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  1. Sorted, premium upgrade organised. Get jaked for free, but not too jaked.
    31 points
  2. I hope you all don’t mind me borrowing the club account for a personal post… I was devastated and shocked to learn of Andy’s passing. Like many of here, I have been lucky to have known him for well over 20 years, be it Supporters buses, exiles, away days and trips, fanzines, FPC, Well Worth Saving, the Supporters Trust, WTFC and so many others - our paths crossed so regularly and he was always so helpful and supportive of me when I needed him. The comments and tributes about his personality and character are so apt, he was a gem of a guy and a top ‘Well fan. I’ll miss him very much. My thoughts are with his wife Angela, his family and close friends at this terribly sad time. Rest easy mate. ‘Flow
    25 points
  3. I'm not so sure it's Jake Hastie getting to the end of his contract and accepting a life changing offer from a bigger Club that continues to upset a minority. Or his outing as a fan of that Club or even celebrating joining them. I suspect it's the fact that the Club in question is Rangers that is the real issue. Otherwise why were these same folk not having a go at Darren Randolph, Michael Higdon, John Sutton, Mark Gillespie, (Chris Long?) and, going further back, Paul Lambert and Rab McKinnon? When they walked out we received £350/400k less than we got for Hastie. In other words, nothing. There are others. And , if youth is a factor, how come McKinstry is hailed as a shining example of how good our youth development is when he elects to move to a bigger Club for £225k rather than staying with us to develop his footballing career? Also, how come we celebrate our goalkeeper joining "his club"? I suspect the answer is that not one of the players I listed left us to join either Rangers or Celtic. Paul Slane anyone? Footballers of all ages have decisions to make throughout their career. Some will get it right, some less so. Credit to Hastie for having the ambition and belief to give Rangers a go at such a young age. Even more credit for having the desire to come back to us on Loan when he had other, less demanding options north and south of the border. And credit to our Management team for bringing him back despite the objections of a few fans and the supposed upset caused by the manner of his original departure. Robinson clearly thinks Hastie can help us and I for one look forward to seeing him prove the doubters wrong.
    23 points
  4. I’m his son actually. The generosity of people has brought me to tears a couple of times this week. His funeral is on Wednesday 18th September at 10am at the Linn Crematorium. I’m making it my target to get to the Ross County game as the big man would be furious if I missed a game at Fir Park.
    22 points
  5. Some real roasters on here. The usual suspects have driven me away from this site and I rarely look at match threads now. There would be one player in that Celtic side last night who this week has earned DOUBLE the total amount of our whole starting eleven last night. I get the feeling that some on here were not celebrating our equaliser as they realised Robinson was safe in his job for another week. The melt down at Sammon being in from the start was laughable. He can’t play on Saturday against Hearts so it made sense to play him last night and in the second half he did well. Its called forward planning and using your whole squad. We have real injury problems and his hands are tied. We had four different back fours during the game and yet were so organised that our keeper had one save and that was the penalty. We had ten men on the park when we lost the goal and it came down our right where Donnelly would have been. There is criticism of what he said about Donnelly and Livingston’s fitness levels. The rest of the team looked very fit. I' m sure he planned to get a couple of Rose, Gorrin, or Bigi on in the second half as it is energy sapping chasing without the ball for long periods but Campbell, Rose, Turnbull and Grimshaw all lasted really well. Then we have the charge that he does not encourage youth. Many said Turnbull should have been in the team long before he was but in interviews his under 20 manager Craigen said he needed to increase his fitness and physical presence. He came back in the summer ready to step up and you could argue that Robinson introduced him exactly when he was ready – not before. The charge of not introducing young players should now be put to bed after Livingston’s performance last night. The Football Manager experts on here were desperate for him to get in the team. To go off knackered with cramp after less than an hour on the park shows that he is not ready. I just hope he has not had so bad an experience that his development has been set back months which can happen to young players. Rant over but while Robinson has his faults be careful what you wish. Owen Coyle anyone?
    21 points
  6. Not as fast as you can knock any excitement out of a situation you joyless weirdo.
    21 points
  7. Right, (so as most my pals and family have pointed out) this is a bit sad but I needed to get a wee project on the go. Decided to build a scale model Fir Park out of cardboard. Got basic measurements from the googlemaps 3d model, but still had to try measure loads up from photos and scale it all down to 1/500. It's been quite cool looking at all the wee details of the stands constructions - who knew the Cooper would be a such pain in the arse to measure and build. I'm also firing in a bit of the surrounding area as the reason the main stand is only 3/4 built is a great quirk in the history of Fir Park. The place has also gone through a lot of changes and facelifts so tried to settle for mid 90's as that's when I went to my first match - think I've overdone the grubbiness on what would be newly built stands though... I'm also working on having the full thing light up including stand interiors and scratch-built floodlights, Not for everyone, but given there's not much else happening thought a few might want to see the progress.
    19 points
  8. I moved up from Yorkshire many years ago, my wife is Glaswegian. Was a season ticket holder at York City for 20 years. I’ve always watched a lot of football up here and still do. Started supporting a guy with learning Dissabilities through work around 7 years ago and we had season tickets at Rangers, his dad had always taken him before he passed away. We both got tired of sitting next to middle aged men screaming bigoted abuse so moved on to season tickets at a Thistle, Accies along with watching every other team we could. As soon as we started watching football at Motherwell we knew it was a special club and the one for us. As part of the disabled supporters association we have met some wonderful people along with staff and other supporters around us. We just love the club and have both said we would never support any other team.
    19 points
  9. Anyone able to put me back in a medically induced coma for another 10 weeks? Cheers
    18 points
  10. A BIG Thank To The Following: (In no particular order) Kenny from Portadown, a Motherwell fan on the way to the game who helped us with directions in Glasgow All the locals we met on the way to the ground who wished us luck and hoped we enjoyed our time in Motherwell All the staff in Club 100 who made us feel welcome before and after the game All the staff in the bar in the ground who looked after us All the stewards and staff inside and outside the ground All police we met, some we had good banter with! Andy, who has the Motherwell Football Programmes on Facebook who sent me on some Motherwell programmes from past European games to put in our programme Stuart, your historian who sent me some bits and pieces And Lastily, the BIGGEST THANK YOU goes to the 2 girls (I have to be careful here, maybe early 20's) who gave a Motherwell pin page with the crest and poppy together to my son. We tried to go into the club shop after the game but it was closing just as we tried. I never noticed them but they saw us trying to go in. We then were heading over to Club 100 and met Willie McStay on the way and were chatting to him when they come over. They were so apologetic that the pin was all they had to give him, they were so nice and a credit to your club. He wore it on his jersey that evening and yesterday on the way home and will be wearing it next Thursday. Safe trip to any fans travelling over.
