Kmcalpin

Thanks for the summary Iain. If at all possible I'll attend the next meeting and then make my mind up. If I understand you correctly, the powers that be have concluded that a package of measures (some of which are more palatable than other bits) have to be combined in order to make the overall proposal feasible. That doesn't surprise me. Each club will vote on a selfish basis and will look for different gains from the package. Like it or not clubs will effectively say "If you give us X we'll vote yes". Being realistic its unlikely that the entire package will be to every clubs liking but in order to get change through, horse trading, negotiation and yes compromise is necessary. Not ideal but if change is to be effected then concessions must be made. Thats not principled but its realistic and its how the real world works and how things get done. What do we make of the poor turnout today? Yes, the short notice of the meeting would be a factor but we have to conclude that many members aren't overly concerned about the proposed changes. Some are for, some against and many simply don' t care. The issue of involving overseas/faraway members is an important one and one which I've raised before and will do so again. The bottom line though is that whatever is agreed or not agreed I'll support MFC and the Society to the last.

100% agree Iain. I couldn't attend the meeting and ostensibly don't like the idea but realise there's more to this than meets the eye. Logic would dictate that the Board of Directors with their knowledge of the situation would not knowingly harm MFC by voting for backing proposals they believed to be totally wrong. I intend to find out more about the ins and outs before submitting my views to the Society.

Good luck to the lad, he's done right by us and deserves his chance down south.

Jamie could be given an appropriate and well earned send off without this. In any competitive game we need to give ourselves every possible advantage, however slight. Good as he is, Jamie is not captain material and it might put unwanted pressure on him. It would be different in a friendly, but this is no friendly.

Eh? Whilst I've a lot of time for Jamie and we want to give him a good send off he is not captain material. The 3 points are still up for grabs this afternoon and we need to do all we can to secure them or more likely limit the damage. Its Celtic V Motherwell not the Jamie Murphy show. Perhaps its an indication that the result is secondary to Jamie's farewell. Good luck to Jamie but no player is bigger than the club.

The Society was not in a position legally to hand over any cash at that point in time. In any event any transfer proceeds may only amount to a contribution to cashflow - Society cash may also be required.

You've hit the nail on the head. The period from January to March/April is a cash flow nightmare for many clubs. In our case there's little or no Scottish Cup cash due either. We now have no cash at all coming in until 20 January and St Johnstone won't bring many fans. Very few clubs outwith the top clubs in the game like doing business in the January window - its usually to generate cash flow and its hard to replace players. In England the Premier League is hoovering up what cash there is not just from Scottish clubs and fans but from most English clubs and their fans too. The vast majority of Championship clubs for example will be heavily in debt. You only need to look at TV matches and the swathes of empty seats down south. That said reputation is unfortunately important. Young players from Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts, and Dundee United are seen as being automatically great. Had Jamie Murphy played for any of those clubs or indeed a club like Bournemouth or Swindon then he'd be leaving for 500K. However you can only sell players for what other clubs are willing to pay. The bottom has fallen out of the transfer market and that is why players like Nick Law or Darren Randolph have not moved on before now. Some people though do need to get real.

Its not bad management. The financial world has changed considerably in the past few years and the football world is no exception. Potential purchasers in the English Championship and lower leagues no longer have much cash - many of them are in debt. We can't sell players for big fees if there are no parties wishing to buy.

Probably best for all concerned that Jon Page is moving on. It frees up a wage for us, from a player who probably isn't going to make it in the SPL. For the lad himself it will give him the opportunity of regular first team football, albeit at a lower standard. Still we are getting lighter and lighter in defence with Fraser Kerr moving back down south (presumably) and Nick Devlin's future uncertain.

Yesterday game was a very powerful argument for giving ZFA a run at left back. Stevie Hammell was all over the place and his blunder cost us the second goal. He's now had a hand in a worrying amount of the goals we've lost this term.

I sincerely hope the out of contract players show honesty and a little openness with our fans. If they are looking to move on or have a deal arranged then please don't tell us they would like to stay/the club won't speak to them etc etc. In the past quite a few or their agents have deceived sections of the support into turning on MFC but in fairness a few others have behaved impeccably.

