££££££££'s

[ONeils4oyarder]

Its now being reported that Turnbull will be staying with us unless some club stumps a minimum of £3,000,000, and I'd imagine there will be add-ons to that based on appearances and future transfer fees. That type of cash will allow us to re-pay our debts to Mr Hutchinson and Mr Boyle, and leave a lot left over, especially when added to the other recent transfer activity with McKinstry, Hastie and possibly Cadden.

So the question is, what do we do with that pot of gold? The money we made from selling St John, helped to pay the costs of re-building the Main Stand, while the transfer fee from Phil O'Donnells sale to Celtic was more or less fired straight back out by Big Eck in transfer fees for the likes of Shaun McSkimming, Andy Roddie and Eddie May.

 

Now that we are a fully-fledged fans-owned club, we are on the cusp of being completely debt free & we're going to have a surplus of cash swilling about, what should our priorities be? Does it allow us to spend that wee bit more on player quality now that we don't have Boyle and Hutchinson looking over our shoulder, or do we invest it in infrastructure...our own training ground, an area in the East Stand for proper 'safe standing', use it to help modernise the Main Stand (if that is at all possible).

 

Its an absolute wrench to potentially be losing Turnbull so soon, as hes a joy to watch and clearly 'One of Our Own' but possibly the best thing he could ever do for the Club he supports is bring some huge money into the place that will help us not only safeguard the Club, but allow us to actually push on, in some way.

[weeyin]

Repaying an interest free loan before you have to isn't really good business.  Not only does it tie up short term funds that could be invested elsewhere, but it costs less in real terms to pay back £1 twelve months from now than it does to pay it back today.

If we didn't have any confidence we can service the loan for its duration, or if early pay-off would be at a discount, then it would be a different matter. 

[ONeils4oyarder]

aye, very good....what do you suggest we do with the money, regardless of how much we pay back to our former chairmen?

[fizoxy]

I don’t think we have to do anything with it in the near term (unless there’s some critical repairs or upgrades that have been put off). We rely on the well society for extra funds when things are tight, so this would give us some security for a few seasons.

I could see a modest increase in the wage budget, but we should be basing that on our general income to stay sustainable.

[numpty]

Much as I'd like us all to have heated seats and free pies, our academy is one of our biggest assets at the moment, so doing our best to keep that pipeline going, whether that takes more or better facilities, coaching or scouting staff, seems like a reasonable way to invest.

The main thing is not to go crazy, because we sure as heck won't be in this fortunate position forever.

[Goggles & Flippers]

Academy - whither it be situated beside the Ravenscraig indoor pitch or the club approaches Dalziel and looks to build something and enhance the facilities there, I'm open to anything. As it's been pointed out it can be a fruitful return on investment if it is made attractive enough for those kids who may be dazzled by the OF. At least we are able to demonstrate a story of progression with a much better chance of being blooded in the senior team than any of the countless number who will shrink into obscurity after leaving Lennoxtown or Murray Park (is it still called that?).

Community Engagement - We have a product that has the same overheads 19x a season to put on but on average 6,000 free seats at £20 each. Engage with lapsed, disenfranchised, those new to the area, those who had never thought of it. Being able to do an activity for £6 each approximately for 2.5 hours (adult and 2 free kids in the East) would maybe make many think twice as an option. I just don't think enough know about it, the club is limited in how they can approach people and safe to say free tickets to schools doesn't result in any sustainable windfall. 500 adults is £150k in revenue I'd look to break even with a marketing campaign that blankets the area/schools. 

Stadium - while not up to Tottenham's it does a job and functions. I'd rather money went elsewhere.

[GazzyB]

Put it on red. 

[johnstone]

Hookers.

[stuwell]

As we’re not sure how much we could get for him it’s a bit hypothetical  but if we take the top figure being quoted of £4M (and I’m not sure how much tax would be liable so I will leave that out) then id like the following option to be considered. 

Repayment of debt. If I recall correctly then 40% of transfer fees goes to LH & JB, so £1.6M - this should clear or all but clear that off. 

 Of the £2.4M left £1M goes to the club for upkeep and other sundries. 

With the remaining money I’d set up a fund to be used over 3 to 5 years to be used to pay higher wages to 3 players - ie Alex Rodriguez Gorin - that we can sell on. So for talking sake if we say 2 players on 3K and one on 2K a week that works out at just over £400K a year.

On selling the player, the fund would get back the amount that it has paid out in wages to that player followed by 40% of the remainder with the club receiving the other 60%. The same % cut would also go for any further fees received for the player in add ons / sell on clauses  

This could not only see the fund continuing longer but also potential growing - although we would have to take into account the fact that not all will prove successful but better quality signing should increase the chances.

with the fund paying 3 players wages then the existing squad budget can be split between fewer players leading to a modest increase in wages to some others. 

