match aftermath Match Aftermath: Motherwell 3 - 1 Dundee

[TheDarkBlues]

Dundee lose to Motherwell 3 - 1 and the streak of win-less games continue. Harkins comes on to score.

What was your thought on the game today?

[Rocky Boy]

Dundee lose to Motherwell 3 - 1 and the streak of win-less games continue. Harkins comes on to score.

What was your thought on the game today?

Simple, FIRE Hartley NOW, out thought by every Manager, in this Division. Unfit crocked players signed in the summer yet AGAIN. He not got a

CLUE.

[Notts Dee]

Simple, FIRE Hartley NOW, out thought by every Manager, in this Division. Unfit crocked players signed in the summer yet AGAIN. He not got a

CLUE.

have to agree team selection tactics the lot are at times bizarre !

[TheDarkBlues]

Simple, FIRE Hartley NOW, out thought by every Manager, in this Division. Unfit crocked players signed in the summer yet AGAIN. He not got a

CLUE.

I'm really not sure exactly what your thoughts are on the manager, I might have to reread it again lol

[Pablothedee]

Poor, poor stuff today. Terrible from about 10 mins in today. We appear to be trying to play the game at a different pace from the rest of the league. 1st2 goals was Dundee errors. McGinn gives away a crazy freekick for the 1st but the goalscorer looked well offside. The 2nd Bain gets out jumped at the near post by the goalscorer but he'd run off McGinn I think. Taking off Loy was a joke.

[Gedee]

When PH came along to DFC I was delighted. His approach to the task in hand was in my mind, built on a hard work ethic,

preparation & planning, and an eye for the importance of the detail. Getting us up to the Premiership, for me, confirmed we

had got the right man. I overlooked, what I felt were some obvious mistakes & crazy decisions, in the belief, he was the kind

of man (like any of us) who would make mistakes .....but he, more than most would learn from them. Now I am not so sure.

The above, is leading to my response of...."Match Aftermath"....My response is, it is time to think of a change of Manager !!

I do not know whether PH is simply stubborn or arrogant. But I do know (like most) whatever it is, sadly, it is just not working.

[Spiritof62]

Terrible stat is our failure since opening day to play a full 90 minutes, it's relegation stuff.

We have 20 points which can be built on, if everybody digs in and he can shore up the defence.

We need to be realistic now 11th would be acceptable at this stage.

Time to think out the box, try Meggatt at LB, Irvine RB, Ghadz and AN other at CH.

Konrad as a defensive midfielder, sorry I have run out of ideas.

[an-dee]

Poor, poor stuff today. Terrible from about 10 mins in today. We appear to be trying to play the game at a different pace from the rest of the league. 1st2 goals was Dundee errors. McGinn gives away a crazy freekick for the 1st but the goalscorer looked well offside. The 2nd Bain gets out jumped at the near post by the goalscorer but he'd run off McGinn I think. Taking off Loy was a joke.

See I think after we took Loy off we started to come into the game because we had a bit of shape and balance. Harkins has to play, and if that means it's either Hemmings or Loy up top and not both, so be it

We were dreadful apart from a brief spell when we created a couple of chances (and probably should have equalised), but on the whole we didn't deserve anything. Calder, Harkins and Stewart to start next week with Hemmings up top. At least then we'll have some balance.

[eyeothedug]

Hartley is an idiot not to play Calder and Harkins from the start. We are going backwards this year. Players seem unmotivated. We need a new core to the team...a replacement for Kevin T, who will play every week, plus a new, top rated central defender.

[Bobby123]

Cant compete in the opening half -same every week,.

Low must be in dreamland-getting a 3 year contract.

Loy is looking like he is not up to it-Hemminga a bit better.

The number of balls Thompson played into the front 3 feet in the first half and they could not hold onto it-far too lightweight.

Much better with Harkins-he at least passes the ball forward and can play a man in and can shield a ball.

Unless he goes back to 4 4 2 to help our midfield we will be in the play offs.

Next week-can you see our midfield bossing Ali Crawford??

[harry94]

Just back and have a few thoughts.

The first half was terrible. McPake and Julen are not a dominant centre back pairing and neither had any sort of composure to play the ball out of defence. Both of them couldn't handle the pace of the game and provided a lot of joy for Motherwell to attack directly. Konrad being forced to come on was actually a relief in many ways as it improved the defence.

Second half was a different story and we played the ball around a lot faster and seemed to be sharper. Harkins introduction allowed us to be a lot more direct as he could compete in physicality to the Motherwell back line and contribute a lot. We maybe could have got a bit more fortunate and there were a couple of nearly moments but our first half performance meant that Motherwell fully deserved their win.

Although I don't want to be harsh on a young guy, Calder's introduction told a lot of the story about why he's not been starting. He made several bad decisions (one of which was a pass across goal to Harkins which had a good chance of leading to an equaliser) and his positioning was all over the place. I suspect that the team have been struggling with him as that's the third time now (St Johnstone and Hamilton) where I've seen his team mates get really p*ssed off at him. Still think he's got it in him to be a terrific player but I do see why he's been used as more of an impact sub.

Hemmings, Loy and Stewart as a front 3 is surely got to be binned now. None of them are bad players but we just aren't good enough at the back to accommodate it. I don't know what we need to do. Maybe a defensive coach or working on a back 3 would help but we need to do something to get that side of things sorted. Kerr back and in right midfield might even be an OK option.

Peterhead are planning for a life without Kerr so I'd be getting him back and trying something along the lines of:

[GK]

[RB] [CB] [CB] [LB]

Kerr McGowan Thomson Stewart

Harkins

Hemmings

A team of that sort of structure would at least balance our play. Kerr must bring more defensively than Low would.

EDIT: I'd usually be championing Low for a spot since he has a high work rate in defensive positions but he isn't at all effective. Think he'll come good but got a lot of work to do this season.

Edited 12 December 2015 by harry94

[Attilio]

See I think after we took Loy off we started to come into the game because we had a bit of shape and balance. Harkins has to play, and if that means it's either Hemmings or Loy up top and not both, so be it

We were dreadful apart from a brief spell when we created a couple of chances (and probably should have equalised), but on the whole we didn't deserve anything. Calder, Harkins and Stewart to start next week with Hemmings up top. At least then we'll have some balance.

Much as I'm seeing it as well.

The past few games I have seen, I have come to the conclusion that it has to be either Hemmings or Loy - we can't accommodate both.  Today, Loy spent a lot of his time coming deep and going wide to collect the ball.  Not his strong point by any means and we have other players that can do it better.

The difference in the 2nd half today, especially when we brought on Harkins and then Calder was marked.  If these two don't start next week there is something seriously amiss.  The last two games have shown me that Harkins is the spark in that position that gets the best out of everyone else.  Low is a lightweight in comparison.

What else happened.  Bain made some vital saves to keep us from falling further behind.  The defence sold themselves numerous times in the first half and were guilty of ball watching constantly.  McPake made some good challenges as usual but I'm expecting greater leadership and organisation from him.  Thomson was good imo and McGowan came onto a game in the 2nd half.  Stewart looked the player most likely to and Hemmings is improving with each game imo.

We were guilty of not being up to speed in the first half again.