Scottish Premiership Motherwell V Rangers Sat 28 Jan 12:30

[Yassin]

I thought we actually started really well for the first half hour or so. We were playing most of the game in their half, pressuring them into mistakes and could have had a few early goals. Really seemed like the perfect reaction to last weeks game from both the players and crowd.

 

Unfortunately we struggled to adapt to McDonald's sending off and slipped back into the typical Old Firm performance of 9 men behind the ball unable to get out of our own half. I do think McGhee got this one wrong, and Ainsworth would have been a better option than McMillan, Frear or Bowman at any point in the game, but it's a bit mental to be calling for McGhee's head after this game. He's largely met expectations this season, and despite how much it hurts, Rangers are a better team than us and were always expected to win.

[fat_tony]

Feels like a sore one today, especially after their sending off. It was starting to feel like it was only a matter of time before we scored until McDonald's red card. At the time I thought it was soft, and having seen the replay I think a yellow would have sufficed, especially given other similar challenges in the match. I can see why it was given, but it looked to be a little late rather than all out dangerous like O'Halloran's. Surely we'll appeal that and show Kiernan's booking as evidence?

 

It fairly knocked the stuffing out of us though, and we were second best from then on out. That first goal was painful to watch. Kenny Miller just strolled into the box completely unmarked and got to pick a spot. Shocking defending. The substitutions were a little baffling to say the least, but in defence of McMillan he had very little support. Hammell seems to be completely unwilling to push forward nowadays (or is instructed not to), meaning week after week, whoever's in left mid has very little, if any, support.

 

I really felt for Moult today as it seemed like the only way he would get any service would be to cross the ball in then get on the end of it himself. Typical 100% as always though. On a positive note, that was my first look at McHugh and I thought he looked pretty tidy for the most part, tended to know where to be, and played some nice passes, and looked to get the ball moving quickly, something we're very poor at. I get the feeling that perhaps Lasley would be the better partner for him though, as even with him slowing down a bit, he's still a lot fitter and quicker on the ball than Clay.

 

Tough one to take, but we can't wallow in self pity, just have to gear up for a massive game on Tuesday.

[CoF]

I actually thought Mcmillan coming on made sense. There is no point in expecting Ainsworth to defend, he needs freedom attack, and for that to work requires absolute solidity behind him. Unfortunately Hammell isn't that guy anymore. On paper, McMillan at least gave us some defensive sensibility down the left with a bit of pace. I thought he was good and periods throughout the first half, particularly cutting in however Hammell and him weren't on the same wavelength at times.

 

Whether it worked or not is a different matter, but at the time it didn't seem like such a bonkers change.

[Spiderpig]

We have been shite all season this was as predictable as rain. We have a dodgy manager at best and can only sign guys from English non league football.. We are heading down, if not this season we will miss it by a baw hair, but medium to long term are only going one way. I remember the days I used to bother.

So given the fact that the club has no money who should we be signing ? We would all love to be reading that Motherwell have submitted a 5 or 10 million pound bid for a top player but thats not the world we opetate in. The English and Scottish lower and non league sides are our market so we need to try to find another Moult or Johnson

[fwr]

And with the likelihood of crowds dwindling in the run in - we need to box clever.

[grizzlyg]

Big round of applause to Skippy. We had man advantage so to dive in in front of here dugout feckin crazy. Experienced guys costing us and hsmmell leaving 20yds of space for right side midfielder is crazy

[FirParkCornerExile]

So given the fact that the club has no money who should we be signing ? We would all love to be reading that Motherwell have submitted a 5 or 10 million pound bid for a top player but thats not the world we opetate in. The English and Scottish lower and non league sides are our market so we need to try to find another Moult or Johnson

I never said we had other options Im just painting reality and there is no happy ending where we are going.

