maddog

Well Socirty saying on twuitter that full details will be announced when deal is done for good. am told statement had to be agreed by a number of different parties so it is just a starter and hence why it's not as full as it could be. But Les Hutchison will own shares and they will transfer to Well Society in full when his loan to the club is repaid, which is what is happening with Hearts. Only Hearts fans have to raise £6million and us nothing like that, although still a bit vague. Here's a press story here that is more accurate than other stuff written this week. Motherwell have announced plans for a Hearts-style route to fan ownership after confirming Well Society backer Les Hutchison is on course to complete a Fir Park takeover. Motherwell v Ross County. Click here to bet. Motherwell: Set for takeover Hutchison is set to take over John Boyle's 70 per cent stake after putting up an interest-free loan to the club, with the fans' group set to assume control further down the line. The deal would fend off interest from an Argentinian consortium if it is completed in the coming weeks and the announcement allows the club to move closer to appointing a new manager. Confirmation could even come on Saturday, although caretaker manager Kenny Black will take the team for their crucial Scottish Premiership clash with Ross County. Former Scunthorpe and Sligo Rovers manager Ian Baraclough has replaced former Fir Park defender Mitchell van der Gaag as the red-hot favourite with the bookmakers and the club say they will make an announcement shortly. A joint statement read: "Motherwell Football Club and the 'Well Society can confirm that they have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mr Les Hutchison. "If the transaction set out in the MOU is concluded, Mr Hutchison will provide the club with working capital finance, alongside the ongoing funding support provided by the Society, which has just provided another loan totalling £100k to the club. "This finance will take the form of an interest-free loan, repayable over a maximum period of five years. "During that time the Society board have committed to growing both membership numbers and funds in order to demonstrate that the supporter base is fully behind the concept of fan ownership. "Once Mr Hutchison's loan has been repaid in full, it is anticipated the Society will become the owners of the club." New Sky Bet customers: Free matched bet up to £50!The club say they have entered a "30-day exclusivity period to enable financial and legal due diligence to be undertaken". Hutchison added: "I look forward to working with the Society and the club to help them achieve their objective of fan ownership and be financially sustainable within five years." The details of the deal have yet to be announced but it is understood that the combined backing from Hutchison and the fans group is worth more than £1million. Recent reports have described the South American bid as more lucrative, but the Well Society is convinced its plan is better. The Well Society will play a meaningful role in the running of the club but, like Ann Budge at Hearts, Lanarkshire-born Hutchison will be in control, although he is based in Barbados for most of the year. It is understood he was heavily involved in the selection of a new boss after signing up to a deal in principle early this week along with the club and Well Society, although an announcement was delayed by other factors in an extremely complicated negotiating process. The electrical engineer-turned-successful businessman, who went to school in nearby Uddingston and began his career in several Lanarkshire steelworks, has been in talks with Well Society chairman Brian McCafferty for more than six months but his identity was kept secret until it was leaked to a newspaper on Monday. McCafferty added: "We would like to sincerely thank Les for his generous loan to the club which has kept alive hopes of community ownership. We emphatically believe the partnership between Les and the society provides, by far, the best solution to both the club's short-term financial needs and its long -term sustainability and success." The fans' group was given an ultimatum of raising £800,000 by the end of November and talks, initially centred on a loan to the society, but the plan moved towards the Foundation of Hearts blueprint in late October. That was prompted by Boyle's talks with the Argentinian group - which reached an advanced stage - and a bleaker financial forecast from the club following their early cup exits and poor league form, which prompted the £800,000 target to be raised. Motherwell have lost close to £1million in the last three seasons and the Well Society believe Hutchison's expertise can put them on the right track financially before the club potentially moves into fan ownership.

