It's hard admission to make but the last part of that famous quote from the great Vince Lombardi is pretty close to a description of Motherwell's league form. Four consecutive losses brings us close to the start of a bad habit.
A first half attack
The manager was understandably downbeat in his post-match interview. Among the telling phrases were, "a struggle", "lacking in confidence" and " we're trying to put square pegs in round holes". It would be a harsh judgement to blame the whole sorry succession of defeats at the McCall's door though there is no doubt that some errors have been made.
Carswell's Friday night illness disrupted the fragile plans and created a gap at left back, Francis-Angol has barely trained in a month and had to be played. McManus hadn’t trained until Friday. The intention had been to have Lawson on the bench but “needs must” and the sorry tale went on.
We need to hope that the fortnight before the next game can end with most of the team able to play for a full 90 minutes and restore some self belief. Time and time again the manager returned to the issue of confidence but he admitted that there was no magic pill. Hard work and a fit squad appear to be the starting point for a recovery.
With a game at Parkhead to follow from the visit to Ross County, the next game takes on extra importance!