Motherwell Football Club Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Im not anti- Marc Fitzpatrick i think he's got a lot to offer but that header was 4 yards out and no one near him. The Porter header he got clobbered by one of their thug defenders and where i was sitting in the Phil O'Donnel was the reason he missed it. Will have to wait to see the highlights on Setanta mind you to be sure. 4 yards? haha It was easily at the penalty spot. Also, He couldn't have done anymore than he did. Defender on the line and a defender charging at his back. I blame Porter for his inept finish previous to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mon_da_well Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Not happy about the score but Falkirk came to Fir Park with a game-plan and fair play, they got a point so it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 To be fair if we had been in Falkirk's position I'd have been wanting us to do something similar. It was down to the referee to keep a grip on the game and stop it getting out of hand and he completely failed to do so. There was no authority from him whatsoever. I would not want us to play like Falkirk did yesterday, ever, irrespective of our league position. Now I've always been an advocate of having a physical presence in our side but what we saw yesterday went way beyond that. It amounted to physical violence and a "stop them at all costs" mentality. Vicious tackles, elbows in the face and forearm smashes will never be acceptable to me either on a football pitch or anywhere else ouside of a boxing ring or marshall arts arena. John Hughes had a duty to take action against the culprits but for whatever reason chose not to do so. Perhaps the list of Falkirk's failed red card appeals tells its own story. Players like Morgano Gomis and Russell Latapy are/were very physical and their skill belies a great physical presence. If they hit you, or you hit them, you know all about it - but its fair. I agree with you though on the referee - his complete lack of authority from the point of Kevin McBride's lunge on Stevie Hammell simply encouraged the thugs and louts. That didn't mean to say though that Falkirk were forced to take advantage of that. They could simply have chosen to play fair but hard. My one crumb of comfort was that Patrick Cregg wasn't playing - that would have added injury to insult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faddythedaddy Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Darren Barr, Scotland International. Aye right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainier Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 According to the Sunday Herald the game lasted only 60 minutes! "Falkirk's Darren Barr, leading with his arm, although surely without malice, caught and concussed Hammell in his own box. While the home support screamed for a card, or perhaps a gibbet, Hammell was in no condition to hear anything, or continue. The referee waved on the stretcher and then blew for time." Most reports mention how physical Falkirk were and some mention that they could or should have had two players sent off. John Hughes has said that's how his team is going to play from now on. God help football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 'Flow Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Reminded my quite a bit of Alex MacDonald's Airdrie in the 80's and early 90's... Hammer anything that moves, including the ball seventy yards up the pitch. I was actually really suprised by Falkirk's style of play but as someone mentioned above, they got a point so from their point of view, they'll see it as job done. Some of the challenges were very poor indeed though I thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Cannae be bothered reading the whole thread, and I seriously doubt no one has mentioned this yet - but Falkirk are easily the dirtiest team in the SPL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gullane Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Totally agree with this. For a start Murphy hasn't done anything of note for months and is in danger of being exposed to too much too young. Besides that we actually played after Porter when off without a striker when we were putting pressure on Falkirk and should have been trying to win. However, there was nothing in the box to aim at and we never really looked like scoring the winner in the last 10 minutes (+5). Poor decision by McGhee. Even if he didn't want Sutton on, put on Darren Smith who has at least the height and strength to win a header in the box. Yesteday's pitch necessitated high balls. I too thought Sutton for Porter was the obvious switch. We broke up the pitch twice soon after Porter went off - but no-one was in the box to receive a high ball. I know he's not played much in recent weeks but neither has Pressley. A fresh Sutton could have caused the Bairn's defence nightmares. Or does MMG know something we don't? ........ Course he does.... he's the gaffer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Reminded my quite a bit of Alex MacDonald's Airdrie in the 80's and early 90's... Hammer anything that moves, including the ball seventy yards up the pitch. Spot on Flow. I also recall the Hearts team of the same era when Alex MacDonald was in charge there too. Totally ruthless football - just do what it takes to secure the 3 points. There were 2 simple rules that were drummed into that Hearts team 1) Just do it - I don't want to know how. 2) Don't get caught One particular game at Fir Park that I recall - Ally Maxwell was defying them in goals when the order went out to crock him and they did just that. Someone - Neil Berry/Gary Mackay? went in with a high & late challenge and almost broke his leg. Still they won the 3 points. Nuff said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Im not anti- Marc Fitzpatrick i think he's got a lot to offer but that header was 4 yards out and no one near him. The Porter header he got clobbered by one of their thug defenders and where i was sitting in the Phil O'Donnel was the reason he missed it. Will have to wait to see the highlights on Setanta mind you to be sure. There is no way he was only 4 yards out. He was at least at the penalty spot. And as Al B pointed out the ball had spun up slightly too high for him to do much else with. I'm not sure if he would have been better trying to control it before putting it in, not sure if he had enough time for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weesacs Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 i thought we played very well in the first half, the amount of times Clarky, Hammel or Quinn managed to get to the byline and cut the ball back was very pleasing, but we didnt take enough of our chances. The game should have been buried at half time. In the 2nd half, the game turned into a fight. We only had Klimpl would could put the boot in(until Las came on) it was clear that the ref was allowing the hard tactics to take place. I would have liked to see Malcolm brought on - thats the kinda player we needed to steady the ship and give them a taste of their own medicine. Klimpl, Malcolm and Las in the middle of the park isnt my normal choice, and doesnt give us a good balance, but it would have seen us through y'day. Will Malcolm ever play for us again?? 1 point is better than nothing, we'll just have to wait until next week to go above Hibs!