Motherwell v Rangers 16/10/2022

[sinjy]

The last few games have given me the fear. On the evidence of the last three home games it looks like we will be in relegation trouble. The inability to create chances and a leaky defence is a fatal combination.

Managers stand and fall by their recruitment. When Hammell was appointed I questioned how he would recruit having spent virtually his whole career at Fir Park and as a coach working in the academy. I feared his contacts in the game would be limited. The fact that he signed three former players, two injury prone and one untried youngster seemed to back this up. Only the completely new player Penney has improved things.

[joewarkfanclub]

Was surprised by the starting line up today. Unless I missed it, Hammell didnt give away anything about how many players we would be missing. I also missed the start of the game so didnt see the list of available subs until halftime.

Given the dearth of available forwards Hammell didnt really have any options in selection in the forward areas. For a club like ours to be missing Shields, Efford, Spittal and Moult at the same time really does leace us down to the bare bones and filling the bench with youth players.

With that in mind it was always going to be difficult even against what was a poor Rangers side. 

I thought our workrate and shape was good in the first half and we had good territorial position at times, however, our quality in possession of the ball was very poor and we never really laid a glove on them first half.

The first goal was always going to be crucial and our defending for it was awful. Tierney and  McKinstry bith had chances to take him down outside the box and then Penney and Lamie contrive to show him the direct route to goal. Really poor stuff.

The game felt over at that point and you could see the difference in body language from both sides as a result.

Second goal again is poorly defended.

Couldnt believe when we got back into the game with McKinstrys goal and really pleased for the boy. Had plenty of opportunities to put Rangers under pressure in the last 10 minutes, but again lack of quality in the important moments ensured the game fizzled out.

Very disappointing result even in light of the circumstances. Can only hope that our injuries are just niggles, otherwise we will be similarly exposed on Wednesday.

 

[MJC]

To be fair to Hammell he was thrown in at the deep end with the season already underway and without the benefit of a full close season/transfer window to work with. By the time he was officially appointed most potential targets for us would have already been snapped up whilst we were left with Josh Morris as our main summer signing. 
 

That said brining in an injury prone Moult, a youngster on loan from Leeds and a player who did absolutely nothing to impress during his previous spell with us represented some big gambles which so far don’t appear to be paying off.

[stv]

1 hour ago, Mccus28 said:

id love to blame auto correct but i just made an arse of it 

Just like the defence did.

[texanwellfan]

A bit surprised by the general doom and gloom posts. I think we will be comfortable mid table. Toss up if we make top 6 or not. I think the only stick ons for top 6 are the OF. Other 4 spots up for grabs. Be like last year with results coming down to on the day performances and Hearts pulled into that as well. 

[Casagolda]

1 hour ago, Great Balls of Shire said:

My point had nothing to do with Tierney.

You are responding to someone saying Cornelius should start ahead of Tierney.

Why do that if your point had nothing to do with Tierney?

[Spiderpig]

1 hour ago, texanwellfan said:

A bit surprised by the general doom and gloom posts. I think we will be comfortable mid table. Toss up if we make top 6 or not. I think the only stick ons for top 6 are the OF. Other 4 spots up for grabs. Be like last year with results coming down to on the day performances and Hearts pulled into that as well. 

We are currently 4 points off 3rd place and 4 off the bottom,  we need to start winning and climbing the table to be safe mid table, a few wins before the world cup break would be nice.

[Spit_It_Out]

Should we be in the mud come end of the season it will come down to the shambles of a transfer window.Moult clearly here to appease the fans and nothing else,Arrons from the off everyone was on the same wave length guys had more time off the pitch than on the pitch utterly pointless signing .Basically signed 2 players to do nothing didn't know we are the well off to waste wages.

Utterly dire at home 3 goals,1 an own goal and 1 home  win all season you are kidding yerself if you don't think this is relegation material.I watched back Ross County and thanked god it was one of the worst performances I have ever witnessed against us by any team in the Spl won't be happening again anytime soon.

We need to change the formation and play two up front any manager with half a brain would just double up on KVV and that's the goal threat away.

We can all claim decent performances all we like but if decent performances don't give us three points then not good enough really is it.

[SteelmaninOZ]

The gaffer says 

 

[wellwell91]

2 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

We are currently 4 points off 3rd place and 4 off the bottom,  we need to start winning and climbing the table to be safe mid table, a few wins before the world cup break would be nice.

Don’t think anyone is going to be safe in mid table this season. The battle for top 6 is going to go right to the split and I think there are 10 teams competing for 4 places. 

