Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Kapowzer]

1 minute ago, Rod said:

Yet there was nothing on half time Pakora?

#SackTheBoard

The paneer and pink sauce lobby failed to show up

[welldaft]

47 minutes ago, Swello said:

With that said - GA's explanation about Slattery last night when he was asked directly passes the occam's razor test for me.

Always nice to learn something new to add to the vocabulary. Thanks Swello.

Maybe I am struggling to warm to Donnelly this time around as he appears slower and less effective. Not saying he has not had good contributions (Morton cup goal) and is still maybe getting up to speed. Just feel whilst OHara has been a 8 out of 10 the past two games Goss and Donnelly are a 5 or 6.  Both just need to raise their level of performance and consistency.

Thanks also to @capt_oats for pointing out that the facts (recently at least) do not support the theory that when Slattery starts we perform better and have better results. Hopefully there is nothing in it and he is still needing to work harder on the defensive side of things. 

Thanks also to @Kapowzer for the AGM summary. A good summary and read.  I would be onboard with redeveloping Fir Park and in particular the Main Stand. That would surely be a cheaper option than a brand new stadium ?
Of course we all know the history behind the (non completed) Main stand so the reasons may well still stand today. But a new stadium that has a 10-12,000 capacity and is better than soulless Lego would cost upwards of £100m. Just not an option unless one of us wins the Euromillions any time soon. 

[Phillips455]

Hibs scottish cup prices confirmed

£15 adults, £10 concessions, £5 kids (same as the morton game).

 

 

[Doctor Manhattan]

59 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

It really is worth revisiting.

Still can't believe we only got 3. If ever a game deserved a 7-0 spanking, it was this one.

[Gianfranco]

It really is worth revisiting.

The atmosphere was brilliant at that game. It should have been more than 3. The other thing I noticed is how good Ryan Christie is at running with the ball in those highlights.

As an aside, I love that chairman Flao has stuck.

[JamesP_81]

Hibs tickets purchased , great price for a QF . 

[ZX1886]

I suspect us building a new stadium would see a reduced allocation of between 8,000-10,000 seats which I don’t have much problem with. I do hope it’s not going to be like St Mirren’s. Nordsjaelland (Dream Park) holds only 10,300 (9,800 seated, 500 standing), personally I would much rather something like that. Im not sure if any questions were asked on it last night, but I presume there’d be some interest in a safe standing area if a new stadium was to be built? As has been mentioned, this will be years/decades down the line so no need to get caught up in it right now.

Redeveloping the main stand to make it more modern would still be the better choice for me but understand if that isn’t viable.

As for the pitch, I think it’s worth sinking some money into in the summer. I miss the odd preseason game at Fir Park rather than having to travel through to Livingston. Having Scotland U21’s and Women’s games back at FP would be good too.

Edited February 22, 2022 by ZX1886

[Handsome_Devil]

I'd also be considering knocking down the main stand and starting again but presumably what is hard there is that it costs a fortune without the immediate captial of selling the ground first as with a new stadium.

Im not convinced there aren't creative solutions though given we don't actually need the seats there for capacity. It needs a TV gantry, some posh seats, changing rooms and some internal facilities but the rest could be literally anything we want, and could fit on it. What would the residents nearby use? Could you put a gym, physio etc there and let the Motherwell running club, cyclists, god knows who use it? A couple of flats?

No idea how viable any of this of course but it strikes me there must be intriguing possibilities in replacing a stand when the traditional concern - it's standard capacity - is basically nil.

[Kapowzer]

With the investment in the pitch which from what they inferred would also involve going way below the current irrigation and undersoil heating piping, then it's quite a while away.

I think it's more about identifying what sort of thing we'd go for, if it would have anything attached (events venue, conferencing facilities), ancillary outlets such as shops/restaurants so the site isn't dead outside game days, would our training facilities be part of the complex, etc. Then determining the size of the footprint and earmarking where would be suitable. The availability of land up there will slowly ebb and I think this is being done only so we're not left holding the stable door after any horse has bolted.

Flao (^TM Gianfranco) has stated in the past the club learned a lot from Aalesunds, Stjarnan and Odense. It would certainly be in the scandinavian tight bowl layout. Based on the success of Tynecastle and how many away fans actively wish to visit that ground, I think it would also be steep sided.

But it's wayyyyyy wayyyyy down the line. If ever. However they could go f**k it and put the £3m into crypto and we could get it for the start of next season.

[rowsdower]

Based on Flao(guess we're sticking with it)'s foresight on the business interruption insurance, maybe we already got some Bitcoin a few years back. I'd be disappointed if he hadn't, shambles.

[Busta Nut]

9 hours ago, Well Well said:

I heard he had a right go at GA regarding tactics and was benched and is out of favour.

I'd heard similar to be honest

8 hours ago, beesher said:

This may be a bit melodramatic but think I would consider calling it quits if we moved away from Fir Park.

