dennyc

ZFA is certainly not the most consistent of players and at times he drives me nuts. But he is a youngster and does have some potential. It's up to him and the training staff to realise that talent. I don't think that, with a fully fit squad, he would be a first choice and maybe he suffers a little from being regarded as a versatile back up who can fill in where required. That said, he does need to quickly learn from his mistakes or else other youngsters should be given a chance However to say he is one of the worst players to ever wear a 'Well shirt is just wrong. Anybody remember Omar Daly!!! He hid during most matches and to my my mind stole his wages each week. ZFA might not be the best, but at least he tries hard and doesn't shirk his responsibilities. Give me that any time over the numerous money grabbing wasters that have appeared over the years. And as for being a Bombscare............we need one of them now that Hutchy has moved on.

McPake was a stand out at Livi and, in a spiritless Hibs team, he was one of the few who showed any stomach for the battle and who never gave up. Many of the Hibs players looked to him as a leader on and off the park. Something that we are sadly lacking when games are not going as planned. Perhaps if he had not fallen foul of Butcher and had been given the chance to play towards the end of the season then Hibs might have had the drive and leadership to avoid relegation. Butcher says that McPake did not play more games after Christmas because of injury, but McPake insists he was fit enough (and eager) to play. I accept that McPake is not the most cultured of players. But, if Hutch leaves as expected, we could do worse. As for being finished due to injury, the same thing was said about the almost ever present McManus. It's up to our medical staff to assess him and advise McCall. Kerr is fair enough as a utility player to have available as cover and Murray has potential but neither in my opinion is ready to fill a central defender role on a day to day basis. A back four of Ramsden, McPake, McManus and Hammell would not be too shabby. If it's true that we are speaking to McPake it suggests that Hutch has told McCall he is off. Hopefully the other out of contract players let it be known soon what their intentions are so that Mccall can spend our very limited budget where it's most needed.

£25 sent via Paypal. Keep up the good work. Josh Law worth a sponsor given most of the usual suspects already gone?

Sounds like Mark Hateley and his media pals are trying to drum up some interest by highlighting his son is available. Suggests that maybe he has not been flooded out by offers and maybe his move to Rangers is not as cut and dried as had appeared. As for TH not being offered a contract by Motherwell, Stuart McCall said ages ago that offers had been made to all out of contract first team players that we wanted to stay. If it's a case of believing either Mark Hateley or Stuart McCall then it's a no contest. Maybe Tom just hasn't worked out how to tell his Dad he has a good offer from Motherwell and wants to stay at Fir Park rather than move to a lower league team.

I agree with DosserJoe. They should have come clean as soon as the problem was known. Folks on here picked up that something was not right so it was only a matter of time before the truth came out. We are told in the E-Mail that it is preferrable for the Society to loan funds to MFC rather than to inject funds by way of a share purchase. I think that might be to give the Society a stronger claim in the event of MFC going belly up. I seem to recall that Shareholders rank dead last when it comes to insolvency payouts, so it is better to be owed loan monies. Might be wrong in all of that but maybe someone more clued up than me can clarify..........or maybe even a Society Board Member could comment! Not that I'm suggesting MFC are about to go into Administration but any lender should protect their monies as best they can. It surprises me that there is no mention of the Share arrangement being reversed and the £150k then being made available as a loan as we were originally told it would be. My reading of the latest update is that the emergency arrangement would continue with only further advances being made by way of a loan. Why?

Arrived today. Perfect. Good effort guys. Keep up the good work. Hope the funds got the boost you were looking for.

Isn't this fun. Better than working. For what it's worth and given that all seeds get through to the third round my calculation is Motherwell unseeded in pot 4 with the seeded teams being Standard Liege, St Etienne, Rosenborg, Utrecht, Estoril and Debrechen. France or Belgium would be my choice but not really a bad pairing if it works out like I think.

Yep. Split into 5 groups of ten or twelve teams with an even mix of seeds/non seeds. Don't know if details of the groupings is announced before the draw date. Seem to recall it was maybe a day or two before draw but could be wrong on that one.

Glad to help. Donation sent via Paypal. Good luck.

