Scottish Cup - Morton at Fir Park 22 Jan

[mfc]

17 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

out with the OF we are capable of beating any other team in the SPFL. That said our record in the cup in the early rounds against SPFL team is not good but we will need to be a millions miles better to put Aberdeen out.

Don't get me wrong,play like we did today against aberdeen and we will get put out.as much as it's a boring draw,it's actually a decent chance of progressing into the next round.our cup performances so far this season have been terrible and there will need to be much improvement to go any further in this cup.

[MJC]

Hopefully today acts as a wake up call to GA and the team that they cannot afford to take Cup games lightly. We got away with one big time today but we’re through and ultimately that’s all that matters.

Against Aberdeen we need to have our strongest possible eleven starting the match, no two ways about it and we need to be right up for it on the day. 

[grizzlyg]

Premier sports will cover bigot brothers so our tie certain to be live

[Yorkyred]

33 minutes ago, MJC_mkII said:

It should be a good crowd and I hope that the TV companies leave this one alone and it’s played at 3pm on the Saturday.

But “we usually do well against them”? Not in Cup ties we don’t. I know we beat them at Hampden in the 2018 semi final but they had a habit of knocking us out of the Cup in the early 2010s when we were significantly better than them and had their number in league matches.

No arguments from me about them being bang average. However as I said above, under McCall a decade ago we were unbeaten in the league against them for in seven games yet they managed to come to Fir Park and knock us out of the Scottish cup in back to back seasons - actually twice in the same calendar year so our league record against them will have no bearing on this tie.

On paper yes, we are more than capable of beating them but I just do not trust us to do the business in a Scottish cup tie against them.

We also gave them a right doing in the quarter final the year before, just about as good as I’ve seen us that evening.

[Well Well]

5 hours ago, Mortonhallwell said:

Need to replace Donnelly. He's been completely anonymous. We're like a man down with him out there. 

[MJC]

22 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

We also gave them a right doing in the quarter final the year before, just about as good as I’ve seen us that evening.

That was one of the best games at Fir Park in the last decade, right up there with the playoff 2nd leg for enjoyment and overall satisfaction. The scenes when Moult buried the third were priceless.

That season though was very much the exception to the rule for us against top flight sides in the Cups, as outwith that season and the LC16 tie against Livingston the following year, we have not beaten a fellow top flight side in either Cup since the 2011 SCSF against St.Johnstone.

[Well Well]

3 hours ago, JSR said:

Tierney looks a player but how is Donnelly still on the pitch?

[FirParkCornerExile]

10 minutes ago, MJC_mkII said:

That was one of the best games at Fir Park in the last decade, right up there with the playoff 2nd leg for enjoyment and overall satisfaction. The scenes when Moult buried the third were priceless.

That season though was very much the exception to the rule for us against top flight sides in the Cups, as outwith that season and the LC16 tie against Livingston the following year, we have not beaten a fellow top flight side in either Cup since the 2011 SCSF against St.Johnstone.

did we not beat Rangers in a semi final in 2017

[steelman1991]

Been trying to think who Tierney reminded me of - "The Sheriff" (Henrik Ojama).

[MJC]

23 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

did we not beat Rangers in a semi final in 2017

Yes, that was the same season (17/18), the round after we beat Aberdeen at Fir Park. 
 

My point was that outwith that season and the LC16 tie against Livi the following season our record in Cup ties against Premiership sides is dreadful.

[SteelmaninOZ]

The gaffer said 

 

[The African]

A win is a win, especially in a cup tie, so I will take that. Drawing Aberdeen is tough, but you have to play these teams at some point, and as someone else said, they will be more annoyed at the draw than us.

We do seem to have lost our way a bit, since the good run of results before the break. I think we will miss the contribution of Watt and will find him difficult to replace. If someone is available to come into the squad and add to our attacking options, then we should go for it, but if a better option than what we already have is not available then we should just go with what we have got. Signing someone just for the sack of it shouldn’t be an option.

Any word on what is happening with Lamie? Injured? Or just out of favour because of transfer talk?

[middleeastdave]

Let’s face it after all the winter breaks it has taken a few games for us to get back into playing decent football again and this year doesn’t look any different 

[MJC]

I notice that we are due to play Aberdeen in the League the week after the Cup tie. That always seems to happen when we play Aberdeen in the Cup, it ends up a double header. Whenever that’s happened in the past, it’s been one win each. If that trend is to continue here then I’ll gladly take a Cup win as opposed to three points in the league.

[C&A not the shop]

People are being a bit overly negative here. It wasn't easy on the eye but we were dominant. We had all the chances and possession, Morton worked really hard and gave us no space until they started to tire at about 70 minutes but they really never threatened other than that chance right before half time.

Wasn't easy on the eye, but an exciting last 15 minutes.

On to Aberdeen.

[Yorkyred]

53 minutes ago, C&A not the shop said:

People are being a bit overly negative here. It wasn't easy on the eye but we were dominant. We had all the chances and possession, Morton worked really hard and gave us no space until they started to tire at about 70 minutes but they really never threatened other than that chance right before half time.

Wasn't easy on the eye, but an exciting last 15 minutes.

On to Aberdeen.

It was interesting to see their manager state they were the better team. While it’s not uncommon to see that from managers I thought that was taking it to the extreme.

[Onthefringes]

10 hours ago, SteelmaninOZ said:

The gaffer said 

 

Alexander’s interview - Donnelly had a great game?  Apart from the goal am I missing something?

