Season 2020’21: Game 9: Rangers (H)

[Walker86]

Rangers didn't have to do much at all to win that. Players looked scared to play all the time. All this tip tapping around a back three and sideways passes into O'Hara make it so easy for the oppostion to get into shape and defend the inevitable long balls shelled into Watt and Lang/Long. Polworth gets it tight on here but one of the only times he gets a ball into feet and turns he slides a great ball in for Watt. Easy for a team with their quality to build attacks when we are intent on bypassing our midfield. Every team has us sussed.

I realise we have a few injuries to key players but recruitment has been relatively poor and the system we are playing is useless. Only positives these days are Carson, Campbell and Watt. Seedorf and Maguire looked ok when they came on and Grimmy has been much better the past few games. Surely a back 4 of O'Donnell Gallagher Maguire and Grimshaw is the way forward until we have more options?

[wellwell91]

How many penalties have we conceded this season ?? By my reckoning it’s 8 … … are we going for some sort of record !!!

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 hour ago, Lan_Lad said:

Budgets not attitudes are the thing. Budgets are exactly why the OF have been winning the league for decades. Exactly why only a handful of teams can win the CL. You can't tell me approaching 40 years of league domination by two teams is down to an attitude.

of course budgets make a difference but not to have registered a single league win against them in 18 years is utterly disgraceful.  47 games without a win, no other club in the top division will have anything like that kind of record against Rangers

[Eck]

Carson's save in the 1st minute, you will be hard pushed to see a better one this season.

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 hour ago, GrahamH said:

I don’t think anybody is suggesting we should be winning the league. We should be able to compete in the odd one-off game though. Our record against them is deplorable.

exactly not a single league win in 18 years is pathetic.

[Spit_It_Out]

This is pure Relegation material aye playing Rangers  make every excuse under the sun but we just didn't do anything no fight no balls.

We need to add a few faces Lang not sold on him,Grimshaw needs to go can't take a throw in can't make a pass to a Well shirt utter terrible.

If we had decent service i am pretty sure Watt would score for fun he is the only player apart from Campbell that actually busts his gut. 

To beat Aberdeen 3-0 and then serve us up this Sunday shit sandwich nah not having it.

[FirParkCornerExile]

Just now, Spit_It_Out said:

This is pure Relegation material aye playing Rangers  make every excuse under the sun but we just didn't do anything no fight no balls.

We need to add a few faces Lang not sold on him,Grimshaw needs to go can't take a throw in can't make a pass to a Well shirt utter terrible.

If we had decent service i am pretty sure Watt would score for fun he is the only player apart from Campbell that actually busts his gut. 

To beat Aberdeen 3-0 and then serve us up this Sunday shit sandwich nah not having it.

Its not even just the Rangers game its the utter bollocks being spouted that we've just been unlucky in many games. Other than a couple of games I think we have looked mediocre at best and powder puff all over the park.  Lammie is dreadful.

[Yorkyred]

A very poor day at the office with Rangers dominating. I would agree that regardless of the quality of players we just failed to turn up on the day. We could have had a penalty but we were losing regardless, Rangers just strolled the second half and dominated midfield. The defence is a problem with injuries to key players certainly being a factor but we desperately need to sign an experienced centre half, sorry I’m just not a fan of Mugabi, he’s an accident waiting to happen. Lamie simply not good enough, I would have preferred McGinn. I think Robinson is pretty shellshocked this season, he went into it stating this was the strongest Motherwell squad he had worked with and it’s simply not panning out that way and losing Turnbull is not a huge factor, we managed just fine without him last season. There is something missing this season, maybe a bit of belief but it’s pretty evident, you could see within 5 minutes today we were going to lose, pretty depressing stuff. I honestly think every department of the team needs strengthening if we want to do anything, still don’t think we will be relegated under Robinson and games against Celtic and Rangers have never defined our season but regardless today was pretty awful.

[wellup83]

1 hour ago, Spiderpig said:

Said it for weeks now Lamie is brutal should be nowhere near the team, but SR seems to think he can do a job. 

To be fair he looked OK at Livi in beside Gallagher so he may turn things round this season and prove me wrong but right now he needs dropped, problem is though who do we have to replace him, nobody. 

Maguire can't possibly be any worse in there. Unfortunately robinson seems hell bent on turning him into a defensive mid. Robinson had his arm forced into putting trust in youth last season and it saved his neck. Maybe it's time to try the same again? 

[Lobey_Dosser]

I don’t think today is a day to be overly critical. Yes, the level of performance was pathetic but it wasn’t entirely surprising given the trip to Israel. 

