Why do we only play for one half?
A Game of Two Halves???
One of the most common comments that I've heard ( not to mention uttered ) during the after-match refreshments this season is"Why can we only seem to play for half a game???".But has this really been the case,or have the 'Well actually been more consistent than we've given them credit for?
Below is a look at what the 'result' would have been if we had played 24 fourty-five minutes matches instead of the ( unfortunately ) regulation ninety;
FIRST HALFSECOND HALF
Livingston0-2 Livingston2-1
THISTLE0-0 THISTLE1-1
Kilmarnock0-0 Kilmarnock3-0
Dundee Utd1-0 Dundee Utd0-1
HIBS0-1 HIBS0-1
CELTIC0-0 CELTIC2-1
Hearts2-1 Hearts0-3
Dunfermline0-0 Dunfermline0-1
DUNDEE0-1 DUNDEE1-0
ABERDEEN1-0 ABERDEEN0-2
Rangers0-1 Rangers0-2
LIVINGSTON0-1 LIVINGSTON1-4
P 12, W 3, D 4, L 5, P 12, W 4, D 1, L 7,
F 4, A 7, Pts 13F 10, A 17, Pts 13
So what, if anything, does this tell us about our games so far?
Out of the dozen matches so far, only in four has the 'result' been the same in both halves - and out of those we haven't managed to win any of them!In fact, our disappointing home stalemate with Partick Thistle was the only point we took out of these four matches, as we were beaten in the other three.Whilst the one at Ibrox was hardly a shocker, the home losses to Aberdeen and Livingston certainly were.
Our first 45 minutes' are usually tight affairs, with only eleven goals being scored before the oranges are dished out, as opposed to twenty-seven after the interval.Having only managed to score a measly four goals by 3:45so far, this has saw us chasing our opponents in nearly half of these games.Mind you, the three games where we managed to score ( and indeed be in the lead) before Mr Butcher has had the chance to have his say, have saw us come back out and lose a total of six goals without reply and ultimately lose all available nine points!?!?!
The high point certainly seems to be that from four o'clock onwards we have managed to net in six of the twelve games which has saw us rack up both of our league victories to date, and tellingly a massive EIGHT of our total of NINE points thus far!?!?!?On the other hand, in the other six games were we haven't scored, we have finished each and every game with absolutely diddly-squat to show for our endeavours.
We end up on the losing end in both halves in the goalscoring stakes, especially in the second period where we are managing to lose just short of a GOAL AND A HALF per game!?!?! ( mind you, our friends from Livingston managed to up that statistic for us considerably last month!?!? ).We have taken a couple of thrashings as well, shipping three at Tynecastle and four to Livingston in this time.
If we earned points for our half-performances, we wouldn't be fussed which period was chosen as we have managed to accumulate exactly the same points tally - THIRTEEN - at the end of both halves, which would have us in a healthier position than we are at time of writing.
So what does all this tell us??? ( What, apart from the fact that you must berapidly running out of material to write about?!!? - G.L.F. readership!!! ).Dunno really, certainly we could do with considering that old cliche of ' the first goal will be vital ' as this is something that, despite good passages of play in our first halves ( including our game at Firhill just before deadline ) we have only managed to achieve on three occassions.We know that Motherwell seem to excel at being unpredictable, but now not only from week to week, but hour to hour!?!?It's hardly rocket science to conclude that a wee bit of consistency would see us in a much healthier ( not to mention deserved ) position than we now find ourselves in, but I hope that we don't have to look back and note that, enjoyable as it was at the time, that the Celtic win was the turning point in our season for all the wrong reasons.
by Christopher Hutton
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