The Return of the King

 

 

A few months ago I did an article for the Matchday Magazine, Steelmen, and I suggested, during speculation that James McFadden was about to sign for us, that Faddy wasn’t just another returnee, that he had something else, an indefinable quality that stirred something in Well fans.

Unfortunately that move didn’t happen, but, this week, the undreamable did indeed happen and Faddy is back, spectacularly, in Claret and Amber.

The one thing it did was put Twitter into meltdown. With one exception, everyone welcomed the news with excitement in joy. Faddy was back. He was home.

Of course, Motherwell has a habit of bringing back its sons. Former Club Captain Stephen Craigan returned from a trip to Partick (I think he fell asleep on the train), present captain Keith Lasley is on his second stint as is vice captain and veteran full back Steven Hammell. And who can forget the magnificent return of the man who would forever be known as Uncle Phil, who took Motherwell into a renaissance we are still cresting, before his devastating death?

But it is with Faddy that there is some kind of magic, something different. The Motherwell FC he featured in was a different animal from the one gnarling at the top of the SPL now – indeed, we SHOULD have been relegated during his original tenure – we COULD have gone out of business entirely! Now we’re a noticeable Top Six team with a host of legends-in-the-making doing a superb job for us. Michael Higdon, despite a shaky start with some of the boo boys is soaring on 17 goals this season. A sturdy and stubborn midfield not short on talent with the likes of Nicky Law and the seering pace of Chris Humphrey make it a difficult place to break into, and the brick wall of rising stars Kerr and Hutchinson, aided by cool heads from the likes of next generation Hately, and let’s not forget our new talisman, the indomitable Sheriff, Henrik Ojaama, make this a strong, formidable and exciting team. We’re sitting clear in second with a game in hand – and that’s not through luck. Since Stuart McCall has taken over we’ve had cup finals, top six assured and even a foray into the Champions League, so this is indeed a different Motherwell to the wounded animal Faddy left in 2003.

Ten years later, though, what can we expect from Faddy? Has the best of him been given on the fields of Gooderson? Or Hampden? Is there a future for him in top flight or a long term at Motherwell?

I think it’s something we have to be cautious, despite the euphoria, in answering. Faddy is family, no doubt. We owe him thanks, and we owe him respect. But will he be that same wee tricky winger with a swagger, attitude, and, as Terry Butcher said, three bad haircuts all on the one head?

The red mohawk and rat tail has gone, and ten years later he’s had a torrid time with injury and treated appallingly (although he’s not the only one) by a car crash of a Scotland manager, Levein, so we shouldn’t expect the 29 year old to swagger into the Ark, argue with refs and dink keepers during penalties.

No, we have more than that now. When Faddy left he was raw, a ball of genius sparking like a Catherine Wheel with no focus and no clarity. What’s returning is that same ball of genius, that same confidence – as we saw in Hammy’s testimonial – that same fire, but, like a weapon of mass destruction, it’s been honed by technology, by experience. He’s clashed with Rooney and Ronaldo, Gerrard and Lampard. He’s worked under Moyes and McLeish. What we’ve got back is someone who’s pace may not be as blistering, but who’s tenacity has been sharpened like the blades of a samurai. He is without a doubt one of the best players to come out of Scotland, and he’s now one of the best players in it. He was our talisman before he was the Tartan Army’s, through cheek, guile, talent and sheer daftness.

James McFadden’s career is far from over. And that’s Motherwell’s as well as Scotland’s. He’s returned home for three months, not to replace our legends-to-be, but to augment them, to increase them, to join them.

Let’s hope it’s more than three months and both James and Motherwell FC catch lightning in a bottle again.

Forever Claret and Amber

Ed

Kevin Twaddle: Life on the Line – Book Review

Life on the Line

Hello Steelfolk

Kevin Twaddle was, whatever else you say about him, a fabulous player for Motherwell FC. He was an integral part of Billy Davies’s renaissance and John Boyle’s rebirth of us, and also there for the demise of the Big Dream as we crashed into administration. He made 71 appearances for us and scored 7 goals – not least of which was the winner against Celtic at Parkhead – and it could be argued, along with centreback Karl Ready, lost more than anyone else in the administration crisis.

But whilst Ready lost reputation, money and a wealth, Twaddle’s problems were very much of his own making. He lost his home, his partner, his child in the administration, but as he freely admits himself, he could have moved at least twice, for big money, before that fateful day, but stayed, partly out of loyalty and partly out of convenience. But mostly, it seems, out of the desire to gamble. Twaddle is a gambling addict, you see, and Life on the Line starkly and frankly tells his story, from scamming work mates on a placement in his teenager years, to defrauding St Johnstone supporters and family in his first professional gig to the out of control spending at Morton and Motherwell, along with the disastrous signing for his boyhood hero, Hearts.

