The Great Rebuild 2017'18

[Ya Bezzer!]

Worst league runs since 2010.

 

13/08/2014 - 31/10/2014 - 4 points from 11 matches [0.36 per match] - McCall 11, league position 11th

01/01/2015 - 13/03/2015 - 5 points from 11 matches [0.45 per match] - Barraclough 11, league position 11th

28/10/2017 - ??/??/?? - 5 points from 10 matches [0.5 per match] - Robinson 10, league position 8th

13/11/2010 - 12/02/2011 - 6 points from 12 matches [0.5 per match] - Craig Brown 2, Gordon Young 7, Stuart McCall 3, league position 8th

04/02/2017 - 08/04/2017 - 5 points from 10 matches [0.5 per match] - McGhee 4, Robinson 6, league position 11th

[fergi4]

Did Willie Falconer miss a penalty on his debut or am I imagining that?

He certainly did! When the penalty was won, Andy Roddie picked up the ball and presented it to Falconer... Don't think Falconer was looking for it to be honest, and likely the reason for missing. He was shit right enough.

[steelman1991]

Anyone else hearing rumours of a championship club being interested in Kipre?

Yup - from the White Rose county

 

 

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[MelvinBragg]

Yup - from the White Rose county

 

That's a good few clubs in that division. Would still be surprised at someone gambling on him given his only senior games have been the ones with us...

[steelman1991]

That's a good few clubs in that division. Would still be surprised at someone gambling on him given his only senior games have been the ones with us...

 

I probably would too - but stranger things have happened and then we could be 'Marching on together'

[weeyin]

Cedric has the youth pedigree and the potential to be a player. He'd certainly be worth a punt for any team that sees 6 figure transfer fees as small change.

 

I'd be disappointed if he left in Jan though.

[Ya Bezzer!]

Cedric has the youth pedigree and the potential to be a player. He'd certainly be worth a punt for any team that sees 6 figure transfer fees as small change.

 

I'd be disappointed if he left in Jan though.

 

I think if Kipre going in January secured Hartley for a couple of seasons you'd take it and say thank you very much.

[weeyin]

 

I think if Kipre going in January secured Hartley for a couple of seasons you'd take it and say thank you very much.

In previous seasons, almost certainly. However, we should have enough in the bank to secure Hartley and keep Cedric.

 

We're already short of cover at the back, so losing Cedric would mean we need to find 2 more defenders in January.

 

If I had to chose though, you're right - Hartley meets our immediate needs.

[Andy_P]

Interested to see what kind of strikers Robinson has lined up. Last few interviews he seems to have mentioned targeting guys in the lower leagues of Scotland. Previously we more or less exclusively recruited from League 1, 2 and Conference. Sounds like we might be widening the net somewhat, I've been keen on this for a while now. For every dud in the lower reaches of Scotland there is a Lewis Morgan waiting to be uncovered. Just like down south for every Jacob Blyth there is a Louis Moult.

 

There is some decent players in the championship here but it's mainly just down to good scouting and a slice of luck. Price tags are perhaps a bit higher but there is still guys there who are affordable with potential.

You've perhaps answered your own question with the final line there. The vibe from Robinson at the AGM was that it wasn't a market that offered best value for money. That said Rohan Ferguson was signed from Second Division Airdrie in August.

 

 

Another untapped resource is abroad. Accies have a lower wage build than us and manage to attract guys from a decent level. Not saying I'd jump at any of their guys but would like to see us looking far and wide. I've had the impression for a while now that we essentially are working off a few scouts in a select few leagues.

Petravicius? The recently acquired Greek goalkeeper? That tends to suggest there is some knowledge base of what is out there beyond the UK but I think when your Director of Recruitment is based in England then you can draw your own conclusions about what where the DOR's key focus lies. And when you've taken in sums reported to be in excess of £1.5m from players recruited from that market there's a decebt argument that the positioning of the scouting network is fairly sound.

 

 

I've got faith in Robinson and our chief scouts for the most part. You are always going to have a mixed bag recruitment wise but we need to recruit a decent quality of striker this window. A Ryan Bowman esq signing isnt going to cut it

I think it's exactly a Ryan Bowmanesque we're likely to see either someone who is on an upward trajectory at English League Two/Conference level who hints at having the potential to do something akin to Moult or a player whose stock has fallen looking to rebuild it. Much as I would love to see us go out and recruit something as close to the finished article as possible I can't see it.

[underboyleheating]

 

Much as I would love to see us go out and recruit something as close to the finished article as possible I can't see it.

I agree, it’s never going to happen. In all the years I have supported Motherwell this has only happened on a few occasions and even when it did the players were usually in the twilight of their careers. Yes no matter who we bring in there is no guarantee that they will deliver and we can only hope there is another Moult lurking in the January sales.

[Kmcalpin]

I agree, it’s never going to happen. In all the years I have supported Motherwell this has only happened on a few occasions and even when it did the players were usually in the twilight of their careers. Yes no matter who we bring in there is no guarantee that they will deliver and we can only hope there is another Moult lurking in the January sales.

We do however need to sign at least one striker who is match fit. In the past we've signed players who've taken 6-8 weeks to get fit.

[Lobey_Dosser]

We do however need to sign at least one striker who is match fit. In the past we've signed players who've taken 6-8 weeks to get fit.

Match fit and able to adapt to the pace and rigours of Scottish football, particularly when we have 6 games in 18 days to contend with.

