weeyin

The authorities conferred special status on them by creating a League that allowed them to play 4 OF games a season. They then conferred a 2nd special status to them by granting them automatic entry into the bottom tier. The other clubs granted them special status by allowing the voting structure to remain in favour of the OF. There's not a whole lot we can do about that as fans except complain and/or not go to matches. So given the above, all this particular discussion boils down to: if we are forced to have this mob in our league, should we care if we can't make a similar amount from them as our peers? The stupidity of the split, and the voting system and the TV payments, and the prize pool and the media domination are much larger issues and unlikely to ever be addressed unless we see the day when the bigot twins leave the SPFL.

Exactly. With a club like ours, you need a rich fan who is happy to run the club at or around breakeven, with no expectation of ever making a profit. Otherwise you might end up with an asset stripper who will sell the ground and piss off to Colombia before a new ground is built.

And some superb players too. That kit looked great under the floodlights.

Guys like Ross McCormack and Dom Thomas were released. As was Skippy. There can be all sorts of reasons behind it. Not all bad.

Boyle tried forever to sell. The issue he had was finding a buyer with the club's best interest at heart.

Did the business deals involve betting on black instead of red? One of my favourite ever players to wear a 'Well shirt, though.

Are there any Exit Trials for posters?

Of course Rangers are a special case. The TV broadcasts have changed this season (no live Championship matches) and we have to deal with the ridiculous split every season just because the league and the TV companies wanted 4 OF matches. Not to mention the unfair distribution of cash in the game which, again, is entirely due to Rangers (and their ugly sister).

TBH, I'd rather have us take a punt on another Moult or Fletcher type signing than on Erwin. I know only one of the two worked out, but it showed the kind of imagination that a club like ours needs in the transfer market.

The entire split was created so that the OF were guaranteed to play each other 4 times a season. So there's that,

That's an inevetible side effect of manipulating to suit the 'bigger' clubs.

So in summary: SPFL manipulates fixtures to suit OF. The split is mince. Pope Francis rumoured to be Catholic.

Cue the "Motherwell Dick Tait defence" headlines.

My thoughts, too. He didn't come into the club until he was 16, and we get a few quid in the bank for moving him on. He may have done better to follow the Jamie Murphy route and end up at Brighton as a first team choice, or he may kick on to great things sooner. I don't think we did too badly from the deal, though. EDIT: And I know I broke my commitment of not reading this thread until August, but when I saw the deal confirmed on twitter, I thought I'd jump in.

Ah, fair enough. I made good on my promise and stopped reading that thread.

Surprised nobody has commented on 'Flow's promotion to Chief Operating Officer. I was in the "dubious" camp when he was appointed as GM, but I think COO is an ideal role for him in the club. Congrats all round.

You don't even get a pension boost in the NASL. Even in the top league, only a few players get top dollar. The vast majority are on salaries less then $100k per year thanks to the salary caps in place.

At his age? Absolutely. Same reason as guys like Cadden improved from their loans rather than playing non-competitive U20s.

And what lots of young players need to realise is that to earn more money in the long run it's often better to serve you time and learn your craft first and boost your earning potential. It's a bit like getting a degree or serving an apprenticeship. Hone the skills first and your career earnings will typically increase.

I know I've said this before, but I always feel slightly let down when Julian talks about flights. I have a mental image of him driving his cab hundreds of miles to every game.

Every summer I swear I won't read this thread until the new season kicks off. I think I have finally been persuaded to stick to that.

"Fair" only if you completely ignore the part that reads "While I think we have a great chance of getting through the initial group" Still that was in the 2nd sentence of a 2 sentence post, so I can appreciate why he might not have reached that part. Probably either exhausted from the effort of reading the first sentence, or had been overcome with blind internet outrage by that stage and missed it.

Aye, the fighting at US sports events is rarely reported. Happens all the time, though and, even worse, in some cities when teams win or lose big games (even college teams) it can result in riots in the streets with shop windows being smashed, cars turned over and the odd shooting. Tanked up Steelers, Jets, Knicks, Rangers or Browns fans are not averse to kicking off.

Steve King was always one of my favourites. Scary to see Gordon "Night" Mair, The Rile and Ruby Murray beside each other.

No.