Tweed

Every now and then I decide to have a bash at writing an article for a blogsite but I can never be bothered setting it up so I never normally share them but I was a bit bored this afternoon and drafted the below: Scottish football is officially a mess. Who would have thought when Rangers went into administration four and a half months ago where it was going to take us? But here we are at the last couple of stations before Armageddon. Or so our ever so bright and cheerful Glasgow media would have you believe. But actually we are maybe at the last couple of stations before a bright new beginning. This week is going to be fascinating with the SFL meeting on Tuesday and the SPL vote on Wednesday. The latter is a bit of a foregone conclusion with six clubs declaring they will vote no and with the result decided you can’t help but feel the other five will follow suit. But Tuesday’s is an interesting one. Some first division clubs are all out against the newco joining their division. Whereas the bright buttons running our game think that is where they should start as the ‘Newco’ v Celtic fixture is where they can make their money and only losing it for one year should be a retrievable mess. Breaking news gents, the supporters don’t button up the back. Fans of the SPL clubs seem to have responded to them saying they will vote No and have been purchasing their season tickets in double quick time this week. Obviously it is only 1 July 2012 and the final figures won’t be in for a few weeks yet but the signs are encouraging. However they want the newco in Division 3 or in the regional leagues as that is what would happen to everyone else. It doesn’t seem unreasonable and if they are given a special pass to Division 1 you can see the forecasted disenchantment returning. Whilst the belief their club have acted correctly may remain they won’t watch a product that is seen as rigged. So there is still a danger of losing thousands of fans to the game. Attendances are down but per population member they are still the highest in Europe so there are lots of people to lose. Which is why the clubs in the SFL need to follow the SPL clubs and not permit the Newco into Division 1. I understand the temptation if you are someone like Ayr or Cowdenbeath. They are never going up another level, survival in Division 1 is the best they can realistically hope for given their size and the opportunity of four league games and the riches that may bring against Newco is a substantial, not to be sniffed at carrot. The boards will see it that way but the fans will not. That is because they are fair minded people who believe that justice and equality are more important than the quick dollar. Ayr, Cowdenbeath or any other club of similar size have one group of people to be faithful to and they are their own fans. I would surmise that any SFL club not doing that and losing more of the small but loyal band of fans they have could be, to quote Vlad, ending up in the grave they dug for someone else. This is not about punishment. What division the newco are in next season actually does not constitute punishment for Rangers at all. This is about the governing bodies thinking the same way as the fans and applying their own rules of admission and not creating ridiculous shortcuts based on self-interest and greed. Remember the new horizon I mentioned. Well here it is. All the clubs have won their fans over this summer by not being bullied by the newco situation. More fans are apparently buying tickets, a gander over Internet forums suggest they are thinking of more ways to part with their hard earned cash, in a time of recession, to further support their own clubs. You see these people care about their club and they care about Scottish football. There is potential here to bring clubs closer together in the community, make the fans more involved and that may see numbers increase and revenues increase in the medium to long term. Not for one second do I doubt that the next two or three years are going to be really tough for the SPL clubs. Monies coming in are going to be down, we all know and grudgingly accept that. We don’t like it but we are where we are and self-preservation is not a reason to bend the rules. Apply the rules as they are written and the fans will respect that more. Money distribution is going to change, of that there is no doubt. The Old Firm had too much say in the SPL and with the 11-1 voting structure they could do whatever they liked to keep most of the cash. So even if the pot is less in the coming years the distribution is going to be more equal which could mean that the money coming from the governing organisation could increase for the so called diddy teams. Obviously nobody knows what will actually happen. Sky and ESPN could pull out though I don’t think they will, but they will probably reduce their deal as Kilmarnock v St Mirren can only be endured so many times. The worst case scenario figures are frightening but it is up to the fans to buck the trend and we have seen that happen in the past and I am sure we will again. The bad news is if the governing bodies start shortcutting they will wonder what is the point and not bother and the Armageddon scenario may arrive. So my plea to the SPL chairmen and clubs, the SFL chairmen and clubs, the SPL board, the steering groups and the Chief Executives of all these organisations is listen to the people who come through the gate every week. They come through good times and bad if the rules are applied fairly and equally to all, they support you financially and they make you sustainable. It needs to be a no to Newco in Division 1.

