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The independent report into the OF pitch invasion is pretty damning for the SFA. It basically says that they are not using their powers consistently and I think there is an implication that they ar far too lenient on the Old Firm in particular. In this particular situation, the two tier policing of Motherwell and Derek McIness could not be more blatant. McInnes comments were said in anger on live television in the immediate aftermath of a high volume ending to the match at FP. His comments were heard by millions. They were inflammatory and clearly called into question the integrity of the officials. Watt posts on social media to a considerably smaller audience, a comment that may question the competence of the decision but not the integrity of it and his punishment is worse. You cannot get a more direct and obvious comparison. The SFA have had time to consider this response and will know themselves the discrepancies in this decision making so you have to come to the conclusion that they simply don't care.

Part of what McInnes said was also along the lines of "I didn't need to ask who the penalty was for when I was told". What he said was definitely worse than anything Watt came out with.

The SFA are a disgusting organisation.

I think you need to look more closely at McInnes' comments. Yes he said they were disgusting, but he also implied there was an agenda hence questioning the integrity of the officials. Watt didnt do that. He just said it was tge worst VAR decision ever. McInnes' comments were also in relation to a game he was not involved in. He was also the manager aka "leader" of his club at that time, therefore in a position of trust, if you will. The 2 cases are NOT comparable. The fact that the individual committing the lesser offence received the greater punishment, might be described as "disgusting". Just my opinion mind you.....

Having looked into it a bit more over the past few days, I don't actually think the issue is that the SFA took action. Rule 72 exists to stop people publicly accusing referees of bias or incompetence, and if Elliott Watt admitted his comments breached that rule, then some form of sanction was always likely to be on the cards. What I do struggle with is the lack of transparency and consistency. Watt received a four match ban with nothing suspended, while the club was fined over the social media video. Yet the SFA's public statement gives virtually no reasoning. It doesn't explain what specific words or parts of the video crossed the line, what aggravating factors were considered, or why those particular punishments were appropriate. That's hard to reconcile when you look at previous cases. Brendan Rodgers received a two-match ban after describing the officiating as "incompetence", but one of those matches was suspended from what I can tell? As someone already mentioned, Callum McGregor said after Trusty's red card: "We may as well all go up the road and stop playing football if that's going to be a red card every single week." No action appears to have been taken, I'm guessing because the SFA viewed that as criticism of the decision itself rather than an allegation of bias or incompetence by the officials? Honestly, it's hard to actually determine how they reach their decision half the time. I understand that different cases can absolutely justify different punishments, but the SFA doesn't publish anywhere near enough detail for anyone to understand why those differences exist. Why was McGregor's criticism acceptable, Rodgers received one immediate match and one suspended, while Watt received four immediate matches? There may well be legitimate reasons, but if there are, they're not being explained as far as I can tell. For me, that's the real issue. If you're going to dish out significant sanctions, particularly a four-match ban for a player, you should also publish clear reasons so clubs and supporters can see how the decision was reached and why it's consistent with previous cases. At the moment, that transparency just isn't there.

I have two questions - 1. Was the mitigation that McInnes was wearing his Rangers tie at the hearing? 2. Was Infantino included on the Panel? It's not the corruption that is the most infuriating. It's the fact they are so open about it and don't care who sees it. And if Motherwell make a noise about it then they will be cited again. I'm just waiting on Hearts getting a wee phone following the little sing song from their fans last night.

Well technically he got a four match ban with one suspended and I don’t think what he said was that much worse, he said it was “disgusting” which is more or less what every Motherwell fan was saying about the decision. However I would like to see us as a club asking why he was served a four with one suspended whilst our player was given a straight four game ban. The fact that Watt is no longer our player is irrelevant, it was handed down to him whilst he was and he was perfectly within his rights to question such a ridiculous decision.

Good to hear the club at a high level, has got back to you...I honestly believe we are an extremely well run club at the moment and thats down to the likes of Brian and Kyrk. As for the main stand, I've listened and read the details from guys on here and p&Bovril, but I just dont see how a new stadium at huge, huge cost is more viable than redoing the main stand completely at what would be a much smaller, huge cost.

Rangers manager Derek McInnes gets a more lenient sentence than (ex) Motherwell's Elliot Watt - despite saying much worse. There's a shock.

Aye, that's simultaneously above & beyond, but arguably the least he could do. Well done Brian.

I emailed the club after the Genk game to complain about the new pod seats, i subsequently received a phone call this afternoon from Brian Caldwell who explained the difficult choices the club faced in the pod to get the stand compliant for the HB game. He explained that for a host of reasons mainly the limitations of the pod in its current form it was a straight choice of either not using the seats in their old form, for the Euro games, with the resulting loss of revenue and relocation of ST holders that involved, undertaking extensive remodelling of the pod seat profile and reducing seat numbers to get new flip seats or go with the seats we have fitted now. So it seems that what we got was the only viable option open to the club, given the timescales and limitations involved. I think that the "new seats" will be with us for a while, but from what i was told i suspect that replacing the pod on the current footprint may be the preferred option, as i say thats my opinion, so i could be wrong. Having said all that it was nice to have some personal feedback on a complaint raised from the CEO, thats a good way to run a business so long may it continue.