[Kmcalpin]

And that is an upbeat post Dave. I would hate to see a downbeat one :-)

Just the way I see it Iain. Every team comprises a number of individuals as Bill Shankly said and they all need to be treated differently. Quieter ones need gentle coaxing whilst extroverts or awkward customers need a boot up the jacksie. Last Saturday's interview with Mark McGhee was one of the worst I've ever heard. Yes he was very honest and I applaud him for that but as a leader of 11 men he needed to show more defiance, more fire and more leadership. Our players are no mugs and would have heard what he said. They would react differently, most negatively. Some would have smirked and said to themselves "Told you so" whilst others would have withdrawn into their shell and be demotivated. In essence that was the start of our preparation for today. After listening to the interview I had the clear impression he was fearful of Rangers, had run out of ideas and couldn't offer any hope of improvement. In essence just like Stuart McCall's demeanour before he left us.

 

That interview gave me the clear impression that he was pessimistic about today's game and didn't know what to do. I very much doubt he fired the players up. Whatever he said to the squad midweek the players would put that in the context of his comments last Saturday. What message too would that have sent out to our young players?

[Wallace_MFC]

All we had to do today was knock the ball out for a throw in to get a sub on..... As Chalmers was off for treatment at 10 v 10 Rangers had virtually all the ball. Instead we got a player (harshly) sent off. Infuriating! Am 32 and asked ma Faither the night to tell me when will things get better being a well fan?! He says he still believes! Me too. Not song long ago we were immense. Dortmund away for example!

[Tweed]

Hard to say how McGhee was approaching it for 11 v 11 given that O'Halloran's red was so early. But I really felt McDonald had two very good chances and he just didn't poke them home. But the moment we lost McDonald they doubled up on Cadden as they only had one linking player to deal with, Moult had to drop so deep to get involved and we ended up we had no out ball and ended up defending our 18 yard box. When you do that you eventually concede. Looking at it during the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half, it seemed to me we had to bring an attacking outlet on to relieve the pressure, it may have left us more open but we were so deep their goal was inevitable anyway. Had he brought Frear on at 0-0, he'd have had a bit more room to play in and may have relieved some pressure so that we didn't play so deep. Alternatively Ainsworth was worth a punt. Of course it could have gone wrong but there are times you need to take a risk.

[Welldaft Mk1]

Just the way I see it Iain. Every team comprises a number of individuals as Bill Shankly said and they all need to be treated differently. Quieter ones need gentle coaxing whilst extroverts or awkward customers need a boot up the jacksie. Last Saturday's interview with Mark McGhee was one of the worst I've ever heard. Yes he was very honest and I applaud him for that but as a leader of 11 men he needed to show more defiance, more fire and more leadership. Our players are no mugs and would have heard what he said. They would react differently, most negatively. Some would have smirked and said to themselves "Told you so" whilst others would have withdrawn into their shell and be demotivated. In essence that was the start of our preparation for today. After listening to the interview I had the clear impression he was fearful of Rangers, had run out of ideas and couldn't offer any hope of improvement. In essence just like Stuart McCall's demeanour before he left us.

 

That interview gave me the clear impression that he was pessimistic about today's game and didn't know what to do. I very much doubt he fired the players up. Whatever he said to the squad midweek the players would put that in the context of his comments last Saturday. What message too would that have sent out to our young players?

Interestingly his interview after today's game was very upbeat and yet on here he still gets pelters. McManus cock up aside we did better at Ibrox than we did today, especially in the 2nd half.

 

I get a lot of what people are saying. At times I am baffled by his subs or indeed lack of them. But he has managed over 1000 games iirc, so would trust his judgement over 99.9% of posters on this site even when we get beaten.

[fat_tony]

Am 32 and asked ma Faither the night to tell me when will things get better being a well fan?! He says he still believes! Me too. Not song long ago we were immense. Dortmund away for example!

We've had a period of 7 or so years challenging at the upper ends of the league, had nearly annual European trips, several cup semi finals, and a cup final. The only thing that would have put the icing on the cake would have been winning a cup. It's been better. Nobody in their right mind would've expected that to just keep going without any difficult seasons. Bigger clubs than ours have been through similar peaks and troughs.

