Motherwell v St Johnstone 26/04/2025

[Kmcalpin]

15 minutes ago, wellsince75 said:

Add to that Livi's plastic pitch, not sure when they're replacing but I'd much prefer all SPL clubs to have grass pitches. On a basic level it should be a standard requirement for any SPL club.

https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/sport/football/falkirk-reveal-dispute-resolution-process-likely-as-they-gear-up-to-challenge-senseless-spfl-premiership-artificial-pitch-ban-5026678 (Falkirk Herald)

Falkirk are challenging the SPFL's decision, which was based on a democratic vote, to ban plastic pitches in the Premiership from the 2026-27 season.   They know what the rules are, and have done for some time, so why can't they just adhere to them? Here we go again. 

Some other clubs, with a vested interest, including Livingston, Airdrie, Raith and Hamilton have held discusions about this.

[SteelmaninOZ]

 

[grizzlyg]

Watched highlights and 2 poor goals to concede,  casey dreaming for first and no one picked up player for 2nd.

However......great from Watt for 1st goal and fine finish from slatts.  For 2nd goal Halliday and Watt done great and for 3rd Thompson done well ( only good thing he done imo)

Was gutted though they didn't Show the 2 best bits.....Paton's cross which fired into bottom tier of away stand and Ikpeauzu losing it for his yellow card

[Kmcalpin]

21 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Watched highlights and 2 poor goals to concede,  casey dreaming for first and no one picked up player for 2nd.

Yes poor defending. Tom Sparrow was caught out with a ball over the top. Kirk was completely unmarked and allowed to pick his spot. A great keeper to striker goal and possibly winner of Saints' goal of the season. Balcombe looked a little culpable for their second  

[FirParkCornerExile]

2 hours ago, Spiderpig said:

You think then that Falkirk have the players and resources to stay in the premiership?

For me if they get promoted they will be big favourites to go straight back down it's a big step up in quality from the championship.

Doesnt matter what Falkirk have right now , that is not what they will have to start a campaign in the Premier League and they would be a better attraction for players than Livingston and with average crowds that will eclipse ours I'd rather a potentially weaker team came. up. 

[Spit_It_Out]

25 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Yes poor defending. Tom Sparrow was caught out with a ball over the top. Kirk was completely unmarked and allowed to pick his spot. A great keeper to striker goal and possibly winner of Saints' goal of the season. Balcombe looked a little culpable for their second  

Balcombe is a pretty poor goalkeeper i am honestly at the stage now my erse is in my mouth anytime the ball comes near to him and he must have a phobia about catching the ball.

[SteelmaninOZ]

 

[Ya Bezzer!]

I was at the game yesterday but I was feeling ill and for most of the match just wanted to come home and I went straight to bed.

Dunno if that was the quality of football, how I was feeling or a combination of both!

I know we've had horrendous injury problems all season but to have two weeks prep and then put out the starting line up, formation and tactics just showed to me that Wimmer is miles off knowing what he's doing.

Fair play to him he changed the shape during the match but you kinda felt any supporter could have told him that starting XI wasn't going to work.

The first half was dismal until St Johnstone had their mad minute.  After that you could see us playing with a bit more confidence but it's obvious this team's confidence has been shattered and is still very fragile.

It's clear we need the season to end and re-set, get the injured guys back and get rid of the dead wood.

Unfortunately there are four games left and with that win almost certainly securing our place in the league you wonder what kind of levels we are going to display, they've not been good enough during competitive matches.

Therefore I see the immediate future as a bit of a distraction until the bigger questions are tackled close season.  Still I'd be nice if we could get another victory or two before the end of the season.

 

 

[ropy]

2 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

St Johnstone were fired up as we knew they would be and committed 3 fouls before 3 minutes showed on the clock. That theme continued and Steven MacLean's inconsistent awarding of cards was a bit annoying. He also found an additional minute to add onto the additional 5 minutes at the end. Not often we see that.  The final 25 minutes or so were torture to watch as we retreated under an onslaught, largely toothless it has to be said. 

Time to renew my season ticket.  

There was nothing sinister about the additional time.  The board for Slattery’s substitution went up on 90 minutes and it was a full 60 seconds before play restarted, 5 additional minutes were played from that point.

