ONeils40yarder Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 Nae sympathy what-so-ever from me for wee pizza face and his road to oblivion. Get it up him......and his da' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebsbarmyarmy Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 Was training with Morton before Shiels got the tin tack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Really a carry over from last night's game thread. Planning will already have started for next season and contract negotiations may already be underway. As I see it, goalkeeping, defence and midfield are the areas on which we need to concentrate. Our attack will take care of itself. Possibly our greatest area of concern should be midfield. Lionel Ainsworth will probably be on his way. That then leaves us with ZFA, Paul Lawson (as yet largely untried) and Stuart Carswell, and Iain Vigurs all in contract. As things stand we lack pace, physicality and defensive prowess in that department. We don't know about Jack Leitch's contract. Keith Lasley is 34 and out of contract. I think its a given we'd need to replace Ainsworth if, as seems likely, he moves on. Do we offer Keith a new deal? At 34 his legs are not what they used to be and they won't improve over a 1 year period, never mind 2. From Keith's perspective he'd be right to want a 2 year deal. Should we offer him one or even a 2 year deal? We have limited wriggle room financially and if we want to revamp that part of the team there's few players out of contract. Will Stuart Carswell (I'm still to be convinced by him although he's still young) really come good and will Jack Leitch start to challenge for a starting place? Big decision time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Will depend a lot on who stays. Either way a new goalie is an absolute must. Possibly need a new centre half depending on Ramsdens injury situation and Hutchy almost certainly leaving. Would be happy to keep Reid. Do not like the look of Kerr one bit. Would much rather we had kept Saunders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Do we offer Keith a new deal? At 34 his legs are not what they used to be and they won't improve over a 1 year period, never mind 2. From Keith's perspective he'd be right to want a 2 year deal. Should we offer him one or even a 2 year deal? Like a lot of players Lasley has looked a bit tired towards the end of the season but that's a general squad problem and not specific to Keith Lasley. For me he was our best and most consistent performer this season and I'm sure he can play another two years at this level. If we don't offer him a deal, he'll be playing against us next season because I'm sure most of the clubs in this division would love to have him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inthebasement Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Out of interest why do we think ainsworth will be away? Seems to like it here, the boy has suggested previously he was close to packing it in. Well worth tying up in my opinion, real talent and potential for improvement to a decent level, he reminds me of JOB in that respect. And yes we definitely tie up las who remains our key player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat_tony Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Lasley will absolutely be offered a new deal. Despite his advancing years, he still seems to be one of the fittest players in the squad, and I think the guys like Lasley and Hammell, who know what the club's all about, are worth more than their playing qualities. People talk of the atmosphere at Motherwell, and the long-standing servants are a huge part of that. I think that we're extremely well covered in central midfield, with Lasley (assuming he renews), Carswell, Vigurs, Leitch, Lawson and potentially Reid all capable of doing a job in the middle in various configurations. I include Lawson in that list, as he's not had a fair crack at the whip this season due to his injury, and given the same support Vigurs has had I believe Lawson has the capability to perform as well. We definitely need more options for the wider areas though. I expect Hammell, Lasley, McManus and McFadden (and possibly Ainsworth) to still be here come next season, and I reckon that for once, we're going to come through the summer without having a massive rebuild on our hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welldaft Mk1 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Never thought I would say this in a million years - but out of all of them that are out of contract, my biggest question mark would be over Faddy! It seems as if he needs 6-8 games to get up to full speed and was starting to perform well start of the year before getting another injury. It shows form the last 2 games that he is like an car engine on a cold day..stutters for a while and then is fine and actually performs well when fully up to speed. Problem is if he keeps picking up injuries, I doubt we will get to see the best of him on a consistent basis. We are well covered for midfield but we can all see from the last 2 games and most of this season - the players we have do not offer enough defensive cover and I believe we need to see movement in that regard. Would replace Hollis even if he has done little wrong. Probably more to do with the fact that we have Gunnar for another year, we need an out and out no 1. Can see Twardzik coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat_tony Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 We are well covered for midfield but we can all see from the last 2 games and most of this season - the players we have do not offer enough defensive cover and I believe we need to see movement in that regard. The problem as I see it isn't that we don't have the players to provide defensive midfield cover (Carswell, Lawson and Reid are all capable of doing the job), rather that McCall prefers to play 4-4-2 with a midfield that presses as a unit, which leaves our defence exposed. Sticking Xabi Alonso in there wouldn't help defensively if he's sitting outside the opposition's 18-yard box. Those last two games in particular are against teams who like to play with one out-and-out front man and pack the middle of the park, so there's always likely to be a mis-match in there if we don't play someone as a dedicated defensive midfielder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Wellfan 2k7 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 (edited) My expectations of June/July are as follows.. Players who will sign on again - Hammell, McManus, Lasley and Mcfadden. Players gone - Hutchison (Either to Celtic, Aberdeen or the English Championship) Question Marks - Ainsworth (will depend on his circumstaces) Pretty much all tried U20s (Don't know contract details) Any others I missed out? Edited May 8, 2014 by 'Wellfan 2k7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makaveli Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 My expectations of June/July are as follows.. Players who will sign on again - Hammell, McManus, Lasley and Mcfadden. Players gone - Hutchison (Either to Celtic, Aberdeen or the English Championship) Question Marks - Ainsworth (will depend on his circumstaces) Pretty much all tried U20s (Don't know contract details) Any others I missed out? Can see Hutch go to Hibs... Really don't see him at Aberdeen. Think he's probably on his way to Sheffield United though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one m in motherwell Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I wouldn't be overly