If it’s done on a 3 year rolling cycle we could identify the next youngsters and encourage them to aim to be here on decent wages for longer. 

If this works then the Well society’s cash can be used more for academy development & crowd development  rather that the day to day running of the club. 

 

 

[Yabba's Turd]

29 minutes ago, johnstone said:

Hookers.

and booze.

[wee_alpha]

Other thing to think about is that it is highly unlikely that any money would be paid in full up front. So if it was £3m, it's likely to be 3 payments of £1m over 3 season for example.

[underboyleheating]

3 minutes ago, wee_alpha said:

Other thing to think about is that it is highly unlikely that any money would be paid in full up front. So if it was £3m, it's likely to be 3 payments of £1m over 3 season for example.

It’s got to be £3M cash in an unmarked brown paper bag or he’s going nowhere. 

[ropy]

Some of it should go to Craig Thomson’s retirement fund, Just to make sure he doesn’t come back.

[DunnyMFC]

I would like to have a chunk of it reinvested back into the youth setup so we can develop more talents. 

[Brazilian]

2 hours ago, johnstone said:

Hookers.

 

1 hour ago, Yabba's Turd said:

and booze.

Lets go the full Bhoona

Elect Higdon to the Motherwell FC Hall of Fame , the club can host one of his legendary parties

and then spend the balance on defence lawyers

[gdalli10]

It would be good if we could do something with the O’Donnell stand so we can stay at Fir Park.

[twistandshout1983]

Reinvest more in the youth set up and also some improvements to the John Hunter or O'Donnell stand. 

[Wellfan1984]

10 hours ago, gdalli10 said:

It would be good if we could do something with the O’Donnell stand so we can stay at Fir Park.

Knock it down?  

[Kmcalpin]

Unfortunately a major rebuild of the John Hunter Stand due to its shape and land ownership wouldn't be possible.  Some improvements yes.  Phil O'Donnell Stand needs demolition and rebuild. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:

Unfortunately a major rebuild of the John Hunter Stand due to its shape and land ownership wouldn't be possible.  Some improvements yes.  Phil O'Donnell Stand needs demolition and rebuild. 

A very genuine question here, but why?

Would we not be able to perhaps lose a couple of rows of seats to fit it in?

From an entirely layman point of view, what would be the barrier between what's there, and replacing it with one of yer flatpack St. Mirren style stands?

The O'Donnell, as you say would be entirely more manageable due to the space behind, but I'm just curious on the East.

[Onthefringes]

Debatable wether required piling/foundations can be made without affecting existing structures on the site border.

[Yorkyred]

The main stand really is well past it’s sell by date, I was really surprised when I sat there in one of the early cup games last season. The facilities inside really are 1950s standard. 

[DunnyMFC]

We could put the money towards flying these guys from Mongolia to join the Well Bois for the Accies game 

 

 

[Kmcalpin]

5 hours ago, thisGRAEME said:

A very genuine question here, but why?

Would we not be able to perhaps lose a couple of rows of seats to fit it in?

From an entirely layman point of view, what would be the barrier between what's there, and replacing it with one of yer flatpack St. Mirren style stands?

The O'Donnell, as you say would be entirely more manageable due to the space behind, but I'm just curious on the East.

No problem.  Issue 1 is access.  As far as I can tell the eastern boundary of the stand abuts the western boundary of Knowetop Primary School (and astroturf pitch) in other words its totally constrained.  As it is access can only be gained from Knowetop Avenue although in theory (police agreement permitting) it could be taken from the South stand end although I doubt that would be deemed "desirable". Issue 2: I suppose that the structure could be moved slightly westwards by, as you say, sacrificing 2 rows of seats, and maybe increasing the overall height and therefore the angle of slope.  That could cause problems with the school though in terms of sunlight.   As OTF mentioned (presumably in relation to the Huinter Stand, but maybe also in relation to the POD Stand) there could be technical problems.  There could also be technical issues with old and shallow coal workings underground - less likely in terms of the POD Stand because of its existing load.   

[Spiderpig]

3 hours ago, Yorkyred said:

The main stand really is well past it’s sell by date, I was really surprised when I sat there in one of the early cup games last season. The facilities inside really are 1950s standard. 

Agreed, I have sat in the pod for years and it is well past its best, catering points, seating, access, PA system, and the unfinished bit at the end, they are all not up to modern standards.

But that said  those criticisms could be applied to just about every  ground in Scotland, the view from the pod is great though