[Pettywulliegrew-2]

One of the poorest visiting Rangers teams in years  and very poor defending presents them with two goals

Morris seems to be the current boo boy blame hound………he didn’t have a full preseason ….and has started 3 league games and been a sub on 4

Has not started a game since  the 5th Aug………was he any worse than today than  Tierney,Mcinstry or KVV who as usual over elaborated nearly every time he got possession of the ball then gave it away very cheaply…...did he let a player run half the length of the park unchallenged lose  his player for a free header….no 

Probably wouldn’t have started today because of injuries…….Is he  good enough to be at FP ??? Time will tell…….his biggest crime is he was signed by GA

[Welldaft Mk1]

14 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

We are currently 4 points off 3rd place and 4 off the bottom,  we need to start winning and climbing the table to be safe mid table, a few wins before the world cup break would be nice.

After Sligo debacle we would all have jumped at being 4 points off 3rd place after 1st round of fixtures. Granted there are some teams who still have a game in hand.  Also having a 0 GD is almost impressive by our normal standards. 

But we are in a bit of a slump. 4 points from 21 is not great at all. Injuries to key players not helping. Concerning to see Moult not even listed in match day squad. 

We badly need a win next couple of league games to stop this from becoming a bigger and more worrying problem. 

[twistandshout1983]

Usual defeat against this mob, after a very decent first half. Convinced I will never see us beat Rangers in a league game again in my lifetime 

Next time we play them I would play Tommy Coyne , Owen Coyle, Faddy  and Sieb Dikstra if they are available

In all seriousness though desperate for a win on Wednesday but sadly it will be same old story

[Spit_It_Out]

Looking at the fixtures before the World Cup break and think we will be lucky to pick up two points maybe Dundee Utd away and St Johnstone away as at home we can't score or win to save ourselves.

 

[Spiderpig]

48 minutes ago, Robbos boy said:

Just in, very nieve defending for 1st goal, many years ago he would have been in the stands. 2nd poor marking. Can't understand the negative comments re KVV, sublime touch, yes, pace no needed someone to play off him, but illness dictated 

Not naive defending, very poor defending 5 players running with Tillman and not one of them prepared to save a goal and take a yellow for the team by taking him down. Had they not scored then I think they might have struggled to get a goal as they got a boost they never deserved.

Edited October 16, 2022 by Spiderpig

[grizzlyg]

First goal an absolute embarrassment.  Sick and tired playing average Gers sides and bottling it. And can I just say McGregor is the most horrible character in Scottish fitba

[MJC]

16 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

 And can I just say McGregor is the most horrible character in Scottish fitba

I’ve never liked that prick. A perma-raging moaning arsehole who frequently gets away with snidey kicks and elbows on opponents. The fact that he’s also never been on the losing side at Fir Park, even when he was on loan at Dunfermline in 2006 makes it all the more annoying.

[clueless]

Just watched Sportscene.  Did you know that we had a good goal disallowed for offside in the first half? And that Rangers had a stonewall red card not awarded in the last minute?

No? You are a BBC  Scotland producer.

[Kmcalpin]

7 hours ago, weeyin said:

For a team managed by a defender you'd think we'd defend better.

The problem is that Stevie was never a good defender. A bit like Matt Penney if you will. Great on the ball going forward but poor off it when defending.

[Yorkyred]

Honestly I’m more worried under Hammell than I ever was under Alexander of Robinson, there  is a naivety that I think could see us in real trouble this season. Yes he’s trying to play attractive football and bring in young players, I just hope it’s not at the expense of our top flight status. We played the worst Rangers team since the play off win today, they sat back, had absolutely no confidence, and were there for the taking but frankly for  most of the game we were awful.  I really hope this works but I still worry we appointed more on sentiment than it being the correct choice.

[wellsince75]

overall I thought we looked poor and appreciate the gulf in difference between the teams.  We didn't look like  a team that believed we'd be taking 3 points today. 

Don't blame any individual players and appreciate we have several out, which reduced our strength. 

Personally I think we have better bit with the likes of Corenelius - not sure why as individually he's ok/nothing special but we generally look a better overall team with a bit more bite when he plays.

It's been a tough run of games and the lack of pre season hiring is taking its toll.  Honeymoon period feels to be over.  

hopefully get back to good energy, high press and create decent chances over the next few games. 

[wellsince75]

2 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

Honestly I’m more worried under Hammell than I ever was under Alexander of Robinson, there  is a naivety that I think could see us in real trouble this season. Yes he’s trying to play attractive football and bring in young players, I just hope it’s not at the expense of our top flight status. We played the worst Rangers team since the play off win today, they sat back, had absolutely no confidence, and were there for the taking but frankly for  most of the game we were awful.  I really hope this works but I still worry we appointed more on sentiment than it being the correct choice.

A bit harsh to put much of this on Hammell.  He came in late in the transfer window, not able to bring in many/quality as most teams have snapped people up.  In addition we've got several key players out at the moment.

No team has done us over, including the OF. We've competed and been much better on the eye than the last 12 months with Alexander or Robinsons last 12 months.  We're 8th, which is about where we should be.  We've given some cheap goals away, that's no different from GA and most are the same players, it's individual capability the issue rather than poor game mgt by Hammell.