Looking at the bigger picture though, there is little to get excited about. We are most likely to lose Campbell soon which will mark the end of an era where we excelled in the youth development department. We are then left with a mixed bag of players, few of whom we have any real affection for. The team may  do well enough but one thing for sure is that we’ll rarely cause an upset against one of the big two. For whatever reason, the days of us raising our game against them seem to be long gone unfortunately. 

[wellsince75]

1 hour ago, Walker86 said:

Rangers didn't have to do much at all to win that. Players looked scared to play all the time. All this tip tapping around a back three and sideways passes into O'Hara make it so easy for the oppostion to get into shape and defend the inevitable long balls shelled into Watt and Lang/Long. Polworth gets it tight on here but one of the only times he gets a ball into feet and turns he slides a great ball in for Watt. Easy for a team with their quality to build attacks when we are intent on bypassing our midfield. Every team has us sussed.

I realise we have a few injuries to key players but recruitment has been relatively poor and the system we are playing is useless. Only positives these days are Carson, Campbell and Watt. Seedorf and Maguire looked ok when they came on and Grimmy has been much better the past few games. Surely a back 4 of O'Donnell Gallagher Maguire and Grimshaw is the way forward until we have more options?

spot on YTS.

Complete agree with the tippy tappy giving teams too much time to shape.

My biggest worry is there's no one who'll come back from injury that will make much difference.  Carrol is a decent left back , Donnelly might help as the holding midfield player but in the round can't see it being a game changer. 

We look like a team who's run out of idea's and our gaffer sounds like a man who's run out of ideas. 

[Jumbomuir]

Wee Jose not happy with Newcastle getting a pen for handball, should come up here, we give them without VAR or monitors. 

[Spit_It_Out]

Gallagher should be dropped he done it to Hartley so he needs to go out and get some competition for the CB.He is murder right now gets the ball hoofs it into space to end with nothing.

The wingers are null and void clearly Seedorf isn't going to come onto anything so time to cut him free,Hylton looks done up here so me thinks we will be off.

 

[FirParkCornerExile]

32 minutes ago, Lobey_Dosser said:

I don’t think today is a day to be overly critical. Yes, the level of performance was pathetic but it wasn’t entirely surprising given the trip to Israel. 

Looking at the bigger picture though, there is little to get excited about. We are most likely to lose Campbell soon which will mark the end of an era where we excelled in the youth development department. We are then left with a mixed bag of players, few of whom we have any real affection for. The team may  do well enough but one thing for sure is that we’ll rarely cause an upset against one of the big two. For whatever reason, the days of us raising our game against them seem to be long gone unfortunately. 

we havent raised our game against rangers for 18 years.

[Kmac]

Rather than jumping two feet first into a tirade after the game, I decided to take a breath and put this into context. 
It’s utterly appalling that as a club, we have not managed to win against Rangers/ sevco in the league for 18 years - that’s one part of this. In what you can only assume is some sort of mental block, it’s a woefully embarrassing statistic. 
The performance today, itself,  was absolutely appalling. As I commented early in the match, do I expect us to turn rangers over in every match, no, but do I expect us to compete - without a shadow of a doubt. Today, we showed no quality, leadership on or off the park, Grit, ideas or invention. ‘Flat’ did not cover it. Going out with a whimper at home is pathetic. 

For me, the performance today and Robinson’s subsequent comments were clearly indicative of a spiral of decline which is currently surrounding the Club. In context, we are playing in the middle of a pandemic so yes, there are no supporters and supporter finance (except season tickets and Ppv) but that doesn’t accurately portray a picture as to how/why we find ourselves in our current state as all clubs, bar the Old Firm, are bound by the financial uncertainties which no fans bring. 
 

The reality of the matter is this. Last season, we finished 3rd whilst budgeting for 10th and were awarded prize money as such. Yes, we missed out on some home gates however all things being equal, the club should have found itself on a relatively equal footing given that budgeting for 10th doesn’t mean playing the OF at home after the split. Factor is the transfer of James Scott and the announcement of being debt free, we arguably came into the start of the new season with as little impact on the overall, financially, as any club out with the arse cheeks of Glasgow. 
We released senior pros and large earners in both captain and deputy captain from contracts in the summer and brought in Lamie and White on Pre-contracts, as well as adding Mcginley, Hastie and Lang. We’ve sent our own youngsters on loan whilst bringing in loan players from other sides In the league in a questionable strategic move. 
We sold our biggest talent to a league rival and bowed out of Europe after netting 750k Euro in prize money, have our captain in the press saying survival is the only objective after 5 matches and meanwhile learn that yet another young prospect is likely gone before seeing First Team action. 

