Scottish Premiership Motherwell V St Johnstone Sat 18 Mar 15:00

[Yassin]

I seen enough yesterday to make me think we can start picking up points once we have fully fit and first choice (or close to) back four, hopefully less prone to individual mistakes than the likes of Ferguson and Jules, who we have been forced to throw in at a level they just aren't capable of yet. However, we need to find a way to pick up points while McManus/Tait/Heneghan are out or it'll be too late.

[milo]

I must admit yesterday's game left me fairly deflated.

 

Welcome to my world.

[Lobey_Dosser]

Can anyone explain to me how McDonald missed that open goal? Ive watched it over and over again and it looks easier to score.

There's no excuse but the lack of sharpness will stem from not training all week.

[Lobey_Dosser]

The break will be useful for recovery time and getting players fit but its an absolute pain in the arse going into an international break on the back of a defeat knowing there's nothing you can do any time soon to try improve the league position.

This season, every international break has been viewed as an opportunity to get players fit but it rarely works out positively. McDonald and Hammell seem to be permanently dealing with constant niggles that are hampering their training regimes. Even the likes of Moult, who had his operation in August, doesn't look to be entirely free of injury.

 

McManus and Tait are two pivotal losses that have made the task of staying in this league a whole lot tougher. It's unlikely we'll see McManus for a while, if at all this season according to BBC. Robinson's suggestion about rushing Tait back, who clearly shouldn't have played at Rugby Park, underlines the severity of our predicament.

[milo]

The return of McManus and/or Tait might help but I wouldn't count on it.

 

Both players have been ever presents all season until the last few games and it's because of results/performances in all those games that sees us so deep in the shit.

[underboyleheating]

There's no excuse but the lack of sharpness will stem from not training all week.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see it featured on some YouTube football blooper compilations. I know it can happen, however, even with a lack of sharpness/training no professional striker should miss from that range.

[Busta Nut]

Yesterday was a bit of a blow.

That first goal we lost was criminal. as the ball went into the corner I watched the boy Craig wander into the box unopposed and thought "surely McHugh sees him?". Apparently not, Hammell was beat too easy, Jules was nowhere, McHugh was oblivious to Craig coming into the box and Ferguson was daydreaming.

Skippy was hauled down in the box but the fact he is a cheating wee bastard and goes down easily at every opportunity will go against him. How he missed that open goal I don't know. He has that bit in him. He is our best player but I've lost count of the amount of times he should have burst the net only for him to fluff a shot or miss the target.

 

The second goal was awful. At the game I thought Ferguson was thinking Craig had followed him in and he tried to be smart and flick it away, on the telly it looks like he just completely misjudged the ball and I am not sure what is worse.

 

We missed some amount of chances yesterday, awful shots that went over or wide when they should have been blootered into the goal.

 

Zak Jules is a brutal. I understand that he is not training all week then playing at the weekend however he doesn't even look like a footballer. How he is getting picked for Scotland u21s is anyone's guess.

Chris Cadden has been out of form for months. I don't know if he is injured or if he has just been sussed out, he's pretty ineffective either way. I also don't think he is a right mid. The midfield in general has been a shambles all season. It has offered zero protection to our defence and offers nothing going forward. Pearo is a waste of a jersey just now.

Craig Samson is not a good goalkeeper, we all know that. To suggest he is a the be all and end all of our problems is way off target though and as @Desp said, Clapping and cheering every time he catches the ball is the act of a moron.

[underboyleheating]

How he missed that open goal I don't know. He has that bit in him. He is our best player but I've lost count of the amount of times he should have burst the net only for him to fluff a shot or miss the target.

Yes there has been a few occasions where he has left me scratching my head. These are the type of misses that Scott ‘The Pundit’ McDonald would be highlighting and passing his word of wisdom on. I wonder what he would say about his own miss?

[grizzlyg]

I ain't a Samson fan, worst keeper i have seen since John Gardiner but all the sarcastic clapping is hardly going to help the guy. I also don't get all the negativity about Clay, isn't the best but IMO I don't think he is that bad. If we can stay up then massive rebuilding is required. McGhee's signing record is shocking....Baraclough had a better record with his signings

[underboyleheating]

...Baraclough had a better record with his signings

If only he had a better relationship with the staff who knows what he could have achieved.

[CMWellfan]

I ain't a Samson fan, worst keeper i have seen since John Gardiner but all the sarcastic clapping is hardly going to help the guy. I also don't get all the negativity about Clay, isn't the best but IMO I don't think he is that bad. If we can stay up then massive rebuilding is required. McGhee's signing record is shocking....Baraclough had a better record with his signings

Tait, McHugh, Heneghan, Bowman, Clay and Frear have been shocking?

 

I reckon McGhee's transfer signing record will come good.

 

He'll never get over giving eight contracts to guys in their thirties that collectively, delivered next to nothing.

[Richie]

Couldn't make the game yesterday, but just saw the highlights.

YET AGAIN, for both goals, we allowed the opposition player about 10 yards of space to get a cross in.

