fizoxy

I don't normally buy lottery tickets, but I'll go ahead and get one today. I'll also put a bet on the royal rumble.

Non of this is a surprise and, while not ideal, it's nowhere near as perilous as some are making out. We're a selling club, so you have to imagine that player sales will make up for the shortfall most seasons, as well as a half decent run in the cups. What does a normal home game earn us? How much of a "cup run" moves the needle financially? As for the ground. If we've taken our maintenance costs from 120k per season down to 20k ish, then it was totally the right decision. We can also hold home friendlies and internationals again now that the pitch is more reliable. I'd rather be in our position where we don't need to pray that Mr Moneybags doesn't change his mind or get bored. Mind John Boyle? Hopefully we actually get our finger out with the work to secure other income sources though.

Flow confirmed on twitter that we're waiting on the work permit, and it should be resolved by tomorrow.

The club learned their lesson a long time ago about not announcing a signing until it's complete. Medicals can fail, visas can be refused, etc. I'm sure other clubs are the same but you won't be refreshing twitter every minute to see the progress of a Celtic signing. The "announce" patter gets right on my tits.

With no real footage or reports on our youth and reserve teams, it's hard to gauge what our current crop of prospects are like. Anyone have any insight? I saw a hammell quote about Ewan Wilson (left back) being close to the first team.

Can Brazilians play for England C?

That was the guy from Leeds, right? he had played for 2 teams already.

Over 2k motherwell fans I think.

A win is a win. Many had our match as the likely upset in the round, but we got it out of the way and managed to get game time for our new guys, so no complaints. I'm all for drawing the easiest possible team at home in the next round. I'd put my money on it being accies though.

https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2022/12/05/new-charity-third-kit-launched/

Any ideas how we're lining up?

I assume that because bbc are filming there may be a dodgy stream going somewhere? It's weird thesedays not having a legit way to watch from here, I've been spoiled.

The fact is that football transfers are always going to be a mixed bag. We only notice when other teams get it right, so we get a skewed perception of how successful we are/should be compared to others. The contract length is going to depend on the player. Some players will want a short contract because they feel like their current club is a stepping stone, others want long term security. Then you have the opposite from the clubs perspective, as they will want to keep good players tied up for as long as possible, but only offer short term contracts the the riskier players. You then have multiple clubs competing for a player, so they have to make concessions, by either offering more money or a more favourable term. That's a heavily simplified version of what goes on, as theres a million other factors such as location, agents, league position, playing style, what the facilities are like, etc. Signing shields, woolery, Kelly, Tierney, et all to 3 year deals was looked upon favourably by most at the time. A longer deal gives players time to settle, and protects the club in that it prevents other clubs from pinching our players immediately after a purple patch. You never know how it's going to turn out, but hope that more work out than don't.

He's been "head of youth" since 2018, so seems like a fair appointment. Chances are he's been filling in the role in the interim as well.

If someone can cover his wages and give him regular games then we can take stock in the summer. We're not going to get a fee so I'm not sure we'd be in a rush to sell instead of a loan. Morris will probably be the same, with a year an a half on his deal I can see a loan being the likely option.

Surprised Martindale wasn't running around with a hairdryer trying to fix it.

Nathan McGinley says hello.

It would be nice, but I would imagine Turnbull would have some higher level loan options if that was what he wanted.

Spittal is at least creating stuff, he must be up there for us in terms of assists. Goss hasn't put in a decent cross since God knows when, and can't remember the last time he's had a shot.

Whether he's not fit, not up to match sharpness yet, or shite, we don't know. However, you also have to pay the guys that are on the bench, and ideally the bench players aren't children. The window isn't over, and we have no control over the order players come in. As mentioned before, we have to wait for other dominoes to fall before our targets become available, and I'd rather we did that than get impatient and sign Michel parker and daragh o'connor types. If we haven't improved our defence by the end of the month, that's when I'll be having a go.

SOD has been fine at lb when used there, but Lamie is not the answer there, he got roasted out there when Robinson tried it, and sticking players completely out of position isn't going to be the answer, especially when they're enough of a liability in their preferred role. I don't think Blaney is a fit either, as he doesn't have the oace. Shifting to a back 3 could help in the interim, but I don't see that happening. I'd prefer we got another LB in if Penney is gone. It would definitely be another loan since we have a couple of lbs on contracts right now. Who's our u18s left back?

Mccart operated almost exclusively in a back 3 with St J, and dropped off a fair bit when Kerr left, but he's a Scottish prem level player and would be worth a look if available. Shaughnessy seems to be getting a game with st mirren now, so I think we can eliminate him from contention. I'm wondering if a competent defensive mid would make a bigger difference than a new CB. Decent ones are rare though.

Yeah, nah. This is a shit show in waiting.

Lamie and Sol know they're in the team regardless, and I'm not getting a strong feeling of either of them giving a fuck about our situation. Keeping them in the team is going to cost us a lot of games, so I'm for replacing them with whatever two warm bodies volunteer first.

Max put in a couple of half decent crosses, which our other full backs are incapable of doing. So he gets my vote. Spittal is nowhere near as bad as some folk are at pains to make out, and for me isn't even on the first page of our list of problems.