Morton V Motherwell League Cup Rd 3 Tues 22 Sep Ko 19:45

[AndyRoss]

Morning after the night before and I still don't feel the same levels of disappointment that I would usually after a cup exit and the missed chance of a quarter-final.

 

To leave out guys like Moult and Ainsworth ahead of what Baraclough surely knew was a must-win was a dreadful bit of decision making.

 

Got to say there isn't one player that was on the park last night that should feel any sort of pride in their performance, but the manager always seems to manage to be that bit worsee.

 

No changes at the break despite that sort of performance, I don't care if he read the riot act (which I can't imagine he did) to allow some of these guys another chance to perform like that again in the second-half was a disgrace.

 

The game was crying out for Ainsworth and he wasn't one of the first two sub's made - instead Thomas hooked while the likes of Taylor and Johnson were able to continue to go through the motions.

 

Not saying Dom was brilliant, he was a lot better than Marvin or Taylor (who found himself effectively replacing Dom on the right).

 

I've been in the 'Baraclough Out' camp for a while and remain firmly in there, but some of the players currently should be utterly embarrassed by how they are performing - even with the lack of direction and leadership that the gaffer is showing.

[1991]

I can't understand why he played such a weak starting line up surely you play your strongest 11 in the hope of getting a few goals and building confidence but no he rests players.

 

If we had won 5 nil last night I guarantee he would still change things for Saturday.

[sbcmfc]

The frustrating thing is that he doesn't seem to see the things that we can all see in the stand!

 

The Morton left back was booked in the 1st half, we should have had Ainsworth on terrorising that boy!

 

Robinson wasn't working, we could all see it early on.

 

We were getting into good positions, particularly Johnson on the wing, but his final ball wasn't great (in fact awful!!), but then none of the 3 holding midfielders we seemed to be playing were supporting the attack. He was looking at 6 Morton players in the box and Chalmers and Leitch on the edge of the box.

 

His system is rotten, and it doesn't really suit the players he has (most of whom he signed!!).

 

This big diagonal ball we are obsessed with playing from defence is brutal, particularly as Marvin Johnson appears to be scared to header the ball (seriously what is that half arsed attempt he makes all about, he has no intention of winning a header!)

[BigWeegieDosser]

Daily Record"BARA BLAST"

So he had a shouting match in the dressing room after the game.

Whereas during the game there was one guy instructing , cajoling , coaching from start to finish

- Jim Duffy.

That was a shameful performance on and off the park. Disjointed, disinterested and out muscled on the park. Watched by a managerial staff unwilling or incapable of adapting our shape to overcome Morton. And the tin lid on it? A game stopped while the Stewards and Police overreacted to a situation that nevertheless should not have arisen.

So we can look forward to another SFA boot in the balls-perfect. Rewind to the end of May to the media love in of the Twist n Shouting Bois , now dragging the name of the club through the mute.

Absolutely perfect evening all round really, so pleased I took time of work to be there.

Clouds are gathering on all fronts, change is required now before a chrisis hits fully

[Well Up For It!]

Anyone else quite surprised by the silence coming from the club just now? With the exception of the "highlights" posted to youtube, has been nothing.

[numpty]

Anyone else quite surprised by the silence coming from the club just now? With the exception of the "highlights" posted to youtube, has been nothing.

 

Not really. They don't say much after most games, what are you expecting to hear this time?

[Al B]

Now before I say this I want to clarify that I am by no means saying Scottish Football is brilliant (although I do think it's much better than it's portrayed to be, even by our own media and governing body), or that Motherwell FC are any kind of powerhouse within the Scottish game, but whilst I was still on Bara's side for longer than some, I have held this opinion since very early 2015 and still think it's the root cause of the problem:

 

I think Ian Baraclough has VASTLY underestimated the Scottish game, and also our level as a club. I think his ideas on tactics or generally how to play are nowhere near the standard required for this league, and his eye for a player would possibly be good at around the level of lower championship/league 1. I genuinely believe he's looked at this job offer, weighed it up with what he thinks is the standard of the Scottish game, and is now realising that he was miles out.

 

In a way I feel sorry for him...as it's not entirely his fault. He's just made an error of judgement that is now being shown up in a major way, but the comparison I can draw is that it reminds me of "that mate" everyone has that is a fantastic player at 5's and everyone including himself is thinking he could make it as a pro....and then they get a chance to play against pro players and get an absolute roasting.

 

The difference is that when that guy's brain goes "aw no....", he can just head back to play 5's realising his mistake and putting up with his mates all laughing at him. I genuinely believe Baraclough had his "aw no..." moment a long time ago and has been hoping he can get away with it. "You don't know what you're doing" is a common chant in football, but I actually suspect that due to his underestimation of the Scottish game, he genuinely doesn't know what he's doing at this level....and he knows it.

[Kmcalpin]

but then none of the 3 holding midfielders we seemed to be playing were supporting the attack.

 

 

The only central midfielder we have who is capable of supporting the attack is currently out injured. I don't know about Cadden. Its a fundamental weakness in the squad.

[BigWeegieDosser]

 

Not really. They don't say much after most games, what are you expecting to hear this time?

Standard issue cliché packed sound bite from

IB normally issued along with highlights?

[Donaldo87]

Standard issue cliché packed sound bite from

IB normally issued along with highlights?

 

Issues with the camera....apparently...

[Well Up For It!]

 

Not really. They don't say much after most games, what are you expecting to hear this time?

 

No post match comments at all, no tweets to say highlights are up, pictures are up, etc.

 

Did notice they replied to someone on Twitter re post match interviews that the camera was playing up.

[BigWeegieDosser]

 

Issues with the camera....apparently...

I think the technical phrase is - "Aye, your Maw!"

