Goggles & Flippers

Fuck Ross County, their owner bankrolls that team with questionable financial fair play criteria, so there's no reason he couldn't throw some money to the 2 pensioners and a dug that follows them with a 100 quid into a minibus every so often. Problem solved. What we are talking about here is simple, if the league released fixtures that had a semblance of common sense about them, there would be no debate, in fact a lot of people would be saying hey out of all the crap we could have got dealt, that isn't so bad. But they didn't and here we are. There would be no no fans divided down the middle as to thinking they were hard done to and no pedantic posts highlighting spelling mistakes to gain extra traction.

Aye you say that repeatedly, but at a sensitive time of year where people who maybe live in the far flung corners of the UK/planet return home and want to maximise the time with their nearest and dearest. Surely common sense is inconveniencing as few people as possible to get as many people as possible to attend games? Around Christmas and midweek, the league should look to group together County, ICT, Aberdeen Dundee, St. Johnstone & Hearts (before anyone jumps on it I recognise the distance between Edinburgh and Dingwall, I'd advocate Hearts playing the other grouping of Killie, Accies, Partick, the Haudit and Doddit plus us. plus St. Johnstone/Dundee. Christ .... everyone on here to a man (or woman) says our game is on it's arse, there should be more done, here is a prime example of one of those instances and this and the other thread are full of apologists. Rangers and Celtic are a different case to everyone else, if you choose not to think or understand that then I don't know how many posts on a board will make you. Long and short is the league should have never got to a stage where they released such a hashed pigfuck, all thats been managed is some teams are rubbing their hands, some are feeling the pinch and a lot of fans are arguing over something that should never have seen the light of day.

Thoughts and votes please folks

Ha Yeah .... more news just in, the club announce they will be playing on a green pitch next season

Or there was an assumption that the body responsible for officiating a sporting competition would do as they always had in the interests of fair play.

What exactly is the incompetence exhibited by the board, issuing the statement or something they could have done in advance? I would suggest the biggest difference here is you work in a commercial capitalist environment where if you succeed your competition fails. Motherwell (while still success based) existing in the sporting sphere where on day one it is expected there is a level playing field. The better analogy would have been you visiting your finance gaffer and apologising for not winning a contract you tendered for as your competitors are given an advantage on what should be a fair, open and transparent system.

Aye but Motherwell have Accies 2 miles away for derby's, and Partick and Killie for midweek games around Christmas. Aberdeen is always going to be somewhat inconvenienced by the Geographic location, so you look to mitigate it as much as possible.

More likely a "fuck Motherwell" from the SPFL, the club can't influence the fixture list prior to publishing except maybe highlighting prior oversights. Remember a few years back Leeann got a Boxing Day game against Celtic due to a 18 game home season opposed to 19.

The SPFL have the power to alter and fine tune the computer randomisation, in this instance they haven't. Let's not ignore that in the history of the split, correct me if I'm wrong, neither Rangers or Celtic ever had 18 home games, but on a few occasions had 20. There's four bits to this whole debate: Sporting Integrity: We face 4 trips to Ibrox and Parkhead, Dundee/ICT/St Johnstone etc. face only two pre split. Lets not deny that every fan on the planet feels they have a chance against as an underdog on their own patch. The whole point of a league is that in theory everyone has a chance to win. Of course things are skewed in this country as they are in most other leagues where 25% of clubs are the only realistic ones able to win the league consistently. To play them both at home post spilt we have to accumulate enough points (you would imagine) to attain top 6 status. Not so easy when you've one less home game and 2 first team players down compared to your immediate competition. Commercially: We face a significant loss to their balance sheet by early April compared to our competitors. This allows them to wheel and deal to secure better additions to their squad. Yes if we get top 6 then we've got a bumper April/May but anyone who knows about football finances knows the pinch points are in January and March. Not only that, to get the bumper April/May we have to overcome a higher hurdle than the other teams in the league. Heart: The club supported the overwhelming groundswell of fan opinion and sanctioned Rangers demotion. They made it clear it was going to be tough and asked for fans to help see through the shortfall in revenues with buying bricks, getting lapsed visitors back in the fold, etc. Needless to say we as a group didn't do with the gusto required. Yes, it would be nice to treat them as we would a Falkirk but only the most blinkered of fans can't ignore they are a different entity. It should make no difference, but it does. Historically: First time this has happened, so what's the rationale SPFL? Every year they are released and we seem to be the club that is messed around, the thinking is what? Punishing the exuberant among our support, the fact our support is smaller than a number of others, or our management can be controlled and pacified unlike others. Personally I'm glad we're making a stand, everything about this is amateurish. With respect to the midweek games, it seems many have ignored the Friday night Aberdeen games in recent memory. It's not unconceivable to schedule Ross County/ICT vs Aberdeen or St Johnstone for the midweek Christmas fixture. We expect the New Year fixture always to be a derby, so ICT vs Ross County, St. Johnstone vs Dundee, and while not close Aberdeen vs Hearts would result in a bumper crowd for the home team and keep them as happy as they could be. What's so wrong in suggesting the week before ICT, Aberdeen, RC and ST Johnstone will all be involved against each other? When people are home at that time of year, visiting family/jaked, just keep them close to home, its not hard.