I've just read two columns in today's Sunday Mail and I have to shake my head in disbelief. It serves me right for reading the Sunday Mail but anyways: Craig Burley - surely demoting Rangers a division and having them build up their team from scratch is enough punishment without sending them to Division 3 is enough. Actually Craig, this isn't about punishing the Oldco anymore. The Oldco punishment will be dealt with in due course. This is about the Newco and applying to play football. Any other new team would have to start in league football in division 3 and if we are letting them in the league that is where the must begin. As for saying the first division teams are mad for not wanting to play them - actually they aren't because they will make much more money by being in the SPL and if they want to go up letting Newco in is just hampering their chances. But the biggy is it aint about punishment so your column in its entirity is shit. Hugh Keevins - We won't sell out for our 30 pieces of silver but we would for 40 or 50. No, I don't think so Hugh. THese clubs have a grasp on reality - they don't budget for Rangers being in their league and they don't want them there next year or the year after as that stifles their chances of moving upwards. they will get a financial benefit one year, but it should be in 2014/15. But if they are only getting the benefit for one year then they might as well not piss off their entire fanbase while they are doing it and send them to the third. So your column is shit too.

To an extent I agree with you but remember a week past on Monday, I know it is a long time ago in this saga. But the club tried to put something out quickly after the SPL board meeting, it was misinterpreted and all hell broke loose. So whilst they may want to counter things quickly there is a skill to getting it right. The club need to manage expectations here, every time the SPL or the SFA release something there is someone on here demanding to know what our club's involvement, viewpoint, stance and input is/has been. It is physically impossible for them to respond all the time. All day today there have been people making comments about I want this statement today etc etc. I understand their frustration but it is a Saturday in the holiday seasons and it is not as if one was promised in the first place. I think the club are learning all the time. They were too quiet for too long at the start, then the next time they were quick and released something that was misleading and today they have released something that is quite honest, well worded and within 48 hours of the document breaking. Had they rushed something out that could be misconstrued a rammy would have ensued so I say well played.

Not that I am speaking for Flow or the club but I think what he was getting at is the fans perhaps don't realise exactly how much extra money we are going to need and whilst the ideas mooted in the thread you mention are all good and helpful it will not, in itself, be enough to even coming close to plugging the hole. Just my interpretation.

Remember a lot of things come from the McLeish report which was commissioned and I suspect published but I can't remember the dates long before the Rangers crisis was anywhere near where it is today. However things do seem to have accelerated in recent weeks to implement them. From what is coming out of the SFL I don't see anyway that Sevco will be anywhere other than Division 3 (unless that somewhere else is six feet under) and to be honest if I was an SPL chairman on the board when these proposals were put to me I would have been of the 'put it to them' camp - not because I thought it was right but because after saying no to them in the SPL it really isn't up to me where they go next, and I would then have to trust that they would vote in the interest of fairness and I think that is exactly what will happen. I would also be reticent about rejecting the proposals out of hand as when you take the Rangers bits out of the proposals there is some good stuff in there.

My point was really an example that, for the size of club we are, we have no right to expect to be in the top division every season. Therefore we have no right to be relying on money from the top division TV deal or the top division bigger draws such as Rangers or Celtic. If shit and fan collide, and this scenario has the makings of a really runny brown jobby, the only people we can rely on to pull the club through it are our own fans so we need to vote for the good of the game as that is what our fams demand and if they don't get it they'll walk as has clearly been shown by the rhetoric on here for the last three months (though it seems like decades). I'm not expecting us to get relegated however I am realistic enough to know it does not take much of a swing for it to happen.

We almost got relegated in 2007, we should have been relegated in 2003, having been 3rd in 2008 we were joint bottom on Christmas Day that year. It doesn't take much of a shift in luck on the injury front to see you bottom, especially if reconstruction comes and there are two up two down. Just saying on the balance of averages in the next ten years we'll go down. It could be longer but whenever it is the same point holds, we turn fans off now they'll never come back.

I can't see how reconstruction can help Rangers here. It is far too late for August, by which time they will be placed in Division 3. If we reconstruct even if they win Division 3 they'll be in the new Division 2 and then Division 1 and then the new SPL. I can see no way they can get into Division 1 without a hell of a lot of legal challenges, Christ I may need to support Airdrie in that one. Reconstruction is the right thing though, if this is the good thing that comes from Rangers plight and they get back a year earlier for the good of the game I'll swallow it.

