David

C- on that reply as well. What's actually going on in here? Jesus.

I've long been in Balmer's corner. I think he looks a proper class act and will be a mainstay in the team before long.

What kind of actions are you looking for?

Yeah, I think it was more a case of him not really settling in the area, which is fair enough. He's shown that there's a player there though, doing reasonably well in Australia again since leaving us.

Don't be bringing actual data and stats into it!

So, TV companies can basically dictate which games have to implement VAR in the cup, and which don't?

We're not in a position where we need to rush anyone back, thankfully. We've come this far, so I would prefer we eased the injured lads back in gradually and did our utmost to avoid any relapses or further issues. I would be quite content with our starting lineup from Friday, replacing O'Donnell with Kaleta.

And it's usually easy to tell who's who and weed out the posers, because the individuals who had to sit through that game have it written in the haunted look in their eyes...

Aye, who wants the day trippers, eh? Let's just take an allocation of about 4,500. That'll show 'em.

Yup, and that's what some people like to discuss mere hours ahead of a big cup game. Go figure. Maswa would start for me, and patience is running thin with Robinson. I know we don't have many options up top though, so that plays a part.

No one's stopping you?

As I mentioned, it’s as good an indicator as you’re likely to find. For every ten new factors you add, I could add another twenty. We could start considering the relative wealth per person in Motherwell compared to Aberdeen, or examine the different age groups present in each location, or assess transport links, employment rates, digital engagement, and so forth. There is no perfect method of measurement, but my overall point is that our fanbase levels are certainly no worse than those of any other team in the league when everything is taken into account. I certainly wouldn’t describe it as "poor" by any means. Clubs like St Mirren aren't leaving us behind.

It's a paper exercise based on actual numbers though, which is what attendances are also based on. So it certainly does equate to pretty solid reasoning. The central belt encompasses the likes of Edinburgh and Glasgow as well though, doesn't it? Should we be drawing our fanbase from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Falkirk and Paisley? That seems ludicrous to me. Again, our fanbase as a percentage of our local population is as good an indicator as you're going to get. And we do pretty well in that regard. Is there room for improvement? Always. Are we worse than other clubs in Scotland? Not really. The club as a whole needs to (and is) working on increasing our fanbase. Not just the Well Society. Once again, over the past few days, I've seen responsibility for increasing the fanbase and bringing in significant investment being placed on the table of a group of volunteers who have full-time jobs outside of football. The Society absolutely has a part to play, but so does the paid staff of the football club.

That's totally fine, you can have your opinion. I'm just throwing some actual numbers out there that suggest you're a wee bit wide of the mark. Carry on though.

In terms of the local population, Motherwell actually performs quite well regarding attendance. When you consider our fanbase as a percentage of the population, we achieve around 14%, which is better than the likes of Dundee United, St Mirren, Hibs, Hearts, and Aberdeen. From what I can see, only Kilmarnock and Ross County have better figures. I’ve excluded the Old Firm from this discussion as their attendances are obviously restricted. You could certainly argue that our catchment area should encompass regions further afield, but that reasoning would also apply to the other sides mentioned in this context. I’ve restricted all clubs to the city or town in which they are based. If I were to extend Motherwell's catchment to include surrounding towns, I would need to do the same for the others, which I don’t think would result in significantly different percentages.

It’s definitely something that is ongoing, that much is certain. However, there are many variables involved that will determine what is made public and when.

Yes, that's not something that can really be constrained by a specific timescale. There are numerous variables involved in the investment process.

Which email was that?

That could have been us. Kettlewell sacked for refusing to entertain the idea of signing a couple of Mexican players to help push the tequila brand that was mentioned. "Transformational" indeed.

From my limited knowledge, the Society board has been diligently working at putting the plan into action. It's going to take time, mainly because the Society board all have full-time jobs of their own.

But £260k isn't similar to £500k? It's roughly half.

We paid similar for Stama? Didn't he cost us like £260k?

