Cup game Motherwell v East Fife 29/07/2023

[Coatsy]

Is that us seeded then?

[steelboy]

Just now, Coatsy said:

Is that us seeded then?

Aye. 

Hopefully we can avoid Ross County and Killie. 

[Spiderpig]

A 3-0 win against a team that never looked like troubling us with 11 men never mind 10, 3 teenagers on the Park and playing well, winning the group and seeded for the last 16 draw a very comfortable win.

And yet the Trolls and their apprentices are still feckin moaning 🤦‍♂️i really despair at some of our support, that only seem to get enjoyment from defeats and bad  performances, what a feckin sad life.

 

[joewarkfanclub]

3 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

A 3-0 win against a team that never looked like troubling us with 11 men never mind 10, 3 teenagers on the Park and playing well, winning the group and seeded for the last 16 draw a very comfortable win.

And yet the Trolls and their apprentices are still feckin moaning 🤦‍♂️i really despair at some of our support, that only seem to get enjoyment from defeats and bad  performances, what a feckin sad life.

 

👏👏👏👏👏

[MJC]

11 minutes ago, weeyin said:

I'm still laughing at that time you accused me of not getting joy out of anything.

If what you post is how you really feel, then football probably isn't the spectator sport for you. Maybe something like basketball would be more up your street.

It depends how you look at football and supporting the club.

If you view it purely as an entertainment, a hobby, something you do on a Saturday afternoon like going to the cinema to pass the time then you would have a point.

I invest a great deal of time, effort and money into supporting the club. It goes way beyond just a hobby or a spectator sport for me. I am fully aware that a lot of the times I am not going to be entertained, take joy out of it, but that’s part and parcel of it. I support the club through thick and thin and the hope that we can get to cup finals/have cup runs/win a cup helps drive my desire to keep supporting. I realise it’s unlikely to happen most of the time but you have to have that bit of hope. 
 

I’m glad you still laugh at that. Because you frequently come across as a boring, pedantic and argumentative individual who would try and start an argument in an empty room with alot of your posts and retorts on here, so if that gives you a reason to laugh then crack on.

[Ya Bezzer!]

Comfortable win.

Oxborough had hardly anything to do,  think East Fife maybe had two chances in the match but no major save was required.

Thought we passed the ball around better than against Queen's Park but there is still a sense that we are lacking a wee bit of flair, pace, creativity which are the things that make the difference.  However we were good enough today to see off East Fife.  

Wilkinson took his goal well and had a couple of nice wee touches in the second half but didn't really impress that much but I'm old fashioned and think if the striker scores he's done his job so I'll take that as long as he puts the ball in the net.

And I know Paton isn't every one's cup of tea but thought he showed for the ball and was busy today, though he did well.  Mugabi also had a good game although he'll not get that time and space to conduct things from the back in the Premiership.  

Great to see Lennon Miller score again (although the internet thinks it was Slattery).  

[wellup83]

Comfortable win and good to see us win the group. Time will tell though if this group is good enough to compete week to week in the league against better opposition. I still think we need 2 or 3 decent signings up to the level. A forward for me is a must as we are obviously light in that dept. Wilkinson looks like he's still trying to get up to speed in the Scottish game. Very static at times and second to the ball too many times. That said, he took his goal well and when he did take possession his linkup play was good. Souare has improved as the group has progressed. In the QP game he seemed reluctant to make runs and pass forward but today you could tell he had been told to get to the byline and get crosses in. All in all job done, onto next week now.

[SteelmaninOZ]

The gaffer said 

 

[MJC]

52 minutes ago, steelboy said:

Big Wilkinson is doing a good of making signing the St Johnstone dud a no bad idea. 

He's hopeless. He doesn't make any runs but is still somehow constantly offside. 

He took his goal well and that was about it. He won’t do for us going into the league campaign unless we bring in another forward who he can play off. 
 

Today wasn’t great performance wise but we got the win and managed to scrape a seeded spot for the last sixteen so our aim has been achieved for this group. We will need to improve greatly if we are to progress beyond the next round.

The big positive has to be Lennon Miller who bagged another goal and looked comfortable and composed throughout.

[santheman]

Just looked in to see who the usual subjects thought were pish today.

My bet was either Wilkinson or Mugabi.