It was Law's decision to make and he chose Rangers. End of. I say good luck to him and thanks for taking a gamble and joining Motherwell two years ago. It's been fun having you on board. Cannot understand all the aggro now being shown towards him. Unlike some, he made his intention to move on perfectly clear and at no time has he tried to pull the wool over our eyes. Hateley and Humphrey for example have done absolutely nothing to clarify their situation. I too would have preferred Law to have gone elsewhere but it's what he wants that counts. As for lack of ambition, the same could have been said when he opted to move to Motherwell rather than one of the Championship and First Division sides that were reputedly keen to sign him. I'm certain there would have been people in England amazed at his decision then. Like any player who plays fair by us and then moves on I hope he goes from strength to strength and has a great career.

Well said St Mirren. Let's hope the media highlight just exactly what watered down compromise was offered re voting. Milne is a disgrace and his "suggestion" that the move away from a voting requirement of 11-1 covered all aspects can now be seen for the spiteful lie it was. Hope St Mirren are aware of the support they and County are receiving from fans across Scotland.......even Aberdeen dare I say it!

Thanks for the detailed update NWF. Much appreciated. Although I still disagree with the new set up I can now understand where the Club are coming from given the financial information they have been provided with. At the end of the day the future of MFC is my priority. I just hope the promise of a new sponsor and an improved/continuing Sky deal comes to be and that Doncaster and the rest are held to account if it's all bullshit. The one thing I cannot get my head round is how on earth £60k to £100k extra a year will eventually result in the likes of Morton, Raith Rovers etc being able to compete in an expanded top division. In football terms the sums involved are not life changing and, if we are to believe what we are told, the additional income may simply provide the safety net required to ensure survival of most of the current 1st Division clubs. Not a bad thing but please don't ask me to believe it will lead to any meaningful growth in these clubs or enable them to compete at a higher level. Ross County appear to have made the transition, but that seems to be the result of a generous benefactor providing the support required. Time only will tell if we ever move to a top division of 14 or more clubs but don't be surprised if we are still having this debate in 10 year's time.

Finally managed to get signed back in to MFC TV. They also agreed to extend my free access until 25 April to make up for time locked out . Suggest anybody who was locked out should ask for extra days to make up time lost. It can clearly be done.

Same story as Numpty. Also confirmation from providers confirming access to be reinstated following discussions with Alison. Old Promo Code could be used only once so they are working on getting that sorted out so I can log in again. Say they will get back to me when it's sorted. Alison was extremely helpful with this and to be honest it was only when she got involved that Customer Services changed their stance. Until that point I was being given the runaround.

Point taken Andy P, I could have made that a little clearer. Because I had severely criticised MFC for their lack of comment, I was actually encouraged to receive a reply from the Chief Exec and thought nothing odd about it. Guess I was just relieved to hear our club were telling us that no decision had been made as yet and thought people would latch onto that rather than debate the source

Leanne Dempster replied because I specifically mentioned her in my EMail and commented that it was disappointing we had not heard a word from her regarding the restructuring of the leagues. The paranoia on this site is unbelievable at times and is only outdone by the determination of a few to find negatives in everything.

Stephen Thompson of Dundee United now advising caution and confirming that they too have not been presented with a formal proposal for consideration. Does make you wonder about Lawwell's statement that the proposals have the full backing of all SPL teams. That's us and United saying they have not made any decision and are awaiting the formal proposal. Somebody's telling porkies. Make up your own mind.

Growing increasingly concerned at these crazy proposals being bulldozed through, i EMailed the Society to clarify whether discussions with the club had taken place and to ask whether members would be consulted. I also made comment to the effect that the silence from MFC was deafening. I received a very prompt response from Leanne Dempster advising that Motherwell had not been involved in the drawing up of the proposal and as yet had had no formal proposal provided to them by the working party (involving 7 SPL Clubs). Because they have not received this formal proposal, they have opted to make no comment to date. When the proposal is eventually placed before them, they will consider it in detail and also consult with the Well Society Board. I am aware that Petder Lawwell states he has full SPL backing but this does not fit in with what our club have told me. Given Mr Lawwell's performance in pushing the proposals throughout this whole saga, I have no doubt Leanne is being up front with us.. My major concern is that certain SPL officials and some of the media have an agenda to push this therough with minimal consultation being possible