 

Given the relatively small amount of income that we will make from the Moult deal, I dont think we would have agreed to sell our star man mid-December unless we have someone proven lined up or confident we have unearthed a gem.

[Yorkyred]

I would have thought its odds on to be another low level English player with a bit of promise. I was a season ticket holder at York for 20 years before moving up here so having seen at least three players let go by them deemed not good enough go on to join Motherwell im not expecting a superstar in truth. ( Ok in fairness Fletcher did want to leave) he was just a bit of an idiot personality wise.

[Clackscat]

I would have thought its odds on to be another low level English player with a bit of promise. I was a season ticket holder at York for 20 years before moving up here so having seen at least three players let go by them deemed not good enough go on to join Motherwell im not expecting a superstar in truth. ( Ok in fairness Fletcher did want to leave) he was just a bit of an idiot personality wise.

Out of interest who were the other 2?

 

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[CoF]

Worst league runs since 2010.

 

13/08/2014 - 31/10/2014 - 4 points from 11 matches [0.36 per match] - McCall 11, league position 11th

01/01/2015 - 13/03/2015 - 5 points from 11 matches [0.45 per match] - Barraclough 11, league position 11th

28/10/2017 - ??/??/?? - 5 points from 10 matches [0.5 per match] - Robinson 10, league position 8th

13/11/2010 - 12/02/2011 - 6 points from 12 matches [0.5 per match] - Craig Brown 2, Gordon Young 7, Stuart McCall 3, league position 8th

04/02/2017 - 08/04/2017 - 5 points from 10 matches [0.5 per match] - McGhee 4, Robinson 6, league position 11th

 

 

Can you run the same stat for our opening 10 games or would that scupper your agenda?

[DunnyMFC]

Out of interest who were the other 2?

 

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I think Straker was one

[Yorkyred]

 

I think Straker was one

Straker came on loan from York, a truly dreadful player. The other two who left York were Craig Clay and Bowman who then went on to Torquay then on to Gateshead.

[Ya Bezzer!]

 

 

Can you run the same stat for our opening 10 games or would that scupper your agenda?

 

Agenda?

 

We are bottom of the form table and the team in 10th has TWICE as many points as us. We haven't won at Fir Park since September. We've lost 6 consecutive away league matches. We have 1 clean sheet in our last 11 matches.

 

I'm afraid there's a problem and it's a fact that we are on one of our worst runs this decade.

[Mintymac]

Ten years ago on that fateful day we played Dundee Utd . Now that was a team . Compare this team to them . Night and day . For a start we had leaders skill dig and heart . Qualities this team havent got . A poor accies team pumped us second half today . Embarrassing doesnt even half cover today . Robbo shape up or ship out before you do further damage . Hope your reading this board . You must have seen it for yourself . Pathetic

[Lobey_Dosser]

I suspect we will be looking at 5/6 ins and outs in January. Someone above Robinson needs to pull the reigns in a little though as he seems to get carried away with turnover, just like Baraclough.

 

The last month has showed that the mindset of quantity over quality and character over quality doesnt get you very far.

[fizoxy]

Who can we realistically move out, and how?

 

Fisher and bigi are on two year deals, so for them to go we need to persuade someone to take them and pay the same or more than we are in wages.

 

The fringe players who are on 1 year deals are probably on next to nothing, so would probably be easier to move on, but wouldnt free up much wages if we did.

[Yorkyred]

Who can we realistically move out, and how?

 

Fisher and bigi are on two year deals, so for them to go we need to persuade someone to take them and pay the same or more than we are in wages.

 

The fringe players who are on 1 year deals are probably on next to nothing, so would probably be easier to move on, but wouldnt free up much wages if we did.

It was mentioned yesterday that Bigi would have plenty of interested parties down south so maybe we could offload him ?

[Lobey_Dosser]

Who can we realistically move out, and how?

 

Fisher and bigi are on two year deals, so for them to go we need to persuade someone to take them and pay the same or more than we are in wages.

 

The fringe players who are on 1 year deals are probably on next to nothing, so would probably be easier to move on, but wouldnt free up much wages if we did.

Bigirimana wouldnt be short of offers down south but I hope hes one we hold onto.

 

Many people rubished talk of 8-10 signings in the summer and we ended up with 17. There are ways and means to get players out the door and from various snippets and rumours, there are a few players looking to exit.

 

For what its worth I wouldnt be surprised to see Fisher, Griffiths, Kipre, Rose and Dimi depart. Few others could be in the mix too.

[fizoxy]

In robbos Interview he bemoaned having to change how we play, and that weve had to use perceived ball players so that really points to bigi, as theres no one in that team who is perceive as a ball player otherwise.

[WhiskyDisregard]

I think a lot of the signings have been really decent from the summer and it would be a shame to lose Bigi & Kipre in particular. We have been pretty injury-hit & the Dundee game was definitely a good showing of that, Dunne the most recent casualty as well. We have a better bench that what we had last season but a lot of the players are still learning or recovering. If we can tide this dip in form with a few fully fledged players ready to get straight on to the field, I'd be happy. Folk like Newell & Dimi can still feature but not relied upon & we wouldn't have to risk players like Cadden, Frear etc. in order to try and get points.

There is a market down south for players like Hartley & Bigi who just need a season or half-season to reignite their career & if we can get a few of them in on loan or short term deals to tide us over to the summer that should see us be able to start next season on the front foot. Probably with some spare cash left over from a Kipre or Cadden sale.