Swello
-
Posts
7,416 -
Joined
-
Days Won
4
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Store
Posts posted by Swello
-
-
48 minutes ago, vikingTON said:
Excuse me: please use the familiar term 'Warbs' in all future posts about his treatment in the media. He is the next 'Watty' Smith after all.
It was the universal use of "Walter" that was the real clincher for me - made the journalist in question look at once like a sycophant and a bit sad, trying to pretend that they were in the inner circle....
0 -
Les Hutchinson has got a mixed legacy at Fir Park - but by (a) allowing us to pay small transfer fees for genuinely promising players (Moult and Johnson) and (b) putting them on long contracts, we are actually in a position of relative strength in these types of negotiations for the first time in years.
Johnson won't be on a stellar wage even by diddy club standards - but he seems level headed enough to understand that he'll get a better move than Oxford if he continues to play well. I think I'm right in saying that we've got both Rangers and Celtic before the window closes - I'm sure his agent will be mentioning to him what a couple of good performances there could mean..
0 -
6 minutes ago, Al B said:
Jesus....what a refreshing change!!
Exactly - it does no harm at all to do what other clubs do and try to get the perception that we have a £1m player (even if we don't) - as a "£1m player" on form generates more interest than a 90k player. It will be nice to read "£1m rated winger Marvin Johnson scored a fine opening day hatrick at Rugby Park" on Sunday
0 -
7 minutes ago, steelmen said:
You might be right but £500k for a player with 2 years on his contract and bang in form seems very low.
The problem is that we all tend to think what players are worth compared to other players on ability - the best example being some of the relative dross that change hands between english clubs for 2 or 3 million quid vs the peanuts that clubs here get for ostensibly similar or better players. In reality, if you want a big fee for players, they really need to be on a lot more money in their current contract than any Scottish town club can manage. Unless you get some real competition for a player, then it's really unlikely that an english club would fork out seven figures regardless of how "good" a player is.
In the case of Marvin Johnson, we at least have the insurance policy of a decent length of contract that will stop a team just waiting until january/end of the seasaon or offering a five figure joke as they have us over a barrel as we saw countless times under Leeann Dempster's time.
Finally - it comes down to what the club need out of this. If they merely need to make a profit on Johnson or cover the transfer fee, there is no need to sell him at all as we could still make enough in January or next august to make the deal worthwhile - but- if we need money now to keep the club afloat while paying off Hutchinson in line with his new demands, we may need to cash at this point if a serious offer comes in.
0 -
This piece in the Scotsman seems to quite appropriate as it illustrates the failure of the SPFL to do anything other than the by-the-numbers approach that we're all used to...
QuoteContinuous failure of SPFL to champion the opening weekend
The new season is right around the corner, but are the SPFL doing enough to tell us that? Picture: SNS
DUNCAN MCKAY
11:15Tuesday 02 August 2016
4HAVE YOUR SAY
When our league should be doing everything in its power to market a new season the silence is deafening, writes Duncan McKay
The opening weekend of the SPFL season is upon us. For many of us, opening weekend is a glorious time. Everyone is equal. For those moments before the whistle blows at 3pm, your team is perfect. The possibilities are endless. It is a day that requires pageantry and build-up. Opening Weekend is a huge possibility for the SPFL which it continually doesn’t leverage.
I had a look at the SPFL’s twitter account yesterday there was not a single visible tweet suggesting that the SPFL league season was kicking off in less than 100 hours’ time.
It’s a small example but it points to a larger problem. No pinned tweet, no promotional video, no bold league imagery. Earlier in the day Chief Executive Neil Doncaster had talked about “real box office” appeal of the SPFL this season. In which case, he’s built a ticket hut but forgot about constructing the rest of the theatre.
There’s been no build up to the start of the season. Why aren’t there billboards in prominent towns and cities throughout Scotland? Why is one of the few promotional videos of the SPFL from last season a parody video from Paddy Power? Why did the new BBC deal that the SPFL signed not include a magazine show during the week? A 30 minute show that sells the next set of fixtures, promotes the wider game, promotes the personalities involved, promotes the individuals behind the scenes, and promotes the great work that many of our clubs do in the community. Scottish football is an exciting product. But if the league can’t bring itself to tell people that, why would the fans?
