Are Motherwell Entertaining?

[MFCL84]

Are you happy with points or do you want more entertainment?

I’ll start by saying that I am satisfied with the points tally and league position at this time. Indeed, given the horrendous list of injuries experienced this season, the points tally is commendable. However, the entertainment on show is non-existent. The persistent use of an overly negative approach, combined with hit-and-hope hoofball is absolutely dreadful to watch. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been just for the past few games, but has been the case for most/all of this season. I used to look forward to going to the game on a Saturday, but now it just feels like a bad-habit that I should give up.

What really frustrates me is that I don’t think that the squad at Motherwell is any worse than most of the squads in the league, but week-in-week-out I see the opposition dominate possession, while appearing to be technically better on the ball and playing with more cohesion and purpose. I haven’t bothered to look at the possession stats, pass completion stats or number of goal attempts made; I don’t need to, because I know that to be entertained I want Motherwell to do better in all of those areas.

Maybe I’m in the minority, maybe many are being entertained with this brand of football. I most certainly am not.

Are you happy with the entertainment provided by Motherwell?

 

[wellsince75]

I’ve had a look at the stats as live down south and don’t get to many games .

general stats are horrible . Possession, number of passes , number of shots , shot on target 

Last round of 12 games has us score 1.1 per game and concede 2 per game .

so pretty uninspiring.  
 

that said I read many of st Johnstone stats . Better possession, passes , shots etc but they’ll get relegated .

overall I’m convinced we have the building blocks of an ok spl club and the points tally doesn’t lie .

what I’m not convinced over is whether SK has the ability to make is both hard to beat whilst introducing more for us to cheer on . 
 

to be clear I don’t believe we need to change manager , perhaps a few additions /inpprovments to the broader management team would help 

[wellfan]

The sooner the club realises it can maintain its top flight status as well as go on the occasional cup run and qualify for Europe perhaps 1-2 times per decade, without the need to employ the likes of Kettlewell, the better.

Make no mistake, fans of a club like Motherwell will accept defeat for as long as they can see that their team attempts to win games and gives them something to look forward to each week. Instead, performances under Kettlewell are generally uninspiring and predictable - in both winning and losing - and that’s entirely on the manager. 

Football is an entertainment business at the end of the day, and fans will begin to speak with their wallets if Kettleball is what they continue to be offered every week.

[joewarkfanclub]

First and foremost football managers need to win games.

If they dont do that they will be out of a job as the same fans complaining about lack of entertainment will be the ones demanding their head.

That said, the football has been generally brutal this season and save for the odd game when things have clicked into place, there hasnt been much entertainment on offer.

Id like to think there is a happy medium to be had where there is sufficient entertainment to be had whilst also picking up the necessary points.

Lets not forget that this is the same squad that beat United 4-3 and drew 2-2 with Rangers. Both thoroughly entertaining games.

It has been the exception to the rule though and it is something that does require to be addressed.

A football club is nothing without its supporters to play in front of.

[santheman]

First of all to play entertaining attacking football you need to have the players capable of doing that and a manager who trusts them enough to be able to.

I would say that if we had consistently had a full squad available then we might have seen a bit more of that.

The reality is we've had so many injuries to key players all at the same time we've had to make do with cobbled together teams at times with little or no continuity. Just when we think we have a settled team we get another injury to a key player and its back to the drawing board. In those circumstances is it best to resort to safety first or throw caution to the wind, obviously Kettlewell prefers the former.

Thats not making any apologies for the eye bleeding tactics which depending on what way you look at it has been foisted on Kettlewell because of the players he has available or he deliberately sets out to play in a certain way.

This game on Saturday has Sligo and Alexander vibes for me as you can feel the mounting unrest in the fanbase and I think one more game like we've experienced lately, a poor performance with a defeat and that could easily become a groundswell which the board would have to address.

I still find it weird that we're talking like this when we're sitting in 5th place but that's life being a Motherwell fan

 

[Throughthelaces]

I think for me under Kettlewell it feels like we never really get going under him. Okay injuries happened but all clubs get them. But it feels like we are such a poor side to watch. Like against his withing 20 minutes I'd remarked to my friend weve had a good day to the football before the football happened. 

 

It's not just the last 4 games where we've oozed poor outside of a total of 48 minutes of football 45 against Aberdeen and 3 against hearts at the tail end. Outwith the games against Hearts in August, 4-3 against united and 2-2 with rangers I would be lying if I said I can even see what we're tactically trying to do.

 

When he first took over he was excellent that run was as good a time watching motherwell as I can remember and there were points last season we looked good when Spittal and Bair worked a good partnership.

 

I'm not saying we have to have long waves of sweeping attacks every week but a bit of gumption would be appreciated. It shouldn't take 50 minutes to get a half shot against our opposition in any game of football we play in.

