Motherwell Vs Llanelli

[Yir Elder]

Not sure what to say exactly about last night. Certainly the state the squad was in is down to MMG and to a lesser extent JB.

 

I attach no blame to the youngsters for last night, and some of the more senior pros need to look long and hard at themselves.

 

I liked the passing style, and with more fitness and some new faces we could be an attractive team to watch, but at times the lack of urgency was a concern.

 

The tie isn't over and I don't anticipate Llanelli will be all-out attack, and will look to protect the 1-0 lead with a similar appraoch to last night. If we can play with more pace and urgency we can still do this.

 

Crossing and shooting practice is a must though, and the defence wants hung for allowing the free header for the goal.

[AMc]

I actually had Slane in, the boy is a wee dickhead but a good player. Id still be tempted to go with McGarry just for experiences sake, i dont buy into the idea of playing youngsters in a game like this id much rather go with experince when trying to break down an 11 man defence. I would however be tempted to make changes early on if it was clear somebody like McGarry just wasn't at the races. Im not trying to defend McGarrys performance tonight, he was absolutely garbage but i do think he has something to offer if played up front in his natural position. Sutton looked like an absolute carthorse tonight but give him a good chance and he'll usually strike it cleanly and it ends up in the back of the net most of the time. I just cant see two youngsters having the same presence up front despite Suttons poor display tonight.

 

Do you know him, aye? Bet you've never even spoke to him.

[purestate]

Crossing and shooting practice is a must though

 

 

Bang on. the goalie practices catching from different angles and was doing so at half time so the strikers should be spending at least an hour each day shooting from every conceivable angle about 10 yards out from the penalty area. stick a haystack in their way to be No.4!

[alanr]

A few of my mates were pretty gutted with the result and performance last night and I thought I was the only one who was upbeat but it's good to see others on here seen the game the way I did.

 

First of all, I can't remember Fraser being forced to make a save, so Llanelli got it spot on trying to nick a goal then defend. We've seen it work for Scotland vs France, Rangers vs everybody in the UEFA Cup. They had a game plan, got a bit of luck, and it worked.

 

We were never going to score a lot of goals as we don't really have any strikers. The only striker we have with a bit of experience is Sutton really, and imo he is just plain rank. He's shown in the past he can find the net but in his time here I think he's shown that he's not a footballer.

But I was impressed at how we set about the game, keeping the ball on the deck. Forbes had a good game I thought, aye most of his passes were sideways, but I think Gannon likes his holding midfield players, and he spread the ball around pretty well. I also don't remember him losing the ball in a tackle.

We just lacked the killer ball, which is hard to find against a team willing to defend for 90 minutes. There were one or two moments that the ball was knocked long to Sutton, who flicked a header on for himself to chase, which was really all we done in Nancy under McGhee. So I was happy when we were playing the ball on the ground for the vast majority of the game.

The 'big' players let us down on the night I thought. Reynolds was beaten by the number 9 numerous times, Craigan for the goal, Hammell hasn't improved since he left for Southend, McGarry for all his effort isn't good enough, and the less said about Sutton the better.

 

The team that lost was McGhee's team, although had he still been at the helm we wouldn't have seen the refreshing sights of young players having a go and playing football in the right manner. I much preferred last nights defeat to the likes of the games against St Mirren last year. In fact last year when we managed a mid-table finish and played like we couldn't care less, I commented that I much preferred watching Butcher's team that finished bottom.

 

So there are plenty of positives to take from the game in my opinion. Mostly that I can see a bright future with the manager's style of play, he will be bringing in more players, and that the youth development (which appeared to be non-existed a few weeks ago) looks as though it is still working when players can break through to the first team.

 

It's only half time in the tie. We have another weeks training to work on things whereas Llanelli aren't going to get any better. I'm hoping to see the likes of Slane and McHugh start in Wales as they showed they can offer more than our remaining 'big name' players.

[another number]

Last night is pretty much a write off, we're very lucky it's a two legged affair. I agree with most of what has been said on here but some folk have said the fans were too quick to get on the players backs. Aye, ok, there are always a section of supporters who do this but in the main I thought the support was pretty good considering we were getting beaten by a welsh part time side. I've heard more abuse being levelled at the players when we're nil nil against the old firm.

