StirlingDosser

You're absolutely correct if we are aiming for the investment to be for the playing squad, but we have to modernise. If we were taking in say 300k a year investment (which is on the low side), that could allow us to gradually invest in modernisation of infrastructure over the coming years without impacting our current player budget. At present, any major 'patch up job' which needs done (of which in the future there will be a few big ones given the age of the Phil O'Donnell Stand for example), will likely lead to cuts to the recruitment budget.

I didn't blame the Well Society for a lack of investment in facilities. I pointed out that it has happened and needs addressed, and that is unlikely to happen under our current funding model. I'll just skip past the insult.

Okay here goes an essay... As this progresses I find the society even more amateur and backpeddling from its failure. If the Well Society wasn't a failure this discussion wouldn't even be happening. The society are a group who have done very little in my view in recent years until the prospect of some external involvement knocking them off their perch. Saturday's Well Society day didn't convince me otherwise. The additional attention and focus they received on Saturday was considerably greater than our average match day sponsor (so I hope they stumped up an additional payment to the club for advertising, like we would ask of any sponsor). It can't be attractive to any investor I have to say when the organs of the club were promoting the alternative to investment throughout the day. I was at Fir Park for the first time in a couple of years due to working abroad with a group of mates who support other provincial clubs and discussed all the politics of this probably in more depth than the match. When you are away for a while and come back it shows how we are falling behind the pack very quickly in terms of our facilities, budget and resilience. Before anyone gives us the "well rollercoaster" or "punching above out weight" lecture, let's look at three other clubs similar in size to us. Dunfermline - relegated and not come back. Falkirk - just spent 8 years in league 1, lucky to still be on the go until their recent turn in fortunes - with the help of a blend of external investment and fan support Dundee United - the yo-yo club of the decade. If Motherwell were in the situation of any of these clubs we would struggle to maintain ourselves without a shadow of doubt. All three of these clubs have different models and I accept that. But our budget and working capital differs to these three clubs as a result of top division TV money and away ticket revenue only. Our overall home ticket and commercial income is likey on a par. The additional investment is necessary or we will join that club, or likely be in even more of a right rope year on year financially than these guys as no fall guy would be there to cover the losses. The Club needs to build a pathway towardsa substantial modernisation of our facilities and corporate operations. Our main training facilities are rented, our players are bussed between two sits for their training and we have a stadium which is in dire need of replacement once sentiments are put aside. We are simply no longer attractive to companies for corporate days or hospitality as we have such dated infrastructure. Once we have modernised infrastructure the club can start to widen its income and stability. The external investment at Dundee is being laughed at but I think long term as their project takes shape they will be the ones laughing. Unlike Aberdeen's new stadiums which have been proposed about 40 times, this genuinely seems to be making traction. We need to watch this as a "what could be" rather than looking at what is going wrong/has gone wrong elsewhere.

I actually can't believe we've put that out. We would be absolutely rinsing any other club serving that up. Absolute red neck. I certainly hope we haven't paid "Scotland's leading advertising agency" for this, hopefully it was a charitable gift.

Lesson learned. No quick posting when pissed off 😂.

That'll be three points chucked through absolute stupidity. With the space and possession given to Hibs the last 20 minutes hell mend us.

A big crowd rarely seems to do Motherwell any good, quite the opposite actually.

Our board aren't amateurs. Derek Weir has significant professional experience, more than probably most on this board. He is doing the Chief Exec role to fill in, nothing less. Mcmahon likewise. However he in my opinion has not held certain personnel to account in the manner required of a chairman in recent times. Douglas Dickie, in fact the continous presence of a member of the Dickie family for the last 20+ years when I think of it, has me scratching me head. Why is this chap always there and what is his role? Genuinely open to being educated on the matter but why, after so many years, do this particular family still hold significant influence over the club. Is their shareholding that substantial?

😂

St Mirren must have some sort of record for knocking us out cups...

43 years ago? Pretty traditional.

I'm in the white shorts club, they make it look a bit more classy. One thing I insist on (and I wouldn't buy the shirt otherwise) that it has our club crest and NOT the MFC lettering from yesteryear that was "reinvented". We stopped using it for a reason...

We had Champmans pies back in the Gannon season. So they are capable, or were, of producing the quantity needed for a match day.

Watching on the online stream. Our commentator getting torn into the referee big time throughout the match but Nick Walsh 100% was nowhere near the reason we lost today.

This is what happens when we don't take our chances. Fair play we have been 1 up most of the game but this performance today just isn't on a par with what we have seen recently.

I looked at who was on the board last night and notice that Douglas Dickie remains on the board meaning that family have had an almost consistent presence as long as I can remember. Can anyone explain what he does for the club as its not overly known? Did the Dickie family not transfer their shareholding to the Well Society at the same time as Boyle/Hutchison and the other minor shareholders? I'd agree with some earlier posts over looking at the structure of the board. It is a little bit small and could do with some additional presence on there. Whether we need a director of football specifically though I'm not sure. I don't really see the benefit of that as at the end of the day the function of the business is football. If we have department heads for each of the clubs activities (Academy, First team (aka manager), commercial, catering and facilities) then they are directly accountable to the board fo the running of their respective operations.

Just waiting the Alexander fan club analysis of tonight's showing

Not expecting this to be comfortable at all. We have no right for it to be either. I actually think Thursdays game will be challenging and we may even concede, eventually settling into the tie. Just pure speculation as I don't know the first thing about their squad. Then I query which Motherwell squad will turn up - the one who ground out a result against Hearts or the one which dragged its feet through January and February. Any word on how ticket sales are going by the way?

Thinking about all this and possible dates, are we going to be able to play our home tie at Fir Park with all the work ongoing? Would hate to be going to Airdie again.

It was emotional as a fan, this gentleman has given everything to this club through thick and thin. A genuine love for the club, along with the passion that has been missing since he (and Hamell) hung up their boots. I'm used to hearing the older generation talking about "their" set of Motherwell legends, this guy is undoubtedly one that our generation will talk about for years to come. Best of luck to him, and I hope it's not the last we see of him.

I'm all for a hybrid pitch but if the figure of 2 million quoted is what's being thrown at it I can't say I'm onboard. I'd go as far as to say it's absolutely nuts.

Huge difference between Robinson and Alexander. Robinson had a rapport with the support I've never seen previously with a manger or since. It felt very much like a journey together and many, myself included, were genuinely gutted when it started to fall apart. Alexander does not have that luxury, nor does he have the perception of love for the club that Steven Robinson built up over his time at Fir Park. His attitude genuinely stinks. This talk of Alexander's wholesale change of the backroom team concerns me, if this is indeed true then the empire will be harder to bullet financially when we are sitting in the bottom three in November.

I wish I was Graham Alexander. Doing absolutely feck all every week, not acting on objectives for improvement and still being paid without fear of the sack.

That's unacceptable. Business as usual. Run right through us, easy goal.

Sevco winning the EL has me laughing. That won't happen. The fact they have reached the semis is nothing short of remarkable combined with the fact they have had very very lucky draws and a few nightmares from the likes of BD on their side. In all honesty I struggle to get my head round wtf each place means for Europe etc now. Am I right by saying 1,2,3 and 4th all get Europe automatically with 5th getting in if the cup is won by someone already qualifying?