joewarkfanclub

Id take SOD over Ralston right now. I think both players have their limitations at international level but at least SODs is getting plenty gametime this season. Ralston barely features at Celtic these days with Arajo and Donovan ahead of him. When Johnston comes back he will be even further down the pecking order.

There seems to be a bit of polarisation starting to appear which I dont think is helpful to the debate. Its perfectly feasible to want to move to a new site whilst pointing out the difficulties that would present. Its also perfectly feasible to want to remain at Fir Park but accepting the limitations that presents. Finances, willingness of the local authority and other outside agencies to co-operate will all be huge factors in whatever decision the club eventually make (or are able to make). What is for sure, is that doing nothing is a non starter. I think we need to accept there are no right or wrong answers/opinions in this and circumstances will dictate. Hopefully we get to see what the feasibility study says fairly quickly.

The bars wont make a lot of money if everyone is driving!

Shhhhhhh!

Im all for that. I trust the board will be doing everything they can to keep him. If ever there was a Motherwell manager that could ask for whatever they want, Jens is probably about as close as it gets. If we sell Maswanhise we dont really need to sell anyone else in the close season. (Caveat being we would need to source a replacement to support Eythor). If we could guarantee the rest of his team was kept together for a proper tilt at Europe, then maybe, just maybe......

Thats more like it! Feeling much happier now! 😆😆😆

It was described as an "Open Contract" the terms of which are not known, but some with knowledge of these things described as a normal employment contract with a notice period on either side. Basically we wont be getting big compo for him. If a club comes in that he fancies he will be allowed to talk to them...... Im pretty fine with that. We had no way of knowing at the start whether he was gonna be a success or not and he has made us plenty money already on increased gate money and prize money. Not to mention the other sellable assets we now have in the squad.

Awe FFS! 😆😆😆

I wouldnt say Im not sentimentally attached to Fir Park as Ive been going there for over 50 years and will undoubtedly be a wrench if and when we have to leave. However, Im also a pragmatist, so while it would he nice to have the finances to remain and modernise what we have on the existing site, Im also open to moving to a new site, and not necessarily Ravenscraig, although it is the obvious alternative and has the emotional attachment to the club by virtue of it being the site of the steelworks. The deciding factor for me will always be the long term security of the club. Which option best serves that best whilst allowing us to remain competitive on the pitch? I guess the answer to that will be in the feasibility study. Hopefully we will get the boards view in due course.....

Not to mention to stay competitive enough to stay in the top flight....

Agreed. And if we have to build on our own, with no help or support from outside agencies, thats what we will end up with. We have done well to get control of our club and get a young enthusiastic forward looking board in place that reflects the aspirations of the support. We also have the prospect of some serious finance coming into the club by way of player trading / prize money coming soon. A good decision now sets us up for the future. A bad one can have us back scrambling around to make ends meet.

I think the problem with moving to a new stadium is the lack of joined up thinking when it comes to national or local government and the political will for urban regeneration. Without this becoming a political post (its hard to avoid) its been more than 30 years now since they shut The Craig and we are nowhere near to realising any re-generation of the site. The fault of that lies at the feet of governments of all persuasions both at Westmister, Holyrood and locally. My preference would absolutely be a new purpose built stadium at Ravenscraig. But we would need buy in from government and local councils to ensure that planning allowed for railway lines, roads, bus links, retail and leisure infrastructure that could support the project as part of the bigger venture of re-generating a community long left behind. In the absence of such co-operation, the club is left to try and generate the revenue required to build something fit for purpose, whilst allowing us to remain competitive on the pitch. Thats a big ask. Looking forward to seeing what the feasability studies say, but my feeling is that the path of least resistance will be to demolish and rebuild the POD. The other 3 stands can be maintained in the short to medium term and a new POD would allow us to generate further revenue and bring down some of our costs. Not gonna be an easy fix, but a league win and Champions League money might help! 😉😉😉

The POD joining in with "Stand up & Sing For Motherwell", songs being started in the Cooper and North end of the Hunter, were just a few of my favourite things about yesterday. Said absolutely "bodying" their giant centre half, when he tried to bully him was another. Glad Watt had a quick word in his ear afterwards, but absolutely love how Ibi doesnt take any shit!

MaraDonnell! The re-birth is quite something!

Dundee look to have improved quite a bit from earlier in the season. They gave Hibs a real run for their money today. Tough game, but these are the ones we need to win if we want to be taken seriously as title contenders. On a positive note, their pitch looks great, so our players should enjoy it a bit more than the surfaces they have played on lately, including ours.

His effort to get back goalside near the end to keep the clean sheet was immense. As was Manny's tracking back during the same move! Great teamwork! 🧡❤️🧡

Thought Fadinger was very good. But given how critical I was of him last week, Ive voted for Slattery. Worked really hard and cut out any nonsense, including the lazy passes he is prone to playing. Everything he did was positive. He can enjoy his Saturday night knowing he was a very good team mate!

I think it shows how far we have come as a team when you leave the ground slightly underwhelmed with a 2-0 victory over Dundee United. I thought we were pretty good first half. Controlled the game and limited them to one decent chance. Created plenty ourslves and should have really scored a few goals. Had no idea what happened with the penalty at the game, but from the highlights their defender clearly elbows JT in the midrift, so think its a fair enough shout. Got lucky with the finish for the second goal, but given the other chances we created (and missed) we probably deserved it on pressure alone. Was disappointed how we finished the game. We got sloppy with our passing and made some pretty bad decisions. A better team might have taken advantage. Overall though, great 3 points. Thought we had gears to go and can certainly play a lot better. We might need to next week.

Certainly not from our side! 😉 I look forward to seeing the highlights of the St Mirren game with some anticipation! 😆😆😆

If I was dropping anyone it would be Priestman. He doesnt deserve to be dropped, but he is a huge asset to bring off the bench with 30 minutes to go. He is the most natural replacement for Watt, and protecting him after the 60 minute mark would be smart imho. The alternative is go same again and bring Fadinger on after 60 minutes for either Watt or Slattery.

I wouldnt. Much as I though his reaction to the incident was embarassing, did him and us no favours, I wouldnt give the St Mirren fans still greetin about it any encouragement! He has had the waggy finger. Time for the arm round the shoulder. (And shove that new contract in front of him 😉)

100% Win the next 2 games and we show we have developed into a team that can win the games they need to. After that, we need to go to Glasgow and win. You cant win the title unless you can win in Glasgow (apparently)......

Only Hearts (3), Celtic (3), Killie (2), Falkirk (2). After that we have never lost more than 1 goal in any league game. Thats bonkers.

1 defeat in 19 league games. And even that was the game at Ibrox where we should have had at least a point. We have only conceded 5 goals in the league since the League Cup semi final. Thats 17 league games. Given we have only lost 18 league goals in 27 games so far that means we lost 13 of those in the first 10 games before the semi final. The semi final was a sore one, but Jens has clearly learned from that defeat and tweaked the system. United have some dangerous players up top, but they will have to commit bodies in the press to get the better of us which should leave them more open at the back. Could be a very good game!

This weeks episode is a good listen!