Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

['WellDel]

1 minute ago, Busta Nut said:

This is why I have the fear.

For all we have a large number of moon units in our support, surely the sensible and reasoned folk heavily outnumber the brain donors?

Please tell me the sensible folk outnumber the brain donors...

[camer0n_mcd]

6 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

This is why I have the fear.

Aye, I really do want to have faith that the fans will end up doing the right thing but it's incredible the amount of posts on Twitter and on Steelmen that I've scrolled past and just shook my head at. 

Just hope common sense prevails in the end.

[camer0n_mcd]

6 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

There's a remarkable amount of your fans on multiple social media platforms refusing to read anything and just assuming you're doomed unless you accept this deal.

This is your Brexit moment. Where most of you just assume nobody will be daft enough to vote it in, and you're wrong and fucked.

Absolutely desperate for you to be wrong but I'm in the same boat as Busta in terms of having the fear.

[camer0n_mcd]

Thought this would be worth sharing.

 

[Muzz1886]

39 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

I think this has been massively exaggerated by the folk who were never fans of the WS.

I hear ya, and actually I largely agree.

However ...

In total for financial years 2022 & 2023, we have posted a combined loss of £(2.7)m and our cash decreased by £2.5m to £1.7m at May-23. I'm not the best accountant in the world, however we can't keep burning through cash and posting losses like that.  Especially on small revenue. It's unsustainable. We need cash to compete at this level or we accept the seaside leagues is our level.

There are reasons for our piss poor financial performance (ground compliance, paying off out-of-depth managers, poor on pitch performance, not cashing in on players at the right time etc etc etc) and I'm sure there are people on the board recognise that the last few years have not been to clever for us.

We got here by being complacent over a long period of time. Teams that were miles behind us have overtaken us (St Mirren, Kilmarnock). That won't change until there are changes at the club at board level. McMahon knows that, that's why he's away, amongst many other reasons. 

Investment is a possible solution.  I won't pretend to know the American bloke, he might be legit, he might not.  We will likely not accept his offer. But it changes nothing.  We still need cash to compete.

TWS (copyright yon American bloke) mean well, and for unpaid board members (McMahon didn't take a salary either based on the 2023 accounts), they do their best especially given that we're always a day late and a dollar short. I sympathise with them. They do their best. We had Flow as CEO who was paid circa £100k p.a., which is a low salary for a CEO. I wouldnt say I particularly liked him but he held the club together. What has transpired since has been eye opening. Rudderless would be an improvement on our current status but the club is being ran by unpaid directors. I'm not sure what we should expect.

Last thing I'll say is that I mentioned months ago that people would get a wee surprise what external investors value our club at.  £4m isn't a surprise to me.

TLDR - we're skint and I'm grumpy.

[standupforthemotherwell]

Someone's maw is going to go mental when she notices the sheets are missing 

[SteelyDosser]

I'm 100% certain this thread has turned into the script for episode 1 of the well docuseries before the REAL deal is proposed. Just to add a bit of drama. 

Right guys?..

 

[Antiochas III]

5 minutes ago, Muzz1886 said:

I hear ya, and actually I largely agree.

However ...

In total for financial years 2022 & 2023, we have posted a combined loss of £(2.7)m and our cash decreased by £2.5m to £1.7m at May-23. I'm not the best accountant in the world, however we can't keep burning through cash and posting losses like that.  Especially on small revenue. It's unsustainable. We need cash to compete at this level or we accept the seaside leagues is our level.

There are reasons for our piss poor financial performance (ground compliance, paying off out-of-depth managers, poor on pitch performance, not cashing in on players at the right time etc etc etc) and I'm sure there are people on the board recognise that the last few years have not been to clever for us.

We got here by being complacent over a long period of time. Teams that were miles behind us have overtaken us (St Mirren, Kilmarnock). That won't change until there are changes at the club at board level. McMahon knows that, that's why he's away, amongst many other reasons. 

Investment is a possible solution.  I won't pretend to know the American bloke, he might be legit, he might not.  We will likely not accept his offer. But it changes nothing.  We still need cash to compete.

TWS (copyright yon American bloke) mean well, and for unpaid board members (McMahon didn't take a salary either based on the 2023 accounts), they do their best especially given that we're always a day late and a dollar short. I sympathise with them. They do their best. We had Flow as CEO who was paid circa £100k p.a., which is a low salary for a CEO. I wouldnt say I particularly liked him but he held the club together. What has transpired since has been eye opening. Rudderless would be an improvement on our current status but the club is being ran by unpaid directors. I'm not sure what we should expect.

Last thing I'll say is that I mentioned months ago that people would get a wee surprise what external investors value our club at.  £4m isn't a surprise to me.

TLDR - we're skint and I'm grumpy.

So the new investment won't even scratch our previous losses, as it amounts to, yearly 2 league positions or 1 league position and a extra round in the Scottish Cup

[MazzyStar]

Erik Barmack is a total no mark.

[Lukovic]

Since The Well Society came in the club has been profitable overall.

The losses that are mentioned have many mitigating factors that you've pointed out but a good portion of this (the pitch) is capital expenditure which will in turn reduce our operating costs in the future.