    17 points
  11. I’d have went with “flag day at Ibrox yesterday and the only cunt not waving his was the fuckin linesman” should I apply for a job?
    17 points
  12. AGM was online last night. It took me a bit to login so not sure what I missed at the start but basically all the board, secretary, (accountants possibly) and Graham Alexander were all present. As ever an informative hour or so the contents of which I'll try to sum up. The main thing as ever was finance. Several questions were submitted by shareholders beforehand and Jim McMahon lead straight into it and referred back to it several times. Key things were that the the current situation is currently manageable in the medium term. There is an insurance claim in and the club have applied to take advantage of the Government's 20 year interest free loan of up to £1.6m (they reckoned 11 of the 12 clubs had) so with these things to be confirmed, they couldn't be certain of how things would look this time next year, but are sure that as long as we aren't relegated and even without fans in the ground there would be cash in the bank come the end of next season regardless. The question of the robustness of the club should the worst happen and we are relegated was discussed and whilst nobody wants this they clearly have to plan for such eventualities and the phrase used was the club would "get through it". The view is the club is in a significantly stronger position to deal with it now than it would have been 5 or 6 years ago. The club haven't taken/accepted any monies from the Well Society this year or last in an effort to allow the WS to build up towards the previously stated £1.5m fund that would play a significant part in helping the club through any traumatic event such as relegation. In addition contracts are structured in such a fashion that costs can be taken of the business quickly. No regrets from the board about the Season Ticket offer of committing to the 19 games as it was the correct thing to do. They envisage more details about what will happen next season in around a month to six weeks. Staying at Fir Park is not off the table. Happy they have been able to undertake some significant modernisation and upgrading of parts of Fir Park e.g. replacement of Hunter stand seats, paintwork. Will work on contactless entry and perhaps in time and re-design of the entry points to the Hunter stand. Some brief chat about contracts stemming from a question on Declan Gallagher. View from one board member was that in general terms specifics of contracts that appear in the media should largely be taken with a pinch of salt. They did however say they have made offers to Declan but he is currently keeping his options open. On a wider point they acknowledged that it is difficult to tie down players to extended contracts with agents advising players to let them run down to consider options. The flip side to this is that get it wrong and you may find players locked into deals that are unsuitable for both (e.g. Casper Sloth). On training facilities there appears a change in thinking in that seeking to enhance what they have at Dalziel Park is likely to be more cost effective and beneficial than a new development. Plans are ongoing with a sub-group of board members and reps from Dalziel to achieve this aim at some point in the future. Could potentially see the club be an anchor tenant and based there day to day but there is an acknowledgement that what is there at Dalziel is the envy of others already and would benefit all if that could be built upon. Graham Alexander "took the floor" once the board had answered the submitted questions and spoke well, and at some length, about him taking the job, his first weeks in charge and his hopes for the future. He spoke of his and his families excitement to re-locating Scotland to be fully committed to the job. He had a gut feeling when applying for the job and when talking to the board that this was a challenge he wanted to take on. He spoke of the warm welcome given to him by all within the club and the good people he had found. He mentioned his disappointment as not having been able to interact with fans but expressed gratitude for the welcome from supporters who had sent warm wishes, letters etc. He is keen to meet fans when the time comes. He said he found a squad of players naturally somewhat dejected on the back of previous results and offered credit to all players and staff for a great attitude and how they have turned that around. A lot of work has been done but still much work to do and nobody can relax. He complemented many behind the scenes for the support in helping him implement changes and made the observation that small improvements that on their own might not seem much combined had helped things improve. He stated he had a positive outlook and preferred to focus on the positives of what he had in a team rather than concentrate on the negatives. He feels he has a way of working that brings clarity to the players about the plan they have to follow, based on his experiences as a player. The initial aim is obviously to keep the club in the division then look to add quality to the squad. He envisages working with a smaller squad than that currently. He has aspirations to see us take on and compete with bigger clubs in the division, for his team to have the drive and ambition to compete consistently. He is learning of the challenges that face a club like Motherwell but wants to see us change historical patterns and not to take a step back against anyone (the inference being the two recent Old Firm games). He wants to change the mentally of how we approach such games and create an environment where players all buy into that mindset.
    17 points
  13. Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but I just wanted to say that the McGrillen family deserve the greatest respect for what they are doing to mark the tenth anniversary of the untimely and tragic passing of Paul. I can only wonder at the strength required to make such a video. Best wishes to them and hopefully it all helps just a little.
    17 points
  14. Couple of things about this signing. He can play across the front three so maybe not necessarily planned to be the central striker. His record of 2 goals in 17 for Blackpool looks poor until you consider only he only started 8 of those games. Louis Moult was signed from non league. Ojaama had a checkered career before coming here. Scott McDonald was one unsuccessful trial away from flying back to Australia. Sometimes players just need the right environment. In short, give the guy a fucking chance...
    17 points
  15. Stephen Robinson was asked to get us a run in the cups. He's reached two finals. (You can talk all you want about how losing 2 finals isn't an achievement, but he wasn't asked to WIN cups, he was asked to get a run in cups, and he achieved that, therefore in the tick-box exercise that is a company performance review, it's an achievement). He was asked to bring in money through player sales. Club has brought in more money under him than any other manager (I think). He was asked to keep us clear of a relegation battle. We are comfortably clear of a relegation battle. He was asked to do it all within a very restricted budget. He has done that. He was asked to promote youth into the first team. He has done that. In the form table over the last 5 games, we're 6th. In the form table over the last 10 games, we're 6th. In the form table over the last 15 games, we're....yup, you guessed it... 6th. Now, you can debate opinion on how much you enjoy the games, how you feel we're doing, who you think should play, how you think we should set up.... until the cows come home, I have mine, everyone else has theirs, and they are probably all variations of a theme. However, the club look at the things on the list, a return on their remit. It's objective and it's fact based. Putting aside what you "think" or "feel" for a moment. Could we as a club get a manager that would exceed what's on that list above? Are the club going to want to get rid of someone that's exceeded everything in the remit that they put in front of him? What has he not delivered on that would make the club consider his position? Sorry if you're not happy, but it doesn't matter what you or I think. It's not about opinions. Stephen Robinson is currently in the middle of being an extremely successful Motherwell manager relative to what the club have asked of him, and that's what his employment status is based on. The idea that they would even be considering punting him is a massive LOL.
