Brazilian Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Why? It's competitive games we need. They are as well playing shirts vs skins as strolling around Morecambe in a friendly and using 10 subs. some of the team are the fittest/healthiest Ive seen them on return from summer break Competitive games are not available for preparation, only friendlies/bounce games and they become as competitive as the effort put in, some desire and competition for places would help in that department. McCall seems to prefer them having a longer summer break and do fitness work, his choice. it has never worked , in the sense that the first part of the season we have had some shockers, that often has the reactionist element on here, launching virtual season tickets away, it could be argued that his method has paid off over the longer season, which would be fair discussion. but, Financially, Motherwell football club, need cup games, these Euro games should have been treated as such, you would think after the Rovers cup game , that nothing would have been taken for granted. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 we've seen competitive friendly matches such as the leeds and everton games where our players were up for mixing it with better known players or even the very violent carlisle match years ago. there is no reason why players can't give their all in a friendly fixture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
something else Posted July 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 If friendly games are no good why play them at all. If they are pointless as some are saying then maybe no teams should play them and just wait for the season to start. Get real. We need to play at least 6 pre season games. If we are in Europe then we should be starting playing them in mid June. Some welsh and Irish teams playing in Europe's early rounds would have relished a friendly against a top Scottish side. Mix it up a bit. A couple of games against sides we should beat easily and let the strikers get some goals. A couple of games against teams in the league below who will give us a test. And at least one against a decent english or foreign team to give us the runaround. And do away with these jolly boys outings to Portugal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggischomper Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 As long as Euro football starts this early then Scotland really needs to look at Summer football - yes, I'm banging that drum again. Ridiculous to be out of Europe before the season is underway but won't change if the status quo is maintained 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzie Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 As long as Euro football starts this early then Scotland really needs to look at Summer football - yes, I'm banging that drum again. Ridiculous to be out of Europe before the season is underway but won't change if the status quo is maintained Fuck no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Pepper Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 As long as Euro football starts this early then Scotland really needs to look at Summer football - yes, I'm banging that drum again. Ridiculous to be out of Europe before the season is underway but won't change if the status quo is maintained Of the summer leagues only Belarus have a better co efficient than us and no teams from the summer leagues were in the champions league group stage last season. Even today we had a game called off in this country because of a waterlogged pitch, when it was 30 degrees outside just yesterday. We got beat on Thursday as we didn't prepare enough and underestimated a team thinking we were as good as through. We got beat by at the time the 39th best team in the SPFL half way through the season, last year in the cup because of the same problems. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfc Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 are we any nearer to getting some games announced,i cant believe we find ourselves having played only one friendly and out of europe and now relying on other teams fitting us into there pre season schedule.utter shambles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Amateurs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underboyleheating Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 are we any nearer to getting some games announced,i cant believe we find ourselves having played only one friendly and out of europe and now relying on other teams fitting us into there pre season schedule.utter shambles I reckon McCall expected us still to be in Europe and was hoping to use those games as part of our league build up. Unfortunately we fucked it up and he is probably searching for sides to play as I type. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goggles & Flippers Posted July 29, 2014 Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 Of the summer leagues only Belarus have a better co efficient than us and no teams from the summer leagues were in the champions league group stage last season. Even today we had a game called off in this country because of a waterlogged pitch, when it was 30 degrees outside just yesterday. We got beat on Thursday as we didn't prepare enough and underestimated a team thinking we were as good as through. We got beat by at the time the 39th best team in the SPFL half way through the season, last year in the cup because of the same problems. And how many games are postponed compared to a standard season here? I'd be interested in that ratio, because it seems that one you describe was a bit of a freak. Playing through a winter in Scotland you can expect a lot more. Not to mention the fact that our football may become attractive again to broadcasters looking to fill up summer schedules full of re-runs of Transworld sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Pepper Posted July 29, 2014 Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 And how many games are postponed compared to a standard season here? I'd be interested in that ratio, because it seems that one you describe was a bit of a freak. Playing through a winter in Scotland you can expect a lot more. Not to mention the fact that our football may become attractive again to broadcasters looking to fill up summer schedules full of re-runs of Transworld sport. Obviously there would be more game postponed in the winter months than summer. Also, summer football is brought up at least once a year for many a year. My guess is the SFA, SPL, SFL, SPFL have brought up the conversation with broadcasters and obviously the money on offer wasn't worth the upheaval. Would our leagues really bring in that much viewers on sky/BT when the World Cup/Euros/New Nations League is over free on BBC/ITV for them to throw more money at us than we are getting now. Probably not. My point was that any time a Scottish team is beaten by an unfancied team in Europe, we immediately run to the answer of Summer football, when it really won't change much in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 As long as Euro football starts this early then Scotland really needs to look at Summer football - yes, I'm banging that drum again. Ridiculous to be out of Europe before the season is underway but won't change if the status quo is maintained Say we were able to beat a team from Iceland if we had a summer season. What happens two weeks later or a month later when we are drawn against a team from La Liga or the Premiership or Bundesliga or even a bigger team from outside the Big Five. Chances are we are still going to get beat. Would it really be worth changing the entire set up of Scottish football to beat some minnows in the 1st or 2nd Qualifying Round of the Europa League? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goggles & Flippers Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 The motivation for summer football for me is not for Euro games (that would merely be a fringe benefit). It would be: Going to a number of games in a t-shirt, Avoiding fixture congestion late in the season due to Jan/Feb/March weather, Pitches staying in good condition throughout, More ball on the deck than hump the ball because of the surface/conditions, Less chance of postponements (if at all), Less chance or need of the spread of plastic pitches, Increasing crowds (potentially however I accept that's a bit of an unknown), Parents being cool about their kids going due to the majority of the season in lighter nights, Savings in costs for the clubs (floodlighting, undersoil heating, etc), Potential of greater exposure on UK wide TV, Televised games for a fair bit of the season not clashing with Premiership games (so no more 12:30 Sunday kickoffs), Not watching Ross County at 7:45 on a Wednesday in a howling gale in mid Feb, And finally just because its different and our game needs something different to survive, if anyone thinks its not on its last legs and needing an adrenalin/defib jolt then you need to explain why. Sorry, but a sentence with "traditionally" in it doesn't trump what I've listed above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfficialMFC Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 Good afternoon folks, Thought it would be beneficial to keep everyone in the loop around a friendly match this weekend (as per Shoutbox, for those not on mobile/tablets and can see it). We've been trying very hard to get not only a match for Saturday, but also work with various bodies/agencies to help us facilitate it to being open to the public/Well fans - in line with significant commitments elsewhere at the moment. Both have proven difficult. The good news is we're likely to have a match, the unfortunate news is that it is also likely to be behind closed doors. We are still working to get final agreements on both elements - hence no official announcement on this - but that's the current position as it stands. As soon as it is concrete, which hopefully is today at some, I will post details on here/official site/social media etc. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Pepper Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 The motivation for summer football for me is not for Euro games (that would merely be a fringe benefit). It would be: Going to a number of games in a t-shirt, Avoiding fixture congestion late in the season due to Jan/Feb/March weather, Pitches staying in good condition throughout, More ball on the deck than hump the ball because of the surface/conditions, Less chance of postponements (if at all), Less chance or need of the spread of plastic pitches, Increasing crowds (potentially however I accept that's a bit of an unknown), Parents being cool about their kids going due to the majority of the season in lighter nights, Savings in costs for the clubs (floodlighting, undersoil heating, etc), Potential of greater exposure on UK wide TV, Televised games for a fair bit of the season not clashing with Premiership games (so no more 12:30 Sunday kickoffs), Not watching Ross County at 7:45 on a Wednesday in a howling gale in mid Feb, And finally just because its different and our game needs something different to survive, if anyone thinks its not on its last legs and needing an adrenalin/defib jolt then you need to explain why. Sorry, but a sentence with "traditionally" in it doesn't trump what I've listed above. Pitches may be poorer off in the long run, as the grass would be grown in winter months rather than the summer. This may lead to more plastic pitches, which I don't have a problem with but they can be expensive for the better ones. I would rather a great pitch over plastic, but plastic over what we had a few years back. Also iI find it easier on a plastic pitch to get tha ball down on the deck and pass it although I'm no professional so not sure how they feel with injuries etc. The main issue is really our weather in this country. Games can be called off any time between November and beginning of March because of Rain, Snow and High winds and it's easier to re arrange games that are called off in December for when the weather starts to pick up than it would be for a game at the end of the season in November to be re arranged for the end of the month when the conditions could be the same or worse. A slight bit of rain won't discourage people who really want to go to the game and overall we would probably end up with roughly the same attendance figures as we have just now. More problems in Scottish Football than when we start the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shire Greats Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 1406733264[/url]' post='417885']Pitches may be poorer off in the long run, as the grass would be grown in winter months rather than the summer. This may lead to more plastic pitches, which I don't have a problem with but they can be expensive for the better ones. I would rather a great pitch over plastic, but plastic over what we had a few years back. Also iI find it easier on a plastic pitch to get tha ball down on the deck and pass it although I'm no professional so not sure how they feel with injuries etc. The main issue is really our weather in this country. Games can be called off any time between November and beginning of March because of Rain, Snow and High winds and it's easier to re arrange games that are called off in December for when the weather starts to pick up than it would be for a game at the end of the season in November to be re arranged for the end of the month when the conditions could be the same or worse. A slight bit of rain won't discourage people who really want to go to the game and overall we would probably end up with roughly the same attendance figures as we have just now. More problems in Scottish Football than when we start the season. You want to attract not just the hardcore fan who goes hail, rain or shine, you want to get the ones who are swithering.Summer football must come, I feel-it's the entertainment industry after all that you pay money to attend, it's not meant to be an endurance contest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makaveli Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 Good afternoon folks, Thought it would be beneficial to keep everyone in the loop around a friendly match this weekend (as per Shoutbox, for those not on mobile/tablets and can see it). We've been trying very hard to get not only a match for Saturday, but also work with various bodies/agencies to help us facilitate it to being open to the public/Well fans - in line with significant commitments elsewhere at the moment. Both have proven difficult. The good news is we're likely to have a