Twaddle in his glory days at MFC

It’s a difficult thing to see a hero stripped bare, and another to read some of the things he did to achieve his selfish goals. Kevin looks for, and gets, no sympathy in this book, in which he bluntly and painfully tells us of how his gambling addiction affected his team performance, his relationship with family and loved ones and even the teams he signed for. It’s an ugly, brutal place, and one which you will emerge from feeling little sympathy for him, although one has to admire the guts it’s taken to actually put oneself on the line, so to speak, and let us judge. But we can’t judge, not really, because we all have a darkside, and we’re all only steps away from freefall. Some of the things Twaddle admits to in his book are toe curling, but there, as my Gran used to say, for the grace of God go we.

But the book isn’t just about that, it’s also about the inner mechanics of football. It has a fascinating insight into the world of deals and signings, and into the footballers dressing room. From a Motherwell FC perspective it also gives us a first hand account of the administration, and how it affected the players directly.

Co-written by journalist Scott Burns, his hand in some of the more descriptive text is pretty obvious, but on the whole it’s Kevin’s voice which comes through, from being as low as he could be at the height of his career to rebuilding a life away from football and gambling. To escape any addiction, and admit one’s darkside is an admirable thing, and Twaddle has and is doing that. Whether or not you finish the book liking Kevin is a matter for personal opinion. Personally, I admire his candour, his courage and his bravery in fighting something he really had no chance to control, and I appreciate him as a fine and at times underestimated player for one of our most controversial periods.

As a football fan, I urge you to read this book.

Forever Claret and Amber

Ed

Thanks to Scott Burns. Buy Life on the Line HERE

Kevin Twaddle

What The Hell Is A Second Team?

Greetings fellow Steelfolk and welcome to VFTES. Thanks for all the messages and kind words I’ve been getting lately. I thought it might be a good idea to move on from our beamer in the League Cup with something much more fun!

A few years ago when Motherwell floundered on the brink of what is commonly known these days as “Doing a Rangers” there was a real danger that we would be going not just bust, but out of business. I’m pretty sure back then, just as happened with Livingston and Airdrie, there wouldn’t have been such a Powers That Be panic to save us as there was this summer, so we would affectively ceased to exist. During those dark times when every day brought another stomach clenching revelation someone asked me – “Ed, see if the Well go out of business, who will you support?”

Now, I looked at this person – not a Dosser, by the way – in confusion. I didn’t understand. If Motherwell FC didn’t exist, who would I support? Em, how could I support anyone?

“Naw,” this non Dosser said, “Would you jump over to New Douglas Park, maybe? Or the Excelsior?” Again, I looked at him as my mouth flapped open and shut like a floundering fish, my brain firing incoherent thoughts as it tried to find words to answer the question. I came up with just one sentence…

“I’m a Steelman,” I said. See, I’d always been a Steelman. I bleed claret and amber. I stood in the terraces that smelled of beer and pee, I saw Pettigrew and St John and Bobby Graham, I was known to sport a Stone Island logo or two in the 80s. I have tales of 91 (I woke up on a roundabout, don’t ask) and I mourned Davie Cooper. I remember joking – Fir Park is my church, Motherwell is my religion – and I meant it. I still do. I was asked not long ago by someone I went to school with “You still going to Parkhead, big man?” to which again my mouth flapped open and closed and my brain tried to compute and I said “Em, naw. I’m a Motherwell fan,” and the reply was “But you went to Our Lady’s”… I still don’t get that, I really don’t.

Anyway, this came into my head recently, I suppose when we were threatened by an influx of refugee Teddy Bears, wandering the North Lanarkshire tundra for a team to support, and when a mate of mine pointed out the, em, augmented support at the recent Cup Final, if, if Motherwell did die, would I support anyone else?

The answer is dead straight forward. Maybe Scotland. Maybe. Depends. But another Club team? Nah man, I’m a Dosser. If Motherwell died I’d still be interested in football, but I’d not support a team. I wouldn’t know how, I wouldn’t have the history, the gut feeling, the love. So, I wondered, as I turned to Twitterdom, would others support someone else? Or, more relevantly, did anyone have a second team? It’s a concept I don’t get, but I was surprised by the answers – and the reasons!

Replying to my official twitter page – @vftes_official, by the way, it’s my only one – many people, not just Dossers, replied:

@willieturner told me –“ Liverpool tho no reason as such just always followed em and the scouse are down to earth like us”, which is a fine reason, whilst new online sensation @wearealloj (We Are All Henrik Ojamaa) said: “ayr united!! Dads taken me as long as I can remember, first game I saw them lose was against killie last year!!” another great reason! Haggis chomping Andy the @windycitydosser said uniquely –  “Chicago Bears and Chicago Blackhawks. Manly men doing manly things. No Cristiano Ronaldo girly types” but then he does live in Chicago, I suppose, bless, and Stuart McCallum ‏(@Stu_MFC87) said: “newcastle r ma 2nd team 1st time a eva watched them was wen they beat barca 3-2 and asprilla got a hattrick” which is always good for a laugh. The toon army has some charms, I suppose, seeing as they are virtually Scottish.

Best reason of the day came from former Well Chick of the Week @weekaz who said succinctly – “Aston villa cos they’re Aston villa n I like them” and who’s to argue with that!