Well said Iain. This has been needing saying for quite some time now. We have to ask why so few of our 3,000 members now post. I've lost count of the number of members, who no longer post, who have said exactly this.

Fair comment. I though we were outstanding today especially in the second half and our attacking football was a joy to behold. Best entertainment I've had in along while at Fir Park. If we are going to debate red cards why wasn't Clark Robertson not sent off for his challenge on Henrik? Henrik had beaten him all ends up and was about to turn in on goal with only Langfield to beat - clearly denied a goalscoring opportunity.

Yes, ZFA is due a chance. Ever since his debut Stevie has been very good on the ball but has never defended particularly well. Unfortunately at the moment our right back gets drawn out of position up the field and our left back gets drawn out of position into the middle. Certainly at Pittodrie and Fir Park in the cup Faither Broon targetted our left hand side as have several opposing managers.

I might not agree with your precise choice of words but you are 100% right. Saints had the freedom of the park with both goals which once again came from the left hand side (not Tom Hately's fault btw). Why oh why do we allow opposing players to rain crosses into our box? Yes, our centre midfield is poor - we've gone over this time and again. Nicky Law is not and never will be a defensive player. At 32/33 Keith Lasley's best days are behind him and we can't expect him to run back and forth across the park shielding our central defenders. In fairness to Ramsden and Hutchinson I wouldn't want to be playing behind our central midfield right now. Now the defence - both full backs are having right poor seasons and have had a hand in many of our opponents' goals. Shaun Hutchinson can be rash but has promise and needs an experienced central defensive mentor beside him. There you have it. No need to go into panic mode over a defeat to a lowly SPL side but questions do need to be asked. I for one am relaxed about losing a wheen of players (with a few exceptions like Darren Randolph) at the season's end. We have some quite highly paid players for a club of our size and not all of them consistently earn their corn. If they move on it will allow us to trim the budget and strengthen the squad.

2-1 full time and it sounds as though it could have been worse. Questions have to be asked of the central midfield and full backs if we allowed to Saints to come at us and rain cross after cross into the box. We certainly seem to shipping goals at the moment against every level of opposition.

I'd go along with that, although ZFA is still a bit raw. Stevie has suffered from lack of competition for some years now and has looked weak defensively all season. To be fair though Jamie Murphy in front of him is not the best defender in the world and has not provided the cover Stevie badly needs. Maybe time to show faith in youth!

I'll be very surprised if the Dons bring 5,000 fans to Fir Park, very surprised indeed.

Most clubs suffer cashflow problems during the January - March period. Season ticket monies have been used up and prize monies won't be paid out for some months yet. Probably the Society is not quite in a position yet to plug the gap.

Or someone at the buying club/agent.

You have to balance his monetary value against what the clubs thinks he could contribute to a high place league placing. One place equates to about £75,000. Our projected shortfall this season is about £300k. On that basis I wouldn't accept anything less than about £250k. However the club will know best. Its all very well both clubs agreeing a fee but would Jamie want to move to Yorkshire or Hampshire?

Great result and comeback! Up to 2nd place now with other results going our way.

He's due his chance, nothing more nothing less. He's very quick, good on the attack and in my view can potentially defend better than Steve Hammell. Probably Stevie is the better set piece taker. Stevie has never been particularly strong defensively and a bit of competition would be no bad thing. In left midfield he's a better bet defensively than Jamie Murphy. What has ZFA done? Well so far he hasn't had much game time but he did set up one goal against Ross County when he came on as a sub. By no means the finished article. Perhaps his major disadvantage, like Stevie, is lack of height.

My thoughts exactly. My only concern is the loss of Darren Randolph who we'll find very hard to replace. Of the others there are some I'd rather not not lose but none are irreplaceable. If we lose 3/4 high earners that'll allow us to strengthen the squad overall. Although the squad is small there's a bit of deadwood there too.

All of this was discussed last week and the Trust Board know full well the task that lies ahead of them. This is why they are devoting time and effort to fund raising and membership drives.