Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[Stevie Kirk]

1 hour ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said:

This might not be an opinion shared by many, but I think that Lamie would be fine under Kettlewell's shape / style / management.

We've already seen him get a different level out of Goss, Spittal and Van Veen to name a few.

He's been decent before in the right environment. Sadly I think Mugabi has a costly error in him regardless of formation or manager.

Agree with this . I’ve seen Lamie put in a few MOTM performances under Alexander and with the right players either side he is fine. Mugabi seems a lovely big guy but has a history of clownshoe mistakes which lead directly to goals. Happy for him to come off the bench in the last ten mins to head the ball away but no more than that .

[Handsome_Devil]

41 minutes ago, Stevie Kirk said:

Agree with this . I’ve seen Lamie put in a few MOTM performances under Alexander and with the right players either side he is fine. Mugabi seems a lovely big guy but has a history of clownshoe mistakes which lead directly to goals. Happy for him to come off the bench in the last ten mins to head the ball away but no more than that 

Lamie would be just about imaginable on the left of the three.

Mugabi on the other hand would remain a liability.

[capt_oats]

5 hours ago, well fan for life said:

Aye. The fact we'd painted ourselves into the corner of having to have Crawford, Mugabi, Johansen, Lamie, McGinley etc all in the starting XI week in, week out is probably why they all tend to catch a lot of heat. All of them are *maybe* good enough to patch a gap on occasion (I'm being kind here) but having them all in the team is relegation material. 

This is kind of the thing for me.

Like, I realise that if we're talking about players who are considered "deadwood" then they're broadly those for whom mileage may vary. There are a handful of players in the squad that folk just don't like or in some cases made their decisions on very early doors.

However when we're talking about guys like Lamie and Mugabi then ultimately they've been fine the problem is that they're never starting players - regardless of what how they see themselves.

With the squad the way it is and the way Kettlewell had shaped us up with the McGinn - Butcher - Casey back 3 that put both of them firmly in the "squad player" bracket. When it comes down to it if we were to empty them then as @Handsome_Devil mentioned are we actually going to replace them with any better?

Equally, for all I was talking about the squad being 22 23 (I forgot about Paton) players deep 5 of those have been promoted from the Reserves which is precisely what swathes of reply guys give the club grief about in their mentions - especially when someone like Max Johnston turns out to actually be really good..

On one hand they want a pathway for the weans on the other they're getting bent out of shape that we're not out signing jobbers to block that pathway. It's Schrödinger's transfer window.

Are we really making an argument that we should be looking to sign someone to cover the fact that Butcher's injured rather than give someone in the squad a shot? That's the sort of approach that's caused us to end up with big, daft bloated squads in the first place.

Tbh, I think there's been a conditioning towards the expectation that we see a mass overhaul on an annual basis and it's not just a Motherwell thing. Ironically that's what we consciously tried to move away from in Alexander's first summer window.

As others have said, I've no doubt we'll make some signings but this is a very different position to how we were regularly having to carry ourselves under Robinson.

Edited June 29, 2023 by capt_oats

[capt_oats]

Anyway, as an aside. Mind this?

This had passed me by last month...

https://www.theposh.com/news/posh-confirm-number-players-available-transfer

[rowsdower]

I could see Fuchs being a popular target in Scotland.

Also, apparently we are going ahead with signing Fowler from Beith.

[Handsome_Devil]

I'd definitely take Fuchs, good player for our level and, more importantly, a funny name.

[For Your Pies Only]

3 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said:

I'd definitely take Fuchs, good player for our level and, more importantly, a funny name.

It's the signing our moribund comms team have been crying out for. Think of all that delicious # content

[Blink182]

 

 

I get that times are tough but a professional football club in the top league in Scotland advertising for a role that is salary free just doesn't sit right with me. It's embarrassing.

Considering we are fan owned, having a supporter liaison working quite substantial hours (I'd guess) for free we are basically looking for someone who loves the club and is most likely retired or not working to try and fit that in. With all due respect I don't think that will leave many candidates suitable for the role available. 

[capt_oats]

[Swello]

11 minutes ago, Blink182 said:

 

 

I get that times are tough but a professional football club in the top league in Scotland advertising for a role that is salary free just doesn't sit right with me. It's embarrassing.

Considering we are fan owned, having a supporter liaison working quite substantial hours (I'd guess) for free we are basically looking for someone who loves the club and is most likely retired or not working to try and fit that in. With all due respect I don't think that will leave many candidates suitable for the role available. 

I know some other clubs have this and I can see from the club's point of view why having a bullet-taker (for free!) would be a great thing - but I don't see what's in it for the SLO themselves.

You would spend your days and nights dealing with constant hassles between the Bois and Boab Park on one hand and fielding 4 page emails about the airflow rate of the hand driers in the main stand gents from old roasters on the other.

