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I think this is the crux of where we are at present. Whether anyone feels the board gets a free pass because of the managerial recruitment and the general perception that the club has been well managed in recent history is, ultimately, I'm sorry to advise, a matter of personal opinion. Likewise, some are seemingly quite happy to overlook ratified policies designed to protect everyone involved and provide clarity, because their personal ambivalence towards those policies appears to be directly linked to the state of our bank balance ..... £1m in the bank and operating loss "can you explain yourselves please" vs £15 million in transfer business in 13 months, "do what you like lads". You may believe that, despite those processes being in place, the ordinary fan shouldn't meddle. These are all positions I've seen voiced on this subject in the past month on both forums. But if you're going to argue that, then surely the alternative and fair position is that the 'owners' of the club should at least have been furnished with the bare minimum supporting documentation, allowing us to review it, ask questions and form an informed opinion. At the very least, it moves the discussion beyond the rather convenient position and potentially the banked on one of assuming a lot of fans will say "I'm not qualified to have an opinion on it." Keeping transfers ultra secret and family members in baseball caps and scarves is fun and welcome but for that in isolation. We were told at the AGM that the feasibility report had been received two weeks previously and that the board hadn't had sufficient time to digest it. But you're two weeks out from the one event in the calendar where you are directly accountable to the club's owners. Couldn't you at least skim it? Turn to the final page conclusions, understand the broad recommendations and provide a condensed summary to the people you're ultimately answerable to. The business we've done recently means we're at a fork in the road with true choices when before our path was very much defined for us. Reality check: in theory, we're a fan-owned club (yes, the italics are deliberate). With that comes an expectation, rightly or wrongly, of a greater level of transparency and accountability than you might reasonably expect from a traditional local businessman, whale or venture-capital. That's part of the bargain and covenant of fan ownership. And whether each individual fan personally has an appetite for that level of scrutiny is ultimately immaterial. A process was defined for matters of this nature. It was ratified, presumably for good reason, and it exists to provide protection and clarity for everyone involved. That process has, to a large extent, been ignored and a plan steamrollered. And that's the bit I find concerning. Not necessarily the outcome, not even necessarily the decision that was made, it's the precedent that has now been set. If a ratified process can simply be bypassed because, in this particular instance, it was inconvenient, expensive or ultimately could have been opposed to a desired outcome, what's to stop exactly the same thing happening again? If some recall, the club had to be reigned in when Sevco faced demotion to the 4th tier, Derek Weir and Dempster outlined the real implications for the club, but they still took it to the support/owners even if they personally may have voted the opposite way due to their roles as directors. However they then had a mandate. Once you've established that a process can be ignored because it worked out alright this time, you've rather undermined the whole point of having the process in the first place.

He scored 17 goals in 26 games for Newcastle Jets the season we signed him and had just broken into the Australian team. A team that would prove good enough to reach the World Cup via Asian qualifying. That’s not easy. When we signed him nobody on here thought it was a poor signing or that £250k was excessive. In truth folk got excited. For whatever reason it did not work out despite early promise. I remember a goal at Ibrox and a cracking strike at Easter Road. Whether it was family reasons, style of football, injury, homesickness, attitude or Managerial choice we will never know but it was certainly a signing everybody thought was refreshing and showed ambition. . His biggest critics appear to have forgotten that, or chosen not to accurately remember. But it did not work out and better for him to move on. I agree it could have happened earlier. I wish him well and would not be surprised if he is a success wherever he ends up.

I remember the £350,000 punt on Shaun McSkimming and £200,000 punt on John Hendry.......cheers big Eck

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos will continue to divide debate within the Motherwell Support for evermore. There were those who had him pegged as a donkey early doors and that is a hill they will die on. There are those who will forever believe there was a player in there and "circumstances" were all that prevented him from showing his best. As always, the truth is probably somewhere in between. He has however now moved on. And so should we. That Callum Hendry is a dud. Lets get him out the door.......😉😉😉

A quarter of a million pounds is not a punt, Theo Bair was a punt.

Of course its a factor, just like winter will be a factor, fitba on the TV is a factor etc etc...our crowds fluctuate its as simple as that and I think we'd be mental to rely on bigger crowds at any new build. Ive already said on a couple of occasions that the club should be sharing their findings with the rank and file...Ive also stated that if I can be convinced that the numbers stack up via a proper business plan then I'd be open to changing my stance.

A lot of this makes absolute sense to me. Ambitious? Yes. But achievable? Certainly. I agree about the OF tickets though. We should always maintain majority share in our own stadium. Especially a brand new shiny one like we are proposing. Giving them 8k in an 18k stadium is fine for me. We just need to do everything we can to ensure we sell out our end. It would be quite something if we could grow our support to that level. In years gone past I would have said unachievable, however, we are currently at maximum portential in our current set up, so its not inconceivable.

