Col Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 Losing to St Johnstone in midweek was a morale hammer blow. I’m looking at the state of the club and I can’t believe the state we are in. For the last decade or so I’ve proudly claimed we were the best run wee club in the UK. We punched above our weight in league and cup competitions, we developed great young talent and we fought against our financial limitations to build and rebuild sides season after season to compete. We always seemed to be a place players would thrive, when they left they were a much better version of the player that arrived and we’d benefit from their development. Off the pitch our social media and fan/community interactions were head and shoulders above any other side. We had club blood running though every aspect of the club and in Alan Burrows we had what every football fan in the world wants, their club ran by one of us. Not just one of us but a Well fan who also happened to be a fantastic Chief Exec. Now the club is unrecognisable to me. On the pitch no one is thriving, players are all getting worse it’s most obvious when we bring in a new addition. Matt Penney for example, he came in and was levels above, won consecutive POTMs but before he left his form had slumped. Same with McGinn, he came in and was a breath of fresh air but he’s a shadow of the player he was 4-5 months ago. Even Kelly, whom I firmly believe is the best Scottish Goalkeeper, has gone from making world class saves several times a game to the wet paper bag that conceded the second against St Johnstone and the near post shocker against St Mirren. Who’s working hard? Who’s fighting for us or for the manager? Off the pitch Alan’s stepping down. I’m honestly heartbroken he’s going. No one has done more for our club than Alan in my lifetime. We don’t know why he’s going. I hope it’s because he’s got a massive job offer somewhere but it could be because he doesn’t want to do it anymore, that would kill me. The only way is down from here, we’ll never find another Alan Burrows. As for our social media/comms we’ve gone from fully engaged with our fan base to KGB levels of secrecy and silence. Even basic information is withheld now. We don’t hear about how long injured players are out for. I went weeks checking team sheets looking for Moult to come back from injury only to find out from Twitter that he was back with Burton. There’s nothing in the pre and post match media, it could literally be the same videos every week. Contrast this period with the month or so before Robbo resigned. Robbo was a broken man, he was killing himself to turn it round and was demented that it wasn’t happening. What do we see from Hammy? He’s ‘disappointed’ and he’s got an itchy forehead. This is the time we need to hear things like he’s given them a bollocking, that he’s going to make changes to the starting 11 or tactics. That they are having them in on their day off for extra training, fucking anything at this point. everything feels like it’s falling apart and I can’t see how we get out of this. Col 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJC Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 I think relegation was always inevitable for us as a club. When you look at other clubs that have been relegated more than once in the near forty years we’ve been a top flight club, clubs bigger than us, then it’s a quite incredible feat that we have managed to stay in the top league for so long regardless of our luck with league reconstruction and clubs not having adequate stadiums for the top flight. However I do think that far too much emphasis has been placed on our social media focus and our standing in the community over the past decade rather than the team on the park and we are now reaping the rewards of that. Yes we are not a ‘big club’ and yes we are doing the right thing by reaching out to the community, something we didn’t do enough of in the past. However that should not take the focus off of what we are, and that is a professional top flight football club and the fortunes of the team on on the park should be our number one priority as a club. I feel that over the last few years our ‘on the park’ fortunes have been shoved down the pecking order in favour of our social media standing and our desire to be a ‘pillar in the local community’. And let me be clear, I don’t think that there is anything wrong with either of those, but they take the focus away from what should be the most important thing for us as a football club…to be the best we can be on the park and give the support a team they can be proud of. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizoxy Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 The club doesn't miss much with player announcements, with posts across all social media and on the website, so not sure what else can be expected there. It has been discussed previously regarding injuries, this looks like a deliberate stance from the club, and could be related to player privacy and not telegraphing our lineups. Return dates aren't guaranteed either, so you'd get folk whining regardless. Not sure what other clubs do in that regard. I don't think the social media and marketing stuff needs to be at the expense of anything else, it's a different department from the football side and will have a budget that is dwarfed by that. Marketing the club and players well is imperative to any club, and fan engagement is just as important. Having some connection the players outside of the match day can help ease tensions and also build anticipation for games. Every now and then it gets us recognition from outside of our bubble, which may just entice a few more people to fir park. Our previous media team did end up getting carried away with themselves and became insufferable. It became more about them than the club, and they became disconnected from the fans, and more interested in their CV than serving the club. The current group seem to be delivering the bare bones, probably due to lack of numbers. There's no engagement at the minute, and I can't remember the last time we had any content about the players that isn't a pre match interview. That can add to the feeling of being disconnected. However, when results aren't going our way, everything gets picked at. No one would care less about the media output if we were winning. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wispy Flossy Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 Social media output is the least of our worries 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 If anyone had a solution to why things turn so bad at football clubs, they would be very wealthy. It happens at all levels in all leagues. Liverpool is a great example this season. Making it to the final day in 4 competitions last season with a team that was full of skill, energy and the high press. This season, with basically the same squad, they have been - by their standards - listless and hopeless. Conversely, sometimes it just takes a lucky break or two to kick start a revival. Most seasons a struggling team in the bottom six goes on a wee run that elevates them into mid-table safety. Hopefully, without all the 2022 baggage, the new signings can bring a fresh attitude to the next few games and get things turned around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yabba's Turd Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 I remember when Alan Dick left, who will save us? (James McFadden) No one is irreplaceable, even Flow. Begs the question, are we where we are in spite/ or because of flow? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkyred Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 The overall quality of players signed has deteriorated in the last five or six years in my view, the likes of Scott McDonald was technically better than anything we have now, Aldred and Hartley at the back again a different level. If I look back player by player in each position there is no comparison, Christ I would have Ryan Bowman back. St Mirren have half a team of our former players that are better than the ones we replaced them with and have our former manager who knows the level, I can’t believe their playing budget is that much higher than ours. Add in the wrong managerial appointments and it’s been a step too far. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postiejim Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 I think there has been numerous failings at Motherwell going back a number of years. Yorkyred is spot on about recruitment , overall the standard of player coming to Motherwell has dropped significantly . I also think although well intentioned , the people running the club have made some poor decisions. The old chestnut “ the Road to Hell, is paved with good intentions” springs to mind when I think of Motherwell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishielad Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 11 hours ago, weeyin said: If anyone had a solution to why things turn so bad at football clubs, they would be very wealthy. It happens at all levels in all leagues. Liverpool is a great example this season. Making it to the final day in 4 competitions last season with a team that was full of skill, energy and the high press. This season, with basically the same squad, they have been - by their standards - listless and hopeless. Conversely, sometimes it just takes a lucky break or two to kick start a revival. Most seasons a struggling team in the bottom six goes on a wee run that elevates them into mid-table safety. Hopefully, without all the 2022 baggage, the new signings can bring a fresh attitude to the next few games and get things turned around. Got to hope so. The so-called senior players were hiding on the park on Wednesday and the club captain didn't seem to be a Mr Motivator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Posted February 3, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/motherwell-boss-steven-hammell-held-29124046 fair play to Hammy and the club, this is exactly the type of comment I was hoping to see. I want to see the team fight for the win like their lives depend on it. If we don’t see that we know the players just won’t do it for Hammy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 5 hours ago, Yorkyred said: The overall quality of players signed has deteriorated in the last five or six years in my view, the likes of Scott McDonald was technically better than anything we have now, Aldred and Hartley at the back again a different level. If I look back player by player in each position there is no comparison, Christ I would have Ryan Bowman back. St Mirren have half a team of our former players that are better than the ones we replaced them with and have our former manager who knows the level, I can’t believe their playing budget is that much higher than ours. Add in the wrong managerial appointments and it’s been a step too far. I was just talking about this very point last night at work........ Carson, Tait, Dunne, Gallagher, OHara, Watt, Main would all walk back into our first team right now. And all have that little bit of backbone and nastiness in their game that we sorely lack. I understand all were let go or moved on for the right reasons and with few exceptions we probably couldnt have changed that, but the challenge is to go out and replace them with better or at least as good. Christ, even Donnelly and to a lesser extent Polworth at Kilmarnock wouldnt be too far away from our first team. Its quite clear what part of the club has been failing, although part of that probably rests on the Alexander appointment. Anyway, no use crying over spilled milk. We are where we are and Hammy has the players he has until the summer. Good response from him. He sounds angry at last. Hopefully home truths have been aired and we see some sort of reaction tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizoxy Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 2 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said: I was just talking about this very point last night at work........ Carson, Tait, Dunne, Gallagher, OHara, Watt, Main would all walk back into our first team right now. And all have that little bit of backbone and nastiness in their game that we sorely lack. And of them, how many were we actually sad to see go? When Carson left it looked like he was a perma-crock, the same with Dunne and ohara. Most of us were happy to see the back of Gallagher, and Main was hopeless for us before he somehow got a gig at Aberdeen. Then there's tait, who lost his place to Liam Grimshaw. I like Ryan Bowman too, but no one cared when he left either. Doesn't mean they wouldn't walk into our team now, but would we have waited two years for these players to turn things around? No chance. I'm more concerned with the rate of injuries at our club. Are we training on an ash park? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie73 Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 3 hours ago, Col said: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/motherwell-boss-steven-hammell-held-29124046 fair play to Hammy and the club, this is exactly the type of comment I was hoping to see. I want to see the team fight for the win like their lives depend on it. If we don’t see that we know the players just won’t do it for Hammy. Thought it was a bit of a strange comment, does he mean the players haven’t been backing him until they had a chat, the performance mid week tells you our players/ set up is shit, or they are not buying into him 🤷🏻♂️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfc Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 10 minutes ago, Stevie73 said: Thought it was a bit of a strange comment, does he mean the players haven’t been backing him until they had a chat, the performance mid week tells you our players/ set up is shit, or they are not buying into him 🤷🏻♂️ I thought it was a strange comment when I read it earlier as well.whoever the senior players are that are backing hammell have a brass neck as it's the senior players that have been the biggest let down,Kelly,lamie,goss and van veen have been going through the motions all season,mcginn has been dire for weeks now and then there was o'donnells pitiful display during the week,these are the guys would should be relying on but not one of them are standing up and being counted when it matters.at the end of the day it's all just words about who is backing who within the club if we don't actually start winning some games to get out the mess were in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted February 3, 2023 Report Share Posted February 3, 2023 1 hour ago, fizoxy said: And of them, how many were we actually sad to see go? When Carson left it looked like he was a perma-crock, the same with Dunne and ohara. Most of us were happy to see the back of Gallagher, and Main was hopeless for us before he somehow got a gig at Aberdeen. Then there's tait, who lost his place to Liam Grimshaw. I like Ryan Bowman too, but no one cared when he left either. I think I covered that....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postiejim Posted February 4, 2023 Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 On 2/3/2023 at 1:15 PM, Col said: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/motherwell-boss-steven-hammell-held-29124046 fair play to Hammy and the club, this is exactly the type of comment I was hoping to see. I want to see the team fight for the win like their lives depend on it. If we don’t see that we know the players just won’t do it for Hammy. How’s the big fight going……. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsterwood Posted February 4, 2023 Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 Your wrong. Burrows is a clown. Amateur. Won fuck all. Worst results in europe. Worst form. The mans an off, inarticulate irascible dimwit and should resign. Youth coaches developed youngsters like Turnbull. Money came from talent. Hopefully he can get a gig at McDonalds. Please employ pros. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Posted February 5, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 20 hours ago, robsterwood said: Your wrong. Burrows is a clown. Amateur. Won fuck all. Worst results in europe. Worst form. The mans an off, inarticulate irascible dimwit and should resign. Youth coaches developed youngsters like Turnbull. Money came from talent. Hopefully he can get a gig at McDonalds. Please employ pros. Rob, I’m guessing you are a kid and it’s just that you don’t know any better. Alan is a one off, we’ll never have a better chief exec, 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santheman Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 39 minutes ago, Col said: Rob, I’m guessing you are a kid and it’s just that you don’t know any better. Alan is a one off, we’ll never have a better chief exec, Wonder if he's even met Flow or had a conversation with him. You don't hold down a job like that for as long by being a dimwit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizoxy Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 21 hours ago, robsterwood said: Your wrong. Burrows is a clown. Amateur. Won fuck all. Worst results in europe. Worst form. The mans an off, inarticulate irascible dimwit and should resign. Youth coaches developed youngsters like Turnbull. Money came from talent. Hopefully he can get a gig at McDonalds. Please employ pros. Ha ha. Maybe go finish your homework. If we are going to rate our execs on how much we win and how far we go in europe, then we're going to have a bad time. You can't blame the execs/board for everything then claim our player successes are solely down to coaches (that they hired). A whole lot of revisionist history and point scoring going on due to recent mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellfan Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelmaninOZ Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 56 minutes ago, wellfan said: Read the twitter replies from they twits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderpig Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 6 minutes ago, SteelmaninOZ said: Read the twitter replies from they twits Twitter is the social media platform of choice for absolute roasters and arseholes, it's best avoided and ignored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizoxy Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 No amount of money is going to persuade me to read twitter replies for the foreseeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelmaninOZ Posted February 5, 2023 Report Share Posted February 5, 2023 Just now, Spiderpig said: Twitter is the social media platform of choice for absolute roasters and arseholes, it's best avoided and ignored. I think you’re right about that mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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