Goggles & Flippers Posted January 6, 2014 Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Just seen the front cover of the Motherwell Times where Paul Lawrie thought he'd have a dig at our away support, despite being at Old Trafford, next day his PR company no doubt got in touch and told him to be nice. This prompted me to think of the wider perception of or club, predominantly in the media. I accept we have probably the 7th/8th largest home attendance in the league where we've pretty much been the best of the rest for 4 out the past 6 years. I also accept that the radio jocks, TV presenters and tabloid hacks tend to appeal and pander to their audience, despite that and the best efforts of our award winning Media department. Is it just me or do we seem to get a rough deal? It seems they can't wait to get on to talk about the 10 years of languishing/now doing good/we'll forget about how awful they've been Aberdeen, with glee. The unbridled wankfest that was Dundee Utd's kids up until before Christmas which has now stalled no doubt had a few wishing they hadn't asked Santa for tangerine coloured tissues. OK, I may be biased and no doubt the fans of Killie, Hibs and ICT may think the same. But we have this family friendly club, most players say they like the atmosphere, our ownership and sustainability issues seem to have been resolved 10 years ago and certainly last year, were playing some really attractive stuff. If this general opinion is shared, might be a good idea for a thread to discuss why and any ideas how we can get universally favoured, however it may be simply to increase out home attendance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Most of it just comes with the territory for provincial clubs, I'd say. Most journos work in cities, so inevitably it's that bit easier them to focus on the clubs in those cities. It probably doesn't help that with one domestic exception, Motherwell haven't actually achieved much on the park in many of our lifetimes that anyone other than ourselves will still be talking about in another 20 or 30 years time. Whatever you think about them still banging on about it, Aberdeen and Dundee United really were among the best teams in Europe for a while when many of us were growing up in the 80s, so even now they're just going to get a bit more favourable attention on that basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Wellfan 2k7 Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Shooting for a negative post here, but Motherwell is Motherwell. I couldn't care less if Chick Young wants to slate us for putting 3 passed his precious St Midden. I couldn't care less if the Sun tells this country that we employed 3 Convicts in a rehabilitation scheme (remember their slogan, "Murder-well"?). So, in terms of The Media, stuff them. Suppose on the odd, and rare, occasion, we do earn some bad rep - the odd bit of crowd trouble (who's really to blame though?), our use of Pyro can be seen as dangerous at times and of course, we do have the odd arsehole who travels to games hoping for an argument (But so does Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and Dundee United) But, we have all but inspired the "rest" to have more atmospheric games! Now every team has a singing section, most utilising drums and unfortunately 'our' beats/songs. We certainly have the noisiest support out with the old firm and Aberdeen - but on their travels, this is more down to the number of people, rather than the noise they are making. We sing until the end, whatever the score. We rally being the team, even if we are 2-0 down at Easter Road, for example. So aye, we do get a rough deal... But the ones dealing the cards are a bunch of fannies anyway. We will win a league title, before Aberdeen or Dundee United do. That's for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weesacs Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 It seems they can't wait to get on to talk about the 10 years of languishing/now doing good/we'll forget about how awful they've been Aberdeen, with glee. The unbridled wankfest that was Dundee Utd's kids up until before Christmas which has now stalled no doubt had a few wishing they hadn't asked Santa for tangerine coloured tissues. i'm listening to a Sportsound Extra podcast, and this is exactly what they are talking about - Kenny McIntyre, Grahma Spiers, Gordon Waddell and Stuart Cosgrove In fairness to Cosgrove, he said he visited Fir Park when we scudded them 4-0 and he was very impressed and that has not been highlighted in the media, we have quietly went about our business under the radar Spiers totally agreed with him and also mentioned that McCall has been the best manager in the league since he came aboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underboyleheating Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 In fairness to Cosgrove, he said he visited Fir Park when we scudded them 4-0 and he was very impressed and that has not been highlighted in the media, we have quietly went about our business under the radar He also stated that he thinks that we will finish second again this year. Not bad for a wee club fae North Lanarkshire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbuff Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 You would be surprised at the number of Well supporters in the media, particularly press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 The problem we face is that journalists exist for 2 reasons these days: 1) To sell papers/attract audience 2) Inform the public 1) is the main focus, and because we don't have as big as fan base as an Aberdeen or a Hearts or whatever, we don't buy as many papers or contribute as much to viewing figures. Result? Coverage is less. EDIT: Forgot to add, the one place we seem to get good coverage is the Evening Times. Seems like there is at least one MFC article a day in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladesman Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I