No goals and little quality at Fir Park
MARK McGHEE is predicting four more months of ups and downs at Fir Park.
The Motherwell manager watched his side draw with Kilmarnock and remain in the bottom six. But they lost no ground because three of the other four games were also drawn.
It’s the tightest top- flight in living memory and McGhee doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.
He said: “We have until March before we start to worry where we are in the league. Then we can decide whether we need to panic or start getting excited about making the top six. It’s hard to win matches in this league.”
The Steelmen created the best chances in the match and their boss admitted that better finishing would have made a difference.
He went on: “We’re pleased with a clean sheet but disappointed not to win the game with the chances we created.
“I think we had two or three in the first half and a couple in the second.
“If you don’t take your chances then you don’t win games. We had people missing, while Louis Moult and Scott McDonald nearly never started. They were last-minute declarations.
“The clean sheet was good but I’m still someone who prefers a 3-2 to a 0-0.
“It will be harder to keep a clean sheet against Aberdeen and I will be more pleased if we do that.”
Predicting results must be a nightmare for those who enjoy a wager on the fixed- odds coupon. That was seen clearly here where there was hardly the thickness of a bookies’ betting slip between the teams.
Kilmarnock started the day in sixth but knew they could end it just above the relegation play- off spot if results went against them.
The quality of the play might not always please the connoisseur, but you can’t beat Scottish football for a bit of tension. Some people will tell you that’s because seven teams are already panicking about relegation. But it’s just as important to recognise that a top six place is a real possibility for any of the sides from fifth place downwards.
The positive spin-off is a feeling that managers have no reason to set up their team for a draw.
Both sides charged forward at every
opportunity and there were plenty of efforts on goal.
Home defender Stephen McManus summed up the proceedings quite succinctly.
He said: “It was a scrappy affair. I’d imagine it wasn’t great to watch.”
Perhaps the thing missing was someone with a bit of composure to turn all the energy into a goal.
Motherwell assistant boss James McFadden would have been ideal but he concentrated on directing operations from the dug- out as Mark McGhee was serving the first of a two-match ban.
The two best chances were created by Motherwell just before the break. Ross MacLean burst through on goal but the 19- year- old was denied the chance of celebrating his new two- and- half- year contract when Jamie MacDonald stopped his shot with a fine save.
Lionel Ainsworth had a similar chance a few second later but blasted wide.
McDonald had a decent sight of goal 10 minutes from the end but stroked his effort wide under no real pressure. The failure of an experienced player to hit the target summed up the afternoon.