 

Hopefully Gannon can pull the squad together this week as they had a bit of a detached look going on. The younger players did well but the others proved why they spent large periods of last season on the bench.

 

The large travelling support should help next week and an early goal from us should settle things.

 

Mon the Well.

[Juan Kerse]

Aye, this is ONLY half time and we are 1-0 down. We will outnumber and outsing the Welsh down there so it isn;t really a tough 'away' game. It will be pretty much the same as last night - a Neutral venue but we will all be in a singing holiday mood - hopefully. That should spur the boys on.

 

Also, positive for me is when he brought Slane on. I really liked the look of him last summer - but McGhee was too arrogant to play young players. It seems like guys like Slane and Forbes could be a part of Gannon's plans.

[Ernie]

Alright here we go, lets keep this short and sweet cos I only have 1 hour for lunch.... Last night was one of the most inept performances I have ever seen from a Motherwell team. Okay so we had a lot of posession but what did we do with it? Nothing, absolutely nothing back and forward and back again, side to side lots of nice short safe passes but nothing that could cut open a pub team, and lets face it that is all they are. At one stage I thought I heard thunder then realised that the number 4 was starting to run, what a fat bastard but he managed to keep the ball more than our players. I know some people think McGarry played okay and was busy but pu...lease. His control is pish, his distribution worse okay so he looked for the ball but he did nothing with it. I would say sell him but we couldn't give him away. Lasley was crap, don't start me on Sutton, Murphy is disappointing. O'Brien was full of energy and tried his best but I don't think he got any support from the old hands. Forbes played better 2nd half I thought he was a bit scared of taking conntrol in the 1st 45 and looked to give it to Lasley too often who did feck all. McHugh and Slane did okay and looked the business and 'Beanstalk' was quite impressive although he did tire toward the end.

All in all we were pish but we can play better and if we can get an early goal next week then we will go through. The longer it goes scoreless though the more confident they will become.

Anyway I am still looking forward to acouple of days in Wales and god I hope its the right result I work with too many Falkirk supporters to have it the other way

[Rammer]

I just think that to go into Europe at this early stage could have a negative affect on the season ahead given that me may lose a manager and have no real quality signings through the door.

 

How very true!

[DEWELL]

To be honest im feckin SPEECHLESS about last night and just hope the numpties in Claret and Amber are as angry and embarresed as i am. .

[slamin16]

Last night was just incredibly poor.

 

Can't really say any part of our game was decent

 

We had nothing to defend except two or three corners and throw ins.

 

We attacked absoluetly nothing with no movement from the strikers

 

And of course the passing and possession is going to look good when Llanelli don't even put any pressure on us. They had no interest in winning any tackles they just sat back and watch us fanny about.

 

Basically nae conviction or desire to score a goal! Get Sutton to fuck canny have him standing about on the 18 yard line all season doing sweet f.a.

 

Thought slane and saunders showed themselves to be in with a shout for more starts though!

 

Need to get the finger out big time for next week!

[Kmcalpin]

The other thing that strikes me is, did we see anything different last night from what we saw for most of last season? We were up against a team who had 9 men and the Welsh pie eating champion behind the ball and as usual we played some good football, some strong posession but nothing decisive in the last third. That was the story of the majority of last year. I don't think we would have been any better with Quinn, Hughes and Clarkson in the team.

 

You've taken the words right off my keyboard. The faults we displayed last night have been evident for quite some time.

[MelvinBragg]

I don't think we would have been any better with Quinn, Hughes and Clarkson in the team.

While I agree with your general point that it's a malaise that's been coming, I reckon if that early chance for Murphy had fallen to Clarkson, we'd have been 1-0 up and looking to add to it. That said, I think it's a pointless discussion. We might as well discuss whether we'd have won with McFadden or a young Willie Pettigrew in the team. We are where we are, let's focus on what we can achieve from this point on...

[Big Stall]

Quinns far better than Saunders is - one day Saunders may be a player but right now he's not, he's certainly not big enough to handle spl week in week out. Last night he didnt play well and was literally hiding from the ball as time went on.

 

Hughes would have made the midfield tick a bit more and hopefully threaded a few more passes through up front, while Clarcky would have ran the part timers back line ragged.

 

So while we could still be piss poor with them in the team, I think they would all have given us a good bit more to work with.

 

I dont know all the young lads faces or even numbers yet but the one that stuck out for me as a real prospect was Slane. Unlike the poster earlier, i don't know the boy or know if he is a bawbag or not, but he looked like a good player lastnight.

 

-McGarry can fuck right off back to St Mirren.

 

-O'Brien shouldnt be shouting at the youngsters when its him that fucks up

 

-We should not be resorting to long balls at all, especially not after 30 minutes against a pub team - Craigan, Hammil and Reynolds all offenders.

 

- Sutton, i dont even know where to begin with that c**t

 

- Finally the c***s at Canterburry who designed the keeper tap, shorts and socks, and the arseholes at fir park who sanctioned it should be the first ones Gannon puts out the door the morra.

[carluke dosser]

Quinns far better than Saunders is - one day Saunders may be a player but right now he's not, he's certainly not big enough to handle spl week in week out. Last night he didnt play well and was literally hiding from the ball as time went on.

Bottom line Quin wants to fuck off . Jog on.

Hughes would have made the midfield tick a bit more and hopefully threaded a few more passes through up front, while Clarcky would have ran the part timers back line ragged.

Hughs i so light weight my 11 yr old has more strength than him.

Clarky has scored some important goals for us and obviously the immotional connection to the club but in reality he couldnt trap a beach ball most of the time.

I dont know all the young lads faces or even numbers yet but the one that stuck out for me as a real prospect was Slane. Unlike the poster earlier, i don't know the boy or know if he is a bawbag or not, but he looked like a good player lastnight.

Quality assessment in your own little world.

-McGarry can fuck right off back to St Mirren.

 

-O'Brien shouldnt be shouting at the youngsters when its him that fucks up

 

-We should not be resorting to long balls at all, especially not after 30 minutes against a pub team - Craigan, Hammil and Reynolds all offenders.

 

- Sutton, i dont even know where to begin with that c**t

 

- Finally the c***s at Canterburry who designed the keeper tap, shorts and socks, and the arseholes at fir park who sanctioned it should be the first ones Gannon puts out the door the morra.

Feel you lost the plot completely towards the end of your post .

Do everyone a favour and dont hang yourself out to dry with all the complaining Bawbags that moan about everything that goes wrong with Motherwell, Give JG a chance to try and turn it around and build a team that may give us something to shout about.

[GazzyB]

Quinns far better than Saunders is - one day Saunders may be a player but right now he's not, he's certainly not big enough to handle spl week in week out. Last night he didnt play well and was literally hiding from the ball as time went on.

Bottom line Quin wants to fuck off . Jog on.

Bottom line certainly is not that "Quinn wants to fuck off". Quinn's being sold to a Championship club which has ambitions to play in the Premiership. It's hardly a case of that Quinn "wants to fuck off". And you can't tell somebody to jog on purely because they feel that one player is better than the other.

 

Hughes would have made the midfield tick a bit more and hopefully threaded a few more passes through up front, while Clarcky would have ran the part timers back line ragged.

Hughs i so light weight my 11 yr old has more strength than him.

Clarky has scored some important goals for us and obviously the immotional connection to the club but in reality he couldnt trap a beach ball most of the time.

The original poster wasn't talking about Hughes physical strength; his original point was that Hughes would've perhaps been able to break down a well organised Llanelli side a bit better than Forbes, Lasley, McGarry or Murphy. As for your comment on Clarkson, I think you are quite wrong with that one. Granted he may not have the best first touch in the world, but he scored a LOT of goals when he was with us, and he was our main attacking threat last season. The original point was that Clarkson would've run their back four ragged, and I agree with that; Clarky would've certainly caused them more problems than we did.

 

I dont know all the young lads faces or even numbers yet but the one that stuck out for me as a real prospect was Slane. Unlike the poster earlier, i don't know the boy or know if he is a bawbag or not, but he looked like a good player lastnight.

Quality assessment in your own little world.

I have literally no idea what you mean with this comment. Are you suggesting that Slane didn't play well? If so, then for fuck sake, what game were you watching?

 

-McGarry can fuck right off back to St Mirren.

