Scottish Premiership Motherwell V Hamilton Academical Wed 5 Apr 19:45

[stv]

Robinson made a rip roaring cunt of that. We might as well have started with ten players for all Blyth and Gordon contributed.

Created nothing from open play. Accies were comfortable even with ten men. Bowman, Clay, Frear, Blyth are lucky if they're Championship players never mind Premiership.

I think i was at a diffrent game. Definatley a diffrent game. We missed Moult thats all.

[grizzlyg]

Jeez, young Gordon only made his debut tonight so doesn't deserve criticism and actually came onto a game. As for Blyth......As a 45 year old Well fans near my age might agree that he reminds me of Mark Caughey from late 80's!!!

[FirParkCornerExile]

No luck but Accies were the better side. They defended far better than us, had about 6 efforts on target to our 1 and their keeper was hardly troubled. We relied too much on aimless high baĺls. Tactics were wrong and our wings were exposed. Didn't understand the subs made.

Exactly we were pish and clueless Hennnigans sole tactic punt to nobody,Pearson utterly shocking. We never got anyone into the wide areas to get behind them we merely punted the ball high for the defence to come onto. That tonight is the reason we are going down. Couldnt score in a barrel of fannies against a team like accies,even when they had 9 men.

[FirParkCornerExile]

I think i was at a diffrent game. Definatley a diffrent game. We missed Moult thats all.

You must have been we were toothless cack. Bowman?? how the fuck he got man of the man his timing in the air was desperate

[steelboy]

I think i was at a diffrent game. Definatley a diffrent game. We missed Moult thats all.

 

Did we have more than 3 shots on target at the game you were at?

[Big Wispy Flossy]

We were dreadful

[Ya Bezzer!]

Thought we started really well and looked well out of sight of Accies. Then Heneghan made a hash of a pass back and it became infectious. After that 4 or 5 players made unnecessary mistakes and you could almost see the confidence drain out of us. Accies got on top and created all the best chances from then on. Luckily Samson did everything he needed too.

 

Second half I felt we dominated without really carving out any real opportunities. Hamilton soaked up the pressure relatively well and won nearly every header - bad for us since we had gone from going past their left back at will in the early stages of the first half to hoofing long balls up to McDonald and Ainsworth in the 2nd.

 

You could clearly see we were nervous and ill at ease, we had more to lose tonight than Accies and it affected the players. That, along with tactics that didn't suit our better players.

 

I think you have to look at the positives. He didn't have his best game tonight but we've been much better at the back since McHugh went there. I would keep him at centre back, even if/when McManus comes back. We gained a point on Dundee and didn't lose any ground to the teams below us.

 

A 10th place finish this season is fine. Just have to go forward now and try to get as many points as possible before the split. Inverness would be a good time to break the home hoodoo.

[AlmostFrazzled]

I thought Bowman was by far our best player. Only one who looked like he could create something.

 

Blyth's an absolute fucking huddy though.

[pingu]

Turgid. Not been in a while through various reasons and i wish I stayed in the house.

 

Hoof ball can get to fuck. keep it on the ground and play.

[El Grew]

Poor, poor stuff. It wasn't hard to see why these two are where they are in the league. Kick and rush football from us. I was fed-up seeing Heneghen (obviously under managerial instructions?) lumping aimless long high punts to a target man who never won a header all night. This is the worst squad of players I've ever seen at FP and based on tonight's performance they are heading for the Championship. The only football ability in our team was shown by young Cadden and wee Skippy who both played their hearts out and tried to make something happen. As for the remainder, well you would be pushed to get a balloon for them.

 

I couldn't for the life of me work out our shape or our tactics and if this is the best the manager can come up with - route one football then we are f*cked.

[Big Wispy Flossy]

Poor, poor stuff. It wasn't hard to see why these two are where they are in the league. Kick and rush football from us. I was fed-up seeing Heneghen (obviously under managerial instructions?) lumping aimless long high punts to a target man who never won a header all night. This is the worst squad of players I've ever seen at FP and based on tonight's performance they are heading for the Championship. The only football ability in our team was shown by young Cadden and wee Skippy who both played their hearts out and tried to make something happen. As for the remainder, well you would be pushed to get a balloon for them.

 

I couldn't for the life of me work out our shape or our tactics and if this is the best the manager can come up with - route one football then we are f*cked.

