Toxteth O'Grady

No podcast last night?

Dom.

From yesterday's Herald http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/state-of-scottish-football-part-iii.119928972?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Scottish+Sports+News State of Scottish Football: Part III Gary Keown Wednesday 4 March 2015ALAN BURROWS is the general manager of Motherwell. Summer football is the only way to improve the image of the SPFL in the eyes of broadcasters, believes Alan Burrows. Picture: SNSHaving served seven years as the club's media and marketing officer, he is now operating at the head of a business that is struggling to pull supporters through the door despite having been through one of the most successful spells in its history. As part of Herald Sport's series on the state of Scottish football, he has provided an insider's view on trading in the present environment and detailed his belief that summer football can prove our salvation by earning a better TV deal and making the product more attractive to supporters. He also suggests that the game must be open to participating in revolutionary new ways of broadcasting football and forget about even attempting to rival bigger and more heavily-financed leagues. Motherwell's place on the influential European Club Association does not offer him any evidence that an escape route to England is going to open up for our leading clubs any time soon. The regeneration of the Scottish game, in his eyes, must come from within. IS SCOTTISH FOOTBALL DOING ENOUGH TO OPEN ITSELF UP TO NEW IDEAS AND ATTRACT FRESH INVESTMENT AND INTEREST? As a result of what happened with Rangers and the downturn it brought, clubs got themselves into the trenches in terms of their mentality. They were just thinking about how to stay afloat rather than attract new people. I admit that it had started to exist at Motherwell before our new owner, Les Hutchinson, came in to lift the burden. As a whole, though, we do not promote and market the game enough. Sometimes, it even comes down to the Scottish psyche. We don't beat the drum about ourselves as much as we maybe should. MOTHERWELL HAVE PUSHED HARD TO BRING IN NEW FANS, THOUGH. IT SIMPLY HASN'T WORKED. IS THERE ANY WAY TO MAKE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL A MORE MARKETABLE PROPOSITION? Last term, we finished second with a record points total and record victories and found ourselves over 1000 spectators down from the season when Maurice Malpas was the manager and we stayed up on the last day. Motherwell is a great case study, actually. Since 2006-07, we have been in the Top Six every season bar one and have been in Europe for six of those seasons as well as reaching cup finals. This will go down as a golden era, but attendances have dropped. I think it less to do with our individual club and more to do with the general malaise around the game. Peter Lawwell of Celtic said at a recent meeting of the European Club Association that we are managing decline here. It is effectively what we have been doing for six or seven years, but I still believe Scottish football can be saved. It just needs a gamechanger. It needs something really big to happen to alter attitudes and show it is not the same thing it was before. You can repackage things all you like and put new logos on them, but the public will not be fooled. For me, summer football would be the biggest gamechanger of all. If we want to move it in a different direction, we should go to a summer calendar. It allows you to market the game as a totally different proposition. For three or four months of the year, you are not competing with the Barclays Premier League. Television companies would have competitive football to fill their schedules from May to August. We cannot maintain the stubborn, traditional approach that we must play through the winter. We need to adapt and change. We know what the weather is like here. If it is blowing a gale and the temperature is minus two, people might not fancy paying £20 to sit outside for a couple of hours. There are so many other things they could now be doing. Put it this way. If you were starting football as a new sport now, when would you play it? Naturally, it would be through the summer. TELEVISION COMPANIES ARE UNDERSTOOD