Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[thisGRAEME]

2 minutes ago, AndyRoss said:

Good news that we still have nine days to enjoy the fact our last game was a 3-0 win, not so good the next one will cost £29 for anyone wanting to attend.

Adult	£29
Over 65s	£21
Under 18s	£15
Under 16s	£8
Under 13s and students	£5

Fiver a student though, HWFG!

[Antiochas III]

Wait.  Student are £5 but 14 and15 year olds are £8... 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Antiochas III

[Archie McSquackle]

Can they not argue they are school students? I suppose they don't get a student card at school.

Have Hearts done away with the reduced price tickets for the lower tier?

[nsr]

32 minutes ago, Antiochas III said:

Wait.  Student are £5 but 14 and15 year olds are £8... 

Pretty poor show if correct. Students may not be flush with cash but they'll probably have more to hand than some kid who hasn't left school yet.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I only actually went to uni so I could afford to go to football games again tbh

[Swello]

£29 for the definition of a run-of-the-mill league game is fucking terrible - but I'll go ahead and meekly pay it as I enjoy a trip to Tynecastle. I'm precisely the type of idiot away supporter that clubs rely on.

[Archie McSquackle]

I'll pay it if I end up going through and making a day of it as it would only be part of an already expensive day but I can't see me going through just for the game at that price. Twisted logic I know.

[Gianfranco]

Not a chance I’m going through at those prices. A one off cup game would be a different story but it simply isn’t worth it. The 25 pounds at Hamilton and Livi weren’t value for money either.

[RandomGuy.]

4 hours ago, Archie McSquackle said:

Have Hearts done away with the reduced price tickets for the lower tier?

They aren't allowed to charge away fans more than home fans, without reason. 

They're allowed to charge "unrestricted view" prices higher for away fans, as long as "restricted view" seats are the same as home fans.

Bottom tier is classed as restricted.

When we went last season they got around it by the claiming the bottom tier was "closed for maintenance", despite the fact there being literally nothing visible happening to it when fans walked in using the same turnstiles, walked through the same corridors, and looked down at the seats.

Assume they're pulling the same shite this season when they can. 

Frankly, it's a disgrace they aren't being pulled up for it.

FWIW, Hearts fans are getting tickets for the bottom tier, in the same stand, at £21.

Edited September 5, 2019 by RandomGuy.

[andrewh]

They aren't allowed to charge away fans more than home fans, without reason. 
They're allowed to charge "unrestricted view" prices higher for away fans, as long as "restricted view" seats are the same as home fans.
Bottom tier is classed as restricted.
When we went last season they got around it by the claiming the bottom tier was "closed for maintenance", despite the fact there being literally nothing visible happening to it when fans walked in using the same turnstiles, walked through the same corridors, and looked down at the seats.
Assume they're pulling the same shite this season when they can. 
Frankly, it's a disgrace they aren't being pulled up for it.
FWIW, Hearts fans are getting tickets for the bottom tier, in the same stand, at £21.

Hope they get relegated. Again.
It would be a just outcome for this dishonesty.

[Archie McSquackle]

They aren't allowed to charge away fans more than home fans, without reason. 
They're allowed to charge "unrestricted view" prices higher for away fans, as long as "restricted view" seats are the same as home fans.
Bottom tier is classed as restricted.
When we went last season they got around it by the claiming the bottom tier was "closed for maintenance", despite the fact there being literally nothing visible happening to it when fans walked in using the same turnstiles, walked through the same corridors, and looked down at the seats.
Assume they're pulling the same shite this season when they can. 
Frankly, it's a disgrace they aren't being pulled up for it.
FWIW, Hearts fans are getting tickets for the bottom tier, in the same stand, at £21.

Don't know what it's like for Saints fans but for these sort of games from a Motherwell perspective, fans normally sit wherever despite having a ticket for a particular seat. This of course meant you could buy a lower tier seat and then sit higher up and I'm guessing they would have games with the lower tier almost empty compared to the number of tickets bought. Unfortunately their response seems to have been to remove the cheaper option rather than realise the ridiculous prices stop people from going.

