Handsome_Devil

Presumably he's the one mentioned in January but his deal (at least initially) was to the end of 2023 so you wonder what the hold up was, if we were just unsure etc, did he hold out for another offer etc. If the delay was on our wish, fair play...the feeling of having to have any striker to present at 2359 on deadline day must have been big.

Didn't see that coming. I certainly wouldn't sign him to make up numbers to the end of the season - we'll stay up anyway so save the cash. But if we do Indeed consider him part of the long-term plan, great.

Yeah, definitely in practice but I'm 99% sure that's not the legal situation. If the majority shareholder puts forward motions to add or remove board members or chair at the AGM, or an EGM, then it's an open goal. Fwiw on the basis we are a small fan base with limited people, personally I would scrap a level. I'd decide the key functions in the club and make the heads there the management (ie executive) board as part of their roles - off the top of my head CEO, two from sales, marketing and comms (combined on skills/availability/preferences), a sporting director for the football and one liaison from the Society, either elected or appointed but not from the Society board. The CEO would handle finance and the accounts are outsourced anyway, as are legal issues I imagine. The individuals are responsible for their departments and answer to the CEO day to day, the whole lot answer to the Society board who in turn answer to the members.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure we just lifted our fan ownership model from Germany and the distinction between executive and advisory board is deliberate. This option involves appointing an executive board of competence to run things daily in accordance with the strategic direction from the Society. The Society board is effectively the supervisory board, elected by the members, who holds the executive board to account, including hiring and firing. There are within that then a couple of variations for how the executive board and management are made up. You can see the appeal of this tbf, at least in theory. It has pros running the shown and, as they are separate from the Society, is completely accountable with clear governance. Clearly the Society as owners could choose the alternative run it ourselves model. There are obviously some advantages to that but plenty drawbacks as well and the risk of that ending in petty rivalries, recriminations and disaster is not low. But it's certainly a discussion worth having and either outcome being transparently decided would be cleaner than the muddle we have now.

It's becoming clear that the governance and lines of responsibility being so muddled has become a big problem. Which is not meant to be critical of how it got here - that's simply been one of these things which happened as a natural consequence of two main things 1) Burrows running the club from top to bottom 2) Nearly everyone was delighted both that he was willing to run it and how he was doing it 3) Time - people simply forget the original premise of the Society (which was abundantly clear) while simultaneously it failed to adapt to changing circumstances. Largely due to to points 1&2. The Society owns the club and can do what it want over the long term - it can set the direction and has control over executive board (or should - clearly big/wee man syndrome has taken over here and needs changed). But that's not to say it can change things this afternoon if it didn't like what was for lunch. Certainly mistakes have been made, some things with good intentions or others because of sloppiness...but I'd say that's definitely not a reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The last year's have been successful despite these mistakes, they're now recognised and we're trying to fix them.

Tbf he had a bit of a hard time finding his role in the early Hammell era but yeah, like yourself i always thought there was something there. I'd still have given long odds on him doing a double-double for goals and assists mind.

3,000 'Well fans pledging £100 each to the Society if we do that basically halves the finding gap. More seriously, it shows how comically strong the Old Firm can be in setting the agenda that folk in the media (I'll ignore the more rabid element of their fanbase as there are loonies everywhere) can seriously suggest our guy should be red carded for winning the ball so early he can fully ground his foot before being clattered by a late tackle.

My stream froze as the ball left his foot so there was no celebration from me...but even when I saw them celebrating my first instinct was to wait for the VAR check on Vale.

Aye, I'd be fine with that...if you offered me wins over Aberdeen and Dundee, who'll probably be in the bottom six with us, and losses to St Mirren and Hibs, who probably won't, we're safe pre-split and will be looking good for eighth with an outside chance of seventh.

Perhaps technically but unless we go 12/12 we'll be needing help...Hibs have County (albeit away) and both St J and Livingston at home before coming to FP. Dundee will also look at their fixtures and see plenty points. Being the team in form for a late charge is great but like last year we've left a little too much to do.

Top six without doubt but the chance of it is so remote my main interest is confirming not 11th asap. I do think we should be viewing ourselves as safe though in terms of contract renewals for next season...need an eye looking forward already.

That's fantastic.

That not Hearts in the cup?

Glorious.

For record, I'll correct my earlier position, it was a penalty. Fucks given still zero now mind.

He has his foot grounded before contact, I reckon, though tbh I'm now several beers and half a bottle of sekt in so I'm far from a reliable witness. It was a perfect tackle, not even a foul.

The last time we won at Rangers in the league plooks were my second biggest concern after relegation. It wasn't an outrageous prediction!

Bair was brilliant today but he was a couple of decisions on the break from being legendary-game never bettered etc immense. He's still a mile off our striking legends in overall contribution ofc but as an example of playing your role to perfection he was basically one stupid shot and one delayed pass from being textbook perfect. He went to Ibrox today and absolutely dollied Rangers, and even Coyne, Higdon, Moult etc only hit that level v the OF a few times in their career for us... clearly he's been good for a couple of months but two months and a week ago he was still universally regarded as shit. Craigan was basically laughing at him on the radio in the last game v Rangers. The suggestion was we're paying him peanuts because St J are also effectively paying him/paid him off. Extend his deal now and bump him accordingly. It's not quite an exact comparison but I get heavy Paul Lambert vibes from him in the sense we played him in a role (reasonably well tbf) then he won the Champions League a season later in a different fucking position. I appreciate circumstances, situation, yada yada different but St J must look at Bair and ask how the f**k we got no indication of this.

No, 2002/3 with an OF double plus six v Hearts (!) and Livingston and finishing 12th regardless will never be beaten.

I mentioned on losing to Morton that the nature of where we are means single wins or losses can have a huge impact on the perception of our season. Midtable and lose a cup QF at Parkhead is fine, midtable but lose at Morton in the fifth round less so... League results will never atone for screwing the cup but this is not just three points. The last time we won at Ibrox in the league I was 14. You can imagine all I've done since then (though it's not a lot tbh, I'm not very interesting). There are literally generations of Motherwell fans who haven't seen this. Most of our successful managers also had dips but what helped massively was the occasional absolutely iconic result and/or performance that carries them through the harder times. This is Kettlewell's. It effectively puts the debate over his merits to bed for months, takes us to the brink of safety already and let's everyone look forward to next term.

That Casey tackle was glorious, never even a foul. The penalty looked incredibly soft from the angles I've seen but SOD was desperate, studs a bit out...you wouldn't be surprised if there's an angle which justifies a penalty. However, if it takes five minutes to find it's clearly not an obvious error. We were brilliant today but being honest on another day we could still lose that 4-2, 5-3 etc on the chances Rangers created. It's just the first time in a long time we had a great outfield performance, a great goalkeeper performance and a fair dose of luck...will be q long and happy night!

He had a right moment in the first half when he inexplicably left one and their forward flicked it straight at Kelly. Kelly himself had a couple of them but everything else was outstanding and the double save in the second half was reminiscent of old. Bair was wonderful, again with one exception, but it's unfair on the rest to overplay any individual contributions, it was an outstanding team effort.

Well, f**k me sideways. Is mentioning the rollercoaster still an automatic ban?

I assumed it was a Craig Whyte joke.

There's nothing worse than an OF game going into a break. We will certainly lose and quite possibly get thumped.