TO BE OPEN TO THE IDEA OF A SUMMER LEAGUE AND MIGHT ACTUALLY PAY MORE FOR IT. WOULD SUMMER FOOTBALL REALLY IMPROVE ATTENDANCES, THOUGH? I think you could sell it to supporters as something new. You would certainly be able to enjoy the game in a different environment. People can come in their short sleeves, we can make a day of it. When I started as chief executive, I spoke about building up the Fan Experience and giving people extra value for money. We spoke about doing what St Mirren have started to do in terms of having a fan tent, games on, comedy, things for kids, beer. That is all great, but it is pointless when it is minus four outside and the wind is blowing the tent all over the place. No-one can give me a valid reason why we can't have summer football.. The holidays people take throughout the year have changed. The Glasgow Fair, for example, has gone. People bring up the international calendar for World Cups. Sadly, we are at a stage where we don't qualify for those while countries who do play through the summer do still get there. Scottish teams should focus on making it to the Champions League and Europa League group stages. Doesn't it improve your chances if you are in mid-season when the qualifiers come up rather than working your way through pre-season? CHARLES BARNETT OF BDO, A LEADING ACCOUNTANCY FIRM, STATED THAT SCOTTISH FOOTBALL'S £15M-A-YEAR TV DEAL IS MUCH LESS THAN IT SHOULD BE. DO WE HAVE TO STRIKE A HARDER BARGAIN WITH TV COMPANIES NO MATTER THE DATES DURING WHICH THE SEASON IS PLAYED? Yes. We are not in a position to demand big bucks from broadcast partners, but I think there has to be more leverage from the centre and a real attempt to increase the value of the broadcast deal. I think we have to look at how we entice these companies through the way we use our product. Our broadcast partners are already flush with high-quality football. They have Champions League, Barclays Premier League, Bundesliga, Primera Liga in Spain. Sadly, we are never going to be able to compete in terms of quality of football, so how can we think outside the box and sell it on something else? Can it be sold on the increased access the companies get to the players? Should it be based on working out ways to increase crowds so that the grounds look full and there is an atmosphere? Germany have tried to do that. I think that is a better way to do it than going to broadcasters almost like some kind of charity case and saying: 'Come on, guys, we are worth more. Give us more.' If I was an executive with Sky or BT, I would ask why. We should seek to avoid being offered 'take it or leave it' ultimatums. We should be doing everything we can to work with broadcast partners and make them feel that they really do get a different level of access and feel they are important when they come to cover a Scottish game. We need to bring fans on board and do things differently in that regard as well. We should make the likes of Sky and BT feel they are stakeholders in the game rather than just a broadcast partner. Look at the things that have worked well on Sky. Darts was on its backside as a sport, but the PDC competitions are now selling out crowds everywhere and getting good viewing figures. You have the Pro12 League in rugby. There are sports that have gone to broadcasts partners with an open book and said: 'What do you want? How do you want to do this?' That is maybe something we should look at. Can we give them things that English Premier League clubs won't give them. I am just throwing ideas around, but that might be access to managers during games, increased tunnel cams, miking up people, maybe putting cameras on the referee. You watch NFL and guys are miked-up, there are interviews being done in the locker-room. It is Access All Areas. You don't see that kind of thing from our sport often and maybe the broadcasters don't want it from football, but Scottish games are up against maybe Chelsea v Manchester United, Barcelona v Valencia and Bayern v Dortmund on any given day. Our games are effectively the garnish on the main course. We must accept and acknowledge that, but we must maximise it and it involves being more organised in the access levels we give to all media. Perhaps being an 'Access All Areas' footballing