Swello

Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts (and others) could/would budget for inclusion if they felt that Rangers and Celtic were getting some sort of measurable benefit that they weren't out of this. But this isn't all about the bigger clubs and their colts - a system that benefits those that pay to play to the detriment of League 2 (as it would no longer be a meaningful competition in any sense of the word) and its clubs isn't one worth pursuing IMO. There's a fundamental question being asked about what lower division teams are there for and the proposed answer is that they are there as mere sparring partners for the biggest clubs' youth teams - and I think that's shite. Also - an SPFL authored document that is basically written to be touted round by Rangers and Celtic proposing a league reconstruction for the singular benefit of the OF is not a good thing in any shape or form. The relationship between the governing bodies and the OF is far from a healthy and transparent one, which is ironic given that there are no two clubs more self-interested and more likely to shaft Scottish Football given half a chance.

I thought the most jaw-dropping one was that the mechanism that they propose for restricting the number of colt teams to prevent "flooding the league": It basically seems to come down to a blind hope that the elite acadamies (who will already have made the required staffing outlay) won't want to pay the bribe. What if they did? There is no mechanism to restrict it to a given number or proper entry criteria. And if the Bribe is the only qualifying criteria that the elite academies (and others) would fail to meet - is that an equitable way to run a league system - pay to play?

So much to pick out of that - what a crock of shite. My two favourites were the 33 game season with home and away imbalance and the idea that the paying of the "levy" would be the way to stop the leagues becoming flooded with colt teams! But when you see "feel-good factor" as one the top justifications for this, you know they are struggling a bit....

I wish I'd never suggested it now To be clear - my thought was "keep himself fit enough for emergency cover" and nothing more - but it's a non-starter....

I'm claiming that one

I've got a weird memory of her getting booed off the pitch in a game between Livingston and us at Almondvale around that time. It's quite possible I could have dreamt it. ETA - I assume it was a half-time draw or something rather than her playing as a doughty midfield destroyer for Livingston.

I think it's easy to over-estimate the value of your own players - but given the concrete examples (Hall and Erwin) of academy players that have gone down south for development fees - and the fact that we sold Ben Heneghan, a player of little pedigree and a year's service for £350k+ to the Championship- Cadden will almost certainly be out of Aberdeen's price range at this point in his contract which was the main point of this. It doesn't feel like a realistic prospect given where Aberdeen's limit was for arguably the best striker outside of the OF, where you would imagine they would be more likely to push the boat out. The other fact is that in the transfers of Moult and Marvin Johnson, where we have raked in a 7-figure sum - the club has been very robust in kicking low-ball offers out (which historically hasn't been the case) - our approach where Cadden (and others) is involved can only be further bolstered by the fact that we are in a stronger financial position than we were a year ago..

Close enough - ITK Worst possible timing for Bowman with new strikers coming in as you would think it would also scupper his chances of a move (if there was ever a possibility of that) and leaves him in the cold while Main and Ciftci develop an understanding/get fit.

This latest Colts shite is an absolute textbook example of the "pure bitter rivals" acting together in their mutual interest and attempting a stitch-up for themselves as they always do. The grubby bung to the smallest clubs is as tawdry and blatant as it gets in Scottish Football and anyone that thinks it really would be a two year trial shouldn't be allowed out on their own. And if the trial is judged a success by Rangers and Celtic on their own terms? There is every chance that the other 10 Premiership clubs (or the top 2 tiers of academies) would want to take up their "rightful" spot in the league setup - what then? Sadly, I can see this happening if the powerpoint presentations are already on their way round - the top tier clubs will see this as a good thing out of self-interest (under the fig-leaf of Project Brave) - and sadly, there will be nowhere near the level of outrage required from the general support of those clubs (as opposed to the type that hang about on P&B) to make Boards think twice. It was easy to get people whipped up when new Rangers were trying to be inserted straight into the top league against any principals of integrity or justice - it was a simple message and it directly affected the supports of the biggest clubs. The Challenge Cup colts stuff points to the fact that when the "victims" are to be Edinburgh City or Cowdenbeath, etc, the proposal will be met with a shrug of the shoulders.

It might be total shite - it was just one of the guys I sit near that told me - could well be fake news. If it turns out to be true - I'll delete this and look as if i'm ITK.

Today, Hammell came in, played well in an emergency situation - seems like he can still contribute in those circumstances.....

