Kmcalpin

Not sure about that, Super. I could quote you many examples where an organisation has not stood by what one of its employees said to a customer in error. Shops, insurers, banks, local authorities, pubs, clubs, bookies, the Government. I could go on and on. For example earlier this evening the customers in front of me in a superstore queue argued the toss with the checkout operator over a wrongly priced item but in the end they had to shell out full price with no apology given.

Exactly. Time after time our group made new arrangements to travel including re-arranging leave and finshing early over the past week or two. We were all prepared to travel yesterday. However the weather in Fife and Tayside was awful with whiteouts and blizzards. The BBC and Traffic Scotland websites carried severe weather warnings (for the entire east coast including Grampian) and Police requests not to travel unless absolutely necessary. On that basis we took a collective decision not to travel. A football match, however important, is not worth risking life and limb. We were astonished to learn the game was going ahead. Given the level of Police control, some would say interference, over football in Lanarkshire, I was quite convinced that their Grampian counterparts would have ordered Locos to call the game off. Not so. What is clear to me is that the safety and welfare of our fans was a secondary consideration. Just for the record, this was nothing to do with MFC.

Our group of 7 has taken a hit for £105 and none of us made the game. We'll live with it, not ideal, but we'll live with it. Now there may be communication issues here, I can't comment. What is clear to me is that MFC may have tried to do our fans a favour here without the co-operation of either the SFA or Locos. It backfired obviously. I've found myself in this situation before from the other side and learnt to my cost that when a favour goes wrong you get no thanks. Moral of the story - do no-one any favours and give them the minimum standard of service that you can guarantee. Have I learnt this lesson - no. I still try to do my best over and above what is required. What would you rather have A) The club trying its best and making a mistake or B) Simply saying to the customer/fan No No No. Certainly with the latter favours don't go wrong. The old adage comes to mind - "If you don't want to make a mistake then don't do anything, just do nothing".

Not just yet, but I never expected this game to be easy despite predictions of such from some posters. The time to crow about a rout is after the final whistle. We are in control but really need to convert our chances.

Absolutely stupid and avoidable. No need to pick up such silly cards in this game. Cards can be costly if we reach more advanced stages.

We've missed a few chances and could be 3 up according to the radio but only taken the one. Pity that Stephen Hughes isn't playing. Keith Lasley adds something defensively but we'll miss Hughes for his attacking play and pace. We're giving Locos too much leeway in midfield for my liking. Perhaps they'll tire themselves out?

My sentiments exactly. Astounded Police are allowing this game to go ahead. Severe weather warning for Grampian in place and Police advise A96 is tricky near Inverurie. Weather dreadful in Fife and Tayside. On that basis 7 of us have decided not to risk it.

About 2" of snow where I live in Fife this morning, with the prospect of more to come. I'm sure the authorities will also take into account road conditions near the ground and spectator safety. Its not just the pitch. Not looking good.

I don't know much about him but from what I've read this morning this seems to be a reasonable view of him. From what I can gather his detractors are mainly basing their opinions on international appearances, which is unrealistic. Whilst it would be nice to bring someone of true international calibre to Fir Park on loan, I'll be more modest in my expectations and settle for someone of a high SPL standard.

Ditto. All we know is the fee has been described as "undisclosed". It could be anywhere between £30k and £380K with strings attached. What does seem reasonably certain is that Derby will pay us a fee.

Two separate issues here Greg. VAT - No, its just that very few fans appreciate that much of the club's transactions are subject to VAT from the tickets we buy to transfer fees and no-one appear to take this into account. From time to time we've seen various calculations on these boards eg "A 5,000 gate @ £15 a time = £75,000, where did all this money go?" Its not appreciated that of that hypothetical total perhaps £11,000 doesn't go the club at all. I think though that possibly the biggest source of misinformation amongst fans is transfer cash. Understandably these deals are cloaked in secrecy but how many times on these boards has someone asked - "Where did Faddy's sell on money go, why wasn't it spent on a new player?" Your second point, I agree with 100%. Our revenue streams are not what they should be. If the club wants to move forward then it needs to boost income. No argument from me there. You only need to look at clubs such as Falkirk, Inverness and Hamilton and the efforts they have made to strengthen this month although in some cases the term "strengthen" is questionable. It annoys me a bit when I hear peolple like Bill Reid or John Hughes spout forth in December saying that there's no cash for new players - aye right. Finally, and straying a bit off track I know, it worries me to read some threads about our new stadium, whenever that might come to fruition. So much effort, imagination and skill is devoted to new stadia designs (nothing wrong in that by itself) but how are we going to pay for it? I'd guess there will be a massive funding deficit between what we receive for Fir Park, a brownfield site, and what we will need to erect a new stadium.

No one can say for sure of course Stall, but remember that the game at Fir Park was cut price. Say 10,500 punters at £11 = £115,000. Off that deduct say £40,000 for expenses and say £18,000 for VAT. The players and management of course would all be paid handsome bonuses. As far as the club shop is concerned, remember that a fair proportion of the income would be due to Provan Sports. Expenses for travelling to France would not be cheap. If we did make a profit on our travels it wouldn't be much.