[sinjy]

To me the game turned on McDonalds sending off. Up until then we were the better team and made two or three half chances. Some said that Collum was evening things up. Unfortunately we lost our best player they lost an average player. We created next to nothing after he went off. Kiernan could easily have gone for his two footed tackle but can you imagine the furore in the media about two Rangers players going off in the first twenty minutes.

If we lose McDonald back to Australia next week then I fear we will be relegated. He is our only creative player and makes Moult tick.

And if we stay up, next season will be an even bigger challenge. Hamilton and say Inverness or Killie replaced by Hibs and Dundee United will see the league much stronger. Without McDonald and Moult and Lasley, Hamell and McManus all a year older and their replacements recruited from lower English leagues things look pretty bleak.

[GazzyB]

We've had a period of 7 or so years challenging at the upper ends of the league, had nearly annual European trips, several cup semi finals, and a cup final. The only thing that would have put the icing on the cake would have been winning a cup. It's been better. Nobody in their right mind would've expected that to just keep going without any difficult seasons. Bigger clubs than ours have been through similar peaks and troughs.

I wonder what our fans would have preferred during that golden spell, Scottish Cup win or Europa League group stage qualification. Definitely the latter for me, however I think I'd be in the majority.

[Jacol]

I thought we started the game very well, we were pushing Rangers back, our only weakness I thought was on the left side with Chalmers delivery being very poor when the ball broke to him a few times early on.

The 1st red card was deserved an extremely reckless challenge. After that we a had a long spell of domination but in failing to take the chances we created I knew that again we were going to regret it as it was only a matter of time until Collum levelled up the game. Unfortunately when he did it was our most creative/ influential player that we lost.

McDonalds challenge wasn't great but normally that would have been a yellow but I can understand why a red was given but for me the two footed tackle 5 mins earlier by their Centre Half was much worse and surely an appeal can be made based on inconsistencies of decisions in the same game.

As soon as McDonald went off we were up against it and making it through to half time level was then a decent outcome.

I understand why McMillan was brought on for Chalmers as we were on top and it was a like for like change, both being defensively minded wide players. However similarly to the Accies game McMillan struggled and in having to check back onto his right foot we lost forward motion time after time. As the game wore on I felt we really should have taken him off but that would probably have shattered his confidence and done longer term damage.

Rangers aren't a great team but are better man for man than we are, they should be miles ahead of us in terms of financial outlay on their team but I would say over the last two games they are only marginally better than us. With a bit of luck, and stronger refereeing we could easily have got a result against them. Those calling for Mcghee's head need in my opinion to take a reality check a good season will be survival. We need supporters to support the club not constantly criticise, if McGhee keeps us up he's done well.

[Tweed]

I wonder what our fans would have preferred during that golden spell, Scottish Cup win or Europa League group stage qualification. Definitely the latter for me, however I think I'd be in the majority.

 

I'd prefer the former because the former gives you the latter. But that's the pedantic outlook.

[Tweed]

McDonalds challenge wasn't great but normally that would have been a yellow but I can understand why a red was given but for me the two footed tackle 5 mins earlier by their Centre Half was much worse and surely an appeal can be made based on inconsistencies of decisions in the same game.

 

I think the difference was McDonald was off the ground and got the ankle whereas Kiernan was on the ground and rattled the boot which I think was a fair differentiation between dangerous and red for McDonald against reckless and yellow for Kiernan.

 

Sorry, I think the much maligned Willie Collum got the three big decisions spot on.

[Kmcalpin]

Just watched the highlights and they underlined just how poor our defending was. Despite sitting very deep we gave Rangers plenty of time and space to find gaps. Both of the goals can be attributed to a number of players, in midfield and defence just not doing their job properly. To pick just one example where on earth was Steve Hammell at the first goal? Overall though our midfield was simply overrun and this emphasised just how far ahead of us Rangers are in that part of the field.

 

The usually much maligned Craig Samson was afforded very little cover but didn't do much wrong.

 

Still, we now have to regroup for the trip to Dingwall.

[ropy]

Second time in 3 games we have had a man sent off when we have had the ball. A record?

