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Naw.shhhh. if we get £3,000,000 for RCC its great business. I like him but he would be taking one for the team 🤣

Not a good look at the time but in fairness, I think his father had just passed away at the time. Traumatic for most folk. I did however take issue with the way in which the minimum stadium entry age was imposed (later to be amended) without any consultation. We are a fan owned club however, and our standards of supporter engagement should be higher than other outfits. Going back to the seating, we all know its temporary, but how long for? Is the POD being replaced or is Fir Park itself being replaced?

I think the guy has done a remarkable job, and it wouldn't surprise me if other clubs come looking for him... ...the Kettlewell statement was a shocker, though to be fair

If we can keep what we have then its been a fantastic transfer window...however I fear one window after the English ones close thats Turkish one shuts on the 4th.

Should we tell them

He's explained the thought process, like it or lump it. I don't really think the seats are that uncomfortable (there's more leg room than previously for a start) it's just the lack of room for squeezing by others that's the main issue. So long as they clean them regularly and don't let them get caked in bird shit that's about the best we can hope for. They'll not be getting replaced again, the seats meet all the criteria needed to keep UEFA and all the other regulators happy so that's that. One way or another the stand won't be there for much longer so they're not going to go throwing more good money after bad.

About 100 mins left to hang onto our players. then couple days fending off derisory bids from any Scottish teams.

Delap scored one goal in 28 gajes for Chelsea and his value increased from 30 to 50 mil.

Correct Dave, a lot of valid reasons why the seats were replaced, which nobody has any issues with, but no admittance that the "only option available" while looking good on paper, just meeting the criteria, etc has in reallity been a mistake. They say they would lose around 500 seats in the POD, so lost revenue was obviously a concern for the club but the seats are not fit for purpose, a potential saftey hazzard, so fan saftey should take priority over finances. There was also no indication in the email that the club is looking to resolve the issue, it gave the distinct impression that " we picked the only solution we had, we now know it was an error, but the seats are here to stay" Im not a WS member but for me they have not stepped up to address this issue, which as majority shareholders they should be doing.

Correct his form should not as yet impact his value and we should sell him based on being the leagues top goal scorer. Ive a feeling that position will change dramatically by January so Id be inclined to cash in on him now.

Id be curious to know if the plastic was cut round the corners and sanded appropriately to avoid cuts scrapes and general uncomfortableness etc. I would say if what brian says is true then fair enough im skeptical that this was the only solution on market but its not me shopping for it. Hes still a rather unpopular figure to me after his statement when SK left.

With Just away ny mate said its halved my surname joke opportunities. I said maybe but I wont levitt alone! 🤣🤣

Swansea 2-0 up already, Just and Welsh start. I know Welsh not technically a former player but he was brilliant for us

He has at least given a full explanation of everything but yes if you sit in that area it's not the solution you wish. Looking forward to how he deals with the ones lighting flares and encroaching pitches that is costing us a fortune in fines

The Bair Strikes Back

Were both good but our model totally different now

In fairness, in response to my E-Mail, a Society Board Official did contact me on the Monday before the Freiburg game. But really only to confirm that the many complaints they had received had been passed to Brian. Although there was an acknowledgement of an issue it did not feel like the Society were prepared to challenge Brian on our behalf. When pushed, the background and justification presented for the 'improvements' was almost identical to the Statement from Brian. Practically word for word in fact. Read into that what you will. It was suggested that if I was unhappy I could move elsewhere, failing to recognise that I have sat in the POD for years and gotten to know the folk around me. Part of the match day enjoyment. I seriously doubt the WS intend to get involved. What Brian says goes. I get nothing can likely be done whilst home games are coming thick and fast but a promise that solutions would be investigated with a view to work being undertaken at season end following consultation with those affected would at least have shown some respect for fans' concerns. That statement does nothing of the kind.

I've read the email. He has set out reasons for the selection of shitty seats. Fair enough if that's what he has judged to be the best solution , someone has to make these decisions. He will need to stick to by this decision now should things go wrong or someone is hurt or turns out to be a bad choice, The seats are still as uncomfortable as fuk ,cheap and nasty but centre stand POD still has best view of the game.

