Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[stu92]

This last minute change has also fucked me off, as I play on a Saturday morning and now won’t make it through for kickoff, possibly at all.

This doesn’t just apply to now, but I don’t think any kick off time that makes people choose between playing football and watching football is in the best interests of the Scottish game. Nor do I think the Old Firm progressing in European competitions is, but that’s a different matter. 

['WellDel]

49 minutes ago, Swello said:

Not a good day for petty b*****ds that also hate VAR.

Aye, looking forward to waiting patiently for 10mins on the outcome of a VAR goal decision, while Willie Collum stands over by the dugouts staring at a screen wi the Verizon wumman and a 'loading' icon spinning round on it.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

1 hour ago, beesher said:

I'm a bit scunnered with this as I had arranged to go to hospitality with a few friends, had to cancel as I work on a Saturday.

Also twitter **** giving it claiming it's because we need the 'blue pound' so we do as we are told, has turned me into a seething mess.

Aye I get Flow's argument that most people prefer the Saturday but there will be a whole load of folk who have made arrangements like swapping shifts, arranging child care etc that have called in favours to go to this and then suddenly getting it switched. Many might not be able to change back. Or on seeing the fixtures arranged things for this saturday that can't be changed.

And that goes for Rangers fans too. I'm sure there is plenty of them who made plans for the Sunday and won't be able to go on the Saturday.

I still blame Rangers for their lack of foresight. If they felt it was so important to get this extra day of rest then it should have been mentioned before the split fixtures were published.

[Swello]

I had shifted stuff to be there on Sunday and am currently coming to terms with missing 5 (five) motherwell games in a row for the first time ever (and I think 4 was already a record) *sniff*

[ZX1886]

Aye I get Flow's argument that most people prefer the Saturday but there will be a whole load of folk who have made arrangements like swapping shifts, arranging child care etc that have called in favours to go to this and then suddenly getting it switched. Many might not be able to change back. Or on seeing the fixtures arranged things for this saturday that can't be changed.

It’s a non-starter of an argument from Burrows. Fans aren’t angry because the games been moved from Sunday to Saturday, fans are angry because the fixtures been changed at 4 days notice against the interest of the fans / club.

I still blame Rangers for their lack of foresight. If they felt it was so important to get this extra day of rest then it should have been mentioned before the split fixtures were published.

Surely it was Sky who gambled on Rangers getting knocked out of Europe so selected it for the Sunday slot. If the SPFL made the call knowing fine well Rangers had a decent chance of progression then it’s utter incompetence, not exactly surprising though.

[Desp]

I've a huge amount of respect for Alan Burrows and believe he gets 99.9% of things right when it comes to running MFC, but I'm just not buying the "we wanted more Saturday games" line. Not at four days notice. 

If its a case of Rangers asking for it to be moved and Rangers handing over a few quid to ensure we weren't out of pocket by doing so, just say that. 

The late change will inconvenience a lot of fans, of both clubs. 

In the grand scheme of things, it's probably the right thing to do, but the messages from the club could have been better. 

[capt_oats]

3 hours ago, Kapowzer said:

Really interesting article. I'd be interested to know how many other SPFL clubs went to this networking event. Maybe it will pay dividends, certainly building rapport and pressing palms (or elbows) is how the world works. Using the SPFL as a means to end up in England is one we need to exploit especially as home grown players will seemingly be more scarce.

It was us, Hibs and Aberdeen apparently. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/3-scottish-premiership-sides-accelerate-26462031

Us, Hibs and the **** last year. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-hibs-motherwells-transferroom-ticket-24305484

 

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

1 minute ago, ZX1886 said:

It’s a non-starter of an argument from Burrows. Fans aren’t angry because the games been moved from Sunday to Saturday, fans are angry because the fixtures been changed at 4 days notice against the interest of the fans / club.

Surely it was Sky who gambled on Rangers getting knocked out of Europe so selected it for the Sunday slot. If the SPFL made the call knowing fine well Rangers had a decent chance of progression then it’s utter incompetence, not exactly surprising though.