    17 points
  16. I may have got caught up in the emotion of the game but I couldn’t contemplate throwing any criticism at the players just now. I thought we were excellent, the players ran themselves into the ground and the last two performances against Rangers and Celtic have been miles ahead of the insipid performances that we’re routinely watched for much of the last 10 years. Full credit to Kettlewell and Frail for that. No harm to Theo who did well but we’re a proper striker away from being a right good team. Devastated today, that was up there with Kane in 2017 for me. Onto Livingston though, we need to return to gaining points rather than prolong a hard luck story.
    16 points
  17. Christie wasn't down in need of treatment, he'd already had that so it's not all that clear cut. That said, if Celtic had scored a goal in the same circumstances yesterday we'd have been unhappy so it's probably one that we've got wrong. However, the sanctimonious shite that we're being subjected to now almost makes me happy that we did it. As has been mentioned, last season alone Celtic scored twice where their player threw themselves to the ground under no contact and feigned injury to get a Motherwell player sent off. Not once did Brendan Rodgers offer anything other than an assertion that they had done nothing wrong and sought to justify both penalties. Against St Johnstone they were awarded a penalty which clearly wasn't, and were more than happy to tuck it away and move on. No talk of Celtic players needing to "redeem themselves" or thoughts of how "It's a goal that shouldn't have stood so you have a chance to do something about it" and how these incidents are "unfortunate for the game" or even how Sinclair, McGregor and Brown were involved in "disappointing acts on a football pitch" and how "the criticism goes to the players because it wasn't a good act at all". None of that at all. Chris Sutton called it disgraceful, yet he himself did exactly the same thing as a player. Brendan Rodgers' Celtic side played on to score while an Astana player was lying with a head knock. Strachan's Celtic sides would routinely 'give the ball back' by chipping it into the corner and pressing the opposition. The hypocrisy from the Celtic fans and management is astounding on this - and that's not even mentioning the Edoard challenges on Aldred and McHugh and the reaction to McHugh being stretchered off, followed by the "Orange Bastard" tweets he was sent amongst those wishing him dead. An Irishman from Donegal who has his Twitter name in Gaelic hardly screams "Orange" to me... In a week where the Celtic fans were shook to the core by an incident at Ibrox that had nothing to do with them they have displayed the exact behaviour they were devastated by. Ashamed of nothing, offended by everything. Fuck them.
    16 points
  18. 11 hours from LA to London, couple of hours wait, fly up to Glasgow, watch the game, airbnb for the night, back to London on the Sunday afternoon, crash on a mate's sofa, then a 7am flight back to LA on the Monday. Please make it worthwhile Motherwell! Safe travels to those that are coming from afar, hopefully this is our year.
    16 points
  19. There's a few details I think it's worth adding to this, particularly given some folks' concerns (on here and on P&B) re: asset stripping etc. The two bids that are furthest forward are: An American who "made his money in streaming" and now owns his own documentary company. His vision/strategy is to increase global exposure of the club and increase opportunities for further sponsorship, growing the fan-base and generating other revenue streams. An Aus/USA/Middle East group who are primarily looking to transform the recruitment side of the club and use more advanced data analytics, machine learning etc. to bring in players across the age-groups of the club to create a culture, style of playing etc. and sell them on for profit. Both parties have spoken with both the Club and Well Society Boards and at least one did it in person from what I picked up, although both may well have. Neither of the bids are philanthropic; they will be looking to make a return on their investment via their own business plans and strategy The investment will be made by buying shares, not in loans (like Hutchinson) or other guarantees that can be secured against the club; however these might be a special category of share that allows them to take some % of profits etc. (I missed the name of these) The share purchases will not be instant, nor will the investment be "transformational" straight away; one bid is proposing the WS go down to "around 50%" and another is wanting a controlling stake, but the % was not mentioned One of the groups would be looking to appoint their own CEO; "someone who played for Benfica and is running an Australian club" was mentioned (based on a quick Google, I believe that's this chap: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaz_Patafta) Transfer fees recouped for players will remain within the club (I'm not sure how that will work with the second investor I mentioned; perhaps through their specific type of shares they'll be able to share profit rather than taking away directly from transfer fees) One of the reasons for the urgency/speed around this is that one of the parties wants to be involved in planning for next season; both are looking for exclusive negotiating positions There is still a long way to go with negotiations, analysis of club finances by parties, addition of potential clauses etc. still need to take place which will then result in a final offer The interested parties might come back based on the results of any vote of the WS membership and accept that a 51/49 split with WS retaining ownership could work for them and that would be part of their heads of terms/initial agreement with the club There is potential to negotiate with investors clauses etc. in the final proposal(s) that would allow the Well Society first refusal on any investor's shareholding, in the event they wish to sell their stake in the club so the club would return to being fan owned, should the Society have the necessary funds to purchase the shareholding Equally, a "No" from the WS re: the red line on majority fan ownership could will be enough for the two current front runners to back out In total there were 4/5 "serious" groups (of 8 who expressed interest) looking to invest in the club; I asked how those were progressing and the simple answer was "not as quickly as these two". At least on of the other parties are investing in other areas of sport (a golf team in LA was mentioned) and the board are trying to get to things developed without having to use a corporate finance consultant as far as possible. Another is an American who Derek Weir had spoken with, who was interested in developing an academy system in the US for developing players but not much more was said on that one. The Chairman did state last night that if this is something which does progress forward, he would absolutely propose bringing in experts in corporate finance to ensure nothing is missed in the minutiae that could come back to bite us. Also, we have interviewed 3 or 4 candidates for CEO by both Club and WS Boards. The issue we have is that with potential investment and at least one group looking to appoint their own, it's a difficult spot to be in. Normally this kind of appointment and negotiations for investment would, ideally, be years apart. So we run the risk of appointing a CEO who brings their own structures and ideas, to then potentially have them removed by any investor. The Well Society have asked for the opportunity to provide a strategy/plan that means they'll be more able to continue funding the club and any shortfalls and create a business / fundraising plan of their own for the club, along the lines of the investors. I also want to point out that Derek Weir stated that was his preferred option; that the Well Society is able to provide the funding required for the club to continue before difficult decisions (i.e. slashing playing budgets etc.) need to be made. Ultimately, the Society needs to be in a position in October to tell the accounts auditors that they have the funds available to support the club for 18 months; if not, that triggers a warning to the SPFL regarding our financial situation. Also, to be absolutely clear, the Board are in no way making recommendations to shareholders or the Society to go or not go for the investment from either party. That will be decided when bids are submitted and shareholders and WS members have their vote. They are exploring all their options to ensure the financial safeguarding of the club, which is their job as Directors. As I said above, that also includes the WS continuing in its current role and increasing its input to the club. Time, however, is of the essence. I would expect WS members to be polled/asked to vote in the coming days. Exactly how that will be put across is key and it'd be interesting to see what is sent out (I'm not a WS member, I have private shares in the club).
