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That bloody idiot Kettlewell can't even organise the weather for a big game. It's not as if he didn't know this game was coming up. It's stupid mistakes like this that prove he's not going to have long left in this job. Ooot his depth !

Aberdeen game was decent, Rangers game was good, Dundee Utd game was great. All recent matches. I've been going for 40 years and it's always been the case that if you went to a Motherwell match it was more likely than not we wouldn't win or wouldn't play well. Motherwell are a team you support. It's not an entertainment event. You have to have the stomach for it and you have to have realistic levels of expectation. If you don't, Rangers and Celtic are just down the road. And of course the standard of the game has regressed massively over the time I've been going but that's mostly down to economic factors that extend across the whole of Scottish football and most other nation's football. It's not dross every week but it is a lot. That's just how it is and it's not going to change. So you either have to accept that or move on. Every single person here would love it if Motherwell played better football and scored more goals and won more games but that's not the reason you go.

Did ye, aye ?

That's not what happened though it is? And I think you know this and not for the first time. I let all of them slide despite your best efforts to get a rise because it is pure energy vampire stuff. The constant twisting of what actually happened, needing to be at the centre of everything often devoid of any salient points, citing you don't have issues with anyone while having a long rap sheet of those perceived to have wronged you, hijacking of threads or taking them off on a merry tangent and not being robust enough to take a joke or be corrected without crying foul. All combined, they landed you in SteelmenOnline jail until recently. I'm glad you cite P&B, you rocked up in the St Mirren matchday thread a few weeks back and ... surprise surprise ... binfire. To the extent the St Mirren fans with no preconceptions or knowledge told you to take a break with the standard eyeroll. You demand anonymity yet lay out your life story in along with your name in unsolicited DM's. You cite being stalked, yet your online and real world actions fits most traits of that behaviour. You claim to be chill and water off a ducks back yet you prickle at everything. However, the most vexatious action is the twisting of the truth to fuel your grudges. Time for a long hard look in the mirror. You must also not have been paying much attention last summer, but I keep receipts. The DM's you cite were forwarded to Yabba and another moderator in their entirety because I knew I'd need to keep my powder dry because you simply can't help yourself. So get your wee rant typed up littered with the well worn victim stuff and sympathy fishing. Don't DM me, don't slander me on Facebook and don't continue to bring a sword to a gunfight. To everyone else, apologies for this, this is a football forum after all for conjecture, debate and most importantly humour. Just straw/camels back ...

Just listened to the interview from start to finish and it’s fair to say, it was a tough listen. Kettlewell has in my opinion at least, really let himself down here and in the long run, will have done himself no favours. He is clearly a very intense guy. From the day he arrived, he talked at machine gun pace using flowery words that didn’t quite fit with what he was saying. That intensity only ramped up the deeper he got into the job and his levels of personal investment increased. Of course football management is a uniquely demanding role. It demands so much of your time and energy away from the Matchday, often influenced by factors outwith your span of control and attracts critique far beyond what almost any other vocation should expect. Having coached youth, first team and held director of football roles at Semi Pro (Isthmian and national league level) clubs in England I can personally vouch (though on a much smaller scale) for the levels of pressure associated and the impact a life at the sharp end of football can have on you and all those around you. Kettlewell talked about not reading the socials and working all hours and then coming home and seeing the sadness in the families eyes and using that as a driver for quitting. Every manager has that, and given that he has a family “like the Waltons” his chosen vocation and its hours worked, will also be a huge source of pressure. By choosing to work those hours, he will be choosing to miss some of his kids younger years. His choice, his guilt, not the clubs or the fans. Fan abuse is often ill informed and when in that space, often feeling extremely unfair. However, I’d bet the mortgage that the reason Kettlewell chose to walk was because…. - He’s a naturally intense guy who’s response to things going badly is to throw himself further into his work - This then brings a “I’m working my arse off here, what more do you want?” mindset. - He was bringing this mindset home with him (he says he’s an aggressive person) and it was impacting on the family dynamic. - The family begins to resent the cause of this Gollum side to his personality (his thankless employer and fans he seems to love more than us) - The slightest bit of poor fan behaviour witnessed then gets jumped on by the family because they’ve become hyper sensitive to criticism. - Kettlewell knows he’s running out of ideas and perhaps realising that hard work doesn’t fix. The fella has one maybe two opportunities left to prove himself as a manager that can stay the pace without completely losing the nut, burning himself and his family out and resorting to the blame of others. His decision to do that interview reeks of a wounded ego that doesn’t have the self awareness to recognise just how much he has to change.