Burrows slience on the issue has been a huge problem too. Apparently we were asked on Friday but the club never mentioned anything until the game was changed.

Nothing to do with SKy by the looks of it. If they really wanted the game on Sunday it would be on Sunday. Some clubs obviously have enough sway with sky to determine when games get played. Playing Sunday - Thursday is completely normal and I don't know why Rangers are even making a fuss about it. We seem to have went along with it thinking we were doing the best for our fans but all it is going to do is cause blowback from people who have been shafted.

[capt_oats]

13 minutes ago, ZX1886 said:

Surely it was Sky who gambled on Rangers getting knocked out of Europe so selected it for the Sunday slot. If the SPFL made the call knowing fine well Rangers had a decent chance of progression then it’s utter incompetence, not exactly surprising though.

Except Rangers have played Sunday/Thursday before (most recently the Sky game against St Mirren before the 2nd leg against Braga) so from Sky's POV why would they think it'd be any different this time round when they scheduled the post-split fixtures?

Same with the SPFL. If Rangers have gone through the season playing Sunday/Thursday without a peep, it's not really the SPFL's fault that Rangers have decided to have a shitfit and turn it into a thing (because there's a chance Celtic could win the title against them).

Edited April 19, 2022 by capt_oats

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

3 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Except Rangers have played Sunday/Thursday before (most recently the Sky game against St Mirren before the 2nd leg against Braga) so from Sky's POV why would they think it'd be any different this time round when they scheduled the post-split fixtures?

Same with the SPFL. If Rangers have gone through the season playing Sunday/Thursday without a peep, it's not really the SPFL's fault that Rangers have decided to have a shitfit and turn it into a thing (because there's a chance Celtic could win the title against them).

Sunday to Thursaday isn't even the tight part of the schedule. usually clubs complain about the gap coming back from European games. Playing late away on the Wednesday/Thursday and then early on the Saturday/Sunday

 

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

25 minutes ago, Desp said:

If its a case of Rangers asking for it to be moved and Rangers handing over a few quid to ensure we weren't out of pocket by doing so, just say that. 

No chance we are getting anything from Rangers.

Burrows is trying to frame it as doing our own fans a favour.

[Handsome_Devil]

5 minutes ago, Jim McLean's Ghost said:

No chance we are getting anything from Rangers.

Burrows is trying to frame it as doing our own fans a favour.

There's a general consensus Burrows and the board have done very well negotiating fees in the last years, you really don't think we're having some 'expenses' covered on this one? And at the same time it's understandable we're not about to shout that from the rooftops...

I think football wise it makes absolutely no difference to us, at a real stretch an extra day to practice sitting off and booting the ball aimlessly up the park will be welcomed before Tannadice.

As has been said, Burrows and the board get the majority of decisions right at FP, if they've weighed up the pros and cons on this one and decided to go for it I'm happy to trust them.

I can understand some minor annoyance from people who switched things round or made a big effort to attend the original date but for everyone else, who can make it regardless or won't go either way, I just don't see it as something to get that worked up about.

[Busta Nut]

38 minutes ago, ZX1886 said:

It’s a non-starter of an argument from Burrows. Fans aren’t angry because the games been moved from Sunday to Saturday, fans are angry because the fixtures been changed at 4 days notice against the interest of the fans / club.

 

39 minutes ago, Desp said:

I've a huge amount of respect for Alan Burrows and believe he gets 99.9% of things right when it comes to running MFC, but I'm just not buying the "we wanted more Saturday games" line. Not at four days notice. 

 

yep

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

4 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said:

 

I can understand some minor annoyance from people who switched things round or made a big effort to attend the original date but for everyone else, who can make it regardless or won't go either way, I just don't see it as something to get that worked up about.

That is a shite attitude tbh. Just because it doesn't effect you personally you don't care?

 

[Lobby Dossar]

51 minutes ago, ZX1886 said:

It’s a non-starter of an argument from Burrows. Fans aren’t angry because the games been moved from Sunday to Saturday, fans are angry because the fixtures been changed at 4 days notice against the interest of the fans / club.

