Kmcalpin

Ah, so the media is now having a pop at young David for having the temerity to stall on signing for Celtic.....what a surprise! Its been a difficult and finely balanced decison for our club, but on the whole they've handled it well. Things should be clearer this week.

All a bit unclear at the moment. Does anyone know what theCeltic up front fee actually is? I've seen conflicting media reports of between £2.75m to £3.25m. Also, is there a sell on clause?

A small point perhaps but did Van Dijk not leave Celtic 4 years ago? Wages have moved on since then.

I wonder if the seething redtops will publicly divulge the name of David Turnbull's agent or the firm which employs him? Maybe they know which side their bread is buttered on.

Well yes. I would like to think that in touting the lad around down south, his agent will be taking into account the minimum fee thats acceptable to our club. Presumably the minimum fee, commonly understood to be £3m, was also agreed with the lad himself and his agent, who once again is playing hardball. Of course we don't know that the Celtic deal is stone dead yet - this could just be a negotiating ploy to jemmy a few more pounds from the biscuit tin.

Not necessarily as it will depend whats in his contract. We've agreed a £3m + fee with Celtic but we may have some say if the likes of Bournemouth were suddenly to put in a £3.2m offer with add ons.

My view too Yorky. A lot of OTT reaction on here so far. For me, the critical question is "Is there a sell on clause?" We don't know as the press articles are all vague and not entirely consistent. I also get the impression, maybe wrongly, that there is a clause in his contract covering being allowed to talk to clubs if bids of a certain value are received. Its now been a day or two since the news about us agreeing Celtic's bid being accepted was made public. Interested parties from down south have now had the time, the means and the financial clout to submit better bids, and as far we know have not done so. Time will tell if they do so. The lad himself has done well by us by signing a new deal so good on him. I never expected him to stay until next season.

A bit pessimistic depending on how we interpret your post. If you mean bringing in experienced pros then you might be right although the likes of Louis Moult and Marvin Johnson might go some way to dispel that. If you mean that future generations of Academy graduates I don't agree at all. The real quality players like your David Turnbulls, James McFaddens and Phil O'Donnells will always be home grown and I look forward to see more coming through the ranks in the years to come. No reason why they shouldn't be as good.

Maybe. If teams from down south are genuinely interested and are prepared to top Celtic's offer then they will now have contacted the club. If they haven't then that tells us a lot.

So the shareholders are not fans?

The Titanic?

Just a hunch but I suspect we'll bring in another striker. If James Scott goes out on loan we'd be back to 2 strikers and thats if Johnson stays.

Its more than likely that there are old coal workings under Fir Park, and indeed under much of Motherwell and Wishaw. Many will be unrecorded or not mapped so its a known unknown. Shallow workings are a particular problem and can cause instability or subsidence. If there are any under a site, they can be grouted with cement but that depends on sub surface conditions. In extreme circumtances they can be opencasted. Whilst technically possible they may not be desirable however. Many of you will be familiar with the small opencast site next to St James Park in Newcastle. That was worked to enable development to take place. If as seems likely we pay off our debt in the near future, I think the windfall should be split between the Academy, which is serving us very well; improving the quality, not the quantity, of the first team squad and perhaps giving the fans something back in the form of improved facilities, if thats possible. There will be no shortage of avenues for any cash.

Nicky Devlin signs for Livingston.

I received mine yesterday so its almost certain, as you say Iain, that the emails have been posted over an extended period. If anyone hasn't been receiving them get in contact with the Society as there could be various reasons for that. wellsociety@motherwellfc.co.uk

No problem. Issue 1 is access. As far as I can tell the eastern boundary of the stand abuts the western boundary of Knowetop Primary School (and astroturf pitch) in other words its totally constrained. As it is access can only be gained from Knowetop Avenue although in theory (police agreement permitting) it could be taken from the South stand end although I doubt that would be deemed "desirable". Issue 2: I suppose that the structure could be moved slightly westwards by, as you say, sacrificing 2 rows of seats, and maybe increasing the overall height and therefore the angle of slope. That could cause problems with the school though in terms of sunlight. As OTF mentioned (presumably in relation to the Huinter Stand, but maybe also in relation to the POD Stand) there could be technical problems. There could also be technical issues with old and shallow coal workings underground - less likely in terms of the POD Stand because of its existing load.

According to Kieran Maguire, Barnsley's wages to tunover ratio in 2018 was 84.8%, in other words totally unsustainable. Hopefully circling vultures will get the message "Don't put in bids of less than £3m" loud and clear.

When does pre season training start?

I'd hope that a bit of cash would allow us to bring in some quality and solidity elsewhere in the squad to improve the overall standard.

Unfortunately a major rebuild of the John Hunter Stand due to its shape and land ownership wouldn't be possible. Some improvements yes. Phil O'Donnell Stand needs demolition and rebuild.

Record article is very much written from a Celtic perspective which is exactly what we'd expect anyway. As you say the more clubs involved the better.

Have other clubs also asked us to keep them in the loop too?

Your figures are accurate. I think the "uncertainties" relate to transfer income etc after the financial year end. From John Boyle's debt we can deduct a furthter £70K according to the accounts, so that would then be updated to Les £995 and JB £140K making a total of £1.135m. Since then we've picked up, reportedly, £750K from Kipre's fee and about £60K from Bowman's departure If we take 40% of that, this would reduce the outstanding debt to about £810K. If we now deduct 40% of monies received for Jake Hastie, Stuart McKinstry, that would amount to say a further £280K reducing the debt to about £530K. Deduct say a further £150K through the Double Your Money offer to 31 May this year and that brings down the total to about £380K. Should Chris Cadden go for say £500K (an assumption I know) another £200K would be knocked off the debt leaving it at about £180K. Thats my best estimate. To keep the thread on track, I assume that Sloth will be a replacement for the allrounder Gorrin, but thats an assumption on my part .

Without knowing the up to date figures its hard to be precise but I'd say that once transfer and compensation fees from Cedric Kipre, Ryan Bowman, Stuart McKinstry, Jake Hastie and perhaps Chris Cadden, are taken into account the debt will be pretty much paid off. Any additional fees would go straight into the club's coffers.

100% agree Al. Thats the bottom line.