Welcome to Motherwell Graham Alexander

[Spiderpig]

11 minutes ago, supermarv said:

If you listened to the managers match preview interview he says how Mo Ross is still involved.

He said he knew Ross and that for now him and Lasley will be getting him up to speed re the players etc. But going forward what role if any will Ross have, 

GA brought in Lucketti, lasley will be reserve team boss, what will Ross do ?  For me he will be gone at the end of the season.

[Yorkyred]

If he starts with any one of Lamie, McGinley, White, Hastie , Mugabi, Grimshaw, Crawford, Seedorf don’t bother unpacking your bags.

[Shaka]

13 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

He said he knew Ross and that for now him and Lasley will be getting him up to speed re the players etc. But going forward what role if any will Ross have, 

GA brought in Lucketti, lasley will be reserve team boss, what will Ross do ?  For me he will be gone at the end of the season.

Some teams do have a "first team coach". We dont actually have a reserve team anymore so it may well be a long trial for both Ross & Lasley until the summer, then the Boss can pick the one he feels he works best with? Not a bad situation to be in until the summer

[Shaka]

11 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

If he starts with any one of Lamie, McGinley, White, Hastie , Mugabi, Grimshaw, Crawford, Seedorf don’t bother unpacking your bags.

Who else is left to play? The names above are the backbone of our squad! Thats the reason we are so shite

[Yodo]

37 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

If he starts with any one of Lamie, McGinley, White, Hastie , Mugabi, Grimshaw, Crawford, Seedorf don’t bother unpacking your bags.

U were loving them when Robinson picked them oh and of course your idol signed them . That's the mess yer pal has created his signings bar Watt   are all shite 

[smiddy]

2 minutes ago, Yodo said:

U were loving them when Robinson picked them oh and of course your idol signed them . That's the mess yer pal has created his signings bar Watt   are all shite 

nope nope nope yodo 

chapman isnt even as good as SHITE 

[mfcdez]

23 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

If he starts with any one of Lamie, McGinley, White, Hastie , Mugabi, Grimshaw, Crawford, Seedorf don’t bother unpacking your bags.

Bit of a big ask to come up with a side when you want to omit half the playing squad, no matter how shite they may be, but I'll give it a go .!! 

Of those listed, I think you could field a 'functional' side by using only one of them (Crawford, whom I think hasn't been that bad at times), for the St Mirren game until Alexander has a chance to get some new bodies in. 

Every single one of them need to get their fingers out of their holes and up it to the levels they are capable of, but the following should be capable of competing with the teams around us including St Mirren, who have really impressed me in recent weeks.

A draw tomorrow would be no bad thing to build from. Assuming that O'Hara is back and that, as reported, Alexander favors a 4-4-2, then - 

                                      Kelly

S.O.D.           O'Hara      Gallagher        Carroll

Crawford   Campbell   Polworth   Maguire 

                     Watt                           Cole

Should be enough to at least compete by upping their levels to either impress the new man, or help in their pursuit of the moves they are looking for during the window. 

[Yodo]

5 minutes ago, smiddy said:

nope nope nope yodo 

chapman isnt even as good as SHITE 

Your on the bench tomorrow Smiddy hope you've found yer gloves 

[wunderwell]

37 minutes ago, Shaka said:

Who else is left to play? The names above are the backbone of our squad! Thats the reason we are so shite

Hahaha - exactly what I thought for fun I thought I'd try

Kelly - O'Donnell - Gallagher - O'Hara - Carroll - Campbell - Maguire - Polworth - Cole- Watt - Long (prob injured)

No subs required except for the under 12s.

[wunderwell]

MFC Dez beating me by seconds!

[smiddy]

3 minutes ago, mfcdez said:

Bit of a big ask to come up with a side when you want to omit half the playing squad, no matter how shite they may be, but I'll give it a go .!! 

Of those listed, I think you could field a 'functional' side by using only one of them (Crawford, whom I think hasn't been that bad at times), for the St Mirren game until Alexander has a chance to get some new bodies in. 

Every single one of them need to get their fingers out of their holes and up it to the levels they are capable of, but the following should be capable of competing with the teams around us including St Mirren, who have really impressed me in recent weeks.

