SPL Motherwell v Kilmarnock 26/08/2023

[mfc]

Its not ideal but I would start with efford in this game,were definitely going to need a bit of pace and movement up front if we're to get anything from this game,if we fall into the trap of hoofing the ball up to wilkinson and bair then we can forget it,that will suit that kilmarnock defence down to the ground.

 

[Spiderpig]

10 minutes ago, mfc said:

Its not ideal but I would start with efford in this game,were definitely going to need a bit of pace and movement up front if we're to get anything from this game,if we fall into the trap of hoofing the ball up to wilkinson and bair then we can forget it,that will suit that kilmarnock defence down to the ground.

 

Agreed I think  Efford has more to offer I would start with him and Bair up front as long as they get decent service from midfield, if we play the long ball game it's not going to end well.

 

[wellfan]

2 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Agreed I think  Efford has more to offer I would start with him and Bair up front as long as they get decent service from midfield, if we play the long ball game it's not going to end well.

 

Given that Kettlewell has been subbing off Bair instead of Wilkinson, I cannot see him dropping the latter for the Killie game. 

[steelboy]

10 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Given that Kettlewell has been subbing off Bair instead of Wilkinson, I cannot see him dropping the latter for the Killie game. 

That has been worrying. I suspect we have invested decent money into Wilkinson and Kettlewell is desperate to justify it. 

[Stuwell2]

1 hour ago, steelboy said:

That has been worrying. I suspect we have invested decent money into Wilkinson and Kettlewell is desperate to justify it. 

Maybe he feels Wilkinson is the fitter player at the moment and is managing the players accordingly. 

[wellfan]

13 minutes ago, Stuwell2 said:

Maybe he feels Wilkinson is the fitter player at the moment and is managing the players accordingly. 

He also managed us out of the league cup at the weekend. 

[Squirrelhumper]

On 8/20/2023 at 12:14 PM, Spiderpig said:

We will win on Saturday as I expect a good reaction to the shit fest the team served up yesterday. Kilmarnock are brutal away from home the vast majority of their points are gained on that shitey plastic pitch of theirs so I can see a home win.

We were by far the better side at Tynecastle last week and should have won. 

[Squirrelhumper]

On 8/20/2023 at 2:40 PM, weeyin said:

Some teams use the "earn the right to play football" mantra. From what I've seen from Killie so far this season they have adopted the "earn the right to stop football" mantra.

The best way to counter that is with an early goal - easier said than done, but we need to be on the front foot right from kickoff.

Must be watching a different Killie side from me. 

Against Celtic, Hearts and Rangers we've created more chances than any of them. 

[joewarkfanclub]

After Saturday the team selection will be interesting.  I wouldnt be going with Wilkinson & Bair up front, but theres a fair chance SK probably will. Given McGinley is out in the cold and Obika an Biereth injured it could be

                           Kelly

SOD     McGinn Bevis Casey   Wilson

                           Miller

               Slattery    Spittal

               Wilkinson     Efford

There is always the option of putting Blaney out left, but I would have thought SK would have done that on Saturday if he though he was capable. Personally, I would also Move Casey in one and play Blaney instead of Bevis, but again, that doesnt look like a preferred option.

[SteelmaninOZ]

7 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

After Saturday the team selection will be interesting.  I wouldnt be going with Wilkinson & Bair up front, but theres a fair chance SK probably will. Given McGinley is out in the cold and Obika an Biereth injured it could be

                           Kelly

SOD     McGinn Bevis Casey   Wilson

                           Miller

               Slattery    Spittal

               Wilkinson     Efford

There is always the option of putting Blaney out left, but I would have thought SK would have done that on Saturday if he though he was capable. Personally, I would also Move Casey in one and play Blaney instead of Bevis, but again, that doesnt look like a preferred option.

That team selection is the best option with all those injuries 

[steelboy]

Blaney is actually worse than Bevis when it comes to defending.

[Ya Bezzer!]

Kilmarnock are undefeated in 7 matches this season, have beaten Rangers and Celtic and haven't conceded a goal against a Premiership side this season.

On the other hand we didn't look like scoring against an utterly howlin' Hibs team until Biereth came on and that option isn't going to be available for a while.

Obviously I'd rather see us hump them but I feel this is a match were the visitors have all the confidence and momentum.  

[texanwellfan]

3 hours ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

Kilmarnock are undefeated in 7 matches this season, have beaten Rangers and Celtic and haven't conceded a goal against a Premiership side this season.