fussed if McFadden didn't sign on again. On his day he's obviously got the ability to turn a game on its head, but for a number of reasons this season just hasn't worked out. That said, we'd need to replace him with a similar type of player - someone else had mentioned a Murphy type, and I think they're both in a similar vein. All that considered though, I think Faddy will still be here, even if only on a pay-as-you-play type arrangement. I'm not sure if it's worth tying him down to a contract of any length given his injury issues. Love the guy though so would be perfectly happy for him to stay for the rest of his career, but I've got my rational hat on today. As for the others, I'd agree that Hammell, Las and McManus will all re-sign. Hutch will go down south and will probably end up at a low Championship or high-end League 1 team. No chance of him going to Celtic. Again, I really like him, and I'd love him to stay, but he's probably at a stage in his career where it's almost make or break time. As much as he loves the place, he's getting to an age where he'll want to test himself at a higher level - I don't think he's really developed much over the past season. Ainsworth is a stick-on to stay, I think. Again, he seems to be one of these nomadic players who, for whatever reason, just finds a club that fits. That certainly seems to be the vibe that he's given off at various point this season. That said, I'm sure his form will have alerted teams with bigger budgets than us. All in all I'm feeling fairly confident - a couple of fresh faces won't go amiss, but clearly this will be entirely down to the available budget (and an extra £250k for a second floor finish will certainly help on that front). What we need to try and do however is start the succession process earlier - there have been too many occasions when we've had to totally rebuild when we come to the end of a two year contract cycle. A bit of future planning wouldn't go amiss. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Wellfan 2k7 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Can see Hutch go to Hibs... Really don't see him at Aberdeen. Think he's probably on his way to Sheffield United though He wants to progress in his career! Have a think before making posts Hutch will go down south and will probably end up at a low Championship or high-end League 1 team. No chance of him going to Celtic. i was going by paper talk to be fair. with Lennon saying back in January that he liked Hutch, thats where that came from. I think its a championship team - Doncaster Rovers, Yeovil, that sort of level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well-army Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Can see Hutch go to Hibs... Really don't see him at Aberdeen. Think he's probably on his way to Sheffield United though Why would he go to a 1st division (potentially) club when he can play in europe for us He'll go down south to further his career Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Why would he go to a 1st division (potentially) club when he can play in europe for us Same reason other players have left us rather than play in Europe. More money, and he's played in Europe before anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 In developing the squad for next year we really do need to address our defensive problems - posters on here have banged on about this for month after month. So where do we start? Goalkeeping is but one element of this. Unless SM changes his tactics, which I can't see, then personnel changes have to be made. Hard decisions have to be taken. Any squad requires 2/3 new faces every year and we're no exception. One year into our rebuilding, we have to monitor, review and adjust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rambunctious Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I think its a championship team - Doncaster Rovers, Yeovil, that sort of level. So League One then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Wellfan 2k7 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 So League One then Pardon my ignorance there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makaveli Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Why would he go to a 1st division (potentially) club when he can play in europe for us He'll go down south to further his career this... Same reason other players have left us rather than play in Europe. More money, and he's played in Europe before anyway. and... His girlfriend is from Motherwell and he has said himself he has settled here so Hibs would be ideal for him and slightly closer to Newcastle but close enough to his girlfriends family in Motherwell... Hibs would mean more money, better facilities and so on. Go to them, get a season in the championship (which will be more competitive than the premiership next season) and be back up next season. The reasons for him going to hibs next season (if he did) would justify missing a couple of games in Europe with us on a lower wage. Plus when Hibs come back a stronger team Europe will be on their horizons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfc Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 this... and... His girlfriend is from Motherwell and he has said himself he has settled here so Hibs would be ideal for him and slightly closer to Newcastle but close enough to his girlfriends family in Motherwell... Hibs would mean more money, better facilities and so on. Go to them, get a season in the championship (which will be more competitive than the premiership next season) and be back up next season. The reasons for him going to hibs next season (if he did) would justify missing a couple of games in Europe with us on a lower wage. Plus when Hibs come back a stronger team Europe will be on their horizons biggest lot of shite ive ever read on here 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well Up For It! Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 No chance he will go to Hibs - even if they stay up! More chance of him signing a new deal with us than him joining Hibs. As said, Championship/League 1 or possibly (and I sincerely hope the fuck not) Rangers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chummy Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I think we saw faddys last game at fir park(for mwell anyway) last night. love the guy to bits and would love to see him back to a fraction of what he was, but apart from a cple of matches hes been real poor, including last night. only my thoughts!!!!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
something else Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Also think McFadden played his last home game for us last night. Hutchinson is off and so is ainsworth who has agreed a pre contract agreement with a foreign club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishielad Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Also think McFadden played his last home game for us last night. Hutchinson is off and so is ainsworth who has agreed a pre contract agreement with a foreign club. C'mon, you can't leave the Ainsworth pre-contract one hanging without more info: which country? which club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Why would a guy whose contract is about expire and just put himself in the shop window agree a pre-contract at this stage rather than see what offers come in during the summer (assuming he wants to move on)? Needs to fire his agent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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