 

-O'Brien shouldnt be shouting at the youngsters when its him that fucks up

 

-We should not be resorting to long balls at all, especially not after 30 minutes against a pub team - Craigan, Hammil and Reynolds all offenders.

 

- Sutton, i dont even know where to begin with that c**t

 

- Finally the c***s at Canterburry who designed the keeper tap, shorts and socks, and the arseholes at fir park who sanctioned it should be the first ones Gannon puts out the door the morra.

Feel you lost the plot completely towards the end of your post .

Do everyone a favour and dont hang yourself out to dry with all the complaining Bawbags that moan about everything that goes wrong with Motherwell, Give JG a chance to try and turn it around and build a team that may give us something to shout about.

I feel you are quite harsh calling people ballbags for complaining; whilst I am very much a "glass half full" kinda person, I think it's totally unfair for you to slate anyboudy who thought we were poor last night. It's all about opinions, and whilst I feel we played well last night, I can see why some people may not. You're right, JG will perhaps build us a team worth shouting about, but that's not what this thread is about. This thread is about last night, and the performance and the result.

 

As previously stated, I think we played well against Llanelli, I just think you're out of line with your post.

[ML1]

Bottom line certainly is not that "Quinn wants to fuck off".

 

 

As previously stated, I think we played well against Llanelli, I just think you're out of line with your post.

 

 

 

Bottom line is he most definately does want to leave

 

What's your definition of playing well ? Knocking the ball about 40 yards from goal from side to side against a side making no effort to come out any further than 30 yards from goal when we had the ball ? Inability to concentrate/defend at a set piece ? Complete failure to break down what was in effect a glorified amatuer side ? Their keeper making one save (from a kid that came on and showed McGarry and O'brien how to be direct and threatening against dross)

[GazzyB]

Right well I don't know him personally. It's irrelevant as to whether or not he wants to leave though. He's been a great servant to the club, just as good and as long in the team as Clarkson, and he fully deserves his move.

 

My definition of playing well is playing a short, direct style of passing along the deck from defence to midfield in an attempt to keep the ball and break down a very well organised & disciplined side. I certainly don't think losing a goal at the back post is playing well. They're not a glorified amateur side; they played in the Champions League last year for goodness sake! I remember about 5 saves minimum that their keeper made. You're right about Slane though, he was very direct and threatening. The difference, however, is that McGarry doesn't have the pace or the trickery to beat three or four men and fire in a shot. In terms of a threat, his game is passing the ball around and looking for a killer pass (granted there weren't many of those).

 

I know I seem over positive about the other night, I just genuinely feel we played well, and that we'll take them in Wales.

[Richie]

That was me that started noising him up, game wisnae worth paying attention tae so number 21 got put on player cam. He took it well.

 

 

That said, I think he was glad half time came.

Cheers for brightening up the match mate.

 

twennnnnty onnnnnnnnnnne!

[Big Stall]

Quinns far better than Saunders is - one day Saunders may be a player but right now he's not, he's certainly not big enough to handle spl week in week out. Last night he didnt play well and was literally hiding from the ball as time went on.

Bottom line Quin wants to fuck off . Jog on.

Hughes would have made the midfield tick a bit more and hopefully threaded a few more passes through up front, while Clarcky would have ran the part timers back line ragged.

Hughs i so light weight my 11 yr old has more strength than him.

Clarky has scored some important goals for us and obviously the immotional connection to the club but in reality he couldnt trap a beach ball most of the time.

I dont know all the young lads faces or even numbers yet but the one that stuck out for me as a real prospect was Slane. Unlike the poster earlier, i don't know the boy or know if he is a bawbag or not, but he looked like a good player lastnight.

Quality assessment in your own little world.

-McGarry can fuck right off back to St Mirren.

 

-O'Brien shouldnt be shouting at the youngsters when its him that fucks up

 

-We should not be resorting to long balls at all, especially not after 30 minutes against a pub team - Craigan, Hammil and Reynolds all offenders.

 

- Sutton, i dont even know where to begin with that c**t

 

- Finally the c***s at Canterburry who designed the keeper tap, shorts and socks, and the arseholes at fir park who sanctioned it should be the first ones Gannon puts out the door the morra.

Feel you lost the plot completely towards the end of your post .

