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Awww fuck naw........please, please, don't do that !!!!!!! 😕

If Celtic and us both win this week its going to be very tight at the top, Hearts on 63, Celtic 58, Rangers 57 and Motherwell 56. Does being 7 points off the top in March finally qualify us as title contenders.

of the new builds , for smaller clubs in Scotland, Falkirks is probably the best but with the obvious down side of only three stands and open corners but the viewing positions are excellent.

I'll never stop finding it funny when Jim Goodwin teams are upset about foul play or bad sportsmanship.

For what it's worth, in his interview in The Herald recently, Whyte said he wanted to continue develop his career with us. (Of course, he would say that).

Was the talk at the AGM not that Jens was on a rolling 1 year deal. On Olly Whyte you'd expect he'd be offered a new deal with a view of getting him involved next season. I think also as we have a co-op agreement with Stenhousemuir should the last few games end up with little meaning he'll probably play some minutes.

Easy. Just plough most of the cash into the team; neglect the stadium; and get someone else to substantially pay for a new one.

A comfortable 3-0 win

The Courier is still hurting obviously. Maswanhise dramatics and Sevelj naivety There was an intriguing section within Jens Berthel Askou’s programme notes, as he addressed the ludicrous reaction of Callum Slattery which resulted in a red card to Richard King of St Mirren in their prior fixture (subsequently rescinded). Reflecting on the incident, the Well gaffer wrote: “…the reaction has to be in proportion to the action itself. We’re trying our best to leave that part of a deeply rooted football culture behind us. “And we will do better going forward.” Did Maswanhise do better on Saturday? Was that reaction “in proportion” to Sevelj’s action? He certainly did a job for his team by drawing full attention to an incident that would have otherwise been missed – as scores of other similar confrontations between centre-backs and attackers are. The Zimbabwean international folded like a deckchair after Vicko Sevelj swung an arm in his direction, seeking to shake off Maswanhise after a bit of pushing and shoving between the pair. All pretty standard stuff. However, it was enough to convince VAR Ryan Lee to order Nick Walsh to attend the monitor and, as usual, the on-field referee took his tacit cue: penalty kick. None of which is to absolve Sevelj of blame. The versatile Croatian is an intelligent player and, although only 25 years of age, one of United’s more experienced campaigners – certainly in terms of SPFL appearances. He should not have given Walsh and Lee the opportunity to make that call. And between Sevelj’s naivety and Maswanhise’s preposterous histrionics, a diligent defensive effort went up in smoke."

Don't forget folks our ticket allocation has been cut by 50 for this game.

Easy solution...... qualify for & have a good run in the champions league & we can finance a fair bit of whats being talked about ........ 🤣🤣

Hopefully Aberdeen's oitch is still slippy and cutting up.

Hopefully for Motherwell and not Manchester Untd as i suggsted 😂

I went to the Falkirk Dundee Utd game and was impressed with what I saw in the main stand. An excellent view, spacious seats, well under cover and catering facilities that put Fir Park to shame. Think a smaller version of the Hampden set up but still with several kiosks and a Club shop. Easily accessible and no lengthy queues blocking off toilet access. Talking of which, numerous toilets, wide corridors and staircases. So no crushing at full time despite a full house. Hospitality on an upper tier but not infringing on us peasants. Stacks of pre bookable car parking for home and away fans. A good income generator I imagine. Did take a wee while to exit the car park though but nowhere near as frustrating as at Perth. Cannot comment on what the away stand offers fans as I was on holiday when we last played there. As a POD season ticket holder, the set up I saw at Falkirk was far superior to the facilities on offer at Fir Park. Both the POD and Hunter Stands need a massive upgrade and whether that is possible given space limitations and likely disruption I have my doubts. If it can be done, fair enough. Let’s see what the study reveals. Where Falkirk do fall down is in having stands on three sides only which does feel weird. Even worse than Accies in my opinion. Why they have no stand on one side I have no idea. But other than that I would happily move to such a Stadium. As you suggest, the quality of any new facility would have to be up to scratch but done correctly it would be fine. A site where neighbouring housing did not impact the construction of the stands would be a huge leap forward.

And if we sold Fir Park we'd likely need a temporary home to play in while a new stadium was being built as it's unlikely any buyer is going to wait a few years.

Not to mention to stay competitive enough to stay in the top flight....

Timing is certainly key. Relatively speaking the Fir Park site was probably worth more 25 years ago too. I'd love it if we could find a way to finance new facilities, but Falkirk is a great example of the challenges to fund that and be able to build a complete stadium.