Thanks for the sanctimonious post that has become your trademark but go and tell that to the numerous hangers on ive seen today including very young children holding and waving ulster flags while their alleged parents obviously the worse for drink sing " no surrender " The description of them in a previous post was accurate. The bigotry between the blue and green uglies is Scotlands shame and has no place in modern society.

Bore off 💤

You can criticise SOD for his performances if you like, but to criticise his attitude towards the fans is way off line imho. He takes plenty stick but has never bitten back or disrespected us publicly. He has certainly had his fall outs with managers , but we have all been crying out this season for players who will challenge the manager and not just sit silently and accept what is happening. Personally, I dont think he has been great for us over the piece, but nowhere near as bad as some make him out to be. Thats not a great defence for him and its difficult to see how he keeps his place in a high pressing team, but lets keep it factual.

I think the 'abuse' bit is a convenient scapegoat. He's realised he can't turn this round so he is going now to protect the legacy of the good things he has done, unsullied by a potential relegation battle, now leaving a club that has backed him to the hilt in the transfer market managerless with only a week to go in the window. That Daily Record piece could have been written by SK himself, all the positives, none of the negatives.

This forum is exactly the type of place for these discussions to be had by fans. The whole concept of sharing opinions and information on topics of shared interest is the very reason why such fora exist. At the end of the day, this is a ‘fans’ forum, and nobody is forcing the manager or players to read our thoughts. This is not the open terracing where folk often shout unnecessary and viscous crap at people trying to do their jobs, which is a whole different story. So, if robust and colourful debate on the suitability of Kettlewell as manager is too much for some, then that’s not the problem of the forum, it’s your problem.

Ewan Wilson signs a new deal until 2027

I don't think anyone is questioning his commitment to the Club or the record of the work he's done alongside McMahon which is overwhelmingly positive. He says as much in his statement; the Club is being left in a secure financial position, setting up the WS as majority owner etc. What he neglects to mention in his statement is that he was willing to throw a lot (if not all) of that work away over the summer to bring in an investment which (blatantly, imho) was a terrible deal for the Club and would completely undermine, or even remove majority fan ownership. £300k for immediate effective control and Chairmanship of the Executive Board to someone without any previous experience of running a football club? Surely he can see the irony in that, given what he's said about the Society's sub-committee in his statement? The Society has put in triple (I think probably more) that in its time and not gotten anything other than a nod of thanks in the accounts and at the AGM. He has tarnished his good work with what happened this summer and with this final statement. I'm sorry, but you can't play down just how serious his actions over the summer could have been for the Club. The WS as majority owner has every right to interview who it wishes to appoint to the Executive Board as its representatives. The fact that he resigned as chair of the WS board because the opinion of the majority didn't agree with his own and subsequently remained in his seat on the Exec Board which was to represent the WS as a majority owner until now, is an absolute nonsense. To then to have the gall to expect he retains this seat effectively "just because" of his previous record absolutely reeks of cronyism and is everything that's wrong with Scottish football as a whole from top to bottom. There's a dignity in accepting that you've lost with grace and good wishes. This isn't it.

Hi Anja and Chris. If you can contact me on derek.watson@thewellsociety.uk, I'll aim to get that sorted for you ASAP. Looking forward to seeing you both at Fir Park in December.

Well aye, that’s also a point. An Instagram story of a Bobby Sands mural followed by one of King Billy doesn’t suggest any political leanings but that doesn’t suit the narrative. If you wanted to dig up political posts from today, they could have highlighted when I was critical of the Scottish Government on rail fares but again, maybe that doesn’t suit the narrative. If we’re going to talk about club representatives being political; Jim McMahon appeared on BBC Question Time (or maybe it was Debate Night) whilst he was in the role. He was also pictured campaigning for Scottish Labour whilst Chairman. I should add that I’ve absolutely no issue with that whatsoever, but it’s worth highlighting. Is it that we don’t want people associated with the club posting about politics or we don’t want them posting about politics that you don’t agree with?