Other reasons were equally worthy. @bigjaffa91 told me –  “Peterbourgh because of Nick Cusack. Went to see them 1989 met there fanzine guys and have stayed in touch” and @ryanwilson86 argued “liverpool, family from there” well de do doe don’t de doe?

@shanemfc7 also went down the family route – “Chelsea cousins from the area and the special one sold me” and who can argue with The Special One? Not me, we have him on our podcast jingle! And Fraz ‏(@FrazMFC96) followed the family route with  “Morton cos my dad supports them. I chose Motherwell though as my Grandad supports them and we were 4 leagues above them!”

But John Duffy (@graigend) and @chicgibson were with no… “no and no” was their replies, whilst Programme Seller Extraordinaire our Ricky Mullen likes QPR after a school project.

It was interesting to see the spread of clubs – and lack of big named clubs as well, really – that our Well family follow, and the reasons for it. None, as my ex school friend would no doubt be horrified to find out, because of what school we went to, or, indeed, what church. It’s nice to see Well fans – so often teased as being “Rangers without the bus fare” having such a diverse and open support for other teams, both in Scotland and beyond, but I for one am not surprised. I’ve known forever that Steelmen are the best fans in the world, and nothing has ever happened to change my opinion of that.

But, alas, for me, there is no “second team”. I quite like watching Man U, true, and I understand when the Beautiful Game is played not just in a different league from ours, but on another planet, with the wonders of Messi and Co, but if aliens landed tomorrow and scooped up our battered little stadium and it’s overworked, underpaid staff and players and plopped them down on The Lost Moon of Poosh or the Fire Caves of Halakazam, I’d just have to stay home on a weekend and help the Mrs with the ironing, whilst listening to our Richard on the radio and mumbling to myself that things haven’t been the same since that brief alien invasion.

Although, to be fair, somewhere, out in space, if you listened very carefully and all was still, I’m sure we’d hear the unmistakable echo of a Dosser going “KEEEEF!”

Forever Claret and Amber

Ed

VFTES

View From The East Stand…

Here’s some pics from Voices from the East Stand… views from my seat, views from my Long Way Round, various offensive No To Newco cartoons, the occasional random and, importantly Wee Kaz and Tommo’s day at the Newco Protest at Hampden

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Forever Claret and Amber

Ed

VFTES

@VFTES_official

Pana Away

Hello there fellow Steelfolk

Where you in Greece? Here’s a selection of our photos from the Pana Away game. Can’t wait to Levante!!!

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Forever Claret and Amber

Eddie

VFTES

Thanks to all the contributors, especially on sight reporter John Sharp. Remember to email me your own photos of Levante to join ours next week…

New Name for a New Season

Hello there fellow Steelfolk!

I thought with the advent of the new season I would change the way we did things at Voices from the East Stand, and to reflect that, we’ve gone through a little name changing.

Hence forth, we’ll be know as STEELTOWN. The reasons for this are many and varied, but suffice to say I’m hoping to expand contributions, both in this blog and in presenting the podcast, and I already have a couple of very, very exciting surprises lined up in the very near future.

We’re also expanding our remit here at STEELTOWN Tower, after the great success of our blogs concerning the newco and the situation in the SPL in general. Times they are achanging, as someone once said (Jesus I think… #kidding), so we’ll be looking at Scottish football with our new Football Family, but rest assured this is from a uniquely Motherwell FC perspective. If it don’t suit Motherwell, you’ll hear us, mark my words!

So, with a bit of a European lesson learned, and a tricky trip to Valencia on the cards in the Europa, our season has been as eventful as ever. If YOU want to write for us, let us know… you can email us on voicesfromtheeaststand@live.co.uk or you can DM me on Twitter. We’re a MFC blog folks, so, as much as I know other teams will have a view point, we’ll only be accepting Motherwell orientated submissions. Also, look out for our Voices Phone In very, very soon! I know!

Speak soon! Mon the Well

Forever Claret and Amber

Ed

Our new look badge

SPL In Crisis – In Bed With The Devil

Zombie FC

Arguably one of the most galling thing in any argument is the compromise to repair it. In war, for instance, territory is given up or conceded, prisoners are released, deals are struck. Just yesterday alleged mass murderers were shaking hands with Queens in the interest of a new era.

So despite my hyperbole it’s something that perhaps is going to have to happen in the fickle world of Scottish football. We may have to accept stuff we don’t like for the sake of the bigger picture.

It’s looking increasingly likely that this Newco Rangers – hitherto christianed Zombie FC in this reporters mind – are going to find a compromise which will allow them to be seen to be punished and spend not three but one year out of the top flight – a top flight which will radically change at the beginning of 2013/14. It seems that Regan and his zombie wranglers are indeed going to sleep with the Devil in order to, what I’m sure is in their mind, save Scottish football. But will this be at the behest of all sporting integrity?