[capt_oats]

Clearly it's tumbleweeds around these parts at the moment but I noticed the rumour on Twitter dot com is that Dunne's been offered a new deal in addition to the ones that were already known: Gillespie, Carson and Donnelly. Hardly a massive surprise if that is the case and I suppose the earlier we have those conversations the earlier we'll know whether we're going to have to look to for a replacement or not.

With that, and the window having SLAMMED shut, here's who's all out of contract from the First Team next summer (and beyond) as it stands:

2020:
GK: Carson, Gillespie, Ferguson
DF: Tait, Hartley, Maguire, Dunne, Livingstone
MF: Grimshaw, Donnelly, O'Hara (loan expires - contracted until 2021 at Peterborough United)
FW: Long, Manzinga, Ilic, Cole (loan expires Jan '20 - contract at Wigan expires Summer 2020)

Total: 15

2021:
GK: n/a
DF: Carroll, Gallagher
MF: Campbell, Turnbull, Sloth, Polworth
FW: Seedorf, Hylton

Total: 8

2022:
GK: n/a
DF: n/a
MF: n/a
FW: Scott

Total: 1

Reserves/18s in the spoiler.

Spoiler

2020:
GK: Morrison, Hemfrey
DF: Hussain, Brown, 
MF: Cornelius, Kettings, 
FW: MacIver, Starrs

Total: 8

2021:
GK: Connelly
DF: Devine, Muir, McDonald, Williamson
MF: Semple, Hale, Robertson
FW: Cook

Total: 9

 

Edited September 8, 2019 by capt_oats

[Mr. X]

On ‎05‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 18:27, RandomGuy. said:

They aren't allowed to charge away fans more than home fans, without reason. 

They're allowed to charge "unrestricted view" prices higher for away fans, as long as "restricted view" seats are the same as home fans.

Bottom tier is classed as restricted.

When we went last season they got around it by the claiming the bottom tier was "closed for maintenance", despite the fact there being literally nothing visible happening to it when fans walked in using the same turnstiles, walked through the same corridors, and looked down at the seats.

Assume they're pulling the same shite this season when they can. 

Frankly, it's a disgrace they aren't being pulled up for it.

FWIW, Hearts fans are getting tickets for the bottom tier, in the same stand, at £21.

"closed for maintenance" that's a new one to me. 

 "a Club which is the Home Club for a League Match or a Play-Off Match is prohibited from charging higher admission prices to accommodation designated for supporters of the Visiting Club than for broadly comparable accommodation designated for use by supporters of the Home Club at the same match. "      SPFL Rules

I thought it was up to the home football club what tickets were sold to visiting clubs. I don't believe they are obliged to sell away supporters the cheapest tickets. The Rule appears to be the home club can't charge away supporters more for broadly comparable seats in the home end.

Hearts not doing anything wrong, technically, but the tickets are vastly overpriced for the shit on show.

 

[Casagolda]

On 08/09/2019 at 13:29, capt_oats said:

Clearly it's tumbleweeds around these parts at the moment but I noticed the rumour on Twitter dot com is that Dunne's been offered a new deal in addition to the ones that were already known: Gillespie, Carson and Donnelly. Hardly a massive surprise if that is the case and I suppose the earlier we have those conversations the earlier we'll know whether we're going to have to look to for a replacement or not.

Surely it’ll be a case of one or the other with regards to Gillespie/Carson. I’d imagine one plus Ferguson is the best we can hope for next season and I’d be happy with that. 

As for Donnelly, I’m still not totally sold to be honest. He’s vastly improved from last season and his goal scoring form is as welcome as it is surprising. However, I’m not sure I’d be rushing to hand him a (presumably) decent wage rise on the back of half a dozen decent games.  

Big fan of Charlie Dunne, he has some excellent attributes(passing isn’t one of them mind) and seems like a cracking guy as well. Hopefully being dropped is the boot up the arse he needs though cause he’s been poor so far this season. Same goes for Tait, who I imagine will also be in line for an extension in the near future. 