Throughout the course of all this, the pandemic means that unemployment is rising And times are hard for many, yet I, like most of us on here, will continually put hand in pocket every month to contribute towards the Society, giving what possible to support the club; knowing both the state of transfer fees and prize money generated. 

I’ve never been one for chanting about sacking a manager or criticizing Burrows but there comes a time, when as a supporter, you think, what’s the point? 
As Motherwell fan and attending Fir Park for 30  odd years, do I expect to win all the time, absolutely not, but I expect to be entertained or at least feel a sense of pride in the club. 
The looming apathy of all of the above was manifest in a single match today and thus it’s time for the club to take action. 

So, now, is a challenge to the Board. Do we believe in Robinson? If so, then as supporters I expect to be entertained and given the state of finance, money must be made available to allow him to bring players to do so. Or, as a board, do you not? If so, the time to act is now, to secure a new manager in time for making changes and new players under that person. 
 

Doing nothing will breed apathy and continue the spiral towards relegation which is becoming ever more a possibility. For a fan owned club in the current economic environment (despite the big selling of assets), that’s the biggest danger of all. 

[underboyleheating]

2 hours ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

not a single league win in 18 years is pathetic.

Perhaps we should just concede the three points and rest the players for the next match instead. It used to be that 3-0 would be awarded against the team who didn’t show up. Far  better than losing 5 or 6 nil plus any bookings that you may incur. I wonder if this rule is still around, and can we utilise it please?  To be honest I think most fans sadly write these games off, me included. I long for the days of wee Dougie Arnott, Brian Martin, Tommy Coyne etc battling for every ball and giving the likes of Celtic and Rangers a game. I get the impression that players these days are just happy to be in a paying job, and don’t care about the side that pays their wages.  

[Great Balls of Shire]

4 hours ago, Spiderpig said:

I think its a mental thing with games against Rangers, we can't compete on budgets with them so they can buy better players etc, but so can Celtic and our record against them home and away over the same period we have failed to beat Rangers is reasonable.

I don't know what Barraclough said to the players before the playoff games in 2015 but that's what we need SR to be doing, as every time we play them now we seem to be beaten in our minds before the game starts.

 

 

Totally different rangers team , we hadn't been any great shakes prior to that game

[FirParkCornerExile]

41 minutes ago, underboyleheating said:

Perhaps we should just concede the three points and rest the players for the next match instead. It used to be that 3-0 would be awarded against the team who didn’t show up. Far  better than losing 5 or 6 nil plus any bookings that you may incur. I wonder if this rule is still around, and can we utilise it please?  To be honest I think most fans sadly write these games off, me included. I long for the days of wee Dougie Arnott, Brian Martin, Tommy Coyne etc battling for every ball and giving the likes of Celtic and Rangers a game. I get the impression that players these days are just happy to be in a paying job, and don’t care about the side that pays their wages.  

imagine if someone told you today that Motherwell would not beat Rangers in the league by 2038 you'd actually think theres no way that could happen. but thats what has just happened , utterly pathetic.

[Yodo]

4 hours ago, Shaka said:

7 points is the absolute minimum. Any less and he should be out the door

Got to ask to ask why should he be given more time as his record from Xmas is horrific and remember two of those wins are against part time Irish league teams 

[milo]

Moving forward, who are the players we have that are going to dig us out a hole when it gets to the latter part of the season and we’re still in the mire? Who are the battlers? Who can be relied on to pop up with a goal? Do we have any players that actually give a shit about the club and will put their neck on the line? Or will we just stumble along bombscaring our way through the season?

[grizzlyg]

2 hours ago, Kmac said:

Rather than jumping two feet first into a tirade after the game, I decided to take a breath and put this into context. 
It’s utterly appalling that as a club, we have not managed to win against Rangers/ sevco in the league for 18 years - that’s one part of this. In what you can only assume is some sort of mental block, it’s a woefully embarrassing statistic. 
The performance today, itself,  was absolutely appalling. As I commented early in the match, do I expect us to turn rangers over in every match, no, but do I expect us to compete - without a shadow of a doubt. Today, we showed no quality, leadership on or off the park, Grit, ideas or invention. ‘Flat’ did not cover it. Going out with a whimper at home is pathetic. 

