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Europa League Campaign 2020-2021


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19 hours ago, Andy_P said:

This one stings.

It wasn't an especially poor performance by any manner of means, we weren't great but for a large chunk of the game we were more than half decent. And I don't think the opposition were particularly startling either. If, as was said Glentoran and Coleraine were roughly a Morton or Queen of the South, then I'd say this lot were perhaps going away to a Killie, Hearts or St Johnstone.  Difficult sure,  but by no means unbeatable.

But a combination of naivety and stupidity cost us dear.

Break it right down and your sliding doors moment perhaps, they put the free-header they had in the net, we put ours over the bar. 

The free-kick given away by Long was naive, the marking in the box appalling.  But until then I thought we'd played pretty well.  Long did well with the turn and shot, Watt a little unfortunate to get his feet tangled and the shot from close range blocked.  But we were matching them comfortably.  Their theatrics that were garnering them fouls I think we'd one shot to concern ourselves with.  So frustrating for Long to be suckered and the poor defending so close to the break.

I thought we started the second half purposefully but without creating a great deal of chances. And you can't then pass up the kind of chance that fell to Gallagher.

I was anticipating a change and when McGinley gifted them the opportunity I thought that was the time to go to four at the back and put on a winger.  But then Gallagher killed it.  If there was some justification in "taking one for the team" with the first yellow, to immediately follow that up seconds later by attempting to strange someone in the box. I mean come on!!!

It was done then. 

The third adds what feels like some undeserved gloss but in much the same way as we were clinical at Pittodrie so too were Hapoel tonight.

I don't have Odense, Stjarnan, Katowice or MyPa style regrets but this is most certainly an opportunity lost.  Particularly when so much of the damage was self-inflicted.

 

I think you are doing the Israelis a disservice comparing them to Killie, Hearts or St Johnstone. They beat us comfortably last night without having to play well themselves. 

I can buy the idea that a team can be unlucky in a one of game but Scottish teams both at club level and at International level have made an art form of gallant defeats over the last 30-40 years. We read and listen to the hard luck story over and over again. If only....... 

The truth is that HBS scored three goals last night because they have the technical ability to turn it on when it matters. 

Sadly Gallachers performance last night is a snap shot in minature of performance after performance we have had to enduree from Scottish players in recent decades. It is no coincidence that we struggle to beat part time teams and it is no coincidence that a team like HBS beat us without getting out of first gear. Scottish football is a long, long way off the pace. 

Progress has been made in recent years. The professionalism has improved as has the fitness thanks to managers like Robinson. Sadly however we have years of neglect to make up for.  We may never catch up but at least we are taking steps in the right direction. 

 

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9 hours ago, johnstone said:

This forum is so negative! We were put out by a side with a 40,000 seater stadium who can sign players from Porto. We more than held our own for over 60 minutes and with a bit of luck could have scored which would have made it a very different tie.

Also all this roadmap pish, in case you forgot we are in the middle of a pandemic and can’t have fans in the stadiums, I think Motherwell and most clubs worldwide are just thinking about basic survival right now.

End of the day we got a decent wee run in Europe that will have netted the club a wad of cash. 
 

Spare a thought for clubs not in our position who without fans could easily go to the wall. There are far bigger issues out there right now than how we spend £4 million like it’s fucking football manager time!

 

 

Yep, negativity goes over the top at times, bigger things. But on the football side we are signing players from lower league and none league down south, many of who would struggle to get in a league one team down there and we still finished third last season, tells you all you need to know about the standard of Scottish  football. You can pick individual errors out within the team all you like but it won’t stop them because we simply have players that are not at the same level as those at bigger clubs with bigger budgets.

While  I would like to see some of the money reinvested in the squad we always have to remember we have a club to support so a balance ( certainly at this time is needed). We’ve finished third, had a decent run in Europe, and sold on players at a good price, yet some are still never happy, very frustrating at times.

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When it comes to the whole happy clapper/pantwetter debate, I dont think it needs to be "either/or".

We should be able to constructively criticise the team when necessary without being overly dramatic about it and maintaining an element of realism about the size of our club and the budget available.

I just find certain posters are almost always entirely negative and that becomes tiresome after a while.

That doesnt mean we shouldnt expect the management team to spend any money we make wisely for the betterment of the squad/club.