In terms of other managers,  there wasn't an extensive list to pick from.  From those quoted I personally believe we made the right choice. 

Continue to approach games as we have, make chances, play creatively I suspect we'll be 9th or better come the end of the season and that will do me just fine.  Hammell needs a few years to build a team, over a few summer transfer windows.   

[Kmcalpin]

 

20 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

Honestly I’m more worried under Hammell than I ever was under Alexander of Robinson, there  is a naivety that I think could see us in real trouble this season. Yes he’s trying to play attractive football and bring in young players, I just hope it’s not at the expense of our top flight status. We played the worst Rangers team since the play off win today, they sat back, had absolutely no confidence, and were there for the taking but frankly for  most of the game we were awful.  I really hope this works but I still worry we appointed more on sentiment than it being the correct choice.

My feelings too Yorky.  In mitigation he was left a pretty poor hand by GA. He also didn't have much time in the transfer window to do much of his own business. He's had many fans in raptures about our new exciting and entertaining style of play, but that shouldn't come at the expense of points.  In quite a few games his naivety has cost us dearly ie Kilmarnock.

We desperately needed a steady striker...Louis Moult?  We also needed another central defender....? An experienced midfielder?

Today Sevco were there for the beating but we never showed the right attitude. Nothing new there. Our starting 11 gave me the fear.  OK we were short up front and I accept that but our striker was powderpuff and off form.  It doesn't matter how good your forwards/striker are but if they don't get decent ammunition they'll struggle. Our midfield had the wrong balance.  If we have to play Morris, then please play him in his rightful position. Cornelius should have started to give us more bite and energy in the engine room. As it was our  midfield at 1200 looked to be too lightweight, and nothing during the game contradicted that initial assumption. 

As always, the January window will be difficult but I have the feeling its going to be huge for us.

Stevie Hammell is a young inexperienced manager, and his appointment was a huge risk, as many pointed out at the time, but he has to learn quickly.

One positive was Stuart McKinstry's first goal.

[wellgirl]

12 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

Honestly I’m more worried under Hammell than I ever was under Alexander of Robinson, there  is a naivety that I think could see us in real trouble this season. Yes he’s trying to play attractive football and bring in young players, I just hope it’s not at the expense of our top flight status. We played the worst Rangers team since the play off win today, they sat back, had absolutely no confidence, and were there for the taking but frankly for  most of the game we were awful.  I really hope this works but I still worry we appointed more on sentiment than it being the correct choice.

Agree. Said at the beginning I thought he was the wrong choice. Apparently its still all Alexander's fault that we aren't playing well? Because it was his team? Completely disagree. Alexander came in and inherited Robbos team and kept us up and got us to fifth and I completely understand it. We were playing poor football under Alexander and the relationship between him and some of the fans had broken down but seriously. Every week I go on twitter and Facebook and all I see is, results will come and we are playing good football.

Good football means zero when you are in a relegation scrap. We absolutely appointed on sentiment and it's not working. I seriously hope he proves me wrong but at this point I don't think he will . And if Hammell didn't have enough time in the transfer window due to the late appointment you can blame that on the board for dragging the situation out. Seriously just no. Last season and the way Alexander went was hard enough. We deserve better considering how expensive it is to go to a game when you are on a low income (and I'm one of these people).

[wellgirl]

4 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

 

My feelings too Yorky.  In mitigation he was left a pretty poor hand by GA. He also didn't have much time in the transfer window to do much of his own business. He's had many fans in raptures about our new exciting and entertaining style of play, but that shouldn't come at the expense of points.  In quite a few games his naivety has cost us dearly ie Kilmarnock.

We desperately needed a steady striker...Louis Moult?  We also needed another central defender....? An experienced midfielder?

Today Sevco were there for the beating but we never showed the right attitude. Nothing new there. Our starting 11 gave me the fear.  OK we were short up front and I accept that but our striker was powderpuff and off form.  It doesn't matter how good your forwards/striker are but if they don't get decent ammunition they'll struggle. Our midfield had the wrong balance.  If we have to play Morris, then please play him in his rightful position. Cornelius should have started to give us more bite and energy in the engine room. As it was our  midfield at 1200 looked to be too lightweight, and nothing during the game contradicted that initial assumption. 

As always, the January window will be difficult but I have the feeling its going to be huge for us.

Stevie Hammell is a young inexperienced manager, and his appointment was a huge risk, as many pointed out at the time, but he has to learn quickly.

One positive was Stuart McKinstry's first goal.

That would be Graham Alexander who got us to fifth last season and it wasn't enough for some fans? Hammell has been dealt a poor hand? Should Burrows and the board not take some responsibility for not acting sooner if the Alexander appointment wasn't working?  Come on. We can't just blame Alexander for this mess. Let's not scapegoat him