[weeyin]

I think we'll become more entertaining as guys like Kaleta and Maswanhise continue to adapt in the Scottish game, and guys like Slattery and Miller ar re-established as starters.

It won't always be easy, though, because some teams in the Premiership intentionally set up to wreck any attempts to play football and you need to find a different way to win.

And if we play wide open, entertaining football where we won a third of our games 4 - 1, and lost two thirds 3-2, our fans would be screaming for changes.

[wellfan]

3 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said:

A football club is nothing without its supporters to play in front of.

The sooner the powers that be at individual clubs as well as at the SPFL and SFA realise this, the better. 

[fizoxy]

What constitutes an entertaining game is subjective. Some like watching long series of intricate passing, others prefer a more direct style, fighting for second balls in the final third. Some want to see their team press high, others want to see their team draw the opponents in and hit them with blistering counter attacks.  

Are we defining entertaining as slick attacking moves, goals galore (for both teams), and displays of skill? Or are we talking about intrigue, incident, and discussion points? What team in the Scottish premier is the blueprint for entertaining football? Celtic? St Johnstone? Who would we say is theost progressive and entertaining manager in the league?

I personally don't enjoy watching teams like Man City, as I think their style is boring, but Brighton and Liverpool are more fun to watch.  My favorite motherwell side was the McLean team just before he left, but I also loved the Robinson thunderdome era (the season when we got to 2 finals and people were complaining about our style and the fact we couldn't beat celtic to win them).

When it comes to our games, when the whistle goes all I'm interested in is us winning, and based on the general vibe from the crowd, most people are the same. Celebrating wins is fun, but I can't remember ever having the buzz of a good losing performance sustain me over a weekend. I don't think I've ever pulled out the "We played better than you" schtick to a fan of a rival team that beat us.

One thing I can guarantee is that not a single fan would sacrifice results and points for performances in real life. 

Attacking and creative players are expensive, and they don't last long at clubs like ours. They can be the difference when still playing a more cautious style. Otherwise, to play a more attacking/creative style, you're going to concede more chances. 

Stuart Kettlewell's preferred style seems to be using high wing backs to press teams in wide areas, as well as hitting quick counter attacks. That's entertaining when it works, as we saw with max and KVV, or Gent and Bair. We have also had some good young players, and unearthed some gems, which is also entertaining.

I think that our struggle this season is that we haven't had any consistency in the WB area, although kaleta has shown in flashes that he can be dangerous. In addition, we can't keep any kind of consistent lineup on the pitch due to a ridiculous run of injuries (something that can be discussed in its own right). Those quick passing moves and free flowing attacks would be more likely if players had the chance to build partnerships. 

This discussion is cyclical, and will surface again when our next manager guides us to successive 3-2 losses.

[Yabba's Turd]

The decline in quality in Scotland has been slow and steady, administration masked it for us though as we were navigating a crisis, the fallout probably lasted a good eight seasons and then rangers imploded and we got best of the rest for a while which was a relief from the decline in entertaining football, we're a hard watch for sure.

[Big Wispy Flossy]

No

[MFCL84]

8 hours ago, santheman said:

I still find it weird that we're talking like this when we're sitting in 5th place but that's life being a Motherwell fan

I think the fact that we are talking about this when sitting in 5th says a lot about how bad the football has been. Motherwell fans would usually be happy with their team sitting in this position. Why is it different this time? Probably because the football on show is brutal.

[Big Stall]

1 hour ago, MFCL84 said:

I think the fact that we are talking about this when sitting in 5th says a lot about how bad the football has been. Motherwell fans would usually be happy with their team sitting in this position. Why is it different this time? Probably because the football on show is brutal.

For me the issue is that our players blatantly can play better attacking football. We see it time & again in the last 20 minutes of games or when kettlewell has an epithany & sends the team out to have a go - see game v rangers & the night game v dundee utd.

The problem is that he then reverts back to ultra defensive with hoofball thrown in. If thats all we were capable of then that may be acceptable, but we can see its not

[wellgirl]

I'm personally happy with the points. And I said the same under other managers. Of course I would like to see us play better football - but survival is the main thing as far as I'm concerned. 

[MFCL84]

10 hours ago, wellgirl said:

survival is the main thing as far as I'm concerned. 

Can I ask why you go to the games and what you get from them if survival is the main thing. Don't you go to the games to be entertained?

As I said when I opened this thread, going to games seems like no more than a bad habit now, I certainly get very little enjoyment from the football on display.

[David]

34 minutes ago, MFCL84 said:

Can I ask why you go to the games and what you get from them if survival is the main thing. Don't you go to the games to be entertained?