[Spit_It_Out]

15 minutes ago, wellup83 said:

Comfortable win and good to see us win the group. Time will tell though if this group is good enough to compete week to week in the league against better opposition. I still think we need 2 or 3 decent signings up to the level. A forward for me is a must as we are obviously light in that dept. Wilkinson looks like he's still trying to get up to speed in the Scottish game. Very static at times and second to the ball too many times. That said, he took his goal well and when he did take possession his linkup play was good. Souare has improved as the group has progressed. In the QP game he seemed reluctant to make runs and pass forward but today you could tell he had been told to get to the byline and get crosses in. All in all job done, onto next week now.

I would go for two forwards minimum.Obika I got a feeling he is going to be in and out the team with niggles all season seems to pick up knocks pretty easily.

Wilkinson I will judge soon as January transfer window rolls around but good to see him score hope it pushes him on.

Good to see young Miller get a goal but for me so far Slattery seems to have a spring in his step what I have seen of him so far he looks really good going into the start of the league games well impressed with him.

 

 

[MJC]

Slattery looks a few yards faster and a good bit fitter than he did last season from what I’ve seen so far. I know these games aren’t the best at measuring players fitness and performance levels but he has stood out so far.

[MelvinBragg]

For me, we learned little today that we didn't already know.

None of our current back three is a talker or organiser. This we knew.

While they both have qualities, neither Wilkinson or Obika look capable of shouldering the majority of the goalscoring burden. Not news.

We have some good midfielders and Miller and Spittal are our key players this season. We knew this.

What did we learn, if anything? Didn't learn anything about Oxborough, one way or the other. We learned that McGinn is better at RWB than O'Donnell (bit of a problem as he's probably part of our best back three as well). Zdravkovski looks comfortable on the ball but not a stern test of him. 

I can understand people being underwhelmed by the early part of our performance. We took a bit to get going. But we did play some nice stuff and often were just missing that final ball or more often than not a finish. The positive is that we are creating chances. Just need to try and take more of them...

[David]

Just now, steelboy said:

Kelty won the shootout so we sneaked in despite our pish performance. 

Damn. That's one thing off the list that you can moan about this week then.

[joewarkfanclub]

2 hours ago, MJC said:

It depends how you look at football and supporting the club.

If you view it purely as an entertainment, a hobby, something you do on a Saturday afternoon like going to the cinema to pass the time then you would have a point.

I invest a great deal of time, effort and money into supporting the club. It goes way beyond just a hobby or a spectator sport for me. I am fully aware that a lot of the times I am not going to be entertained, take joy out of it, but that’s part and parcel of it. I support the club through thick and thin and the hope that we can get to cup finals/have cup runs/win a cup helps drive my desire to keep supporting. I realise it’s unlikely to happen most of the time but you have to have that bit of hope. 

Given this outlook, your negativity surrounding the club generally is surprising.

Its not too disimilar than my outlook, which is why, Im usually philisophical with my expectations.

Is your negative outlook purely self protection based on previous experience?

Honest question.........

 

[grizzlyg]

An easy win and some fine finishes. Hopefully Wilkinson can build in his goal and Miller just looks class act 

Davor same height as me and Paton done well.

Next week is big test but we defo need more options up front

[FirParkCornerExile]

4 hours ago, Spiderpig said:

A 3-0 win against a team that never looked like troubling us with 11 men never mind 10, 3 teenagers on the Park and playing well, winning the group and seeded for the last 16 draw a very comfortable win.

And yet the Trolls and their apprentices are still feckin moaning 🤦‍♂️i really despair at some of our support, that only seem to get enjoyment from defeats and bad  performances, what a feckin sad life.

 

I didn't think we did much wrong today. We beat what was in front of us quite comfortably. I've seen us play a hell of a lot worse. 

[Jastons]

Souare was in acres of space first half. He needs the ball. 

[wellsince75]

3 hours ago, MJC said:

Slattery looks a few yards faster and a good bit fitter than he did last season from what I’ve seen so far. I know these games aren’t the best at measuring players fitness and performance levels but he has stood out so far.

That’s positive news . Slattery is a decent player and I often thought he looked a touch overweight /not fully fit by modern standards 

hoping he can continue what’s been a great start to his pre season 

[Kmcalpin]

All in all a good day. We won 3-0; won the group; gained an unexpected seeded spot; and gave younsters more game time.  SK & SF can be satisified tonight. We controlled most of the game and never looked in danger except for a very brief spell just before we scored the opener. It might seem odd having scored 3 goals but I thought that we were a bit toothless up front and lacked penetration - not surprising though given our lack of strikers.  Most of our moves were frustrating - with some really good leading up play but the final ball being an inch or two out or defenders making last ditch interventions. We're getting there though. 