    15 points
  20. Firstly I want to say that all this "Wee Nippy" and "Wee Kranky" and "ahhh want ti go ti the fitbaw!!!" shitely-made points that just sound like "old-man shouts at cloud" is possibly the most counter-productive thing I've heard in a long time. My post below will leave no doubt as to where I stand on this issue, but it's this embarrassing narrative that I believe is hugely impacting the rational view. The "Wee Nippy/Kranky" brigade are as useless to the debate as the "Thank you for everything First Minister" brigade. Anyway..... Infection rate in Scotland in the week leading up to 31st Dec - 1,900 cases per 100,000. Infection rate in England in the week leading up to 31st Dec - 1,600 cases per 100,000. Scotlands infection rate was even higher than London which is the epicentre of the Omicron outbreak. Now that the vaccine is in place, the re-introduced restrictions implemented by the Scottish Government are doing absolutely nothing other than further ruining the economy and Scottish businesses (and yes that involves football clubs). They were also outright asked about the figures they publish being "with Covid", as opposed to being "as a result of Covid". The first reply was that they didn't have those figures, and when pressed on the fact that if they are claiming their actions are driven by data then surely they must have them, they respond by saying well, we do have them but we can't tell you due to data protection. *Read - we won't tell you because the figures that are actually as a RESULT of Covid and BECAUSE of Covid, are low enough that they don't justify the governmental response. If a person dies for any reason at all, spread under the wheels of a bus, for example....and they are found to have had 100% completely asymptomatic Covid in their system...they are included in the Covid death figures. If you die OF ANY REASON WHATSOEVER within 28 days of having taken a positive test, you are included in the Covid death figures. That in itself is an absolute nonsense, and wildly skews the figures to an unimaginable degree. If you remove from the figures all of the people who happened to have Covid-19 in their system and were not affected by it in the slightest yet died by Heart Attack, Stroke, Cancer, Traffic Accident, Suicide etc etc etc, and either did not even know it was in their system or within 28 days of having had a positive test, then the numbers left make the response utterly and embarrassingly disproportionate and damaging. Imagine for a second that death from any cause within 28 days of being on a flight, was recorded as an aviation disaster, and you see how ridiculous it is. Two leading professors revealed earlier this week that if the exact same figures for hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths were occurring in 2018, no-one would even know anything was wrong. They are so low that no-one would even notice and we'd never have heard a thing about it. Two things are happening in my opinion, 1 - the Government are feeling the hit of a woefully under-funded NHS, and passing the responsibility for it onto the people, and 2 - Nicola Sturgeon took this latest action as part of her future drive for Independence as it was assumed one of 2 things would happen; either Westminster would introduce restrictions later on and the SG could re-use their quote of "I will never apologise for caring more for the people of Scotland than Westminster do", or the UK Government wouldn't introduce restrictions at all and their infection rate would dwarf that of Scotland and she could say the same: "Look how much better it was when we decided for ourselves". Except that didn't happen, it wasn't, and we are now in the "oh shit" phase of Scottish Government. It's apparent now that her nightmare scenario has happened where Westminster did nothing and still has a better infection rate, so all she's done is ruined the country for absolutely no benefit at all. They are realising that, hence the thickly-veiled climbdown that's starting to happen now. Which in itself introduces things that make absolutely zero sense because the drop in self-isolation from 10 to 7 days apparently doesn't work retrospectively, so someone thats on day 5 of self-isolation today has to continue for 10 even if they now test negative, but someone who tested positive yesterday only has to for 7. In fact, it's actually stupider than that....someone who tested positive on Wednesday will still be stuck in their house after someone who tested positive yesterday is out and about. Swinney has already been called out for using incorrect figures to back up the restrictions, and the worm is 100% definitely turning. I'm actually extremely surprised to see that the concensus of opinion on Stellmen Online is the polar opposite of the general view I'm seeing elsewhere and in general life. People in high positions are starting to call out bullshit, and even the media are (finally) starting to ask questions when things don't make sense. The legal wagons are circling already and there will be court-cases for YEARS to come when this starts to die down. Perhaps even criminal cases when it's taken into account that they knowingly sent people to their deaths by discharging elderly Covid patients back into care-homes so they could use the hospital beds for other people (mainly caused by years of under-funding). This, for me, is the main reason they HAVE to continue with the charade of restrictions because if they admit they made a mistake, then by association they are accountable for every business that went under as a direct result of uneccessary restrictions, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses can just sit back and reap the rewards of the legal teams that the previous CEO's of Debenhams, Arcadia Group, Frasers Group can afford. If you think Covid has fucked the world, just wait til you see what the next 10 years holds when people are held to account. Caveat to this is, I'm a previous SNP supporter who was a huge fan in general of Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government, but they have absolutely without doubt lost my future vote along with many many others that I either know personally or have heard of anecdotally. If there was even a shred of a credible opponent up here at all, I truly believe they would be out on their ear come the first sniff of an election. Except there isn't, so they will be re-elected with an albeit much smaller majority, and it will be completely pointless because we'll now either never have another referendum in anyone alive's lifetime, or if there is it will be overwhelmingly no, because we had the chance to show we could be better on our own and they made a monumental c*nt of it. Looking back now, the memory of us all standing in the street whacking pots with spoons and clapping is absolutely cringe-inducing to the point where I wish I could convince myself I hadn't joined in.