I've been on holiday this last week and have been following the updates from what I could find on Twitter. Eventful week with the statement on Monday, the announcement on Thursday and the voting documentation on Saturday. My thoughts as follows: 1) the statement on Monday was negative but I read it as balanced. I think we had reached a stage there that the fans wanted answers and patience was wearing thin and seeing something saying nothing was taken as a no. 2) the decision for society members to take the vote is the correct one, actually by the time Friday comes I think it will be a moot point as all the other teams will have decided to vote no anyway but the principal of the decision is good. 3) the documentation is always going to show the dangers of a no vote more thoroughly; not because they are trying to make you vote one way or other just that these losses are tangible and easier to predict. What I would say to counter the last point is when we vote we should be voting as football fans first and Motherwell fans second. We should be making the decision based on the good of the game. As much as it hurts me to say it, Scottish football would survive without Motherwell FC but Motherwell FC could not survive without Scottish football. Assuming nothing else happens at the end of this (ie no reconstruction, no change of rules) Motherwell have been an SPL team for 30 years. That is more than any other team of our size. Realistically in the next ten years we will probably be relegated. This is not me being negative, just my belief that football is in some way cyclical. When we are relegated whether it be in 2013, 2018, 2023 or some time beyond who are going to be there - will it be Rangers Newco? Sky TV? Celtic fans? of course not it is our own fans. Therefore we need to make a decision for the good of Scottish football and for the good of MOtherwell FC long term. I don't doubt times will be shite for a bit but that is a given regardless. We don't have to look far to see why losing fans is going ot hamstring you for ever more. Hamilton played outside the town for ten years and they lost people my age; had they been here I may have wound up supporting them and you wonder how many more there would have been but when I was at school my folks were always going to be happier for me to come to Motherwell than into Glasgow to watch the Accies. That club have a huge hole in their support now and it may never close as one generation lost their habit and their children in time will do the same. With the fans onside anything is possible and Motherwell fans, on the whole believe in Scottish football furthering itself, that can be proven by many debates I've had on trains, in pubs, at away grounds and that is why we're the best and why we must vote no. Speaking of trains I see the swines at Scotrail have banned early morning boozing. Gits.

That's exactly what I was saying the other day KirkySuperSub. If Celtic are trying to sell themselves to prospective new players I imagine the main draw is the Old Firm derby. If you tell Mr Johnny Furriner that your biggest two games will be Hearts and Motherwell away I think the power of persuasion must decline rapid. There is no doubt that Rangers going out of the SPL will have a much bigger detrimental effect on Celtic than anyone else.

These are all fair arguments but on balance I still think it has to be no because it is the right thing to do. To be honest I also think long term it is also better for Rangers to build from Division 3 as you have said but we have to punish them accordingly for the offences they have committed, not based on how that might affect them 3,5 or 10 years down the line. What is good for the goose has to be good for the gander and if it would happen to Motherwell, Inverness or St Mirren it has to happen at Rangers. If we let them back in we need to let every other club that goes down the same route back in too. I also think there is a chance Rangers will accept playing in division 3 in time. Also I think we will vote against it because I think having said we'll consult the fans and then doing the polar opposite would be a much bigger commercial disaster than just voting yes. Dundee Utd, Aberdeen and Hibs will be no votes and while Celtic probably want to vote yes to preserve the 11-1 voting structure there is no way their fans would accept it either. I don't think they will be allowed back in.

Not yet because Rangers have three weeks to appeal the decision. For example they could appeal that it was not referred back to the original panel rather than the appeals panel. And they have basically said nothing meaning they can't move forward until they decide. Sure I read that in a paper somewhere.

And everyone looks seven years younger....

We've had early bird offers every year since I can remember and it does say like for like sales.

Of course he has a soft spot for us, the number of times we giftwrap Rangers three points. Seriously though, we took a punt on his son when he was toiling and he has improved a lot with us. He played every minute of every SPL game last season which for an outfield player is unreal. Also, whilst he is right there is no way the SFA will jeopardise Scotland's place in the World Cup so I don't see there being anyway we won't be taking our place in the Champions League.

I always love a team goal and I think my favourite was Brian Kerr's against Celtic in the 4-4 game. Against us I'm struggling to think though the one Dunfermline scored against us this season was probably the best of this campaign, a nice move and a good finish. Also Rangers' 2nd in the 0-3 in August was a stunning breakaway goal.

First three months I thought Hateley was the one leading the way but he receded to just good. Humphrey is the guy who gets the place buzzing as when he turns off the afterburners we are just a cross away from carnage in the opposition box. But the crossing is too erratic to be a serious contender. The three leading contenders are Lasley, Jennings and Hammell and my inclination is Jennings shades it from the other two. No accident that our three straight losses at Christmas were when he missed out and the steering job he did with Page, Cummins and Carswell in that win against Aberdeen in March was outstanding.