Cadden was shite just like the rest of them. Absolute garbage

[fat_tony]

I was fed-up seeing Heneghen (obviously under managerial instructions?) lumping aimless long high punts to a target man who never won a header all night.

 

The only football ability in our team was shown by young Cadden and wee Skippy who both played their hearts out and tried to make something happen.

Going by his post match interview, Robinson wasn't happy with the long ball approach, so it sounds like this wasn't his plan. He was talking more about playing down the sides, which to be fair, is where we had the most joy, primarily thanks to the running of Cadden and Frear. I thought Frear was by far our most effective player in terms of creating chances, at least in the first half.

 

Tough one for Bowman as he was on a hiding to nothing against a hulking giant of a centre half, but I thought he came into the game a lot more and did fairly well when the ball wasn't being launched 50 feet in the air.

 

Poor result, but at least not a loss. Saturday is doubly important now though. I was thinking we really needed 7 points from these three games, which is still on, but possibly a tall order given Patrick's form. Still, it's not at Fir Park, so you never know!

[milo]

We're a team comprising of entirely uninspiring and/or woefully inadequate players and as someone above pointed out if we persist with the tactic of Heneghan shelling diagonal balls into the box then it really is a lottery as to whether we stay up. The few good players we do have are too inconsistent and when one of thems missing we just can't function. It's been the same all season. It's been a season which in effect has just been one continuous terrible run of form. Quite an achievement.

 

Bowman for all he might have something isn't very good in the air. Yet he was who was being aimed for with everyone of Heneghsans punts. Still it made more sense than launching it at Ainsworth, McDonald, Frear and Cadden, but that's not to say that that still didn't happen!

 

I would be dropping Pearo for the game on Saturday. He was utterly abysmal. I'm no fan of Clay. He's been a mainstay in our midfield all season which may go a long way explaining why we are where we are. He offers nothing. Can't pass, can't shoot, can't create, no pace and can't even get stuck in, but was still better than Pearo! If Lucas has dropped off the face of the earth then as someone above said, it has to be Lasley and Csmpbell in the centre.

 

Special mention to Blyth though. WOW! Another belter from McGhee.

 

Accies finished the game with their best 2 players off the park and down to 10 men and our tactics still didn't change.

 

I don't think we're getting out of this one.

[MelvinBragg]

For those saying that Lasley should start ahead of Clay on Saturday, I would only ask what Lasley brings that Clay doesn't?

 

I appreciate that three at the back has made us a bit harder to break down but really think we need to look at switching back to a back four. Frear and Cadden are being asked to provide width but they're starting so deep that they're having to run half the length of the park before they get to a decent crossing position. Increases the chances of someone from the opposition shutting then down.

 

I'd be looking at a back four of Tait or Ferguson, Heneghan, McHugh and Hammell. A midfield of Cadden, Clay/Campbell, Pearson /Lucas and Frear. Up front Moult and McDonald. Harsh on Bowman but Moult and McDonald score goals and while Bowman is playing alright, I wouldn't be changing our shape to try and get him in the team.

 

Just my tuppence, for what it's worth...

[Ya Bezzer!]

For those saying that Lasley should start ahead of Clay on Saturday, I would only ask what Lasley brings that Clay doesn't?

 

The phrase "Clay doesn't" just about sums him up. What did he do tonight?

 

Lasley's legs might be gone but he's a much better player behind the ball than Clay will ever be. Won some tackles, took on responsibilities, played some decent balls down the sides and into the box, generally got involved.

 

Clay did absolutely nothing tonight.

[Kmcalpin]

For those saying that Lasley should start ahead of Clay on Saturday, I would only ask what Lasley brings that Clay doesn't?

 

I appreciate that three at the back has made us a bit harder to break down but really think we need to look at switching back to a back four. Frear and Cadden are being asked to provide width but they're starting so deep that they're having to run half the length of the park before they get to a decent crossing position. Increases the chances of someone from the opposition shutting then down.

 

I'd be looking at a back four of Tait or Ferguson, Heneghan, McHugh and Hammell. A midfield of Cadden, Clay/Campbell, Pearson /Lucas and Frear. Up front Moult and McDonald. Harsh on Bowman but Moult and McDonald score goals and while Bowman is playing alright, I wouldn't be changing our shape to try and get him in the team.