    15 points
  21. 15 points
  22. I was one of the first posters on the AndyP thread, I couldn't take it in at first a we'd been speaking so freely the day before. The African summed up my feelings in a particularly eloquent post. Where my own had none, his echoed where I was in a thread that must can only be a comfort to his family. Today it was announced in that thread that poster Madwullie also passed away. I initially thought a mere "that's sad" not recalling much interaction with him on here. As the thread progressed and it was revealed that Madwullie had a real name beyond his avatar as we all do, and it was one that was familiar, very familiar. Of course you want to check things and make sure you're not jumping the gun, however growing sense of foreboding hit me like a juggernaut as I searched P&B where his posting was more prolific. Graeme was for about 3 or 4 years was my closest childhood friend. I'd have sleepovers at his house, his bedroom a loft conversion that I mimicked in my own place years later. His mum serving pizza's still cold in the middle for week upon week because she didn't notice there were two oven cooking times, defrosted and from frozen. He didn't want to upset her so we ate it grim as it was on beyond the second chomp from the crust. Playing John Madden NFL and I recall hearing the roar from FP through his open velux window that carried further at night in the dark. I recall us both as 14 year olds getting the giggles in the back of a car getting run home when another friends dad lost it with his son. Trying to stifle our laughter made the Dad's behaviour even more erratic, FYI it is possible to get to 60mph along Cameron Street before you have to break at Hamilton Road .... just. We drifted when he went to Braidhurst and I went to Dalziel but were in the BB's together and were part of a group of 4 that went all the way from Bronze to Gold Duke of Edinburgh. At 15 doing the Bronze we got disorientated and lost in the Ochils in 10m visibility and horizontal rain. We followed our training and erected our tent and got in, started blowing a whistle 6 times a minute as protocol. It of course was far too soon, one of our friends broke down and started crying for his mum. Graeme and I again stifled our laughter while cooried in our sleeping bags but the friend must have seen our shoulders bouncing and the whistle blows descend into a series of squeaks as it was impossible to purse lips. I went to Strathclyde and Graeme to Glasgow, he opted for a different social scene to me I'd sometimes see him other than the melee at 16:50 in the streets outside FP and we'd nod and exchange banal small talk. We engaged meaningfully for the first time in about 10 years in the dentist's waiting room about 4 or 5 years ago. We discussed playing golf (with the guy who cried for his mum, I'm still close to him and owe him more for different reasons than I can convey on here). Graeme was incredibly quick witted, playful, mischievous, inventive, well read and coined many a catchphrase. I gravitated towards him because there would always be a laugh. He would roast you if you ever did, wore or said something worthy of it. But he never doubled down, once you got it he ensured the group moved on to someone else to everyone got their fair share. One of the side effects of my coma is I've oddly became more emotional, I've been pretty stoic in life till now having had to deal with a lot of loss myself. I have been "semi" fortunate that my losses have all been from those older which, in life, is expected. This is the first person from my peer group that I know has passed and it is very sobering. This news just hit me for six. I think it emphasises that Carpe Diem is good mantra to adopt but it only has pertinence if you actually engage in it. I wish I arranged that game of golf as much as I am angry I didn't walk across Fir Park Road to recognise the man I was sure was Andy P (but not sure enough) to shake his hand and thank him for the favour he did me. I think it's fitting that this is my last post on here. A culmination of losing two well respected people and being subject to some cowardly behaviour by another individual hiding under the shroud of anonymity. Thanks to Yabba for his endeavours. For those of you who'd like to donate in his memory, Woody now has a Just Giving page started by those on P&B and it's already up over £2,000. Just Giving Page - Woody
    15 points
  23. He's not going to change the minds of a chunk of the support though. The die is cast for some and they are just marking time until the next guy comes in and gets told of his failings that make him not good enough. We could get 12 points from the next four games and all it would take it is another loss and the previous four wins would be downplayed. For some he's been living on borrowed time probably since that first run of defeats in the December that followed the 2017 League Cup Final. That he got to another Final, qualified for Europe, has kept the team in the division, rebuilt three, possibly four different teams across his tenure to overcome the challenges of the day, played his part in generating millions of pounds that have put club in its strongest off the field footing for years and achieved everything the board have asked him to achieve doesn't matter. They've decided.
    15 points
  24. Delighted that our new accessible toilet block will be open for 'business' on Saturday!A lot of time and effort has went into fundraising and planning to allow this to happen and we would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved from the DSA, the club, the fans who have donated £££ and in particular would like to say a massive thank you to Davie from Frasers Plumbing and Heating for seeing this project through from an empty portacabin to what it is today. He has given up so much of his time to help us out and project manage this, while encouraging local businesses to help out too. Thats what being a true Community Club is all about
    15 points
  25. What, you mean he's not going to Celtic? Imagine that, ya bunch of presumptuous prematurely perma-raging tits. Season ticket back on again then aye?
    15 points
  26. A quick summary of what was discussed at the AGM earlier this evening. All in all quite low key. Business was taken care of and a short Q&A was all undertaken inside around 45 minutes before shareholders were invited to relocate to the boardroom for nibbles. Or bolt down to try to catch the train back to Bargeddieshire... Financial wise much of what was mentioned was already released when the summary of the accounts was issued a few weeks previously with similar language such as a Haley's Comet style scenario where all factors of the business (football and commercial) were near perfect and a with a bit good fortune we recorded probably the club's biggest ever profit. Instilled is a sense this will be far from the norm and a review of the club operation is ongoing with a view to reaching sustainability. The debts it were noted were reduced modestly to JB and LH. An anticipated sum of around £200k is expected to be wiped courtesy of Les extending the double your money scheme. A large amount of the debt is to the WS and it was put that whilst this could be paid back it is in a sense a protection should the worst ever happen and the WS would be the largest creditor with the greatest say in how to proceed. Costs increased on ground expenses such as the scoreboard and Hunter Stand roof. Quotes are out for a replacement PA system. This is increasingly becoming a necessity rather than nicety since the Green Guide issued to clubs raises standards each year. This will cost circa £250k. The protective sheets seen earlier in the season in the South Stand were damaged (ironically) but should be back in place soon. These helped cut cleaning costs and enabled the club to use the POD for visiting supporters but the club are aware of frustrations of POD patrons as regards away fans in that stand and are reconsidering their stance. I was near the back so missed the full line but I gather some kind of netting or equivalent has been purchased to attempt to limit stray shots smashing into weans in the Cooper Stand during the warm up after a further incident at the last home game. Increasing costs like these and the various refurbs and repairs around FP took the conversation on to exploring Ravenscraig as a potential option in the longer term. Alan Burrows answered a question on the frustrations of lack of PATG options and said on occasion the club have tried to assist by sending MFC staff to sell at turnstiles but this was driven by individual clubs. Colt teams were discussed and it was felt in principle it would be a positive move for MFC to have a Colts side in "Division Four" but to run with a set up would be akin to running almost a second club which would be extremely financially challenging and detrimental to the funds required for the first team. There are discussions ongoing to see if loan options can be expanded upon. Stirling was chosen as the "base" for the 20's primarily as it was the closest available grass pitch that the side could play on. It was felt it would also be beneficial for any returning first team player to return to play on grass rather than an artificial surface. Stephen Robinson is actively looking to strengthen and has two or three on his radar but acknowledged people will need to go out. He remains hopeful David Turnbull will sign but again referenced his agent. He believes the offer made stands well when set against others who have played more games at his age or have had greater representative honours. On international matters he insisted the club were delighted at the likes of Campbell and Cadden going away and representing Scotland last summer but acknowledged it has had a knock on effect in terms of tiredness and that players of that age require to be managed. He was frustrated the Cadden appeared on the cusp of recapturing his form of old before suffering injury at Ibrox. On injuries he bemoaned the freak nature of some of the injuries striking down players. Tanner is unlikely to return before the end of the season and the injury that Dunne suffered earlier in the season was apparently one, the physio of some 30 years standing, had never seen before. Carson is at a point he can run again but no timescale has been set for a return. He is happy with Mark Gillespie and Rohan Ferguson as his number two. An interesting point was made about Robinson's choice of words during interviews and the phrase about having too many footballers was put to him as being unhelpful. SR laughed this off firstly by saying it depends on what interview you read. He went to attempt to clarify saying that he required a balanced team of players with technical ability but who could equally do the dirty jobs. He noted how because of our reputation teams have routinely changed formations and tactics to attempt to counter despite as Robinson said we actually have only two players apparently nudging over the six foot mark. And there my scribbles ended...
