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Awful quiet match thread. Really could be doing with another 3 points. The longer we keep this run & tilt going the more chance of others feeling the pressure. While its still fanciful for us to win the title, lets not blow ourselves out of it just yet. Normally take a point in away games but given where we are & the small number of games left, expectations/hopes should change. Go for the throats, & knock off another 3points please

I agree with the attendances, football success is cyclical. For us in recent memory the trend has been good for a couple of seasons then mediocre for a few, above average for one and repeat on a five year cycle, heavily influenced by manager, recruitment and academy progression. I do think a new stadium if designed wisely could get bump in attendances for home and away fans due to the novelty and nuance. What maintains that long term is emulating the footballing side from the past 18 months as much as possible. Hosting Livi midweek in early December has a lot cobwebs even now. I think you can do things integral to the design to enhance the atmosphere even at half capacity or less. Stuff like steep stands (building regs have it at 42 deg pitch max I think). Proximity of opposing fans, similar to the old shed where tribalism manifests and can flourish, one of my best memories was at Brockville and the too and fro'. Perception, situating the fans so on telly at least the stadium looks busier (ie none under the main TV gantry), Hampden does this when the OF aren't involved. If parts of the stadium are unused there's no need for stewarding, McLean stand for Ross County fixture for example. If you count the top flight three OF, potential of top six and a fourth, a city club requiring more than 4,800 tickets and a early cup tie then we have potential to oversell our current offering in roughly a quarter of our home fixtures, and outsell massively in three to five of those games. If projected income can be used to give us a much better stadium to enter when we get the keys, I see the negatives as minor. The spaces I suggested in the presentation, only one corner I envisaged as being office space (both for the club and an incubator space for SME's). The other corners/stands were a mixture of spaces where people have/wish/aspire to go to, such as a gym with or without a pool/dance studios, etc, street-food court and a "Makers Space", using one set up in Boston as an idea. I suggested our executive boxes could be used as hotel bedrooms on non match days. For me the stadium and it's spaces have to be fully dynamic, configurable and adaptable plus the asset has to be sweated massively outside the 25 games hosted per season. A coffee shop/restaurant is complimentary to all of the above and ensure the building would be in use universally almost 24hrs a day but certainly from 0700-2300 if all ideas employed. A 12,000 capacity allows us to mimic what we have at present by and large, except our current maintenance costs are swapped for a large mortgage and lesser maintenance costs, this would undoubtedly affect our player budget. Moving to 15,000 or 18,000 stadium allows the club in theory to recoup approximately £20m over 20 years from other clubs supporters to finance the stadium while filtering the same ticketing revenues we currently enjoy to fund the team. Add in increased home crowds, enhanced hospitality functions, rents of sub leases, etc. all of these allow us to move away from current peer clubs like St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Dundee.

Yeah funding is key, I took from the AGM we're due eight installments for Lennon spaced every six months, if we realise some or all of the interest in our players that's been brought up in the past couple of months then we in theory have a healthy downpayment to get the ball rolling. The skill is talking to institutional investors and making the case and extracting every penny from the public purse as possible. You'd hope the authorities see a fan owned community club as a different entity to Dermot Desmond or the 49ers when it comes to decision making. Issue is the developer of Ravenscraig has been sitting on it for 25 years with minimal movement for a host of reasons. If we make player sales in excess of what Lennon went for in back to back seasons then they'll know that and we move from being an anchor/draw to further development on the site to being asked for money for land that limits our ambition. We have a unique situation in Scotland where two clubs hoover up support from the entire country. I have no issue with following what Motherwell has done in the past and extracting every single green and blue pound possible. I'd also add the figures I cobbled together only account for three OF visits per season, we've qualified for the top six half of the time since the split was introduced, a high flying Hearts, Hibs or Aberdeen have potential to exceed the McLean if there were extra seats available, not to mention home cup ties before semi final stage. When you add National team matches at all levels there is plenty of scope for these to all be cream over and above any repayment commitments. With respect to the feasibility report, as things are kept close to the chest, maybe only enough to endorse the decision made at board level to sell it to the wider support. While I'd favour a move if the decision is a new POD then I'll shoulder shrug and see it as a lost opportunity. If it's a Ravenscraig move, then I suspect there were be a genuine heads gone from many.