He should have gone to Ross County for the second phase of "the project'

I like Gboly, but he only played 17 games for us 7 years ago. Not a fan of bringing 31 year old journeymen "home" when we can sign guys like Kanga instead.

Well said Denny, and others. The email simply amounts to a whitewash. To say that the new seating is "not universally popular", is a gross understatement. We still haven't been told what the club's long term solution is and there must be one. I'm still curious as to what the Society's view is, if indeed it has one.

A message from Brian Caldwell. Dear Season Ticket Holder, When I arrived at Motherwell FC, one of the most noticeable fixtures around Fir Park was the age of the majority of the seating within the Phil O’Donnell Stand (POD). Indeed, this matter was raised by supporters to me on many occasions, particularly around when they were renewing their season ticket. Finding suitable replacement seating had been investigated by the club over the years without a suitable option being found. When the club last played in European competition, the club was sanctioned for the seating being non-compliant and advised that the seating could not be sold for future European competition matches. The seating was obviously replaced over the summer. I have tried to meet or speak to as many season ticket holders as I can who have raised issues with the new seating to explain the issues the club faced and the limited options available to it. So that everyone is aware and has a full understanding of the facts and background to replacing the seats, I now feel it is best to email everyone a report outlining the work undertaken over the past year in replacing the seating. Background As noted, replacing the seating had been on the club's radar. This desire was further crystallised as the prospect of qualifying to play in European competition increased over the course of last season. For any UEFA matches, the seats must have a minimum of a 30 cm back as per Article 18.01 below: ‘Seats for spectators must be individual, numbered, firmly fixed in place, robust, made of a shatterproof, non-flammable material, and have a backrest of a minimum height of 30 cm when measured from the surface of the seat.' The last time Motherwell FC played in UEFA competition, the bucket seats weren’t used because of this, and the wooden seats were used, but the club was sanctioned by UEFA, who noted these seats were also non-compliant and could not be sold for any future fixtures. This rule also applies for any UEFA international matches at Fir Park; therefore, last season when we hosted two Scotland U21 matches, we couldn’t use any of these seats in the POD. There were over 3,000 seats within the POD which were either bucket or wooden seats that couldn’t, therefore, be used for any UEFA matches, as neither had the required 30 cm back. • Wooden Seats – 1,208 • Bucket Seats – 1,839 I would also note that around 90% of the wooden seats are season ticket holders’ seats. Solutions & Options Over the course of last season, we approached several seating companies to see if any could provide a suitable solution to replace the POD seats. Arena Seating, who are probably the biggest seating company in the UK, supplying seating to the majority of UK sports stadia and are the exclusive UK agents for a Spanish manufacturer, noted they had a suitable modern seat which was fully UEFA compliant and which fitted the dimensions of the current POD seating. This was the only option in the market that would allow for the current seating to be replaced on a like-for-like basis, resulting in no seats being lost in the POD. Every other option, such as acquiring seats similar to those in the other stands, required taking out 2 rows of seats for every 8 rows. This would have meant taking out well over 500 seats within the POD and resulted in many season ticket holders having to be permanently relocated to another stand. Arena’s Sales Director was familiar with Fir Park and came up from Barnsley in early April to ensure their proposed solution was feasible. Following the visit, he arranged for 6 sample seats to be sent from Spain for testing, which then arrived in early May. He then came back up to Fir Park to measure these in situ in order to ensure that they met the Green Guide (Safety of Sports Ground Act), which stipulates that the distance between the seat and the back of the seat in the row in front has a minimum clearway of 305mm (in new build stadiums the minimum is 400mm). The back row of wooden seats (which backs on to the ‘Motherwell Football Club’ signage) is the tightest but meets the minimum clearway of 305mm. We achieved this by moving the boards back slightly to ensure we met the criteria. In the other rows it varies between 306 and 330 mm (front rows). The clearway on the previous wooden seats was tight, but we have probably only lost around