A draw tomorrow would be no bad thing to build from. Assuming that O'Hara is back and that, as reported, Alexander favors a 4-4-2, then - 

                                      Kelly

S.O.D.           O'Hara      Gallagher        Carroll

Crawford   Campbell   Polworth   Maguire 

                     Watt                           Cole

Should be enough to at least compete by upping their levels to either impress the new man, or help in their pursuit of the moves they are looking for during the window. 

might not be far away with that guess sir

[texanwellfan]

7 minutes ago, mfcdez said:

Bit of a big ask to come up with a side when you want to omit half the playing squad, no matter how shite they may be, but I'll give it a go .!! 

Of those listed, I think you could field a 'functional' side by using only one of them (Crawford, whom I think hasn't been that bad at times), for the St Mirren game until Alexander has a chance to get some new bodies in. 

Every single one of them need to get their fingers out of their holes and up it to the levels they are capable of, but the following should be capable of competing with the teams around us including St Mirren, who have really impressed me in recent weeks.

A draw tomorrow would be no bad thing to build from. Assuming that O'Hara is back and that, as reported, Alexander favors a 4-4-2, then - 

                                      Kelly

S.O.D.           O'Hara      Gallagher        Carroll

Crawford   Campbell   Polworth   Maguire 

                     Watt                           Cole

Should be enough to at least compete by upping their levels to either impress the new man, or help in their pursuit of the moves they are looking for during the window. 

I’d put Grimmy at right back, push O’Donnell in front of him and have Crawford on the bench. 

[CoF]

8 hours ago, Kmac said:

After sleeping on the issue, I'm afraid I'm not jumping on the bandwagon here. 

Rather than having anything personally against Alexander, my concerns stem from a fundamental disagreement in current approach from the board concerning recent strategic running of the club. 

I've seen you, and a few others, comment on the club strategy a few times. I'd be curious to know what your medium to long term strategy might be? From what you post, it looks like it's exactly the same strategy the club has been employing for decades:- Owner invests in the first team - get a season or two of success - see minimal growth in crowds / income - cut the budget - return to flirting with relegation / mid table mediocrity. 

Look at the last 30 years of - cup finals, a cup win, multiple 2nd and 3rd place finishes, European football, the teams of 1991, 1994, 2007, 2011 - 14, 2017. Did any of that success lead to the club growing in any way? Did the crowds grow in a sustainable way or was it all temporary? The reason we're still flirting with relegation is because these strategies have no sustainability. The club doesn't grow in any way and it definitely isn't secure. 

I'm sure you suggested investing £1m of recent transfer fees into the first team (apologies if I'm mistaken). To me, that's just looking for more of the same. Short term gains with no vision and it risks the future of the club. 

I think the club current strategy is clear and is the right one but it's going to need a few years of patience. First, get debt free. Second, in the short term invest transfer income into the academy and facilities so that Motherwell become the club of choice for players with potential. If it goes to plan, we'll have that consistent conveyer belt of talent consistently bringing in money which can then put a higher calibre of player on the pitch season after season instead of this constant fight for survival. I know a balance needs to be struck, we want the club to have an identity and not just be a stepping stone but this strategy will eventually lead to the proper investment into the first team that we all want. The difference is we'll be able to do it year after year. 

[mfcdez]

4 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

I’d put Grimmy at right back, push O’Donnell in front of him and have Crawford on the bench. 

Decent shout too, tbf

[Yorkyred]

33 minutes ago, Yodo said:

U were loving them when Robinson picked them oh and of course your idol signed them . That's the mess yer pal has created his signings bar Watt   are all shite 

My post was of course very tongue in cheek.

[ropy]

1 minute ago, Yorkyred said:

My post was of course very tongue in cheek.

  But you missed out Chapman 

[Jack]

2 hours ago, Spiderpig said:

He said he knew Ross and that for now him and Lasley will be getting him up to speed re the players etc. But going forward what role if any will Ross have, 

GA brought in Lucketti, lasley will be reserve team boss, what will Ross do ?  For me he will be gone at the end of the season.

We dont have a reserve team as far as I am aware of.

 

[Mio Krivokapic]

12 hours ago, Shaka said:

Who else is left to play? The names above are the backbone of our squad! Thats the reason we are so shite

Looking at the options Alexander has in picking his first line up really brings home just how desperately poor the recruitment in the summer was

Maybe going forward, rather than looking for 2 players in every position, we can work with a smaller squad with the budget being concentrated on bringing better quality in

[Lobey_Dosser]

48 minutes ago, Mio Krivokapic said:

Looking at the options Alexander has in picking his first line up really brings home just how desperately poor the recruitment in the summer was

Maybe going forward, rather than looking for 2 players in every position, we can work with a smaller squad with the budget being concentrated on bringing better quality in

Agreed, that was my biggest gripe with Robinson who always favoured quantity over quality with a view to creating a competitive spirit. Ultimately, he got himself in a pickle not being able to settle on a first 11 and the players couldn’t find a rhythm. It’s mental to think we can cater for around 25 players in the current financial climate. 

