MOFOREVER

As a fan of a different club I’ve watched my team at Stair Park many, many times over the last 40+ years but when I visit the place nowadays it looks and feels fairly soul-less. In saying that I don’t mean to be nasty but there look to be fundamental things just not happening there AND I’m not referring to things on the pitch. My club Montrose were in the doldrums for many years but since we focussed more on being a Community Club and got a plastic pitch (which is used 6 days a week) we can and do use all our facilities every day. On matchdays our excellent hospitality facilities are buzzing and usually fully booked every game thus earning vital extra income as well as connectivity with locals. It rubs off on the town as well with all sorts of Community focussed things going on every day run by the Montrose F.C. Community Trust both at Links Park and by taking things out into the wider area. Stranraer also have a grandstand which is almost a carbon copy of that at Montrose BUT it does not look fully used or even open between fortnightly games and I doubt if they have installed hospitality facilities or got plans to use the Stair Park facilities every day. This isn’t meant as a slight on Stranraer and it doesn’t guarantee a winning team on the pitch but I do feel a lot more needs to be done to get the football club and the rest of the town pulling together with a strategic Community based plan. BUT it takes somebody to spearhead it locally. Or, carry on as you are and simply hope for the best. I hope somebody at Stranraer takes notice and starts to put a bit more energy into this good 150 year old club.

Sorry Scotty, my computer flipped in mid entry and screen went blank. Had to re-start it and your/this response came in the meantime. As I say we agree most things, particularly the issues of viability and contracts but as long as the lockdown continues those will remain worrying issues whether or not we void.

I agree with you mostly particulary about the viability of clubs. That's THE great concern but it is the same problem whether we complete the present season or start a new one. It's the length of the lockdown which is the problem. We also agree players contracts etc. are a problem but just about every player will be worried about his contract and will want to sort his contract out ASAP. BUT as you and I agree players won't be able to get a contract if his club or others go bust and that I think will encourage players to sign a sensible contract as soon as it's offered. In that case it doesn't matter how many players a club has already got tied up for next season, my guess is they will not have a problem signing them - the main problem/worry is will that club(s() survive. Even if null and void is declared we still have the viability problem as long as games are not played and if clubs go bust you can';t start a new season anyway until you know how many clubs are left. I think these worrying issues are the same whether or not you null and void or complete - it's the length of time without income which is the overall problem hence making a decision too early doesn't make sense and it could even accelerate the demise of a club. Still think this is a great thread though as it gets a good variety of thoughts.

Many of the posts on here seem to favour the null and void option but do we have to make a decision yet? We usually have at least a 2 month close season break (excluding play-offs and pre-season games). We don’t know how long this lockdown is going to last, it could be 6 months or more. The season has gone within 9 games of finishing for most teams so the thought of it being called off as null and void is only likely to favour those clubs who are in relegation trouble. Those in mid-table might not be too fussed but those still in with promotion possibilities or chasing places in Europe will want a proper finish to the season. So does a decision HAVE to be made yet? At present my preference is to not make a decision yet but to treat the present situation as the close season then on restart to complete the remaining 2019/20 fixtures to have a proper end to the season. What I do think though is that it would be sensible to truncate the play-offs by having them over one leg rather than two. That done, we then have a very short break and then start the next season even if that’s in September, October or later. A season doesn’t have to start in July and we don’t need so many League Cup Group games in the present scenario. That next season would last BEYOND April 2021 but so what, we could stretch out a couple of seasons with shorter close seasons until we catch up and completing the present season if at all possible is surely fairer to all. Clearly there are more than logistical problems though. 1. The viability of several clubs is clearly in doubt due to this lockdown and we as fans have no overall control over that. Perish the thought but if a club goes under in the meantime i.e, before the 2019/20 season is completed we would probably have to expunge the results of that club. 2. Many players will be out of contract in June or earlier. I doubt if we can force players or clubs to extend contracts so carrying on in business is in the hands of each club barring miracle intervention of the financial sort. In other words football can only carry on with those clubs which are still in existence and it’s up to each club what players they have. In that respect some tweak of the Scottish League transfer window might have to be thought through to avoid any club taking unfair advantage of the situation. 3. The clubs vying for Europe places might be in difficulty if European football starts as normal – how likely is that though! 4. In carrying out the above plan we still involve the HL and LL champions and they could toss a coin for home advantage or play at a neutral venue. The game against Club 42 could also be at neutral venue. 5. Scotland might be out of step with the rest of Europe – so what, we all start and finish at different times now and we should still be able to fit in International games. The lockdown might last more than 6 months but if it does it impacts even more on the following season anyway so I don’t see that as a reason not to complete the 2019/20 season.

I agree because I can't make it on Tuesday. If it goes ahead though SP will make changes again. We could do with it being off though with EF being next. Stranny have been unlucky that L1 is a hard league this season. They aren't a bad side and if they do go down but can keep their squad together they'll be back.

Spot on. It'll be a 400 mile round trip for me but I'll be there because Brechin and us have been through hell together in the past and we don't forget. Hopefully it won't be necessary but much to do still.

The problem is, some of our opponents keep losing !

Know how you feel. We've felt the same in some games as well particularly those against Raith and Falkirk.

I know it's a bit of a come down 'cos you should have been playing us but good luck against Celtic anyway!

