Retain or Release - Defenders

[Andy_P]

As per ohwulliewullie's request, tonight Matthew you're gonna be Graham Alexander.  Who are you keeping, who are you letting go?

[Kmcalpin]

Gallagher will be offski whether we like it or not as will O'Donnell probably. As far as O'Donnell is concerned I haven't been impressed by him in our colours.

[Spiderpig]

58 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Gallagher will be offski whether we like it or not as will O'Donnell probably. As far as O'Donnell is concerned I haven't been impressed by him in our colours.

Totally agree re Gallacher Dave, personally I would have binned him in January.  As for SoD you can see his ability but its not consistent but for me his experience and the player we know he can be would be enough for me to warrant a new deal, his influence on some of the younger and less experienced players would be a great asset

[MJC]

Mugabi is guff, a bombscare. Release.

Gallagher will be moving on, I think that’s pretty clear.

O’Donnell is a decent player but doesn’t show it often enough and looks as though he’d rather be elsewhere. Release.

[Kat]

5 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

Mugabi is guff, a bombscare. Release.

Gallagher will be moving on, I think that’s pretty clear.

O’Donnell is a decent player but doesn’t show it often enough and looks as though he’d rather be elsewhere. Release.

I pretty much agree with this although tbf to Mugabi he has had his moments he enjoyed a nice run of form earlier in the season coming onto a game before the first injury struck, I will remember his salmon leap goal fondly against Ross County. 

As for the other two it's pretty clear Gallagher is off, rumour has it Aberdeen are interested but I'm sure he'll have other suitors. O’Donnell left Killie to pursue a better move but something seemed to scupper his plans, I would retain but I think he will be away to pastures new. 

[StirlingDosser]

The three of them are imposters. Clearly couldn't give a toss about our club. Our two international celebrities can beat it in particular, their lack of effort in claret and amber is remarkable. 

[MJC]

8 hours ago, StirlingDosser said:

The three of them are imposters. Clearly couldn't give a toss about our club. Our two international celebrities can beat it in particular, their lack of effort in claret and amber is remarkable. 

Agree with that. In the case of Declan Gallagher, he was excellent for us from July 2019 - March 2020. Just what we needed, a solid centre half who was comfortable on the ball.

This season though for whatever reason he just hasn’t looked the same player. There could be a few reasons for that which we will never really know, but personally I suspect the added pressure of being captain plus perhaps having one(or both) eye on his next move especially after playing a big part in the national sides Euro qualification may have contributed to that.

Whatever it is if he does want to be elsewhere then it’s best for all parties that he goes.

[wellsince75]

I'm not sure why S'OD is so unpopular with fans. 

Personal view is he's as strong a right back as I can remember for some time. I much prefer him to Carrol on the left - who get's less stick from the well faithful. 

Suspect it's something to do with him being in the national team, thus  having big expectations. 

In my very long and extensive list of players who I'd like to leave SOD isn't one of them, albeit it's unlikely we'll be able to keep him. 

[MJC]

I just think that, like quite a few of the current squad, his attitude and application lets him down regularly. He clearly is a good player with ability but he just hasn’t shown it enough in C&A.

[steelboy]

15 minutes ago, wellsince75 said:

I'm not sure why S'OD is so unpopular with fans. 

Personal view is he's as strong a right back as I can remember for some time. I much prefer him to Carrol on the left - who get's less stick from the well faithful. 

 

Carroll has probably saved 4 or 5 goals with blocks and tackles since he came back into the team. SOD over the course of the season has definitely sold more than he has saved and doesn't show a great deal of intensity in defence. 

Add in that he hasn't contributed much going forward and it makes him a very frustrating player. 

[middleeastdave]

I voted for the three of them to be retained , but I would doubt Gallagher and SOD will sign again, the problem is who would you replace them with, we are supposed to be interested in Guthrie of Livingston but would you sign Magloire for next season, I would hope not but GA thinks there is a footballer in there which is worrying and just as a footnote is Dunne and Grimshaw still alive?

[weeyin]

O'Donnell is a natural right back and far better than the other options we had in our team at the time. The fact we were able to pick him up on a short term deal when we were struggling to fill that slot was ideal.

He is definitely in the modern full back style, though, where it's more important for him to be a wing back with crossing than a full back with tackling.

Not my preference for a defender, but that's more the fault of the modern game than O'Donnell's. I'd much rather have a guy that tackles and covers first, but I seem to be in the minority with that view these days.

 

[0Neils40yarder]

Hes a wing back with crossing, that cannae cross

[fizoxy]

O'donnell is fine, but I still think he's hoping for bigger things, so I'd prefer we move on instead of hanging on waiting to see if he's still available before the season starts. 

Guthrie has another year on his contract I think, so I doubt we are interested in him.

Dunne was in the training pics last week, running with the rest of the team, so he's definitely alive. 

[CoF]

2 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

I'm not sure why S'OD is so unpopular with fans. 

Personal view is he's as strong a right back as I can remember for some time. I much prefer him to Carrol on the left - who get's less stick from the well faithful. 

Suspect it's something to do with him being in the national team, thus  having big expectations. 