[Mad Dog]

1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:

Yes poor defending. Tom Sparrow was caught out with a ball over the top. Kirk was completely unmarked and allowed to pick his spot. A great keeper to striker goal and possibly winner of Saints' goal of the season. Balcombe looked a little culpable for their second  

I thought Balcombe saw the ball fairly late as it went past a number of players in front of him.

[Kmcalpin]

13 minutes ago, ropy said:

There was nothing sinister about the additional time.  The board for Slattery’s substitution went up on 90 minutes and it was a full 60 seconds before play restarted, 5 additional minutes were played from that point.

Oh I get that.  Its usually announced as "A minimum of X minutes".  However, its quite unusual for a referee to add any further extra time. Once the minutes have been announced, we've seen injuries, subs, goals, VAR, time wasting but very rarely amendments to additional time.

[Kmcalpin]

47 minutes ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

I was at the game yesterday but I was feeling ill and for most of the match just wanted to come home and I went straight to bed.

I know we've had horrendous injury problems all season but to have two weeks prep and then put out the starting line up, formation and tactics just showed to me that Wimmer is miles off knowing what he's doing.

Fair play to him he changed the shape during the match but you kinda felt any supporter could have told him that starting XI wasn't going to work.

Hope you're feeling better now.

I thought exactly the same, thinking that the line up was very cautious but maybe he was limited by injuries? Mashwanise being out was a body blow certainly.  Looking at the bench, Seddon is not match fit. Kaleta is nowhere to be seen. Andrews, Dickson and Tavares don't inspire confidence. I suppose we could have played Armstrong along with Watt or Moses but he didn't really have much leeway for shaking things up. 

[Onthefringes]

34 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Hope you're feeling better now.

I thought exactly the same, thinking that the line up was very cautious but maybe he was limited by injuries? Mashwanise being out was a body blow certainly.  Looking at the bench, Seddon is not match fit. Kaleta is nowhere to be seen. Andrews, Dickson and Tavares don't inspire confidence. I suppose we could have played Armstrong along with Watt or Moses but he didn't really have much leeway for shaking things up. 

Nor will he be. He’s returned to his parent club. 

[dennyc]

2 hours ago, grizzlyg said:

Watched highlights and 2 poor goals to concede,  casey dreaming for first and no one picked up player for 2nd.

 

A bit harsh on Casey who was trying to get across to cover from the left side. The players at fault for the first were Sparrow who was caught out of position and whoever stood still as Kirk ran into the box. Miller? Not sure who lost the second goal scorer but the goalie should have saved it anyway.

Wimmer changed the set up after the first goal with Sparrow being pushed further forward lessening his defensive duties. Became a back four with JK at right back. Looked far more solid to me. 

I also thought, surprisingly, that Casey looked a lot better playing alongside SOD than he has playing alongside Balmer, Blaney and even Gordon. Not saying SOD is the answer at CB, but the partnership was less of a bombscare.

[SteelmaninOZ]

 

[texanwellfan]

1 hour ago, dennyc said:

A bit harsh on Casey who was trying to get across to cover from the left side. The players at fault for the first were Sparrow who was caught out of position and whoever stood still as Kirk ran into the box. Miller? Not sure who lost the second goal scorer but the goalie should have saved it anyway.

Wimmer changed the set up after the first goal with Sparrow being pushed further forward lessening his defensive duties. Became a back four with JK at right back. Looked far more solid to me. 

I also thought, surprisingly, that Casey looked a lot better playing alongside SOD than he has playing alongside Balmer, Blaney and even Gordon. Not saying SOD is the answer at CB, but the partnership was less of a bombscare.

Casey was the guy standing still or at best strolling and never moved over to pick up the unmarked scorer until he got the ball which was way too late by then. 

[dennyc]

4 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

Casey was the guy standing still or at best strolling and never moved over to pick up the unmarked scorer until he got the ball which was way too late by then. 

And who was the midfielder that stood and watched Kirk run on to the ball? Was it he who must not be criticised or the one that must always be criticised?

[stv]

2 hours ago, ropy said:

There was nothing sinister about the additional time.  The board for Slattery’s substitution went up on 90 minutes and it was a full 60 seconds before play restarted, 5 additional minutes were played from that point.