I agree about the managers but I feel some people have a lofty vision of where the club should be where in fact it is sitting where it has always been on the pitch.

[one m in Motherwell]

Announce Balmer you fucking cowards

[ML4]

40 minutes ago, Erik Barmack said:

I wanted to respond to this, which touch's on @Vietnam91's post, too, and then I'm going to take a break for the good of this board (there's a new player to discuss) as well as my own fine desire for some fresh air:

(1) I personally don't see the Club as being in financial peril.  It's been well run and has punched above its weight compared to teams with bigger budgets.  I do not think, nor would I want others to think, that we're approaching this from the negative perspective of having to "save" MFC.

(2) On one debt versus another -- we tried our best to find trade-offs that are based on our understanding of valuation in the market, and a 50+1 model.  That was the spirit of it all.  And we do believe that the Club collectively is underfunded -- so how you pay/build is really the question in a model of split ownership.

(3) More than the capital and valuation, for this deal to make sense, we collectively need to believe that the Club can grow.  Areas in which I believe growth can occur are:

     a) Through enhanced media -- a docu-series is an example (and it's a viable one) to help grow a brand, bring in some revenue, and increase commercial opportunities for the Club;

     b) Through growing TWS -- I believe I mentioned the Caledonian Braves as an example, which has raised over $1m in less than a year as a fifth divison club in Scotland (who, coincidentally play nearby).  That may not be sustainable, but the key here is that the majority of that revenue is coming from outside of Scotland, and I believe that TWS should be grown internationally.

   c) Through better CRM -- how does the Club better email users for opportunities?  How can former season ticket holders be tracked with different opportunities?  How can sales of particular products be more fluid?  There are many platforms that aren't expensive but which have profound impacts on subscription and e-commerce businesses.

   d) Through strategic partnerships -- getting celebrities, related  public figures and football experts in different markets, including the States, involved in Motherwell could improve the profile and commercial opportunities of the Club.

   e) Through better communication -- message boards, Zoom chats, and available emailing ... these are things that, when integrated with the above, could make the Club faster and stronger, with ideas coming from TWS members and other stakeholders at a much higher clip.

Some of these things cost money to do well upfront, and I bring all of this up because the capital going into the Club would allow the Club to work on these things, and while we can have lots of differences of opinion on deal structure, it's all pretty irrelevant unless you believe that the Club can grow revenue.  If the Club can grow revenue from the above (and of course dozens of other ideas), the exact mechanics can be refined and improved.  That's my thinking, at least -- I'll be back on a bit should y'all want to keep chatting.

E

 

Erik, the candour on the business plan is appreciated. And clear. However, there is no plan to grow this club significantly. It's maybe getting a documentary, getting fans to pay more subs, basic CRM marketing that yes does need to be done, getting celebrities and then communicating better. There are glaring and hugely significant revenue opportunities - basic ones for football clubs - that you have no plan for. That says everything about this bid. It's not fit for purpose to take the club in the direction it needs to go.

['WellDel]

8 minutes ago, one m in Motherwell said:

Announce Balmer you fucking cowards

Whether it's Balmer, the Serbian guy or the Chasni pies on a 3 year deal, we could be doing with something else to discuss and give us a bit of respite from this nonsense.

[Vietnam91]

12 minutes ago, one m in Motherwell said:

Announce Balmer you fucking cowards

 

[Archie McSquackle]

A few folk have mentioned additional monies coming in from increased league sponsorship, tv deals, UEFA money etc. That's great but it doesn't make us more competitive as our rivals will also be benefitting. I'm still not convinced though and all the people saying they've got the fear are starting to give me the fear.

[ML4]

Can anyone tell me why Dickie is still on the club board when he has quit the Society board? He is the representative on the board from the Society is he not.

['WellDel]

Just now, ML4 said:

Can anyone tell me why Dickie is still on the club board when he has quit the Society board? He is the representative on the board from the Society is he not.

 Because cronyism.

[Archie McSquackle]

I noticed the WS vote was 6-3 which I was surprised at. Is there an overlap between the club board and the WS board? Is it the same folk trying to push it through on both?

[Erik Barmack]

36 minutes ago, ML4 said:

Erik, the candour on the business plan is appreciated. And clear. However, there is no plan to grow this club significantly. It's maybe getting a documentary, getting fans to pay more subs, basic CRM marketing that yes does need to be done, getting celebrities and then communicating better. There are glaring and hugely significant revenue opportunities - basic ones for football clubs - that you have no plan for. That says everything about this bid. It's not fit for purpose to take the club in the direction it needs to go.

Sorry, just to be clear, that is by no means an extensive list of opportunities.  There are many that fit into a focus on revenue growth that would be exhaustive to go over here, and which Brian knows quite well.  I wasn't trying to be comprehensive.  I was merely stating a few opportunities that would all, in total, be much bigger than any investment made by any potential suitor.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

55 minutes ago, Muzz1886 said:

 

TLDR - we're skint and I'm grumpy.

We have been profitable over cumulatively over the last 3 years. Which includes acounts where we were badly effected by Covid. So IDK what to tell you.

We also made major upgrades to the ground and facilities of the club

The financial position is not the thing to be grumpy about, it is the performances on the park that are troubling.