product would make us unique if that is what the companies want. Motherwell have played in UEFA competition in six of the last seven years. We are given a very chunky media document which tells us what we will do and when we will do it. UEFA have seen the benefit of creating the best platform for viewers and broadcasters and forcing up standards. I believe, in Scotland, we need to have these issues of media access level put into statute. We need new rules. CAN YOU SELL THE SCOTTISH GAME BASED ON THE PLAYERS AND PERSONALITIES INVOLVED? Absolutely. The players are such a marketable asset. Kids love to see heroes such as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo on TV, but I think we forget that children here are like that with our own players. I felt that way about Motherwell players when I was young. I didn't need Messi or Ronaldo. SHOULD TV COMPANIES BE ALLOWED TO NAME THEIR KICK-OFF TIMES IF THEY PAY THE MONEY? In the race for broadcast television money, it is easy to forget that fans are an intrinsic part of the game. They make it a great, live entertainment sport, but let us not overlook the fact they are an income stream. Our supporters bring in a huge amount of Motherwell's overall turnover, almost as high as broadcast, so it doesn't need to be one without the other. Germany has games kicking off at different times, but they still pack out the grounds. It can be done. It is all about compromise. Everyone has to feel like a stakeholder in the game. Everybody won't get what they want. Maybe we still will have to go to Aberdeen on a Friday night, but would supporters be more open to that if they knew we were getting more money pumped in that would allow us to buy better players and raise the standard of the league again? We should not chase England and Germany, though. We are never going to be that. We won't get close to the money they bring in and part of that is because we are a small country. We need to find our own way. MOTHERWELL ARE MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN CLUB ASSOCIATION ALONG WITH CELTIC AND ABERDEEN. IS TALK OF UEFA ALLOWING CROSS-BORDER LEAGUES A PIPE DREAM? We discussed it at our last meeting in Glasgow. The mood I detected is that there is little interest. Clubs from smaller leagues want to get into bigger leagues. The question is: What is in that for the clubs in those bigger leagues? They have a great product anyway. I cannot see UEFA sanctioning inter-divisional leagues in the foreseeable future. There may be a future for some inter-divisional cup competitions. I would rather focus on what we can do, here and now, to improve our own game in Scotland, though. We need to make sure what we are doing at a national, domestic level is the best it can be. HOW DO WE CLOSE THE GAP THAT EXISTS BETWEEN OURSELVES AND ENGLISH FOOTBALL? There are three of four leagues around the world that are growing at a far more rapid rate than any other. It is a by-product of football becoming truly globalised and it means that leagues in Scotland, Scandinavia, Ireland and other countries are never going to be able to compete with that. It is an impossibility. We just need to take ourselves away from that direct competition and ask how we can reposition ourselves within that global framework in the best possible way. IS FAN OWNERSHIP PART OF MAKING THE GAME MORE VIBRANT AND MARKETABLE IN THE SHORT-TERM? You don't need to be fan-owned to have all the right things in place. Where we are, having set up the Well Society, we feel it is the best way forward for us, but it might not suit everyone. Fan participation and fan engagement, though, is something that all clubs would be advised to look at. The premise of the German model is based on making the supporters feel they are a part of it and giving them a product they want to watch. We are never going to be Germany. We don't have the population, for a start, but we could look to adopt parts of what they do on a smaller scale. The majority of their clubs are fan-owned and I am not saying we should go that far, but we need fans to feel part of their club whether that is through fans on the board or fan liaison groups. Clubs cannot continue to think that fans will dance to any tune they play. Supporters must be listened to.

