Motherwell: What's behind the Fir Park club's worst start in 20 years?
- Published
Stephen Robinson's side sit bottom of the Scottish Premiership table
At this point last season, Motherwell were enjoying their best start to a campaign in eight years. Twelve months on, the Fir Park club are enduring their worst in two decades.
After last term's third-placed finish and another summer of what looked like shrewd transfer business, finding a fan that did not feel optimistic about the season ahead would have been a challenge.
But despite seeing off Glentoran in Europe with a 5-1 thrashing, the Lanarkshire side are yet to register a victory after six Scottish Premiership games and have two points on the board, leaving them bottom of the pile.
With just two wins in the league in 2020, BBC Scotland tries to work out where it is going wrong for Stephen Robinson's side.
No end product
Motherwell have only scored two league goals so far, failing to find the net in five of their six games.
Following defeat in the Lanarkshire derby, Robinson lamented the fact his attackers are failing to get on the end of the service being provided.
The manager asked: "How many balls does David Turnbull have to put in the box for someone to get on the end of?"
That day, the home side put 22 crosses into the box from open play. Include corners and that figure rises to 35, with 20 coming from Turnbull, who has now departed to Celtic for £3.25m.
However, starting striker Jordan White only managed to register two touches inside the Hamilton box during his hour on the pitch, whereas substitute replacement Christopher Long had just one.
White and replacement Long's joint touch map against Accies shows they registered just 11 touches between them in the opposing half
This has been a familiar story for Robinson, who has yet to see a starting striker have more than five touches in the opposition box this league campaign.
Changes in attack?
Much has been made of Motherwell's summer transfer business, with fans believing for the first time in a while the club went into a new season with a stronger squad than they finished the previous with.
However, for all the depth that Robinson appears to have at his disposal, the Fir Park boss has not settled on his best starting line-up.
In attack alone, Robinson had selected six different players to start across his front three in the opening five games.
It appeared the Northern Irishman had found success when a switch to a 3-5-2 against Glentoran offered up five goals, but the same system offered up just one shot on target against Celtic on Sunday.
Highlights: Celtic 3-0 Motherwell
Is there a blueprint to beating Motherwell?
It certainly feels like there has been a pattern to Motherwell's defeats.
Against Ross County, Dundee United and Hamilton, the opposition were happy to soak up pressure for large parts of the game with the confidence that a single goal would be enough.
In those three matches Motherwell clocked a possession percentage of at least 60%, while having an accumulated shots total of 50 without scoring.
In the four games Motherwell have conceded in this season prior to Sunday's loss at Celtic Park, the opposition have scored five goals from just 13 shots on target.
Glentoran glimmer
It is not all doom and gloom, however. Against Glentoran a change in formation gave Motherwell a new lease of life, with five different goalscorers getting in on the act.
While the loss of talisman Turnbull is huge on the park, the man replacing him has shown plenty promise that he can return to his best form. Liam Polworth provided 15 assists last season from central midfield and notched another on Thursday against the Glens.
There were also encouraging signs in defeat to Celtic on Sunday, with Motherwell winning 50.5% of duels despite only seeing a third of the possession.
The pressure will be building from fans to get that first win, though, with St Johnstone at home up next on 12 September.
Analysis - 'We have seen this in the past with Stuart McCall'
Former Motherwell and Scotland striker James McFadden on BBC Sportsound
Motherwell are not unlocking defences at the minute. They have pressure and possession of the ball but for me in the final third they are not doing enough with it.
Former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart on BBC Sportscene
I think it is a concern because of the similarities with Stuart McCall's last year compared to previous seasons. They'd finished at the top end of the table, second on a couple of occasions, and they went into that next season with you thinking it should be a continuation. It's similar to this year.
Everyone is thinking the same thing. Good balance, good squad, lots of talent in there but it hasn't happened yet. The longer it goes on the more difficult it is to rectify.