He's "done nothing all season" as he's been second choice behind Dunne and hasn't actually played - or am I missing something? Having someone of his experience there as *emergency* cover in case the young lads aren't up to it - for a few months only - and being paid on Academy wages wouldn't be a big deal surely?

Why not leave Hammy registered as a player until the end of the season as emergency cover also - I know his new role will mean he can't be a full time player but it could be a sensible option along with the young boys.

**cough**DougieImrieTrampoline**Cough**

I don't think it did work - that was half the problem. That said, Barraclough was the one manager that I can remember who I felt genuinely sorry for when he was sacked - he was too nice to manage the team at that point in time (and not really up to the job in a number of ways). He did though sign one of the best motherwell players of the past 20 years and scudded t'uns in the most glorious way possible, so he's welcome back to do the half time draw anytime...

I wonder where he stands on the issue of halfing Dougie Imrie in the first 5 mins on Saturday? (asking for a friend)

Despite (because of?) the fact that I've never watched Motherwell outside the top flight, I am interested in these leagues - most seasons, the First Division/Championship seems like a more interesting competition than the Premier - but the lack of knowledge about them generally means that coverage is pathetically bad - to the point of being off-putting. What would be to stop Sportsound, for 15 minutes once a week, getting podcasters and bloggers who are *actually informed* about the lower leagues to discuss these competitions with a bit of colour and insight? I always detect "a bit" of snobbery from "real" broadcasters, journos and football people about blogs and podcasts - but when their own knowledge/interest is found badly wanting and their own contributions are often cringingly amateurish, they couldn't really complain. I'd much rather listen to an informed amateur/hobbyist discuss a subject they love, than yet another ex-pro bonner*-ing it through another monotonous show. *Bonner (Verb, Scottish, Broadcasting term): To talk semi-knowledgeably about one football team but when asked an opinion about another, to read aloud from the sports pages of the Daily Record (c.f. Miller).

Apparently, there is/was an expression in newspapers where Scottish Journalists were asked to put a kilt on it, in reference to making a (usually English) story relevant for Scottish readers by whatever means. The above* is a classic example of putting a sash on it, where Scottish Journalists, using as many degrees of separation as needed, put a Rangers** angle on any given story - its hilariously prevalent now, for the purposes of the clicks I guess. There should be an award for the most tenuous of the year, sponsored by the Evening Times, given that their entire output consists of these stories. *I'll ignore the ludicrous premise of the story **or their pals from the across the city

They should get advice from whoever objected to Motherwell's stand in the 60's for the same reasons, that resulted in the design classic that you see today.

My first though too Got to love the #content but it is quite funny how much is in the open now - training used to be something that you knew went on in the background but were really unaware of - now that someone has splashed out on a drone, we get weekly (mostly identical) videos of the squad running about. Generally with black bras over their shirts. It makes you hanker for the glory days of "player chips a golf ball into a bucket".

Tanner has been pretty much the only bright spot of our horrendous run of results - as far as I can see, he's one of the most skillfull players at the club and Robinson's challenge is to use him more and more effectively than he has done so far. Despite my reservations on Ciftci - he has the potential to add some quality that neither Bowman or Fisher are capable of - and I'm looking forward to seeing if we can get Tanner and him on the same wavelength....

I was more annoyed at the "5 clubs dead in a month" article but there was a lot going on at the time and Reagan's social unrest stuff was merely a small part of a huge clusterfuck of media/administrators/chairmen losing the head on a daily basis - but reading that back a few years later after that chapter played out in a demonstrably less armageddon-y way - it's actually difficult to get your head round the level of craven, uninformed pish that he came out with. For the "head" of Scottish football to explicitly say that Scottish football is just the OF - and without a functional Rangers-Celtic duopoly, that the game would die a lingering death is *mental* - this is the c**t that's meant to be securing sponsors and talking the game up - how can someone with so little credibility and a terrible record still be in an actual job? The interesting part is that the scare stories are utterly spent - if this version of Rangers were to have an "insolvency event" similar to the old version, it wouldn't be remotely tenable to even try that sort of pish again - you can only turn the bullshit up to 11 once (and there is a clear precedent in place for how it should be dealt with). Also - SPL2.

A goal next week is one thing - but if he could see his way clear to rattling the ball off Dougie Imrie's coupon at a free kick, there will be songs sung, T-shirts printed.

This thread will hold the record for "most bunnets displayed" until the end of time.