star sail

Normally I would be arguing exactly this. I am not a fan of sacking managers, and I find the manager merry-go-round in Scotland hugely depressing but tonight had a desperate feel about it. I do wonder if it is worth almost accepting relegation and giving SH time to build his team and get the experience that would come with it but our support will not allow that. I don't think any support in the world would. The confidence of the players is completely shattered. Is there another Craig Brown out there that could breath confidence into these players? I can't think of anyone.

Of course you are entitled to an opinion. I just generally don't agree with it. No. That is the why I think time is up for him but as I said before, having been given the job, I think he deserved time and our support to try and make it work.

You talk about the usual suspects as if backing the players and managers we have is something to be ashamed of. If memory serves me right, you are one of the usual suspects that has wanted every manager of the last 6-7 years sacked and look where we are now. Continually sacking managers is not a long term recipe for success. Remember you thought Robinson was shite? Look how St Mirren are doing at the moment. I am somebody who has backed every manager till the end ( except Malpas) but sadly I am going to go against that now and say that SH should probably walk. I did not think it was a good appointment in the summer. It was a huge gamble that has not worked. It does not give me any pleasure to say it and I don't regret giving him the benefit of the doubt over the last 6 months but time is up.

Interesting that you say we have been in decline for 5 years. We finished 3rd in 2020. That was less than 3 years ago. Do you think the large majority expect relegation? Remember the voices on here do not represent the majority. All the others around us are still around us. If as fans we genuinely expect that we will get one point from the next seven and that we are as good as finished, how can we expect the team that we (supposedly) support to show any belief or fight. The negativity is taking on new levels now. There is still nothing that suggests we are favourites for the drop. The support needs to show some belief. The negativity is transmitted to the players whether we like to relieve ourselves of all responsibility or not.

They have fishermen in Iceland though and there was a few fishermen in that Stjarnaan team. We can laugh but it's an embarrassment all the same.

They still should not be beating Aberdeen. The problem for me is that Aberdeen did not go into the game with the correct mental attitude. You could apply the same argument to our defeat against Sligo. It is a lack of professionalism that seems to show itself time and again in Scotland and seems to be excused time and again. We seem more than happy at times to make excuses for the teams in the top division, the classic being ' it is too early in the season' when Scottish teams get dumped out of Europe in July by part time European minnows. A team of tradesman, fisherman, bank managers and school teachers should never be beating a full time professional football team at any time of the year. To try and masquerade this post as an ins and Outs discussion ( sorry Melvin), would we sign any of those Darvel players for Motherwell? Probably not.

I think unfortunately it shows just how poor the standard is in the top division of Scottish Football. If the top teams in Scotland were truly professional, results like tonight would never happen. It is a fairytale result for Darvel but embarrassing for Scottish Football in general. Could Motherwell ever beat Barcelona? No. It would never happen and that would be two full time professional teams playing each other. The gulf between a Junior Team and a full time team in Scotland should be as big as that but it is not. As fans we accept the mediocrity in the professional game in Scotland all to readily. Most worryingly of all Darvel looked the better team throughout. That was no fluke result.

I agree with this 100%. Confidence in king. Lamie is the perfect example right now. We know how he can play. It is not about ability. Our record against the teams round about us is fine. I think the nature of the Killie draw has done alot of psychological damage. We are holding our own against the teams that will be fighting it out at the bottom.. It is going to be a nerve shredding end to the season but we have as good a chance as any team in the bottom 5 of staying up.

There were a few interesting comments made on Radio Scotland's commentary yesterday that I think tells a story. Firstly, the commentary team highlighted that Motherwell have the best away record in the league this season outwith the OF. Secondly having commended the big home support yesterday they very quickly ( from about 20 mins in) were commenting regularly about the nervousness and at points negativity coming from the home stands. The advantage of a home game is the home support. I get a sense that a viscous circle has developed in recent seasons at FP where negativity between the team and the stands is resulting in a lack of confidence in both, perpetuating the problem still further. Confidence is the problem at the moment. I think it accounts for the unwanted habit of throwing away results from good positions. The nervousness that comes from the stands must affect this. It is easy to sense the negativity on this forum and it seems to be a general negativity that has engulfed the club in recent years. What comes first the chicken or the egg? I know that the team has the responsibility to perform but for whatever reason just now there is a lack of harmony between the club and the support that is manifesting itself in a very poor run of home form.