How exactly is that done? If you say something, and I present an opposing view, is that me "shutting down" any criticism? Or merely offering a different perspective? This thread is full of people expressing negative opinions about the Block E lads. It also includes others putting forward counterpoints that support them. I don’t see either side being "shut down." It’s simply a discussion. But why? Just as people are permitted to express their observations from games and local pubs afterwards, others are allowed to counter those observations. Both viewpoints are permissible, and have been in this thread. Unless you prefer a forum where someone can state what they claim to have seen, felt, heard, or otherwise, and no one is allowed to challenge that? Having your view challenged does not diminish it. It simply means someone else disagrees with you. Once again, posters are free to dismiss anything they wish out of hand. That’s part of being in a community like this. The important thing is that while some may vocally dismiss your views or those of others, it doesn’t mean that everyone who reads the thread agrees with them or sees it as a slight on you. I really don’t think we should be considering stopping people from challenging what others say simply because it upsets the person who made the statement. If individuals are distressed by others disagreeing with them, this forum, or indeed the internet in general, might not be the right place for them. And this isn’t me telling you to leave the boards. You’re more than welcome to post here just like everyone else, but you need to understand that your views are neither more nor less valued than anyone else’s. And similarly, I’m not addressing this specifically to you, but the situation you’ve described, where you say people should be able to express their views without being criticised or told they’re talking nonsense, rather exemplifies someone who doesn’t like being challenged. And, if someone accuses a poster of being an idiot, they can surely ignore them as well? Does that mean others should also be able to post about and defend the Block E group without being shot down? We've discussed this in private, and it's rather ironic that you're upset about people posting defamatory material about you, yet you're happy to constantly claim that a certain poster saying "I think u should take a break from the forum as u seem to take everything personal" is them telling you that you should "get off these boards." It isn't. So please stop saying that. Should I lock it? 👀

I genuinely don't know what to tell you. I actually went to check today after your post to see what had happened in the thread, as I'm unsure who "my pal" is that I was supposedly upset about being given a hard time. As I mentioned, I reviewed the moderating I'd done back to around 2018, and couldn't find anything related. Even if it did occur, you're talking about an average of closing a thread once a year, with most closures being due to transfer window threads that had run their course and so on. You mentioned that I have a history of "closing threads," but only cited one instance over many years. The reality is that a lot of leeway is given to posters on this forum. Much of the conversation that is permitted here would be deemed trolling elsewhere, which would have led to bans long ago. I've received numerous private messages and complaints from various forum members regarding the tone, language, and subject matter on the forum, and I've had to explain that we're not particularly strict here. This leniency towards certain individuals has likely contributed to driving people away, and while I believe the rules we have are adequate, I don't fault anyone who leaves due to the excessive negativity present.

The most recent thread that was locked on this forum seems to have been over six months ago. It was a transfer thread that was closed because the transfer window had ended, and a new thread was created for the next window. Based on the records I have access to, over the past five years, I have locked five threads. Three of these were the aforementioned transfer threads. One was a thread about Tony Watt after he left, which had degenerated into discussions about Albion Rovers. The last was a thread about David Turnbull after he left, which had shifted to discussions in the former player thread. It seems that my so-called "tyranny" amounts to closing, on average, one thread per year over the past five years or so. Not bad for someone who has "form" for closing threads! If I did close a Robinson discussion thread, you can be fairly certain that there were reasons beyond me being offended by the content. If I were to close every thread where people were posting material that I found ridiculous or in poor taste, I would be closing threads on a weekly if not daily basis. The reality is that this forum is remarkably lenient when it comes to allowing certain individuals to air their negative nonsense, which has caused some posters to drift away over the years. There are posters on this forum who simply wouldn’t be allowed to post what they do elsewhere. But aye, continue to discuss the bois as you see fit. So long as you don't go over the score with what you say, you won't face the brunt of my tyrannical ways! 😂