McCall's Marauding Motherwell take on Butcher's Basement Boys

Motherwell are the visitors on saturday in another tough SPL match for Butcher's stuttering strugglers.  The Steelmen sit second in the league on merit after a fantastic start to the season, one which saw them sink Inverness 3-0 on the opening hazy day in July.

That result for Inverness was a taster of what was to come as we have struggled to overcome injuries and personnel changes which have seen the spine of the team disappear and the customary Highland courage replaced by players with little heart for the battle.  It has been a torrid time for the players and fans alike, with no two displays showing the same continuity and leaving the fans a little perturbed, likening the poor run of results akin to the demise of Craig Brewster (version 2).  However, the shoes are still on although a few people have taken to wearing slip on's for match day and are questioning whether the manager should have had a new contract whilst the club sit bottom of the league.  Personally, I believe it affords us some stability from within and once our hospital bill decreases then that should, hopefully, see us steer a gradual course away from the relegation arena.

Stuart McCall on the other hand has transformed Motherwell into a well oiled machine since taking over the tenure at the end of  2010.  A flying start by crushing Inverness when the season started early in July have seen Motherwell only being defeated by Celtic, Rangers and St Johnstone.  McCall himself was a tenacious box-to-box player and some of his own traits are evident in the Well line up, with players like Murphy and Humphrey able to take the ball from one end of the park to the other at breakneck speed.  A couple of shrewd acquisitions in the close season have seen Nicky Law and Michael Higdon join up at Fir Park. Twenty three year old Englishman Law, was signed on a free from Rotherham and has become a firm favourite at Motherwell and Higdon's aerial ability and bustling centre forward style is perfect for the wingers to aim at. 

Last weekend Inverness disappointed at home against what were supposed to be a poor Dunfermline squad, but it was the Pars that made most of the running and they deservedly took a point away from the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.  Liam Buchanan being upended by a ridiculous tackle from Proctor, one that will give him nightmares.  In his defence, he was left exposed after we lost the ball on the halfway, but there was no need whatsoever for him to lunge into the tackle.  Penalty was the correct decision and that undid the first half goal by the industrious Gregory Tade, albeit against the run of play, but he finished with aplomb, or should that be a bomb, a diving header into the roof of the net.

Motherwell on the other hand ended a run of three wins with a draw against an equally enterprising Kilmarnock side.  Away wins at Easter Road and Tannadice had been preceded by a narrow home win over the Don's.  That all brings us to where we are now, Butcher's boys at the foot of the table with nine points, and MacCall's miracles a whopping fourteen points better off in second spot.  Our goal difference of minus eleven is a bit of a giveaway in contrast to Well's plus one, although it has to be noted that they have also conceded more than three goals on three occasions.

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Granty24 has been doing his homework for this game and here are his findings......................

Chris Hogg will hopefully make his long awaited return to the squad for Saturday's visit of the current Old Firm splitting side Motherwell. Stuart McCall's men, who are currently a single point ahead of Glasgow giants Celtic after a superb start to their season, a season that begun with a 3-0 beating of... us. Hogg will make his comeback after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a knee injury that required surgery, his last appearance coming in our first win of the season against Kilmarnock on the 27th of August, but will be unlikely to start, so a place on the bench it looks like? I say, if he's fit, get him in! Jonny Hayes will not be seen tearing up the flanks on Saturday, the tenacious winger suffering an injury setback and will be out for a further few weeks. While wishing I could say the same about Aaron Doran, I can't. Hayes' fellow Irishman out for another month or so with his dislocated shoulder sustained in the win against Kilmarnock also. Still no word on Tudur-Jones?

Anyway, off the injury front for now; Josh Meekings and Lee Cox are in contention for a place in the starting XI after making impressive cameo appearance's against Dunfermline in our last outing. Austrian Thomas “can't time a tackle” Piermayr will also be available for selection after picking up his sixth booking of the season, but he will miss the trip to Rugby Park next week. Questions were asked after the loss of a valuable 2 points against Dunfermline last Saturday about team selection, so will TB keep faith with the side he has in recent weeks? Or will he give starts to the likes of Billy McKay, and Shane Sutherland who have been champing at the bit to get a game over the likes of our under-performing captain, Richie Foran.

The Steelmen will be without talented youngster Bob McHugh for at least 5 weeks after picking up an ankle injury and fullback Steven Saunders is still unavailable for McCall's men.

Granty's Stats  'Well haven't managed to score in their last 172 minutes of SPL football, their last goal coming from Jamie Murphy in the 8th minute in their match against Hibernian on the 15th of this month. Ex-St Mirren Striker Michael Higdon has netted 4 times this season for 'Well, level with that of our top scorer Tade who also has 4. Their defence, however has been fairly impressive this season, conceding 13 goals in the opening 12 games, leaking just 1.08 goals per game. However, they have only scored 14 times so far, 5 at home, 9 away. But of our 22 goals conceded thus far, just 7 have come at the TCS. So, with Motherwell scoring more and picking up more points away from Fir Park, ourselves conceding less at and picking up more points at home, what's to expect from today?

The Granty24 predictor:- Always the optimist; only way to be for me! Predicting a shock on the cards here with a cheeky 1-0 to the home side, Tade netting in his 5th consecutive home game to sink McCall's boys back to 3rd in the SPL table! Top six is still a possibility, with a string of a few good results and who knows where we could end up... BELIEVE!!!

Latest Team News

Inverness boss Terry Butcher is adamant that Jonny Hayes needs more time to recover and Owain Tudur-Jones and Aaron Doran are also out longer term.  The good news is that Chris Hogg is ready to return to the squad and could help to shore up our porous back line, Ryan Esson being the exception as none of this is down to his abilities, but more to do with being exposed by the players in front of him.

Motherwell have no fresh problems.   Bob McHugh has been told he may miss up to five weeks and Lee Hollis will be out after hip surgery.  Steve Saunders is still out, but boss McCall has a reasonably unchanged squad to pick from.  Good news for Motherwell then, their recent form should see no reason to alter a successful combination.

Other SPL News:- Peter Houston has kicked off the shoogly peg syndrome.  The Tannadice gaffer is under fire as his side have slumped to just above Inverness in the table.  The United board have categorically dismissed reports that his job is under threat as mere speculation..............Aye right, looks to me as though the shoes are off and Housty is on his way out if the Arab's can't take care of the Pars this Saturday.  He has been called to the office after this game and he better have his excuses ready.  Houston won the Cup with United in his first season in charge, months after the departure of Craig Levein, United beating country bumpkins County 3-0 to lift the trophy.  United have only two wins this season, one of them being against us, but things have gone pear shaped for the Arabs as they struggle to climb the league.

The early kick off today is Aberdeen v Rangers (12:00) in a day with a full SPL card.