of the season that they are already sliding backwards from. Motherwell showed last season with the same squad of players how capable they are of going on such a run. Confidence is the biggest asset in the SPFL and Well need to find that confidence from somewhere but if they do, top 6 is well within their grasp. Even with a 13 pt difference between the two Lanarkshire teams at the moment, the tables can quickly turn. Celtic, Aberdeen and Dundee Utd have more going for them than the other teams in the league so they should be in the top three. Beyond that any other team in that league is still capable of finishing 4th, Motherwell included (87 points still to play for I think). It is not time to hit the panic button yet although admittedly that time may not be too far away.

I have read with interest all the comments over the last week on where the game against Stjarnan went wrong and where we go from here. What Stjarnan showed us is that if a team plays as a unit with determination and good organisation then much can be achieved. I will be very interested to see the result against Lech Poznan this evening to see if possibly collectively we have underestimated this team. The concept of match fitness being an excuse, I do not understand. Match sharpness yes, but any day of the year a professional football side should be man for man fitter than a semi pro team regardless of start of of season, mid season or any other time. Stjarnan scored in the last five minutes of a game lasting 120 mins suggesting that endurance fitness was the difference between the teams. Motherwell were considerably sharper in the first 20 minutes of both legs suggesting that match sharpness is indeed not an issue. I would like to see a statistic for the number of goals conceeded in the last 10 mins of games by Motherwell in comparison with the other teams in the 2013-14 season. I suspect that it may make uncomfortable reading and could again point to a lack of endurance fitness. For me personally one of the most enjoyable times watching Motherwell over the last decade was in the first two/ three months of Jim Gannon's reign. Ultimately as we all know it ended badly but few would disagree that JG's philosophy of how a team like Motherwell should progress was both exciting and forward thinking. JG did not have the man management skills to put his ideas into practice but the idea was good. Coach and improve young players and give them the opportunity of first team football. Celtic have now appointed a manager who's philosophy is not disimilar to JG's. I am no fan of Celtic but I hope it does work for him, particularly given the lazy way in which rangers continue to throw money at players in the hope of buying success. To my mind the biggest hurdle to such an approach is the fans. How many times have we listened to young players at Fir Park being slaughtered for a misplaced pass or a performance that is not perfect? It will be RD's biggest hurdle at Celtic. If the fans decide not to give him the time he will be out, regardless of a board that at this time buy into his approach. For this reason if a club like Motherwell was to whole heartedly go down the route of developing young players it would have to get the fans on side. A communication of the objectives, an educating of the fan's to be patient and to accept from time to time the errattic nature of a young side I believe would work. Personally if I was watching a young, fit motherwell side of home grown talent, well drilled and organised it would be more rewarding than the july jaunt (and ultimate humiliation) into Europe. If the board of Motherwell were to decide that this was the way forward they would need to ask Stuart McCall if he shared this vision. If he did, there would be nothing to suggest that he does not having the coaching ability and man management skills to be the right man to take the club forward. If he does not share this vision then maybe now would be the time to thank him for what has been a fantastic job and look for someone else. So bringing back McFadden, Clarkson and Pearson is not for me. In Stuart Carswell, I think we have an excellent young player. He was the stand out player for me in the first leg at fir Park. I would like to see more of this type of player coming through the system at Fir Park. The club and the fans would reap the rewards in the long term and the production of talented young players would ultimately provide the financial viability of the club.

Very similar pattern to the games against Ross County home, Killie home, ICT home and St Mirren away in the last third of last season. Comfortably ahead by one or two goals having dominated with high tempo, controlled football only to allow the tempo to go out of the play once the lead is established. The opposition come back into the game, Motherwell begin to panic and games are drawn or lost having been in a very comfortable position. This has happened far to often to be coincidence and certainly could not be put down to lack of match fitness at the tail end of last season. For me certain key players (Ainsworth and Vigurs being the main examples) often seem to feel that the job is done after half an hour and allow the intensity to fall out of their play. This has nothing to do with lessons learned in European football as these warning signs should have been picked up and worked upon in the domestic season. The big positive for me was Carswell's performance. Took responsibility when other more experienced players were posted missing. His performance in the last ten minutes was excellent showing that it is possible to be match fit even after an extensive lay off for injury. With the right attitude Motherwell will win next week. They are a better more talented team than the opposition.Sadly I think there are to many question marks over the temperament of the team to be confident that they will win the tie.

So the resources at any one teams disposal is not a factor in deciding manager of the year? Given that this is the single biggest driver in determining a clubs potential success, it seems strange that it should be ignored. I don't have the Manager of the Year rule book in front of me so will have to take your word for it. McCall's success at Motherwell this season and every season he has been at the club has been outstanding. It has been outstanding because of the resources at his disposal. I have not checked this but I would be surprised if any club outwith Celtic has accumulated more SPL points from the date McCall took over at Motherwell. Factor in resources to this and it becomes a quite incredible statistic. I don't really agree with a manager of the Year award because it's like asking How long's a piece of string? but I am surprised at anybody suggesting that McCall's achievements are not impressive. For what it's worth, I think that Derek McInnes has done a great job at Aberdeen as well, if for no other reason than that there have been a good few managers passing through the doors at Pittodrie who have tried and failed to do what he has achieved (two ex well managers amongst them)

I am a big fan of over reacting and do it often. I find it one of the real indulgent pleasures of being a football fan but even for me the suggestion that McCall may now walk is a step to far. We almost came away from aberdeen with 3 Points last wk. If we had we wld still be sitting top of the league this eve. It can be a fine line between a good week and a poor wk. I still think that McCall is doing a good job. I understand the frustration about not replacing Jennings but the money is not available to replace a player of his quality. Mccall's standing amongst the well fans reminds me of strachan and Celtic. No matter what it will never be good enough. I am as gutted about this wk as the next guy but there has to be some perspective.