    15 points
  27. Thought this deserved a thread of its own..... Was really pleased for Keith last night that we managed to get the win that kept all the fans behind and in great spirits to give him the send of he deserved. You could see and hear it was a very emotional experience for him and his whole family. There can be a lot of cheap talk thrown around when it comes to football players about who is a club legend and who is not, but for me I dont think there can be any doubt that Keith falls into that category. For a player to spend almost his entire playing career at one club in the modern era is almost unheard of these days and for me, over the last 20 or so years Keith has been Mr Motherwell. Coming in as he did in the administration season with the likes of Hammel, Faddy, Pearo et al, he quickly grasped the ethos of our club and became very much part of the fabric of it. For someone who wasnt brought up Motherwell fan, the fact that he and his whole family now are, says a lot. During his time at the club we have enjoyed 4 Cup finals, 2 League Runners Up spots and 8 European qualifications, including playing in the Champions League. To be club captain for such a large part of that success, says lot about him. The fact that he is also a damn fine human being, means he will be sorely missed by many at the club, including the fans. Ultimately, all good things must end and he is off to further his career in a new role. I for one, wish him all the best and thank him for some wonderful memories. ALL THE BEST "KEEF"
    14 points
  28. That’s what happens when you put him in a Livingston strip
    14 points
  29. I feel I may have earned the right to a view on this. As far as I can see the government can do no right here. For many its draconian and for others it is too little too late. Issue is with social media is everyone has a voice it just tends to be the biggest roasters who post the most and shout the loudest ...... I shall refrain from pointing any fingers. I'll hold my hands up and say if I wasn't affected I would have had a healthy feeling of invulnerability and arrogance. Since I have been affected much more than most I have a cautious respect for the virus and what can develop. It comes back to the selfishness of many those lifestyles have been eroded and their intolerance to inconvenience. I can only imagine this is fuelled by: a) I'm young so it won't hit me as bad as it would a granny b) hubris and perceived personal fatigue of adhering to a few basic requests c) some bullshit and misplaced rant how they are looking out for hospitality workers and the economy d) citing personal freedom and a nefarious government plot or e) itching for their hole. Now the debate seems to be tailored local shutdowns over a blanket UK wide one. It's fuelled by whataboutery .... "why can I go to a bank and stand in a queue, go shopping in a supermarket but not have a drink in a pub with music on?", "Why can someone in London can go for a pint and go back to a friends house with 5 pals from 5 other houses?". I even seen it on here on Saturday where people assumed its Grimmy as Barnsley is tier three and he must of got days off in the past month. Lets ignore that Glasgow and Lanarkshire are as contagious as any of the worst pants anywhere else in the UK at present. There are reasons for all of this not fuelled by conspiracy theories or megalomaniac devious political leaders. It is devised by public health experts, immunologists, virologists, NHS logisticians, other medial professionals, statisticians and of course politicians as they ultimately issue and direct enforcement of policy. When this hit if we limited people visiting the UK and only allowed residents or nationals to return, tested them in the airport and ports upon arrival and sent them home under quarantine then this would be mitigated and we wouldn't have one of the worst statistics in the world from preventable deaths. Localised measures are the way forward but only if people adhere to the rules and there's a high degree of "fuck it" just now. There was support and Dunkirk/Blitz spirit back in March through to May but that has dwindled. Evidence is how many OF fans travelled to Fife or over into Cumbria/Lancashire. The amount who gave it serious thought or planned it shows where we are. Our society went through a change in the 80's due to Thatcherism where the self and a notion of as long as I'm OK, to hell with everyone else seeped into wide British society. Community cohesion and compassion eroded, Christ even empathy did too. We are predominately a more socially minded country than down south but as a whole things changed here too just not to the same degree. Flow said privately in July that they'd be nobody in FP before Ne'erday when there was soft talk about a mid September opening of grounds. Safe to say that has been an astute observation.
    14 points
  30. This forum is so negative! We were put out by a side with a 40,000 seater stadium who can sign players from Porto. We more than held our own for over 60 minutes and with a bit of luck could have scored which would have made it a very different tie. Also all this roadmap pish, in case you forgot we are in the middle of a pandemic and can’t have fans in the stadiums, I think Motherwell and most clubs worldwide are just thinking about basic survival right now. End of the day we got a decent wee run in Europe that will have netted the club a wad of cash. Spare a thought for clubs not in our position who without fans could easily go to the wall. There are far bigger issues out there right now than how we spend £4 million like it’s fucking football manager time!
    14 points
  31. AGM time again. As ever lots of good discussion and info gleaned. Quite a long one this year as things got quite detailed on one or two points. Jim McMahon spoke of as positive a situation in a while. A "normal" situation. At worst case the club are in a position to finish tenth, have no player sales, have no cup runs and be able to knock back bids and still be able to cope with a loss for a year or so. Happily things are much more rosy than that the worst case next year will be a cash neutral position. The importance of staying up is the key risk going forward. Dundee Utd and their lost millions were cited but later Alan Burrows spoke of the potential to come in the form of increased TV revenue and the fall out from the new UEFA competition and through solidarity payments. The phrase transformational was used. There may also be consequences to domestic football to accommodate the changing shape of European football with potentially less domestic top flight league fans and no cup replays some possible outcomes. Looking ahead the club are keen to do something to improve training facilities with Stephen Robinson mentioning plans and ideas that had been considered. The club still want to get to a safe point where they have two "bad seasons" worth of finance to cover them for eventualities although they acknowledge the stadium still remains something that could unexpectedly eat into finances. Well Society input amounts to around £180k a year currently. On David Turnbull the club turned numerous bids until the point was reached where they felt it irresponsible not to accept the offer from Celtic knowing how much that could set the club up. They believe it was right to accept and they got the best deal. No timescales for his return but seeing a specialist to step things up further and he will go to Tenerife on the break. Positive talks about extending his contract between player, agent and club. Hopefully good news soon. No reason why he can't return to previous levels. Robinson quipped he was never fast to begin with so even if he does lose pace... Budget was increased after review over last year but still srcond/third lowest in league. Robinson knows the parameters and what the club is about. Gallagher, Seedorf and Polworth all knocked back better terms to come. Club have gained a rep for providing a platform to improve and develop players for next career move. Potential for one outgoing and one or two arrivals at the break. Investment made in staff too. Conscious that vultures swooping on staff as well as players. Hastie situation resolved amicably with a sell on included. Cadden not so. Anticipated to run for some time yet. An example given of Kidderminster who believed they were entitled to a portion of Marvin Johnson's sell on from Oxford two years ago. Dundee likely to £15/£10/£5 not confirmed but they seem to have talked around Dundee who wanted to charge more. Sloth was raised. Answer simply that not doing enough to get ahead of others to get in the team. Surprised at Manzinga progress not anticipated to be making in roads as early. Some youngsters nearly ready for inclusion but stressed players are ready at different stages. Some will be in and out at different stages. Banner incidents at both Hearts and Rangers games discussed. Games may be played during Qatar World Cup after Group stages concluded. Winter break likely to be brought forward to coincide with groups. One or two bits more to follow in due course...