Nervous anxious and hopeful. C’mon the well! 3-1 to the Well. Cookie Fadinger and Said with the goals. This side will be sharp with good connections and a strong familiarity. To my mind the game for Said to give them a problem. Beat the first man and lay off a pass into the space caused as other opponents move to close him down. hopefull and positive

Aye, that's mental. I certainly feel it if we lose. Anger, disappointment, a sense of what could have been. But embarrassment? Why would I be embarrassed? That suggests it's somehow your fault? That you did something that caused us to lose?

I think there are a lot of fair points being raised in this thread, and I'm certainly not suggesting summer football is a silver bullet. The reason I'm open to it is that none of these challenges are unique to Scotland. Norway, Sweden, Finland, Ireland and similar nations have had to deal with transfer windows, scheduling, transition seasons and international tournaments, so there are clearly workable models out there. And looking at some of these nations, it's clear that whatever they're doing is working. For me, the weather isn't really the driver. It's the competitive and commercial side. If there was no serious financial or European advantage, I'd probably agree it wouldn't be worth the upheaval. But if being match sharp in July, having more settled squads and not competing directly with the Premier League for TV attention for part of the year gave clubs a better chance of reaching league phases and bringing in a few million euros every few years, then it's at least a conversation worth having. Take Hearts against Sturm Graz. Getting through that tie wouldn't just have meant another qualifying round payment. It would have guaranteed Europa League football and around €5 million from UEFA before you even factor in ticket sales or performance bonuses. That's the scale of the fine margins we're talking about. Being a little sharper or having a more settled squad wouldn't guarantee they'd win that tie, but it might just improve their chances enough to make a difference. As it is, they have a new manager, a brand new squad and they got wiped out before they even really got going. I'd also separate why some countries originally adopted summer football from the advantages it gives them today. Norway may have done it because of the climate, but being halfway through the domestic season when European qualifiers come around is now an advantage regardless of the original reason. As for European games in December or February, that would be an amazing problem to have! If Motherwell are still playing in Europe at that stage, we've already had a very successful season and the financial rewards would probably outweigh the inconvenience. The thing is, I don't think there's a perfect calendar. Every model has its own trade-offs. The question for me is whether another model would leave Scottish football in a stronger position than the one we've got now. I'm not convinced summer football is the answer to everything, but I do think we've been following the same approach for decades without really asking whether there's a better one. And I'm sure we'll all be shocked and dismayed when us or whoever else gets pumped out by a team that's fitter, more cohesive and settled because they hold advantages over us. We'll blame it on slow transfer business, the board, the manager, but the truth is, it's just a result of the model we operate with.

Sales sound great, really exciting. Brings back memories of Nancy game when we had about 11,500 fans, those inflatable sticks we banged together, fans in full voice, place jumping............then ref blew to start game and it all went downhill 🤪🤪

To be honest when you predict us to draw or win then it does become panic stations 🤣🤣

The only tickets left in other stands seem to be single seats. Hopefully we can sell a good few in the McLean to make it worth our while and more importantly, improve the atmosphere.

Just noticed as well they have put tickets out for sale in the middle section of the lower south stand. That’s brilliant that we’ve sold almost all other tickets. Something like 100 tickets left in the POD, cooper and East.

The manager does seem to have a wee but of an obsession with Mikey Booth? He’s mentioned him personally in 3 different interviews. In all honesty I thought there were better youngsters on show on Friday.

The closest thing we've got to a clash is Dundee Utd. This doesn't clash with them so we'll either wear this or the 3rd kit. Against Hearts we'll wear the home kit unless there's another agreement between the sides to both wear away kits like we've had previously. Other than that we'll probably wear it in every other away game bar Aberdeen and probably Dundee or Rangers.

It’ll probably be the opposite of when we have a white/non claret away kit. We’ll wear it against sides who we wouldn’t normally change against ie. Hibs away where I fully expect it to debut a week on Sunday. Against the sides we would usually have the away kit on such as Aberdeen and Hearts we will wear our home kit when we visit them. And then there’s the anniversary blue kit which will probably get a run out against Dundee Utd. Having seen it up close in the shop this morning it is a nice jersey, but I feel it would go better with the white shorts of the home kit and likewise the home jersey would suit the claret away shorts.

I suspect, like JBA, he's playing his cards close to his chest. If we haven't got a clue about our line up neither will HB.

Each to their own. Personally speaking as a passionate supporter who wants nothing but the best for the club then I do feel embarrassment when we get bad results. Maybe I just care more than you

Alfred’s silence on injured players at the presser suggests they must all still be fkd or extremely doubtful which is not great but it does sound like the burton Albion signing will be straight into the first 11. he did mention that HB are in a good run of form so it’ll be a tough game. I’m expecting a draw or a narrow loss and we can hopefully turn it around next week. Time will tell.