I wish him all the best. A genuinely nice guy and nice speech wishing club well and thanking the fans . SK take note.....that's how you leave a club with respect

Given that fan conduct is a hot topic this week, you'd think that at least one outlet would question Celtic fans proudly singing IRA songs in a City which was the location of a high-profile terrorist incident. Not a peep though 🤷‍♂️

would be rather ironic if we did seeing as Liverpool paid for the current Main Stand with the sale of Ian St John to them in the 1960s

What a dumpster fire this thread has turned into 🤣

You’re a fucking weirdo.

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

I might miss this game as it’s ANZAC day Friday long day starting at dawn for Dawn Service so up at 0400 muster with me mates after service have a gunfire breakfast an hour later getting ready for the parade then back to the club for two-up and the usual routine I have been known to be MIA for a couple of days…. Anyway COYW Lest we forget

It could be argued that its most important function has been to protect the club from the actions and desires of its executive board members last year.

Do you think a football club should live outwith its means? If not, it doesnt matter whether the club is fan owned or not. Its the job of the club board to raise and expand existing revenue streams so we have a bigger budget to work with. We have a new chairman, directors and a CEO to deal with that. Its the Society's job to generate sufficient cash reserves to ensure that should the time come we have a big enough overdraft facility to satisfy the governing bodies and deal with any shortfall from operational revenues (apologies for any clumsy terminology, Im not an business person). Any investor is looking for a return on their money, its not free cash. Thats why Im 100% against any investor having majority control of the club as they could literally bleed us dry. Nothing wrong with encouraging investment thats a win win for the club and investor, but thats a whole lot more difficult to find. I would have thought after last summer we might have put all this kind of chat to bed. Its been less than 12 months since we saw off Barmack. Look at the changes that have occured structurally at the club during that time. I think those responsible need a little bit of credit for that and maybe a bit of support in moving onto the next phase?

No Motherwell fan hates Rangers more than they love Motherwell. Some hate Rangers more than they hate Celtic though, and that seems to get up your nose, or at least under your skin enough to make comments like that. Halliday is playing better because he is being used properly in a system that he can contribute to. I think we can all unite and get behind that, no? 😘😘😘

I doubt Casey got close enough to his man for a proper bust up.

I find the perspective of some of the comments on here regarding the disallowed goal and SK reaction to the decision a little strange. We are allowed as fans to be biased in favour of our own team. It is part of the game to look at the world through Claret and Amber specs. Rangers have made an art form over decades of putting pressure on match officials so that 50/50 decisions get viewed 55/45 in their favour. They have piled on the pressure since the league cup final and it has gained traction in the press. This is designed to make it more difficult for match officials to decide against them in future games (particularly the next OF game). They do this because it works. No conspiracy, no agenda on the side of the referees, it is just human nature to balance a decision on it's potential repercussions. The question I would ask is had the roles been reversed would Oxborough have benefited from the same decision in the same circumstances when the score was 2-0 or 2-1. I don't think he would because it would have been a tougher decision for the VAR officials to make. That is just the laws of human nature and it is a law that the OF are very good at working to their advantage. I welcome SK showing the passion, the frustration and standing up for his team and his club. I find it odd that some don't seem to share his passion given the Motherwell bias that is our right as subjective, irrational football fans. In a different circumstance, the goal could have been given. You can guarantee that had Rangers been disallowed a similar goal they would make plenty of it and another strongly worded statement could have been making it's way to anybody who would listen.

Folk acknowledge and support the good things that the Bois bring to games. Long may it continue. Perth last week being a great example of the atmosphere and support they can provide. Drum included. And the community work they have driven through various initiatives over the years. I have not read one poster decrying those contributions. Quite the opposite. But what I do see are a few, no matter what is reported and no matter what people who witnessed incidents say, refusing to acknowledge that the Bois actions at times are over the top and on occasion a throw back to the intimidation and violence of years past. Any mention of the incident in Dundee (which did happen), the trashing of a pub in Kilmarnock (which did happen), the street battle in Kirkcaldy (which did happen) or the threatening of a female Well supporter at Dingwall (which did happen) are met with 'That did not happen' or ' Get the facts straight'. To be clear, I and the people with me witnessed three of those examples, and a mate witnessed the fourth. No-one can deny pyrotechnics are an issue as well. Or does that not happen either? It may well be a small minority who are causing the trouble (I genuinely believe it is) but sadly the whole group then comes under the spotlight. If some have wrongly come to the attention of the Police and the Club have been involved in that, then that is wrong and needs addressed. As a separate issue. The fact the Bois are supported by some who are in complete denial and/or have influence within the Well Society only makes matters less likely to change and provides encouragement to continue the nonsense.. And it's not an age thing either, so let's knock that lie on the head straight up.. Another tactic used to deflect from the fact that there are issues which need sorted. Back to what I understand was an incident free Perth. There was a huge Police presence around the stadium and a large number of Stewards inside. May always be the case at St Johnstone of course, but from memory it was a lot more than usual. Interesting to see what police numbers turn up at Aberdeen. Are Motherwell now High Risk?

