Kmcalpin

Who owns the club?

You raise a few points Jay. Like you I was pleased to hear that the Society Board will fight its corner for the best deal and will not allow members' contributions to be used to pay off debt - they will be used for the long term benefit of the club. As for AGMs , I've been to many over the years in many different organisations and almost all have been dull to a lesser or greater extent. Thats their nature. Ploughing through accounts and such like isn't everyone's cup of tea but its necessary. As for the team photograph issue - it was raised by a member from the floor (not the top table) and I do agree that it shouldn't be a huge issue. Thats as may be but it was raised and the top table had to address it - it would not have looked good at all had the member been ignored. Had he been ignored some members would have complained that the top table was being arrogant and dismissive. The missing minutes - agreed. Now the issue of the 400 original/missing members. That doesn't surprise me at all and I raised that again after you left (along with the important issue of members living outwith Lanarkshire). Its my recollection that originally members were never really reminded of annual renewals - so some did renew and some didn't and it was hit or miss; some claimed benefits and some didn't. When the idea of monthly pledges was introduced that complicated matters even further and I asked the Society where that left the original members but that was never made clear. As it stands now, members do not need to renew annually and as we know 400 or don't. Some have lost interest, some haven't out of principle but probably the vast majority just don't know that they can or should be. In short they are confused or unaware. The system needs clarified and simplified to tell all members that they can sign up to a monthly pledge or annual one off payment if they wish (there is no compulsion). We heard last night that the Society manager is currently contacting all the original members to do this. I agree communication has been poor and that was acknowledged but its hard given the administrative resources. I agree more should be done and perhaps this could be achieved by spending a little bit more (if costs rose markedly some members would complain). Maybe the Society should use volunteers from amongst its membership.

I'm sure it was said last night that Les had increased the playing budget last year which would be consistent with the influx of players coming in under Ian Baraclough.

Attendance at AGMs is an automatic switch off for many folk and not just in footballing circles - I'm not unduly concerned at that. Such meetings are low on most folks agendas football fans or not. Your summary of Jim McMahon's views are pretty accurate. I took heart from the fact that he is negotiating on behalf of the Society and will not accept just any old deal. I wasn't unduly disturbed at what I heard. Of course its not a done deal and the worst case scenario is that no agreement is reached and Les decides to market the club. That said, there will be no queue of white knights ready to splash the cash and its in his best interests to strike a deal soon. I was heartened to hear the word "sustainable" used over and over again and pleased that the Society is looking beyond the short term. Pleased to hear that the Society Board will not sign up if it isn't in the best interests of its members and the club. There's no point in the club keeping its head above water in the next 2 years but then fail after that.

I reckon we can expect some re-signing news this week possibly as early as today. Almost all of those offered new deals will accept them I'd wager.

Some do yes but very very few. The vast majority love Motherwell first and foremost and dislike Rangers and Celtic equally.

It should be an interesting meeting and we're planning to go along to get an update on the ownership change. Hopefully the attendance will be reasonable.

Don't forget that some, and I mean some, threw missiles including seats, at our fans on the pitch (yes they shouldn't have been there).

Oh I forgot to ask "What steps will the SFA be taking to identify all those who let off smoke bombs, sang sectarian songs, and invaded the pitch?".

I can't take issue with that. Stevie has never been the best defender and last season his mistakes were becoming more frequent and costly. As I've always said, good on the ball poor off it.

Why the SFA of course. They were in charge of the overall arrangements including the stewarding. What was the stewards/fan ratio? Whatever it was it wasn't adequate. Were sufficient warnings issued by the SFA to fans prior to the game and during the game. Does this all sound very familiar? Surely the SFA must investigate itself!

I would have been at it but can't recall the game. Seems that Kirky Lawson and Jim McCabe scored the goals.

Agreed, but any interested club would also need to offer higher wages and/or a longer deal.

Surprised that we're discussing the new Celtic manager on our Forum under "Mark McGhee". There will be wall to wall coverage in the media for anyone so inclined. If we must discuss it there could be a thread under "General Football". Personally I've no interest in this whatsoever, but just think our forum should be our forum.

