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Motherwell V Hearts Sat 23 Apr 15:00


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Not the most memorable game but job done. Shame there isn't more to play for at the moment as we are in really decent shape.

 

Leitch running out of chances to earn a new contract. Looked out his depth today.

No Motherwell player looked out their depth today. All worked very hard to limit hearts to one half chance all game

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With a better final touch we could have racked up a big score today.

 

Just off the top of my head Moult and McDonald have both missed sitters and Johnson should have put McDonald (I think) clean through instead of being greedy.

 

Thought Samson was very composed today, pretty solid at the back and we held up well to a physically strong Hearts team.

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That was quite unexpected. I had the fear when I saw the team but we were well worth the win and it should have been at least 2 or 3. McDonald's miss was quite remarkable and for all it was a good save from Alexander you'd have expected Moult to bury his chance.

 

Thought McDonald was outstanding in the centre of the park, Ainsworth took his goal really well and McManus was excellent. The only point of concern for me was why it took Josh Law about 10 mins of limping around the park to realise he couldn't continue.

 

Expected a lot more from Hearts but meh, the 3 points are more than welcome.

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I found that a very satisfying victory with a measure of revenge gained for the toe-ing back in January.

 

I was pleasantly surprised at just how eager we were from the word go. Whilst we weren't exactly creating chance after chance, actually early on probably Hearts had the best despite offering the square root of nothing, we enjoyed a good amount of possession, were pressing them high and generally had them pinned in their own half for long spells.

 

Nice goal from Lionel but a good contribution from McDonald in the build up. Speaking of which, ok he missed that sitter, but what a tremendous display from him again today. There's the argument that he should have been doing the same for Baraclough at the start of the season but you compare that level of performance to some of the games early on. However McGhee man-manages him he's doing it to perfection and McDonald is responding week-in, week-out. I thought he was terrific and the sight of him chasing back to put his body in the way of shots on the edge of our own box. The likes of which you thought you'd never see!

 

It looked for a wee bit we might wobble in the second half after Lasley went off but whilst they enjoyed more possession than they'd had previously I felt, the one very good save from Samson apart, we handled them well. Defended stoutly when needed and continued to look threatening when we went forward.

 

It perhaps says much of the kind of season that Louis Moult has had that there was genuine disbelief that he didn't finish off that chance. McDonald only a little less so.

 

Some better decision making and finishing and it could have been much more emphatic but in terms of getting three points and a level of commitment, not to mention level of performance from most, I don't think I could have hoped for any more.

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Unexpected 3 points today but a very composed and confident performance.[Have to say thought Hearts were shit]. The golden oldies ie McManus, Hammell, Lasley[ shame he had to go off by the way cos Jack Leitch wont do] were fab it will mean a great deal to us if they and .. Pearson can sign up for another year. Samson did well today also and i would like to see him here next season..I know im going to upset the happy clappers now but Lionel Ainsworth MOTM today....He would be one of the first out the door for me. For every 1 good thing he does at least 20 things he does is crap.

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Thinking back to the second half chances:

 

Johnson should have played in Moult

Moult's shot that hit the post

McDonald's shot that went over

McDonald could have played in Moult but ran into traffic

 

All great opportunities where I backed us to score in the build up. We should have been close to getting amends for the 6-0 they gave us last time but poor finishing meant we had a nervy ending.

 

However the attitude was A1, the passing at times crisp and the wide players gave us so much room. Just as an aside Scott McDonald is like a wee wasp on speed, you could never shake him off, a total pain in the arse to play against and he was magnificent today.

 

Just as another point - for a team in 3rd in the league, Hearts were utterly honking all afternoon.

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Why would happy clappers be unhappy with your comments Ainsworth dosnt do enough over a season and sure everybody will agree and thought Leitch was terrible certainly not worth a contract on that performance

 

I don't agree.

 

This season has been far from vintage from Lionel but he's a great player to have in the squad.

 

He's just not the player who is going to track back and defend but get him on the park in the right set of circumstances and he has proven he can deliver. Even of late he's been on the fringes but has still had a hand in the Aberdeen equaliser, scored and set up the winner against Inverness and got the winner today.

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That was quite unexpected. I had the fear when I saw the team but we were well worth the win and it should have been at least 2 or 3. McDonald's miss was quite remarkable and for all it was a good save from Alexander you'd have expected Moult to bury his chance.

 

Thought McDonald was outstanding in the centre of the park, Ainsworth took his goal really well and McManus was excellent. The only point of concern for me was why it took Josh Law about 10 mins of limping around the park to realise he couldn't continue.

 

Expected a lot more from Hearts but meh, the 3 points are more than welcome.

 

The way I saw it it was the management team and the players who delayed knocking the ball out that contributed to the delay in Josh going off - not the players fault. He indicated to the bench much earlier that he was struggling.

 

All round a good team performance. 'Dad's Army' continue to impress, amazing though that these same players performed so poorly earlier in the season, under a different regime.

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The way I saw it it was the management team and the players who delayed knocking the ball out that contributed to the delay in Josh going off - not the players fault. He indicated to the bench much earlier that he was struggling.

 

All round a good team performance. 'Dad's Army' continue to impress, amazing though that these same players performed so poorly earlier in the season, under a different regime.

Bit of both, what happened was...

 

Law picked up the injury and was hobbling about. Robinson got the shout down from McGhee to get him off and get Hall ready. Then Law shouted to Robinson he was fine and give it to half time. Robinson turned round and McGhee said fine. Then a few mins later Law got a bit worse and McGhee shouted down to make the sub.

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Bit of both, what happened was...

 

Law picked up the injury and was hobbling about. Robinson got the shout down from McGhee to get him off and get Hall ready. Then Law shouted to Robinson he was fine and give it to half time. Robinson turned round and McGhee said fine. Then a few mins later Law got a bit worse and McGhee shouted down to make the sub.

Aye, Law was right in front of me where I was sat in the main stand. I counted 3 times where Robinson asked him and each time he indicated he wanted more time despite limping heavily and seemingly struggling more. Then when he finally said he was done no one would put the ball out to make the sub.

 

Not having a go at the player for wanting to try and play on but FFS sit down at a break in play and let the physio have a look & if you've not run it off after 5 mins just make the sub.

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Good win against a surprisingly poor Hearts team. Did'nt realise Nicholson was on the park till he got subbed.They looked like they were playing in slow motion in the first half. Good team performance from us but for me Ainsworth did little more than score, poor passing and lost the ball to easily and does little overall in the game to justify a starting place. Ref made some unbeilievably bad decicions.

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What was McGhee doing in the stand anyway? LOL and no smart comments along the lines of 'watching the game'

He explains it in his post-match. Says he wanted to get a better view of how the team were dealing with the shape with a few players playing in relatively unfamiliar positions.

 

Points out that he's often taken to sitting in the stand on Scotland duty to do the same thing and report back to Strachan.

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