I think there were a few. The first one was Inverness away. We were dreadful that day but dug out a stunning 3-2 win against the run of the game. The next one was Dundee Utd away in January. We were 1-0 down, hadn't scored or got a point in previous three, turned in a decent 2nd half performance and got our point. Three days later we played Dunfermline at home and this was the Craigan red card game and that really arrested the slide. It was also the first time we had won at home in months and before that game we had managed a mighty six goals at home all season! The next game again was St Johnstone at home and they were on a real good run then and Higdon was missing and beating them 3-2 shifted the momentum back to us. Those 7 points in a week were a godsend. The Edinburgh clubs double header was huge as well. Beating Hearts got us into third and we destroyed them. And following it up with the 4-3 win over Hibs to stretch the lead when the others didn't play gave us something to cling to and also some leeway for that tricky end to the third round of fixtures and boy did we need it. After that the next one was the 5-1 win over Saints. Again we had to play the big game to more or less seal the deal and again we did the business. What really did it for us was that we were very good at winning the big games though. All these European games a couple of years back have given some bang average players a lot of experience and they have learnt how to win.

I've seen Accies a few times this year and it maybe isn't quite as negative as the turgid pish they played last year it is still on the south side of anything good. With Bill Miller pulling out I bet the SPL chairmen are delighted they didn't make any decisions on MOnday. However I have come up with a cunning plan. I have always thought that relegating them by three divisions was harsh. So I think we should retain them in the SPL next season. However for each and every rule they have broken we deduct them 15 points. By my reckoning that means they start on -75 points. That absolutely guarantees relegation for the start of 2013/2014 season. At the start of that 2013/14 season the non Old Firm teams can have their vote on voting structures, gate splits and all the rest of it and get the 11-1 they need as only Celtic will vote against and Scottish football can then rebuild on a much more level playing field. It means that the chairmen will only miss out on the big crowds for one season. It means that the lower league teams in divisions two and three do not have their league made completely uncompetitive. It means that Rangers can rebuild their team a little quicker than any proposal on the table just now. It means they are absolutely punished by losing their right of veto effectively and they face a season of friendlies. Seriously though KMCalpin raised a point a few pages back that I had never thought of and that is the legal aspect of any decision we make. As an industry we cannot afford for our governance bodies to be dragged through the courts because they have put through sanctions that are unenforcable. Just like that lawyer who died and whose name I have completely forgotten did for Celtic, I am sure Rangers could mount a legal challenge to anything illegal and whilst they couldn't pay for it I'm sure one of their mad fans could. So whatever decision the SPL need to make they need to ensure it is absolutely watertight.

Yeah, felt a little sad when I read that today. No matter how good you are as a player if you give 100% every single time you cross that pitch you earn the fans respect. And even in the days when he was dismal nobody, not even the biggest doommongeror (that may not be a word!) on here ever accused him of lack of effort. And for all he was never an outstanding player he was a damn good centre half at our level on his day. If he is fit he should start on Sunday and be substituted a minute or so from the end

Now that it is a friendly for both teams we need to do something to encourage fans to come along. It has been a huge success for both teams so should be a carnival, go on Motherwell let everyone in for a couple of quid and fill the place.

I couldn't see past Jennings. He broke down so much play which meant that Hutch and CLancy were never overworked, because the trouble is at places like that if you get your defenders too involved in the game, they'll make a mistake. Also when he won the ball he rarely gave it away. But you could make an argument for anyone bar Randolph who was uninvolved purely because Rangers were awful as an attacking force.

Exactly. We must be the smallest team in the SPL so taking out Higdon would be the first sign of lunacy. The number of headers he has won at corners we have been defending this season is phenomenal, I think no example greater than in the 1-0 win against Hearts back in August. I also don't think Ojamaa and Murphy would work that well, there is no focal point at all.

Hearts will see this game as a huge chance to steal a march on St Johnstone in the race for fifth and qualifying for Europe, just in case Hibernian beat them in the cup final. They also played pretty well yesterday though Beattie pulling up is probably a help given his record against us. If we defend properly I feel we are a team with goals in us just now. I'd love to win but if it transpires it is a draw then I'll not be gutted.

They all played excellently but our number 7 was on another level. So I'll go for him.