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2022/23 League Predictions


MJC
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I think it’s downright unrealistic to expect this team to be finishing top six this season. We have an inexperienced manager in his first ever managerial appointment who has inherited a largely poor squad from the previous regime.
 

There will be ups and downs this season and while there are most definitely reasons for optimism for us since emptying/mutually consenting Alexander  and the Stuart McKinstry loan which is certainly something to be optimistic about, we still have the majority of the team that played so poorly last season. 

For me Stevie Hammell gets a ‘free pass’ this season, regardless of what happens, even if the worst happened and we were relegated. I’m not saying that I think we will be but it’s definitely a possibility and if it happens then that’s on the board for allowing Alexander to sign some of the absolute dross that he did and that that same dross that won three league matches in 2022 last season would do for us going into this one.

But as I said, there is definitely cause for optimism. Certainly more than there was this time last month because we were basically sleep walking into the lower leagues with Alexander in charge.

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1 hour ago, MJC_mkII said:

I think it’s downright unrealistic to expect this team to be finishing top six this season. We have an inexperienced manager in his first ever managerial appointment who has inherited a largely poor squad from the previous regime.
 

A top 6 finish is no more unrealistic this season than it was last year its the same squad of players but we now have a manager who will get much more out of them, play them in their correct positions  etc its early days but the signs are encouraging so I think we have every chance of another top 6 finish.

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5 hours ago, GazzyB said:

I disagree, a club of our size should be aspiring to finish in the top six. We should be competing with Dundee Utd, Aberdeen and Hibs for a European spot this season, and it saddens me to think our ambitions are “anything above relegation is a bonus”, should that be what the club’s goals are.

 

The second half vs St Johnstone and the Aberdeen game show we CAN play, we are a good team with some good footballers. Let’s set some lofty but achievable targets, we are more than capable.

Pass the smelling salts , We are  Motherwell remember.

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19 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

A top 6 finish is no more unrealistic this season than it was last year its the same squad of players but we now have a manager who will get much more out of them, play them in their correct positions  etc its early days but the signs are encouraging so I think we have every chance of another top 6 finish.

Finishing top six last season was down to a combination of sheer luck and other sides around us cutting their own throats.

Sheer luck with us having Tony Watt’s goals in the first half of the season to get us results that we weren’t able to get in the second half.

Other sides cutting their own throats with us scraping last minute levellers at St.Mirren and Livingston and the rest basically showing no consistency.

A team playing as poorly as we did and winning only three league matches from Boxing Day and the end of the season yet qualifying for Europe is down to luck, nothing will convince me otherwise.

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1 hour ago, MJC_mkII said:

I think it’s downright unrealistic to expect this team to be finishing top six this season. We have an inexperienced manager in his first ever managerial appointment who has inherited a largely poor squad from the previous regime.
 

There will be ups and downs this season and while there are most definitely reasons for optimism for us since emptying/mutually consenting Alexander  and the Stuart McKinstry loan which is certainly something to be optimistic about, we still have the majority of the team that played so poorly last season. 

For me Stevie Hammell gets a ‘free pass’ this season, regardless of what happens, even if the worst happened and we were relegated. I’m not saying that I think we will be but it’s definitely a possibility and if it happens then that’s on the board for allowing Alexander to sign some of the absolute dross that he did and that that same dross that won three league matches in 2022 last season would do for us going into this one.

But as I said, there is definitely cause for optimism. Certainly more than there was this time last month because we were basically sleep walking into the lower leagues with Alexander in charge.

I honestly can’t see why we can’t get top six again, outside the old firm who is there to really fear ?

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1 hour ago, MJC_mkII said:

Finishing top six last season was down to a combination of sheer luck and other sides around us cutting their own throats.

Sheer luck with us having Tony Watt’s goals in the first half of the season to get us results that we weren’t able to get in the second half.

Other sides cutting their own throats with us scraping last minute levellers at St.Mirren and Livingston and the rest basically showing no consistency.

