Inthebasement

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Do you anticipate the 11-2 voting system will be challengeable again before Rangers turn to the top flight? Did the non-OF clubs miss a golden opportunity there? It is frequently stated on Steelmenonline that maintaining FP is a drain on the club because of it's aging infrastructure. Is that true? Has the club ever considered closing the away end and rehousing away support in the Cooper or bucket seat sections of the main? Aside from the financial gain, might there be the potential there to bring a bit of atmosphere back to FP there? What else can be done to improve the match day experience? What happened with Terry Butcher's application for the Managers position?

My stab at the bag of Carluke Balls for naming the starting 11 in this one:- Long Reid– McManus – O'Brien – Straker Las– Grant Johnson– Pearson - D Thomas Sutton

Immensely impressed with the club's response to our present crisis. Baraclough and Flow obviously deserve a lot of credit for making it happen, but I suspect what we are seeing here is the immediate impact from ournew owner and his deeper pockets. He looks to have decided that his project will be a lost cause if it starts with relegation, so he has pumped a cash in to back the new manager and try and see us safe. There is are lot of attempts to be blame McCall and/or individualplayers at the club for our present predicament. Yes we have one or two talented wasters at the club (Ainsworth; Vigurs if you are repeatedly fooled by the odd slowmo Zidane turn), but we also have a lot of hard working but pretty ordinary pros who are either carrying injuries of have simply lost confidence. These things happen, it is our worst run of injuries and our first really bad half season in years. The club have to be congratulated for taking positive steps to maintain our status. A lot of similar sized clubs have satback hoped for the best and watched things slide. With respect to the (new) team, I think Baraclough will still be desperate for some of the present squad to get over their injuries. I wouldn't expect many to have been written off already and I certainly don't think he will want to halt the development of our better kids. He obviously values competition for places, and if two or three of the new boys hit the ground running, and two or three of the present squad regain fitness/form, that should be enough to see us clear. One final, if we do end up having to play off against the buns, or even Hibs, we are going to benefit from being able to play players from outwith the Scottish goldfish bowl. May overcome our tendency to clam up and show these clubs too much respect in big games.

Some of the comments about Black in this thread are wild IMO. He is a number 2, unless you work within the club pretending to have some great insight into his effectiveness is delusional pish. He is well thought of and seems like a decent down to earth guy. Was never really going to gt the big job but nonetheless carried us through a difficult period with plenty of calm and dignity. Give the guy some respect.

Right behind him, great first interview! If we'd appointed Ian Murray on the back of doing ok with Dumbarton there would be general approval at us getting a hungry young manager in the mould of Hartley. Yet a 44 year old with a good record in England and a miracle working record in Ireland get's labelled uninspiring? Excellent appointment, and exactly the kind of appointment that has been serving us well for a decade. Just hope the players commit themselves.

Brilliant stuff from the Bois.

Strongly suspect this would be a whole lot less fun than it sounds. If the point of the whole venture is to sell on players, rather than to prioritise the interests of the club, we are unlikely to find ourselves as a strong and consistent team. There is also a large risk that if the whole venture does not turn out to be profitable, as most business ventures don't, we could be left for dead as the investors cut their losses. Not sure how plausible the whole thing is but, it would certainly explain the WT email. I like the idea the whole thing spread from some nonsense rumours on these pages, and swept through the national press. And I hear a consortium of marginally successful football figures from a bygone era intend to buy the club to showcase stupid ideas - Tommy Maclean to be installed as manager if the deal goes through.

That email confirms the man's quality of character and commitment to his work. Maybe it's the right time but still very sad to see him go. One big plus here, is that potential managers will be quick to spot the opportunity to make themselves look good, even if only for the remainder of the season. The new man will inherit a squad which has already shown itself to be very capable of competing in our league, it's not like coming in to manage a group stripped of all quality. For that reason we may get some interest from at least one of the higher operating out of work managers, along the Coyle, Mackay, McLeish lines. Someone mentioned Kluivert. Don't want to come across like one of the Tommy Mclean nutjobs but that would be awesome. Ajax / Barca / Lille - must know a thing or two about youth development that we so badly need at Fir Park.

Why would adams be favourite? That would be awful.

Best wishes SCM some brilliant brilliant memories. Good guy all the way.

Thank you for the update WellSoc, it is a relief to that the club is not in immediate financial peril. I wonder if you or anyone else involved could clarify whether the original leaked email is in any way a response to a potential outside buyer? Communications since that email imply that the push for cash is in the normal course of WS objectives, but that remains out of step with the wording of the initial email. I am maybe misreading this! All the support deserve as full an explanation as is reasonably possible here - even those who have not pledged financial support to the WS may potentially consider this if the club was in trouble.

Not sure it's right to characterise JB's position as cash strapped, or 'trying to fleece the fans'. It is suggested elsewhere that JB's exit terms are more generous if the club is going into WS hands, that if it's goig to a private buyer. Suggests he is prepared to take a personal hit to see the club go into community ownership, and whether or not that is a good plan it seems to me like a reasonable and creditable position. And to be fair, that pretty much was the thrust of his vanity video.