[CoF]

 

I think the difference was McDonald was off the ground and got the ankle whereas Kiernan was on the ground and rattled the boot which I think was a fair differentiation between dangerous and red for McDonald against reckless and yellow for Kiernan.

 

Sorry, I think the much maligned Willie Collum got the three big decisions spot on.

 

 

I'm not so sure. You've also got to consider pace - McDonald stepped into the tackle from a jog whereas Kiernan has a good few yards run at it.

 

Aside from the game, I've only seen the replays in the MFC highlights -I thought both were yellow at the time and I still think both are yellow although my mind may change if I get a closer view of Mcdonald's.

[CoF]

Just watched the highlights and they underlined just how poor our defending was. Despite sitting very deep we gave Rangers plenty of time and space to find gaps. Both of the goals can be attributed to a number of players, in midfield and defence just not doing their job properly. To pick just one example where on earth was Steve Hammell at the first goal? Overall though our midfield was simply overrun and this emphasised just how far ahead of us Rangers are in that part of the field.

 

The usually much maligned Craig Samson was afforded very little cover but didn't do much wrong.

 

Still, we now have to regroup for the trip to Dingwall.

 

Lots of posts about our defence / midfield over the last 2 games however it seems one of our star strikers mistakes have gone under the radar. His cut-back at Ibrox in the 90th minute and absolute sitter from Cadden's cross yesterday (see 2 mins into the highlights) are as bad as anything our defence served up.

 

I'm not actually advocating playing the blame game - I just think it's too easy to point out defensive errors when there are often other incidents at the other end of the park which could have turned the game.

[Andy_P]

I didn't find it quite as painful as last Saturday's defeat but in a way more frustrating.

 

I had hopes with some fire in our bellies after last weekend that we might have enough about us to sneak at least a point and for the first half an hour that seemed more than possible but what a disappointment thereafter.

 

No question their sending off was merited and I thought we approached the spell thereafter well. Didn't get overly excited played it well and were well balanced between showing patience and not over committing chasing a goal.

 

But it all seemed to fall apart after McDonald's red. Was it a straight red? I've seen it replayed a couple of times on a mobile and I wasn't sure, even more so when you set it against the challenge that earned Kiernan a yellow and one not too dissimilar that Clay was spoken to in the second half.

 

Our mindset seemed to change immediately with it and barring a five minute or so spell before the break we offered little or nothing thereafter. Whereas last weekend there seemed a plan to what to what we were doing when we broke this week it was painful viewing watching the ball lumped in the general direction of the heavily marked and increasingly knackered Louis Moult.

 

Rangers scoring seemed inevetible. A case of when not if.

 

Could McGhee have changed it earlier? Should he have changed it earlier? I was surprised when Jack McMillan got the nod over Frear or Ainsworth for Chalmers initially when it seemed a more offensive change would have been more in tune with the situation as it was. But come the second half we were crying out for a freshness and change of tack.

 

I can understand the thinking that when you reach a certain point in the game you think well, let's just try to ride it out but when time and time again, and only as recently as last weekend, have we struggled to get over the line in such situations its a gamble that rarely seems to pay off.

 

It just feels so disappointing that at one stage in the game we've had such a good opportunity against 10 men and yet at the end of it all we've lost with barely a whimper.

[postiejim]

Our defence wasnt great but it wasn't that bad, midfield was non existent and that made it more difficult for the defence.

McDonald being sent off ended any creativity we had. Absolutely woefull record against Rangers continues. 2 wins in 50 or something like that . Woefull.

[Tweed]

To pick just one example where on earth was Steve Hammell at the first goal?

 

I would say the answer to that question provides a similar question. In that he was drawn to Waghorn and I'd ask the same question about Stephen McManus.

[weeyin]

a lot of wingers play on the opposite side from the foot there strongest with,so aye im still baffled thanks for asking.

 

And that is truly baffling as it's the easiest thing in the world for any defender to keep the "wrong footed" winger on the outside so he has to cross with his weaker foot.