    14 points
  32. Presume he handpicked Dundee for a return given his record against them!
    14 points
  33. Scored on his home SPL debut. Can trap a bag of cement. Told Willie Collum to "fuck off". It's certainly a decent start.
    13 points
  34. While Patterson may very well turn out to be a really good player, I find it amusing at the amount of people who have just bought into the narrative that he's top class. And this isn't aimed at you specifically, by the way. He's 19 years old, and made seven league appearances last season with five European appearances as well. Four of those league games saw him come on as a sub, including one game after 86 minutes, while he came on as a sub in two of the European games. He also played two Scottish cup games, with one of those against Cove Rangers. So that's three league starts, and three European starts, with two Scottish cup games. In total. Not to be funny, but I spoke to two guys who were sitting near (but two metres away, of course!) me and my mates in a beer garden during one of the Euro games and they were banging on about Patterson being a future star and that he should be starting for Scotland, with the added piece of information that seems to be popular, that neither of them were Rangers fans. They ended up admitting that they'd seen him play once or twice on telly. Their opinions have undoubtedly been crafted by the seemingly relentless drumming up of this lad by the written press and talking heads in the media. And we all know why that's the case. Could Patterson turn out to be the real deal? Of course he could, and if he does then he'll deserve to be looked at as an option for his country. But the truth is, he's proven nothing at club level yet, never mind done enough to warrant international football. O'Donnell isn't a world beater, but few of our players are. The clamour to see him dropped for this kid was as blatant as I've seen the Glasgow-based media act in recent times. I'm glad Clarke didn't bend. O'Donnell deserved to be on the field as much as any other player.
    13 points
  35. Like a few others have already said, I only knew Andy through his input on this forum. As this is the internet, you would be within your rights to say that I didn't know him at all really. So why am I sitting here on the other side of the world feeling both sadness and a sense of loss? I think it must be because, in a world of instant communication and unfettered opinion, where trolls and howling loons seem to be the norm, he represented a different style, being unfashionably reasonable, knowledgeable and prepared to let others hold differing opinions, and all done in goood humour with a dry wit that never failed to raise a smile. This place will be the lesser for his passing, but this is just the internet so of no real account. Our loss is certainly nothing compared to that of his friends, family and loved ones, those who really knew him, and to those people I extend my sincere respect and condolences.
    13 points
  36. Ah here we go, "Stand Together", another meaningless bandwagon phrase to make it look like we care about racism. Loada shite. So we have "Take the Knee", "Black Lives Matter", "Stand Together", "Kick it Out" , "No room for Racism", "Give racism the red card", when the authorities actually running the game cant be arsed to work together to produce a coherent anti racism campaign what real hope is there? And thats before we even mention the Bigotry that is allowed to run free in Scottish Football in particular We need education (kids arent born racist, its learned behaviour) We MUST have a combined and coherent anti racism message both in Football & Society as a whole, no more bandwagons, and there must be a Zero Tolerance attitude. Until that happens, everything else is just pish & wind
    13 points
  37. You are of course entirely entitled to your opinion, just like every other poster. In that vein then, and just for what it’s worth, my opinion is that you should fuck off.
    13 points
  38. What to you gauge as progression? 2014/15 season - 3 apperances 2015/16 season - 21 apperances 2016/17 season - 42 apperances, called up to the Scotland Under 21 team 2017/18 season - 44 apperances, Scotland U21s and now called up at an international level. When he was injured this season we went on about a 10 game losing streak. He is 21 years old and has played over 100 games for Motherwell. He must be doing something right!
    13 points
  39. Not to white knight Ciftci here but the version we had this season probably needs a bit of context. He's clearly not a gym bro in the same way that many of our squad are and it's fair comment to say that he's erm, not blessed with natural fitness but it's worth mentioning that Rodgers left him out of Celtic's pre-season training camp last summer, he didn't sign for Plymouth until 21st August so missed their pre-season as well given their league season started 5th August. By all accounts Adams signed him for Plymouth and had no idea what to do with him. He picked up an injury playing for Plymouth's u20s in mid-October and his spell with them amounted to 8 appearances and 537 mins of first team football in 6 months. When he signed for us he had 19 minutes of football since mid-September. His two loan spells previous to Plymouth amounted to: 373 mins (Pogoń Szczecin) and 883 mins at Eskişehirspor where he had 4 goals in 12 appearances. His time and lack of opportunities as a Celtic player is pretty well documented. So the upshot of that is you're talking about a player who hasn't had regular first team football since he left United in July 2015. So, that's a player who arrived at Fir Park with no pre-season to speak of save kicking about with Celtic's u20s last summer and has had no regular first team football for going on 3 years. It's probably fair to say that his fitness would have been a pretty low base when he arrived (and probably still is as a result). The St Johnstone game earlier in the month was his first start for us since the end of February (so going on 2 months). The "fat Turkish waiter" shouts were still with him at United but I don't think anyone on here would deny that he was a very effective player for them. Similarly it's surely no coincidence that his best form tied in with him playing regularly and being a valued member of the squad/team. Which is presumably what Robinson is offering him if it's true that we're in for him. My take is that he's clearly a naturally talented (if not a naturally fit) footballer who needs to be playing regularly to get the best out of him. While we've got plenty players who will graft and put in a shift we don't have many gifted players around the squad and such are our resources the pool of players with natural ability who will be accessible and want to come to Fir Park is going to pretty limited and there are undoubtedly going to be caveats there. Long story short, I'm well up for us signing him.