Anyone but Straker?

Now on Official Site: http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2015/02/26/mcdonald-makes-fir-park-return/

For anyone who parks in the immediate vicinity to Fir Park, there are temporary traffic lights at the junction of Dalzell Drive and Knowetop Avenue. Plus you still can't turn right into Knowetop Ave at Taggarts. Been a pain all week.

Just received my accounts. Loss of £184,854 posted for the year. Higher than budgeted prize money was more than offset by lack of a league sponsor, little revenue from cup competitions and a significant medical bill (including 12 operations).

I'd much rather have a bookies back at Fir Park than alcohol on sale.

I'm not going to have time to listen to it today. Any chance of someone providing a quick summary?

I'm going to sneak in another one. I know most players are out of contract in the summer, but for the likes of McManus, Lasley etc, do their contracts contain a clause whereby their wages will drop if we are relegated?

Someone else might already know the answer to this, but what is the contingency plan if the Well Society fails to raise sufficient funds to repay Les Hutchison in the agreed timescale? In the long term, what does the future hold for Fir Park? Is a move to Ravenscraig a distinct possibility, and if so what is the timescale liable to be?

Other changes... http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2015/02/04/forthcoming-fixture-amendments-2/

Apologies if already posted. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/motherwell-fc-general-manager-alan-5103678 Motherwell FC General Manager Alan Burrows discusses a busy deadline day at Fir Park 11:56, 4 February 2015 By Nick Thomson Well brought in seven players in the January window 18 Shares Share Tweet +1 Email SNSMotherwell's General Manager Alan Burrows discusses the club's transfer dealingsMonday saw Motherwell add FOUR new faces to their squad on a manic transfer deadline day – but General Manager Alan Burrows refused to rule out adding even more new players to Ian Baraclough’s squad. Goalkeeper George Long, midfielder Conor Grant, winger Nathan Thomas and winger Marvin Johnson all arrived before the window closed at midnight, and they join three other January signings in Stephen Pearson, Anthony Straker and Louis Laing. And speaking to the Wishaw Press, Burrows hinted there could be more on the way. “There is still a possibility,” he explained. “Who knows what will happen in the next week or so in terms of players who are now out of contract? “This might not be the end of it.” The news of the new arrivals has been met with widespread delight from the Fir Park faithful, with the signing of Marvin Johnson from Kidderminster Harriers catching the eye in particular with the Steelmen taking the unusual step of paying a transfer fee for the 24 year-old. And Burrows admitted signing the likes of Johnson is part of an ambitious plan instigated by the club’s new owner Les Hutchison. He continued: “One of the key strategies that Les Hutchison and the club have adopted going forward is the ability to identify players that we can sell on at a profit. “We make no bones about that, and it’s one of the real mechanisms to make money within football. “Despite our really fantastic on-field success in recent years, if you look at some of our competitors, they have had an ability to sell players. “We’ve only managed to sell two in Henrik Ojamaa and Henri Anier – but not for the significant amounts of money that other clubs have been able to recoup. “So one of the areas that Mr Hutchison and the club has identified is to improve our scouting system and get players in that are at an age and a level that we believe we can make a very quick return on our investment and sell them on for a profit. Birmingham MailMarvin Johnson, left, is one of seven players to sign at Motherwell “Marvin very much falls into that category. He is a player that the people in charge of our football department have identified for a number of years. “They’ve monitored his progress and believe he can be a real success in Scotland given his pace, excitement and ability to score goals. “The case was made to the new board and what it would take to get Marvin to the club, and it was sanctioned as we believe it is a real investment for the club and he can progress and can be an asset in the next 12 to 18 months.” And despite the new-found positivity the new players and the takeover have brought to the club, the former media guru has warned against any complacency creeping in at Fir Park. He added:“The hard work starts now. We’ve got some clarity off the park, we’ve got some new faces on it, but the big aim now is to get some guys back from injury, add the new guys and hopefully push ourselves up the table. “It would be patronising for us to say it has been anything other than a very disappointing season so far, but there is still a long way to go and it is by no means done and dusted.” Drama of the day took Burrows by surprise Motherwell's General Manager Alan Burrows has told of the range of emotions he experienced on transfer deadline day. Burrows began his role at Fir Park last summer, and after getting most of their business done early, deadline day at the end of the August transfer window was something of a damp squib. But he has explained the highs and lows he and the staff at the club endured as they battled to strengthen Ian Baraclough's squad. He said: "I was there in the summer transfer window and we had most of our business done early-on. "Monday was unbelieveable though. At one point we thought we had everyone we wanted to go for, and within the space of an hour, we thought we had nobody. "It was very up and down all day and Ian [baraclough] had to pull me up by the seat of my pants a few times as we'd missed out on a target. "But then we went to the real high of managing to get Marvin and beating off some stiff competition from a couple of clubs. "The overriding emotion though after the window is a positive one. We believe the squad is stronger than what it was and we have a lot more pace and dynamism than what it had." Burrows also reckons the club's support are thrilled with their January business after receiving a positive response from the online community. He continued: "There's nothing quite like a new player to give the fans and everyone around the club a lift. "I read some of the feedback on Twitter and some of the messageboards - and usually myself and others are getting stick on there. "But last night was a pleasant read. They could see that people at the club were working hard to identify areas that needed strengthened.

Still nothing on the ownership issue?

He's suspended.

Now Sat 7th March.

McManus wins appeal: http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2015/01/08/stephen-mcmanus-appeal/

Motherwell: Twardzik, Reid, McManus, Ainsworth, Sutton, Lasley, O'Brien, Law, Kerr, Ojamaa, Watt. Motherwell subs: Nielsen, Carswell, Erwin, Cummins, Cadden, Thomas, McMillan.

Why the strange kick off time? TV games are usually at lunchtime on a Sunday.

Good to see Hammell back: Twardzik, Reid, Hammell, Ramsden, McManus, Ainsworth, Sutton, Lasley, O'Brien, Law, Ojamaa subs: Nielsen, Erwin, Kerr, Thomas, Cadden, Ferguson, MacLean

