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You dont half talk shite! 🤣 Given you must be a titan of industry, i am waiting patiently for one of your many business interests to come in & give the club a much better offer than whats on the table. Then you will be in a great position to set club policy on leave, transfers, comms etc. We will be the envy of all

Or to view it another way, we have a club and management team who understand how important family is and are happy to provide the opportunity for our players to support their family during an incredibly challenging and stressful time, whilst also getting to take a break?

It's not, by any stretch of the imagination, a Motherwell strip. It's like we are going to have to watch a different team for all of next season - but not in a good way. Honestly it's terrible and it gets even worse when you see the shorts and socks.

Scotland are shite but I don't think the players needed their big brothers to hold their hands. The message is clear. Supporting Scotland at the Euros is more important than playing for Motherwell. The players know they are on easy street at Fir Park which is why we get served up so much shite.

Aye, I think looking at raising money outside membership is critical; there's no reason we can't be speaking to local or international companies/firms etc. for £10/20/30/40k sponsorship deals a season for the club/investment into the WS or Club where they can bring specific pieces of information, skills or products to support us. I'm not convinced full time employees are the answer if we wish to retain the status quo from a WS perspective; there needs to be a clear line between the role of the WS and the role of the Exec Board/Club management. If we're asking the WS to do more of the work which the Exec Board is (supposed) to do like looking for investment, increased sponsorship, local partnerships etc., then I think we're moving into different territory in terms of roles and responsibilities, which would need to be explored. The WS should remain as it is for me, essentially raising rainy day money up to a certain point (let's for argument say that's the magic £750k number, or round it up to £1m); once it reaches that total, anything over and above that raised can then go to the club as additional funds or as a soft loan etc. to add to transfer funds, or to cover loan costs and so on. Also, there's no reason that the WS can't start to use its membership more; there's thousands of people there; many of whom will have very good business acumen/skills and experience in areas which can support the Society with its targets and mission. It doesn't necessarily take a full time team to achieve that, with the right people in the right places. I do think that some sort of overall Secretary/Executive type role would be beneficial, to keep things ticking over and monitoring progress; although the existing governance structure would point to that being the Chairperson(s) of the WS Board. I think there's been a bit of a mashing together of roles and responsibilities over the last few weeks/months and I think it's a narrative that's been driven forward by the Outgoing Chairman; the WS and its Board/Members aren't responsible for the day-to-day operations of the club and its ability to raise monies through investment, sponsorship or otherwise, nor should they be. The fact that the Exec Board didn't appoint a CEO for well over a year shows that the ball was very much dropped; the kind of leadership the Club could have had over the last 18-24 months with someone in place would have changed our current situation drastically; we can't ignore that. Although, for the record, I think that Brian Caldwell is the right man for the job; i can remember one or two of the previous shortlist not exactly inspiring confidence. It feels very much like a rewriting of the way the club has been allowed to drift unguided over the last 3 or 4 years (go and take a look at Vietnam91's latest post to see the kind of Outgoing Chairman we have). They should absolutely have input into that; for example, if a proposed sponsor or investor is an arms company, I doubt that would go down well (there was a recent case of that in Germany with Rheinmetall and Dortmund where it went through and the fans weren't happy). The structure has been to this point that the WS would be in the background with the Exec Board making the strategic decisions when required, with day to day run by the CEO and others. I think consistent top-6 and cup runs is definitely achievable and is actually well within our current means; we've shown that in the past. I think a lot of that is down to squad building and having relative stability at the club; we saw that with Robinson and McCall before him. On your last point, outside of X/Twitter (which, frankly, is to be expected, it's a vile place) I haven't seen much of the venom/belittling. I accept there's been a few testy replies on here and P&B (it's a very emotive subject, after all) but for the most part it feels like it's been done in good spirit.

MJC just got excited

I thought nothing could be worse than the mid 90s jester kit or the 22/23 abomination but that tops it. Absolutely utterly howling and yet again we p1ss about with our vintage and classical home colours. And before anyone says “who cares what we play in” I care! I want to see my club playing in its traditional home kit. Absolutely awful.

Again, an outstanding reply!!!

1913 - 24 comes close Not my favourite, but doesn't even enter my top 5 of worst kits (or top 10 if we include away kits).

It’s been a while since I’ve bought a home top but I’m tempted by this one. I’d rather the white trim was finer but overall I like the C&A split. Decent effort.