    13 points
  40. If we are frustrated about our team not turning up for 15 minutes at the start of the second half, then what a huge step forward we have taken. For many a year we have had to endure Motherwell sides not turning up for the full 90 against Rangers. Robinson has to be congratulated for the change in mindset. I remember back to the League Cup game at Ibrox when Rangers were in the Championship when McCall was telling anybody that would listen how we were massive underdogs and how we would have to be at our best and they would have to have an off day, etc etc. We duly folded .3-0 was it? A total embarrassment. Was it ICT (maybe St Johnstone) who showed us how it should be done and put them out in the next round? To play with the intensity Motherwell play at for 90 minutes is a very difficult thing to do. It is particularly difficult after the body has cooled for 15 minutes in the changing room. Maybe this explains the slugginess (relatively speaking) at the start of the second half. To my mind, the real injustice about the penalty was that it was actually a fantastic bit of defending. A perfectly timed challenge under very difficult circumstances. If there had not been 5000 Rangers fans screaming for a penalty in the South Stand, we could have been talking this morning about a match winning tackle. I don't particularly blame the ref for that. A century of the Old Firm intimidating the rest of Scottish Football (and a Scottish Press that are happy to help them) at every level of the game brings these decisions about. Putting the situation in context, we have beaten Hearts, drawn with Celtic (with 10 men), drawn with Rangers at Fir Park in the last month. A cup final, and cup semi in the bag and we play the second place team in the league on Tuesday with many off us believing that we can win that game. Motherwell are performing like a top six team, in the first season for many when the top six really means something. We are going to fall short of that target but only just. I can forgive them a slack 15 mins. Maybe the next step in the progression of the team is that they can play with that level of intensity for 90 minutes and on a regular basis.
    13 points
  41. The response to us signing Theo Bair, on here and on socials has been embarrassing. It's one thing discussing opinions about the signings we should expect the club to be making in here and conversing about the pros and cons, but to be actively slating the lad in a thread that the club has tagged him in is absolute sociopath, incel behaviour. He might be good for us, he might be rotten for us, he might be somewhere in between. What's damn sure is that all the opinions expressed by the usual mouthpieces on here - before Bair has kicked a ball for us - will be doubled down on regardless. Absolute clowns.
    12 points
  42. May she rest in peace, she dies just where she would have wanted to, in a place and country she loved.
    12 points
  43. I know this will look like I'm picking on you, but: I work in Glasgow Royal Infirmary and pre-pandemic the ICU capacity was 20 beds, technically 15 ICU beds and 5 SHDU, when Covid first hit we expanded into two other areas giving a potential capacity of 36 beds. We also doubled the available ventilators from 16 to 32. The maximum number of Covid patients we had was 19 with 10 of the original 20 beds left available for non-covid patients. Currently there are about a dozen patients in ICU, two of which are Covid, the overflow areas are still set up if required. I cannot speak for all the other ICUs in Scotland but I would be astonished if they had not taken similar steps. I do agree that a lot of other conditions are, whilst not being ignored, are not receiving the urgency they require. I also agree that successive governments have treated the NHS in a disgraceful manner.
    12 points
  44. Difficult to know what to say in circumstances like these, but as someone who’s been on here since the WTFC days, you kind of get to know all the regulars like a big family, and this feels very much like losing one of your own, even though I’d never met Andy in person, I follow a few ‘Well accounts on FB, and someone shared a short clip of Andy’s last trip to FP, and unashamed to admit I shed a few tears. It was pure class to see all the staff lined up outside to pay their last respects, and is the mark of a club that’s led the way in fan, community and family support over the past few years, particularly latterly in suicide prevention and in what’s it’s done for it’s season ticket holders recently. Sorry I never got to meet you Andy but felt that in some small way I knew you, rest easy mate, your ‘Well family won’t forget you.
    12 points
  45. Despite the fact he was going to join Celtic I am genuinely sorry that this has happened to young David Turnbull. It must have been hell for him and his family to suffer such a disappointment and to have it reported and dragged in the media the way it was. I hope the operation is successful and that he makes a full recovery even though we will eventually have to lose him. He's only 19 so will recover quickly and with time on his side he will get his big move. I'm also glad that Motherwell stood up to Celtic in this case and let them see they were not going to be bullied or coerced by them or their sycophantic media. I'm certain David Turnbull will have the full unequivocal support of the club and us the fans and I for one wish him the speediest recovery even though as I say, we will eventually have to lose him.
    12 points
  46. Some of our support are absolutely miles out. David Turnbull is a Motherwell fan. He signed an extension with us to ensure the club would benefit from his sale instead of doing a Hastie. Ok he has moved to Celtic. However, he has done so in the knowledge that a couple good seasons he will move on and our club will earn another significant windfall. He will undoubtedly go on to be one of the best talents to come out of Scotland in recent years. We should be delighted that he is one of us and that he got his start at Fir Park. It wont be nice to see him come back to FirPark in the green and white. But we need to suck it up and respect what he has done for us.
    12 points
  47. I just don't buy this budget argument. One of my consistant criticisms of Robinson that is he has brought in poor quality fringe players yet not used our own youth players. That in itself is a huge waste of money. Guys like MacLean, Hastie, Maguire, Turnbull, Livingstone, Scott are being paid by the club and in some cases have been ready to step up for two years now but aren't being used when we are also paying to bring in guys like George Newell, Ellis Plummer, Liam Grimshaw, Deimantas Petravicius, Stephen Hendrie, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Liam Donnelly, Alex Gorrin, Christian Mbulu .etc, who are hardly ever going to play and don't add anything to our squad when they do (or did). Put together all those wages of all those youth players and all the fringe players brought in (plus agent fees and the other expenses involved in 'free' transfers) and you don't come to the conclusion that our spend on players has been at all financially efficient. We are spending a lot of money on players to virtually no effect on the teams play, so if debt repayment is keeping us down why are we so wasteful with our present player budget? Then you can also point to us having multiples of certain types of players while lacking completely other types of players so there is no balance and a tactical inflexibility inherent to the present squad. If we have approximately 50 paid professional players at the club why is Richard Tait been playing out of position for more than a year? There are huge financial inefficiencies in the way we have built our squad and used our resources so it really doesn't cut it for me to use it as an excuse. Instead of being used to excuse it should be seen as a failure.
    12 points
  48. I have been a member of this website for many years, and I have read through a whole lot of shite in that time, but an isolated screenshot from the highlights showing two players temporarily not moving with a comment of "FUCK SAKE WHY AREN'T THEY RUNNING?!" has to be quite literally the worst post I've ever read in the history of SteelmenOnline. Impressive.
    12 points
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