[capt_oats]

The only central midfielder we have who is capable of supporting the attack is currently out injured. I don't know about Cadden. Its a fundamental weakness in the squad.

 

This. On the face of it our entire system and set up has fallen apart because one player has been removed from the team. Whatever you think about the effort of the players etc, this is a fundamental issue in terms of team management. I'd say that a fit Stephen Pearson would get a game for pretty much any team in this league excluding Celtic (I could definitely see him getting minutes for Aberdeen).

 

In that respect it's unlikely that we're going to have a direct replacement for him at that level just sitting as a back up. What's concerned me is that none of the alternative options have worked;

 

- we tried McDonald deeper to compensate and go with the system from the play-offs

- we brought in Taylor, going 442/4411 with Taylor and Lasley which hasn't worked

- we've brought in Grimshaw and tried to go 433 and we're still not any better

 

On a very basic level this suggests to me that the issue lies somewhere deeper than just what XI players we're putting out on the park. It's more that it's an issue with coaching, organisation and instruction. Effectively we don't know how to get the best out of the players we have available.

 

I've found it interesting that Craigan has been really pushing for Cadden in any interviews I've seen/heard from him. Indeed he's gone as far as to say he's the closest player we have to Pearson. I'm possibly reading too much into it but to me it seemed as overt a statement on our failings in midfield as I've heard.

[Well Up For It!]

Post match comments from Baraclough in Evening Times:

 

“There was anger and frustration on the players’ part, we now wait to Saturday to see if there’s a response."

 

“I hope there are players who realise they’re running out of chances. There comes a stage where you have to say enough’s enough, and I hope one or two are maybe thinking they won’t get too many more chances."

 

“I can turn this around, for sure. I’m still sure we’re still doing the right things. They say they’re more than happy with the way they’re being treated. They have to be confident they can affect a game, not just drift through it."

 

“Motherwell’s a place where people have to work hard for everything, and we have to typify that as a football club. I can understand they feel let down and I’m fine with them getting on at me. If they back the players great, but no-one works harder to get success for them than me."

 

“They let themselves and their families down. I’m up here away from my family to provide for my wife and children. I made sacrifices and they should be too."

 

Sack this clown!

[Toxteth O'Grady]

http://news.stv.tv/west-central/1329278-police-injured-after-crowd-trouble-flares-at-morton-v-motherwell/

[Busta Nut]

His wife and children didn't come with him..... interesting

[Busta Nut]

http://news.stv.tv/west-central/1329278-police-injured-after-crowd-trouble-flares-at-morton-v-motherwell/

 

Not sure when that happened, probably when 6 of them piled on a 15yo to lift him

[one m in motherwell]

Post match comments from Baraclough in Evening Times:

 

“There was anger and frustration on the players’ part, we now wait to Saturday to see if there’s a response."

 

“I hope there are players who realise they’re running out of chances. There comes a stage where you have to say enough’s enough, and I hope one or two are maybe thinking they won’t get too many more chances."

 

“I can turn this around, for sure. I’m still sure we’re still doing the right things. They say they’re more than happy with the way they’re being treated. They have to be confident they can affect a game, not just drift through it."

 

“Motherwell’s a place where people have to work hard for everything, and we have to typify that as a football club. I can understand they feel let down and I’m fine with them getting on at me. If they back the players great, but no-one works harder to get success for them than me."

 

“They let themselves and their families down. I’m up here away from my family to provide for my wife and children. I made sacrifices and they should be too."

 

Sack this clown!

 

 

There you have it. He just can't see what the problem is, can he?

 

It goes without saying that Baraclough has to go. However, I think the problem does lie deeper than him, and in fact typifies the short termism that's really dragged the club down over the past three or four seasons. When McCall was in charge, and we had that fantastic couple of seasons, we suffered from not taking a long-term view and putting plans in place to ensure that we had a crop of replacements coming through when the likes of Law, Jennings, Humphrey etc. departed. The year we finished second papered over the cracks that were pretty obvious as a result of not recruiting properly the summer before. When it came to the crunch, I don't think McCall had the stomach for the fight, with no budget and a feeling that he'd taken the team as far as he could. (FWIW, I'd doubt we would have been in the same position last season had McCall had the backing Baraclough has been given).

 

The problem with Baraclough's appointment is that we really needed someone to motivate the group of players that we had, rather than try to bed in a series of new ideas in the middle of a season with a bunch of disillusioned and downcast players. The time to put things in place behind the scenes was when we had the luxury of performing well in the league.

 

It's the same situation now.

[numpty]

His wife and children didn't come with him..... interesting

 

Not that unusual if kids are settled in school etc. Don't think McGhee's did either, did they?

[capt_oats]

 

Not that unusual if kids are settled in school etc. Don't think McGhee's did either, did they?

 

Possibly reading too much into it but it does sort of imply that it's perhaps not the "long term" appointment that possibly most would have assumed though. No? More a case of "we'll see how it goes?".

[sbcmfc]

http://news.stv.tv/west-central/1329278-police-injured-after-crowd-trouble-flares-at-morton-v-motherwell/

That (and other news reports) seem to make out the disturbance was a lot worse than it appeared at the game.

 

Anybody a bit closer see what happened?

 

It seemed they'd waded in to get someone they'd identified from the earlier pitch invasion and its kicked off from there, but the situation appeared to have been diffused long before the ref stopped the game, never mind before the reinforcements came running down the track.

 

(That was slightly surreal, as nothing was happening )

 

I think the 10 year old ball boys standing yards away looking unperturbed is a good indication of how minor the trouble actually was and how massive the over reaction was. As I said elsewhere, short of an ISIS cell operating from behind the goal it was an over-reaction!

 

I did see 'flow speaking to the crowd and he looked to be indicating he'd seen what had happened, I presumed this to mean he had seen it and knew it was OTT?