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Cannae be bothered reading the whole thread, and I seriously doubt no one has mentioned this yet - but Falkirk are easily the dirtiest team in the SPL. FWIW, in terms of disciplinary points, Kilmarnock are actually worse... and we're the best of course Clicky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewK Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 FWIW, in terms of disciplinary points, Kilmarnock are actually worse... and we're the best of course Clicky Aye, but if the ref actually watched the game yesterday, Falkirk would have a few more cards to add to that table Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweed Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 We should have had that game out of sight by half time. THe number of times Quinn and Hammell got good balls in the box you haveto except our strikers to have more of a return. Falkirk were trying to play good stuff in the first half but Klimpl and Fitzpatrick in my view effectively broke it up. Second half they seemed to launch a vendetta on Hammell and Craigan for the first fifteen minutes and got their reward with a wonderful goal, albeit when we were a man down due to another mistimed clatter. After they levelled it though we lost our discipline. Not that we were going through folk but we were trying to play quckly and get the ball in the box straight away and thats not our strength. At least twice I saw Clarkson telling the suppliers to calm down and take their time and he was so right. Falkirk scored in 53 mins not 85 and had we played like we had in the first we would have won that game regardless of their tactics. I think we need to be wiser in possession and more patient. I know we can be guilty of walkiing the ball in at times but there is happy medium between that and getting it in the box striaght away. You don't have to be a top manager to tell who is going to win ariel challenges between Pressley and Bullen against Clarkson and Porter/Murphy. Falkirk were dirty and got away with it but to me the reason we did not win that game was because of us and not that or the referee though they didn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 FWIW, in terms of disciplinary points, Kilmarnock are actually worse... and we're the best of course Clicky Those stats don't really mean anything though as far as how dirty a team is. Kilmarnock's bookings could be for dissent or diving, as opposed to actually being dirty. Based on each team I've seen this season, Falkirk are by far the dirtiest in the SPL this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
another number Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Thought we deserved all 3 points yesterday. Falkirk made some shocking tackles and the ref was laughable at times. Klimpl played very well again as did Clarky. Can't put us drawing down to one miss, granted a bad miss. I think it was pretty difficult for Fitzpatrick from where I was sitting to be honest. We really need to work on our movement at throw ins though. As an aside, how hard is it to get served at the pie bit in the Cooper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yir Elder Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Overall I was happy with our display, played some good fitba and mixed it up as well, making plenty of chances over the ninety minutes. We had some bad luck but did also miss a few chances and our final ball let us down too often. That said I took more positives than negatives from the game, and I expect that if we work on the final ball then the goals we deserve will come. As far as the ref goes, he was far too lenient with Falkirk. Barra could've had a straight red for his reckless challenge on Hammell and how Barr escaped any sort of card is beyond me. He could've walked for the 'challenge' that put Hammell out the game. Their goal came from poor officiating too, with neither ref nor lino stoping the game when Crago went down with a head knock. Very poor and weak officials yesterday, which suited Falkirk more than us. I don't expect to hear a peep from Yogi in the papers this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghorn Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Their goal came from poor officiating too, with neither ref nor lino stoping the game when Crago went down with a head knock. Very poor and weak officials yesterday, which suited Falkirk more than us. I don't expect to hear a peep from Yogi in the papers this week. I was also sure the ref indicated a throw in to his linesman and yet Falkirk resumed with a free kick leading to their equaliser. Would need to see it again as there was a lot going on in the game around that time. Aye Hughes sure wont be criticising the ref this week - they got away with everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazilian Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 You'll not see any of the baffling decisions on the BBC highlights here, worst selection of highlights I've seen this season, terrible not showing any of the major talking points regarding the inept referee and officials Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PettyWulliegrew Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 You'll not see any of the baffling decisions on the BBC highlights here, worst selection of highlights I've seen this season, terrible not showing any of the major talking points regarding the inept referee and officials Same on Setana full spl.......no mention of the thugish tactics in the 2nd half.....Fittzy and Ports poor headers got to hit the target Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickoza Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Have to say both Fitzy and Ports should've scored. Bad misses, but both would know it. I'd be more worried if we weren't even creating the chances though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Can't believe the glarying omission of those horror tackles. How could any editor look at that game and deem those incidents not worty of inclusion is beyond me. I'm still raging about them!! There was hee haw said about McNamara's stamp on Jim Hamilton a while back either. They looked like a team of total cloggers. It think Fitzys and Porter misses are bothe pretty bad to be honest. I don't blame either of them as Porters been excellent later and Fitzys been working hard, but they should've been buried! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 You'll not see any of the baffling decisions on the BBC highlights here, worst selection of highlights I've seen this season, terrible not showing any of the major talking points regarding the inept referee and officials I can't really say I'm surprised. Most of the press reports I've read of the game today are written from a Falkirk perspective. Currently the Bairns seem to have taken over Partick Thistle's mantle (to some extent) as media darlings. John Hughes has definitely taken over John Lambie's position as a real character and the manager that all footie fans love listening to. Whatever else you might say about Falkirk they have always had a very slick media machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Or maybe, the journos don't really care as much about it as our supporters do. They need to squeeze their match report into limited space (and likewise with the highlights) and felt it wasn't as big a factor as the chances we squandered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweed Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Without citing examples the Sunday Mail said the ref lost control and most of his dodgy decisions benefitted Falkirk. Which I thought was a fair summation. Still think we did enough to win other than bury the thing in the pokey. And if that game had been between St Mirren and Accies, I'd much rather see chances than acts of thuggery in a highlights package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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