Some interesting points throughout on the way forward - virtually all that we can't influence at the moment but most we can influence if we make the Well Society work. It's clear some people have completely written the WS off. Probably understandable considering the task of raising 800k when there has been a bit of a plateau. But the Well Society board are now saying they're optimistic of hitting the target with a soft loan. So there would be more time to raise the money and hopefully more people sign up given that it's a viable prospect. And the ball is then in the court of the club/John Boyle/trustees of John Boyle's shares. Club needs financial security that the 800k would provide and the Well Society could be in a strong position, assuming the soft loan comes through. There's a few points raised by people in this thread that I'd like to challenge. (1) That John Boyle could return to the fray. As Goggles & Flippers rightly pointed out, the Well Society was JB's exit strategy. He has had the club on the market for years and no-one has produced a decent bid. He put money in to prevent a disaster when Setanta went bust and is still owed 350k from that loan. He doesn't want to have to do that again. He wants out. He has donated his shares to the club. Whatever his intentions, the deal for the Well Society gives us fans a chance to acquire the club without paying the previous owner. It's too good a chance to let slip. The money goes into providing financial stability for the club through a reserve fund. If it wasn't for the WS's £230k loan in February, then what would have happened? Certainly not finishing second. (2) That we're not in financial trouble. Someone said we'd be fine because we sold Anier for 300k and got the Europa money. We sold Ojamaa for a similar amount last summer and had one Europa tie. And club expect to make a small loss for last season. When we finished second. So how do we make a profit this season? Seems we need a very good cup run. Last time we made a profit was 2010-11: it was 540k but we got to the Europa League play-offs, Scottish Cup final, top six, League Cup semis and sold Mark Reynolds. An exceptional season. As well as the 230k WS loan there was a 125k commercial loan in Feb/March. JB is still owed 350k. We'll likely need another loan in February. I'd rather it was the Well Society plugging the gap with an interest-free loan than someone else looking for interest/security over assets. And with that ability to tide the club over, should hopefully come a majority shareholding that allows us to change a financial model that hasn't been working. There have been a number of mitigating factors such as demise of Rangers and lack of league sponsor but we can't go on making losses. (3) That a "money man" is out there to bankroll the club - and that we need one Firstly, if there is one then he would very probably have emerged when JB put the club up for sale years ago. And how many Scottish clubs are run on the benefactor model these days? That's to say football clubs which are bolstered by donations from their owners? Not sure there are any. Celtic is a plc which is run on a sustainable basis. Dundee Utd had Eddie Thompson but were about £6million in debt until recently, some transfer deals have seen them right. Ross County might be the one benefactor model, but not sure how they get their money. Aberdeen, Hibs, St Mirren, St Johnstone, Inverness and just about all our other rivals are run as self-sustainable businesses - they only spend what they raise, although Aberdeen built up a huge debt a few years ago. Secondly, clubs who have been in most trouble were run on the benefactor model. Rangers, Dundee, Hearts. Their recent benefactor is Ann Budge, but she will get all her money back, plus a bit of interest, when fans raise the money. There is virtually no-one ploughing money into Scottish football without expecting a return. We had our own spell of JB putting in money and where did it get us? A fourth-place finish without a European trip, and soon after administration. As far as I can tell, JB has been plugging gaps on a temporary basis since then, not putting money in without wanting it back. The Well Society funds can plug the gaps in future to save the club from disaster, but it must be run on a self-sufficient, sustainable basis, as other clubs are. (4) someone said "socialism" in football clubs doesn't work, that you can't run them by committee. I understand where you're coming from but the fan-owned structure doesn't mean that a huge amount of fans are micro-managing the club. Like any other club you would have a board of directors, who employ someone to run the club on a day-to-day basis as a general manager/chief executive. The difference is fans (WS members) would be able to vote their chosen representatives to the board and hold them to account, and vote them off, and have input into the decision-making process. At this moment there are two reps on the MFC board but they are representing a 6% shareholding and it's the likes of Derek Weir and, up until recently, Leeann Dempster that make the decisions. At the moment the WS's focus has been on fundraising and making sure the club keeps the WS chance alive (until end of November) rather than being able to make decisions for the club. As for the football, I think we'll be fine when we get our full defence fit, Ojamaa gets match-fit, and the likes of Vigurs, Ainsworth and Sutton get going. It took them all a while to do so last season. I have faith in a manager who has led us to a Scottish Cup final and three top-three finishes to turn a blip around, not to say that you can't point out mistakes.

wellfan09 - the instalments pay for the membership fee (ie the 300 quid) - i'm pretty sure that you get a vote straight away but not the benefits until its fully paid up. once membership is paid up the renewal fee (ie the £50) is optional. if you take the benefits then the £50 effectively goes to the club to pay for the benefits. if you don't pay the £50 then you don't get benefits after the first year. if you pay the £50 and don't take the benefits, the society keeps the money to put towards its total. the society were looking into simplifying the model but the club (leeann) set it up and it has proved complicated. you are right, the details are vague and i hope that's improved soon. tottenmfc - the ultimate purpose of the Well Society, if it succeeds in raising the 1.5m or whatever final figure emerges, is to run the club sensibly - or employ someone to run it day to day while setting the budget and the strategy, just like other football club boards do. the 1.5million was meant to act as a buffer to sustain losses during difficult periods, but equally there should be years when the club makes profit. It's unsustainable to think fans can continue paying over the odds, clubs need to be self sufficient. whether we should be losing money when finishing 2nd or whether the MFC board have been scuppered by unforeseen/unprecedented factors is another debate but the aim of the Well Society would need to be to run the club on an even keel, as I'm sure the vast majority of fans/members would want. the reason that the well society is/was such a good and unique opportunity is that the 1.5m would go into the club's coffers as back-up money rather than going towards paying the former owner for his shares. It is still a unique opportunity - a one-off payment should secure the club for good as long as it's run sensibly.

