Review of 2006 Part 2

And a good start we definitely did not get. While we kept Corrigan, Stevie Hammell moved on to Southend making a left back top priority. Instead we got Ross McCormack from Rangers who on paper was great signing for the future but instead has been plagued by injury and illness. That was pretty much it in the transfer front and when injuries to McLean and O'Donnell hurt our squad early on it was clear that we were going to be in for a rough ride.

We get to celebrate at Ibrox

Not since 1922 had a Motherwell side lost four in a row to start a season but considering that the four contained Rangers and a trip to Easter Road at least two of the losses were justifiable. However the performances in all four games the other pair were 0-2 losses to St Mirren and Aberdeen were worrying in the extreme and the fact that one of our rocks from last season, Graeme Smith, was having nightmares definitely didn't help.

Racism gets the Red Card at Parkhead

Keith Lasley was picked up near the end of August and he could well turn out to be the signing the saved Malpas' managerial career before it even got started. Keith may be fantastic at nothing but there are very few areas of real weakness and for us he is an excellent midfielder. An edgy win with a late goal from Steve McGarry gave us our first success of the season over Partick in the League Cup and when Scott McDonald fired in the winner at Falkirk we had won two in a row. Howeve,r the wheels came off big time as Inverness were presented with a series of gifts and left Fir Park with a remarkable 4-1 win. Malpas rang the changes for the game against Hearts with Meldrum coming in for the disappointing Smith. While we performed better we lost again and were two points adrift at the bottom of the league.

The next four games Queens Park in the League Cup, Dundee United away and then a home double against Kilmarnock and Dunfermline were viewed as crucial to the season. We had some nervous moments against the amateur Spiders but progressed thanks to Foran's hat-trick. We were lucky to steal a point from Dundee United thanks to Calum Elliot's first goal for us and going into the Killie game we desperately needed a result. Astonishingly we won 5-0 as every break possible went our way. We worked hard but there was no doubting we had the luck when we needed it. Dunfermline were next at Fir Park and while we struggled to put them away, David Clarkson rammed home a vital late winner and all of a sudden we were 10^th, two points clear of the bottom. Given we were still in the League Cup it was easy to ask where the crisis had gone.

Safe hands from Meldrum

Two spirited performances away to the Old Firm produced a point and another hard working display got us a 0-0 with St Mirren although they were the better team and only Meldrum's penalty save denied them victory. We lost a 50-50 decision in the cup quarter final at Kilmarnock, an outcome all the more frustrating for the fact Rangers and Celtic both went crashing out the next night. What might have been. But we didn't have our problems to seek in the league either as a poor show saw us lose to Aberdeen before a rampant Hibs utterly destroyed us 6-1 at Fir Park. The calls for Malpas to fall on his sword were reaching fever pitch again but it must be remembered that in the last game we had faced the fastest and most exciting attack in Scottish football with a back four of Paterson, Kinniburgh, Reynolds and Quinn. While Malpas can get the blame for not getting his left back in time Danny Murphy would soon sign and arrive in January there is nothing much he can do about injuries and that back four were never going to win any games.

We faced two of our relegation rivals in consecutive games again and with only one goal keeping us off the bottom of the league points were desperately needed. This is perhaps when Malpas is beginning to show his worth even if it is simply because he is lucky rather than good. We were struggling despite being better against Falkirk but we got two less than stonewall penalties and won 4-2. Then having been second best for nearly 90 minutes in Inverness we snatched the win with a 90^th minute penalty. Regardless of how badly we'd played in the season we were showing an admirable trait of snatching points when we really needed them. Keith Lasley being injured and ruled out for the season was a deep blow though.

A thrashing at Hearts was followed by an astonishing loss to 10 man Dundee United. We could have done more ourselves but we still created and missed enough chances to win two games. The pressure going into the Christmas period was immense as we faced a tough trip to Killie and then a six-pointer at East End Park. Lose both and being bottom at New Year was a distinct possibility. Instead we defeated Killie with a heroic 10 man performance of our own and when our finishing proved better than the Pars' at East End Park we were a remarkable 10 points clear. A battling point thanks to Darren Lee Smith's last minute equaliser gave us another point on the board from the Celtic game and we finished 2006 in 9^th place, a massive 11 clear of the drop.

While we cannot afford to rest too much going into the New Year it would take an absolute disaster to get relegated from this position. Nonetheless, big turnarounds can happen and Dunfermline cannot be ruled out completely yet. But we are improving and with Danny Murphy and two more Irish lads, Paul Keegan and Trevor Molloy, signing up the squad has more depth to it. Corrigan has returned while O'Donnell and McLean are both expected back some time in early spring. McDonald looks to be staying until the summer and now he is committed to playing for us while he is here he is a great player to have. Even Foran, who might be moving on in summer, is contributing from left wing.

We all knew this season would be hard and our rookie manager would struggle. However even experienced managers would struggle with the injuries we have had, as the resources simply aren't there to make the squad deep enough. 2006 was definitely a poor year with many more disappointments than highs. But at least we seem to heading, albeit slowly, in the right direction.

Review of 2006 Part 1

The Year in Review 2005

The Year in Review: 2004

The Year in Review: 2003

The Year in Review: 2002

The Year in Review: 2001