I can understand your concern but we are currently sitting 9th. That means as a matter of undeniable fact that our statistics are better than three other teams. It is very tight, yes but I see nothing from RC, Kilmarnock or Dundee Utd to suggest that they are definitely going to finish above us. I think St Johnstone could be pulled into the mix soon too. I know that people will point to Utd nearly sneaking a victory at Easter Road but had that been us the talk would be about another draw being snatched from the jaws of victory. I am not trying to defend the performances. They are poor but this is not over yet. I don't believe that our squad is mid table Championship standard and I think we will show that against Arbroath next. The standard in the SPFL outwith Rangers, Celtic and maybe Hearts is awful. Motherwell just need to be less awful that the teams round about them. I think that is still possible, depressing as it will be to watch

I don't share much of the doom and gloom that I have been reading over the last number of weeks. Comments like ' favourites for the drop' and ' the teams around us will start to move away now' seem strange given that we have a decent record against those teams in recent months. We beat Dundee Utd the last time we played them. We thumped Ross County. We have held our own against Killie and Livingston in recent weeks. The Kilmarnock game was frustrating but a freak goal from a former player with a point to prove was the difference between one point and three. I think the next three games are very winnable and could change the complexion of the season. Hibs come to FP under alot of pressure. Their managers comments after last week's game suggested a man feeling that pressure. So I predict for us to narrowly beat Hibs by one goal after a nervy 90 mins and for Rangers to beat Dundee Utd so that the picture looks a little brighter tomorrow evening.

I have listening to the Sportscene analysis a couple of times now and I actually don't know what point they are trying to make. Faddy is rambling. He seems to be aggrieved about the fact that the decision has gone from no free kick to red card. What he does not say is that the decision not to give a free kick in the first place is where the controversy stems from. How has John Beaton looked at that challenge in real time and decided it was fair? Ex players like McFadden and Stewart should be applauding VAR for situations like Saturday because it protects players from the incompetence of Scottish referees. Player safety should be high on their agenda. That could have been a leg breaking tackle on Saturday. I actually believe that Watt did try to pull out of the challenge at the last second but it was still high and still dangerous. There does not have to be intent for it to be red. Mugabi's red card last season was an example of just that. I wonder if the BBC pundits purposefully take an opposing view to play devils advocate. Certainly McFadden sounded like he was struggling to justify his own position on the incident.

A very poor Rangers team that had humiliated us at Ibrox in the league cup the season before under McCall. I could not believe his (McCalls) talk before that game about us having to be at our best and them having an off night to get a result. We duly got thumped 3-0 from memory. I genuinely believe that Baraclough was the only manager we have had over the last 20 years that could have got us that result in the playoff. He brought a fresh mindset when we needed it most. Craig Brown, Alex McLeish, Mark McGhee, Stuart McCall etc would all have had us beat before a ball was kicked. It's the Scottish football way. We owe Baraclough a debt of gratitude that some Motherwell fans seem to lack the good grace to give him.

It seems to be a bit of a Scottish Football obsession about beefing up to handle the physicality of the game . I remember the Russian team that came to Firpark a few seasons back (was it Krasnador?) and it struck me how many of them looked more like African distance runners than traditional football players.. They ghosted past a Motherwell side that were made to look very static. Admittedly that was a fairly expensive team from memory. Certainly it showed that pace and athleticism can be ask effective as strength. If Tierney adds too much weight he might lose some of the other strengths in his game. Topically, I remember watching Louis Moult for the first time up at ICT for that seasons opening game and feeling that he looked a bit lightweight. Wes Fletcher looked the better option that day. To counter my own argument, I think Moult did some physical conditioning in that first year and did become more robust.