Personally, I go to games to see us hopefully win. That's the be-all & end-all for me. If we win a boring game 1-0 I'll be happy. If we lose an exciting game 4-3 I won't be happy. 

 

[wellgirl]

1 hour ago, MFCL84 said:

Can I ask why you go to the games and what you get from them if survival is the main thing. Don't you go to the games to be entertained?

As I said when I opened this thread, going to games seems like no more than a bad habit now, I certainly get very little enjoyment from the football on display.

I think it should be pretty obvious why I go to games - because I support Motherwell. 

[joewarkfanclub]

1 hour ago, David said:

Personally, I go to games to see us hopefully win. That's the be-all & end-all for me. If we win a boring game 1-0 I'll be happy. If we lose an exciting game 4-3 I won't be happy. 

 

For balance you should add that if we lose a really turgid game 1-0 I will be even less happy! Other permutations are also available. 😉

[Richie]

The priority is by hook or by crook to attain enough points to stay up. That's the bread and butter.

Also, shitfesting your way to cup glory is more memorable than playing brilliant football and going out.

Can we be successful and play well - Other teams can, but its mostly down to players available (driven by budget), although there still is a bit of archaic coaching (in Scotland in General) - I.e just launching a throwin up the line etc.

Individual player decision-making also has an impact.

As an aside, when you look down south/abroad alot of the players are absolute units/althletes.  Could more be done to try and address that?

 

 

[joewarkfanclub]

Winning is the most important thing. 

There are different ways to win though and they way we are currently doing it is the hardest to like.

This is mainly because the margins are so narrow it doesnt take a lot to go wrong for a win to turn into a draw or even a loss.

We have seen that a lot recently.

There are mitigating factors. But they are wearing thin. If our injury crisis isnt going to clear any time soon we need to be more active in the transfer window than we had anticipated.

If we are only a few weeks away from things improving that may be less urgent.

Going forward Id like to see us playing a little bit more possession based football. With Slattery and Andrews we have 2 players that can actually keep the ball. Paton could have a role to play and hopefully Miller heals quicker than anticipated.

Attacking from secure possession would expose us to less risk at the back and would give a platform for creating better chances than we have been used to of late.

Doesnt mean we cant go long or in behind when necessary. As someone else said, there are different ways to be entertained.

I quite like nice interplay, but Im also partial to a bit of thunderdome and excitement of just getting the ball in the box. 

We have done that at points this season. Just not often enough to change the narrative....

[Richie]

There is definirely a reticence now to take on and beat a player -Accross the board.

As a result you end up just passing around the back/midfield while the opposition sets a block.

[numpty]

1 hour ago, Richie said:

Also, shitfesting your way to cup glory is more memorable than playing brilliant football and going out.

No doubt. In general, though, I still enjoy shitfest wins massively less (probably disproportionately so) than ones where we've played some easy on the eye stuff.

[David]

1 hour ago, joewarkfanclub said:

For balance you should add that if we lose a really turgid game 1-0 I will be even less happy! Other permutations are also available. 😉

I feel the same way if we lose a turgid game 1-0 or if we lose an exciting and entertaining game 4-3. 

[Ya Bezzer!]

Motherwell are 10th out of 12 in total league attendances this season.

I don't have accurate up to date wage info but one of the clubs marginally below us (St Johnstone 5,602 v us 5,748) have traditionally paid higher wages than we have.

I don't know how true it was but it was claimed only Livingston had a smaller budget than us last season.

We are a bottom 3 club in this league and if Falkirk come up next season we'll be a bottom 2 club.  If you don't believe me Falkirk got 1,500 more fans in their last home match against Queen's Park than we did against Aberdeen with a big travelling support.  

A lot of our fans need a long hard introductory course in reality.

Our extended stay at the top level has made some of our fans think we are far bigger and better club but we've escaped relegation on technicities three times and that's not including a relegation play off.

For us to be in the Top 6 is a tremendous achievement.  If we finish in or around it that will be an excellent season.

If you don't like the standard of modern Scottish football, I sympathise with you.  But don't put that on a manager or club officials or staff.  Aberdeen and Hearts played out one of the most woeful matches you will ever see at the weekend and they have facilities and a budget we could only dream of. 

I've seen bad, good and indifferent performances this season.  Same as every other season.  Like I've said over and over the standard in Scottish football is a shadow of what it was in the 80's and 90's but that shadow casts a pall over the whole league.  I try and watch as many games as possible and the standard elsewhere is pretty much the same as we watch at Fir Park.

 

 

 

[Big Stall]

1 hour ago, David said:

I feel the same way if we lose a turgid game 1-0 or if we lose an exciting and entertaining game 4-3. 

And how about when we appear to make no effort to actually try and win the game?

 

Which is a little different from entertaining but linked