Lucky escape there then. 😅 My thoughts. Realistically we are a provincial community club in the top flight in a wee country of only 4.5million folk. With a fan base of 4000 - 4500 regulars, having an exceptionally good season. Up to 7000 now due to the amazing football we are playing. Which unfortunately won't last for ever. Everything needs to be based on that. Better with a 12000 seater being sold out a few times a season , but when its not still feeling pretty full with a good tight atmosphere. Than a larger one with cobwebs in it most of the time, with large spaces closed to save money on stewards ,no atmosphere no use and not really sustainable. Being a football club we need to concentrate on that, renting space for offices ,hotels other sports is not a safe and sustainable option nowadays to rely on as steady income . Getting into massive debt building a large stadium is really a no go as costs will always be more than budgeted for, always ! . Loads of other office space around as everything is going online and work from home , that's what the future seems to look like maybe not as a reliable future income as it seems. The model has to be sustainable, compact , and built around the footballing side of things. Cutting our cloth to suit what we are , a small club. Is way to go . We are a provincial club in the top flight of a wee country , sitting 16 miles away from bigot brothers in Glasgow. Ambition is all well and good but reality and finances have got to kick in at some point. Note - I can confirm I was not on the previous board.

Always felt there was a degree of animosity towards Reynolds from a selection of Motherwell fans that I never understood. Always rated him as a player and it was broad knowledge he was a Motherwell fan, as was his family. Pretty sure he went to our ladys school.

Yes, planning complications and delays shouldn't be underestimated. You can envisage, for example, if we want to remain at Fir Park and redevelop it, that a core aim would be to increase the usage of the facilities during non match days. So it should be. That would then result in increased traffic and parking issues, probably annoying the neighbours. Any refurbished stadium would have to be very similar to the current one in terms of height, footprint etc. Thats the starting point. Very limiting, as you say. As this forum has discussed many times, the key will be to secure significant funding for any major project. A very tall order. That will test the new board of directors and require a lot of creative thinking. I wonder how much of the feasibility study will be shared with us? Presumably all commercially sensitive information will be held back and rightly so. It would be interesting though to be given a detailed summary; thats all we need.

Ha true-ish, my career path took a different twist so no beret, cravat and any clothing with arm patches as I never worked for a practice.

Good interview with Mark Reynolds - still a big fan of his boyhood team.

Typical architect.

An indoor 200m one, not a 400m which I agree with you on. Not intrinsic to the design, just trying to sweat the asset. It would be below the pitch anyway and not get in the way.