Do everyone a favour and dont hang yourself out to dry with all the complaining Bawbags that moan about everything that goes wrong with Motherwell, Give JG a chance to try and turn it around and build a team that may give us something to shout about.

 

I think you need to engage your brain and read and understand the posts before you shoot your mouth off pal.

 

The post prior to mine suggested we wouldnt have been better with Quinn, Hughes and Clarky in the team. I believe we would have. Quinn is a better player than Saunders regardless of whether he wants to play or not. Hughes can thread passes through the middle and put his foot on the ball, while clarcky would have ran that back 4 ragged. Ball control or not (and i happen to agree with your beach ball assesment of the guy) he would have worked that back 4, certainly providing them a bit more excercise than the imobile John Sutton.

 

You will also notice I haven't once critisised JG, infact in another thread I praised the guy for having the balls to take senior players off who were playing poorly and leave the kids on.

 

I don't understand your point on Slane? Did you not think he was a stand out performer? Perhaps you know him personally and know him to be a fanny? I don't see how saying, 'he looked a good player lastnight' can be questioned.

[Wellworn]

An interesting angle on our deteat form the Sunday Herald's Michael Grant.

http://www.sundayherald.com/sport/shfootba..._shock_talk.php

 

Enough of shock talk

ON THE SPOT: Michael Grant

THERE WEREN'T many Welsh journalists in Airdrie's stadium on Thursday evening but Lord knows what the handful who did travel north made of the reaction to Motherwell losing to Llanelli. It probably hadn't dawned on them that they had just witnessed a jaw- dropping sporting sensation to rival Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson. What wailing and hand-wringing there was. What anger.

 

It seemed rude to talk of Motherwell's "embarrassment", "humiliation" and "disgrace" against Llanelli when there were Welsh lads in the room. No doubt they were struggling to make sense of it themselves, although not for the same reasons. They could have been forgiven for taking a second look at their team-sheets just to check who had been playing for this mighty Motherwell side. Were they missing something here? Nope, it was as they first thought. We didn't recognise any of their players and they didn't recognise any of ours.

 

For all the moaning and criticising we all do about the standard of the SPL, Thursday's Europa League qualifying tie, the opening game of the Scottish season, showed we still quite fancy ourselves. A weakened, inexperienced, not fully fit team from the bottom half of the SPL were playing their first game under a manager appointed only three days earlier.

 

advertisementBut because they lost to the runners-up in the Welsh Premier League - a team that had been training for longer and played more friendlies in their build-up to the fixture - there was a song and dance about it as though Manchester United had been beaten by Fort William.

 

If it was really such a juddering shock for Motherwell to lose to Llanelli how come so many people had money on it at 14-1? Even I know of a handful of punters who were on the Welsh and it didn't need the most perceptive of minds to predict that Motherwell were going to find it hard going.

 

They hadn't been back in training long enough for their full-time status to be the advantage it ought to have been. Many of their best players are gone and they have yet to bring in any senior, experienced replacements. There were teenagers all over the place.

 

OK, Llanelli were part-timers from a modest league but they were physically strong, defensive and reasonably well-organised, which is pretty much certain to cause problems for any Scottish team, especially at this time of year. SPL teams are slow starters and playing in June or July catches them before they are even close to match sharpness. That's why teams like Partick Thistle, Dundee and Hibs suffered some awful results at the start of the Intertoto Cup, and why Rangers weren't ready for Kaunas last year when their Champions League qualifying tie was played on July 30 and August 5.

 

Should SPL teams return to training earlier to ensure they are better prepared for early ties in Europe? Easier said than done when the SPL season finished on May 24 and the Scottish Cup final was six days later. If there is a deter- mination to address the annual sequence of dreadful opening results for our teams in Europe and improve the Uefa co-efficient it will require the SPL and the SFA to agree that the domestic season must finish earlier, which would allow players to have the holiday break they need and still return in time to be fit for round one of the Europa League.

 

It would once have been a genuine embarrassment and humiliation for a Scottish team to lose to a Welsh opponent, but let's not kid ourselves on that it still is. Admittedly, it was humbling to see the Llanelli midfielder, Andrew Mumford, finish on the winning side - the lad was, frankly, enormous - but there was almost as much withering comment made about the fact their player-manager, Andy Legg,was on the field aged 42. Perish the thought that the SPL would ever be reduced to fielding men of near-pensionable age. Isn't that right Davie Weir? Andy Millen? Craig Brewster? Jim Gannon looked like he didn't quite comprehend the reaction to losing the first leg. It was as though he was being quizzed by people who - unlike him - hadn't paid attention to who had been playing out there or didn't want to acknowledge the evidence of their own eyes.