Yeah but maybe the long term financial forecasting had him going for a lot more in X years time for all we know.

Issue for me is it must of been reviewed and rubber stamped with what .... half a dozen pairs of eyes looking it over ..... and it still gets published. Had some hopes with the rejigging of the League Cup that things were starting to move (slowly) in the right direction. Today's fixtures are just a prime example of ineptitude at the top of our game. Shambles!

I'll take everyone here to Devonshire Gardens for a meal if he signs for any of them. Spin on a lesser news site to put a fire under the arse of the true target clubs. As transparent as Casper the ghost.

Question: If you seriously think the WS will be in the position to make sound strategic decisions on the direction of a business with a turnover of 3.5 million, responsible for the livelihood of 80 permanent and a further 100 part-time positions when run like a Bowling Club rules committee ... raise your hand. This is the seriousness of what we are talking about. Its the future governance and sustainability of our club, why I don't get why people are happy to shrug off the string of failings to date, is there a hope things will click into place and improve the closer we get to full fan ownership? I have no fear of the daily running, it's in good hands with Flow. But the 5 year and 10 year plans which are steered by the owners (essentially the WS board) .... gives me the fear come 2020 or whenever they are given the reigns.

The cream doesn't always rise to the top in a democratic system. Popularity or association triumphs over merit and ability.

Everyone voicing concerns I feel has legitimate reason to do so, ask what are their motives? I've not seen any trolling, just many wanting more clarity and professionalism from what will ultimately call the shots at the 7th biggest club in the country. They want to see this work but recognise it won't in it's current state. The WS could have nipped a number of criticism's in the bud with a more engaging and proactive approach. Alas things were left to fester and Chinese whispers and hearsay ensue. I know I'm moving increasingly into the "why bother" camp when a number of apologists on here keep on having selective memory and advocating the lowering of expectations as to what we as a membership should accept as satisfactory.

1. You are a regular contributor and read these boards, you can't deny a number of people have been ignored, passed over, walked or will have nothing to do with the WS. 2. The rules you cite. The articles of the WS were changed without discussion or vote. As soon as anyone has instructed a DD and any payment has been received (even £5) opposed to having full steel membership costing £300, they can vote. Therefore it makes getting 10% of adults and calling an EGM much harder. Of course this was covered around Autumn last year, maybe that has drifted from the memory. This argument rears it head all too often. Just because you are unhappy with something you are barred from voicing your displeasure unless you can shore it up with a proposal in triplicate, filed on the 5th Wednesday of the month when there's a full moon. It doesn't need someone with a Communications and Media degree to determine things are repeatedly failing and need addressing. To be able to do so we have to be furnished with reasonable disclosure to be able to formulate an adequate solution, so far the board have treated the information dissemination to the membership on a need to know basis. So even if people were inclined to follow your advice they'd be hard pressed to deliver. So now the rank and file can only raise concerns or complain if they can provide a plan B? Come on.

Close, to set the record straight and be fair to Brian, about a year ago invitations were asked from the membership to put themselves forward to be considered to be co-opted onto the board. I did so then received a call telling me that people were put on the back burner at the previous co-opting. When the new request made them asked why new applications were being sought when the were told they would be brought on at the next opportunity. The only thing the Chairman was guilty of were jumping the gun with their press release and not running it by every member of the board in advance (however I understand that wasn't the first time). It was during this call I was asked to be a "special advisor" along with Jay, so it was more an acknowledgement of that oversight, it just turned out to be a waste of time. I don't think the time is right for me just now Andy or maybe even in the future but if I'm honest, I'm both disheartened and disenfranchised from the whole thing. If I was to get involved I'd look to join and champion another 6 other people I've admired and identified who could make things happen. (4 SOL contributors for their measured and fair responses and who better represent the demographic of our club support. Plus two others with significant corporate accounting experience, one who is a Director of Corporate Tax at one of the big 4 in Glasgow and another who is a Management Accountant & CFO who has successfully been integral to major multi-million pound takeovers, both former season ticket holders but not WS members). While lawyers and accountants look impressive on a board, the issue the WS have had is communications and marketing and people with this expertise should not be overlooked. There are also a number of people involved in the past who have since distanced themselves, all with significant experience and things to offer that I hope could be persuaded to return within a more open and progressive organisation. But that isn't a mandate I could be elected on, I don't have the time or gumption for the ensuring fight to push things through. It is important a board stand by the concept of collective responsibility and project a unified front, it would be disingenuous of me to do so when I have been so critical on here. By no means do I question the good intentions and desire of the current board to make things work, even more so the most recent additions as they are hardly in the door and I've seen first hand how committed one of them is. The change of one person is not the answer though.

Scroll through the WS thread, see repeated examples of where people have offered time and services and been left out in the cold. Spiderpig is correct, they need to transition from amateur bumblings akin to a bowling club committee to governance of a 3m turnover company with lots of media exposure and scrutiny. To give you an example, go onto the WS thread that's around 70 pages deep. Here's a brief synopsis: Post 1: Today the WS announced X, which will in turn bring Y into play and ultimately achieve Z Post 2: Hey can someone tell me about X and Y and how it affects Z, the information is a tad vague? Post 3: I think Mr ABC said at the AGM/in a tweet, that it's a work in progress and they'd come back Post 4: I'm fed up I wrote to them about X, Y and Z, no response Post 5: Hey give them time, they are volunteers and you can't please everyone all the time Post 6: Their communication is shocking Post 7: Rather than complain do something about it Post 8: OK, well ..... I just did and it was a total waste of my time Post 9: Ahh OK, that's not very good Post 10: Theres something dodgy going on, why all the secrecy Post 11: Hey just seen the Well Society are launching DEF. Post 12: Not been impressed with them so far but we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Post 13: Yeah, OK Post 12: Why not

My feelings on the whole affair are well documented in this thread. Reeks of parochial fumblings and biscuit tins used to contain the cash. Needs a revamp, a relaunch, a re-election and and re-awakening of the support. Can't help but feel I'm like a soothsayer of impending doom after seeing the comments on here about lack of information. If I was petty I'd be inclined to sift back through posts made last Spring where the apologists tried to justify the WS position and pour scorn on my demands for greater clarity and say ... told you so. But that would be petty and churlish, you know who you are and what you said. They've been offered help and blanked it or turned it down because it doesn't fit with their antiquated way of looking or doing things. Weesacs, scroll up through this thread and with saddening regularity (usually a 2 page - 40 post cycle) where people are enthusiastic, offer help and then come on here to vent. I'm one of the the 500 who purchased membership (when I was unemployed and couldn't afford it) but haven't contributed anything since. Why? Because I don't throw good money after bad, I learned that the hard way and why I've not encouraged any of the the 5 former season ticket holders I used to sit with to join the WS. I've never been contacted with respect to my subs/DD however if I had I would tell them where to go I'm sorry to say. Some people need to bite the bullet and realise it's not working and they are contributing to that failure. Sometimes it takes a lot guile to fall on your sword and let fresh blood in, that and integrity. The rules of the society have been changed without consultation making things harder to remove people. Just all very Orwellian and therefore I've switched off indefinitely.

A wise man once told me your modern footballer is essentially a mercenary, following the cash rather than having any affinity to a club. Don't be fooled, 99% of them follow that rule and if they don't, their agents drum it in and make it very clear. The Lasley's and Hammell's of this world aren't and deserve a little bit more leeway, however not a huge amount. Similar to Superward, if they move on ... thanks guys, all the best. But I genuinely expect we'd be able to find adequate replacements, only issue is gelling sufficiently with the rest of the team by August.

I think the house thing is more coincidence that a telegraph he's off, his future is still under negotiation. For a guy close to the end of his career it probably more likely he'll be moving into another place int he area. Along with THAT performance at Parkhead, silly season has started very early this year.

Keith was meant to be a bit part player this season according to many 12 months ago. Because of injury many have overlooked Pearson being in our squad in the much vaunted search for midfielders.

Eh? Deary me indeed ..... that you can't distinguish hyperbole, I'll make sure to telegraph it in future for your benefit.

Other than the 5's egos being bruised, there is a reality to this they have to face. The rest of us non footballers have an advantage over them. We go to work from school/further education and gain experience that means by the time we hit 40 we have a particular skill set that is desired by employers. Most expect to see their salary increase and value to employers as time progresses. Footballers peak physically at 27/28 and then have to mitigate injury and ensure availability for selection on a matchday through merit over their teammates. Those appearances diminish as they get closer to 40, as they work in an industry where appearances are what's it's all about. They have to realise you can't command the same salary you did when buzzing about being instrumental in 45 games a season opposed to the influence and appearances you have now in your mid-30's due to the natural ageing process. Sad reality guys I'm afraid, it's now we 9-5er's can feel smug as you did going to the bookies after playing 5's at Ravenscraig for an hour and a half back when you were in your early 20's.

Unleash your demons