Jump to content

Matchday Thread: ICT -V- Motherwell


Scotty

Recommended Posts

If we don't sort out the home form then we wont get top 6, simple as that.No disgrace losing to Motherwell though, Craig Brown is an excellent manager and in Blackman they have a prolific scorer. Still pretty happy with our start to the season though. Oh and GIRUY McGhee! Strachan to take over by the end of the week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not read anything yet, so I'll post then read it all.

We were a close second in an entertaining game. Plenty of chances at both ends. Well ran the first half, we were ok, but two 'goals' took the edge of our game plan. First one was scooped from the goal line by Esson, but someone gave the goal. Possibly correct, but difficult to tell fro North Stand. Second goal took a massive deflection up and over a stranded Esson, nae luck Ryan. Rooney missed a header as we turned the screw late on. He sliced a shot wide from a good position, and the excellent sub Shane Sutherland turned the defender and whistled a shot just wide. Duff scored a superb low drive from 25 yards after good build up on the left and neat lay off into his path. He still had plenty to do but rifled a daisy cutter into the keepers bottom right. Cracking goal and set us up for an onslaught, but the finish eluded us, just.

Motherwell looked very capable and big. Plenty of speed on the flanks and just about deserved their win.

MoM for me was Chris Humphreys, he gave young Shinnie a torrid time, especially in the first half, although he stuck to his task and eventually quietened him, but the damage was done in the first half.

Plenty of effort, rubbish throw ins, slippy shoes and missed chances, all adds up to no third place for us. Still, could be worse, we could be in Mark McGhee's shoes.

Good game and well done Motherwell.

  • Agree 1
  • Disagree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't think we can have any complaints with the results especially as we didn't start playing till 20 minutes from the end.

Things might have been different if we taken one of the decent chances we had in the first half but it wasn't to be. Esson pulled off some great saves to keep the score respectible but Motherwell were worth there lead albeit with the flukiest of goals.

Our defence looked shaky again with Shinnie been given a torrid time by the Well number 7 and the clueless McCann passing to the opposition at every oppurtunity.

Perhaps more worringly Foran was very poor as were Eric, Hayes & Duff.

The introduction of Sutherland for Ritchie seemed to galvanise the team and we had them on the backfoot for the last 20 minutes and we gave it a good go but it wasn't to be.

Hopefully our tremendous away form continues on Tuesday night as our performances at home leave a lot to be desired

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We certinaly missed Duncan today :sad:

WE weren't too good today but Motherwell we're good today and we can now see why they are 3rd!

Poor lines man but we can't blame him for our loss. At least we're no Aberdeen :happy:

So lets keep our heads up and focus on Tuesday's game! :ictscarf:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think tm4tj has summed it up very well. We missed Russell Duncan. Foran was pretty poor - is he still nor properly recovered from injury or is the captaincy not suiting him? - we looked a lot sharper when he came off and I would question whether he should be in the side at all on this form. Impressed again with young Sutherland - he was unlucky with a great turn and shot and seems to be the only player looking for the ball at throw ins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd agree that we missed Russell.

Don't know what was up with him as he wasn't even on the bench.

We never seem to do so well without him in the team.

That said - a decent game of football.

We had our chances, as did Motherwell, and they probably deserved to shade it.

Good to hear their supporters singing "there's only one Terry Butcher"

We're still up there, still in the mix, and sill chasing third spot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First one was scooped from the goal line by Esson, but someone gave the goal. Possibly correct, but difficult to tell fro North Stand.

Mr Wonder could have seen it was in sitting in his Detroit mansion watching through a telescope. A good yard over and that was from the back of the North Stand.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For clarity here, I'm not disputing the fact that the ball was over the line. I thought it was over but can't confirm. If it's a yard over then fine, an inch would do. What puzzled me was I never noticed the linesman flagging, he just started running and the ref was waving oddly, like play on chaps. Then the realisation that it was a goal was underwhelming.

Beaten fairly in the end by a team who on this performance will be top six and maybe Euro spot.

I do however think that the ref was puzzling. No wonder they get stick at times. It's just as well they shot up the tunnel before Rossco got a hold of them or there may have been trouble.

  • Disagree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Radio allegedly said that Duncan had picked up a late injury.

Yes, "allegedly" a late injury.

It wouldn't be the first time he's been dropped for no good reason. I wouldn't be surprised if he vented his spleen on TB when he found out he wasn't in the starting line up.

No conspiracy theory this time - I spoke to Russel this morning (in Harry Gows!)and he said he had picked up an injury and wouldn't be playing. Hopefully only a short term thing. We definately missed him today, though Duff did ok in midfield and scored a cracking goal. Frustrating game as we certainly had chances - thought Rooney was very poor today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No conspiracy theory this time - I spoke to Russel this morning (in Harry Gows!)and he said he had picked up an injury and wouldn't be playing. Hopefully only a short term thing. We definately missed him today, though Duff did ok in midfield and scored a cracking goal. Frustrating game as we certainly had chances - thought Rooney was very poor today.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really enjoyable game I thought. Could quite easily have ended 4-4. I was really impressed with Motherwell, best team I've seen up here this season. Shinnie will be having a few nightmares about their winger, he gave him a torrid time.