I have sympathy for the communications team at SPFL. They aren’t given the tools, resources and budget to sell the game. And ultimately, that’s what we’re talking about: selling the game. The clubs continue to plough their own furrow, but that has limited appeal.
Neil Doncaster has built a ticket hut and forgot about the rest of the theatre.
Yesterday the SPFL held a ‘Captain’s Day’. How do I know this? Because media outlets covered it. Not the SPFL itself. That’s not credible in 21st century sports. EPL, NFL, MLB, MLS & the NBA are all building their brand because they realise that the game is bigger than the clubs. Even the Northern Ireland Football League recognises that. The video above sells Northern Irish football in a way I haven’t seen Scottish football contemplate.
Scottish football has one huge advantage over others: a history like no other. So there are real opportunities to play on this. Why not inaugurate new traditions? Why not stipulate that the Championship winners will open each new season on the Friday night with a home fixture when they are presented with the league flag? Similarly, close the weekend with a Sunday fixture where the reigning Premiership title holders are presented with their flag. Why not involve fans by having Neil Doncaster present them with the flag at Hampden that’s then transferred to their home ground? By creating totem events, we create a unique, marketable event, which should in turn, make them more desirable to fans.
The issue is that there are plenty of passionate and talented people who love Scottish football who are locked out of it by those in charge. This detachment from the product, especially when it’s been run poorly, causes resentment and ultimately apathy. That’s the real danger for the SPFL.
0 -
That "HITC" thing was an obvious agent piece - but there's no doubt that Johnson is playing like someone who wants a move and I'm sure there would be interest in him as he has the pace and physique to do ok at a decent level down south. To me, he is at a similar level to Chris Humphrey, who had a decent enough time of it in League 1 down south before he got long term injured - so I would guess that's the level that Marvin would play at. Agree with Casagolda - £1m is pie in the sky but he may well end up being one of our best bits of business for a few years as we will move him on at a considerable profit - I think I would only put Anier, Murphy (when his sell on is taken into account) and Ojamma in that bracket as we have massively struggled to get any sort of fees for our best players over and above standard development fees.
If/when Johnson goes, he'd surely go with our best wishes as he's been v decent and you'd hope the club already have his replacement in mind if our scouting system is any good. Bad as it is to say, it's probably fortuitous that Moult has his injury now and won't build up any hype between now and the transfer window closing as I'm surprised that he's not being mentioned for a move..
0 -
18 minutes ago, mrman2011 said:
Neil Doncaster has done a fine job and even found sponsors for our competitions. And is willing to give some things a try and is hoping to bring Scottish football forward
But you lot don't like the man because he happens to be English
Stop the hate and get on with itHi Neil.
Anyway - we all knew this stuff was coming - the lack of imagination in the way that the SPFL have marketed the top league since Rangers disappeared pretty much proves that they think that there's nothing else to the league that than the OF game, so it's no surprise now that they've shot their wad at the prospect of a return to the only situation they're comfortable with.
I have to say though, the thought that we were all slaveringly going to midweek games in November in ever greater numbers, moist at the very prospect of the return of the OF game the following season is the best one I've ever heard - even funnier than the old classic "OF game is the biggest derby in the world" that the mutants at Ibrox and Parkhead have been lapping up for decades....
0 -
They're probably lining up a Jim Gannon/Maurice Malpas dream team for their reserve league campaign. I genuinely would like to know what qualities Barraclough has that would make Robinson take him on after watching McGhee coming in and taking the same 'Well squad to a comfortable top half finish after Barraclough had us destined for the playoffs..Add to the fact that your ex-boss working for you must be pretty weird....
0 -
When I read the club tweet, my first reaction was to laugh - but it is a decent idea I think and I hope it works (and I love Faddy obviously). It got me thinking of the "pecking order" at Fir Park as I had initially thought that either Craigan (who probably doesn't want it) or Lasley would have been the logical choices if we promoting "from within". Las has done his coaching badges and is the U20's asst. and you would have thought it would have been an attractive move at his age and would have allowed a seamless move from playing to mgmt (and allowed him to be a back up player next season if needed)..