Keep running tracks out of football stadia, oval stadia for football is outdated

Exactly, we would require two spaces to accommodate 18-20 stripped players plus 6-7 management team and a further room for officials. Add in showering/toilet facilities. Cost and logistics come into play for water/waste/electric hookups all for a space that will be redundant for only nine months of use. Personally I'd rather avoid anything temporary as it's money we'll never see back and put it into something we can use going forward. Also worth highlighting that Liverpool's Anfield Road redevelopment had the primary contractor going bust when they were on the home straight but already overrunning. As it turned out they got the keys a good six months behind schedule and had a lot of compo/apologies to make for tickets sold. Hearts also had a sizable overrun on their main stand. If we aimed for a one season build (mid May to Mid July the following year - 14 months) if there's any overrun say to Xmas then that seriously affects revenues when we assumed we'd be generating an increase on what they are now. I'd suspect a good number of local residents would make the planning process a pain but even those not classed as busy could easily highlight the regular disruption in a residential area. For me, Fir Park will always be limiting. As for what I'd love to see and I appreciate it's very much lottery win territory .... I covered much of it in the presentation, get a planning consultant well versed in extracting every penny from government. Find an architect with a track record of frugal but quality builds, highlight the need for off the shelf opposed to bespoke components, while a Zaha Hadid ornate roof is captivating and wins awards, pragmatic-industrial should be our brief and feeds into our heritage. Identify gaps in the market, at present there is only one covered football pitch in the UK, considering our climate that's both surprising and a bit wild but offers opportunity. The Northern Arizona Skydome was constructed in 1977 inexpensively, with it you have a unique space can be configured for indoor athletics to tennis, basketball, gymnastics, graduations, black tie banquets, exhibitions and concerts. NLC is in need of the latter, the area is in need of all the others, however the issue remains with the pitch, the easier option would be rails to allow it uninterrupted wind, rain and sunshine when it allows or wheeled inside if frost forecast. The alternative is permanent grass indoors that is managed with grow-lights, don't think that is feasible however. I'd look to have a 18,000 capacity, the reason for this is two fold, allow for an increase in our home gate over what we presently have (you have to have some ambition of growth) and exploit the away support (especially the OF). Chapman and Dickie realised and then maximised their visits with the McLean Stand in the early 90's. At present we sell 4,800, double that and the club has the ability to earn in excess of £20m over 20 years for those extra 5,000 seats. Jeopardy ensures if we are relegated or there's another Covid like event. However we can leverage borrowing based on future income without touching what we currently earn with our 13,000 stadium. Finally, the fear that FP can already feel a bit cold and echoey in mid-winter hosting Livi or Ross County, that is true, 5,000 extra seats to an 18,000 seater does not help that in the slightest unless you manage that seating. Moveable partitions based on the projected crowd to ensure supports are not spread out and any unused seating minimised on the TV coverage, helps alter perception. It would already be a novelty for locals and away fans due to it being indoor, streetfood pop ups to cater on matchdays in addition to traditional offerings, I'm sure we get an uplift in home support and away support off the back of the best stadium to visit, currently held by Tynecastle where demand outweighs supply. Stress testing/Devil Advocate: NLC is looking at closing sports centres and libraries to save money. I also don't know if the concert hall was a revenue generator worth the hassle of having it. Holyrood/Westminster is broke too thanks to stagnant/minimal growth. The Regional Sports Facility, NLC may not want its potential revenues harmed with a similar space next door. Thanks to the Commonwealth games in 2014, the Emirates beside Parkhead also offers an indoor venue for multiple indoor sports. Cost overruns are inevitable. As a club in the past we've often under-resourced initiatives and then surprised they didn't work. What I outlined is both pragmatic but also has many complex facets to it. It can be achievable and done on a budget but often contractors bill for perceived complexity regardless. And yes, I've got a Euromillions on.

We’re getting so massive we might have to ask for entry to the EPL just to find some proper competition.

We'll need a bigger squad so we can target that and our proper league title challenge.

Correct. UEFA Conference League winners.

Our best chance is next year.

Still think our best chance of trophy was cup this year , by a long shot, given it was Dunfermline and old firm play. Keep winning and we still in tutor race though.

If Engels valued now at 15 mil them Just surely valued at 25 mil?

That's where I am impractical and greedy, I want us to grow as a team and be as good as possible on the park....think we just got to enjoy this season and go from there....life was a lot simpler when we all stood on the terraces...getting misty eyed👀

The south enclosure wont exist if the Pod is demolished, so the temp changing rooms would be right in the midfle of the work site, hardly practical for the maybe 6 or 8 months to rebuild the pod.

Churnalists and presstitutes gotta do what they do.........

If we knocked down the current South Enclosure ,showing my age, we could allow for temporary changing rooms in there in rebuild, before redeveloping main stand

Aye pass the salt grizzly 🧂