December 2000

Sunday, December 10

Motherwell went down 2-0 to Rangers at Ibrox this afternoon.  We went into the game without McMillan and Townsley (both ill, apparently) and with Andy Goram back between the sticks in place of Stevie Woods.  21-year-old Keith Lasley made a surprise debut in midfield and can be proud of his performance.  There was very little between the teams in the first half, with Motherwell enjoying as much possession as I've ever seen them have at Ibrox.  However, the turning point came after around 30 mins when Benito Kemble went off injured and was replaced by Ange Ouiefio.  Kemble had been marking Mols and virtually had him in his back pocket, and his departure caused a great deal of disruption to the defence and  we never looked at ease during the remainder of the game.  Just when it looked like we would go in at half time on level terms, poor defending allowed Rangers to take the lead from a corner kick.  The home side had the better of the second half, with Motherwell never really looking like scoring, and the game was sealed when Barry Ferguson was given a free header after 78 mins to make the score 2-0.  I suppose we can have few complaints about the final result, but it was disappointing the way we didn't really put a poor looking Rangers side under any sort of pressure.

Speaking after the game, Billy Davies said:
"We have got to be much more professional from set-pieces.  I felt prior to the goal we had adapted very well to the game.  But the first goal was vital and to lose it that way was obviously very disappointing."

BD has spoken about the situation regarding the out-of-contract players:
"Before the end of the winter break, I'd like to get one or two signed up, because that will send out the right signal to people.  But unfortunately it is out of our hands.  Players have a wide world of options out there because of the Bosman ruling, and if they decide to wait and see out their contract like Simo Valakari did, there is nothing we can do about it.  It is just a matter of playing football between now and the end of the season. If you look throughout Scottish football, it is the same for everybody.  We all have to be realistic. There has to be good house-keeping and we have to live within our means."

The full article is available from the Sunday Herald website.

December 2000 News Index

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