Jay

Can't argue with the last few posts. We are a stepping stone when it comes to a lot of our signings - it's no big secret, the club has confirmed that it's a big part of the business model for a few years now. It'll be the same reason we've also been signing guys like Carl McHugh and Gael Bigirimana. It would be nice to think they'd stick around and become Motherwell legends but it's just not happening - the reason most of the more highly rated guys sign is because we sell them the stepping stone vision. In terms of Moult, he's already been here two years. I'd be surprised if, during the original signing talks, it wasn't suggested that he'd be sold around this time given he has a season left on his deal. It could also be argued that the club offering Moult a new contract is outwith the original plan - not that we shouldn't have done so, it would be madness for the club not to have at least asked the question but it was always going to be incredibly unlikely that he'd sign an extension. I'm still not convinced he'll be away this window. There doesn't seem to be the great interest in him that many expected, with Aberdeen currently seeming like the only realistic option despite the fact that I doubt they'd fork out our valuation. Of course, as the window goes on and clubs down south miss out on their top targets, he might start to attract more interest. But for now, I'm content that he's still our player as it stands and that he almost certainly won't sign a new deal. If he leaves, fair enough - even if it's to Aberdeen, as long as they pay the going rate then it's job done as far as the club is concerned - but I don't see any issues in anything he's said in the article above, and certainly nothing to suggest he won't be giving 100% when he returns to the team. In fact, if he now wants to take the next step in his career - which I'm sure he probably does now - then it's in his best interests to bang in the goals from now until whenever he leaves, be it August, January, or next summer.

Just a heads up for anyone who may have missed it, the Well Society are hosting a 7s tournament on the astro turf behind the East Stand after the club's Open Day on the 30th. You don't have to be a Well Society to take part and all money raised will be subject to the Double Your Money offer by Les. Full details here: http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2017/07/06/well-society-7-aside-tournament/ If you've got any questions, please e-mail the address on the link above rather than replying here as I'm not involved in the organisation of this event (although I am planning on playing in it)!

Thought it was a fairly positive run out last night. Few lax passes or lapses in concentration that you'd probably still expect at this stage, but overall I thought we looked well organised and a few players, including the new signings and trialists, impressed. What I was most encouraged by was the way in which we seemed determined to pass the ball. There was the odd spell where a lack of movement meant Dunne or Heneghan trying to play the ball forward into the flanks or onto Fisher's head, but for the most part there were a lot of tidy passing moves and triangles, and I thought Bigi and McHugh in particular looked very promising as a holding midfield partnership, continually making themselves available to the defenders when in possession. Similarly, I thought Rose, Cadden, Tanner and Frear were consistently looking to get into space on the flanks, particularly when the keeper or defence had the ball. Given we spent the last couple of months of last season wondering whether Robbo loved a long ball game or if it was just "needs must", I'm quite positive about the way in which we seem to be trying to play football. Bigi and McHugh also seemed to have a good understanding already, where one would go forward and the other would sit. In terms of the new faces, I thought Dembele looked good at the back and Dunne put a hospital pass early on behind him to go on to have a solid enough game. Tanner came onto a game as things progressed, although Rose was rather quiet. Bigi, as mentioned, impression, Kipre looked assured enough when he came on and I was impressed by Tuton, particularly his hold up play and movement. I might have missed someone, but it was one of those games with plenty of substitutions! Mention also to Ross McLean who I thought looked really positive when he came on. But aye, overall I'm quite happy with how things are shaping up. Still some gaps to plug and still some players to gel, but I think there's a lot there to be positive about.

This might not give the specific info on the East Stand, but this is lifted from the Your Questions Answered page on the Society site (http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/your-questions-answered/) that might give a bit of an idea: Can we have a breakdown of where the money is going? The money which is given by the Well Society to the Club is an investment, as owners, into the running and the improvement of the Club. As it stands, the Club currently invest approximately £2m into the playing and football department, which include players, scouting, coaching, young players, management, and medical team. The Club also currently invests approximately £130,000 into the Youth Academy. Over and above the footballing aspect of the Club, there are significant costs committed to the stadium upkeep (£110,000), Pitch Improvements (£123,000), Stewarding, Policing, Ambulance etc (£200,000), and training facilities and travel (£115,000). The list is not exhaustive, however it does indicate the level of expenditure required.