I don't understand Milo. We've a financial gap to plug this season. I'd guess, as many have said before, that all Faddy's sell on money has gone to creditors. MacDonald's money? Much of that will have gone to the Treasury in VAT and perhaps some to the player himself. MacCormack's compensation of £50k will have been swallowed up in ground improvements no bother. Jim Paterson's cash - a fair chunk of that will have gone on VAT and funding Steve Hammell's transfer. I'd guess we didn't even break even on Europe. Thats the reality of running a provincial SPL club I'm afraid.

Yes for shopping perhaps, unless the games moved to Fir Park which is extremely unlikely.

We'll have to wait and see if any £400,000 deal actually goes through. However assuming any fee was £400,000, and this would probably never be made public, my first question would be not so much how much cash Mark McGhee would get but how much cash MFC would get. Don't forget VAT is payable and the player himself might receive a healthy wad.

Very, very true. If press reports are to be believed, pubs & clubs are going through a hard time just now. The FP club does indeed need to wake up to the inevitable fact that when MFC moves to pastures new, custom on match days and hence income will be decimated. There will be a day of reckoning. The only way ahead for it is to talk to MFC nicely. Burying its head in the Jurassic sands will inevitably lead to extinction.

As some have said the Fir Park Club, or whatever it was called formerly, used to be located in the POD Stand. They used to make a substantial donation to MFC in those days. MFC then built a sports centre/squash club in Edward Street. This venture was indeed a white elephant. The social club and MFC then fell out as I recall and the sports centre was converted and sold to the now Fir Park Club. Since then I've never been too sure what the connection, if indeed there is any at all, is between the Fir Park Club and MFC. What we do know is that the FP club numbers many Well fans in its membership and that it profits greatly from games at Fir Park. In my opinion is this a very strange situation. I know many died in the wool Dossers who won't give MFC a penny in cash (ie drinks or snacks or whatever) and prefer to frequent the FP club. All very strange. Now it seems ludicrous to me as an "outsider" how this situation has been allowed to arise. On one hand the FP Club feeds off MFC but on the other doesn't seem to contribute a penny. Many fans, including myself, have been calling for MFC to increase its income and this seems a lot of cash lost. MFC must lose thousands of pounds a year. I've asked several FP club members why they won't spend their beer money in the Cooper and received a range of odd answers ranging from the quality of the beer (including bottles) to the fact that they resent giving MFC, whom they support, an extra penny. All very odd. Am I missing something here? Can someone explain?

No, not to my knowledge.

It may have been 2 or 3 players for each of the last 3 years Jim. The site has sponsored one player this year, through the sterling efforts of the Brazilian.

Certainly the outlook for Wednesday doesn't look good at all. The pitch has to completely defrost before then, and thats assuming no more sub zero temperatures. If it doesn't, any water will simply lie on top. The way I understand it there is absolutely no pressure being placed on Locos and the game will be played at Harlaw Park when its played and not before. If its after the next round, a week on Saturday, then so be it.

I can see where you're coming from Andy but many travelling fans who are working will want to know asap today. Not everyone can change holiday arrangements at 2/3 hours notice. It may also take time to contact folk. Hope I'm wrong but what I took out of yesterday's announcement was that the pitch wasn't playable yesterday but given good overnight temperatures (which there don't seem to have been) might be playable today. Doesn't look good.

I can't really say I'm surprised. Most of the press reports I've read of the game today are written from a Falkirk perspective. Currently the Bairns seem to have taken over Partick Thistle's mantle (to some extent) as media darlings. John Hughes has definitely taken over John Lambie's position as a real character and the manager that all footie fans love listening to. Whatever else you might say about Falkirk they have always had a very slick media machine

That was my understanding too Joe. That said I would feel a bit guilty about taking sponsorship or some financial support from the Trust if A) I was not a member or B) was not a member and was criticising it in public. You can't have it both ways. Maybe also the name should be changed if its still WellTrust FC. The football team is a great thing but it must decide its position.

Just shows how folk see things differently. I thought he had a good game and made about 2 errors in the whole match (both poor crosses), for which he was loudly and unfairly lambasted by some. His charges up and down our right flank caused Falkirk a lot of trouble. He was still going strong at full time. Says a lot for his fitness levels. It also says something when opposition managers concentrate their fire on our left flank.

Spot on Flow. I also recall the Hearts team of the same era when Alex MacDonald was in charge there too. Totally ruthless football - just do what it takes to secure the 3 points. There were 2 simple rules that were drummed into that Hearts team 1) Just do it - I don't want to know how. 2) Don't get caught One particular game at Fir Park that I recall - Ally Maxwell was defying them in goals when the order went out to crock him and they did just that. Someone - Neil Berry/Gary Mackay? went in with a high & late challenge and almost broke his leg. Still they won the 3 points. Nuff said.