Stand to be corrected, but I think Motherwell need to quickly offer Murphy (in writing) an improved contract before he agrees a pre contract or his existing one runs out). Then if he turns it down and moves on under Freedom of Contract ,the compensation calculation takes into account the higher wage offered. I seem to remember that Dundee Utd did that with Conway?? and maybe a few others to boost the amount due to them. There has to be a set formula for calculating the compensation amount....time at club, age, wage etc so you would hope that Motherwell could work out the likely income if he walks. £60k seems really pitiful and we must really be in a bad state financially if we accept that. As others have said, just finishing one place higher in the SPL with Murphy than we would finish without him brings in more than £60k. I hope we hold on to him, offer him an improved contract and take our chances with a tribunal.....unless someone is prepared to offer a realistic sum now which would be far higher than any compensation amount at contract end. There was a case in England where Everton failed to offer Dan Gosling a new contract (or at least they could not prove they had) which meant he walked for next to nothing when his Everton contract expired. Also, did we not shy away from signing a free agent this summer because his previous club would be due a small fortune? ..

Responded to Email from Alison on the day it came out. Advised that I could not attend and asked about the possibility of a postal or online vote. Six days later and still awaiting any sort of reply. Seems like it's something they had not considered.

Think the full back might be Alan Sneddon

Gaag I'm also staying at Crowne Plaza and I think I might be on same flights as you. Leaving Edin around 6pm on the Sunday and arriving Athens 2 ish on the Monday morning. BA flights. Flying back Thursday early afternoon. Up for a taxi share?

So if I understand this correctly ....The envelopes have been opened and the votes counted, without an independent person being present at the time of opening and counting. Surely the independent person should have been present there and then to verify all was above board. Instead we have...."Oh we'll just lock them in a drawer and get someone to check them in a few days." In any meaningful election that would resulted in a void return. No wonder folk believe in conspiracies. A shambles MFC!

For those fans who are willing to accept the NewCo being voted into the SPL in the belief that they will be hammered by the SFA for the use of Double Contracts or that sanctions will carry over from the OldCo, please consider the following chain of events. 1. On July 4, the SPL clubs vote YES for whatever reason .........fear, uncertainty, bullying, media pressure to name a few. No going back... The Rangers are in. 2. At some later date, but before the season starts, the SFA wish to apply appropriate sanctions because of the misconduct of the Old Rangers. 3. New Rangers challenge the sanctions on the basis that the NewCo cannot be punished in law for the dealings of the Old Rangers. There is a very good chance that the NewCo would win the legal arguement. In fact, the SFA have already stated that one of the reasons for the delay in holding Rangers to account is to clarify that exact point. In other words, even the SFA have doubts as to whether the NewCo can be penalised. ...........but they are already in End result. Debt free Rangers in the SPL with a war chest to spend on new players (Green's own words). No points deduction. The unholy alliance with Celtic intact. No chance of change regarding Voting Structure or Revenue Sharing. And Motherwell? Exactly where we are now. Cutting our Budget. With no hope of a fairer deal regarding the shareout of SPL monies. The gap between us and the Old Firm widening by the day. There is a view that The Rangers could be forced to accept sanctions/changes as a condition for SPL membership. But why would Rangers accept that arrangement? Rangers are well aware the other clubs are shit scared of an SPL without both Old Firm. They can use that to their advantage and refuse to compromise. This is a chance in a lifetime chance to change the SPL for the better. It has to a NO.

A feeling of total dismay upon reading the club statement. I agree with others that it seems our Club have already decided to vote to allow the NewCo to start off in the SPL, with the planned Forum being used merely as a means to justify a very unpopular decision. I really do feel the wishes of the majority of Motherwell fans are about to be ignored. All the reasoning provided in the Statement was geared to a "Yes" vote. Also, to say that the vote might even prove pointless as the SFA may demote RFC in any event is misleading and insulting in the extreme. The new Rangers may win their argument that it is not legal to penalise the NewCo for the actions of a the old Company. We all know that it really is the same Organisation, but in Law it is two separate Companies. So that will support the NewCo's case. Even the SFA seem to have doubts about whether they can carry any sanctions over to the NewCo. If the SPL clubs do not refuse Rangers application, they could easily kick of the new season with no sanctions other than the 3 year ban from Europe. Some will suggest that Rangers be forced to accept sanctions,changes to voting structure and a fairer division of revenue as a condition of SPL membership and use that as a justification for a Yes vote. But the changes could be made in any event if the NewCo was refused SPL entry and Celtic were faced with a united approach from the other eleven SPL members. As someone who has supported the current Board throughout this entire saga I now feel totally betrayed by the people in whom I placed my trust