Id take Falkirk's Stadium , obviously with 4 stands and the corners filled in. You would get a great atmosphere in such a ground but the costs would likely be prohibitive. Falkirk's feasibility study for a 4th stand similar to the other stands revealed cost in the region of £6 million, so a full stadium you are easily looking at £20/£25 million and we just cant finance that, sadly.... or could we? the sale of Fir Park for housing would realise no more than £3 million at current commercial valuations. We'd really need to get the £20/£25 million down to the region of £10/£15 million to make commercial financing over 30 years potentially viable, but the Revenue streams would need to increase to pay the near £1 million a year financing costs. Had we built a new ground 25 years ago the cost would probably have been in the region of £8/£10 million , expensive for the time but the great thing about inflation is the initial cost becomes smaller relative to income going forward. So perhaps £25 million now wouldn't look so bad in 15 years when a bog standard player will be selling for £3 million. Speculate to accumulate can be a real success but can also be a real disaster. New builds Id hate, from Scotland - nearly all of them - but particular hate for St Mirren Park McDiarmid Park New Douglas Park New Ones I could live with Doncaster Keepmoat Stadium Falkirk Stadium with filled in Corners - and 4 stands Rotheram United - New York Stadium Mind you all pie in the sky for the time being.

I looked up at the rust covered state of the metal beams in the POD yesterday, the wooden seats with no legroom, support poles impinging on the view, dirty 'windows' at the south end, the plastic bolted buckets in the south and north ends, the unsafe queues for catering and toilets, and realised this cannot go on for much longer. Add in the rotten pole covered view from most places in the Hunter stand, which we don't have the space to upgrade or step size to convert to safe standing. An away stand that I understand also needs some work. I've been going for over 50 years, the place is full of history and memories, but it's done, and I'm not sure even a complete rebuild of the POD, with all the cost and disruption that would cause fixes that. I trust our new Board to make the right choices, but there is jeopardy whatever route they go. I totally get the negativity towards new build both location and design wise, but again I would trust the Board to make sure any new stadium design would be fit for purpose and not soulless like St Mirren's dreadful place. Rotherham Utd's 12000 seater would be a good template, steep sides and close to the pitch, while on Madeira, Maritimo's 10600 seater with plenty corporate hospitality, closed in corners, and close to pitch (was at a game there in January) is another possible template. No easy solutions but if the finance question can be answered then its new for me, if not then the POD will have to be replaced, maybe with a lower height footprint at both ends to at least get it running the full length of the pitch, but as I say no easy answers, would love to see that report!

I see from a Dons site, that Mark Reynolds hung up his boots yesterday after the Highland League Cup semi for Banks O Dee. Good player for us, before he moved on to Sheffield Wed.

It's not about the location, although transport etc. is important. It's about the quality of the new facilities. Do we want what Falkirk, St Mirren or St Johnstone have? Even that would be a stretch financially, but I find it pretty uninspiring - probably the opposite of a Luddite, as I'd want something more modern, hi-tech and sustainable.

Thats it for me Allan. I get the attachment and sentimentality argument but for me its outweighed by other more practical considerations. If the Directors decide against moving for well thought out and researched financial reasons then I can accept that. However, as you say, we have 2 stands that simply aren't fit for purpose. The East Stand has a poor view due to its low angle and is simply a covered shed and it has poor access from one end only. Kiosk siting is far from ideal. I guess that the only way that stand could be refurbished satisfactorily would be to extend it into Knowetop School playground. Thats not going to happen anytime soon. The POD Stand was contructed over 60 years ago and is way past its sell by date. Refurbishment would represent a sticking plaster job. Catering and hospitality facilites are totally inadequate. We're also having to maintain an external structural framework which has no practical purpose whatsoever. As for seating, both ends are simply seats bolted onto benches and I think I'm right in saying that they don't meet European competition standards. Kiosk and toilet facilities are medieval, but more importantly are part of a safety issue. If the POD was to be demolished and rebuilt that would cause all manner of logistcal problems: loss of hospitality income temporarily; and having to accommodate current patrons elsewhere in the ground (again resulting in decreased income). In short, Fir Park is the wrong shape and too constrained. I don't think that moving to Ravenscraig would be the end of the world. Its not as if we'd be moving to Honningsvag or anywhere as remote as that. The site is being developed, albeit more slowly than originally envisaged but new facilities will come. The area has changed dramatically over the past 100 years or so and will continue to change and evolve. How many of our fans miss our old park at Roman Road for example? Anyway, its an interesting debate and personally I'm looking forward to finding out a summary of the Director's feasibility study (hopefully) and learning their conclusions.

You just stick to going to the theatre and restaurants that are safe from earthquakes and tsunamis then . I will still be taking the risk and going to the football hopefully at Fir Park. Oh and pigeons will still shite on the seats in a new stand just as much as an old one.

Agent there hopefully as Jens signs a new 5 Yr deal tomorrow!! Ahhhhhhh I wish

Nice internet debating technique. Don't want a substandard stadium build then you are a luddite. It's possible to hold two (or more) thoughts at once. I don't want a substandard new build and don't like the substandard facilities we have now. Maybe there are other options that are better, and that's why we have invested in reviewing options.