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Motherwell v Dundee 05/03/2022


SteelmaninOZ
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It would be fair to say looking at our form you’d be worried. But what’s more worrying is you’d say we look further and further away from winning a match each week. I wouldn’t say Alexander has lost the dressing room. But it’s clear to see that the players either ain’t buying into what he’s asking or whatever he is asking them to do is the problem. 
 

It’s easy to say that we’re one point of Europe. But so are more than half the league. The worrying trend is that we’re looking less and less settled and confidence is draining from the team at an alarming rate. I know Alexander likes to keep his cards close to his chest. But unless he comes out and starts explaining to the fans the likes of what he sees in Donnelly, why Slattery isn’t starting. The fans are turning quickly on him and tbf who can blame them. 
 

No win in 10 games which is over 1/4 of the leagues actual games is a horrifying stat. One that’s only getting worse each week. Serious questions on his future can only be round the corner. Maybe a cup run will be the saviour? 

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Consensus in the Brains' Trust section of the POD I sit in :lol:  was that the players are "playing" to get the manager sacked. What has happened to Ojala since his injury? Chalk and Cheese. Did Delilah cut his hair or summink? He doesn't look fit.

I presume Slattery doesn't play because he has talked back to GA or doesn't  run around like a headless chicken at training or some such.  Alexander seems to be as arrogant as McGhee and sticks with players simply to get up the noses of fans whom  he thinks are totally ignorant of footballing matters. He spent most of the second half talking to the match official next to him and ignoring the freely-given advice from the stands :threaten:. There was a mini-seethe around me when O'Hara was taken off and Donnelly remained and for a second I thought I'd missed an off-the-ball assault or other tasty happening.

For about three seconds in the game we had a swift interchange of four passes involving Tierney, Slattery (?) and two others and that summarised the football today.

The last two home games have been among the worst I have had to watch in the last five years. If I hadn't bought my ticket for The Leithers already I'd probs go down the bird reserve to spot a godwit next week.

 

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1 hour ago, Yodo said:

Wednesday nights comments from Alexander after the County game summed him up “ I don’t worry about performances it’s results that matter “ in someway he’s correct but not when yer watching shite week in week oot 

I agree with him but we're simply not achieving the results and that is the bottom line.

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5 minutes ago, steelboy said:

O'Donnell closes his eyes when he plays a pass. He has went massively backwards since he signed. 

Agree he’s been poor - He’s not a great defender but is decent pushing up .  He made far better with Scotland who typically play a different formation than our 433 , where he gets caught out and has no right mid /extra defender to cover him 

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Squad selection consistency and bore fest hoof ball have to fall at the managers door. Can’t remember us being as bad as this, dreadful to watch, wonder what 10 are playing with Kelly in the cup next weekend.

 

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1 hour ago, middleeastdave said:

What worries me is that both Ross County and Dundee were anything but impressive and we struggled against them with virtually no creativity, although I still think all these changes every game is not helping our cause, which only suggests that GA still doesn’t know his best eleven!

i asked before dave                does he have a best 11 ??

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Once again, the football on show was very difficult to watch. There is no doubt that our style of football does not make for an entertaining Saturday afternoon,  even if we were getting results.  Pair the performances with the current run of results and it becomes very hard to take. However,  booing misplaced passes, booing the team off at half-time, booing them off at full-time and having a go at individual players will do nothing to build confidence on the pitch. Is it any wonder that some players hide or won't try a pass? The atmosphere at Fir Park is becoming quite toxic. It is time to be supporters in every sense of the word by supporting and encouraging each and every one of the players on the pitch. Let's get right behind them and help dig them out of this rut. Co e on ye Well!!!

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7 minutes ago, MFCL84 said:

Once again, the football on show was very difficult to watch. There is no doubt that our style of football does not make for an entertaining Saturday afternoon,  even if we were getting results.  Pair the performances with the current run of results and it becomes very hard to take. However,  booing misplaced passes, booing the team off at half-time, booing them off at full-time and having a go at individual players will do nothing to build confidence on the pitch. Is it any wonder that some players hide or won't try a pass? The atmosphere at Fir Park is becoming quite toxic. It is time to be supporters in every sense of the word by supporting and encouraging each and every one of the players on the pitch. Let's get right behind them and help dig them out of this rut. Co e on ye Well!!!

yep, I don't like the fans turning on the team and it does breed fear....but the football is as bad as I can remember...the only certainty is we lose possession. 

Alexander doesn't seem to address these issues in interviews , would be good to know what long term plans are , in terms of football or is it just slugging it out every week.

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Not much I can say about todays game that hasnt already been said.

I think we reached a watershed with GA and this team today.

Our league position and points total is undoubtedly acceptable. We are in no danger of relegation and still in touch of a top 6 finish and potential Europa League qualification. We are also still in the cup with a home tie against a Hibs side that have lost their best player and in a form slump of their own.

That being the case, the response from the fans at the final whistle today has to send some sort of signal to GA and the board.  

The fans are quite simply not happy with the product on the park. Its brutal to watch and was only ever going to be suffered when we were getting results.

I actually feel quite sorry for the players, as I think they are capable of playing far more football than they are being allowed to by the manager.  Whether that would result in us collecting any more points is up for question. But its clear the fans would like to at least see us give it a go.