[Yorkyred]

23 minutes ago, Onthefringes said:

Alexander’s interview - Donnelly had a great game?  Apart from the goal am I missing something?

No, he scored a great goal but other than that I thought he was poor. Little movement and energy with poor distribution. I’m not sure what Alexander was looking at given her was far and away the weakest  of the three midfielders on the day.

[grumpy]

50 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

It was interesting to see their manager state they were the better team. While it’s not uncommon to see that from managers I thought that was taking it to the extreme.

A football manager talking nonsense - shocker. That said, from his point of view, his game plan almost worked. He wanted to flood the midfield, frustrate us, and either snatch one on the break or take it to penalties, hence his opinion. Most Motherwell fans probably thought we were awful (I certainly did) because our expectation was that we would be "up for it", create loads of chances, and take some. Did we deserve to win? Possibly not. Did we deserve to lose? Definitely not.

I suspect a neutral watching the game would think that Motherwell dominated, but lacked both urgency and that bit of class required to unlock a stuffy opposition, they would be unlikely to think that "the best team lost".

[FirParkCornerExile]

33 minutes ago, grumpy said:

A football manager talking nonsense - shocker. That said, from his point of view, his game plan almost worked. He wanted to flood the midfield, frustrate us, and either snatch one on the break or take it to penalties, hence his opinion. Most Motherwell fans probably thought we were awful (I certainly did) because our expectation was that we would be "up for it", create loads of chances, and take some. Did we deserve to win? Possibly not. Did we deserve to lose? Definitely not.

I suspect a neutral watching the game would think that Motherwell dominated, but lacked both urgency and that bit of class required to unlock a stuffy opposition, they would be unlikely to think that "the best team lost".

Spot on, Imrie talking utter shite. mind you GA analysis was shite IMO too.  Morton had one effort and scored. Sadly we have always been a team that the oppositions possession and chances created are immaterial as all it often takes is one chance. Teams don't need lots of chances to score against us. However on this occasion we turned it around and in the Cup if you play pish all the way to the final no one complains, mind you I'm not suggesting that's what we will do, if only. 

[gaz7]

3 hours ago, C&A not the shop said:

People are being a bit overly negative here. It wasn't easy on the eye but we were dominant. We had all the chances and possession, Morton worked really hard and gave us no space until they started to tire at about 70 minutes but they really never threatened other than that chance right before half time.

Wasn't easy on the eye, but an exciting last 15 minutes.

On to Aberdeen.

I'm with you on this also. We were quite dominant and their goalie had some gd saves. They got goal on breakaway that was defended terribly by carrol who didn't go wide to engage their attacker but waited till he ran into our box. Missed guile of watt no doubt but van veen tierney and slattery made difference when on. Donnelly didn't do much till near end but he had 3 shots at goal late on which hopefully shows his confidence returning.  1 well over 1 on target and then the winner. Him slattery and goss for me in midfield  seems our best bet.  Wee tierney looks like plays in behind strikers which is something we don't have . Aberdeen next will be really difficult but obviously winnable. Biggish crowd with gd atmosphere and a victory will really set our season up . 

[CoF]

2 hours ago, Onthefringes said:

Alexander’s interview - Donnelly had a great game?  Apart from the goal am I missing something?

What a manager says in public and what he thinks or says to the player aren't the same thing. He obviously sees Donnelly as being an important part of the team if he can get him back up to speed, and building his fitness and confidence is all part of that process. 

[Kmcalpin]

We deserved to win today although we made very hard work of it - self inflicted. As others have said, the team selection surprised me before kick off and my fears were realised. The defence was just ok but O'Donnell got caught on the wrong side of his man a couple of times and we lacked an aggressive dominant central defender at both ends of the park. I don’t know what Carroll was doing for Morton’s goal – just seemed to be a bemused spectator caught in no mans land– this game was his big chance to impress.

I thought midfield was very poor with Goss being the best of a bad bunch. He’s the kind of player who needs other midfielders to do the spade work for him. Donnelly was anonymous apart from his match winning peach of a goal and I just don't see what Barry Maguire brings to the team.  At times the defence lost patience with the midfield and just began shelling balls forward, in desperation, to an outnumbered Shields. We had better midfielders on the bench like Slattery, Corelius and perhaps the untested Shaw. Tierney added much needed energy and pace when he appeared. 

Up front no-one shone except Van Veen who had been inexplicably benched. The front 3 didn't work with two isolated wide men and Shields ploughing a lone furrow in middle against 3 big defenders.  For me, we can't play Roberts and Woolery together - we need to bring in another main striker.  I was surprised this front line up wasn't jettisoned after Tuesday night. There were plenty of crosses from out wide, but very often no-one in the box to get on the end of them.

Morton did what they came to do and their keeper, for all his weaknesses is a great shot stopper. They were a bit crude at times and the lad Strapp made 4 blatant dives, winning fouls for them all. Overall the ref was ok but a bit inconsistent at times.

I don't know why we benched several of our first picks but it was a big risk which almost didn't come off. Lets hope we change things around for the upcoming Hibs game.

[Yorkyred]

I baffled with Shaw. He’s joined us from Celtic in order to games in yet seems to be totally ignored, why have we even taken him ?

[ropy]

27 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

I baffled with Shaw. He’s joined us from Celtic in order to games in yet seems to be totally ignored, why have we even taken him ?

It’s been 2 games, the first he was injured for and the second he was on the bench.  If there have been no appearances over the next 3 games then fair comment.