I think my main concern with that would precisely be the Brexit battle bus scenario! If the Society was to try and attract new members by telling them that their contribution could mean a playing budget increased by X, you would almost certainly get some who would expect and demand that to be the case regardless, even if there was a bigger priority one season that required financial attention ahead of the playing squad. But it's definitely the Society's role moving forward to make sure everyone understands that, aside from the admin costs & a few other expenses relating to the Society itself, the rest of the money generated is invested in the club. Once you understand that, the rest should be pretty self-explanatory. For example, as I mentioned earlier, the Society currently invests about £120,000 in the club. That's because it's the figure that is generated by the Well Society membership on an annual basis. There's currently about 1,400 adult members of the Society. Say over the next few months that increases to 2,000 and, on average, each member is putting in a tenner a month (there are a lot of members currently no longer pledging monthly). As a result, the Society would be generating almost a quarter of a million pounds yearly, the vast majority of which would go into the club. Therefore, the club would be receiving double the current investment from the Well Society and would subsequently be able to budget accordingly. Would the extra £120,000 go straight into the playing budget? Who knows, I'd imagine probably not all of it. But I think it would be quite a bold claim to suggest that an extra six digit sum investment in the club wouldn't, at least in part, boost the playing budget in some way. At the end of the day, it really is as simple as saying that the larger the regularly-contributing Well Society membership level, the richer Motherwell Football Club is.

I'm a little lost on this idea for fans to start direct debits in order to pay for a player's wage increase at a time when we already have fan-ownership... Don't get me wrong, I understand that paying into the Society means the money, when invested into the club, could be used for many things and not necessarily a specific top-up on Moult's contract, but it's all part of the same objective IMO. At the moment, the Well Society raises around £120,000 a year and the vast majority of that is invested in the club. That means that when the club are setting budgets for a coming season, they will be factoring in the expected investment from the Society. Those budgets include the playing budget. So logically, the more money the Motherwell support is paying into the Well Society, the higher the level of Society investment and, subsequently, the more funds are available to the club when they are budgeting for the season. That's what the Well Society is now, it's a majority shareholder which invests in the club on behalf of its members and, like any investor - be it a lottery winner, successful businessman, or fans' group - the more finance invested, the healthier the club's budget. It is, of course, completely hypothetical and doesn't take into account any wage caps we might have at the club, but it's not entirely outwith the realms of possibility that the club could have been in the position to offer Louis Moult the wage increase touted on here had there been three or four thousand Well Society members, or if the current 1,400+ were all paying a bit more on a regular basis. Now that fan ownership exists at Fir Park, you can essentially draw a solid connection between a monthly pledge from a Well Society member and player wages, pitch improvements, stadium upgrades etc. It goes without saying that the more Motherwell fans who contribute to the Well Society, the larger a budget the club has. And that's before you even consider the Les Hutchison "Double Your Money" deal this year. With all that in mind, I would argue here that if anyone wants to fire a few quid into the club, it would make far more sense to do so via the Well Society rather than some sort of Louis Moult Crowdfunder.

To be fair, I don't think I've read or heard anyone claim we're now in the best financial position we have been in for some time, more that it's the most stable and secure. Part of that has been budgeting correctly and not putting the club's long-term future at risk as a result, which is something we've been a bit more prone to doing in previous years. The Well Society already invests most of its income into the club so it's only logical that those sums then come into play in terms of the playing budget. It's obviously a simplistic way to look at it but, ultimately, the more folk paying into the Society the more likely it would be that the playing budget would be able to increase and guys like McHugh and Moult might get the pay increases folk think they deserve. Essentially, the whole idea of fans setting up a direct debit to ensure the club has more money to be successful is exactly what the Well Society is.