[Swello]

4 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

The return of the OF double-header - great.

[capt_oats]

10 minutes ago, Swello said:

I know some other clubs have this and I can see from the club's point of view why having a bullet-taker (for free!) would be a great thing - but I don't see what's in it for the SLO themselves.

You would spend your days and nights dealing with constant hassles between the Bois and Boab Park on one hand and fielding 4 page emails about the airflow rate of the hand driers in the main stand gents from old roasters on the other.

Did our last attempt at filling the SLO position not see them have a meltdown and resign after something like 2 days? And that was with Burrows still at the club fielding Tweets from his reply guys.

As you say, I genuinely can't see what the appeal would be in actually taking that on.

I agree with @Blink182's general point that if you're asking someone to do work for you then fucking pay them but I'd be curious to know if it's a salaried position at other clubs who have them in place - I know Celtic and Rangers have their own SLOs but based on scale they're not exactly comparable. The one that springs to mind is St Johnstone as I've seen frequent references to their SLO in their threads and Twitter.

Beyond that I'm not sure what other clubs have this role filled.

Similarly, is there a reason this is being advertised via The WS rather than the club?

Edited June 30, 2023 by capt_oats

[camer0n_mcd]

 

Update on the contract situation 

[thisGRAEME]

10 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Did our last attempt at filling the SLO position not see them have a meltdown and resign after something like 2 days? And that was with Burrows still at the club fielding Tweets from his reply guys.

From memory, last time the job description was absolutely mental with the SLO being expected to be attending meetings at Fir Park during the week or something (while still unpaid)?

Tickled at this;

Quote

· To work with the media team paying special attention to ensuring that supporter liaison work and supporters in general are accurately portrayed in the media.

Maybe that's the role of a... comms manager?

[camer0n_mcd]

37 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Getting County away midweek and Pittodrie away midweek in the space of 3 weeks is brutal 

[capt_oats]

11 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

From memory, last time the job description was absolutely mental with the SLO being expected to be attending meetings at Fir Park during the week or something (while still unpaid)?

Tickled at this;

Maybe that's the role of a... comms manager?

Found the job description from the last time....

https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Motherwell-FC-SLO.pdf

[Swello]

10 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

From memory, last time the job description was absolutely mental with the SLO being expected to be attending meetings at Fir Park during the week or something (while still unpaid)?

Yes - it was in Dempster's time and you're spot on - it was an actual full time job role by any standards. I've got a thing about commercial companies' use of "volunteers" in general as the line between that and "free labour" has been wiped out.

I get that clubs like ours (and smaller clubs than us even more so) have to rely on supporters to fill some gaps but this one feels totally thankless. Trying to hive off stuff that our comms manager, CEO and General Manager have been doing makes sense when you're trying to fill these roles but to hand it to a volunteer isn't right. Thing is, if you made this a low paid role within the club, you probably wouldn't have trouble filling it.

[DukDukGoose]

27 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Did our last attempt at filling the SLO position not see them have a meltdown and resign after something like 2 days? And that was with Burrows still at the club fielding Tweets from his reply guys.

As you say, I genuinely can't see what the appeal would be in actually taking that on.

I agree with @Blink182's general point that if you're asking someone to do work for you then fucking pay them but I'd be curious to know if it's a salaried position at other clubs who have them in place - I know Celtic and Rangers have their own SLOs but based on scale they're not exactly comparable. The one that springs to mind is St Johnstone as I've seen frequent references to their SLO in their threads and Twitter.

Beyond that I'm not sure what other clubs have this role filled.

Similarly, is there a reason this is being advertised via The WS rather than the club?

Pretty sure it is a paid position for us.

[capt_oats]

4 minutes ago, Swello said:

Yes - it was in Dempster's time and you're spot on - it was an actual full time job role by any standards. I've got a thing about commercial companies' use of "volunteers" in general as the line between that and "free labour" has been wiped out.

I get that clubs like ours (and smaller clubs than us even more so) have to rely on supporters to fill some gaps but this one feels totally thankless. Trying to hive off stuff that our comms manager, CEO and General Manager have been doing makes sense when you're trying to fill these roles but to hand it to a volunteer isn't right. Thing is, if you made this a low paid role within the club, you probably wouldn't have trouble filling it.

The last time was more recent than that. It's Murrant who's down as the contact on the job description here date was April 2017:

https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Motherwell-FC-SLO.pdf

I mean, not to flog this particular dead horse but how many positions is that we've got that are currently vacant at the club just now?

Edited June 30, 2023 by capt_oats

[Swello]

Also - whether it's for a part-time job in a cafe or chief executive of a multi-national, 6 page job descriptions are not credible.