0 -
Sense has prevailed and I'm pleased but McDonald's epic petted lip will be a sight to behold on Saturday
0 -
7 hours ago, thisGRAEME said:
I'm presuming we're getting someone on loan until January, if they're good, we'll keep. If not, we bring back Pearson and or Moore.
McDonald...f**k knows man. Are we skint? Like, proper Dundee skint?
Who knows how much mileage there is in the McDonald story - but if it turns out to be true, there would be a Steelmen meltdown of historic proportions (with some justification). Given that Mcdonald has seemed to be a fairly reluctant (but key) member of our squad over the past 18 months, nothing would surprise me - but if the club were accommodating enough to allow him out of a newly signed deal (or to have agreed a "free" release clause in a 1 year deal), then they will not come out of this looking good.
0 -
3 hours ago, Łukasz said:
I'd almost always take a top without sponsorship on it.
A few years back, when they fucked up getting a sponsor, they released a puma top with no sponsor logo (out of desperation) for a short time - I bought it for the novelty value (and because I was heading on a european away trip to Breidablik IIRC) - but I'm surprised that Motorpoint are into it this time. Does this indicate that it isn't a mega deal where the sponsor calls all the shots?
0 -
Bit of a minter for McDonald this one:
NEIL LENNON has claimed that Scott McDonald "pleaded" with him not to pull the plug on a move to Hibs and has accused the striker of talking 'nonsense' over his decision to re-sign with Motherwell.
Lennon says he was left 'livid' by McDonald's claim that initial talks were as far as a possible switch to Easter Road had gone, with the Australian insisting discussions had not reached the 'finer details'.
Instead, Lennon is adamant he expected the former Celtic marksman in last Wednesday to complete a medical and finalise a deal that had already been agreed following lengthy negotiations.
After McDonald failed to show up and he was told the 32-year-old and his agent wanted to renegotiate their terms, Lennon ordered Hibs to pull the contract offer off the table and was left flabbergasted by comments the player made when speaking about his decision to stay at Fir Park.
Lennon said: "He's been really economical with the truth.
"First of all, we did not approach him. He approached Hibs, approached me, saying he wanted to come here and work with me.
"So, we put a package together and I spoke to him, that is right. Whilst not speaking verbally on the phone, there was contact by e-mail and text message and we made him an initial offer which I felt would fall short and it did.
"Graeme Mathie, the head of recruitment, was negotiating with him and it got to the stage where it had gone on for three or four days, so I rang his agent.
"I asked what it would take to get the deal done and he told me. I spoke to Leeann [Dempster] and she said, 'Yes we can do that'.
"That was last Tuesday and I got back to his representative and said we've agreed everything that you and the player want. I said I expected to see him at the training ground on Wednesday and he said, 'That's great'.
"I came in on Wednesday and there was no sign of him. Graeme told me he wanted to renegotiate and I said, 'No, deal’s off'. I told Leeann and the staff the same, I told the agent to tell the player the deal is off and that's the end of it.
"So you can imagine my surprise on the Friday when he comes out and says there was no interest from us and there wasn't an obvious deal on the table, which is totally contrary to what we had been working on for four or five days.
"He said that his heart was set on Motherwell. I don’t mind him gaining kudos with the Motherwell support, but certainly not at the expense of me and Hibs.
"On the Wednesday afternoon, I was having a meeting with my staff and he was ringing and texting, pleading to get the deal back on. Then he said to the public completely the opposite two days later.
"I didn’t like what I read on Friday, that was him covering his own back.
"We matched what he wanted, so there was a good offer on the table and there is only so far you can go. Either you want to come here or you don’t.
"I wouldn’t have to be speaking if I hadn’t read his comments on Friday. He could have handled it a lot better as far as I’m concerned.
"Basically, I got a text from him saying we must have got our wires crossed, but I certainly didn’t have my wires crossed."