it's a membership organisation so whoever is running it will have to be directed by members' wishes, which are difficult to predict in advance. but there's no doubt there have been grey areas from the start, from when the club set it up, and things will hopefully be simplified in the weeks and months ahead. however, the key point is that members will have to choose how they go about things under the different scenarios, which for me is a good thing. if an individual comes in to buy the bulk of john boyle's shares, which may or may not happen anyway even if the Well Society fails to hit the target, then some members might want a refund and others might want to purchase shares as the Well Society, so flexibility can be a strength rather than a weakness.

It's too early to say what would happen if an outside investor came in looking for a major shareholding but it would be down to the Well Society members as a whole what route they wanted to pursue - whether it's a minority shareholding or refunding members or acting as a lender to the club. The statement says that the Well Society board would seek a minority shareholding but the wider membership will have the final say. The society is due back the 230k from the club in the next few months. previous 150k investment was a share purchase as the rules at that stage did not allow loans and there was an urgent need from the club for the cash. that money was supposed to be ring-fenced by the club. any money raised from now will fall under the society's control.

Nothing wrong with being blunt Al, just felt the need to attempt to counter your articulate rationale for not joining, in case it caught on. I hope your declaration is never put to the test! Just think though, if you have a season ticket for another 15 years, then a Well Society membership is the equivalent to a £20 surcharge each season, which could save you the hassle of trying to find another hobby that you enjoy as much as this one..... (how's that for a last desperate attempt?!) Dodge, I take your point about Hearts fans and the likes of Foulkes (he still says plenty about Hearts!) being culpable for welcoming Romanov in. I'm sure they would think differently with hindsight today though. But the average supporter got little meaningful say in the matter other than to campaign against Robinson. And Robinson's plan to sell Tynecastle and pay rent at Murrayfied was far more desperate than prudent - he was the main part of the regime that led the club further into debt to the tune of £20million. Running up huge debts, selling your house and then renting a much bigger one is not prudent. The point I was trying to make is that Hearts fans were never in control. Now they are spending a fortune trying to clear the club's debts, plug a funding gap and trying to get control. That's just over six months after saving the club, but also the flawed regime, by buying £1.1million of completely worthless shares in order to pay off tax debts. We have been offered the chance to get guaranteed control of Motherwell by paying the exact same amount that Hearts fans raised in a few weeks. I know they are a much bigger club but I'm sure Hearts fans would jump at that chance having been through and still going through what they are, however naive they were a few years ago.

Normally if all three were completely full that would be just under 9,000 but given the club can't use the plastic seats in the Main Stand under UEFA's crazy rules that stipulate a minimum number of centimetres on the back of your seat, then maybe only 8,000 if totally full. so no surprise that the main stand is sold out. must have sold at least 6,000 though from what you have been told.

No-one expects the great and powerful Wizard of Oz when you pull back the curtain of a football club boardroom. An old guy with a microphone would be fine, as long as he's financially prudent. The problem is no-one was able to pull back the curtain in the Ibrox boardroom for years - David Murray and Craig Whyte pretended they were great and powerful and the reality was far different. They were overly powerful and far from great. No-one bothered pulling back the curtain into the Dunfermline boardroom. Gavin Masterton was the majority shareholder and he was treasurer and managing director of the Bank of Scotland. If you can run a bank, you can run a football club, right? True. Unfortunately, if you can run a bank into the ground, then there is a good chance you will run a football club into the ground. And so it proved. No-one was able to pull back the curtain into Vladimir Romanov's personal financial empire. The regime at Hearts insisted there was no cause for concern because all their debt was owed to UBIG and Ukio Bankas. Now there is an administrator in charge at Ukio and today there is plenty of cause for concern after he told the fans their bid wasn't good enough. It might be okay though as Angelo Massone might be able to improve his bid.... You don't need to start reading financial spreadsheets and making decisions about who's running the pie stall to be a member of the Well Society. You can be as involved or as peripheral as you like. But it might help you relax and melt into your escapism at the football to know that there is some financial safeguard for your club's long-term future, and that people who love the club as much as you do who are either in charge or keeping those running the club in check. Leave it to Toto to pull back the curtain. More than 6,000 Hearts fans have signed up to a scheme that means they pay an average of £250 A YEAR to part-own their club. We need less fans than that to pay a similar amount on a ONE-OFF basis to majority-own our club. It only has no chance of working if we don't make it work. Otherwise we leave ourselves open to a Wizard of Oz-style autocratic rule. And we might not get close enough to pull back the curtain again.