For me, the performance today and Robinson’s subsequent comments were clearly indicative of a spiral of decline which is currently surrounding the Club. In context, we are playing in the middle of a pandemic so yes, there are no supporters and supporter finance (except season tickets and Ppv) but that doesn’t accurately portray a picture as to how/why we find ourselves in our current state as all clubs, bar the Old Firm, are bound by the financial uncertainties which no fans bring. 
 

The reality of the matter is this. Last season, we finished 3rd whilst budgeting for 10th and were awarded prize money as such. Yes, we missed out on some home gates however all things being equal, the club should have found itself on a relatively equal footing given that budgeting for 10th doesn’t mean playing the OF at home after the split. Factor is the transfer of James Scott and the announcement of being debt free, we arguably came into the start of the new season with as little impact on the overall, financially, as any club out with the arse cheeks of Glasgow. 
We released senior pros and large earners in both captain and deputy captain from contracts in the summer and brought in Lamie and White on Pre-contracts, as well as adding Mcginley, Hastie and Lang. We’ve sent our own youngsters on loan whilst bringing in loan players from other sides In the league in a questionable strategic move. 
We sold our biggest talent to a league rival and bowed out of Europe after netting 750k Euro in prize money, have our captain in the press saying survival is the only objective after 5 matches and meanwhile learn that yet another young prospect is likely gone before seeing First Team action. 

Throughout the course of all this, the pandemic means that unemployment is rising And times are hard for many, yet I, like most of us on here, will continually put hand in pocket every month to contribute towards the Society, giving what possible to support the club; knowing both the state of transfer fees and prize money generated. 

I’ve never been one for chanting about sacking a manager or criticizing Burrows but there comes a time, when as a supporter, you think, what’s the point? 
As Motherwell fan and attending Fir Park for 30  odd years, do I expect to win all the time, absolutely not, but I expect to be entertained or at least feel a sense of pride in the club. 
The looming apathy of all of the above was manifest in a single match today and thus it’s time for the club to take action. 

So, now, is a challenge to the Board. Do we believe in Robinson? If so, then as supporters I expect to be entertained and given the state of finance, money must be made available to allow him to bring players to do so. Or, as a board, do you not? If so, the time to act is now, to secure a new manager in time for making changes and new players under that person. 
 

Doing nothing will breed apathy and continue the spiral towards relegation which is becoming ever more a possibility. For a fan owned club in the current economic environment (despite the big selling of assets), that’s the biggest danger of all. 

Great post

[Yodo]

17 minutes ago, milo said:

Moving forward, who are the players we have that are going to dig us out a hole when it gets to the latter part of the season and we’re still in the mire? Who are the battlers? Who can be relied on to pop up with a goal? Do we have any players that actually give a shit about the club and will put their neck on the line? Or will we just stumble along bombscaring our way through the season?

Ask Robinson that's what he gets paid  for 

[grizzlyg]

As most know I have been banging the youth academy drum for a while and have taken a lot of criticism which I must add has been mainly constructive. But I tell you what I would rather have say Cornelius...Devine...maguire in line up and giving us loads of effort rather than some of the players out there.  I know a few have said Hartley shouldn't have went but sorry last season we could all see he was struggling.  The problem has been recruitment which just beggars belief.  I dont know what solution is and I just think Robbo has got to stage where he doesn't know what to change.   COYW

[Kmcalpin]

A few points from today from today. I would've liked Crawford to get some game time as this was exactly the fixture to do it, and we may need his services very shortly in more important games. 

Midfield was poor and that immediately put the defence under almost constant pressure. Lamie was signed as back up but he looks out of his depth as others are saying. Sevco's penalties were soft but they played for them. Give a team plenty of encouragement to come into your box and thats what happens. As Welldaft Mk1 says we should get streetwise and shoot on sight into a packed penalty box. Campbell was denied a stonewaller but that wouldn't have made much difference.  The first goal was down to lack of cover on our right side, again. The Sevco player had all the time and space in the world to whip in his cross. The 4th goal although well taken was down to a powder puff midfield who left too much space and Carson exposed.

Today was always likely to end up as it did and I won't lose any sleep over it. It won't make or break our season, although it was very annoying. Our upcoming games are far more winnable. I wouldv'e like to some more changes in our starting line up to introduce fresh legs but heyho. 

[Spit_It_Out]

I don't get why he is sending them out on loan no Robbo give them a bloody chance and see how they do can't be any worse than what we have been seeing at least they will give you a fight to try keep place in the team.Never a better time no crowds to get on case best time to play them.

He gave them new contracts so must be good enough.