Despite what Rangers fans – themselves angered and hurt beyond belief by what has happened (so much so that the vile comments directly towards myself and other commentators like Jim Spence beggar belief) – think, or, perhaps, feel, Rangers are guilty of terrible, terrible crimes. All the rhetoric in the world can’t hide the fact that secretly playing players, or not paying for transfer fees, or tax, or the wee face painting woman, is cheating. No one else gets away with such a blatant disregard for the rules – could you, for instance, walk into ASDA to do your weekly shop, walk out without paying it, then offer 8p in the pound for it, then say you’d changed your name and didn’t owe anything but were keeping the messages anyway, thanks very much? No of course not, that’s silly, but it’s what Rangers have done. Make no mistake, this isn’t about going into Administration – a silly and lazy accusation thrown towards Motherwell FC by irate Rangers fans has been this very argument – “Aye but you went into Administration, two faced/double standards” etc etc –  and the Administration was dealt with by a years ban from Europe (itself a paperwork glitch, not an administered punishment) and a useless ten point deduction (Celtic would have won the league anyway) – so, please, Bears, enough already. THAT was your punishment for that… THIS is something else altogether. You liquidated. The assets of the club have been split. Senior players are leaving two by two. All you’re left with is a reserve team with a different name. As a result, RFC does not exist. Of course, the history does, of course the “glory days” do – as long as Bears remember them then they are real. But that’s not this team. Now the question is – where does this team start? What’s right and proper? The administration punishment was for another team altogether.

Of course, for a majority of die-hard footy fans, there is no option – Division Three. But even that is fraught with controversy – what about the criteria for the three years checkable accounts? A newco can’t have them. What about challenges from Cove Rangers or Spartans? Both teams have, on paper, more legitimate claims to the position than Zombie FC. What about the precedent set by Livingston, hammered by the SFA, or Gretna, gone completely? These are important, meaningful, right questions. The right thing today – and today I use right instead of best – is to tell Zombie FC that they no longer exist, that they must start outwith the SFL, and apply on merit, in three years time after plying their trade elsewhere.

For a team with the potential earnings of Zombie FC that is never, ever going to happen. So what will happen?

Well, for a start, the fans asked their Chairmen to listen to them, and they did. Votes were cast, meetings were had. More than half the SPL has already abided by their judgement – and of course I have no doubt Motherwell’s Well Society, of which this reporter is a proud member and has already voted NO – and Zombie FC will NOT be plying their trade in the SPL next season. Again, this isn’t a punishment. This is a decision of sporting integrity. A brand new team has no place in the SPL. Punishments – for EBTs, taking the game into disrepute, underhanded business practices and tax dodging – are all still to be administered.

Ah, but there’s the rub. Who do we administer them to? Zombie FC? But, by our own argument, this is a new club, not suitable for the SPL, hell, not suitable for any professional league. Why should they be punished for the actions of a dead club? Surely no other sanctions can befall The Team Formerly Known As because, well, we’re all arguing they’re dead? This very reporter calls them Zombie FC.

It’s a tangled, bitter, unholy mess. Our great and good – and make no mistake Stewart Regan and his henchmen are neither great or good, but what they’re what we have – need to salvage something from this. We have two years left of a Sky deal. To lose it would be catastrophic. Each club looks like losing £700,000 to £1m per annum. The game will change completely in the next five years. And yes, there’s a certain amount of brush fire to that, sweeping away deadwood, but we have to be careful we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Excuse the mixed metaphor.

So, can any good come from what has happened to Zombie FC? What can we get from it? Selfishly, what can we pick from it, whilst giving it a jolt?

Well, of course, the first thing, is money. They owe us. Big time. Should they get away with it? Of course not. A dead team can’t pay its dues. So it has to survive. How that money is distributed though – from both Zombie FC AND Celtic – needs looked at. Despite the fact that those two have been the biggest draws in the SPL, we’ve shown this season that we don’t have to put up with that, that they need a league to play in just as much as we need them to play in our league. So we renegotiate the way funds are distributed. What else do we want? What are we always going on about?

A league reshaping. Our league is small minded and insular, it needs to expand, to play on its strengths, and the strengths of this Country, itself small. Expanding the league is the right thing to do, for the game, for the money, for the country. So we push ahead with that. What else do we want?

Rules. Hard and fast rules. We’re all forever moaning that things are tied up with the suits and the Powers that Be and that rules make no sense, or that each association fights against its brother. Lets sort that out. Anything else?

A fairer distribution for SFL teams. Some clearly big teams – Partick Thistle, for instance, or Dundee – languish in the lower leagues for no other reason than money and opportunity. Look at the tumble of Livingston and Morton for instance. So we refurnish that.

But, as I said at the beginning. This requires money, and money is generated by interest, and interest, like it or not, comes from the Big Two. So, to get all that, to make all those great and wonderful and right changes, we may have to suck up one compromise. Just one. And that’s letting Zombie FC into the first division. It’s still a humiliation. It’s still a proper punishment. Make no mistake, the team has lost its star players, its lost its ability to play in Europe for three years and, most importantly, all dignity and sympathy along the way. But it’s one compromise we might just have to make. For everyone else. It might stick in our throat, but it might just be the thing that saves this game. Not Zombie FC, but our reaction to it.

