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4Th Place & Possible Europa Cup


Welldaft Mk1
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Whilst Europe would have been nice i was certainly not backing Celtic nor their bigoted rivals from the other side of Glasgow. For me id rather earn the right to get into Europe than someone else do it on our behalf, we have accomplished far more this season than we thought was possible just a month and a half ago. Lets build on this season in the summer and if we get Europe then brilliant if not then lets win a cup that would be far more enjoyable!!

Not that it matters now but nobody would have been doing it on our behalf the rules are in place to allow the 4th place league finishers entry to Europe if the cup winning team has already qualified via other means. So a team needs to have played sufficiently well over the season to have earned a 4th place finish to be able to take advantage of the rules in place. The same situation arose when we made our champions league debut, we earned a 3rd place finish that year and benefited accordingly.

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You just know we would have got one of these anyway.

 

(War zone)

 

EL1-2=Dinamo Minsk 10.000 (eu/Q1) or (eu/Q2)
EL1-3=Shakhtior Saligorsk 7.500 (eu/Q1) or (eu/Q2)

(War zone -1)

EL2=FK Aktobe 8.075 (eu/Q1)
EL3=Ordabasy Shymkent 3.575 (eu/Q1)

(Fishing boat owners only)

EL2=NSI Runavik 1.475 (eu/Q1)
EL3=HB Torshavn 3.225 (eu/Q1)

Im happier without the distraction, comes too soon and fucks up organising a new team. Plus we always loose more money than we gain.

Onwards and upwards

 

And remember the fat goalie still rules!

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A pity that Europe is now beyond us. It might not be a great money spinner at our level, but I still get excited by the prospect of Motherwell in Europe, possibly because it remained out with our grasp for so long in the seventies and eighties, when it was worthwhile.

Still, let's get as high a league finish as possible, and give a few youngsters a run when the chance presents itself.

Good luck to the Hibees in the final.

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Looking at the longer term, we need a solid preseason and the bedding in of new/inexperienced players to formations and structures.

IMO Europe would be a distraction next season and possibly hinder us.

The SPFL will be a tougher prospect next season due to a couple of teams making huge improvements and potentially 1 or 2 teams promoted, being of better quality to those heading down.

Any teams making a slow start next season, may never recover!

Let's hope Mark McGhee and co can springboard forward, ,similar to his first Austrian preseason and with that place, let's aim for a high finish or decent cup run/win.

Lots of hard work ahead, but it finally looks like things are falling into place.

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Yeah a tad "mehhhh" the Champions of Scotland couldn't tuck away a wee new team from the Championship but that's the beauty of the cup.

 

We're probably 250k better off than we projected with potential for another 200k. After paying back loans and additional costs associated with the success you'd hope there would be enough money to bring in 2/3 decent first team starters (based on approx 70k salary). Hopefully McGhee's national team role and his gravitas maybe means we don't miss out on the likes of the Jackson Irvine's of this world this close season.

 

I'm all for blooding youngsters but there's approx 15% of our annual player budget still to secure, I'd also hope the youths we'd introduce would be more than capable of holding their own. A nice result of this season that they've mostly all managed it.

 

Interesting to see if Ainsworth gets offered anything (or wants to stay).

 

Looking forward to see who all returns as lithe panthers of footballing muscle with a McGhee pre-season under their belts, the three German starlets and Steve Robinson doing his best Basil "Don't mention the War" Fawlty impression.

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Interesting to see if Ainsworth gets offered anything (or wants to stay).

 

He's still under contract until the end of next season and he seemed fairly positive about staying the other week: ""I have another year left on my contract," he explained. "I like to think I'm a big part of the team. The manager has told me I need to take my chance.

"I have that year and this is my third season here and I absolutely love the club. I'm looking beyond that and looking forward to next season."" http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/14391178.It_was_tears_for_fears__now_Lionel_Ainsworth_is_happy_to_be_striking_right_chord_at_Motherwell/?ref=rss

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where you getting this, we're better off than projected from?

 

Surely we were targetting top six and at least couple of games in each cup?

 

maybe that means we have almost just about matched that, but also had to incur some additional costs of releasing a manager,staff and players - Feels like worse crowds than the norm - although some sources say we've got higher gates?

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where you getting this, we're better off than projected from?

 

Surely we were targetting top six and at least couple of games in each cup?

 

maybe that means we have almost just about matched that, but also had to incur some additional costs of releasing a manager,staff and players - Feels like worse crowds than the norm - although some sources say we've got higher gates?

I believe there was an indication that our budget has been based on finishing 10th with no cup run. I think I took that from Les' interview in the Daily Heil and it may also have been mentioned when Douglas Dickie was speaking on the podcast (I could be totally wrong on that one though).

 

Edit: this is the bit that seems relevant, though in hindsight it's not clear as to whether it has been implemented this season or whether it's a future aim: "we need to be what's termed cash neutral based on a worst case scenario effectively budgeting on the provision that we finish 10th in the league, with no cup run or player sales." http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2016/03/23/well-society-statement-ownership-negotiations-2/

 

Having said that almost everything I've read recently seems to indicate that the budgets have been reduced this season. I think the phrase was that they've been "conservative" with their budgets.

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where you getting this, we're better off than projected from?

 

Surely we were targetting top six and at least couple of games in each cup?

 

maybe that means we have almost just about matched that, but also had to incur some additional costs of releasing a manager,staff and players - Feels like worse crowds than the norm - although some sources say we've got higher gates?

I don't know for sure but doubt if we'd be budgetting for top six after having to endure the playoffs last season. Our ambitions would have been somewhat more modest. Average crowds are certainly up this season and of course we have Lee Erwin's transfer fee, or at least some of it to take into account. Prize money will be at least £850,000 more than last season. Given all these factors, there will be considerable negotiation behind the scenes about how Les' loans are paid off and so on.

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What they said, cheers for saving me from early onset arthritis.

 

Targeting is one thing, projecting is another. At the start of the season they would have probably drawn up a number of projections from best case through to disaster with a few in-between. After the past few years I think its safe to say the club have decided to err on the side of caution. The club probably projected for SPFL status within the regular season (so 10th) with a couple more games in both cups at least. The target couldn't be far off what we've achieved (with possible SPFL prize money replacing lost cup revenues).

 

The club will also project an extra 250k from the currants visiting next season however in a much more competitive league than this year. Hibs or Falkirk will be around the 5th-7th mark on momentum and Queen's XI to be top 3 due to their spending power. Happy to be wrong on both counts however.

 

I suspect the ability to release Baraclough wasn't too much of a burden, emphasised by nobody acknowledging any detail on the length of his contract. I think to protect the club while offering a young manager the exposure and a significant jump for the Irish league, it would have been very much in our favour, with few penalties.

 

McGhee will be determined to ensure that he is entitled a bit of the rewards for finishing higher up the table to bolster his squad. Better quality players enhance his chances of success and consequently reputation. Man Utd and Barca will probably get a new managers in the next 12 months, he no doubt he'll want to be in the mix .......

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