I can't be the only one wondering if this might represent good news rather than a sign we are goosed? It is highly unlikely that the potential buyer is looking for the land, and much more likely it is someone with cash looking to take control of the club. Must surely be a fan or someone looking to make a success of it, asset stripping Well would have to be the worst business plan in history. We are not the h**s. It's a worry that the WS and present management appear so desperate here, it is conceivable there is an element of self interest, or willingness to maintain the status quo? I have no insight or axe to grind here, just considering the possibility that someone looking to buy the club might be a good thing.

So to summarise - And you conclude Mmmm, it'll be all the drumming.

I referred to a recent tendency towards inflated expectations and spitting the dummy when we don't get what we want, particularly against a backdrop of us transforming the profile of the club and breaking our own historic points and goals records. The analogy to the OF mind set seems pretty appropriate to me, I'm obviously not making a direct comparison or referring to the dark side of their world view. I also thought your initial response might be irony, as quite honestly I am never completely sure whether or not your posts have become self parody. Continually making outlandish negative public statements to cover up personal insecurity is also pretty Old Firmie in my opinion.

Our support gets Old Firmier with every passing year of success. We are now incapable of dealing with an injury crisis and poor run of form without going into meltdown, and about ten games after finishing second with a completely rebuilt team we are happy to see a 'stale' manager leave. Unreal!

Anyone at the game today - how was Law?

Quite a few Hearts fans after watching him for three years - http://www.hmfckickback.co.uk/index.php?/topic/129993-darren-barr-killie/

Totally agree with this, we have had a great potential to go 352 last summer's transfer extravaganza. Holland and several other teams used it generally be great effect, most notably costa rica, Mexico and Chile. A few on here noted this potential last summer, mainly because we have no pace in wide areas, no striker which can play alone up front, and Lawson is too pondering to work in a 442. Ried, Angol, Kerr and maybe Carswell all have wing back potential, and Vigurs perfect to play in the hole. Faddy could also have covered this. We also have aging but decent defenders and there should really be back three potential in McManus, Hammy and Rmsden, albeit the reality of implementing a change like that at this at SPFL level is not something I know anything about. I recall we tried a three in a friendly last year, and I thought we may have been in a three during the first half of the bizarre gubbing we gave Partick at Fir Hill, though it was not reported in these terms. Ramsden-McM-Ham Reid-Angol (wing backs) Las-Cars (sitting) Vigurs (hole) Sutton-Ains You can tinker with personnel obviously, the trick being to settle the back three and find your most effective wing backs. The attacking potential should take care of itself as there should be options galore for the midfielders to find. It can also be played lopsided (as Holland do when Blind is played sitting) to allow one wingbacks more freedom eg try Ainsworth. It's a total myth that British plays can only handle a back four, Scotland have a long tradition of three at the back and Smith used to use it on occasion to great effect.

The team has produced victories where you predicted a loss about 100 times over the last three years. We are breaking all time Well records in points and goals. That's why we are in Europe and expect to do well in the cups. Eventually Well will go through a few years of Dundee / Killie / Partick level existence, scrapping for draws to keep off the bottom every week, and listening to a shite stuttering manager losing the plot with Chick Young on BBC Scotland. Talk of the chronic problems at our club during the spell we were best of the rest three years running will be hard to fathom. There is no way a spell like that will happen under McCall and that is why most in our support appreciate the job he has done, especially in the rebuild season. The truth is we are simply not that good, we have footballers on modest salaries plucked from low levels of the game all over the team because that is all we can afford. Our consistency is an amazing achievement and is precisely about the passion, commitment and ambition you claim we lack. Where do you think that comes from, our 'easy ride' support? We get found out a few times every season when the opposition has a little class or is as committed as we are. 4,000 core support means we are minnows and anyone who can kick a ball leaves for cash after a few decent games. Our talented players will not sign long contracts as we don't have the funds to tempt them. There are no easy solutions and just saying 'it needs sorted out' or 'we need a winning mentality' on the internet doesn't mean a thing. Give the team a little credit and support and take a couple of pish results on the chin.

Looks like mfc tv def have build up and commentary.

Right on, tricky tonight but they were rank rotten and would easily be relegated in our league. They hardly pressed the ball at all and were incapable of retaining possession. Two players through the spine of their team were straight fat.

OJ took a decent step up and seems to be toiling, don't see why he wouldn't regard another spell with us as an OK move at this point, and a certainly a safe one. Christ he'd be welcome back. A better player than Anier for my money and a few decent halfs where he played wide left suggests he is a lot more versatile, which is priceless for a club like us. Sign up Sheriff.

I was wondering the same thing. I am happy to give the club the benefit of the doubt given the upheaval of Flow's new role and so forth, its not as though the service ever provides top quality value or content - more a love of the club thing. However, a message long the lines 'apologies, we'll be back up and running by X date' would be reasonable given the monthly subscription.