A team playing as poorly as we did and winning only three league matches from Boxing Day and the end of the season yet qualifying for Europe is down to luck, nothing will convince me otherwise.

It was nothing to do with luck, in a league with 3 decent teams and 9 shitey ones last year we done enough and earned enough points to be the 2nd least shitey team of the 9.  Luck never got us the equalisers at St Mirren and Livi, or the 3 points against RC , we done what we had to so we made 5th place and Europe on merit as we were better than the 7 teams below us.

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5 hours ago, GazzyB said:

I disagree, a club of our size should be aspiring to finish in the top six. We should be competing with Dundee Utd, Aberdeen and Hibs for a European spot this season, and it saddens me to think our ambitions are “anything above relegation is a bonus”, should that be what the club’s goals are.

The second half vs St Johnstone and the Aberdeen game show we CAN play, we are a good team with some good footballers. Let’s set some lofty but achievable targets, we are more than capable.

A totally over the top reaction to one good performance and result.  We’ve just appointed a rookie manager who has fallen heir to a largely poor group of players from the last management regime. 

Prior to Saturday, we were second best over 120 minutes against an Irish League team; very lucky to get 3 points at St. Mirren; no more than an average in the second half against St. Johnstone and despite the result and performance against Aberdeen, it was still clear that all of our old shortcomings are still there. 

Putting such totally unrealistic expectations on our new manager whilst he is in the foothills of his managerial career is just plain stupid.

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1 hour ago, MJC_mkII said:

Finishing top six last season was down to a combination of sheer luck and other sides around us cutting their own throats.

Sheer luck with us having Tony Watt’s goals in the first half of the season to get us results that we weren’t able to get in the second half.

Other sides cutting their own throats with us scraping last minute levellers at St.Mirren and Livingston and the rest basically showing no consistency.

A team playing as poorly as we did and winning only three league matches from Boxing Day and the end of the season yet qualifying for Europe is down to luck, nothing will convince me otherwise.

I am not trying to claim we were any good last year, but Livingstone, Hibs, Aberdeen, St. Mirren and Ross County (at least two of which have a vastly superior budget to ours) all had an opportunity to overhaul us when we were floundering, yet failed to do so. To extrapolate your argument, they were all just unlucky. The bottom line is that we had more points after 38 games than 7 other teams, and to use an old adage, the league table doesn't lie.

You may think we didn't deserve to finish 5th, but if we didn't, then sure as hell the teams below us didn't.

 

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2 hours ago, El Grew said:

Putting such totally unrealistic expectations on our new manager whilst he is in the foothills of his managerial career is just plain stupid.

Bet ya we finish in the top six OR make a cup final this year :)

 

Also I doubt Stevie Hammell feels the pressure based on what a post on a message board says. 

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There are 2 teams and then the rest. If any of the rest can raise their game, go on a run or grind out points they are more than capable of top six finish. So IMHO every team in the league should be aiming for top 6 and have a realistic chance of achieving it. Us getting 5th spot last year being a prime example. 

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I'll settle to be above 9th and show some steady progress in terms of bringing through youngsters and showing some form of evolving towards playing football. 

Given the budgets of the old firm, Edinburgh clubs, Hibs, Utd it's reasonable to expect them to be above us.  

I'm hoping for the longer term plan that sees us bring through youngsters, get more fans back in the stadium and improve the quality of play over time.

Expect this season to be very up and down, enjoy the ups when we get them. 

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4 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

I'll settle to be above 9th and show some steady progress in terms of bringing through youngsters and showing some form of evolving towards playing football. 

Given the budgets of the old firm, Edinburgh clubs, Hibs, Utd it's reasonable to expect them to be above us.  

I'm hoping for the longer term plan that sees us bring through youngsters, get more fans back in the stadium and improve the quality of play over time.

Expect this season to be very up and down, enjoy the ups when we get them. 

Good common sense post.