 

Just my tuppence, for what it's worth...

Pretty much agree with all of that Greg although 3 at the back tonight didn't help us at all defensively. Accies exploited weaknesses down both our flanks but especially on our left side where Hammell had a poor game.

 

I agree with Steelboy that Robinson got it badly wrong tonight. Thats not to say to he's to blame for all our ills he's not. 3-5-3 or whatever it was, is suitable for certain games where the play is more open but certainly wasn't right for tonight. Accies streetwise tactics seemed to take us very much by surprise although I don't know why they should have done. Blyth looked totally out of his depth and should not have started. For all his faults I would've played Ainsworth in front of Cadden to complement Frear on the left and played with 2 orthodox full backs in a 4-4-2 formation. MacDonald would've been instructed to play off and with Bowman, not behind him. Our attacking efforts were nothing short of clueless for the most part with an over reliance on long high balls which were totally ineffective - I assume we didn't know that Accies had big centre backs?

 

Even allowing for the tactical and selection errors changes could and should have been made earlier and differently. Blyth should have been hooked at half time to be replaced by Ainsworth not Gordon, no harm to the lad. By all means the ineffective Clay should have been hooked but to be replaced by the combative and energetic Campbell (I'm not saying he's the immediate answer to all our midfield problems incidentally). I thought Frear had done ok although asked to play a bit deep and out of position and was surprised he went off unless injured or knackered to be replaced by a right winger, playing on the left.

 

If we are to avoid 11th or 12th spot then Stephen Robinson has to up his game and quickly. Again I'm not starting a witch hunt against him, given our position when he took over.

[ropy]

The manager seemed to have a go at Ainsworth, seems he is fair game for criticism.

[mcguru]

What the hell happened with Imrie when the ref randomly stopped the game and he ran off then tried to come back on?

(And then didn't come back on at all)

 

From what I could see from POD stand, looked like there was blood on his boot (?) no idea if that was a foot or ankle injury drawing blood. Ref immediately stopped the game (we had the ball) and got him off, he tried to clean it up but wasn't allowed on so they got a sub on.

[Shire Greats]

Pretty much agree with all of that Greg although 3 at the back tonight didn't help us at all defensively. Accies exploited weaknesses down both our flanks but especially on our left side where Hammell had a poor game.

 

I agree with Steelboy that Robinson got it badly wrong tonight. Thats not to say to he's to blame for all our ills he's not. 3-5-3 or whatever it was, is suitable for certain games where the play is more open but certainly wasn't right for tonight. Accies streetwise tactics seemed to take us very much by surprise although I don't know why they should have done. Blyth looked totally out of his depth and should not have started. For all his faults I would've played Ainsworth in front of Cadden to complement Frear on the left and played with 2 orthodox full backs in a 4-4-2 formation. MacDonald would've been instructed to play off and with Bowman, not behind him. Our attacking efforts were nothing short of clueless for the most part with an over reliance on long high balls which were totally ineffective - I assume we didn't know that Accies had big centre backs?

 

Even allowing for the tactical and selection errors changes could and should have been made earlier and differently. Blyth should have been hooked at half time to be replaced by Ainsworth not Gordon, no harm to the lad. By all means the ineffective Clay should have been hooked but to be replaced by the combative and energetic Campbell (I'm not saying he's the immediate answer to all our midfield problems incidentally). I thought Frear had done ok although asked to play a bit deep and out of position and was surprised he went off unless injured or knackered to be replaced by a right winger, playing on the left.

 

If we are to avoid 11th or 12th spot then Stephen Robinson has to up his game and quickly. Again I'm not starting a witch hunt against him, given our position when he took over.

SR has made us harder to score against , which had to be first priority.Remember we were missing Moult , McManus, Tait and Lasley last night for various reasons.We are also having to play McHugh in centre of defence to compensate for loss of McManus.

We didn't do enough to win last night and I was surprised how good Accies were defensively, it's going to be interesting.....

[milo]

From the highlights the header looks over the line!!

[Desp]

Cadden appears to be going through his 'David Clarkson' spell. He needs to be taken out of the team, because his one and only ploy has been sussed out by the opposition.

 

If we are going to continue with three at the back and wing backs, I'd much rather have a fit Tait in that role than Cadden in this form.