In my very long and extensive list of players who I'd like to leave SOD isn't one of them, albeit it's unlikely we'll be able to keep him. 

I'll start by saying I've no problem with O'Donnell - I think he's been mostly good and I've never doubted his commitment on the pitch. 

However I think for many, including myself a wee bit here, it all comes down to perceptions about commitment and attitude towards the club. There's a perception, rightly or wrongly, that O'Donnell signed for us in the summer window because we were a last resort. He wanted a bigger club, it didn't happen and settled for Motherwell. He was then offered an extension in December and didn't sign it till the last day of the window - again, the perception was that he was expecting something bigger then had to settle for us. 

We all know that players come here with aspirations and no-one would begrudge a player weighing up options first, but I think if you give the impression that you were expecting bigger things to come your way, as opposed to just hoping they would, then you better show on the pitch why you had those grand ideas in the first place. Unfortunately O'Donnell hasn't really done that. 

[Goggles & Flippers]

I think we all know that Dec has shifted the goalposts after agreeing the terms and taking his 30 pieces of silver. His "come and get me" interview would have maybe worked better if he hadn't been so inconsistent, mediocre at best opposed to a solid 7.5 minimum every week last season. In theory, with his sub appearances and 5 games to go the threshold should be reached and contract extended. However, I feel safe in thinking GA is done with the behaviour and doesn't see him as part of his plans for that reason.

It's safe to say both Dec and O'Donnell will be angling for the lions share of the UEFA compo that should go to their teams.

There are three players I can think of that I can't understand why they didn't go for good money while contracted. Dec, Campbell and Randolph.

[Spiderpig]

1 minute ago, Goggles & Flippers said:

 

There are three players I can think of that I can't understand why they didn't go for good money while contracted. Dec, Campbell and Randolph.

 For Randolph and Gallacher it's a simple answer, nobody wanted them, as for Campbell I would love him to sign another deal and stay on but I don't think anyone would grudge him a good move in the summer he has earned it.

[Kmcalpin]

12 minutes ago, Goggles & Flippers said:

There are three players I can think of that I can't understand why they didn't go for good money while contracted. Dec, Campbell and Randolph.

As far as Randolph is concerned, a member of the management team told me at the time that good keepers of Randolph's standard were ten a penny in England's top 2 leagues and I've never felt able to doubt that. I think Allan Campbell is probably a good League 1 or possibly lower Championship standard down south or maybe Hibs/Aberdeen standard here. He has a strong work ethic but isn't an eye catching type. 

Declan Gallagher ???????

[Goggles & Flippers]

Dec's stock was pretty high in the summer as I said after a season where he put in a above average to MotM performance most weeks. Not outrageous to suggest he could have went for decent money with a year (potentially two - not disclosed) left on his contract.

To be fair he probably did but what you usually get is because its Motherwell, teams lowball offers. Celtic did it when they needed cover, Campbell was bid for few months back.

As for Randolph, perhaps, but we had two keepers in him and Ruddy who went on to play in the premiership. There's plenty of English goalkeepers we've never heard of who have came and gone in the game in the years since. Maybe we were spoiled with a good scouting network or eye at the time.

[weeyin]

2 hours ago, 0Neils40yarder said:

Hes a wing back with crossing, that cannae cross

I don't disagree - but still better than the options we had at the time.

Purely on the basis that it's much better to play defenders in their natural positions, I think he was a decent signing. I expect he'll move on in the summer and I expect we'll sign a decent replacement.

[weeyin]

27 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

As far as Randolph is concerned, a member of the management team told me at the time that good keepers of Randolph's standard were ten a penny in England's top 2 leagues and I've never felt able to doubt that.

While I think that's true to a large extent, Randolph's track record since leaving us (over 225 appearances in the EPL and Championship) shows he is one of the better keepers in that category.

[Neilwell86]

16 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

Agree with that. In the case of Declan Gallagher, he was excellent for us from July 2019 - March 2020. Just what we needed, a solid centre half who was comfortable on the ball.

This season though for whatever reason he just hasn’t looked the same player. There could be a few reasons for that which we will never really know, but personally I suspect the added pressure of being captain plus perhaps having one(or both) eye on his next move especially after playing a big part in the national sides Euro qualification may have contributed to that.

Whatever it is if he does want to be elsewhere then it’s best for all parties that he goes.

couldn't agree more regarding O'Donnell, I think it comes down to expectations, expecting an international player, he has been fairly consistent all season, which is fairly hard to come by these days, Allan Campbell is often praised for how consistent he is. If O'Donnell was happy to hang around then i'd be all for it, we could do MUCH worse.

[Ya Bezzer!]

Gallagher and probably O'Donnell will be off in the summer.

Mugabi, I'd maybe retain him but more as cover than first choice.  

[davkel]

Aberdeen have offered Gallagher a pre contract seemingly...

[santheman]

Mugabi is fine when you're a goal up and the opposition are pumping high balls into your box in the last 15mins a la Aberdeen style. Keep

Gallagher all season reminds me of someone who is working a months notice at work and has taken his foot off the pedal because he knows he's not going to be there. 

ODonnell is ok nothing more nothing less.