Forever Claret and Amber

Ed

VFTES

The Ibrox faithful return to the First Division

The SPL In Crisis – Mainstream Media Add Fuel to the Fire

Season tickets and Well Society

In an unprecedented move, Motherwell FC have put the fate of the club in the hands of the fans. Often football fans claim that the club is “theirs” and the current owners/board are nothing more than “custodians”, and, in the case of Motherwell FC it seems to be more the case than in most. Following the Barcelona model, Motherwell FC have asked their fans to own the club, and as a result The Well Society was formed – where fans can help finance and have a say in the running of the club. A great idea on many levels, but few foreseen the first act of The Well Society being one which would rock Scottish Football to its very core – being given the vote for MFC to decide whether The Rangers FC or “newco” would be allowed entry into the SPL after the death of its rotten old granny RFC.

It’s a huge decision. One which is without a winner, in many aspects, and one which is in turn easy and impossible at once. To help with the decision it is of course reasonable to have all the facts, and again, Motherwell FC made another very bold move and put our finances our there for all to see and said “Here’s the facts, the pros and cons – now you decide!”

It is indeed a bold and brave move. Fans by their very nature rarely do things through clinical and business like thinking, we do things instinctively, and follow our heart and emotions. But we can’t do that this time. We have to be sure that voting NO for the Newco isn’t about getting it up Rangers, it isn’t about laughing at rival fans in the pub or the work place, and it isn’t about some revenge for a dodgy goal twenty years ago. It has to be done because it’s the right thing to do.

Of course, in the previous blog I talked about the difference between the right thing to do and the best thing to do, and this is very much the case here. Motherwell have lay bare their finances, and warned what will happen if things don’t go their way – and it’s a fair assumption that this will be the case for many of the other clubs in the SPL. Few have benefactors with unlimited resources who can fund principal over business, few have an infrastructure to sustain a nuclear strike. But that is something Motherwell are asking fans to do. For everyone crossing the box “No For Newco” is now required to step up. Everyone who has had a moan, a tweet, a post or a comment about it, now it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Of course, not everyone is able to buy a season ticket, or attend the games and most certainly not everyone has the £300 needed to join the Well Society, but there are plenty of ways to support your local team. And this goes for Celtic fans too. If they want us to back their huge cry for No, then get behind us too. If you stay in Lanarkshire, hire out our facilities for your functions, buy from the Well Shop (which sells neutral sports stuff too) and get behind us. Join our lottery, get your kids up to our training facilities, or buy an MFC gift for a friend. The Well Society membership for children starts at £25 for instance. To Well fans – get your name on our wall, enter the 50/50 draw… anything you can do, even if you live to far from Motherwell to attend the games or you’re skint – is money we will desperately require next year. And this goes for every other club in the SPL. Whoever you support, if you have been advocating the NO vote, then up off your bums and do something.

The document sent to us by Motherwell FC does show a worst case scenario situation – it is not an admission of insolvency by any means – but it is important that everyone knows the severity of a NO vote. However, a NO vote is what we must do to keep the game real. To allow Rangers to enter the SPL again is unthinkable.

And now it seems Stewart Regan and his cohorts, desperate to appease their Rangers friends, are trying to find some kind of parachute loophole that will allow Rangers to enter into the First Division with the SFL being compensated with by the very money we’re so keen to keep. This cannot be allowed to happen either. Yes the whole of Scottish football needs an overhaul and yes some kind of amalgamation with the SFL is necessary, but this is a separate issue from Rangers. It seems churlish to keep banging on about this but Rangers are dead, they liquidated. They don’t exist. Even their Captain, Steven Naismith said “Rangers in that form are gone”, and he and several others are leaving to go elsewhere, so there is absolutely no precedent to allow them into the SPL. By that rule, ANY club from ANY division can apply to join the SPL. Or perhaps we should make a club up and apply? Why not? Hell, this new Zombie Rangers don’t even have the criteria to enter the SFL at Division 3 – and if I were Spartans or Cove Rangers for instance I’d be watching this very carefully, as I would if I were Gretna or Livingston – so there’s no way they should be allowed into the SPL.

But again this means we need to look at how we all support our local teams and what we do about that now.

Motherwell say – “There are clear risks to the financial stability and very future of this Club presented by the current situation.” and this cannot be underestimated. But by no accounts does this statement read “We’re about to go into administration”. Speaking to the fans last night Alan Burrows, head of media at Motherwell, was very adamant. He said: “It’s worth pointing out folks that the Board at MFC have not said insolvency is inevitable in the event if a Newco…it’s likely to see you take a hit financially. Most ‘Well fans I have read have ‘got that’ and haven’t been found wanting previously. We’re moving towards a sustainable fan ownership model and, together, everyone needs to pull together, which we will!”

