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I emailed the club after the Genk game to complain about the new pod seats, i subsequently received a phone call this afternoon from Brian Caldwell who explained the difficult choices the club faced in the pod to get the stand compliant for the HB game. He explained that for a host of reasons mainly the limitations of the pod in its current form it was a straight choice of either not using the seats in their old form, for the Euro games, with the resulting loss of revenue and relocation of ST holders that involved, undertaking extensive remodelling of the pod seat profile and reducing seat numbers to get new flip seats or go with the seats we have fitted now. So it seems that what we got was the only viable option open to the club, given the timescales and limitations involved. I think that the "new seats" will be with us for a while, but from what i was told i suspect that replacing the pod on the current footprint may be the preferred option, as i say thats my opinion, so i could be wrong. Having said all that it was nice to have some personal feedback on a complaint raised from the CEO, thats a good way to run a business so long may it continue.

... his big team got pumped last night

They could beat us 4 - 0 and I still wouldn't be embarrassed. You need to try and separate other people playing football from your own self-esteem.

March goes through precinct then up Windmillhill st normally

If its a yacht then you could finance a new stadium. If it's an internal cabin on a cruise ship then enjoy your cocktails.

Probably get my nose bitten off as you aren't allowed to criticise them but I hear bois are doing a walk tomorrow to stadium which will be great and well supported.....however....can you leave the flares at home? I know we have plenty cash but we cant keep paying out fines for flare displays. Get that drum and vocal chords in full flow. Thats best way to support us. COYW

The independent report into the OF pitch invasion is pretty damning for the SFA. It basically says that they are not using their powers consistently and I think there is an implication that they are far too lenient on the Old Firm in particular. In this particular situation, the two tier policing of Motherwell and Derek McIness could not be more blatant. McInnes comments were said in anger on live television in the immediate aftermath of a highly volatile ending to the match at FP. His comments were heard by millions. They were inflammatory and clearly called into question the integrity of the officials. Watt posts on social media to a considerably smaller audience, a comment that may question the competence of the decision but not the integrity of it and his punishment is worse. You cannot get a more direct and obvious comparison. The SFA have had time to consider this response and will know themselves the discrepancies in this decision making so you have to come to the conclusion that they simply don't care.

Gutted I didnt think of those 🤣

I can relate in some way to what you say. It is not a personal embarrassment for us as supporters or individuals because we have no input into the final outcome but I can understand why more generally the result could be seen as an embarrassment. Hearts 4-0 defeat last night is embarrassing for Scottish football generally. Hearts were a dodgy penalty decision away from being champions of Scotland last term. Scotland's display in the WC was embarrassing for us collectively as a nation. Motherwell have lost to part time European teams in the past. I think for the club and for the full time players involved in these games, it is embarrassing. Motherwell were a breath of fresh air last year and I would love to think that JBA and the team showed that there is another way and that they can compete in European football. It would be a real shame if we were to fall at the first hurdle. Having said that, HB are a full time outfit (I think). It will be a very tough game tomorrow.

Not sure bud, think starting in town centre

Both Longelo and Maswanishe took part in the latest training session on official site. Surely suggests both will take at least some part tomorrow night

I and others have tried to illustrate that a new stadium offers significant revenue boosts to cover the cost. Staying at FP isn't doing up the 60 year old POD, as soon as that's done it's addressing the 33 year old McLean (roof and seats) then onto the Hunter which is essentially a terrancing shed with a 60? year old structure and roof. By the time that is all done the Cooper will need work. Fir Park very much is the Forth Bridge, by the time you finish painting it, you start again. I'd venture that by revamping the POD, the associated loss in premium revenues, the upheaval, the temporary fixes to allow us to continue hosting games, then fixing the McLean and the Hunter in turn, we're easily looking at £5m beyond the cost of the POD replacement which I still contend will be a nightmare in planning and consultant/architect/lawyers fees.

Well technically he got a four match ban with one suspended and I don’t think what he said was that much worse, he said it was “disgusting” which is more or less what every Motherwell fan was saying about the decision. However I would like to see us as a club asking why he was served a four with one suspended whilst our player was given a straight four game ban. The fact that Watt is no longer our player is irrelevant, it was handed down to him whilst he was and he was perfectly within his rights to question such a ridiculous decision.

Nervous anxious and hopeful. C’mon the well! 3-1 to the Well. Cookie Fadinger and Said with the goals. This side will be sharp with good connections and a strong familiarity. To my mind the game for Said to give them a problem. Beat the first man and lay off a pass into the space caused as other opponents move to close him down. hopefull and positive

Most of the summer leagues are trying to avoid their unplayable winters. Ireland is the exception, but they wanted less competition from their more popular sports. I remember on a different thread I put together a list of all the challenges of playing a 10+ month season with off-season being the winter. I won't repeat them all in this thread, but a big one is the ever-expanding Euros and World Cups taking place every other summer. So teams with international players are going to be deprived of key team members for 5 or 6 weeks in alternate years. If the intent is to be more competitive in Europe, the Conference League for example, has ties scheduled in December and February. The Europa League has ties scheduled in December, January & February. So any level of success would mean a 12 month season including winter. Logistically it might be easier if there were less games in our season, but I don't see clubs voting for that either.

The gaffer said

I see what you did there. There was somefin fishy about it.