Surely it was Sky who gambled on Rangers getting knocked out of Europe so selected it for the Sunday slot. If the SPFL made the call knowing fine well Rangers had a decent chance of progression then it’s utter incompetence, not exactly surprising though.

All the top 6 games are on Sunday with ours being a 12 o clock kick off ……… So the fault lies with SPFL not Sky …… arseholes who couldn’t plan a pish up in  a brewery 

[Ya Bezzer!]

I'm not going to be contrarian just cos it's Rangers doing.

Very happy it's a Saturday match now.

The home attendance is always way down for these games at the best of times so I reckon there will be way more people who are 'stay aways'rather than 'can't gos'.

And I know a bunch of you won't like this due to the opposition but the Scottish football authorities should be helping Scottish teams with a Euro semi final next week.

 

[Handsome_Devil]

2 minutes ago, Jim McLean's Ghost said:

That is a shite attitude tbh. Just because it doesn't effect you personally you don't care?

 

I don't see why anyone who isn't heavily impacted cares greatly. Intuitively I think the club is right people prefer Saturday games (and they've probably got the data to back it up).

Plenty of folk who are wound up seem to be upset because Rangers made a request, we accepted and they think we've been shafted. I don't get the logic - is there a belief we just helped them for the sake of it without thinking? Given how well we're run - as agreed even by people who disagree with this one - I just don't believe the club made the decision on the toss of a coin, or by being intimidated or whatever.

More likely we calculated that the hit of inconveniencing X is worth it with Y more coming on a Saturday plus whatever we get from Ibrox to grease the wheels of commerce. The board could be wrong of course, who knows, but as I said I'm happy to trust that they weighed up everything and are making the decision which they think is best for the club.

So while I have sympathy for anyone in the inconvenienced group X, I don't really understand people who can make the game anyway/wouldn't have made the game anyway getting upset at the club doing what it thinks is right simply because it was one of the OF who asked for it.

[Swello]

41 minutes ago, Jim McLean's Ghost said:

No chance we are getting anything from Rangers.

Burrows is trying to frame it as doing our own fans a favour.

I might be way out - but I assumed that Stewart Robertson would have had a friendly chat with his erstwhile Motherwell colleague Alan Burrows and it was decided that way - any justification on "saturday games" makes no sense when the change is at 4 days notice. The time to talk about Saturday games is when the TV deal is being negotiated (and we have not been badly affected this season in any case)

If we're doing it for the good of Scottish football, because we don't want Motherwell to look petty and parochial or because we find Rangers' request to be completely reasonable, just say that.

['WellDel]

Reiterating what I've said in previous posts, the last minute nature of the decision inconveniencing our own fans is the main issue. You can bet your arse that if the boot was on the other foot, 50,000 'bears' would never, ever be inconvenienced to help out little old Motherwell, should the unlikely event ever arise.

The club see fit to comply, rightly, I grudgingly admit - fine.

4 days notice - not fine.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

3 minutes ago, Swello said:

I might be way out - but I assumed that Stewart Robertson would have had a friendly chat with his erstwhile Motherwell colleague Alan Burrows and it was decided that way - any justification on "saturday games" makes no sense when the change is at 4 days notice. The time to talk about Saturday games is when the TV deal is being negotiated (and we have not been badly affected this season in any case)

If we're doing it for the good of Scottish football, because we don't want Motherwell to look petty and parochial or because we find Rangers' request to be completely reasonable, just say that.

Obviously we would prefer Saturday games even at midday kick off to early sunday. so the question becomes why wasn't this game originally scheduled for Saturday? Obviously Sky wanted the game on Sunday and we had no say over that despite our preferences. but now Rangers have said they also prefer Saturday the game has been moved.

It seems like the OF can dictate TV times and we just have to sit back and take it. Burrows claiming it is a win for motherwell fans and more will attend on a Saturday rmeans he needs to answer the question of why we accepted a Sunday kick off to begin with. Why didn't we ask for the game to be moved as soon as the fixtures were decided upon?