ramsden looks very comfortable on the ball. not sure how he'll cope under pressure from a team like panathinaikos but good luck to him in trying - if he gets a contract. very much up in the air with ongoing talks with sky. saunders out for weeks, page out for two weeks, hutchy touch and go. if ramsden doesn't get a deal its cummins and ??????????? for the champions league

If someone had said to you 12 months ago - Give me £30 and you can watch Motherwell play a Champions League game and also have a say in banishing "rangers" from the SPL as payback for years of cheating the taxpayer and the rest of Scottish football - are you telling me you would have said no? if the pledge to support the club through tough times falls apart before the vote even takes place then following the no vote might just be that little bit harder for those who are wavering behind the scenes. it is far too much for a football match but it's a one-off game in extraordinary circumstances. whether we get pumped in the away leg first or not, the home leg ought to be a celebration of the achievement of getting to the Champions League with the smallest squad in the league (and without dodging taxes). i did take a sharp intake of breath when i saw the price but this is the reality now - it's either justice for Scottish football and pay £30 or pay about £22 and accept that "Rangers" are beyond reproach. Just think how much you have paid to watch Motherwell lose against Rangers for 10 years now when the odds were even more stacked against us than we realised. i resent having to pay money for that punishment looking back and I would resent paying money to watch motherwell play a revamped rangers next season. when i think back to watching motherwell play in the champions league in future years i won't remember how much it cost.

A PM'd password to view the highlights would be very much appreciated by myself too. The Norwegian radio commentary failed to give me a truly accurate picture

The "middle-aged woman in the claret jumper" is my dad! Oh well, he'll be happy with the "middle-aged" part of the description.

FAo Andy Ross - Two here on the 6am flight from Glasgow - see you at the airport

It's four nights accommodation although the plane back on the Saturday leaves about 0630 so if you were going on the ran-dan you wouldn't need a hotel friday night. Don't think my dad would have been too happy if i had told him we were staying out all night though! Octopus travel is what I used for the Corfu Town hotel but I'm sure there are plenty more options. There were a few cheap package deals for Corfu but I couldn't find any for Corfu Town and that's where the boat is from so thought it would be easier to book flights only. Was surprised they were so cheap at this late stage. I've now got the number of a firm that transports people from Saranda port to wherever, if there were a few folk doing the same thing then there are a number of different options for cars, people carriers, minibuses.

I know a few people who went to Albania recently and they all said it was one of the best trips they had ever been on. Good/cheap food/drink and friendly people, they reckoned it was a stag do/holiday destination waiting to happen a bit like Prague 15 years ago. The foreign office round-up is pretty tame if you ask me. Anyway, there are a couple of us going for a lot less money than originally envisaged thanks to the above advice about the boat from Corfu. here are some of the details in case it helps anyone else out. Flights to Corfu from manchester for £150 return through airflights.co.uk from late Monday to early Saturday. The only issue is getting from Saranda to Vlore, which is apparently a 5-hour drive, but I'm sure that will sort itself out when we get to Albania on the Wednesday. You can get hotels in Corfu town and Vlore for £20-25 a night if you're worried about costs creeping up. The ferry to Albania seems to be 15euros each way, so unless we get stung trying to get to Vlore it's all looking pretty reasonable.

Question was "Is Steve Jennings your wild card for next week?" Gannon's answer was: “Unfortunately we tried our best to get the deal done in time but he won’t be. I’m looking forward to working with him." So he won't be playing against Llanelli, but he will be playing against Flamurtari

yes, they have taken it the wrong way. Gannon said they tried to get the deal done in time fior him to play but couldn't. He then said he was looking forward to working with him, so he has still signed, just not in time to face llanelli in either leg.

I got one sorted, thanks for the offers.

I'm looking for one ticket if anyone has a spare. If anyone is reluctant to give theirs up in case the game is postponed on Wednesday, I'll give you the option of buying it back for any rescheduled match.