I really dont know what this team and manager need to do to please some folk. We were far from perfect today, but we dominated the game for 60 minutes, shoulda been outta sight before Levein spun the wheel with his subs, scored and goal and gave us a nervous 10 - 15 minutes. After that we dug in, got ourselves back in the game and deservedly scored the winner. For all our faults (and the managers) this team has something. Previous Motherwell teams would have found a way to lose that game. This one found a way to win it. If you cant be happy with that you need to find a different hobby. Given our injury list and fixture schedule, I would have bitten your hand off for 7 points at this stage. We now have a couple of weeks to rest and recuperate. Hopefully one or two will be closer to a return and the manager can get some fitness into the legs of those that need it (looking at you Tony!) Overall, it was a pretty decent day out.

Also today such a great victory as tomorrow is 10 years since my dad passed away, huge well fan and reason I became a well fan even though a hamilton lad born and bred. He would have loved that today ❤️

Last home game they were singing 'Fuck the Police' when at that very moment the police were getting bricked and assaulted protecting the most vulnerable people in society from fascists and racists. Embarrassing and genuinely shameful. A bunch of daft wee boys who are entitled up to their ears and never had any adversity in their lives. The problem with these Ultra groups is their unbelievable sense of self importance when they represent a small minority of the support. For most of the time I've supported Motherwell that end section was empty and it didn't make a jot of difference to me. Support the club sure, no one has a problem with that, but if you break the law by your own volition at least be big boys about it instead of whiny kids.

Australia's pretty far away

Signing risky players is a product of the limited market SK has to shop in. Young players that show potential but have not performed yet are a risk. Bair was a risk that worked. Good quality experienced players that but for a few injuries would be completely priced out of our market are a risk. Louis Moult was a risk that did not work out for Stevie Hammell. He then did work out for Dundee Utd. Veteran players that have reached the end of their careers that we could never have dreamt of signing when in their prime are a risk. Callum Patterson may be an example of that. Andy Halliday is a risk that I still think could go either way. Remember we missed out on Robert Snodgrass a season or two back. A perfect example of a player we could not have afforded but for the fact that he was in the twilight of his career. He did not exactly set the heather on fire on his return to Scotland so even he would have been a risk that may not have worked. Look at Van Veen going to Kilmarnock. It was a risk that did not work and I would imagine it was a fairly expensive one for Kilmarnock. Let's say that Ryan Jack is training with us and SK can see in training that he is significantly better than the midfield players we have. He is gaining fitness and stays injury free The option is there to offer him 6 months/ 1 year. Would SK really be off his head to consider this? I think the problem sometimes with the arguments you put forward wellfan is that you fail to recognise the significant restraints that Motherwell and SK work under. SK has to gamble sometimes. It is the nature of being financially one of the smaller clubs in the top league.

@Mintymac, absolutely spot on. Any membership organisation is only as strong as it's members to an extent and it's more than important than ever that we all push forward collectively to grow fan-ownership and the football club. What I've been really impressed with in recent weeks and months is how many people have came forward to offer their skills, expertise and time. It's really important that we utilise our membership. We've got over 4,000 members and we need to find out what people can bring to the table. That doesn't necessarily mean sitting on a board or attending meetings every week, but it could be lending your skills to a project, giving pointers or opening doors etc. As a Society Board member (for now 😊), I'd like to thank all members of The Well Society who engaged in the process regardless of opinion. It’s been a costly, time-consuming and emotionally draining exercise, but this has been fan-ownership in action It’s energised members, improved communication and boosted numbers. In my opinion, it’s a really positive time to be a Well fan and I hope everyone can start pulling in the same direction. Attention now immediately turns to delivering, alongside the Chief Executive and a new club board, on the strategy set out in our plan. We've also got the opportunity for members to join the board with elections in the coming weeks. If anyone is considering standing and would like to discuss what that may entail if you are successful, feel free to reach out. Another reminder that our Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 12 August 2024. I'd really encourage all members who can attend to sign up and come along. If you’ve not already, please consider joining The Well Society, or if you are already a member please consider upping your subscription. Happy to answer any questions.

