Motherwell V Hearts 28/11/10

[Pepper]

I have some sympathy with the councils on this.

 

I don't. We have been told numerous times that all Scottish Council's have record levels of salt to clear roads and that they would not be caught out again like last year. That lasted long didn't it.

 

I would like to think that NLC would have the sense to prioritise the roads and areas around a busy football stadium for obvious reasons.

[mjw]

Maybe tying up a few hundred police and a couple of ambulances when they might be needed for real emergencies just so a game of football can go ahead is a tad selfish.

[Chris]

Gah!

[Welldaft Mk1]

It's a feckin no brainer for christ sake. It is not just Motherwell playing this game + not all Motherwell fans live along Fir Park St.

 

I am in Edinburgh and is has been dumping down for hours. The roads are a mess and one fellow Well fan friend cannot even get his car out his drive.

 

If I was a Hearts fan I would have stayed at home - so we could have probably expected 20 jambos.

 

Correct decision.

[Kmcalpin]

I don't. We have been told numerous times that all Scottish Council's have record levels of salt to clear roads and that they would not be caught out again like last year. That lasted long didn't it.

 

I would like to think that NLC would have the sense to prioritise the roads and areas around a busy football stadium for obvious reasons.

 

I don't think salt stocks will be an issue. It will be the number of gritters and drivers. NLC and indeed any local authority will not want to spend tens of millions on buying gritters which might only be used a few days in a year.

 

In these days of austerity, spending cash on clearing roads around FP won't even be on their radar. The kind of choice they face, in crude terms, is spending thousands on clearing roads around FP on match days or sacking more staff.

[East_Stand_Al]

I have some sympathy with the councils on this. Canada and Scandanavia can cope with it because they know its coming and the likely volumes year in, year out like night follows day. In Scotland it could be for an hour, a day, a week or a month anytime between November and April.

 

There was talk last week we would get snow here on Wednesday - it didn't arrive until Friday night.

 

You simply can't legislate 100% for where, when and what in volumes snow is going to fall, and when it does everybody and their dug expects their streets done. 4000 folk going to the fitba, 96 year old Mrs Miggins going for her bread and milk, Tam coming home from a night shift. Everybody all wants their own situation sorted and sometimes with the best will in the world it just isn't possible.

 

Fair enough Andy but then the snow started friday night, it was ibvious to anyone who has the capacity to check a short range weather forecast that we had more coming, call me cynical but is this the" How does the man that drives the snowplough get to his work" scenario ?

 

Gritters and snow ploughs out overnight and early doors kick iff was not till 2:15 plenty of time to clear the streets surrounding FP or put out a rallying cry for fans to come help.

 

Its just occured to me did the TV trucks turn up? If they did then its even more farcical.

[Pepper]

I don't think salt stocks will be an issue. It will be the number of gritters and drivers. NLC and indeed any local authority will not want to spend tens of millions on buying gritters which might only be used a few days in a year.

 

In these days of austerity, spending cash on clearing roads around FP won't even be on their radar. The kind of choice they face, in crude terms, is spending thousands on clearing roads around FP on match days or sacking more staff.

 

One gritter would have cleared the roads in 5 mins and a couple of those buggy things that do the pavements is all you need. we're no talking massive amounts of money or man power here. The main roads will take care of themselves after being cleared once due to traffic. The fact is people are still out and about doin their daily business, the world has not come to a standstill.

 

As East Stand Al said all that is needed is a bit of forward planning.

[Finlay]

Would like to see this match rearranged sooner rather than later. Falkirk vs Morton match that was postponed yesterday has been resceduled for 7th Dec. Possible date for us?

[underboyleheating]

I wonder how much it has cost us to try and put this game on? If you add up the overtime, undersoilheating costs and any corporate revenue loss it must come to a fair bit.

[LadywellToi]

A few factors would have affected this game today out with the remit of NLC and MFC. First is the M8, the route that the vast majority of the visiting team and support would use.

 

Salting roads only works if they are in constant use, otherwise the snow lies on top.

 

I'd ask those wanting the game to go ahead, would you be happy sitting outside in these conditions and getting an announcement saying the KO had been delayed 15-20 minutes for visiting fans?

 

Like it or not, we live in a blame culture now, highlighted by the number of ambulance chaser ads on daytime TV, you trip over a kerb that is sitting proud, then £4,000 in your hippy (not everyone has the morals of Stu). The police, MFC and the council would rather err on the side of caution because if they allow a game to go ahead then they can be considered liable to a degree.

 

Also, shopping venues such as Asda and the Fort were mentioned, I would argue that they will have a stead stream of visitors all day with a odd peak and trough. Problem with a football game is you have 5,000-6,000 all leaving collectively at 4pm rather than staggered.

 

Finally we live in a country where weather is primarily affected by the gulf stream, if you think back over the past 20 years we've generally had very mild winters despite our latitude. As has been pointed out, Norway and Canada have guaranteed snow every year, as a result they are well versed in how to deal with it. We get snow sporadically (if you ignore last winter which was a freak) and therefore our response won't be as well polished.

 

I'm itching to get to a game, however after looking out the window and facing the drive, I'm content the right decision has been reached.

[kmmfc]

The groundstaff have been in since 3am (I myself have been in since 7am)...

 

Pitch is totally fine and can be brushed in 25mins...