match, the unfortunate news is that it is also likely to be behind closed doors. We are still working to get final agreements on both elements - hence no official announcement on this - but that's the current position as it stands. As soon as it is concrete, which hopefully is today at some, I will post details on here/official site/social media etc. Cheers, If your gonna have to play it behind closed doors at firpark because you cant get stewards/policing why don't you move it it to The Palace Grounds? It then isn't a regulated football match so you don't need to have it policed or stewarded meaning the club wouldn't be losing money (assuming it had to be played behind closed doors if it were at Firpark) It would allow fans to come along and see the team and it is easier to get to than Dalziel Park. Although I do suspect it isn't that easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goggles & Flippers Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 Pitches may be poorer off in the long run, as the grass would be grown in winter months rather than the summer. This may lead to more plastic pitches, which I don't have a problem with but they can be expensive for the better ones. I would rather a great pitch over plastic, but plastic over what we had a few years back. Also iI find it easier on a plastic pitch to get tha ball down on the deck and pass it although I'm no professional so not sure how they feel with injuries etc. The main issue is really our weather in this country. Games can be called off any time between November and beginning of March because of Rain, Snow and High winds and it's easier to re arrange games that are called off in December for when the weather starts to pick up than it would be for a game at the end of the season in November to be re arranged for the end of the month when the conditions could be the same or worse. A slight bit of rain won't discourage people who really want to go to the game and overall we would probably end up with roughly the same attendance figures as we have just now. More problems in Scottish Football than when we start the season. Pitches will be poorer? Surely the issue we have in the winter is the pitch doesn't have sufficient exposure to sunlight to recover between matches. In the summer we have up to 18 hours of daylight and the degradation would be much less. During the winter the grass would merely be maintained, not replanted. I've yet to find any evidence where a footballer cites they prefer plastic pitches. Clubs like them as they allow the facilities to be used potentially 24-7. I accept there's still a chance games can be called off between a summer season of March to November, however the risk of that happening is a fraction than the status quo. The chance of a game being called off in late November is small. You're citing minor faults and giving no credence to a number of benefits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 good idea with the closed door game but why play it at the palace grounds when the miners is available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 You want to attract not just the hardcore fan who goes hail, rain or shine, you want to get the ones who are swithering.Summer football must come, I feel-it's the entertainment industry after all that you pay money to attend, it's not meant to be an endurance contest When Ireland switched to summer football, the attendances stayed the same. The problem for me is still the number of games. We basically play from July until May. That means June is the only full month with no matches. If you translate into summer football it would mean playing from mid-Feb until December followed by a break in January and then back to pre-season in midwinter. 18 team league, 34 games, winter shut down, keep the same basic season. Sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goggles & Flippers Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 When Ireland switched to summer football, the attendances stayed the same. The problem for me is still the number of games. We basically play from July until May. That means June is the only full month with no matches. If you translate into summer football it would mean playing from mid-Feb until December followed by a break in January and then back to pre-season in midwinter. 18 team league, 34 games, winter shut down, keep the same basic season. Sorted. Erm mid May to mid August is 3 months. March to November as already outlined. However I applaud your creative maths skills, you should get a job with the No campaign 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 Erm mid May to mid August is 3 months. March to November as already outlined. However I applaud your creative maths skills, you should get a job with the No campaign We have already played 2 games in July, Einstein. So our season is running from July to May. And the only month with no competitive games for us is June. Feel free to point out the errors in that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzyB Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 The motivation for summer football for me is not for Euro games (that would merely be a fringe benefit). It would be: Going to a number of games in a t-shirt, Avoiding fixture congestion late in the season due to Jan/Feb/March weather, Pitches staying in good condition throughout, More ball on the deck than hump the ball because of the surface/conditions, Less chance of postponements (if at all), Less chance or need of the spread of plastic pitches, Increasing crowds (potentially however I accept that's a bit of an unknown), Parents being cool about their kids going due to the majority of the season in lighter nights, Savings in costs for the clubs (floodlighting, undersoil heating, etc), Potential of greater exposure on UK wide TV, Televised games for a fair bit of the season not clashing with Premiership games (so no more 12:30 Sunday kickoffs), Not watching Ross County at 7:45 on a Wednesday in a howling gale in mid Feb, And finally just because its different and our game needs something different to survive, if anyone thinks its not on its last legs and needing an adrenalin/defib jolt then you need to explain why. Sorry, but a sentence with "traditionally" in it doesn't trump what I've listed above. That's a great argument for summer football, particularly the line about greater TV exposure. Unfortunately it'll never happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 That's a great argument for summer football, particularly the line about greater TV exposure. Unfortunately it'll never happen. The greater TV exposure (which I'm not convinced about) would be dependent on guys like Doncaster doing his job. I doubt Ireland has had greater TV exposure since they switched to summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoojy Posted July 30, 2014 Report Share Posted July 30, 2014 We have already played 2 games in July, Einstein. So our season is running from July to May. And the only month with no competitive games for us is June. Feel free to point out the errors in that. The European games would come half way through the season therefore no starting the season a month early? Meaning 2 whole calendar months with no competitive games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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