I'll try to summarise one of the best points I heard from a board member.... At the moment board members are sacrificing time they could be spending with their families or on their careers to contribute to the Society and club. Members are contributing money they have worked hard for. if Barmack's deal goes through any time or money put into the Society will be a free contribution to Erik Barmack making a profit on his investment. Why would anyone want to do that?

I think there is a need for the Society Board to be very careful and diplomatic throughout all of this; they're a very public face of a very public opposition to something the Exec Board is pushing. I think resorting to calling out/naming and shaming wouldn't be in their best interests; it would just fuel the fire of those opposing them and give them more ammo to paint them as "daft wee lads and lasses who aren't business people". Being professional and doing things in the manner which they're doing them demonstrates an incredible level of control and dignity. They're also going to stand up on Wednesday and take questions and listen to their members/fans; something the Exec Board aren't willing to. That speaks volumes to their character and belief in what they're presenting. Edit: I think by all means we as fans/non-board members can call out the hypocrisy of certain ex-board members and others, but I think the current Board are handling themselves brilliantly.

Folk really need to stop saying the Well Society is not fit for purpose. The Well Society previously was not fit for purpose because it was set up that way by the incumbents on the club board to get the benefit of of the money raised but without the interference that would come with true fan ownership. The fact that Society Members have had the temerity to vote individuals onto the Society Board who might actually want to change that and have a real say in the running of our club appears to have brought a lot of this to a head. Its clear from detail given that McMahon has been pushing this deal and that Barmack doesnt want to be inconvenienced by a rejuvenated Well Society trying to influence any decision making. He appears to have been assisted by Dickie and Feely in this regard which is a clear conflict of interest. How else can you explain a proposed deal with 1 side putting in £1.95m over 6 years and gaining 49% of the club whilst the other side puts in £1.75 over the same time period to lose 25% of its existing stake? Barmack also gets effective control of the club from day 1 for only £300k and an 8% stake due to his chairmanship and board appointees? The deal is ludicrous and should be chased. The new Well Society Board have only been in place since October. In that time they have done their due diligance on this and are putting together their own proposals to strengthen the club going forward. They are all all Motherwell fans with the best interests of the club at heart. They have a diversity of skill and experience. They deserve a chance to show they can can do better than the ones who got us to this point.

Or he could have just signed for Rangers (or somebody else last week), received a signing on fee/salary and let his new Club collect the £100k+ Uefa payment. So yes, win win. But he deserves credit for making sure Motherwell do not miss out.

I'm not really sure what's hard to understand. We didn't do well last year. We played poorly for much of the season, and aside from Dundee who took a beating from teams following the split, we were among the highest goals conceded teams in the league. In fact, I think we were joint-worst outside of the bottom two. The defence was a problem. Even the most optimistic fans can see that. This is why it makes little sense to approach a summer when we would have the opportunity to revamp the defence by re-signing many of the players who caused our defensive issues. By re-signing O'Donnell, McGinn, and possibly Mugabi, we would now have those three, along with Blaney and Casey, under contract. What scope does that leave for significant additions to the defence beyond a couple of loan players? If we go into the new season with largely the same individuals in defence, and we start seeing the same results, then it only makes sense Kettlewell will be under pressure from the off. I could understand that if we had to go back to those players later in the summer after failing to get other players in, but that's not the case. We offered Mugabi, O'Donnell and McGinn new contracts as soon as the season finished, so how do we know who we could and couldn't get? 100%. Which is why wasting money on players like Mugabi will see questions being asked, and rightly so. This situation has nothing to do with investment. It concerns our immediately offering new terms to players who didn't perform well last season.