[Swello]

24 minutes ago, Casagolda said:

As for Donnelly, I’m still not totally sold to be honest. He’s vastly improved from last season and his goal scoring form is as welcome as it is surprising. However, I’m not sure I’d be rushing to hand him a (presumably) decent wage rise on the back of half a dozen decent games.  

I sympathise with this view - but I'm assuming that offering him improved terms - just as was the case with the bold Cedric - is a defensive measure to make sure he's not poached off us in January with a PCA just as he comes good. I think this is always going to be the difficult balancing act that the club need to get right - how do you stop players ditching us a' la Hastie?

If you wait too long and their agent has been getting interest in the player due to him being noticed and getting a bit of hype, they're signing nothing (or at least, the cost to us goes up hugely) - if you jump in too early after a purple patch, you risk being stuck with someone on a good wage that doesn't justify that hole in your wage budget.

I'd use the Well Fans III test - is there more seethe generated when a good player leaves for nothing or when we spunk wages on a dud?

[capt_oats]

The other thing with Donnelly - specifically - is that he seems to be back in the international fold now. He looked fine in his cameo for N.I against Luxembourg and O'Neill was talking him up so that potentially puts him in another shop window. He's still only 23 so has plenty time to develop and I guess the Ally Gorrin Experience of last year illustrated that it doesn't actually take that much of a run of form to get you noticed by the English market.

Donnelly came through Fulham's Academy alongside the likes of Paddy Roberts and Dembele. He captained that side in the Youth Cup final along with being the N.I u21s record cap holder. If you tie that in with a sustained run of decent form then it's not exactly a hard sell for an agent, even more so if the headlines are: goals from midfield.

I think there's still (rightly) a healthy amount of scepticism around him not least because he's only recently been converted to a midfield role and you're looking at a full season where he clearly struggled vs 8 games of good form this season. It feels like a small sample size on which to be dishing out new deals but that's the trade off; the longer you wait and if the form is sustained then the chances of the player extending diminish. Which is a pain in the arse.

In a broader sense when you look at the number of players who were either on one year deals or whose contracts were due to expire this time last season (Taylor-Sinclair, Mbulu, Livingstone, Maguire, McHugh, Cadden, Frear, Grimshaw, Rose, Gorrin, Bigirimana, Turnbull, Hastie, Main, Bowman, Newell, Tanner, Scott and Semple) vs how many of those actually signed extensions (Livingstone, Maguire, Turnbull, Scott, Grimshaw and Semple) then starting the conversations about extensions now maybe suggests a bit of a change in strategy.

Speaking of changes in strategy, thinking back to Robinson talking post-Hearts about us not having a "target man" and not long after revealing that we had a deal for a striker fall through that we thought we had "over the line" meant there was a general assumption that we were in for a striker (Craigan was talking about it as well - suggesting we wanted a centre back too).

The fact that we ended up with neither but brought in O'Hara who is neither a striker or a centre back but is someone we've been regularly linked with over the years made me wonder if, when Robinson's been talking about signing someone who will "start or push those in the first team" it's been a case of us looking at specific players rather than positions ie: when the deal for the striker fell through then that was that because it was someone specific we wanted rather than necessarily a generic forward off the shelf.

I've no idea if that was the case but it'd be a sightly different approach for us and I suppose it'd be one that would make sense given the number of bodies we'd got in early(-ish).

Edited September 12, 2019 by capt_oats

[Casagolda]

On signings- I actually heard we’ve had a defender on trial the last week or so that is/was apparently close to signing.

Could be miles out but it does tie in with Robinson wanting some defensive cover.

[Ron Aldo]

Efe Ambrose. Worth a punt?

[Busta Nut]

I won't be anywhere near Tynecastle. They can f**k right off. Might Apply for an OU course to get a student card though.

[crazylegsjoe]

I honestly don't think we need any more defenders.

Having Tait and Dunne on the bench in the last game was an embarrassment of riches for a team like this. I'd hate to think we'd stifle Maguire (although he seems to be a midfielder these days) or Devine by signing an also-ran defender who's a free agent in the middle of September.