5/4 at McBookie

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/other-football/motherwell-fans-have-a-sunnier-disposition-thanks-to-caribbean-191656n.114418063 Motherwell fans have a sunnier disposition thanks to Caribbean investment WHITE knights are back in vogue all of a sudden. James MorganDeputy Sports EditorWednesday 10/12/20140 CommentsSharePrintFinding wealthy individuals willing to pour money into Scottish football had tended to be a difficult enough challenge over the last few years, without then expecting those fortunate enough to have a few quid spare to expect nothing back for their investment. As Rangers fans have repeatedly discovered to their cost over the past few years, anyone putting money into a football club of late tends to then take it back with a few extra zeroes added on to the end of their cheque. The antidote to clubs being run into the ground by individuals or companies motivated solely by commercial gain has been to deliver them into the hands of their fans, the sole group whose intentions are almost always entirely honourable. Making that transition, however, can be an expensive business, with supporters rarely able to make the sort of up-front payment needed to assume majority ownership. Some kind of hybrid scheme, where wealthy individuals provide the initial capital before eventually handing over the running of the club when their money is returned without profit, is the ideal solution, although finding those with both the means and the motivation to get involved is, unsurprisingly, a nigh impossible task. Hearts, though, have struck it lucky and now it seems Motherwell are on the brink of following suit by unearthing their own kind-hearted sponsor. Going into administration offered the Tynecastle club the chance of a fresh start and thanks to the benevolence of Ann Budge, the multi-millionaire IT businesswoman and Hearts supporter, it has become a reality, with the club set to be owned and run by its fans via the Foundation of Hearts in the not-too-distant future. Now Motherwell stand on the brink of something similar. Offered the opportunity to assume the 70% shareholding of former chairman John Boyle should they provide certain financial guarantees, the Well Society, a community group, have been trying for the last few years to raise the necessary sums. Just when it looked as if they would fall short of their target - thus allowing another alternative bid for the club by an Argentinian consortium to take precedent - the fans' offer is now set to go through thanks to the intervention of one expat. Lanarkshire-born but now a Barbados resident, Les Hutchison was made aware of the Well Society's plight and will now - similar to what Budge did with Hearts - effectively bankroll the purchase of Boyle's shares before eventually transferring ownership to the supporters once his investment has been repaid. In the interim, Hutchison will take control, although he not expected to be as hands-on as Budge is at Hearts given he will continue to be based in the Caribbean. The takeover is expected to be formally announced in the coming days, alongside the unveiling of the club's new manager. The wish now is that more clubs will find a way to follow Hearts and Motherwell into fan ownership. A committee of altruistic and wealthy businesspeople who look fondly on ailing football clubs could hold their meetings in a telephone box but Andrew Jenkin of Supporters Direct hopes the adoption of what is known as the German model - where supporters retain a minimum of 50%+1 share of the club, and other individuals or businesses subsidise the rest - could become an established practice in Scotland, too. "I think what Hearts have done and Motherwell look set to emulate will become increasingly popular," Jenkin said. "The problem any fans group faces when they want to take ownership of their club is access to funds. Those groups, though, are now becoming quite business-minded in that they can attract funding from private investors, and then use those funds to realise their ambitions. "We would always want 100% ownership by a fans group in an ideal world, but the reality is that it's very hard for any supporters to generate by themselves the levels of money needed. What we're coming across more is the German model that sees supporters combining with businesses, but with supporters retaining overall control. There's no one model that fits all, and every club has its own set of unique circumstances, but a mixed funding set-up that utilises both business and supporter revenues would seem the best way forward." Jenkin is heartened that, despite having an alternative offer to consider, Motherwell chose to move forward with the bid from the fans. "That is good to see," he added. "You are always assured that supporters have the best interest of the club at heart. You are guaranteed a safe pair of hands taking the club forward and that was maybe something that came into Motherwell's thinking." The only problem is finding more individuals with the same sense of community spirit as Budge and Hutchison. "It's good that these people are wanting to be involved with the fans groups, rather than just purchasing the clubs for themselves or for any personal interests. They want to help supporters and by extension the local community. If they're not looking for anything other than to help out before eventually passing the club on, then that's great to see. "We're still in the early stages with the Foundation of Hearts but it's certainly encouraging. There's certainly no reason why schemes like this shouldn't work. "Unfortunately the reality of Scottish football means there aren't too many people lining up to buy our clubs, or those who can put their hands in their pockets and not ask for much back. But hopefully what is happening at Hearts and Motherwell will encourage more to do the same."

Now on BBC http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/30422285

Solano now touting himself for the Hartlepool job: http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/sport/football/hartlepool-utd/ex-newcastle-united-star-nolberto-solano-up-for-the-challenge-of-saving-hartlepool-united-1-6993656