[Spiderpig]

From the highlights the header looks over the line!!

I have just watched them myself and it was a goal all the way, the ball looks well over the line.

[Kat]

Confirmed by BBC ball was over.

[coop91]

Anyone know how many perfectly valid goals we have been refused now this season due to officials? They say that these things even themselves out over the season. Well if that's the case we must be due a good 6/7 before the end. This is not a excuse for the predicament we're in. However it certainly hasn't helped.

[ONeils40yarder]

I'm not sure what was wrong last night, was it the formation or was it the personnel that was picked? Too many square pegs in round holes for my liking...

 

Hammell as the left-centre back is asking for bother, hes done and struggles to cope when he plays as a full-back these days let alone having all that space to his left handisde.

 

McHugh is turning into our best player and had a fine game last night, but we badly miss him in the middle of the park, when our other options are the geriatric Lasley, the invisible Clay and the uninterested Pearson.

 

Frear looks like a decent find, has good pace, a good engine, looks decent in the tackle, gives 100%, but he had one helluva task last night between covering for Hammells inadequacies as well as trying to offer something in an attacking sense. An old-fashioned 3-5-2 might have suited him better but the 3-4-3 we employed last night left us far too exposed on the flanks, particularly on the left. Frear to me looks like he could play left-back or left-mid, but not both at the same time.

 

Cadden, I've said it for months, he is either carrying a knock or his one-trick has been spotted by our rivals and they now know how to deal with him. Much like Frear he had a really hard gig and gave 100%, he at least had a competent centre-back behind him. Someone else mentioned giving him a rest, and if Tait is available for Saturday I'd be inclined to agree with that.

 

McDonald has been deployed in this 'number 10' role numerous times over the past couple of years and I've never understood it, his ball control and passing ability are questionable. His movement and finishing ability aren't, he should have been feeding off Bowman not being stuck in a midfield position trying to help out the geriatric, the invisible and the uninterested.

 

When I heard the starting line-up I was initially disappointed to here Moult was out, but interested to see what Blyth could bring to the table...I was sorely disappointed in his lack of effort, and his lack of game awareness. Robinson may have felt that he wanted to go with the same formation as he did at Ibrox and that Blyth would/should be able to fill in for Moult, on last nights evidence hes a mile away from where Moult is. Moult would have been the difference between a win and a draw last night in my opinion.

 

Ryan Bowman for me was my man of the match, strong, athletic, good movement, surprisingly quick...needs to work on his aerial ability ie the timing of his jumps. But he looks like he could become a good player for us if he puts that type of work-rate in on a weekly basis.

 

The substitutes weren't a million miles away from what I'd have done to be fair, given the limited options that he had at his disposal. I'll never advocate Lasley being brought on at anytime, its beyond a joke now that we are still relying on this guy and I'd have brought young Campbell into the match instead for Clay. I've yet to come away from a game and be able to put my finger on anything Clay has contributed in an attacking or defensive manner and last night was no exception.

 

It was worth a shot bringing Gordon on and taking off the ineffective Blyth, and Ainsworth for a tiring Frear...by that time though we had long given up trying to play fitba and were rushing everything, and launching balls at Bowmans napper. Had we taken one of our numerous chances in the 1st half, it might have been different but yet again we rue those missed chances.

 

It was interesting to note Robinson slate Ainsworth for 'not following' his instructions...I'd like to know what his instructions actually were because all I seen was Ainsworth attempt to do the job that Frear had been doing, and again by that point the ball was spending more time in the air than on the deck.

 

p.s. a quick mention to Accies, they are totally shite but somehow manage to grind out results every now and again, their defence was pretty robust and their midfield coped better with the aerial battle and winning second balls than ours did. In Darian McKinnon, they have a worthy heir to the thrown of Dougie Imrie when he decides to hang up his shite-encrusted shorts...McKinnon is an absolute ned, that has managed to forge a bit of a football career, if I was his manager I'd have leathered him for his sending off last night...totally and utterly unprofessional and unnecessary from a player whos team are fighting for their lives in this league

 

p.p.s. at the time I wasn't convinced the ball was over the line and having seen the BBC footage I'm still not. It may well have been, and while I'm not one to normally stick up for officials, that must have been a tough call whilst in full motion.