If it's a homage to that strip they were after then the Queen of the South away strip from 2018 was a better effort.

Very ‘pish stained mattress’ like…

Normal service has been resumed

You are such a wordsmith

I didn't think the last few weeks could get much worse - now they've managed to top it. Thankfully I'm not the "target audience". Its boggin'

Have e mailed to get clarification on what happens if 35% not met

Nah not for me but can't please everyone

The white trim, and my usual moan the sponsors logo ruins it. Just a plain claret and Amber top and for me it's a decent strip. With the white trim however it's hideous.

Apparently Steelboy is good at admin.

A very eloquent response with some good points which is where the discussion should be going, on your questions :- £25-30K isn't great but its something, Id hope with a renewed vigour we could get into 6 figures somehow with extra donations and investment. Id say the WS need full-time employees as that way the sole focus is on driving forward rather than trying to find the time to do so. Progress for me would be consistant top 6 and cup runs coupled with decent signings year on year. Now I fully understand that even with major investment none of the above is guaranteed but some solid optimism every year would be nice. You say we have achived this several times in the last 10 years but lately and certainly in the last 3 years we have regressed with football that at times has been difficult to watch. When I say they have done a decent job, I say this due to raising the funds they did, however to caveat that, Id say it was the fanbase as a whole who were united and most entities could have done exactly the same job as the WS given the cicumstances we as a club were faced with. I have little faith in them as they have been mostly silent for a number of years and stagnated, HOWEVER I am willing to wait and see what plans they have to drive us forward but I think some full-time workers with a degree of strength are a neccessity to have some focus. The divided fanbase was always going to happen but the degree of venom and belittling at times has been poor to see. We all want Motherwell to be a success story and can have a difference of opinion.

Just to make a couple of points and ask some questions on this (also; by no means having a go here, just interested to hear your thoughts on what you've said!): - If a couple hundred people signed up to £10/month on average, that's an extra £24k a year. Add in others who pay in a bit more, you're probably anywhere from £25k-30k increase. That's good! - I would agree with this; they have stepped in and helped when they can but the "so far" thing is now seemingly down to being stifled by the Exec Board and others, I would argue. That means there's definitely scope for the Society to do more with a fully collaborative/bought in Exec Board and Club management structure. - What do you define as "progress" for Motherwell? Consistently mid-table/the odd cup run and foray into Europe? If it is that, we've done that over the last 10 years. Recently we've had two/three poor seasons, down to bad decisions made at the Exec Board level in terms of managerial appointments and not replacing the CEO properly for over a year. This is not the fault of the Society. - You've said the Society have done a decent job so far and no more, yet say you have little confidence in them; why? I assume you'd be willing to give them a chance to prove to you "wrong" as it were? - The divided fanbase is an interesting point; I definitely think there are "sides" in this whole debacle, which is exactly what you'd anticipate given such a polarising issue, however, that's always going to be the case. There will always be people dead set against it or for it; and they tend to be the most vocal. I would say that I was very much in the "I'm intrigued by this and interested to see what is proposed" camp before everything was published; having now considered it and everything that is continuing to come to light (check out Vietnam91's latest on P&B, it's particularly eye-opening about our Outgoing Chairman), it's absolutely not the right deal for the club. That doesn't mean there's not a "right" one out there and that it can't be found by a rejuvinated WS/Executive Board working together rather than at odds with each other.

Totally agree, most workplaces in the UK would have granted time off for such an occasion, Motherwell FC are no different

No matter what the WS do, they won't increase the membership by a significant amount, we have a small hardcore fanbase, they may in the short-term increase it by hundreds but long-term I personally don't see it. The WS have done a decent job so far, no more than that and if people are happy to consistantly sit bottom 6 or even be relegated then we can continue as we are. For Motherwell to progress we NEED outside investment, maybe not the offer as it stands just now but we should be looking at ways to raise our profile abroad and at home. I have little confidence in the WS personally no matter how well meaning they are as an entity which is why we see our own fanbase divided right now. I am however full of optimism as we are at least having the discussion on how we move forward.

By growing the membership and hence donations, seeking other revenue streams, etc. I'm not suggesting a large payroll 1 maybe 2 paid officials would be sufficient, or if that fails call steelboy he seems to think running a company etc is easy.

New captain who didn't turn up for the start of preseason. Perfect for Motherwell.

4/10 still better than Captin Crosses Kelly.