Tait's been good. Perhaps a little suspect defensively and his positioning could do with improvement, but he's been a very decent full-back for us when available and has chipped in with a few assists. Clay is a bit more divisive I think. I've read and heard from fans who think he's decent enough, others who want him binned as soon as possible. I find myself somewhere in the middle - I think he's a "do a job" player, the kind of midfielder I wouldn't be too unhappy with in and around the squad to fill a gap if required. That said, I think with the calibre of midfielders we have now (McHugh, Bigirimana) as well as our own capable youngsters (Campbell in particular), I'd probably be looking to shift him on this summer. As for the Ross County game, turning up on the day will be fine!

http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2017/06/28/well-society-launch-members-rewards-201718/

For anybody who is into the actual board meetings stuff, last month's is now online: http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2017/06/26/well-society-board-meeting-summary-may-2017/ Also, the Society is set to announce the new benefits/rewards structure tomorrow or Wednesday.

I'd also add that, just like with monthly board meetings, the Society will be putting out its own summary of what was discussed at the AGM. It might be worth holding fire on any immediate concerns raised by the FPC article - it's a decent enough overview of the evening, but it's obviously not going to provide as much clarify as the official report from the Society itself. That's not to say that any more general questions or concerns, unrelated to the FPC account, shouldn't be fired the way of the Society.

Hi mate, I'm not 100% exactly what it is you're referring to in all honesty, so apologies if this doesn't help - but are you referring to the Society investing funds into the club? That's something that's been communicated a couple of times now, including this recent statement: http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2017/06/02/well-society-statement-finances/, but obviously if you still feel there's a lack of clarity then you should definitely be posing questions and highlighting concerns. Whether it's by Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, or in person at the surgeries or on a match-day, there are now plenty of ways to get the answers you're after. As weeyin also mentions, Society accounts are available via e-mail. But aye, if there's anything you want to discuss, definitely get in touch. Might not be me that answers directly, but I'll absolutely make someone does.

In fairness, that might just be more about what you know about the new signings, rather than anything Burrows said. That's not a dig by the way! I know the square root of fuck all about English fitba. I've spent most of the day with absolutely no idea who £30m Jordan Pickford is. But the things I've heard from mates who are into the game in England - and, conveniently, a couple who consider themselves Coventry "fans" - are all mostly positive, in particular with reference to Bigirimana who, by all accounts, seems to be a really great coup for us. I'd suggest that's worth getting excited about at least!

Loving the mid-90s throwback for the hoop/band on the home kit. Shoulder bits might take a wee bit to grow on me, but overall it's very decent. Love that away kit though - belter.

Primarily avoid another relegation dogfight, while holding out aspirations to challenge for a top six place if the squad clicks like we hope it will and if we get a bit of luck in terms of the teams around us. But 8th or above in terms of league position has to be heralded as a minor success given the last few years of mince we've been served up. Anything remotely resembling a cup run would also be nice.

Really pleased with today's two signings. Fisher looks like an ideal capture to bolster our striker options, and I'm really excited to see Bigirimana in action - I don't claim to be the slightest bit knowledgeable about the guy, but it seems anybody who has seen him play thinks we've got ourselves a real coup here. It's these kind of signings that will hopefully highlight how we're moving in the right direction both on and off the park. Recruitment like this certainly doesn't seem to match up with claims that fan-ownership can't sustain a decent playing squad or that the mythical Burrows dictatorship is driving the club to ruin. In reality, it seems we're actually in quite a good place right now. Buzzing for the new season already!

I know from speaking to some folk on here and on social media that Motherwell supporting "exiles" have long felt disengaged or disadvantaged by the Well Society. We're now looking to rectify that: http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2017/05/26/well-society-to-launch-exiles-club-for-201718/

Cheers for pointing that out mate, that's it corrected (would have sorted it last week but I was in Dubrovnik)!