think as history proves unless we actually win a trophy, most hacks see us as a quirky wee diddy provincial club that has been punching way above our weight for the last 5/6 years. When we won in 91 the media as it was then was slavering about the family final and how good it was that fantastic event was played out without either of the ugly sisters being involved... However they soon went back to their Glasgowcentric drivel...I don't really care if we are the media's darlings, I don't even care if we're put on last every week on sportscene. While one ugly sister languishes in the lower leagues, the pundits/hacks will always look to the new firm(Pish expression) to garner favour from their perceived viewing audience.We will never be spoken about in the same favoured tones as the so called bigger clubs, but that's fine, I'd soon get bored of the adulation anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 the coverage we get on sportsound is shocking. i've switched from training it to most away games to travelling by car and no matter how we are doing we barely merit a mention. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 the coverage we get on sportsound is shocking. i've switched from training it to most away games to travelling by car and no matter how we are doing we barely merit a mention. Last time we had any decent coverage on the radio was when Richard Park and Jimmy Sanderson were presenting Super Scoreboard on Radio Clyde. Even when we were in the 1st Division we had a fair shout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJC_MKI Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 1389106655[/url]' post='403108']I think as history proves unless we actually win a trophy, most hacks see us as a quirky wee diddy provincial club that has been punching way above our weight for the last 5/6 years. When we won in 91 the media as it was then was slavering about the family final and how good it was that fantastic event was played out without either of the ugly sisters being involved... However they soon went back to their Glasgowcentric drivel...I don't really care if we are the media's darlings, I don't even care if we're put on last every week on sportscene. While one ugly sister languishes in the lower leagues, the pundits/hacks will always look to the new firm(Pish expression) to garner favour from their perceived viewing audience.We will never be spoken about in the same favoured tones as the so called bigger clubs, but that's fine, I'd soon get bored of the adulation anyway... See I can understand why us not winning a major trophy for over 20 years and not having the history of winning silverware like Aberdeen, Dundee Utd or Hearts have would mean less recognition, however I'd still say that Partick Thistle get a much better level of coverage from the media than we do and when was the last time they won anything? They have also yo-yo'd up and down the leagues in the past two decades all while we've been a permanent fixture in the top flight. The same goes for St.Mirren IMO, albeit they won the league cup last year, but like thistle they've been in and out of the top flight and haven't been anywhere near Europe yet I'd still say they get a better deal from the media than we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 They get a better deal simply because they are a Glasgow team in the middle of a Glasgow-centric emdia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladesman Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yep, that's what I said.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 There's barely any interest in the team in our own town never mind in the country at large so why should the media be festooning their newspapers, radio programmes and television with Motherwell FC? Well that might be an argument if it was true but actually Motherwell get an enormous amount of press coverage for the size of the club. Try taking a club that gets 3,763 supporters to their last home match and getting any coverage at all down in England. I'm sure one thing that any player will tell you about coming up here is clubs our size get an enormous amount of media coverage compared to similar sized clubs elsewhere. It's one of the few strengths football has in this country, in that we can attract players that want to make a bit of a name for themselves before moving on. I rarely read newspapers anymore but when I do there is usually some kind of Motherwell related story in their even if it's not a two page spread, we get live matches broadcast across Scotland and the United Kingdom on a regular basis. Take the BBC website for example. Motherwell have 9 non match report stories since the 29th December. Bradford have 2 non match report stories. Coventry have 4 non match report stories. Wolves have 4 non match report stories. All those clubs are at least twice as big as us, from much bigger towns and cities and receive less coverage from the BBC. The last time I had the radio on they were absolutely raving about Motherwell for quite a while, in fact they were probably going overboard with the praise. Everything is relative of course, Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen etc are all likely to get more attention than us because there is a bigger media audience out there for them, but actually the amount of media coverage Motherwell get is a lot more than most other clubs of our stature get in any other major footballing country. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Take the BBC website for example. Motherwell have 9 non match report stories since the 29th December. Bradford have 2 non match report stories. Coventry have 4 non match report stories. Wolves have 4 non match report stories. All those clubs are at least twice as big as us, from much bigger towns and cities and receive less coverage from the BBC. bbc scotland have 5 or 6 full time football reporters so they should be covering us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 bbc scotland have 5 or 6 full time football reporters so they should be covering us. Point being we get a lot more press coverage than far larger clubs elsewhere in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