Me ,I'll be renewing

Personal view is the 'Scottish International' bit skewed expectations. If' he'd come up through the ranks , never got to Scotland squad I suspect there would be more positivity towards him. This is a local lad who we signed from a fellow SPL club back in 2020 and for 5 years given his best. He's about to be 33 years old and no longer has the engine to get up and down the flanks. Being part of central defence doesn't seem the natural fit as he does switch off. I much prefer him moving forward. Given he's aging and been around the club for 5 years, lives locally etc I can see why he's been extended for another year. A very decent squad player. Robinson, Alexander, Hammel, Kettlewell and now Wimmer have all wanted him around, between them they've seen enough , shame not all fans feel the same way but I generally believe this is more about expectations than what he's delivered.

The more he continues with this, the more he's blackening the clubs name and laughing in the face of the folk who supported him to the hilt when results and performances were awful, and those at the club who backed him even after he departed. It's a funny thing, but he was a manager that I didn't have a huge opinion on, he done some good things, some crap things, had moments of success and large periods of pish...he waffled a lot, but I felt he was more often than not, a good representative for the Club. Any good work he done on the clubs behalf has been forgotten now by the majority of the fans, and the poor work he done pails into insignificance by his behaviour since the day that he resigned. His narcissistic traits have poured to the fore, and his all out attack on the clubs fans have only been a tactic to deflect away from the fact that he was simply struggling to find the answers to get us out of the rut that he has left us in...the number of players we have currently signed at the Club is absolute testament to the fact that he had lost the run of himself. His current self-promotion and publicity is designed to get him a gig elsewhere...and sorry to say, I hope it fails miserably.

I’ve been watching us now for more years than I care to remember and have to agree with your sentiment. I feel our club is in poor custodianship right now. Well-meaning people they may, be but utterly lacking in knowledge, skills and know-how as to what’s required to run a professional football club. Where are the changes and the investment that the Well Society were touting about when they railed against the potential US investors? For me it’s been downhill ever since and with no sign that anyone at the club has a handle on how to turn things around. The fans are now beginning to vote with their feet as shown by our attendances. Today we had 3,973 (couple of hundred from Dingwall?) and now regularly around that mark. Today Falkirk had just under 7,500 and Raith Rovers had about 3,800!! Poor attendances, a real live possibility of relegation which would lead to a drastic fall in revenues, no investment on the horizon. Sorry for being so negative but I think it’s a very bleak outlook for our club.

Kettlewell is a decent manager for our level imo. I like the drive, enthusiasm and passion he's shown for our club and the job. He has shown that he isn't afraid to make tough decisions when it comes to recruitment in and out and also that he will stand up for our club and staff in the face of criticism. He won't get everything right but what manager does? Even old Fergie made mistakes in his career. Our league position is good and long may that last. Yes, the team can be inconsistent but that's what you get at our level and it's what keeps us coming back week in week out. Up the Well.

Will we win 2-1 and have all the usual suspects on complaining again ? Or will we lose 2-1 and have all the usual suspects on complaining again ?

Remember when we were a bit disappointed at losing 1 - 0 to Borussia Dortmund away, and ultimately seeing Paul Lambert join them on a Bosman? At least Celtic won't have to worry about any German interest in their players.

Saw Louis didn’t celebrate at all when he scored, still a class act.

We've finished 3rd and played in Cup Finals under that model. 300 grand a year from Erik Barmack isn't going to change anything on the park.

