GLF 56:Ricky casts an eye over the season.
Ricky’s Rant
As with all things Motherwell,we’ve again come through the wringer these past few weeks,seen so many ups and downs,but at the end of the day been the better for it.When all is said and done,we’ve still got the Premier team in the district,which we put up with the good and bad days for.
Making the top six is an achievement of immense proportions, and all the more remarkable when you consider what we’ve been through even this season to get there.Money - wise,the difference of upwards of half - a - million pounds will make a massive difference.Perhaps not in transfer fees,but even given the policy Tel has adopted of free transfers,should see results.Motherwell will be able to compete for players on a level with most other SPL teams,and given what Tel and the team have done they should have a spiel to convince people to come to us.Not that there is that much to add to the squad,we’ve more or less everyone signed up for a while to come yet and that sort of consistency will see us good in the end.The recent run of injuries and the unusual sight of a suspension haven’t helped us.This is perhaps where the additional money will help,now we can afford to have a stronger squad with more experience on the bench which will stand us in good stead in the season to come.
Performances have tailed off a bit,and there is always the worry that the season,which promised so much for so long,could end up in a damp squib like last year.Even it if does,I’ll still applaud them for all their efforts for after all,it ain't no sprint.
We’ve more to be proud of than most teams,the past two seasons have seen us go from bottom of the pile without a hope on Earth to a team which is favoured to do something in a cup or perhaps force a higher plane in the league.Lot to come from the youths too,but adding to the squad as a whole is to our benefit.Looking at the younger players,the Under 19's are in with a superb shout of winning their league.That’s testament to the coaching squad at the club.A recent Under 19 game involving Motherwell and Dundee was witnessed by a good few,and the comment which rang around those who watched was “ awesome ”.Despite being mostly younger and smaller than their opponents it was a difference in class akin to night and day between Motherwell and the visitors.This augurs well for the future,but in the immediate we need to strengthen the squad and I’m sure the achievement of Top Six will enable that.On the subject of a dip in form,the Old Boo Boy Brigade has suddenly re - developed it's poisonous voice and can be heard clearly in the stands around the ground.
Forgetting just how far we have come since the dark days of administration,a simple mis - placed pass or,in some cases,merely taking the field of play seems to make certain players fair game to these “ supporters ”.It’s not clever,it’s not big,and it certainly is not an entitlement having “ paid your money ”.The simple essence of support is encouragement; therefore a support-er is an encourage-er.By booing or slating players during warm - ups only serves to help the opposition.Take for example Sean Fagan .In recent matches,since he was restored to the team up at Sheepyville,has played very well indeed and is worthy of his inclusion in the team.Doesn’t stop him receiving a whole load of abuse from those Boo Boys.The club don’t need you ;the fans don’t need you,that’s the real fans I mean.The ones who back the team, encourage the players, and understand what it means to support a team.If around you folk are abusing players,shout them down.They will soon shut up and maybe do what the rest of us do- be constructive, not destructive.
Hearing that auld Wullie Young is retiring almost cheered me up no end,that was until I realised just how many duffers are actually left behind to take up the Refereeing whistle on his behalf.The standard of Refereeing has slumped dramatically in the 20 - odd years I’ve been going to watch the football to such an extent you expect dodgy decisions as a matter of course.Hugh Dallas retiring did disappoint me as he is the best of a horrendously bad bunch,and I certainly will shed no tears over Bawldy Rowbotham packing it in.Ever since we stopped the Huns party on 5th May 1997 it seems like he has never forgiven us.Forced to give us a penalty that day,he must have contemplated solitary isolation for the rest of his days.Well,that was until they did win the title a short while later.We’ve received as many positive decisions from him as there are hairs on his bonce.His incompetence at times was so obvious you could have seen it blindfolded ;yet he was never taken to task by his employers.As for auld Wullie,few who were at Cappielow at the beginning of the CIS Cup run will forget that showing he gave.For virtually the whole match he plodded around the centre circle making decisions based on pure guesswork.Indeed,the award of a late penalty to the home side was perhaps the biggest joke of Young’s entire career.Justice was done with a superb Marsh save, but that didn’t detract from another vile Young display.There are many others who need to swallow their entire whistle,don’t think anyone of us would lose much sleep if Dougal fell off his magic roundabout or McCurry overcooked one day and simply vanished.Then Richmond,more stable than a soggy tea biscuit,with his pathetic performance at Fir Park against the Sheepymehs.Four bookings,not a single bad tackle,and many wonderful free kicks simply underlined just how bad our whistlers are.If they had performance related pay,they’d end up OWING vast fortunes at the end of the season.
More lip service from the Auld Squirm recently,this time the Huns insisting they are to remove the vileness from their stadium.If Murraymint really meant it, that stadium would resemble the days when 5,000 showed up during the 80's.He knows, as well as we do,that his “ club ” and their bigoted brothers across the city rely solely on the money brought in from the religious divide.They do little to discourage it, firstly we hear that a couple of dozen “ fans ” are banned for chanting sectarian songs then it’s due to them “ not sitting down when ordered to at games ”.So,Mr Murraymint,just what are you doing to eradicate this disease from the game ?Do the words “ f*ck al l” mean anything to you ?Stop giving it this heritage crap,you are first and foremost a Scottish club therefore your “ band ” should be striking up either songs directly relevant to the country you play in or the club itself.Then again, do you seriously think that the clowns in control of those musical instruments know any songs which actually contain the name of your club in it ?????
So,as we approach the dreaded close season with no football and many shopping trips to come, hang on to that glimmer of hope in the new season being just around the corner.Look forward to the first week in July, when at last we can contemplate a pre-season friendly or five, with hopefully a few big names to play ( not Stenhousemuir again,please ! )and some places to visit we’ve never been to ( Loftus Road wouldn’t be bad………… ) !
Be a REAL fan,a REAL supporter,and keep supporting the lads !
Forever ‘Well,
Ricky Mullen
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