[Mio Krivokapic]

1 hour ago, Lobey_Dosser said:

Agreed, that was my biggest gripe with Robinson who always favoured quantity over quality with a view to creating a competitive spirit. Ultimately, he got himself in a pickle not being able to settle on a first 11 and the players couldn’t find a rhythm. It’s mental to think we can cater for around 25 players in the current financial climate. 

Yes thats totally as I saw it.

In theory having a competitive spirit is the working model you want in a squad. However in reality what we tended to see was having so many options did always seem to create those selection problems for Robinson. As I saw it, certain positions/players always seemed one poor performance from being dropped whilst other players/positions seemed to get another chance. That sort of approach cant have created a good atmosphere or instilled much confidence with some of the squad 

[Spit_It_Out]

Alexander can only work with what he is left with and its not til you step back have a look and see my god what a terrible transfer window we had in the summer but i am hoping we can get something out a few of them that for some reason just didn't work for Robinson but i suspect that his man management is not the best rubbed alot of player up wrong way.For every Tony Watt he was getting to work for him he had 2-3 players he didnt.

I mean Chapman!Whoever suggested we sign him to play for us should never ever be near our club again totally honking from the off.

[ohwulliewullie]

I'm in the 'a bit of bad luck' and 'low confidence' camp much more than I'm in the 'bad players' one (although certainly many of the existing and new players have underperformed as well). I think back to the start of the season and remember thinking that the squad looked good and I was feeling confident, and on paper at least (from their pedigree) the new signings looked promising. I even remember thinking that for the first time in a while we potentially had decent cover in all positions. 

Then reality kicked in. Right from the start though a combination of bad luck and individual errors seemed to evaporate the confidence: poor penalty conceded and penalty and a sitter missed at Ross County;  Lamie's brain fart to let Livi back into the game at Fir Park after taking the lead; White's goal disallowed at Easter Road that could easily have stood. Other games we lost could / should have been at least draws on the balance of play (Dundee Utd and Accies at Fir Park).  Key players were injured that give us a solid foundation: Carson, Donnelly.

Even more recently I think we've been unlucky... which could have turned the confidence round and Robinson might still have been in place: questionable disallowed goal v Hibs after being the better team in the first half at Fir Park; injury time equaliser at Tannadice after being the better team for the whole game. 

There are such narrow margins in the league that poor form / confidence and couple of injuries can have a dramatic effect for most teams... but it can also work the other way... see what's happened to Livi.  

One thing that does need to be addressed is the team's lack of resilience... the fact that we haven't equalised for ages is really poor. In a nutshell though, I agree with the new manager that major surgery isn't (yet) required... the return of a wee bit of confidence from digging out a result or two should hopefully mean that a number of under-performing players  show what they can do.  A couple of ins and outs during January may also change the picture significantly. Hopefully onwards and upwards...  

 

[Kmcalpin]

6 minutes ago, ohwulliewullie said:

One thing that does need to be addressed is the team's lack of resilience... the fact that we haven't equalised for ages is really poor. In a nutshell though, I agree with the new manager that major surgery isn't (yet) required... the return of a wee bit of confidence from digging out a result or two should hopefully mean that a number of under-performing players  show what they can do.  A couple of ins and outs during January may also change the picture significantly. Hopefully onwards and upwards... 

A decent post. Despite what he a said in public, I suspect that Graham Alexander will already have a rough idea of who he has in the squad and what positions he wants to strengthen. If he doesn't, he'll need to learn pretty damn quick given the window dates. Today will give him  an even better idea. I doubt it would go down well in the dressing room if he announced before seeing the players in action today, that he was going to wield the axe. Lack of resilience - I agree 100%. Only part of that is down to lack of confidence. Part is also down to the teams' individual characters which he can't change without personnel changes.

[Spiderpig]

I see GA is up at Pittodrie this afternoon watching our next opponents , how to  get a league victory against Rangers after failing for over 18 years, a nice easy one for him then.

[joewarkfanclub]

Hopefully given the fact that he has lived and played his entire life in England he wont be tarnished with the "we have no right to expect to beat them" mentality.  I dont mind if we set up to be really hard to beat, but we need an outball allow us to counter attack.