On this particular deal? It really depends how the MOU is structured (assuming there is one), and how any NDA's involved are framed. It could be that the club and Society aren't legally allowed to discuss the intricate details of the deal. Barmack, for all that he's being active on P&B, isn't actually saying all that much of substance. I've been reading most of what he's posted, and the only takeaway that I've got from it all is that he's come to his valuation of our club by using a rough approach that involves what Newcastle United is worth and that he's trying hard to sell himself as an honest guy with our best interests at heart. Which may be true, by the way. I doubt it, though. In my experience of dealing with investors and VC over the past ten plus years I have found that these guys aren't coming in and burning through the one commodity that they treasure above all else, which is time, to pursue a deal where they don't get much upside. That's simply not how they work. I find it hard to believe he simply woke up six months ago and decided he wanted to work with the fan ownership group at a club he'd never heard of before, all to help said club consistently finish in the top six. There's an end game here. And that's not a bad thing in itself. But, I'd much rather work with an investor who lays it all out and says "This is what I'm proposing, and the reason for that is because the club will benefit in X way, and I'll benefit in Y way, then I can move on to the next investment opportunity a richer man, and leave you guys in a better position." Again, I'm only going by my experience, but when investors start talking about "enthusiasm," "working alongside ordinary supporters" and so forth, especially when that kind of language is used without an actual plan? It sets alarm bells off. At the risk of sounding like a bit of a prick, do fans really need to be able to under the technicalities of the following to know it's a bad deal? The plan that has been suggested at the moment, from what I can see, basically consists of the following: Barmack "invests" £1.95 million over six years. For this, he will receive 49% ownership, with 8% ownership from the beginning The Well Society has to invest £1.35 million over six years. For this, we will lose 25% of our shares. Barmack also becomes Chairman with the deciding vote in any tie. So, he invests £1.95 million to see an increase in shareholding to the tune of 49%, while we, the fans, invest an additional £1.35 million to lose 25% of our shareholding. I've never been involved in any business deal where that kind of thing is suggested. Ever. Why? Because it's ridiculous. In any normal business setting, it would be laughed out of the room, and the party suggesting it would be roundly ridiculed. Oh, and on top of the above, we also need to agree to write off 50% of our loan to the club to the tune of £434,000. That is money that fans, including pensioners and people who are not well off, have paid to the Society in good faith, by the way. Almost half a million pounds of our money, just written off. Gone. So, with all of that said, what do we get in return? A multi-page business plan that shows why we need him on board? An exciting vision of the future under his chairmanship? No. We get talk of "infrastructure and long-term strategic projects rather than short-term player acquisitions" and incredibly vague chit-chat about "increasing broadcasting revenue, seeking additional investors and utilising artificial intelligence." Do you want to know what I think? I think that the above would be considered derisory by any competent board in the world of business. But, Barmack has found a well-run entity that's involved in a league that is looking at an uptick in TV and sponsorship money coming over the next five or so years and has realised it's "fan-run." Which, in the mind of an investor and businessman from Los Angeles, as the club board keep describing him, means that it's run by simple folks who won't understand all the technicalities and who, in his likely view, are simply too fucking stupid to understand exactly what all this means. He wants the club on the cheap, and not only that, he wants us to actually pay for much of it. If you add in the money The Society would be losing on top of the contributions we'd need to make, it would actually mean that our total financial contribution over the six years would be £1,784,000 for the privilege of losing 25% of our shares, while he contributes £166,000 more than us over the same period for an increase in 48% of shareholding. You want an honest assessment? He thinks we're mugs. And sadly, going by some of the responses I've seen, he's correct to an extent. I always feared that while fan ownership is a good thing, it does leave us open to business predators who simply see an asset that is owned by a large group of people who, for the most part, aren't business-savvy. As he said today on P&B: "By the way, I think the offer has a better chance than many of you do -- if you follow politics closely, as I do, you can see examples on Twitter and message boards of a block that clearly don't like a proposal or politician, and are certain that their points are unanimous, only to see the quieter side of a voting block feel differently. As one touch-point, there was a poll on Twitter about our offer, and I believe it was 30 for / 70 against, and I think you have to consider a bit who's voting on a Twitter poll to realize that the fan-base might be more divided than this thread suggests. So, I'm not throwing in the towel." You're damn right he's not throwing in the towel. This could be one of the more lucrative deals he makes in years. Not because the club generates large sums of money but because he's basically securing a top-flight football club for less than the price of a three-bed house in Wishaw. I don't agree. The reason why he's pushing for this deal with us is because of the decision-makers and structure of the club. Could you imagine him going to someone like Roy MacGregor with an offer like this? Or even better, let's send him round to speak to Anne Budge and Hearts with a similar offer. So no, he knows that if he went to another club that was owned and run by someone from the actual business and investment world, he'd get laughed out of the building.

No chance. She has spent the whole week asking the same idiotic questions over and over in an attempt to create the impression that the club is in some of crisis situation if we don't get immediate investment. She has spent almost her entire time on the board trying to derail any conversation about this takeover attempt.

Reading some of these posts about how garbage our players are really has me thinking about which team folk think they are supporting!! We can't simply go out and sign Virgil Van Dijk (although folk on here would be suggesting he is sh*t and past it as he is in his 30's) our players are going to have limitations, its a simple fact. People throwing comments like "disgusted" at players being signed on again need a dose of reality!!!!