On the other hand we didn't look like scoring against an utterly howlin' Hibs team until Biereth came on and that option isn't going to be available for a while.

Obviously I'd rather see us hump them but I feel this is a match were the visitors have all the confidence and momentum.  

 3 games against OF pair and Hearts, wonder if they will play us with same mindset and plan or will they approach it differently? As has been mentioned on several occasions basically every game between non OF teams will most likely be close encounters so could go either way. Disappointing news but need to go into the game with a positive attitude. I think we might see a couple of screamers from Wilkinson around the 20 yard mark. COYW!!!! 

[David]

12 hours ago, mfc said:

Its not ideal but I would start with efford in this game,were definitely going to need a bit of pace and movement up front if we're to get anything from this game,if we fall into the trap of hoofing the ball up to wilkinson and bair then we can forget it,that will suit that kilmarnock defence down to the ground.

Didn't Kettlewell talk negatively about Efford in a press conference recently? 

[mfc]

15 minutes ago, David said:

Didn't Kettlewell talk negatively about Efford in a press conference recently? 

Your right he did,I'm sure it was in the press conference leading up to the hibs game,it sounded like his days were numbered going by kettlewells comments.im not a big fan of efford but think we might need something different in this game that he might provide,the thought of wilkinson and bair as our only options is pretty scary.

[Stuwell2]

If Motherwell had the record that Killie have this season we’d all be going into this game expecting a win (except the usual one or two) as I’m sure most Killie fans will be but as we all know that’s not always the case, so I’m expecting a hard game and with a bit of luck a home win. 

[wellfan]

A toothless performance and loss should signal the alarm bells ringing and the chequebook out. 

[David]

4 hours ago, wellfan said:

A toothless performance and loss should signal the alarm bells ringing and the chequebook out. 

We can't keep going from season to season with that approach. Things don't go well, we panic and spend a ton of cash we don't really have.

[wellfan]

15 minutes ago, David said:

We can't keep going from season to season with that approach. Things don't go well, we panic and spend a ton of cash we don't really have.

I didn't say a ton of cash. I mean we have to sign some more players to fill the gaps and replace the crap. I note you said similar in the ins/out thread. We need more signings. 

[David]

31 minutes ago, wellfan said:

I didn't say a ton of cash. I mean we have to sign some more players to fill the gaps and replace the crap. I note you said similar in the ins/out thread. We need more signings. 

We need quality signings. And I know we can't really afford to bring in players of top quality, but we've signed better than we have this season before. 

[Spiderpig]

39 minutes ago, David said:

but we've signed better than we have this season before. 

Are you basing that assumption on having seen said players perform over just 5 or 6 games so far some of them less than that, if not what's an acceptable period for a player to settle and show what he can or can't do? Is it weeks, months, a full season or is it Steelboy boy time ie minutes and hours?

[David]

15 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Are you basing that assumption on having seen said players perform over just 5 or 6 games so far some of them less than that, if not what's an acceptable period for a player to settle and show what he can or can't do? Is it weeks, months, a full season or is it Steelboy boy time ie minutes and hours?

It's not an assumption, it's based on the quality of the player we've signed at this stage of the season in previous years. 

Blair Spittal had been an ever-present pretty much at County the season before we signed him, and had scored seven goals as well. 

Paul McGinn had played consistently in the Scottish top flight for something like 5 years and was regarded as a solid, respected player. 

Even Kevin Van Veen, who was coming off a relatively poor season goal-return-wise, had shown enough in his career for me to think he could be a useful signing. 

Would you dispute that those players aren't of a higher quality than what we've signed this summer? 

[Spiderpig]

23 minutes ago, David said:

 

Would you dispute that those players aren't of a higher quality than what we've signed this summer? 

As I've only seen Wilkinson, Bair, Zdravkovski, Biereth etc play a few games so far I won't be placing any judgement on them so they may turn out to be higher quality or they may not as with every player only time will tell.

[David]

53 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

As I've only seen Wilkinson, Bair, Zdravkovski, Biereth etc play a few games so far I won't be placing any judgement on them so they may turn out to be higher quality or they may not as with every player only time will tell.

Look at what I said. I'm talking about the calibre of players they were when they arrived with us. Not how they did at the club.

[MJC]

I think it’s pretty telling that a poster like David, who is usually very balanced, reasonable and tends to be “glass half full” when it comes to our team and our chances, is saying that he thinks the current squad is poor, on paper at least. 
 

This most definitely is a poor squad, on the face of it, and only time will tell if Kettlewell’s ability to make us hard to beat will continue to work in our favour.