that hat Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 the coverage we get on sportsound is shocking. i've switched from training it to most away games to travelling by car and no matter how we are doing we barely merit a mention. Credit to Richard Gordon for initiating Saturday's discussion about Motherwell's success over the festive period. However it was rapidly rerouted by Chick Young and Willie Miller when they discussed Michael Higdon's success last season before moving on to discuss Virgil van Dijk and Derek McInnes!!! Where's Stephen Craigan when you need him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm pretty much of the opinion that others have expressed that I'm not too bothered about media praise or lack of BUT Where this does kick us in the Albert Halls is trying to sell players. How much of the fee for Goodwillie was inflated by media hype? The old argument about Jamie Murphy or him has been done to death and obviously contract status and club's ability/willingness to turn down an offer plays a part, but the disparity in fees was shocking. Certainly Sheffield Utd got a better deal than Blackburn.. It just seems that players at other clubs get hyped more than ours. Can anyone explain how we received not one bid for the best goalkeeper in the league last January when an inferior keeper is being linked with massive clubs? How we change that? Don't know but maybe if we stopped slating our own players and maybe phoned the phone-ins (I'd draw the line at Radio Clyde) to praise our team, then it might help a bit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthefringes Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 the coverage we get on sportsound is shocking. i've switched from training it to most away games to travelling by car and no matter how we are doing we barely merit a mention. Only so daddy can keep an eye on you and make sure you don't make it home in just yer stocking soles Shoes off! for the Motherwell was penned for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Where's Stephen Craigan when you need him? Hopefully been replaced permanently by Gary McAllister! Craigan, unfortunately, comes across like an OF employee sometimes. I much prefer McAllister's contributions these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Point being we get a lot more press coverage than far larger clubs elsewhere in the country. on the bbc website. a club like bradford will also be covered on the local bbc radio station and by several local daily papers so i would guess they get more coverage over all. we shouldn't be grateful that bbc radio scotland occasionally give us a mention, they are a public service broadcaster who spend a lot of money covering football and we are one of the top teams in the country at the moment. getting 60 seconds in the 45 minutes after full time isn't good enough. the coverage that english clubs get is irrelevant, it is a completely different market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONeils40yarder Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm pretty much of the opinion that others have expressed that I'm not too bothered about media praise or lack of BUT Where this does kick us in the Albert Halls is trying to sell players. How much of the fee for Goodwillie was inflated by media hype? The old argument about Jamie Murphy or him has been done to death and obviously contract status and club's ability/willingness to turn down an offer plays a part, but the disparity in fees was shocking. Certainly Sheffield Utd got a better deal than Blackburn.. It just seems that players at other clubs get hyped more than ours. Can anyone explain how we received not one bid for the best goalkeeper in the league last January when an inferior keeper is being linked with massive clubs? How we change that? Don't know but maybe if we stopped slating our own players and maybe phoned the phone-ins (I'd draw the line at Radio Clyde) to praise our team, then it might help a bit... Exactly the point I was going to make.....the reason we get such shitey transfer fees is purely because we don't seem to advertise our players via the media, look at Goodwillie and the price utd got for him, and considering he hardly kicked a ball for Blackburn you've got to wonder how they managed it when we got a pittance for Murphy? Its also coming round again with Hutch, we're going to lose him for next to fuck all while Utd are knocking back larger bids for players with a fraction of his experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Diggle Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 They also beat us out the park in the 'gonny sign a long contract so we can get money for you stakes' Most of their boys happily sign on knowing the club won't stand in their way but will sell them for a decent price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underboyleheating Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 They also beat us out the park in the 'gonny sign a long contract so we can get money for you stakes' Most of their boys happily sign on knowing the club won't stand in their way but will sell them for a decent price Dundee United are masters at that and I have never quite understood how we don’t employ similar tactics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Diggle Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Apparently we give it our best shot but players advisors boss the proceedings. The question is more around how do Utd do it? A decent slice of the transfer fee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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