[El Grew]

I think the criticism of the young lad Ferguson is grossly unfair and way off the mark. Sure his clearing header at the second goal was poor BUT all of the damage had already been done with his 3 other defensive teammates being culpable in allowing two St. Johnstone players to far too easily create a position where they could get an easy cross into our penalty box. Oh, and apart from Samson, he was the only home player in the box trying to defend. Time will obviously tell if he's got what it takes to make it at SPFL level but for any sake cut him a wee bit slack - its not his fault we are where we are.

[siebsbarmyarmy]

The second goal is a clusterfuck in a few ways. Not only the header but between Craig hitting his shot(good finish by the way) and the goal there was 3 defenders and Samson.

 

Cadds in my opinion could have made more of an effort to make it back to try block the shot but he seemed to amble back.

 

In comparison St J, threw their bodies at the ball to block a few strikes on more than one occasion.

[Kmcalpin]

I think the criticism of the young lad Ferguson is grossly unfair and way off the mark. Sure his clearing header at the second goal was poor BUT all of the damage had already been done with his 3 other defensive teammates being culpable in allowing two St. Johnstone players to far too easily create a position where they could get an easy cross into our penalty box. Oh, and apart from Samson, he was the only home player in the box trying to defend. Time will obviously tell if he's got what it takes to make it at SPFL level but for any sake cut him a wee bit slack - its not his fault we are where we are.

Agree 100%. I thought he had a decent game yesterday and was the better of our 2 full backs. Looking at St Johnstone's move from start to finish he was the only one who tried to defend and received no help from anyone.

 

On a wider note, I'm not sure if the return of Tait, McManus and Heneghan, whenever that is, will improve our defence markedly. Its been very poor all season and indeed well before that. The kind of errors which led to Saints' goals yesterday are typical of those we've been conceding all season. Sportsound pundits commented on our poor defensive record and said that our inability to stop unhindered crosses coming into our box was a fundamental weakness of our game. Its not all down to the defence though, our midfield has been rank for years at protecting the defence. When McHugh returns to midfield that should help.

[davkel]

Rarely have I saw a side who are so poor at stopping crosses into their own box .. It's no wonder we concede so many .

[siebsbarmyarmy]

How the fuck was that not a penalty for the foul on Cadds?? Utter stonewaller.

[Kmcalpin]

Just watched the TV highlights yet again. Given that Cadden was playing wide right midfield you'd have expected him to be lurking somewhere at the back post or in the vicinity of Craig but he was in the middle of the box and realised the danger far too late. It really is a feature of our play that our wide midfielders frequently get sucked into the middle of the park when defending.

[Guest]

Second goal yesterday comes from Hammell and Frear getting tangled up with each other and Cummins down on the half way line, so when the ball breaks down on the right hand side McHugh has to commit to cover, with Jules and Ferguson drifting across to cover.

Either Cadden has to get back to help Ferguson and cover Craig, or Pearson has to get in the middle to cover McHugh.

 

Nobody really covers the middle properly, nobody really covers the back post properly, Hammell/Frear have to win that ball on the half way line, Ferguson could possibly have done better with his header, but I think blaming him is a little harsh, when far more senior players have failed to help.

[si91]

Having watched the highlights last night, I'd be looking at the crosses being launched into the box (both from the lady hand side) before I'm blaming Samson for the goals. Far too often and too easily, are crosses coming in. And this was a criticism from last season as well.

[ONeils40yarder]

I came away from the match on Saturday relatively content with the performance, with a bit of luck on our side, or even a referee that done his job properly we'd have came away with at least a share of the points. Scott McDonald has missed a guilt-edged sitter, Cadden has scooped a shot over that he should really have sunk, Moult has had 3 or 4 half decent opportunities, Bowmans crashed a header off the post and there were a rake of instances where St Johnstone players have been throwing themselves at shots in their box. We've also had two stone-wall penalties denied by an incompetent referee, McDonald has clearly been pulled to the ground by Easton and Cadden has been fouled, absolutely no doubt about either of them, and its not the referees job to make a decision based on any players reputation for diving, he has to call it as he sees it, not as he perceives it.

 

A makeshift defence like that was always going to ship goals...Hammell is completely done, Zac Jules is a poor fitba player, and Ferguson is a centre-back being played at full-back. McHugh for me was our best player, he won challenge after challenge, and header after header, although he can be implicated for partial blame in each goal.

 

I wasn't one of the 'morons' who were sarcastically cheering Samsons every touch, but I can understand the sentiment. My Killie supporting mates, warned me how bad he was, but I was prepared to give him a shot, but by fuck they were right...he is fucking shite, of the highest order. On a day, where we have a patchwork defence, 2 of which are youngsters, I'm expecting a 32 year old goalkpeer, with over 300 appearances in the top flight, to use his experience to help take the pressure off. What we get though is a keeper, rooted to his line, offering fuck all in the way of guidance to his defence and slapping balls right into the middle of his own box. A decent keeper (not an outstanding or a great one, just decent), would be looking to come and collect the cross at the 1st goal and for the second one, he's got to be speaking to Ferguson giving him an instruction of what to do.