Hi folks, Just a wee heads up that the Society are running a free bus to Inverness on the last day of the season for members. There are more details on the website: http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2017/05/11/well-society-bus-to-inverness Talking of the website, myself and Craig have been busy recently revamping the content and restructuring the menus a bit. There's now some new stuff on there, with a lot more still to come. A few pages still need updated which we'll be doing over the next couple of weeks, but feel free to go on now, have a browse, and get back with any thoughts. In particular, the new "How It Works" page - which is my attempt to simplify the whole thing for folk - is now online: http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/how-it-works/ Next Board meeting is a week on Tuesday - I'll ensure that the two questions above are on the agenda.

Peter Elder was on this week's cheery edition of the podcast: http://www.mfc1886.com/mfc-podcast-2016-17-episode-34/

The Well Society has only been the major stakeholder for a matter of months. I would suggest its a bit unfair to start suggesting fan-ownership has much to do with us not being a top six side or not having a relatively successful team on the park. I'm sure we'd all love to see guys the likes of Randolph, Hutchinson and Higdon playing at Fir Park. However, firstly, I'd take some convincing that players of a particular calibre would come to Fir Park at the moment whether it was the Well Society or Ann Budge at the top. And secondly, decisions on recruitment are made by a Chairman and Board of Directors, a portion of which represents the major shareholder, so it's no different from what it would be if we had a singular businessman as the major shareholder. Ultimately, your issues with the recruitment policy have a lot to do with the current Club Board but very little to do with fan-ownership. As for your point about folk buying into a successful club rather than an unsuccessful club, I don't think there's any question about that. But that argument stretches to attendances, season tickets, merchandise etc every year anyway so, again, it's not massively different this time around. I think there's a disconnect between what you perceive the Society's role as and what it actually does. The Society isn't there to fund the club, the club is there to fund the club, with the Society in the background available to provide investment here and there - something it manages perfectly well at the moment. John Boyle tried for years to sell our club and nobody was the least bit interested. It just seems a bit pie in the sky to suddenly assume there'd be anybody with any cash whatsoever interested now that we're fan-owned, never mind someone who'd also be quite happy to throw that cash at bankrolling a top six squad.

I'd be interested to know how you'd ideally like the club to be run? At the moment, although it's still a bit of an ongoing process what with Les needing repaid etc, we have a Chairman and a Board of Directors that call the shots. We have a major stakeholder - the Well Society - who are on hand to invest money if/when it's required or deemed beneficial. The onus with fan-ownership, however, is to try and ensure as much as possible that the club is operating within its means. The other option, going by what we've had in the past and by what other clubs tend to have, seems to be that we would have a Chairman and a Board of Directors that call the shots. We'd have a major stakeholder who would presumably be on hand to invest money if/when it's required or deemed beneficial. Given we're unlikely to attract a billionaire, however, it's probably safe to assume that the onus would be on trying to ensure as much as possible that the club is operating within its means. Don't get me wrong, I understand and largely agree with the vast majority of criticisms of the actual Well Society itself (ie. the group concerned with generating membership and running the Society) but I'm not quite sure I understand the thinking that having one random businessman as major stakeholder is any great deal different than having the Well Society as major stakeholder, given the club is still largely run like any other Scottish club of the same size.

Absolutely. I mentioned that one earlier when discussing it with a few folk, the only one I can think of that comes close. That said, I think the fact that Woods just seemed to try and pass the ball to a ghost, whereas Jules made the original shocking decision to stop the ball and then, when faced with the obvious next step of putting it out the park, still then chose to inexplicably pass the ball inside results in the bold Zak's fuck up trumping Woods for me.

Absolutely this. I understand the view that footballers should be 100% focused and on their toes ready to respond to any situation, but they're also human and there wasn't a human being inside Fir Park on Saturday who could have foreseen Jules doing easily the worst thing I have ever seen from a Motherwell player. As much as the other defenders perhaps could have been a bit better at responding, I fully understand their panic at being caught out completely by it. I don't think you can even call it a "mistake" - mistakes are misjudging the flight of the ball, taking a terrible touch, under hitting a pass, mistiming a tackle etc - mistakes are doing logical things poorly. What Zak Jules did on Saturday isn't even worthy of being called a mistake.

Pretty much my thoughts on it too.