Robbo has his faults, but we are not gonna get a manager who doesnt. So while I am in no hurry to have him sacked, if he got a better offer and left, it wouldnt leave me devestated either as Im sure we would replace him with someone of similar stature.

I would like to see a more balanced recruitment policy, and potentially use any spare monies to improve the standard of the squad rather than just numbers. That is difficult without increasing our pay structures.

Overall I think the club get more right than they get wrong and Robbo does a fairly decent job, whilst still having plenty room for improvement.

I guess its where your expectations lie dictate whether your glass is either half empty or half full......

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, texanwellfan said:

Some people react differently or have different outlooks or personalities but don’t be fooled by their negativity. They are still staunch MOTHERWELL supporters..... albeit they moan a lot. 

Im not sure any genuine Motherwell fan would welcome being described as "staunch"  :P:P:P

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14 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Im sure we would replace him with someone of similar stature.

Agreed with all your post, but this bit. The next Gannon, Baraclough or Malpas could be just round the corner. Finding a manager who can achieve what Robinson has is going to be very, very difficult. 

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10 hours ago, CoF said:

Agreed with all your post, but this bit. The next Gannon, Baraclough or Malpas could be just round the corner. Finding a manager who can achieve what Robinson has is going to be very, very difficult. 

No guarantees. But we have a decent board who all have the best interests of the club at heart, so no agendas, just all trying to get the best person for the job....

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2 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

No guarantees. But we have a decent board who all have the best interests of the club at heart, so no agendas, just all trying to get the best person for the job....

I am sure the board think they have their man.

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PS. Gannon gave us a terrific start to the season and had us going toe to toe with Steua Bucharest. His methods were up for question and ultimately his mental attitudes got him canned.

Barraclough gave us a magnificent play off victory v the dead club.

Malpas.......sorry, cant defend that.

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48 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

PS. Gannon gave us a terrific start to the season and had us going toe to toe with Steua Bucharest. His methods were up for question and ultimately his mental attitudes got him canned.

Barraclough gave us a magnificent play off victory v the dead club.

Malpas.......sorry, cant defend that.

Agreed the first two gave us one or two good memories but Gannon was an utter rocket and Barraclough was so far out his depth it was unbelievable.

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52 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Be'er sheeva  just beaten pilsen1-0, think that's their 3rd group stages qualification in last 5 years,  put a bit of perspective  on what we were up against, even before we helped them to victory

So it seems the secret to success is including a hops-based product in your name.

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The Rangers result was a really good one for Scottish football tonight re the coefficient; Turkey are only a couple of places above Scotland so hopefully it pulls us one step closer to moving up to 2 CL teams and 3 EL teams. Gritted my teeth and begrudingly wanted them to win tonight.

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3 minutes ago, GazzyB said:

The Rangers result was a really good one for Scottish football tonight re the coefficient; Turkey are only a couple of places above Scotland so hopefully it pulls us one step closer to moving up to 2 CL teams and 3 EL teams. Gritted my teeth and begrudingly wanted them to win tonight.

Bigger result than most folk realised, we are already going to get 2 CL spots for the 21-22 season, so Rangers winning tonight and both ugly sisters progressing means Scotland can overtake turkey in the rankings and if that happens iit could mean automatic CL group stage entry for Scottish  Premiership  winners from  22- 23 season i think

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2 hours ago, Toxteth O'Grady said:

If an Irish team can do it...

https://amp.rte.ie/amp/1168834/

I wondered how long that would take.

You can't just say that. It doesn't work that way. They dropped down from the Champions League qualifiers and then played clubs from Andorra, Moldova and Faroe Islands. Some of the clubs in that route are nowhere near the level of the clubs in the other route.

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7 hours ago, A Well Fan said:

I wondered how long that would take.

You can't just say that. It doesn't work that way. They dropped down from the Champions League qualifiers and then played clubs from Andorra, Moldova and Faroe Islands. Some of the clubs in that route are nowhere near the level of the clubs in the other route.

That set up is a disgrace, if a team qualifies for the CL, they should play in that till they are eliminated, all this, champions path and dropping into the EL is feckin nonsense, if you are out you should be out, so Dundalk were beaten in the CL qualifiers as were Celtic, so both should be out with no further European involvement this season.

Its even applied after the CL group stages ffs, a UEFA carve up to pander to the top teams and TV companies. If that nonsense stopped there would be more places available for the EL, oh and while I am on my rant the CL should be for champions only or change the name.

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