Ohhhh behave yersel

I'm in favour of summer football for most of the reasons you outline. There are a few things I don't know and maybe wouldn't know without further digging and the actual implementation of it. First, how would a March till December league work with the practicality of transfers? We get a mid season window here for a month but imagine one is 3.5 months long which could affect cohesion and momentum. Would we struggle to attract players for three months till mid-December on late August deadline day? Maybe they'd be thrilled at Xmas off and January in Dubai but they also could not be happy at 17 months straight football and no summer holiday, how many League One players would want to join us in mid-May with 50 games already under their belt from August the previous year. Our preseason business would limited to one month only and at a time when the pickings are slimmer than in the summer, from the start of February you can't affect things in any meaningful until mid May. I guess with a number of Northern European leagues already dealing with these there are answers to a lot of this. We're pretty unique in the Uk for a Northern European country that we can't wait to get abroad when we have the best chance of good weather at home. In Scandinavia it's nowhere near the same culture, while not universal they tend to vacation more on shoulders of summer and deep winter. So attendances and revenue may be hit here. Could the shortfall be made up by a better TV deal with Sky and the SPFL having zero competition for UK audiences for 3.5 months every second year. In the year we transition, mid May league finishes .... what do we do until March the following year? There would have to be some sort of mini tournament to keep those teams in Europe ticking over. In WC and Euro years to use this summer as an example, the Scotland squad reported a few days after the final games and were released three weeks ago. Raskin a fortnight ago, when do we go back to a full schedule, FIFA/UEFA have blackouts and player burnout would have to be considered. However, I think the upgrading FP/Move thread has shown, there's a strong reticence to change and breaking the habit of winter attendance, what has always been known/a thing. I'd suggest the majority of Scottish football fans will operate with a hierarchy of how does it affect me, my club, national team, wider society ... all in that order. Beyond that, Scottish football decision makers and administrators have shown it is full of silo builders and the epitome of parochialism. We can't even agree a consensus on colt teams in lower leagues, reserve and U21 football or anything else for kids development that comes from a Henry McLeish report commissioned after a Scotland failure and national moratorium. With so many +65 guys called Hughie in blazers in almost every Scottish football club there is zero chance we can get the numbers required even if presented with a business case that is a slam dunk change and our fortunes. "Wee Ne'erday dram, down the Ex Serviceman's, OF match, up the road for steak pie. No way I'm not giving that up"

I wish I was confident enough to be able to plaice a sizeable bet on us being able to seal our progression after the first leg. But I cant be the only sole harbouring doubts. Hopefully our new keeper can catch a few. Cod only knows how we will get on in the away leg if he cant keep it out the net! Hopefully, it goes ok as Im sure our recruitment team are continuing to trawl other leagues for new players!

Jambos. Fixed it for you

Declan Gallagher joins Airdrie. If ever a club suited a player. He's also assistant manager, which I'm sure will work out an absolute treat given how successful his spells as captain with us and Ross County were.

After Stjarnan and Sligo in particular, I will never take us to be strong favourites in a Euro tie ever again. I think because they are match fit and because we have a fairly makeshift starting 11 at the moment this is a 50/50 game.

I like that top, impressed

Aye, but in order to stop being "continually shite" we need to look at the reasons for it. Our coefficient means clubs like Motherwell enter Europe at the early stages. We play those ties in preseason basically, often with half a squad, new players being integrated and limited competitive sharpness. We lose, gain very few coefficient points and return the following year in pretty much the exact same position. Our opponents have played 16 games or so at this point. This time last season, if we were going into European football, we'd be fielding the kind of team that beat Stenhousemuir 1-0 a few days before and was heading into our friendly with Hertha. Just had been with us for less than two weeks, as well as Longelo and Said. We were 16 games into our league season on December 6th, and had just beaten Livi 3-0 and hadn't lost a game in nearly two months. Imagine if that team was the one that was going into these early European ties? I don't know about you, but I'd be a whole lot more confident. As things stand, I absolutely do not expect anything to change. Us, and clubs like us, are nowhere near ready for European football at this stage. We need a really good draw to help us, otherwise we'll likely trip up and fail against a team we'd have a really good chance of beating if we were up to speed.

Right in their faces from the first whistle, move the ball quickly and press high when not in possesion, and try to get the tie done at Fir Park, its knockout football no time for cautious play and holding back.

The glaring answer for a club our size is to employ the same advantage that other clubs of similar or smaller standing use in countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Faroe Islands, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan and others. Summer football. Start our league between late February and early April, then finish between late September and early November. It's actually pretty interesting when you look at the teams from those summer leagues who have essentially turned that advantage they have into part of their business model. There's about 3 million Euros to be made by qualifying for the group stage of the competition we're in just now, I believe. Add on TV rights, higher attendances and prize money for performances, and you're talking about a decent chunk of change. The much-discussed Bodø/Glimt have gotten it down to a fine art. Even before they were well-known as the club they are now, they were able to regularly make a decent fist of it in Europe because in qualifiers they would catch the August/September to May teams cold. Those wins resulted in financial windfalls that they then used intelligently, of course. Rinse and repeat. It's why we see teams like them, Molde, Malmö, Djurgårdens, and even the likes of Shamrock Rovers do reasonably well in Europe. Clubs our size are never ready for these games, and we have to try to find a way through with a patched together team that involves players who might be eyeballing a move away from the club, who've just signed for the club, and a bunch of kids. Throw in the new manager effect and it can go wrong really quickly. But we'll never go down that route. Because it makes too much sense.

Out of interest what would the maintenance costs over 30 years be, if we remain at Fir Park? We'll start with demolition and replacement of the POD then the Hunter Stand.

Think that was a brand new stadium in Camperdown?

He'll need to work on that accent out there unless he likes saying everything twice.

The usual Euro non-event/embarrasment for us at Fir Park. 0-1