I don't see how we would be able to afford anything other than a lego dump, and that just has 0 appeal to me at all. The history and character of Fir Park is irreplaceable and I would hate to see us move. 

It is a bit melodramatic. But I kinda get ye. I wouldn't be wrapping it but I will be gutted if it happens in my lifetime.

8 hours ago, Archie McSquackle said:

12 hours ago, Busta Nut said:

I am dreading the day we move to the Ravenscraig. It's a soul-less shitehole.
There is more about the parts that nature has taken over than there is about parts with the homes etc built on them. It's windy and if/when a lego Stadium is thrown up there will be nothing round about it.

So, I take it you're not swayed by a drive-through Greggs or whatever the latest plans involve?

The last plans I saw for there were wild.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I can't pretend to be an expert on football stadium architecture, but even the idea of modern Scandi style one still depresses me a wee bit. It'd be a step up from copying SMP or Almondvale obviously, but the pictures etc I've seen still remind me of a default stadium in Fifa or something.

I'm surprised there's not been more attempts to build new stadiums in that sort of mid-20th century style (with modern safety standards etc.) If we do have to move I'd like to try and at least replicate some of the old Fir Park essence.

[18May1991]

12 hours ago, Handsome_Devil said:

I'd also be considering knocking down the main stand and starting again but presumably what is hard there is that it costs a fortune without the immediate captial of selling the ground first as with a new stadium.

Im not convinced there aren't creative solutions though given we don't actually need the seats there for capacity. It needs a TV gantry, some posh seats, changing rooms and some internal facilities but the rest could be literally anything we want, and could fit on it. What would the residents nearby use? Could you put a gym, physio etc there and let the Motherwell running club, cyclists, god knows who use it? A couple of flats?

No idea how viable any of this of course but it strikes me there must be intriguing possibilities in replacing a stand when the traditional concern - it's standard capacity - is basically nil.

And rule out giving Celtic fans extra seats permanently? Why do we persecute them so? 

[RandomGuy.]

15 hours ago, JamesP_81 said:

If not it may be worth biting the bullet and moving earlier while it's still a blank canvas and just putting up with the couple of decades of waiting for all the infrastructure to build up around about.

That's what we done, tbf. McDiarmid is about to be surrounded by a new housing development of something like 3000 houses, with a road that pretty much leads from the new village straight to McDiarmids door. The edge of a city/town won't stay the edge for long.

I'd guess to improve you'd need a train link and pub nearby to really make the most of it. We settled for a bypass and an in-house pub.

[Al B]

15 hours ago, welldaft said:

Of course we all know the history behind the (non completed) Main stand so the reasons may well still stand today. But a new stadium that has a 10-12,000 capacity and is better than soulless Lego would cost upwards of £100m. Just not an option unless one of us wins the Euromillions any time soon. 

I know we all have ideas of what we'd like, but Jesus Christ...£100 million! That's almost a third of what the Emirates cost...What are you wanting??!

As a very quick example, Initial budget for this is £16 million, 8,200 capacity and construction began last year.

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Al B

[Desp]

What team is that for, @Al B ? 

[Al B]

@Desp Some mob called GFK Dubočica in Serbia.

[beesher]

1 hour ago, Al B said:

I know we all have ideas of what we'd like, but Jesus Christ...£100 million! That's almost a third of what the Emirates cost...What are you wanting??!

As a very quick example, Initial budget for this is £16 million, 8,200 capacity and construction began last year.

 

This is exactly the type of thing I am afraid of, minging!

[Swello]

1 hour ago, Al B said:

I know we all have ideas of what we'd like, but Jesus Christ...£100 million! That's almost a third of what the Emirates cost...What are you wanting??!

As a very quick example, Initial budget for this is £16 million, 8,200 capacity and construction began last year.

 

I like that - although it's really just a slightly better version of Livi's ground (which I like as a stadium when it's quite full BTW)

I think building on a brownfield site in NL will be a lot cheaper than building something in southern England for example as I assume the land value is a huge component of the cost - so I would hope that it would be a *lot* less than 100m - Aberdeen weren't even talking that much for their proposed new ground IIRC

[Al B]

13 minutes ago, beesher said:

This is exactly the type of thing I am afraid of, minging!

See, that's the thing. The only way to avoid the whole "buying 4 stands from a catalogue" thing and ending up playing in something that looks like a B&Q from the outside, is to incorporate design and architecture. That means you're introducing an element of someoene's taste or style, which brings in division by it's very nature. You can't have both....it's either mass produced and soul-less, or it has character and a bit of style with the acceptance that it will divide opinion from people whose taste is different.

In fairness though, I wasn't really commenting on the style of that one, more pointing out that like it or not...they chose it, you can still go down the bespoke route whilst staying within a realistic budget. You don't need to spend anywhere near 100 million to avoid a rectangular industrial estate with grass in the middle.