Motherwell made us look ordinary. To be fair, it wasn’t down to one sloppy pass or a lack of effort — it was the whole package. Their workrate, clear coaching and willingness to move the ball at pace left our midfield looking short of ideas and energy.
Why they looked so good
There was a coherence about them. You could see a gameplan: quick transitions, purposeful runs and players who knew their roles. Elliot Watt was the player who stood out for me — head always up, finding pockets of space and delivering those angled passes that unlock defences. When a team plays with that kind of awareness it makes even supposedly lesser names look clever and composed.
We were chasing shadows in the first half. Our midfield couldn’t close him down quickly enough, and that gave their attackers time to move into lanes. It becomes contagious for the opposition — confidence builds and ours looks a bit hesitant in response.
What it said about us
There’s a coaching and personnel question here. If a side shows superiority in both workrate and structure, it exposes weaknesses in our shape and pressing. We weren’t getting tight enough between the lines, our transitions were slow and we allowed too much time for passes to be picked out. That’s something you notice at Ibrox: it’s not always down to individual quality, it’s the collective failings that hurt.
No one’s suggesting panic, but there are clear things to tidy up. Midfielders need to show more bite when out of possession, and there has to be better communication about who steps and who covers. Little details matter — especially against teams that have been drilled to play a specific way.
What I’d like to see
If Watt is the sort of player we want running the middle, then fine, shout it from the terraces. I’d sign him too. But beyond one name, the bigger point is this: we need more cohesion and urgency. Coach the press better, improve our shape on transitions and stop giving smart operators the time to pick us apart.
We can learn from that Motherwell display. It stung, but it also showed the blueprint — one worth taking note of as we regroup.
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