 

He had the expression of an outsider to Scottish football who had arrived in it with his sense of perspective still intact. Humiliation? Embarrassment? Disgrace? Only in Scottish minds. Where Gannon comes from, Motherwell losing to Llanelli at the start of July wouldn't cause the slightest ripple of surprise.

 

That's a more honest and realistic reaction than giving Motherwell, and Scottish football in general, a kicking for a result that everyone should have seen coming. There isn't any reason why they can't go down to the Parc y Scarlets on Thursday, turn the tie around and qualify for the second round. But if they don't, let's not make fools of ourselves by claiming that it's some sort of outrage. Right now Motherwell are in no position to lord it over Llanelli. It's time we admitted it.

 

Andy Murray is a Hibs fan. This might explain why he was more phlegmatic than most around Wimbledon about how long British tennis has waited for a men's champion.

 

You'll have been reading that "we" haven't won the title since Fred Perry in 1936. Perry died in 1995 at the age of 85. Hibs last won the Scottish Cup seven years before he was born.

 

Wimbledon could learn an awful lot about patience from Easter Road.

[trafficlight]

A lot of fair points in that article. Whilst still a huge shock there were even posters on here saying they feared the worst prior to the match, and it is a sad reflection of the state of Scottish football today. When I was a kid Aberdeen and Dundee United were playing in European finals and reaching the semi's of the European Cup. Every kid at school had a designated favourite Scottish team who they adopted and followed their results. Most at my school went for Aberdeen due to Fergie, but it seemed every boy had his Scottish 'second team'. Changed days.

[Llanelli-Tony]

Hi to all you Motherwell fans from glorious South Wales! We've had several of you on our forum talking sense but there seems to be just as many on here talking shite!

We came to do a job last Thursday, i.e. to get a result! 0-0 would have been great but 0-1, well.............. The drivel about us being beaten by your local pub teams doesn't say a lot for your beloved Steelmen does it?

Andy Mumford (our no.4) may be overweight (he is diabetic, remember Gary Mabbut of Spurs, same problem!) but none of your perfectly proportioned athletes got the better of him!

Worse of all are the excuses some of your papers are putting out - not enough friendly games, small squad, lack of preperation, underestimating the opposition etc.

I don't doubt that you will play better this week, but don't underestimate us, we scored over a hundred goals in competitive games last season and before you knock the Welsh League remember Rhyl beat you 3-1 a fortnight ago!

Look forward to seeing you down Parc Y Scarlets its going to be mighty interesting. May the better team win!

[Wellarmy]

Hi to all you Motherwell fans from glorious South Wales! We've had several of you on our forum talking sense but there seems to be just as many on here talking shite!

We came to do a job last Thursday, i.e. to get a result! 0-0 would have been great but 0-1, well.............. The drivel about us being beaten by your local pub teams doesn't say a lot for your beloved Steelmen does it?

Andy Mumford (our no.4) may be overweight (he is diabetic, remember Gary Mabbut of Spurs, same problem!) but none of your perfectly proportioned athletes got the better of him!

Worse of all are the excuses some of your papers are putting out - not enough friendly games, small squad, lack of preperation, underestimating the opposition etc.

I don't doubt that you will play better this week, but don't underestimate us, we scored over a hundred goals in competitive games last season and before you knock the Welsh League remember Rhyl beat you 3-1 a fortnight ago!

Look forward to seeing you down Parc Y Scarlets its going to be mighty interesting. May the better team win!

 

I hope Llanelli fans aren't getting too big for their boots at the moment

[Llanelli-Tony]

No danger of that. Don't forget, you are a mighty SPL side and us, well, we are nothing but an unfit pub team!

[weeyin]

Hi to all you Motherwell fans from glorious South Wales! We've had several of you on our forum talking sense but there seems to be just as many on here talking shite!

Excellent introduction. I look forward to more insightful debate as we move towards the return leg.

 

Keep it up!