Thanks for that Mr Collum

[texanwellfan]

47 minutes ago, dennyc said:

And who was the midfielder that stood and watched Kirk run on to the ball? Was it he who must not be criticised or the one that must always be criticised?

I’d have to look again but it was Casey I noticed. For me any player is open to criticism or praise. 
edit: ok I see it now, agree, Miller let him go initially instead of hauling ass to stay with him, prior to Casey’s lack of involvement. Both switched off 

[dennyc]

31 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

I’d have to look again but it was Casey I noticed. For me any player is open to criticism or praise. 

Casey has deserved a fair amount of criticism this season but for that first goal I think others were far more to blame, yet Casey is singled out by some.

The way we set up to start with, Casey was on the left of a back three with SOD in the middle and Katroumbis on the right, to be supported by by Sparrow as right wing back. The goal came down our right, Sparrow was caught out by a clever pass and not one right side midfielder tracked back. Could Casey have gotten across to cover a bit quicker?  Maybe, but he was only required to do that because two or three others were at fault or asleep.

Anyway we won so that's what really matters. Wimmer deserves credit for changing the set up when it was clear our back three was being dragged all over the place. Much more solid with Katroumbis as a regular right back and Sparrow able to concentrate on pressing forward and making a nuisance of himself. Less reliance upon him to defend. I had hoped Seddon might have gotten a run out late on for Thompson on the other side but I guess the way the game developed knocked that on the head.

 

Just seen your Edit. Cheers.  I wasn't sure who the player who let Kirk go was. Kind of hoped it wasn't Miller. 

[grizzlyg]

1 hour ago, dennyc said:

Casey has deserved a fair amount of criticism this season but for that first goal I think others were far more to blame, yet Casey is singled out by some.

The way we set up to start with, Casey was on the left of a back three with SOD in the middle and Katroumbis on the right, to be supported by by Sparrow as right wing back. The goal came down our right, Sparrow was caught out by a clever pass and not one right side midfielder tracked back. Could Casey have gotten across to cover a bit quicker?  Maybe, but he was only required to do that because two or three others were at fault or asleep.

Anyway we won so that's what really matters. Wimmer deserves credit for changing the set up when it was clear our back three was being dragged all over the place. Much more solid with Katroumbis as a regular right back and Sparrow able to concentrate on pressing forward and making a nuisance of himself. Less reliance upon him to defend. I had hoped Seddon might have gotten a run out late on for Thompson on the other side but I guess the way the game developed knocked that on the head.

 

Just seen your Edit. Cheers.  I wasn't sure who the player who let Kirk go was. Kind of hoped it wasn't Miller. 

I wasn't singling out Casey, I have been a big fan of his but imo he was at fault.   Totally agree about the switch, flat back 4 a lot better and Sparrow more at ease

[weeyin]

I wouldn't single just Casey out for the first goal, but it's about the 283rd time he's been caught out of position and lacks the speed to recover.

Thompson at least made it back in time to attempt a tackle while Casey was arriving just in time to see the shot hit the back of the net.

[El Grew]

9 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/sport/football/falkirk-reveal-dispute-resolution-process-likely-as-they-gear-up-to-challenge-senseless-spfl-premiership-artificial-pitch-ban-5026678 (Falkirk Herald)

Falkirk are challenging the SPFL's decision, which was based on a democratic vote, to ban plastic pitches in the Premiership from the 2026-27 season.   They know what the rules are, and have done for some time, so why can't they just adhere to them? Here we go again. 

Some other clubs, with a vested interest, including Livingston, Airdrie, Raith and Hamilton have held discusions about this.

If they don’t obey the rule on grass pitches they should be told to f*ck off. It’s high time clubs that want to be in the Premier League accepted plastic pitches are not on.

[texanwellfan]

39 minutes ago, El Grew said:

If they don’t obey the rule on grass pitches they should be told to f*ck off. It’s high time clubs that want to be in the Premier League accepted plastic pitches are not on.

I see it mentions that Killie will not be returning to grass so they should get booted. 

[wunderwell]

6 hours ago, Onthefringes said:

Nor will he be. He’s returned to his parent club. 

How come? Injury? not enough game time?