Oxborough had very little to do although I'd liked to have seen more of how he deals with high balls - the tiniest of question marks there. Souare looked good and I was very impressed with Paton - possibly the best he's played. Got wired in, very mobile and showed energy. Good to see young Miller have a good game and score the opener although I thought he sclaffed it. A fine passer of the ball. Slattery is getting back to his old self. Davos Z looked promising and put himself about well. Definitely looks promising but we'll see how he fares against bigger, nastier and better opponents. 

Thought the ref had a poor game  - with inconsistent calls on fouls and he seemed to take an instant dislike to Bevis in his duels with our old acquaintance Nathan Austin. The lack of added on time was absurd. I would have expected 5 or 6 minutes given the injuries and subs. What if we'd been chasing one more goal in an effort to secure a seeded spot?

Hopefully Wilkinson's injury isn't serious.  

[fizoxy]

An explanation really is needed on the added time screw up (we won't get one). The absolute minimum of 5 minutes could have factored into seedings for other teams as well as us, if either we or east fife scored. Deciding "fuck it, game's done anyway" and wrapping up on exactly 90 was farcical and unprofessional.

[MFCL84]

That was a decent, but uninspiring performance. There were some very neat passages of play from us, but the final ball or the first touch in and around the box was frequently slack, resulting in a chance lost.

It is maybe no surprise to anyone that we don't have any creativity in the team and we look as though we will struggle for goals. A well struck goal from Wilkinson today and a few flashes of nice footwork but there is lots of room for improvement in his movement, speed of thought and general level of involvement and contribution to the game.

Lennon Miller looks to be our next emerging talent. An assist and a goal today while looking assured throughout and displaying a wide array of passing. Let's hope that he continues to develop and that we get to see a few years of his talent before he bags a big move.

There is a lot of praise for Slattery at the moment. I can see that he has improved his fitness resulting in him being more mobile. He is working harder and even pitched in with a goal today. However, I feel that his passing was very wayward today. A little tightening up on that aspect would greatly improve his overall value to the team.

Spittal was all over the pitch. High energy, constantly demanding the ball and very tidy in much of his play. He looks as though he is ready for the season ahead.

Paton was very mobile and I felt that both him and Spittal found pockets of space between the midfield and front lines. Paton's best game for the club to date.

The back line did well enough given the level of opposition today, but there were a few scary moments when the ball was swung into the box from wide areas. There was some very uncertain defending at times, allowing the ball to drop in the 6-yard box without anyone making an attempt to clear it. Other than that, a fairly easy day at the office for them.

All in all, the team have been improving while at the same time, SK has managed to rotate the squad and get minutes on the pitch for most. Qualification secured. A job well done. We really won't be able to gauge just how prepared the squad is until the league campaign starts next weekend.

COYW!

 

[Big Stall]

8 hours ago, MJC said:

 

 

I’m glad you still laugh at that. Because you frequently come across as a boring, pedantic and argumentative individual who would try and start an argument in an empty room with alot of your posts and retorts on here, so if that gives you a reason to laugh then crack on.

I dont disagree on your view of @weeyin but i would be keen to hear how you think the rest of the board view you??

[MJC]

7 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Given this outlook, your negativity surrounding the club generally is surprising.

Its not too disimilar than my outlook, which is why, Im usually philisophical with my expectations.

Is your negative outlook purely self protection based on previous experience?

Honest question.........

 

It probably is. I’m generally ‘glass half empty’ with most things.

1 hour ago, Big Stall said:

I dont disagree on your view of @weeyin but i would be keen to hear how you think the rest of the board view you??

I’m not bothered how the rest of the board view me. I’m on here to read and give views on the club and the team, not to be ‘popular’ or try and score points through snidey wee remarks. I’ll admit I have occasionally lowered myself to the likes of the aforementioned weeyin’s level and bit back but in the main I’d much prefer to discuss the football. 

[Ya Bezzer!]

6 hours ago, MFCL84 said:

There is a lot of praise for Slattery at the moment. I can see that he has improved his fitness resulting in him being more mobile. He is working harder and even pitched in with a goal today. However, I feel that his passing was very wayward today. A little tightening up on that aspect would greatly improve his overall value to the team.

I agree.

I though he was our poorest midfielder yesterday.

I also felt he was trying a wee bit too hard to get his goal, which admittedly he did get eventually but I felt like it was clouding his decision making over the span of the match.

I said it last week but I feel Slattery is an AM.  And because of that it's one from Slattery/Spittal and not both if we want maximum efficiency in midfield.

For me Slattery just doesn't have the passing ability for it to be a main duty and I don't think he defends well of the ball either.  His best attributes are getting into forward areas and his shooting.