a few centimetres as you will see from above. The seats were also thoroughly tested by club staff, and the same seats have been fitted in many stadiums around the world with great success. We therefore having satisfactorily tested and found through our research that this would be the only seat on the market that could be retro-fitted into the POD stand and meet the UEFA criteria and the Safety of Sports Grounds Act placed an order to replace all of the POD seats on 28 May 2026. As we asked for the seats to be in our bespoke (claret) colour, there was a lead-in time of 6 weeks, with the majority of the seats arriving on Monday 6th July, and the remaining arriving on Thursday 8th August. During the intervening time we arranged to remove all the existing wooden seats (as a priority) and installed a new wooden plinth for the seats to be attached to. All wood utilised was new and treated direct from the timber yard, which we then painted in claret. In a tight timescale and thanks to our dedicated staff, we were able to have the new seating extensively in place for our first European home match. Summary The options we had available to us were: Option 1 – do nothing and don't use the seats in Europe or for any Scotland U21s or UEFA matches. This would have meant relocating over 2,000 season ticket holders to another stand for the HB, HJK and SC Freiburg matches. While not a great option, we could have used the South Stand upper for the HB and HJK matches, but this would not have been available for the SC Freiburg match. This would have meant for the SC Freiburg game that the maximum number of home tickets available would have been reduced by over 3,000, so when you consider the attendance was 8,945 with 8,485 Motherwell fans, this would have been a major issue without the 3,000 POD non-compliant seats. Option 2 – Re-profile the Main Stand to get a bigger seat in (flip up). This would have required removing / losing 2 rows of seats for every 8 rows. In the wooden seats alone, I did a calculation that we would lose over 500 seats had we taken up this option, which would have meant relocating over 500 season ticket holders permanently to another stand. There would have been no choice on which rows were removed either, as we would have had to take every 7th and 8th row out (most rows have 28 seats). Option 3 - The only seat on the market that works as a retro fit whilst being UEFA compliant (min. 30 cm back) was the one we went with that also can be installed in compliance with the 'Green Guide' minimum clearway (between the front of the seat and the seat in front) – 305 mm. While spacing is tight and we just meet this in some areas, having 305 mm in the back rows, although some passageways actually reach 330 mm, the spacing has also been checked and passed as safe by our stadium licensing authority. While it is disappointing our chosen option has not been universally popular, faced with these 3 options, the club still feels Option 3 is the best option available. Moving forward, the only future solution available to the club would be to re-profile the stand and unfortunately be forced to move a significant number of season ticket holders without affording them any choice in the matter. We are for obvious reasons keen not to do that to our valued season ticket holders, many of whom have chosen the POD as their stand of choice. We will, of course, monitor the situation and remain in dialogue throughout the season with our POD season ticket holders and would like to thank you for your continued support. We hope that this information will help you understand our decision-making process and the restrictions we faced. Kind Regards, Brian Caldwell

Not at all relevant to the discussion but the PFA list for their next camp is out and Gboly Ariyibi is on it bring him home. Ariyibi and Said on either side would be absolute chaos. Marvin Johnston is also on the list if Longelo goes he seems to have became a LB down south so we could ask the question. (I also accept these players probably wouldn't get in our team just now but I loved both when they were here)

Really good interview from Dylan, enjoys saying 💯 🤣🤣, seems a really genuine and ambitious lad. Though Dylan moving to Scotland isn't "moving abroad" 🤣🤣 Bur I tell you know what.....I think i could do a better job as a stand up comedian than some of those journalists!, feck me., clueless

Perhaps the reason that Sydney did not pick him up was because MFC (quite rightly) were looking to recoup some of the fee they paid initially. If it reaches the stage that he can leave for free I am sure he will have plenty of takers from his homeland. And I would not be surprised if that is sooner rather than later. Maybe not contributing lots of goals but he featured in almost every game and helped Sydney reach the season ending League play off final against Auckland. JGR was CB for Auckland.