So Motherwell needs us. Are we ready to step up? Are you ready to step up if you’re an Arab, a Don, a St or a Celt?

We’re either in this together, or not at all.

Forever Claret and Amber

Ed

VFTES

Fever Pitch – The SPL In Crisis

What price integrity?

Summer 2012 will go down in history as the closed season when Scottish Football imploded thanks to the reckless actions of one Club. Cutting clothe, it seems, on the fortunes of others, the smaller SPL teams have found themselves in an impossible damned-if-they-do-damned-if-they-don’t scenario with no positive outcome. As for July 4th Scottish Football will never be the same again.

The Newco application from The Rangers Football Club to the SPL is to be expected, for after all Charles Green is absolutely right and entitled to do what is best for HIS club, but as emotions rise across Scotland, fans are saying more than ever, it’s not a case of doing what’s best, it’s a clear case of doing what’s right. Best for the SPL, of course, is a strong and vibrant Old Firm on which the rest of us, like ramora fish on the back of Great White Sharks, can feed, but we no longer have a strong and vibrant old firm, because, as of last week, Rangers died. There’s no pleasure, cutting through the rhetoric and football banter, in seeing an institution die in a web of indignity and humiliation, but it has happened. Not will happen, not could happen, has happened.  Rangers is an ex-club. It is no more. It’s gone to meet its maker.

As a result, the tsunami of aftershocks will resonate through football for ever. Things have changed completely and terribly. The carcass of this particular Great White is sinking slowly to the bottom of the sea, and us little ramora are still picking at its remains, but, before long, it will be gone, and we will have to find a new way to feed ourselves.

Luckily, that decision is in our hands, and what we do on the 4th of July, ironically Independence Day, will be one of the most important decisions ever made in the history of Scottish Football.

Naturally the Clubs themselves are cagey on whether or not they are or will vote for Rangers’ reanimated corpse to lurch its way back into the SPL, caught as they are in an impossible position. To vote the Newco back would see a backlash from fans from all clubs, but, perhaps, a slim chance of financial stability from Gates and TV revenue. But Voices from the East Stand’s survey suggests otherwise, in as much as everyone we asked a very simple question gave us a very straight answer –

To Celtic fans, themselves a source of huge gate revenue for Motherwell FC, equal to if not greater than Rangers – if the Motherwell board voted in favour of a Newco, would you boycott Fir Park?

The answer was fervent and adamant. In less that 12 hours 212 fans had replied to us. Only one said “no”. Many were speaking of multiple tickets, taking as they would their family or friends with them.

Joseph Casey said “Yes, MFC would not deserve my money,” 007bhoy added “Yes, and permanently at that,” to which Martin O’Donnell added “Yes, and I’d never be back”. Reckoner 1888 enforced this with “Yes, if new RFC get into the SPL after old RFC’s cheating, I won’t pay a penny to any club ever again,” and Carlos Rankin said “Yes, I will boycott any team that votes  yes.” Michael Spence makes the point – “Would Well rather lose one new club’s or ten other club’s fans, plus some Well fans?” and Michael Main says poignantly ” Actually, I’d give up on Scottish football if this isn’t dealt with properly. Would break my heart.”John D says: ” I will never be at Fir Park again and I will personally make sure no one else from the Celtic Family is.” Jim McMil15 makes a good point that – “I think I speak for a number of celts, Id pay more 4 a ticket 2 cover the fake losses from no huns rather than a newco”, which is an interesting and generous move, and, resignedly Sean O’Hara adds ” i would never been seen there, to support cheating tax evasion and let them off scot free, its not on mate”.

These messages go on and on, so from our little straw poll we reckon at least six hundred fans – who regularly go to Fir Park – would boycott the games. This is of course just the guys on Twitter, so it’s not unreasonable to think it would be considerably more. If even 1000 Celts stayed away that equates to £50,000 loss of revenue in gates alone per season for Motherwell FC.

Perhaps more worrying is the reaction of Motherwell Fans to the same question. All bar two replied that they would also boycott Fir Park if the Board voted Newco back into the SPL, and not without a lot of hearts breaking. Cool Dog says optimistically ” I vote to not let them back in , simple reason is if they get voted in then Scottish football will become a joke. The league will get stronger and eventually the clubs will improve and there will me more good Scottish boys coming through”. Bruce Jamieson makes the perfect point in: ” If 30 pieces of silver is worth more than the integrity of the club then I’ll find it very hard to support the club in the future.Thing that gets me about this Rangers debacle if the shoe was on the other foot would they give a toss about us? would they balls! ” and our old friend Wee Kaz tweets us – ” I would have to consider if I’d boycott fir park…” but…”…  I think I would boycott the well society. Why pay money to folk who don’t listen to their fans.”

For Motherwell FC fan words are God at the moment, as Chief Executive Leeann Dempster tries to drum up support for the Well Society. She has to keep fans onside, as the collapse of that particular initiative would be as devastating as anything else for the club, as it has raised in excess of £250,000 in revenue through the very fans who are now sp adamant in their condemnation of the Newco. Without the fans’ backing, there IS no Well Society.

