Motherwell v Dundee 26/02/2025

[SteelmaninOZ]

The manager now knows that what he has to work with. 
We might sneak a point and let’s leave SOD on the bench. 
 

COYW

[well_said]

2 minutes ago, SteelmaninOZ said:

The manager now knows that what he has to work with. 
We might sneak a point and let’s leave SOD on the bench. 
 

COYW

Let's leave him in Dundee.

[Kmcalpin]

Our season proper starts here. We're capable of getting something from this game. 

[Mortonhallwell]

One things for sure; we are incapable of keeping a clean sheet so will need to score if we hope to get anything from the game.

[grizzlyg]

Balmer for SOD, Paton for Halliday

Need to get right in their faces from the start and don't allow Murray any time or space.

COYW

[MJC]

0-2

More misery

[Stuwell2]

26 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

…..don't allow Murray any time or space.

COYW

I fear he’s going to bully our defence and Cameron will dictate the game. 

[Kmcalpin]

The bottom six is just about sorted, although Hearts will probably be leaving us soon at the expense of St Mirren. 

By all accounts some improvement in performance today and thats all we could realistically ask for. Dundee will score on Wednesday, of course, but they have a shocking defence. That will only be a problem for them though, if we can get at them. 

At least our new men will have seen us in action now and will have had a couple more days with the squad. When picking the team this time they can use the evidence of their own eyes and won't have to rely on the advice of the old guard.

Moving forward, we simply can't rely on other teams doing a favour as evidence shows they don't. Despite what I've said above, we can't rely on Hearts doing us a favour tomorrow.  

[mfc]

We really need a result to stop the rot and get a bit of feel good factor going.the manager is just in the door and can only influence so much in a short space of time,the players need to get there act together and quick.

[Kmcalpin]

8 minutes ago, mfc said:

We really need a result to stop the rot and get a bit of feel good factor going.the manager is just in the door and can only influence so much in a short space of time,the players need to get there act together and quick.

It'll take our new man a few weeks to find out the best team selection. SK had months and still couldn't figure it out. All I'm hoping for is to go into the split with a reasonable cushion over St Johnstone - 6/7 points would be fine. Obviously finishing 10th would be the icing on the cake and should be our target. 

It's not unreasonable to expect gradual improvements game after game  

[joewarkfanclub]

Motherwell win.

More progress.

Confidence boosted.

[wellgirl]

3 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

It'll take our new man a few weeks to find out the best team selection. SK had months and still couldn't figure it out. All I'm hoping for is to go into the split with a reasonable cushion over St Johnstone - 6/7 points would be fine. Obviously finishing 10th would be the icing on the cake and should be our target. 

It's not unreasonable to expect gradual improvements game after game  

He doesnt have a few weeks. We are in freefall

[wellgirl]

3 hours ago, mfc said:

We really need a result to stop the rot and get a bit of feel good factor going.the manager is just in the door and can only influence so much in a short space of time,the players need to get there act together and quick.

This

[Kmcalpin]

17 minutes ago, wellgirl said:

He doesnt have a few weeks. We are in freefall

I get that the pressure is on us, but we can't expect too much too soon. He'll want to test out players he hasn't seen yet and also which combinations work and which don't. It might well be a case of 2 steps forward and one back, from game to game. We're fortunate too that next weekend's game is a free hit just like today's fixture. Its another game with little pressure on, to test things out and get the squad used to his new methods. In the short term, Dundee and St Mirren are the crucial ones. I'd happily settle for a point on Wednesday to stop the rot, if we beat St Mirren.  The crucial aim for me is to maintain that gap above St Johnstone.  

[wellgirl]

Just now, Kmcalpin said:

I get that the pressure is on us, but we can't expect too much too soon. He'll want to test out players he hasn't seen yet and also which combinations work and which don't. It might well be a case of 2 steps forward and one back, from game to game. We're fortunate too that next weekend's game is a free hit just like today's fixture. Its another game with little pressure on, to test things out and get the squad used to his new methods. In the short term, Dundee and St Mirren are the crucial ones. I'd happily settle for a point on Wednesday to stop the rot, if we beat St Mirren.  The crucial aim for me is to maintain that gap above St Johnstone.  

Agree. But we need to pull away from the play off position and I dont know how we are going to do that. Wimmer really needs to hit the ground  running

[wellgirl]

I have a ticket for wednesday night that I may not be able to use (up to my eyes in uni work) if anyone wants it I would be happy to send it on via email

 

[robsterwood]

2 hours ago, wellgirl said:

I have a ticket for wednesday night that I may not be able to use (up to my eyes in uni work) if anyone wants it I would be happy to send it on via email

 

I will take it if ok my emails robsterwood@gmail.com

[wellsince75]

Huge ask for the gaffer .

1) he knows nothing about the league 

2) only a week with our squad 

3) lack of creativity in the team .  We’ve scored 4 goals the last 9 games.

unless some of the loanees have energy and pace it’s going to be difficult .
 

 

 

[Mccus28]

I think we can all agree that the manager had a free hit in his first game as it was Utd away and he didn't have long with the squad.

I do feel he should be given quite a bit of slack for the rest of the season but it will be interesting to see the next team selection as we will begin to see his thought process on what he has been left with.

