Are the good times just around the corner?
Hi, GLF‘ers
After the most horrendous run I can remember watching Motherwell we at last halted the desperate slide towards the Division where the Dons are headed by slicing off Medusa‘s other head - yes, the win at Crisis Park was sweet was it not!! All the optimism that sprung up after going two away matches in the league unbeaten rapidly diminished with the sort-of run which makes for sleepless nights, but now, please, let us have turned the corner to good times!!
To lose six games in-a-row, the worst record I can ever remember Motherwell having in the sixteen years I have been following the Well, is a hard thing to take, though I feel Eck can‘t possibly be blamed for having so many people out injured or suspended. Of those six matches, really only Tannadice and Rugby Park had me completely raging. Against Hearts, we had the possession but Buff going off showed how much we do miss him and his influence, Hearts only had four shots the entire match on target. At Kilmarnock, the team were guilty of taking their foot off the pedal, as we had killie by the jugular at 1-0 then found ourselves chasing a lost cause after the break. As for Tannadice, that was one of the worst performances ever - if I turned up at work and had a day like that I‘d be on the dole the next morning. Then we had Aberdeen at Fir Park, were so wracked by absent players that we had to field an untried trialist who had no luck whatsoever, and Windyass managed to gain an completely undeserved winner for them. Next, McDairmid, the last half-hour was the best excitement-wise for ages, I sat at 0-4 and thought there was no way we should be in that position, we hadn‘t been performing that badly and within 12 minutes proved that. However, we suffered once again from Bawldy Bottom in the last minute when the most obvious penalty claim of them all went ignored. At home to Kilmarnock, a complete smash‘n‘grab act by them, though we couldn‘t have scored all day had we tried. Admittedly we lost our entire midfield within 30 minutes so that cost us dear. Park head, oh you just live for days like that. Everyone in the whole world put their cash on Celtic, only we Motherwell fans knew that Scotland and Motherwell mean the same thing - unpredictability. Having survived the opening 30 minutes bombardment with a defence right out of nursery and Kung-Fu Blinker, we scored a belter from Lee‘s arse and went on to secure the match thanks to some brilliant keeping (Woodsie, you are a hero), great defending, good work by the midfield, and great effort from the strikers. Great to see Dougie back, by the way. And Saturday, particularly the second-half, was sweet indeed. When have we ever made any team look so ordinary ever? Rangers had no excuse, with 12 Internationalists to choose from we were still effectively facing a daunting task, yet the lads came out, rolled the sleeves up, and let them know we are worthy of Premier Football. What we need now is to do this every match, especially against Hearts and United.
A number of things sprang up over the past few weeks which made my blood boil and I am sure a good few others as well were less than pleased. Paul Lambert‘s return to Scotland really left me with a bitter taste in the mouth. I can understand the reasons behind him and his family wanting to come back, but the way Celtic went about it all, and how Dortmund were able to cream almost £2 Million for a player they shelled out a plane ticket on is an absolute disgrace. Far as I can remember, we laid out almost £300,000 to land Lambert back in 1993, we gave him a great platform to launch his career on and he made it into the Scotland squad thanks to Motherwell FC. I feel a certain amount of sympathy for Paul, he has been honest with everyone in his reasons for returning, though I couldn‘t help but feel he looked so unhappy at Celtic Park on Saturday even before kick-off. Did Rob mean per week or per year, and why ask an unreasonable amount of money when it was obvious Motherwell FC couldn‘t pay it?
You got the feeling Celtic were hanging off and hanging off until it was certain Motherwell would pick up nothing out of the deal. I read about Rob McKinnon telling Motherwell to shut up, he went on about how if the Well had offered a few thousand more both would have stayed. If there‘s one thing we don‘t want at Fir Park, it‘s greedy, self-centred players out for themselves. Anyone who signs for us must do so not just for money, that‘s obvious. McKinnon forgets we also give him his big break in the game, we put him in the shop window and gave him the chance for a big move. Again, we lost out in a big way, so he has the cheek to tell our club to shut up and get on with it. For a club with little money, we must pursue any avenue that could lead to recouping some money back on what have been large investments on our part. The ruling should be something along the lines of if a player ever returns to the country of origin then the club which lost out should be entitled to something, even if it is only the original transfer fee paid, or, if a younger player, then a percentage based on appearances or whatever. The current system just favours the top clubs once again.
Did anyone else notice the coverage Jackson got when he made his return in the Celtic fourth team? With all due respect to anyone who has had to face an operation like that, why on Earth did both ScumTV and the BBC send a camera team up to Ross County just because he was making his come-back? Not only that, but every reserve match he played in the had a radio report on it or a camera there. Who is interested in this, I know even Celtic fans cringing because of that garbage. The press are going overboard with their coverage of the Old Squirm, I mean this week, back page news is all about FatMan pissing all over one of his fellow ugly blokes‘ legs. In a wee corner somewhere a bit on Motherwell pursuing the Finnish International Tuomela. Now tell me, which is more important - these press people are such sad gits, aren‘t they? People are more interested in real action, real stories, not about the latest piss-up at Castle Greyskull!!
And, of course, we have our ”new• board in charge. I wonder how many other GLF readers feel the changes are merely cosmetic. We have Alan Dick on board, to many people he is Mr Motherwell as he is rarely out of Fir Park at a decent hour, and for experience is a good addition to the Board, though he does not bring any cash into the club (not a substantial amount anyway). Matt Thomson is a also a worthwhile addition, I have a feeling in the long run he will prove to be more than a bit-player in the future of Motherwell Football Club. But the others, Bill Dickie, is not what you would call a positive addition. I mean, just after being appointed ”Chairman• he comes on TV and says the club will not survive relegation, that we are all but doomed - great morale-boosting words at a time of trouble for the club. He is also far from approachable, whereas other Chairmen at other clubs make themselves available for the fans on a regular basis. And Jamie Chapman, I don‘t know the man but people tell me there is little if any change their either. Now, if those on the Board are not happy with what is being said by the fans, then why don‘t they come out and tell us exactly what the picture is, what they want for the sale of the club: at the end of the day, all we want is the truth. And, of course, it still creates a degree of uncertainty over everyone connected with Fir Park‘s future. There is speculation connecting Eck with Pittodrie, and I for one hope that he does not go. Eck is, I repeat, doing a great job with what is available, the problems are not with him, they are higher than that.
Anyway, after our great start we find ourselves sitting second bottom as I write, but had this been two weeks ago I would not have been so buoyant. We have proved we are good enough to be there, the lads thrive on our backing, so lets repeat the terrific backing we gave the Well at Parkhead (oh, what a joy!!) and at Fir Park v Greyskull - anything is possible. Remember - WE are the Motherwell FC!!!!
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