It’s a very clear situation that, of course, we now have to look at how the Club is run and where finance comes from. As the boys at Fir Park Corner pointed out, initiatives are there to be found, and it means all Steelmen (and all supporters of all clubs) must “do their bit”. We should be having our post and pre match pints in the Club bars, organising our social events using their facilities, coming along to games when perhaps we normally wouldn’t, and, of course, in Motherwell’s case, joining the Well Society if we can at all do so. We may have to lose a big name or two, but Motherwell FC work on that principle anyway. Stuart McCall was told when he became our boss that his remit was “a good cup run and sell a player a season”. We’ve not actually done that for two, but with our budget for players already reduced by £200,000 even with our Champions League adventure, the eyes fall on Gordon Youngs relatively successful 19s to supply us with the next generation. But perhaps that’s the rub? With all clubs cutting cloth, can  perhaps losing Rangers be, in the long run, a good thing?

As clubs in the short term have to downsize and change finances, at least to some extent, then perhaps the emergence of new Scottish talent, as begun with Bosnam, will create a National Team with a bit more bite? Grass routes football in countries like Germany and Holland have produced world beating teams, rather than the Scottish model of buying in the talent, so perhaps this is the forced sea change we require?

SPL Clubs of course, are rightfully wary. Our Sky TV deal is worth millions and whilst Sky admit ‘If Rangers are not in the SPL, that would change things for us, naturally. It would leave a quality hole in Scotland’s top division. Competition would deteriorate and, in that event, we would have to renegotiate.” they also say very strongly “Sky has never, ever discussed pulling out of covering Scottish football. We have not discussed that possibility, either with the SPL or any other footballing authority. Nor has that been on the agenda for consideration within Sky, despite all the problems and difficulties being faced by Scottish football at present.” So the TV money seems to be safe for now.

Only Kilmarnock Chairman Michael Johnstone has shown publically any sympathy for Rangers, probably making enemies out of the entire SPL in the process with the bizarre statement – “You have got to be very careful not to come in too heavily with penalties and points deductions or financial penalties going forward which actually put people off investing in that club and trying to make it healthy.How many more penalties should be piled on top of a club that is trying to recover from a desperate situation and a group of people who have no part to play in the bad things that have happened in the past?” but everyone else is a little more wary. Hearts seem too to be sympathetic with director Sergejus Fedotovas, saying: “Justice is very important but lessons learned are more valuable. Rangers’ situation has shown certain problems and many clubs see punishing Rangers as the most important objective. Scottish football should not be narrow-minded and should not put all focus on the punishment, but address the roots of the problem. Some problems are personal to individual clubs but there are a lot of systematic problems that should be addressed by acting together.”

Motherwell FC ourselves have warned very strongly of the impact of losing Rangers – in our statement we claim: “Motherwell FC are in the process of arranging a forum to discuss the issue with supporters of the club. Following that meeting, the board will meet and agree the club’s position and ultimately how we will vote if the meeting takes place as planned. The ‘Newco’ issue is often portrayed as a straight choice between preserving sporting integrity and clubs accepting a reduction in gate money together with potentially a significant amount of commercial revenue. In reality it is far more complex than that. We are fully aware that an overwhelming majority of our fans and most others, who have so far expressed an opinion, are totally opposed to ‘Newco’ being allowed immediately back into the SPL.” and our Manager warns in an email to fans – “Reduce the budget and we naturally have to reduce the quality of player that we can bring to the club. A ‘lesser’ player equates to a ‘lesser’ product on the park for supporters. As much as we want to win football games, we also want and have a duty to entertain and give value for money. Our better players are being drained away from the SPL. Massively reduce what we spend and that is exacerbated even more. I think it would also have a serious implication to the people who work for the club off the park too. I’ve only been here eighteen months but even in that time, I can see for myself some of the great strides that have been made by the club and those that run it day-to-day to make it more fan-friendly, to improve communication and administration, to better community links, to improve the youth infrastructure and that can only happen with the budget we have currently. Reduce the budget to the level predicted and, unfortunately, a great deal of what you come to expect from your club on a day-to-day basis becomes very difficult to maintain.” but is adamant that: “Yes, I was a Rangers player and enjoyed my time at the club but my focus is on Motherwell FC. I would be saying the exact same thing if Celtic were in the same situation and again, I have gone on record as saying that. I just want what is best for Motherwell Football Club!”

The situation is an impossible one. Whilst trying to cling on to the corpse of Rangers the SPL clubs are in danger of missing the bigger picture. It’s easy for fans to say we much cut our cloth – and it’s easier for a team like Celtic who don’t rely on a 30% income from other clubs to be brave about it – but we’re not the ones keeping people in jobs and paying mortgages with those wages. However, as I keep saying, it’s not us, or you, who has done this, it’s Rangers, and, despite what we all might want, it’s already happened. This is no different than if the Old Firm had gone to England.