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I’m not going to argue about my contention that we were lucky last season, I think we were. Any team that wins three league matches between December and May, scrapes draws thanks to last minute equalisers and plays as poorly as we did in that spell yet still qualifies for Europe is lucky. I’m not really bothered about the sides that finished below us and whether they were ‘lucky’ or ‘unlucky’. From what I saw of my team last season we were lucky to qualify for Europe, end of story.

Anyway last season is now, thankfully, behind us and we can look ahead to this one with a new manager in place. It will not be plain sailing, anything but and imo anyone who thinks this team will be challenging for top six and Europe again is dreaming. 
 

If we avoid relegation and play something better in the way of football than we did last season then that will be good enough for me. With a new, inexperienced manager in charge having inherited what he did on the eve of the season, the I think it’s downright wild to expect more than that.

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7 minutes ago, MJC_mkII said:

I’m not going to argue about my contention that we were lucky last season, I think we were. Any team that wins three league matches between December and May, scrapes draws thanks to last minute equalisers and plays as poorly as we did in that spell yet still qualifies for Europe is lucky. I’m not really bothered about the sides that finished below us and whether they were ‘lucky’ or ‘unlucky’. From what I saw of my team last season we were lucky to qualify for Europe, end of story.

Anyway last season is now, thankfully, behind us and we can look ahead to this one with a new manager in place. It will not be plain sailing, anything but and imo anyone who thinks this team will be challenging for top six and Europe again is dreaming. 
 

If we avoid relegation and play something better in the way of football than we did last season then that will be good enough for me. With a new, inexperienced manager in charge having inherited what he did on the eve of the season, the I think it’s downright wild to expect more than that.

I honestly think you may be proven wrong.

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17 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

I honestly think you may be proven wrong.

Well only time will tell and it would be something of the ‘fairytale’ stuff if I was and this team under Stevie Hammell finished top 6/qualified for Europe this season.

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On a non-Motherwell issue, Lawrence Shankland has now scored three goals in his first few(don’t know how many exactly) appearances for Hearts including a penalty tonight to put them 1-0 up against Zurich in Europe(though as I’m typing they’ve just been pulled back level).

I stand by what I said, Shankland will do very well for Hearts this season. A proper ‘goal machine’ and someone who will get plenty of goals to go down in Gorgie folklore. 

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1 hour ago, MJC_mkII said:

On a non-Motherwell issue, Lawrence Shankland has now scored three goals in his first few(don’t know how many exactly) appearances for Hearts including a penalty tonight to put them 1-0 up against Zurich in Europe(though as I’m typing they’ve just been pulled back level).

I stand by what I said, Shankland will do very well for Hearts this season. A proper ‘goal machine’ and someone who will get plenty of goals to go down in Gorgie folklore. 

We could never afford shankland Dundee untd threw wads of cash at him to tempt him, large weekly wages, and signing on fees much more than were able to offer, and he would have went to Beerschot in Belgium for probably more again and the same signing for Hearts. Your right though a good goalscorer but a luxury out of our reach.

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Shankland was certainly a goal-machine in the lower leagues.

He hasn't quite proved it yet in the Premiership and I'm still on the fence on if he's going the be Higdon-esque or Bob Malcolm-esque, but his current team are probably a good fit for him to find his form.

 

 

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19 hours ago, Spiderpig said:

We could never afford shankland Dundee untd threw wads of cash at him to tempt him, large weekly wages, and signing on fees much more than were able to offer, and he would have went to Beerschot in Belgium for probably more again and the same signing for Hearts. Your right though a good goalscorer but a luxury out of our reach.

I wasn’t suggesting we should have tried to sign Shankland, I know he is way out of our price budget. I was more replying to the above posts on a few weeks back saying that they didn’t rate him. He will do very well for Hearts in the domestic game up here.

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1 hour ago, MJC_mkII said:

I wasn’t suggesting we should have tried to sign Shankland, I know he is way out of our price budget. I was more replying to the above posts on a few weeks back saying that they didn’t rate him. He will do very well for Hearts in the domestic game up here.

No worries mate I guessed that, would loved to have see him at Fir park though, a great player and goal scorer.

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