 

Does anyone else think it a bit strange that the groundstaff were in at 3am, a full 11 hours prior to kick-off?

[Juan Kerse]

I'm happy, I couldn't be arsed going to the game today anyway. But I'd prefer it if it had been a frozen pitch. The idea that football fans are so stupid they can't be expected to make their way to a football stadium without hurting themselves because there's a bit of snow and ice is a fucking joke.

 

Totally. And the best comparison, as said on here lots of times, is that the police take the decision making power away from football fans to go to a game yet they allow old ladies to cut about shopping precincts, families to go to a cinema or whatever. There will be more people travelling to other forms of leisure and entertainment today than the 4,000, mostly grown men, that would have been at Fir Park.

 

How the polis get away with that is beyond me. Motherwell Football Club is a trading limited company - just like Vue cinemas 2 miles away yet the police don't shut their doors for them.

 

Gets right on my tits.

[Finlay]

Would imagine TV will pick it up on the rescheduled date.....hopefully. That is why the 7th makes sense. No Champions League, Europa League, or League Cup games are on that week and it lets us (and Hearts) get this game out the way before, lets face it, the worst of the bad weather kicks in for a prolonged period.

[Jay]

I can actually understand the reasons it's off up to a point, but again it just seems like another example of how "football fan" is just another term for "idiot".

 

If I'm a music lover who buys seating tickets for a gig that everyone stands and jumps about at, that's fine.

If I'm a football fan who buys seating tickets for a football match that people want to stand up at, I could face getting thrown out as obviously football fans do not have the mental capabilities to not fall over.

 

If I'm a punter on a wee day out up north and fancy having a few beers on the train, that's fine.

If I'm a football fan who fancies having a few beers on the train to a game, I could face getting the jail as obviously football fans do not have the maturity not to get wasted and cause trouble.

 

If I'm a shopper who fancies joining the masses at the Glasgow Fort when it's snowing and icy outside, that's fine.

If I'm a football fan who intends on goin to a match when it's snowing and icy outside, I am told I'm not allowed as obviously football fans are of lesser intelligence than other humans and cannot be trusted to walk/drive in such conditions.

 

I don't doubt for a second that there are complete idiots who would hurt themselves trying to stand at the football, would get drunk and start riots on trains, and would fall flat on their faces on the ice - but that's because there is a percentage of idiots amongst human beings, not just football fans.

 

I hope global warming doesn't mean this sort of weather more frequently otherwise football fans will become a species on the brink of extinction as we fail to survive in the winter conditions.

[DEWELL]

Correct decision to cancel this game as all roads are a nightmare.

7th Dec sounds ok to me.

[Big Stall]

Ach 'well, I did something constructive instead.......

[East Stand Screamer]

I can actually understand the reasons it's off up to a point, but again it just seems like another example of how "football fan" is just another term for "idiot".

 

If I'm a music lover who buys seating tickets for a gig that everyone stands and jumps about at, that's fine.

If I'm a football fan who buys seating tickets for a football match that people want to stand up at, I could face getting thrown out as obviously football fans do not have the mental capabilities to not fall over.

 

If I'm a punter on a wee day out up north and fancy having a few beers on the train, that's fine.

If I'm a football fan who fancies having a few beers on the train to a game, I could face getting the jail as obviously football fans do not have the maturity not to get wasted and cause trouble.

 

If I'm a shopper who fancies joining the masses at the Glasgow Fort when it's snowing and icy outside, that's fine.

If I'm a football fan who intends on goin to a match when it's snowing and icy outside, I am told I'm not allowed as obviously football fans are of lesser intelligence than other humans and cannot be trusted to walk/drive in such conditions.

 

I don't doubt for a second that there are complete idiots who would hurt themselves trying to stand at the football, would get drunk and start riots on trains, and would fall flat on their faces on the ice - but that's because there is a percentage of idiots amongst human beings, not just football fans.

 

I hope global warming doesn't mean this sort of weather more frequently otherwise football fans will become a species on the brink of extinction as we fail to survive in the winter conditions.

Great post, worth repeating!

[awp]

Ach 'well, I did something constructive instead.......

 

He clearly needs a Motherwell hat. Something from the Well Shop perhaps?

[weeyin]

All these folk moaning about the roads and streets - you do realise there is a recession going on, yes? You do realise budgets have been cut and that means less money that councils can devote to winter preparation?

It's not exactly the first year this has happened, though. They just have an excuse this year.

[steelboy]

it's a total fucking joke. as other people have said the police aren't shutting asda or cinemas and the mega bar can still fill bams up with cheap booze and send them out into the freezing night at 3am but we can't get a game of fitba on.

 

how the fuck can they stage nfl games in 3 feet of snow with 50,000 people there but 3 inches of snow gets this game canceled.

 

as ever, polis GET FUCKED.

[LadywellToi]

One thing I'm certain about with Motherwell fans. If we got a rich benefactor leaving the club £1m in their will, there would be some who would moan if we got it in £100 notes opposed to £20's.

[mfcmainstand]

you cant expect people to travel along the m8 in that weather

[Busta Nut]

yummy, sna' tastes braw!!

[weeyin]

There is not point clearing snow while it's snowing or if more snow is expect, you just have to wait it out

I'm glad you don't look after snow removal where I live - we'd be waiting until April before you sent out the gritters.

[Yoshi-1991]

one word.... pathertic