Don't bank on it.

Maybe some truth in that. When I saw him at first he seemed to have a bit of talent and skill about him although woefully short of pace.

You're right about Chalmers and it seems obvious that Mark McGhee doesn't rate him. I doubt very much though that Ian Baraclough scouted the likes of Straker and Chalmers on his own. Someone else must have recommended them.

Before my time, although my late father was at it. An interesting game and a lot of talk at the time about our games against Hibs. On 14 October 1951 Hibs whacked us 6-2 at Fir Park. A fortnight later later Hibs were odds on favourites to beat us in the League Cup Final but we beat them 3-0.

Aha, this is interesting Andy. When the proposals for a revised League Cup were announced there was a fair bit of discussion on these boards as to whether friendlies would simply be dispensed with as being unnecessary and burdensome in early / mid July. The body of opinion, if I have got it right, was that the early League Cup section games would, in effect, act as de facto friendlies. A few of us did however have doubts and wondered if the season would simply start even earlier say at the start of July or even in late June. I'm not sure that clubs such as ours would be overly happy just diving into competitive games even against lower league opposition. The prize money at stake will surely mean that teams will want to start off competitively up and running and not ring rusty. Time will tell.

Thats just about sums it up. Both central midfield and left back have been problem areas for us this season, along with right back, with or without Las and Hammy.

I would guess that of the 3 named Scots clubs, all three will outbid us if they want this player. Then of course there's the unnamed clubs. I don't like such information being made public. It smacks of a player's agent or club's agent trying to whip up an auction. Traditionally we tend to keep matters quiet and thats the best way.

I agree that it was a difficult choice and I'm not impressed with Chalmers at left back - is he not a centre back? However, Marvin Johnson didn't play that well at left back against St Johnstone. He had a few impressive marauding runs in the first half but defensively wasn't great. We really do need two new full backs on both sides.

Just watched the goals again. Yes, Celtic played well but they were the kind of goals we've been losing all season. Getting torn apart down the wings and the central midfield failing to shield the central defence. Probably a the result of poor tactics, lack of confidence and not working hard enough.

Absolutely. I had hoped we'd learned our lesson against St Johnstone, but obviously not. One rookie full back in Watt and one no full back on Johnson. Irrespective of how badly he played, Watt was hung out to dry by playing Ainsworth in front of him. Interesting too that we lost 4 goals after Watt was hooked but only 3 before - does that prove he should have been kept on? You're correct Wullie - we played far too open a line up and paid the price. Keith Lasley's absence is a complete red herring. Just think for a minute - why wasn't he playing? Illness - no; injury - no. He was sent off at Pittodrie for a badly timed and clumsy tackle and has been given a 3 match suspension. He's made a few tackles like that this season. Irrespective of how good a player is he's no good to us sitting in the stand. When he's played, opposing teams still manage to gain easy access to our central defence and keeper. Now I'm not saying he's to blame for our defeat today but simply making the point that his absence (and Stevie Hammell's) weren't the reason for our hammering today. Josh Law wasn't playing either was his absence critical in the defeat? Our heavy defeat was down to a combination of circumstances: absences, yes absences; Celtic playing well and fired up; our lads hitting the beach early; some players having an off day; and last but by no means least Mark McGhee's team selection and line up. I hate losing 1-0 never mind 7-0 but I've witnessed worse in my time. We should however view the game in the context of the season overall. A 5th placed finish is a great achievement and that is down to Mark McGhee and his management team and the players. He'll have learnt a bit more about his players today and fair enough. In terms of transfer dealings we badly need to replace Keith Lasley and bolster central midfield. We also need 2 new full backs. Over the course of the entire season, too many teams have exploited our weakness down the wings and in central midfield. We finished the season with the 4th worst goals against tally and that tells its own story. However our 2015-16 season is now over and we finished in 5th spot, well above where I thought we would do; and most importantly, avoided playoffs. All this with a managerial change during the campaign. Not bad in my book. Finally, I feel sorry for our fans who went to the game - they deserved much better.

I'll take a 6-0 and 7-0 defeat every season if we consistently finish 6th or above year after year.