 

I don't see us remedying our goalkeeping issues, or defensive frailties anytime before the end of the season, but we are clearly missing McManus (more so than Tait in my opinion), and it really does seem like folly to have released Laing and replacing him with Jules, while Kennedy has just vanished into thin air it seems. Therefore, we are going to lose goals week after week, which puts pressure on our strikers to find the knack of getting goals again.

 

Cadden needs a rest, but we seem a bit light in the wide player role at the moment, unless Robinson can get Ainsworth into our formation somehow. Cadden hasn't kicked a ball for a good while now, and I've said previously that he looks as if hes either struggling for fitness with a niggling injury or, he's just being found out now. Clay is a lower league journeyman that is playing in a league that is above his ability...don't get me wrong, he very rarely gives the ball away and is generally neat and tidy in that regard, but he neither offers any real protection to his defence, nor does he offer anything in a creative sense, very rarely even having the faith in himself to take a shot at goal. I liked the look of the boy Frear, and with more games and an improved level of fitness, I think he could become an important player for us...he gave Ricky Foster a torrid time in the 1st half. Pearson has shown, nothing since he came back to us.

 

I still believe we'll stay up, as ICT and Accies are poorer than us, and I'd expect once we get the Rangers game out the way we'll start to pick up point against the teams around about us.

[Guest]

Ferguson is a centre-back being played at full-back.

See while this is true, he still put in the best cross from the right hand side all day. An absolute belter in the second half.

[mio]

I had the opposite view to many on Saturday as I left Fir Park appalled by our performance and lack of urgency (apart from final 5 mins)

 

The standard of play was shocking, ball in the air half the game, completely rudderless. Players looking disinterested, Pearson looked unfit as did MacDonald but it is clear he can still make a difference when he wants to.

Defensively Samson is a poor goalkeeper, Jules is a bombscare and Ferguson (who is better than what he gave us on Saturday) looked lost. His basic timing to clear a challenge free header for the 2^nd goal was awful.

 

Louis Moult had some type of tantrum with Robinson in the 2^nd half which troubled me, Robinson just shaking his head at him….dont know what was going on there? Moult is playing like someone who’s been tapped up….hopefully this is not the case.

The guy Bowman is not a footballer, he looks like he should be working at a chippy. Cadden I thought did well in the first half and totally faded 2^nd half….unfit. Only performance which pleased and surprised me was Frear, he worked hard and caused them some problems. I watched the highlights and I thought they made the game look ok, but I just didn’t enjoy the match at all!! Very poor and we are depending on ICT and Accies being worse than us until the end of the season otherwise I’ll be watching Motherwell in the lower leagues for the first time since the mid 80s!!

 

As for St Johnstone, they are a well organised, horrible team to watch!! Sorry for the negativity I just really struggled to see any sign of hope on that park and a lot of the positive comments are baffling,…plus the £29 to get in to watch that was poorly spent!!

[Orinoco]

we've been poor for a while now at stopping crosses coming as many have said. tho, having a goalie who refuses to come of his line even occasionally hardly discourages the oposition from punting the ball high into our box. hence the defence is constantly under severe pressure. we badly need an organiser at the back. which is something that an experienced competent goalie should be doing and guess what we don't have. our young players are getting no help from our experienced players or from some fans who constantly scream abuse. when a team struggles it's amazing how many hide in the medical room or on the pitch. we are a group of individuals, not a team. a proper hard working team have players working their arses off to help fellow team mates and not trotting back and blaming everyone else for individual mistakes. good teams have a strong spine down the center. we have plenty of experience down the spine, but they are not delivering. Only hard work and strikers taking their chances is going to get us out of this mess.

[Lukemfc1]

Overall relatively pleased with the team going forward, thought we looked a lot more dangerous than in recent outings. Deflated at the end as I was convinced the Bowman header had gone in but all things considered I thought we played pretty well, unfortuanately we just failed to take our chances. We all know the problems we have defensively but that was really bad on Saturday. Ferguson's defending was unbelievable. He sold both goals, the first by not taking goal side and the second by totally leaving his man then doing a poor header. I understand that he is young and playing out of position however this sort of defending wouldn't wash in the youth team. It was pretty basic stuff and after this he had 2 similar horror moments. It isn't the boy's fault that we are so short at the back but pretending he wasn't a large factor in the two goals is just kidding yourself on. McHugh held things together for the majority of the game whilst Jules continues to do nothing much right. Don't want to harp back to McGhee but he let Laing go to Inverness 'to play in midfield...' but I would much rather we had him at the back than Zak Jules who can't seem to pass or defend particularly well.

 

I thought Pearson had a bigger influence on the game than in recent weeks which was promising. In terms of Craig Clay I can see both sides of the coin, I thought in the first half he was powderpuff and had no influence in the middle of the park but in the second I thought he done a lot better, showing good skill and passing just holding on to the ball a bit too long on some occasions. Fingers crossed Robinson goes to Ibrox with a fresher approach compared than his predecessor, we really need to start picking up points.