It doesnt have to be either / or.  We can hit a happy medium between pragmatism and entertainment. Nobody is expecting Barcelona tiki - taka,  but we do have midfielders capable of playing more football than we are currently seeing.

O'Hara was our best midfielder by a mile today until Slattery came on. The crowd made it quite clear what it thought about the fact it was O'Hara making way for him.

We need to change our shape and get the likes of Slattery, Shaw, O'Hara, Tierney  and Goss all on the pitch together. Maybe then we can get some decent service to KVV instead of just big lumps up the pitch being knocked on to no one in particular.

Our players may not be world beaters. But they are better than they are currently being allowed to show.

 

 

 

 

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Might as well join in. First of all I actually felt sorry for o'Donnell today,  he had a mare but when you have fans booing everything he does he is hardly going to improve,  my big beef is with Donnelly and his gesture to home fans.  He must have a lot of dirt on GA hence reason he gets 90 mins every game. The 4 3 3 is just bonkers and as for KVV he is someone that thinks he is better than what he is, summed up by that run near the end. The slattery scenario is baffling . Ok didn't do everything good but at least looked for the ball.  I really think GA is close to losing all fans support but with a contract till 2025 then we are stuck with him and his brutal style of football 

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See some comments that we are just one point of 4th, which is true but what is also true is that from a few weeks ago our Position has drastically changed. We were 4th, in Control of our own fate with a decent looking run of fixtures. We now pretty much HAVE to beat St Mirren (probably St Johnston too) and Livingston and hope that RC and/or Dundee Utd drop points. Yes, we are 1 point off of 4th but with bottom 6 finish staring us in the face. We have persevered with some terrible performances and not fixed those issues.  This why you fix things before they cause a problem, not afterwards. Having mot won in so long what’s the chances of us winning 3 in a row? Could be a lot of money down he drain because GA did not address the issues on display week after week. 

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I don't imagine changing so many of the starting line up week to week helps, but to me, it's obvious that a lot of what we did (when lets face it we were still brutal a lot of the time, but got results), was down to T-WATT. One of our main ways of getting up the park was to thump the ball at him, being one of the few players we had with outstanding ball control, and him either holding it up until other players got forward or he drew a foul. We don't have anyone to take that roll. Slattery is another mystery. OK, he misplaced a few when he came on but he looked for the ball and actually made some forward passes that reached their intended target. Humping the ball from back to front, which is what we've been doing, won't cut it. More than 1/4 of a season without a win tells its own story.

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37 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Our players may not be world beaters. But they are better than they are currently being allowed to show.

To some extent,  that is part of the point about supporting the players during this run of results. I think that we all agree that the situation isn't down to them alone.

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34 minutes ago, GazzyB said:

What did Donnelly do?

Got pelters from fans at one point and turned to east stand and put fingers to lips in a be quiet motion. Now a lot of our fans ain't angels but doing that not wise especially when he has been piss poor and team been brutal recently 

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I kinda left the game thinking at least we got a point which isn't really what you want to be saying to yourself after a home game against Dundee. If we had won I probably wouldn't even be thinking about the game.

BUT 

I've been watching Motherwell for 50 odd years now and I can't remember ever looking for excuses not to go to a game but the current tactics are severely testing my resolve (and my neck muscles).

Don't think it's just a Motherwell thing tbh as most teams are serving up the same kind of dross in their own style but the standard of football in general in  the SPL is absolutely dire at the moment.

 

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2 hours ago, MFCL84 said:

Once again, the football on show was very difficult to watch. There is no doubt that our style of football does not make for an entertaining Saturday afternoon,  even if we were getting results.  Pair the performances with the current run of results and it becomes very hard to take. However,  booing misplaced passes, booing the team off at half-time, booing them off at full-time and having a go at individual players will do nothing to build confidence on the pitch. Is it any wonder that some players hide or won't try a pass? The atmosphere at Fir Park is becoming quite toxic. It is time to be supporters in every sense of the word by supporting and encouraging each and every one of the players on the pitch. Let's get right behind them and help dig them out of this rut. Co e on ye Well!!!

Totally agree with this

Appreciate people are frustrated but the booing and abuse of our own players is out of order.

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Another Saturday, another poor showing.

Another point nearer survival, which looks like the only achievable target left to this side.

Another league game without a win, so another game closer to a parting of the ways with Mr Alexander unless this slump is miraculously turned around soon.

So, the question that needs to be asked, how much longer do we need go on like this before the manager's position becomes untenable?

 

We'll probably go and win the cup now.

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6 hours ago, middleeastdave said:

What worries me is that both Ross County and Dundee were anything but impressive and we struggled against them with virtually no creativity, although I still think all these changes every game is not helping our cause, which only suggests that GA still doesn’t know his best eleven!

He doesn’t know his arse from his elbow.

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4 hours ago, Stevie73 said:

Squad selection consistency and bore fest hoof ball have to fall at the managers door. Can’t remember us being as bad as this, dreadful to watch, wonder what 10 are playing with Kelly in the cup next weekend.

 

Team selections on postcards please to:

The Manager, Motherwell FC,          Fir Park Stadium, Motherwell.

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