Scottish Football has changed, and so has how it’s run. We as a smaller club cannot now be reliant on the bigger ones. We have to control our own finances. Luckily, right now, Motherwell do. With over £500, 000 profit last season, £250,000+ from the Well Society (and rising) and Champions League football, we are in as strong a position as we could be to ride this storm. And ride it we must. If we vote the Newco in, we will suffer severe boycotts and sanctions from other clubs, most noticeably Celtic, and our own support will reduce in protest. If we show integrity, dignity and honour, we will gain support, and the SPL will pull together.

We really only have one choice, don’t we?

Forever Claret and Amber

Ed

VFTES

It’s time to make a stand

The Long Way Round – Chronicle – Day Two

Day Two Chronicles

 

The Long Way Round

Before we got to Day Two on the Long Way Round, I have to tell you our evening in Dundee wasn’t without incident.

It must be said that we found the folks at Travel Lodge less than helpful, both in looking for accommodation and also their customer service during our overnight stay. The staff were, to say the least, badly furnished for a busy city centre hotel, and when trying to order food – after a protracted and frustrating check in to what can only be described as decidedly average rooms – we found that their chef wasn’t a chef and that the meals ordered by first myself and my partner then Alisdair and his would have a twenty minute gap because, and I quote “we only have one microwave”, leading us to cancel our order and go elsewhere for food. Bear in mind also that a meal for two (two courses) was £30 and you can see, awful service, awful value for money and a terrible advert for Travel Lodge. For someone who has spent time recently in Holiday Inn’s and Jury Inn’s, this was by far the worst hotel I’ve been in. Alisdair himself – not known for subtly, mincing words or infinite patience – was particularly perturbed by the awful service. I ate some peanuts.

However, eventually we got fed and lay our weary heads down, to rise in the morning to, it has to be said, a far better breakfast in a busier-than-we-thought hotel. Gawd knows what the other guests had done as when we’d originally got there the place seemed empty with only two members of staff on!

But onwards with the Highland leg of The Long Way Round, and we set off early doors for the quick five minute trip from our accommodation to Tannadice and Dundee Utd.

We were met there by Paul Reid – a man many will know from his football impressions and his collaboration with Darren Farley and their song The Seventh Best Team In The World (follow him on twitter @paulreidspeaker), and he was a charming, friendly and attentive host, showing us all around Tannadice. It’s a fine stadium, and the luxury of the Chairman’s office is impressive, as is the nice psychological advantage they give themselves with a massive Utd collage at the players entrance. A fabulous welcome by Paul and Rikki too, we had a great time.

Al, Paul Reid and Ed in Tannadice

Us at the Tannadice Tunnel

Luxury for Stephen Thompson!

Up the road we travelled then to Aberdeen and again we were shown great hospitality, being shown around the ground, the backroom areas and seeing some secrets – for instance, the media board for post match interviews is in a very smelly boot room! We tried hard not to sabotage Mark Reynolds boots. We were lucky enough to chat to a couple of players – including Frazer Fyfie, himself recovering from an injury sustained at Fir Park. Whilst there, we noticed that Johnny Fallon was being photographed with none other than The Scottish Cup, and, thanks to my partner chancing her arm, we were blessed with the opportunity to hold it too! A dream come true for this fan boy. Thanks Lorraine!

The Dandy Dons make us welcome!

Frazer Fyfie joins the cause!

See? Claret and Amber DID lift the Scottish Cup this year!

Onwards across country then to Inverness, behind our deadline now thanks to the hospitality of Utd and the Dandy Dons, so once we got there unfortunately everyone had gone. A quick pic, and we were off, North, to Dingwall, and again we were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the SPL new boys, as we were shown around the ground, given a tour of the work being done to get their stadium to SPL standard, and presented with some goodies for eBay. A quick coffee (Alisdair’s 43683 of the two days, no wonder he was grouchy!) and we sped away, south, to McDiarmid Park and St Johnstone.

SHUT!

Even Terry’s away hame!

Victoria Park welcomes the SPL!

The new stand under construction at Dingwall

A snarl up on the beautiful A9 caused us to lose more time, and we reached Perth way too late for anyone to be around, but we got our photo and headed off home, back to Fir Park just as the skies opened and the rain came down.

Ranald presents us with our Ross Country goodies.

Perth

All in all everyone was fabulous with us. With the exception of Hearts and St Mirren, everyone was where they said they’d be when they said they would be, and for ICT and St Johnstone, it was down to us being behind schedule, not them. Hibs especially were very accommodating, after we went off-route to get to them leading to us being very late, they stayed behind to present us with our signed shirt, which has raised £50 for Sport Relief.

Hame again! Knackered!!!

We did it! And fittingly, under the gaze of Uncle Phil

So that was The Long Way Round. Would we do it again…

Stay tuned… I may do something altogether “different”…

Forever Claret and Amber

Eddie

VFTES

Back where we belong – a little late, but eventually got into Fir Park.

Remember you can still contribute to The Long Way Round – HERE

And catch up on our adventure HERE 

THE LONG WAY ROUND