Personally, Im happy that McDonald has signed on and expected that he was trying to see what else was on offer, so the Hibs stuff doesn't bother me - but it doesn't look very good when this sort of thing which goes on all the time is put into the public domain. Lennon still as much of as a bitter roaster as usual....
0 -
To be honest I'd be quite happy starting the new season with Brill and Samson as our keepers. They are both decent enough and will be within our budget.
They are also light years ahead of the likes of Dan/Neilson/Hollis.
Agreed - it's also good not to be still trying to get someone a couple of days before the season starts like last year
0 -
The bbc gossip column is saying that Dean Brill is having a medical today.
Marquee signing.
0 -
Given that Hall came from nowhere and never played long enough to really feel like an integral part of the team - £200k feels like free money and the decision to bring him into the first team is fully vindicated...
<insert lame joke about incoming German defender>
0 -
I think Pearson is one of our most important players and having someone who can score from midfield as he does is something that we'll find difficult to replace from the bargain basement. I would usually be supportive of the "take the money" approach but not here.
0 -
Against my better judgement, I looked at the Steelmen transfer thread and in amongst some galaxy class knicker wetting about U20's going on holiday (or something, I didn't really understand the point) - I see that Hall is away. Is that confirmed anywhere?
If he's away, fair play to him getting that kind of move without setting the heather on fire. Definitely a lot of potential there and he slotted very comfortably into the first team - I'm interested to see if he gets many minutes on the pitch next year. I'm not one to wish failure on guys that leave us (although there have been a couple of exceptions over the years
) so I hope he hasn't left a year to soon for his own sake.0 -
See when we used to get crammed in next to the fence at Fir Park and the OF used to get the rest of the ground, that was horrible.
It's a piece of piss going to a match now compared to then.
This is true - in the late 80's, you'd still get 20,000+ crowds for the OF games at Fir Park (which seems quite bizarre now) and we had a wee section over next to the fence and that was it - was never nice...But then you'd occasionally get games like this to make it worthwhile
As the vid shows, goal celebrations were more fun when you were 10 feet away from the opposition....
0 -
Most of us are aware how much better the pitch has become over the last couple of years - this article in the Herald about our head groundsman explains some of it. He comes over very well in the interview IMO, quite outspoken. I had never heard of pitch protection rules that are meant to be followed in pre-match warmups - the implication in the piece is that some away clubs aren't following them at our place...
0 -
I thought last season was McManus's best since he came to the club - he was far more consistent than in the other 2 seasons and it's clear that we need guys like him if we are to get more game time for young players - so I am quite happy that he's signed up on (reportedly) reduced terms...
0 -
Samson signing would indicate that he will be first choice, no?
0 -
I take the budget cutbacks as a positive thing overall as I was uncomfortable that we were losing money while finishing 2nd and 3rd a couple of years back and if Hutchison dropping us like a stone forces us to live entirely within our means, I'm 100% behind those left to run the club.
We've all heard "give youth a chance" being trotted out by every manager of every club over the years but as far as I can see, it's mainly when money is tight and there is no other option that it actually happens. If a tighter budget means that we need to rely on homegrown players stepping up, then I'm happy to see it and I can live with the downsides of doing that (eg, inconsistency)
0 -
Kind of what I expected - no one really keen to see him back. I'm in the same boat, would rather we structured things around bringing on our own players and we need to use our budget really wisely this close season...
0
The Terrible Journalism & Tom English Thread
in Scottish Premiership General Chatter
Posted
That snivelling, forelock-tugging joke piece is a caricature of what diddy club supporters imagine OF hacks to be like - so it's almost funny to see every shite armageddon cliche being played out.
I most enjoyed the world-class logical fallacy where within 2 sentences he points out that loads of clubs have won silverware in recent seasons and then talks about how the "malaise" has set in
I must have missed the malaise on the streets of Dingwall, Inverness, Perth, Edinburgh, Aberdeen etc over the past few years as open top buses were on their way round.
The only people who have been showing signs of malaise over the past few years have been one-note hacks who neither had the imagination nor the interest to capture a time where, with cups and high league finishes being shared around, we all got a glimpse of what life outside "normality" was like.