Sure and I can answer that, I don't disagree with the underlying point about risk. A £30-40m commitment is obviously a completely different proposition and I'd want to know exactly how it would be serviced, what the downside scenarios look like and what happens if the current level of player trading isn't sustained. My £250k house analogy wasn't meant to suggest that taking on a £30m mortgage is somehow equivalent to an individual taking out a mortgage. It was really about the standard being applied to the club: that it somehow needs to have every penny sitting in cash before it can even contemplate a major investment. Nobody buying a house says, “I can't afford this because I don't have £250k in my bank account.” They look at income, expenditure, existing assets, borrowing capacity and the risks if circumstances change as well as projected wage increases or any lump sums (bonus', inheritance, etc.) coming their way. The club should be doing exactly the same exercise. In my scenario I suggested we go from a 13,000 stadium to a 18,000 one and make those additional 5,000 seats available to a guaranteed three OF fixtures (possibly four if top six is secured) with potential for two Hearts fixtures (I don't think they'd take the full 10,000 allocation but can assume it would over their current 5,000). Over 20 years that brings in an extra £10m than we realise at present. If you wish to apply that to the mortgage analogy I illustrated, it's now like buying a £250k house on a £35k salary, finding £10k to stick a plumbed garden room studio at the bottom of the garden and stick it on Air B&B for £25k a year income. That changes the complexion of the means to repay the mortgage. To keep the analogy going if you were let go, your personal finances dictate if you get a stop gap job to keep the wolf from the door, do some side hustles or if you do a job that allow it, a few 'homers'. While a football club can't lose it's job, the equivalent is relegation. Reduced revenues demand the club bounces right back up to the top division. For at least one season we have the WS buffer fund, beyond that it gets gets tricky. However, we would also have means to earn money from the stadium outwith matches. A brand new 18,000 stadium would have a whole raft of ways to make money to keep the finance payment schedule over what we currently have. As outlined already, concerts, events, conferences, restaurant, cafe, office and business' rent, gym and Scotland U21/womens, cup finals, etc. Before anyone says we're a football club, sure, a space is rented and we take the rent with favourable access rights granted. What I've proposed to date is five fold: We maintain our current playing budget and in theory that is ring fenced purely for football operations (unlike some clubs that really have to cut their cloth to fund a stadium). We exploit the OF dominance in our area and follow the precedent set by the McLean stand in the mid 90's to fund a significant portion of the build. A new stadium offers no upheaval, relocation, or loss of income during development. The residents around FP would welcome it. We reduce our costs by co-locating all assets and 'sweat' the stadium and ancillary grounds 24/7-365. Consider new revenue streams not even on our radar or we would be capable of at present, there are so many opportunities. While I'm happy with the conclusion for some being “the numbers don't stack up, so we stay at Fir Park and rebuild the Main Stand.” What I don't think is acceptable is reaching that conclusion before the owners have even been properly involved in assessing the proposal. That's the bit I'm arguing about. I'm not advocating a £30m mortgage. I'm saying the people who own the club should get to see the numbers, understand the risks and have a say in whether the opportunity is worth pursuing. If, after doing that, the answer is “too risky, let's rebuild Fir Park”, fair enough. That's a perfectly legitimate position. But that's very different from saying “we can't possibly do it because we don't have £30m sitting in the bank”, which isn't really how major capital projects work.

You've thought this through haven't you? 😁😁 Great post pal and very well detailed

Ye big Shaun was unfortunate as he was signed as Uncle Phil's replacement plus he didn't decide the fee. Not the worst......definitely better than Davie Shanks! ( one for 1980's fans)

To be fair, I'd trust every national team selector above Scotland's.

Other than the transfer fee I raise you Omar Daly signed by his pal Stuart McCall. Biggest waste of space I think I have witnessed at Motherwell. Wonder how much he cost us in wages for no return. And again we were excited when he signed. Jamaican international and a flying machine. Apparently. The point is we sign players every season that don’t work out. Some cost us decent money by way of a transfer fee. Others in wages. Anybody remember Bob Malcolm? Connor Shields? ( currently in Cambodia). List is endless.

Miles better. I don't mind that we took a punt on AP. We need to keep looking in different markets for players. Sometimes you get a Priestman sometimes you get an AP. Just and Watt were punts that worked, and we have taken a few more this season that look like they might work out. In fact our hit rate has been pretty high recently, so statistically we're due for a couple of absolute Casagoldas. Although I see he did hit 51 goals in 87 appearances for his last club, Crossing Schaerbeek, on Belgium. So he did find his level in the lower leagues there.

Other than the KDM Evolution Trophy as it's called this season, the youngsters have no competitive games. No U20 league, no reserves. So the choices boil down to going out on loan or staying at the club and hoping for the odd first team 5 minutes. I'd like to hear more about Alfred's perspective as in his last presser he started to discuss how they had made it successful in Sweden.

I probably more than anyone banged the Stama drum but injuries just never meant he could get a run. Lone striker not suited to him. I felt him and JT were developing a partnership until....yup...you guessed it..........stama got injured. Certainly not worst striker I have seen but just didnt work out

I'm fully with you this Goggles, as I've said before. Now we could discuss ad infinitum on this thread about the actual size of a proposed new stadium ranging anywhere from 10K to 18K and all stops in between, but thats for another day. Yes, a new stadium would be very expensive but so would staying at Fir Park as you show here. Costs apart, Fir Park is now no longer fit for purpose in 2026. As you rightly say our stadium is hemmed in by a 20th century land use legacy. The footprint is very tight and limits what can be done. Specific points: * The POD is on life support and needs demolished and replaced urgently. Space for development is severely restricted by the housing near Mrs Baillies. That will never change. * The Hunter Stand at minimum needs a new roof. Its the wrong shape, with access limited to one end and as we've seen recently long queues building up on busy match days. There is no room whatsoever to expand to the east. Catering and toilet facilities are poor and always will be. The views are also poor due to the low inclination of the seating and steel supports, which result in impaired access for some. * The McLean Stand is ageing and replacement of seating is already an issue. * The Cooper Stand is probably in the best health, but the hospitality facilities are sub standard and access for disabled fans is problematic, if not impossible. * At some stage, the floodlights will need replacement but I've no idea of the cost of that. No doubt there other maintenance issues about which we are unaware. Safety standards are ever evolving and each year more work needs to be done, at considerable cost, just to maintain the status quo. The world has changed but Fir Park hasn't kept pace and never will be able to. Fans in 2026 will simply not tolerate the same standard of facilities our predecessors did 60 or 70 years ago.

He got an early start. Coming on as a sub after 15 mins