We got the points yesterday but will also have learned a lot from the game, such as how to manage a game when three goals ahead. It will take a game or two for the new players to blend in so we should be grateful that's one behind us and we got points out of it. Pity next week's game is postponed but hopefully a bounce game will be played at some point to give the new lads pitch time with the other players. The positive from yesterday, apart from getting the points, is that we won and scored four goals without being at our best. The negative was we lost three fairly sloppy goals on top of the sloppy ones we conceded at Raith. No complaints overall however as we're in a good position but still need to look at what we could and should do better.

Yes, should be up soon.

Seriously hope that's not the case because that would mean Brechin being relegated and I for one don't want that.

If ou don't want a pub Scorgy there's always Morrisons cafe just down the hill at the crossroads about 400 yards away.

The Mo have only ever won 3 league games at Starks Park and two of them were in our 84/5 championship season but I think they are well capable of getting something from this next game. In the 24/August game the Mo fielded a very under strength side and deservedly lost 0-3 but held out at 0-0 until about 20 minutes to go when a couple of disruptive subs were made. - otherwise could have nicked a point. In the 0-1 at LP in November everybody present knew the Mo only had themselves to blame for not being out of sight at half-time but credit to Raith they got it together and won with their only shot at goal. Why am I recalling that? Because this next game is by no means a foregone conclusion - we shall see and I'll be there.

I’ve just had 2 successive Saturdays without my team playing. No complaints about the reasons but it has just brought it to mind with a bump how much I look forward to watching my team play on a Saturday and how much I miss it. It’s like a peg in the ground to look forward to even if you are not even having a bad week, but if you are it’s an even bigger peg in the ground to look forward to. Putting aside whichever team you support because some win or lose more than others, what does football on a Saturday mean to you? To some no doubt it will mean ‘F’ all but to others who can be bothered to read this it’ll mean a helluva lot probably – so put your honest thoughts in here even if those thoughts are that you dread Saturday coming along! I sometimes wonder if those running football realise just how important it is in the lives of us bog standard football fans. Not a moan, just a thought.

For anybody interested Montrose FC won the Testimonial game against Junior side Montrose Roselea 10-1. A bit harsh on Roselea though who didn't play that badly but lacked finishing and strength as the match wore on. Didn't help being 4-0 down though even before many folk were sat down. A crowd of 135 braved the bitterfly cold weather to support Testimonial player Jordan Reoch who has played for both clubs. He scored the Roselea goal from a penalty as keeper Fleming tried his best to keep out of the way. Well done Jordan and keep it going mate.

If you put your strongest team out you'll probably win, but if you don't, you won't.

Agree with all of that except we must not start the game on the back foot like we did at Forfar. We were bullied and made far too many errors in the first half. I know it's hard for part-time clubs to put a full 90 minutes in without having a few down moments but if other teams can do it then so can the Mo. East Fife are a bit of a bogey team at LP so high time we changed that. Get behind the lads and they'll respond.

There's no rule as far as I'm aware that says you can only make 1 loan move per season, the problem is though he's already played competitive football for 2 teams so can't play for a 3rd. I'm not sure if this applies to the Lowland League so he may be able to join a club at that level if Forfar aren't keeping him for the season. Ah, that's the rule I was thinking about. It''s not the fact there can't be 2 loans, you're right it's that he can't play for more than 2 SPFL clubs in a season. That's how we got Boyler back a few years ago as we were the only club he could be loaned back to. With Rusty the best thing is to agree a free transfer if he can find another club.

I'd be really sorry if Webby goes. Not sure how likely it is though. Assume he'd have to go full time (??) which is a gamble if he already has a good job outside of football. If he didn't make the grade at full time level it would be a retrograde step. I can think of several great players who have preferred to stay part-time on a decent pay if they have good day time jobs. One in particular scores goals for fun at lower league level and has done for yonks. McLean I don't think could go on loan anywhere else this season as I think the rules only allow a loan to one club per season. Rules might have changed though with the advent of half or full season loans. Could release him though if he finds another club - he doesn't have to of course but most players prefer to be playing rather than just parked on a bench..

Spot on is that. Watson is an immense influence when he's on the park and so too is Rossco. As for Webby he's been massive for us this season. Yesterday he was pretty well marked out in the first half but in the second half he broke loose and basically changed the game with his goal then that run down the right for our third goal. Thought Forfar looked good first half but their experienced players 'bullied' us at the back - Cammy and Matty in particular, and it upset our usual style - so fair play to their game plan. Second half though we stood up to them, made fewer mistakes and took the game to them. Both Managers clearly had a game plan which worked for Forfar fiirst half until SP changed it second half to great effect. As Gogs said though great credit to Winker and Webby.

Well done the Smokies yesterday. Keep it going in the New Year. We're trying hard to catch up!

Thought Montrose gave Falkirk too much respect and just didn't play our normal game. One of our poorer displays and conceding two from set play corners is not acceptable. Fair play to Falkirk though, I thought they were more professional for the most part and could tell they were a higher division team come down and Mo were the lower division team come up. As long as its 11 v 11 though both sides have a chance but I honestly think Mo could and should have dominated more earlier on in the game before going 2-0 down. Fair play to the Falkirk fans as well but don't leave it another 30 years or whatever before coming back to LP on league business ( you can come back on 18th April next though if you like).

Montrose just need to focus on their own game and should be right up for this one. Falkirk are one of only two teams in L1 we haven't beaten yet.