[Kmcalpin]

Looking at the squad, there are a few problem areas. For Wednesday's game, I'd stick with Balcombe in goal, although other things being equal I'd give Ward a chance.  We need a degree of consistency given that there will be other more pressing changes to effect. Koutroumbis at RWB. Central defence - Casey, Gordon and Balmer. LWB????? Midfield - Miller, Paton/Slattery and Manwhanise. Strikers - Plange and Armstrong. I don't think Manwhanise is an out and out striker but we badly need his pace going forward. Hopefully Nicholson will be fit for this one. We'll need someone to put the shackles on Lyle Cameron just as a young Keith Lasley would do all those years ago. 

[wellsince75]

17 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Looking at the squad, there are a few problem areas. For Wednesday's game, I'd stick with Balcombe in goal, although other things being equal I'd give Ward a chance.  We need a degree of consistency given that there will be other more pressing changes to effect. Koutroumbis at RWB. Central defence - Casey, Gordon and Balmer. LWB????? Midfield - Miller, Paton/Slattery and Manwhanise. Strikers - Plange and Armstrong. I don't think Manwhanise is an out and out striker but we badly need his pace going forward. Hopefully Nicholson will be fit for this one. We'll need someone to put the shackles on Lyle Cameron just as a young Keith Lasley would do all those years ago. 

Agree that there's problem areas - this is where having a set formation can cause issues as we put the best person available into the role. 

For me we don't have a good back 3 with McGinn injured. Nor do we have a decent LWB.  As such I'd rather we change formation to suit what we have right now. 

This year we've conceded 13 goals and scored 4.  (9 games).  We need to create a team/formation that attacks teams without giving cheap goals, which may be easier said than done but with 8 forward thinking players fit it should be possible.  

[Kmcalpin]

1 minute ago, wellsince75 said:

For me we don't have a good back 3 with McGinn injured. Nor do we have a decent LWB.  As such I'd rather we change formation to suit what we have right now. 

This year we've conceded 13 goals and scored 4.  (9 games).  We need to create a team/formation that attacks teams without giving cheap goals, which may be easier said than done but with 8 forward thinking players fit it should be possible.  

I agree about the back 3. The three I would choose is the best we have available with McGinn being sidelined. O'Donnell is never a centre back and Blaney has never convinced me. So, Balmer it is although I'm not sure about him either. LWB is a real issue. Not convinced about Wilson or Thompson, for different reasons. Midfield has me scratching my head.  We need a good deep lying defensive No 6 (Davor??????); an energetic box to box No 8 (Slattery/Paton/Sparrow); and a creative No 10 (Nicholson/Manwhanise). Now I'd start Lennon Miller every week, but where does he fit in? Up front, it has to be Armstrong and Plange for me short term.       

[joewarkfanclub]

10 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

I agree about the back 3. The three I would choose is the best we have available with McGinn being sidelined. O'Donnell is never a centre back and Blaney has never convinced me. So, Balmer it is although I'm not sure about him either. LWB is a real issue. Not convinced about Wilson or Thompson, for different reasons. Midfield has me scratching my head.  We need a good deep lying defensive No 6 (Davor??????); an energetic box to box No 8 (Slattery/Paton/Sparrow); and a creative No 10 (Nicholson/Manwhanise). Now I'd start Lennon Miller every week, but where does he fit in? Up front, it has to be Armstrong and Plange for me short term.       

For me Miller is the 6.

The defensive part of his game is often ignored. He has grown in stature this season and looks much physically stronger. He reads the game well and is well up the league stats for interceptions.

Add in that he is also the best passer of the ball we have and he is the most suited to the role that we have.

Getting it right in front of him is equally important for me. We need willing runners hitting the right spaces for him to find. That part was a bit better yesterday, but there is still much work to do.

[couttsy]

1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:

Looking at the squad, there are a few problem areas. For Wednesday's game, I'd stick with Balcombe in goal, although other things being equal I'd give Ward a chance.  We need a degree of consistency given that there will be other more pressing changes to effect. Koutroumbis at RWB. Central defence - Casey, Gordon and Balmer. LWB????? Midfield - Miller, Paton/Slattery and Manwhanise. Strikers - Plange and Armstrong. I don't think Manwhanise is an out and out striker but we badly need his pace going forward. Hopefully Nicholson will be fit for this one. We'll need someone to put the shackles on Lyle Cameron just as a young Keith Lasley would do all those years ago. 

I thought Balcome played well yesterday, including one fantastic save in the 2nd half. 

I’d go Balcome, Koutroumbis, Thomson, Balmer, Gordon, Casey. Miller, Slattery, Paton/Sparrow, Maswanhise, Armstrong. 

Although really concerned about where the goals are coming from looking at our forward options.

[Kmcalpin]

48 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

For me Miller is the 6.

The defensive part of his game is often ignored. He has grown in stature this season and looks much physically stronger. He reads the game well and is well up the league stats for interceptions.

Add in that he is also the best passer of the ball we have and he is the most suited to the role that we have.

Getting it right in front of him is equally important for me. We need willing runners hitting the right spaces for him to find. That part was a bit better yesterday, but there is still much work to do.

I get what you say Joe, but I think suffocating Lyle Cameron will be key to any success on Wednesday. Given his undoubted  positive attributes  can we afford to instruct young Miller to stick with him like a limpet?