Did you see Mo Salah's misses against Bournemouth last week? If it can happen to a world class striker then it can happen to anyone. I think KVV spoke of gambling addition rather than any kind of mental health concerning the pressures of the game but regardless if he has openly discussed any problems it is poor form to then use it as a stick with which to beat him.

Delighted with this. It is a bit of theatre apart from anything else which is what football is all about. I have a hunch this is going to work out very nicely. Put it this way IF Moult and Van Veen can play in the same team and IF they can strike up a decent partnership then it is happy days

Moult is only 30 so, if fit, would have a few good years left. If he passed a thorough medical and was given the opportunity to get match fit over a couple of months, who is to say that he could not recapture the form of old. I think a player's environment had a big part to play with some players, particularly strikers. An injury free Moult would be well worth the risk.

I don’t want to be negative or borrow worry but I am concerned that Man Utd might poach Hammell for the soon to be vacated Man Utd job?

Well, Well, (Super) Well who would have thought it!! What a result. Third place . Europe beckons!!! What could possibly go wrong. Congratulations Stevie Hammell. Absolutely brilliant!!

I agree with much of what you both say. The board are damned if they do damned if they don’t. Being a board member or a manager of a team like Motherwell presents significant challenges and it is so easy to be an anonymous armchair critic. I think Alan Burrows in particular has been a huge positive for the club over the last few years and the Board have done a remarkable job of picking the right man at the right time over the last 15 years to ensure our top flight status. The naysayers criticising manager after manger does get wearing after a while. Alexander is actually the first manager since Maurice Malpas that I completely lost faith in. For me the Sligo result and performance was unacceptable. I just get a sense this time that this is the most crucial of appointments and the most challenging to date. I would be delighted and impressed if they have called this one correctly. There is no doubt that it is a very tough call to make. If there is a man that I would want to be successful, Stevie Hammell is the man but I do have the fear for him. He has a really tough task ahead of him.

I suppose the point I was making is that if they had absolute confidence in Hammell they should have given him the job two weeks ago. For player recruitment alone, two weeks is a long time. Appointing someone out of necessity is not what you might want and as a by- product brings the risk of failure. I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. Nobody is arguing that they deliberately ignored somebody they considered more capable.

Agreed. I think most if not all of those that have voiced concern have also expressed a wish that he succeed. Having had 24 hours to digest the news, I have to admit that I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed. For me, if Hammell is the man then why was he not the man two weeks ago? He has been at the club a long time. The board will know his strengths. If integrating youth development into the first team is the way forward, good, but that seems to be a decision they have stumbled upon in the last few days rather than one that is part of an ongoing process. I do worry that they have been surprised by the lack of interest in the job and that Hammell is the fall back option. It is most certainly a risk given his lack of first team management experience. Where I think we are all agreed, is that we do wish him all the very best and if his appointment is successful I don’t think there is a single Motherwell fan that would begrudge him that success. I think what has been voiced is a concern that a great servant to the club may have inadvertently been thrown to the lions and that a reputation built over many successful years be tarnished.

Best wishes to Stevie Hammell. It will be interesting to see how much patience his long service buys him with the support if he does not get off to a flying start. Interesting as well to see who he signs to strengthen the squad. I wish him good luck. I think he might need it because he has a mighty job on his hands.

I suppose it is possible that she is helping the board with the final selection process. If they were making final decisions last night it would not be unreasonable to imagine that she was involved in that process, particularly if she maintains good relationships within the club. In recent times she worked with Neil Lennon at Hibs just to add some more baseless uneducated fuel to that fire.

I would be excited by Lambert. I was surprised by the negativity when he was mentioned last week. The fact that he does not appear to be in the frame suggests that we could not afford wage demands. I would also be excited by Neil Lennon. The chat on him has been fairly polarising today but he has managed at the top level in the game and would be a very interesting consideration. Again I don’t think we could afford his wages even if he was a good fit. I would have been fairly excited by Malky MacKay and actually if it turns out to be Simo I will be reasonably excited by that too. I guess I am just easily pleased.