David

You have the option to put him on ignore if you so wish. If not, then leave him be. If he oversteps the line the admin will deal with him.

Honestly mate, you've had a hard-on for MJC since you got here. Enough is enough. Cut it out, or we'll need to look at moderating your posts.

A game at Livingston on that monstrosity of a pitch? A draw will do for me. Obviously, I'd rather have a win, but this certainly isn't a "must-win" by any account. It's a must-win game for them, not us.

The media especially has a job to do, and that job is generating clicks on their articles. Among the top keywords for sport in Scotland are Celtic and Rangers, so any news they can shoehorn those clubs into, they will. I wouldn't read too much into it. Quite literally!

Instead of "I agree with MJC..."? Yeah, probably.

I'm not that young either, but I'd also like to think we're leaving behind a solid community club for our children and their children. Football, for the most part, has become the game of the rich and wealthy. Bought up by millionaires, billionaires, and oil-rich nations. With very few exceptions, that is all that football fans of a certain age know. They buy their overpriced English Premiership jersey of choice, pay to have their favourite multi-millionaire mercenary's name added to the back of it, and watch their team on their large 4K telly in surround sound. Motherwell and clubs like us are different. When I go to a game with a young family member, their heroes can be accosted outside Fir Park for a photo, autograph, and a chat. Our young fans don't need to be happy with briefly seeing their favourite player walk past, head down and headphones on, behind a wall of security as they head into the stadium. Our younger generation can sit in the season ticket seat that our father or grandfather once sat in. For the most part, they can rest assured that they won't be priced out of that, to be replaced with some foreigner who's here on a "football holiday" wearing a half-and-half scarf and paying over the odds to some company that snaps up seats by the tens or hundreds to sell in packages. I like who we are as a club. I like that we employ financial responsibility and don't rely on money from elsewhere. I also like that we are very much community-based. I know that angle gets a lot of slating on here, but I like that our social media account bears the tagline that we exist to improve people's lives. If football doesn't exist to provide value and enjoyment and to improve the lives of those who follow it, then what's the point? To fill the coffers of the wealthy owners? To sell jerseys? We'd all love to win a cup, but I'd honestly much rather we had a fan-owned club that we could be proud of, and that will be there for future generations in a stadium that holds a lot of family memories than anything else. If our fanbase can only afford to support a club that ends up playing in the Championship or even lower, then so be it. I'll still be there, hoping to win the next game and pouring over the stats of our next unknown signing before writing them off and then being proved beautifully wrong as they defy the odds and come good.

It would be a no from me.

You think the players go out there under the belief that they can't win? I don't agree. Most professionals who make it to a level of the sport where they're actually being paid quite well and make a full-time living from the game are rarely the type to be mentally weak. You don't get to even this level of the game without believing you are one of the best out there. Why do you think we see our players consistently leaving for bigger clubs despite the general belief being that they won't get any game time? Sure, the money helps, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any professional-level footballer who doesn't believe he can reach the heights if only he was given a chance. Belief that they can get a result isn't the issue. The issue is that we don't have the actual quality in our team to do it for the most part. Mentality and belief can only go so far.

As others have mentioned, I think we'll find it incredibly difficult to find anyone, be it a group of investors or an individual, who would be willing to throw their money into a project without having control over said project. Add in the fact that the controlling interest isn't being held by a fellow wealthy individual or group with experience in business, but a large swathe of what can only be termed as non-business savvy individuals for the most part. What group or individual is going to find that an attractive proposition? Outwith a rich Motherwell fan who simply wants to burn some money helping a club he or his ancestors supported, I don't see it as being feasible. We can't have our cake and eat it, so to speak. We either sell up properly and entice a wealthy owner who would be the actual owner, or we continue as is.

I don't think belief is the problem. In the past ten games against Celtic, we've conceded more than three goals only three times, with six of the ten games either finishing a draw, or a win for Celtic by a single goal deficit. So no, it's not about belief. We don't tend to crumble against them. We were unlucky. When a team with less quality plays against a team with more quality, what usually happens is the higher-quality side sees more of the ball. The other side spends most of its time defending and chasing the ball, which is incredibly tiring. That's why you find both Celtic and Rangers scoring a fair amount of goals late on in games. They tend to be able to strike when the opposition is mentally and physically drained from competing with a better side for almost 90 minutes. That happens to any side in that position, by the way. It's not specific to us.

You think "bottle, belief and mentality" would make a real difference against what you admit is a significant gulf in quality?

There's every chance we see a combination similar to that at some point. Devine has only started two games for us so far, and only lasted the full 90 minutes against Hearts. He's seemingly being brought up to match fitness. Casey has played one game in almost two months, so he's got to get back to fitness. I'm thinking that Kettlewell will mix things up a bit when certain players get to match fitness.

Okay, so who do we drop? And who do we replace them with?

Kind of similar results-wise to when Celtic or Rangers play a side with a budget and quality of player that far exceeds theirs, really.

If we're honest, this game will depend on the same factor as every other game against this lot in recent times. How they play. We could be at our absolute best, but if Celtic are in the mood and at the races, there's not much we can really do. The gap in quality is too much, which is something the Scottish media don't really mention much. Unless it's Celtic or Rangers playing Man City, Barcelona, or PSG. Then we hear all about the gulf in quality and financial disparity. So, if we're at our best and Celtic have an off-day we could maybe grab something from them.

Isn't that basically what we see all the time just now?

Settle down. The moderating team deals with issues on the forum. Let's just focus on the game against Hearts in half an hour.

Calm it, Douglas.

He does. But only when it applies to teams who are playing against us.

You think he keeps Paton in games because he is "his wee pal?"

Does any other manager provide full explanations and justifications as to why they substitute certain players in games? Or start with certain players over others?

For some, Kettlewell still being Motherwell manager is in itself controversial.

I'd take a point from this game, but as has been said, Hearts are third for a reason. I don't foresee Ross County getting anything from Dundee, so there is that.

Thing is, when it comes to recruitment, the buck stops with the head of the department. He knows our budget; it's his job to find players in the positions the manager identifies. If he isn't capable, then he needs to be replaced.

I agree with that. What I would say is that if he had all of the other qualities mentioned above, and his weaknesses weren't there, he wouldn't be our manager. I'd wager that the issues he has with in-game management will solve themselves over time. He's still relatively young in the management game.