First half, I thought we played really well, getting Hayes on the ball a lot. Second half...he disappeared from the game, and we were a poor second in every department I thought. It wasn't until Sutherland came on that we picked it up again, and we could've quite easily grabbed an equaliser towards the end. Still, no shame in losing to them, and we played a big part in a really entertaining game.

  • Agree 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not quite sure why Cox wasn't the first choice replacement for Russell. Whilst I like Eric, I feel supersub is where he serves the team best. It would have been a different game had one of our early chances gone in, then it wouldn't have made much difference, but when Rooney and Hayes have to come so far back to pick up a ball then something is amiss.

The standside linesman made some strange calls, but nonetheless, I think The Well just shaded it. At our best, in the middle of the first half and end of second we could have got something from the game and we will beat them away.

However, slightly worried by the lack of good strikes from Rooney. I do not believe that unlike Hayes, he has found his SPL form yet.

Good game though. No complaints.

  • Disagree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought Motherwell exposed a number of weaknesses in our side and gave us all a bit of a wake up call. We were completely outmuscled in midfield where every loose ball seemed to break to a Motherwell player - not through luck but because they were fighting so hard for it and in the end up they were simply bigger, stronger and better than our midfield. Both full-backs struggled yesterday against direct running. Shinnie couldn't cope with Humphreys who knew from the first minute that he had him for pace and strength. McCann's passing was very poor and he wasn't the only one - we struggled to string more than 3 passes together throughout the 90 minutes. At 2-0 we looked dead and buried and i really couldn't see us coming back but Duff's excellent strike turned the crowd and the game. For 15 breathless minutes we pushed hard for an equaliser that we wouldn't have deserved. What was the average age of the team that finished the game? Ross, Shinnie, Sutherland and Morrison are all teenagers from the youth system. Rooney, Hayes and McCann are 23 and under. It's all very exciting for the future but it's not a team that's going to compete in the brutally physical upper reaches of the SPL. And then the man that we all expected to be most at home in this company was posted missing. I don't think it's got anything to do with the armband - Richie Foran, even after 6 weeks back in the first team, just doesn't look fit.

This all sounds very negative but the big picture still looks great. The game was just a bit of a come down after our glorious unbeaten run but the team still has great potential and i wouldn't be surprised to see us pump Aberdeen on Tuesday night.

Edited by Caley Stan
  • Agree 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought Humphrey was the main difference between them and us. Having said that, he should have been identified by the defence as a serious threat, and someone (Tokely?) should have gone in with one or two hefty challenges - perhaps not of the career threatening variety, but at least sufficient to dampen his enthusiasm for the game. Might even have been worth a yellow card. That might not be the type of football that can win friends, but it sure can help win matches!

How often do we have to watch Jonny Hayes frequently brought down with crude challenges? We should be prepared to dish it out too, when the need arises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

totally outplayed first half. our forwards cannot hold the ball, resulting in wave after wave of motherwell attacks. if it was'nt for some excellent esson saves could have been 3-4 down at half-time. odiambo needs 3 touches after his first touch, -to control the ball- which either goes up in the air or too far from his body allowing easy interceptions by opposition.

for me butcher is being too loyal to some players, surely he can now see that the boy mcann is not up to scratch. don't know if any of his passes went to one of our players yesterday, easily conceding possesion. if he isnt giving the ball away he is slipping on his ass at crucial times.

thought game changed when morrison was introduced. he was solid, eager to get involved,got the ball down and played some nice passes around the motherwell box.

need to ship mcann back to hibs, duff to right back, odiambo to bench which will allow foran to play in his natural wide left position where he is the most effective.

give young morrison a run in midfield with duncan or cox or get someone else in january.

we cannot keep giving teams goals of a start at home and then try to play catch up in the second half.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whilst I agree with most of what's been written about the game maybe we all need to slow down a little or someone will soon be calling for the managers head. Last week we were world beaters. This week we lost an entertaining encounter to a brisk Motherwell and suddenly we are hopeless.

We had a lot of opportunities to score yesterday. Off the top of my head, great chances for Hayes, Rooney and Ross in the first half, and even better ones in the second half. Two for Rooney, one for Sutherland and another couple of scary moments that could have gone in our favour. Motherwell were hanging on a bit at the end. They maybe overall deserved it, but we were a close second methinks.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They found Hayes out in the first half, and had 2 men on him all the way through the second half. Hes a special player, but we cant rely on him to produce that bit of magic all the time. Managers will find him out, which means we have to have other options. Foran was rarely on his wing and it left a wide open space, yet no one filled it. Got to get balls down the Left, not just down the Right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The most entertaining gamme weve had here all season imo.

Both teams got at each other and showed their attacking qualities at times. We were unfortunately undone by 2 bizarre goals in 10 minutes. In the end what did for Motherwell was their width, Humphrey was superb. Johnny does a job but i wouldnt mind a wide player on the other side doing a similar job.

Thought we battled well in the 2nd half. Great thinking from Rosscoe with the quick free kick, pitty Rooney failed with the header. Coutos to Duff for his goal, was an absolute cracker. Thought we pressed well for an equaliser and were unlucky to to snatch one.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy