David

If you do, make sure to read the content posted by Vietnam91. Whoever that is, they're bang on the money and posting some excellent insight.

Given that the club board voted unanimously in favour of the deal, it is reasonable to assume that Caldwell, Lindsay, and McMahon supported it. The first two may not have had an actual vote, but I would wager they were in favour for the club to use the term "unanimous." That is their right. They can vote as they see fit. The issue arises with Feely and Dickie. I understand their positions on the club board are as representatives of the Society, so by voting in favour of effectively ending the Well Society's control of the club, they have voted against the principles of the organisation they are supposed to represent. Moving forward, I believe the Society should seek to have them removed from the club board and replaced with two other representatives. Those on the current Well Society board who are interested should make themselves known, and the members can vote on who we wish to represent us at the club level. We also need to replace the three individuals on the Society board who voted against maintaining Well Society control of the club. Their positions have become untenable, as two of the three have already admitted.

Who is actually on the board now? Just McMahon, Dickie and Feely? EDIT: Lindsay and Caldwell were recently added I see. I'm guessing that they also agreed that Barmack's proposal was worth backing.

Yes, but there's a difference between "an alternative plan to outside investment" and them creating "an alternative plan to bring in outside investment" which is what I've seen a lot of people saying. The general view has been that if we don't want Barmack's deal, the Society need to find a way to match that deal elsewhere. The Society is and always will be (I hope!) focused on ways we can operate as a fan-owned club. And in all honesty, there's a ton that could be done to improve how we operate.

The Society's number one concern is making sure that they have the funds needed if things under fan ownership go pear-shaped as has been described in the worst-case scenario. Again, I've said it before, but the Society cannot actually create and implement a plan that would bring in outside investment. I'm sure there are certain legal hurdles that must be crossed by any entity that goes down the route of engaging with international investors and striking investment contracts and MOU's. That kind of thing has to come from the club itself, and the board, led by the CEO. What the Society can do is look at alternative ways to make the club more appealing to certain groups and individuals, and that is something I know for a fact they have been working on. But again, somewhere in all of this we need to be asking what the actual club itself has been doing?

The BBC are simply after clicks. Nothing more. They don't even get the players on our team's names right sometimes. The Well Society can create a plan that improves the workings of the Society itself, but even if it came up with the best plan to draw investment that the footballing world has ever seen, they're not ideally placed to enact that. It all comes down to the actual board of the club, and the CEO. Those individuals are being paid (or should be getting paid) to do that job. Not the people who give up their free time to help run the Well Society. As an aside, if I was on the board of the Well Society and we came up with the plan for investment and for taking the club forward, I'd be looking to be more involved in the implementation of that plan and the running of the club. It's easy to forget sometimes, but the club board is answerable to the Society. Not the other way around.

And what if they don't come up with a proposal that would see us bring in an extra few million pounds?

What about those of us who aren't keen on the Barmack proposal, but who instead believe we should be expecting more from our board and CEO? I'm not so sure about that. The resignations have come about because the individuals involved voted in favour of reducing the Society to less than 51%, which means essentially putting an end to fan ownership. If they believe that, then they shouldn't really be on the board of the Society.

This is absolutely key for me. Regardless of money from outside sources, we simply cannot escape the fact that in order to continue as a well-run club, we need to operate within our means.

They can certainly assist the current club board where possible. However, the responsibility clearly lies with the well-paid individuals who are experienced in such matters to actually do their job. Our new CEO hasn't been in the position for long. I would be more than happy to continue as we are and see what ideas and plans he has (why not set a date of July 1st for his plan?) Despite some reports to the contrary, we're not heading towards disaster without an additional £300,000 a year. You wouldn't think so with the amount of chat about "pressure" on the Society board. What about the pressure on the CEO and the club board to actually do the job?

That's how investment works, though. Nothing is a sure thing. The bigger question here is, is there interest in a club in Scottish football? For me, if the right kind of investor is approached, the answer is yes. It just takes a bit of "out the box" thinking. However, none of that should involve someone coming in and expecting to be given overall control. Or to have the Well Society holdings diluted below 51%. There's a ton of things that can be tightened up and changed on that side of things for sure. That's where I hope to see the current CEO step up and make some changes.

With recent resignations there will be places available on the board. Why don't you run and get the job done?

Is it, though? As others have mentioned, is it really the responsibility of a group of volunteers to create an investment plan for a million-pound business? Doesn't some of the responsibility for that lie with the CEO of the company? You know, the person who's being well paid to do that job? Or even the Chairman? Or is it a case of fans sitting back and saying, "Well, the club and board have voted in favour of the current offer from Barmack. Now it's up to the Society volunteers to better it, or we go with the sub-standard first offer"? Here's an idea. Why not hold the board of the club and the new CEO accountable for doing their jobs? The fact that they proudly voted in favour of recommending the current offer is alarming, to say the least. Here's a question. If the Society somehow came up with a way to raise an extra few million pounds for the club, do we want the individuals who saw fit to recommend the current offer from Barmack being in charge of how that money is spent? Sorry, but for me, this isn't on the Society. This is on the board. If they honestly believe this offer is as good as it's going to get for a club like ours, then we really need to be asking questions about their suitability for the roles they're in.

Although Budge has an emotional attachment to Hearts, correct? If we had a Lanarkshire version of Anne Budge we'd be laughing. There are ways to do it even outwith that scenario though. I've done it with companies I've worked with, and I've offered up assistance to the Society on that front. I will also say that they're a lot more receptive since the new board came into play. In my experience, anyway.

This is where it can get tricky. Tricky, but not impossible. We ideally need to find revenue streams from investors that don't involve us handing over control of the club.

This is crucial for me. In my opinion, many people are mistakenly assuming that a potential investor seeking a 49% shareholding means the Society retains control. This is not necessarily the case. The key point for me is that the Society itself must retain a minimum of 51% control. Could we negotiate to reduce our holdings from the current 71%? Absolutely. There is room for negotiation with the right party, but our holding simply cannot fall below 51%. That is my firm boundary.

To be fair, achieving success in business doesn’t automatically make someone unpleasant. Much of reaching that level involves building relationships and being trustworthy and reliable enough that others want to work with them. There are always bad apples in every industry and at every level of business. However, the stereotype of the evil, ruthless multi-millionaire who seeks only to make a quick profit at others’ expense is just that—a stereotype.

The thing is, we're not turning down £2 million investment. We'd be essentially turning down a £2 million offer for control of the club.

There are ways we can raise the required funds via outside sources without handing over the keys to the castle. It can be done, and it wouldn't be that difficult really.

I mean a business plan that would demonstrate to us, the Motherwell fanbase and Society membership, that the deal is of benefit to us long-term.

Ah, the classic "I don't actually have a business plan, so I'll just throw out a modern-business word salad in the hopes that the plebs are blinded by mentions of "Netflix" and "Los Angeles-based" operator"

Is that what's being offered? I haven't seen any concrete business plan to suggest that?

When we get right down to the brass tacks here, what we're effectively doing is giving away majority control of the club to someone for less than £2 million. If that's what some fans value the club at, then that's fair enough. I think it's laughable, though.

Safeguarded, for now. There's no mention of what happens to said assets after the initial six years have passed, and the Barmacks effectively control 49% of the club, and Erik has the deciding say on tied matters. At that point any agreement made now could be completely changed.

While we should all be very wary of that offer, and I certainly don't see the value in it at all, I would be keen to know exactly how the Barmack's arrived at the valuation they have of the club? I assume it's not just a number plucked out of thin air? So, while the offer should, in my opinion, be rejected, I'd like to know the workings of their valuation.