by This is an extract from this week’s Claret and Amber Alert, Motherwell’s free newsletter written by Graeme McGarry which goes out every Thursday at 6pm. To register, click here.
Basically, this week’s news that the club is Heading Non-binding Terms with a family based in the United States, hasn’t changed my view of a potential investment, or hasn’t really changed the situation yet.
I, like many others I would say, am not completely against the idea of external investment, but it all depends on how much the club would have to give away to secure it. My red line would be to surrender the ‘Well Society’s’ major shareholding, but I also doubt giving away any shareholding in the club unless it was in exchange for a commensurate level of investment.
So far, we do not officially know what the figures are, in terms of the level of investment planned, or the identity of the investors.
So, until those two points are clarified, there is little to go on in terms of assessing whether this would be a good thing for the club or not.
A few notes of caution though. There is no doubt that the outgoing chairman, Jim McMahon, is a Tobar na Máthre man, and will – I’m sure – want to leave a legacy at the club when he retires in the summer.
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However, I hope his desire to demonstrate the success of the investment video he envisioned, and personally funded, does not cloud his judgment, and does not even push this to the end . unless it is in the long term interest of the club.
There is also some confusion here about his mandate to do so. Of course the executive board has a duty to seek investment if they think the club needs that, but since the ‘Well Society’ board was not directly involved in this process it suggests that something some of the tail wagging the dog.
The ‘Well Society, let’s not forget, are the owners of the club, and their statement on Thursday evening separating themselves from this process gives a lot of doubt on their part regarding the possible deal.
This is a democracy, of course, and just as the Society’s members voted to maintain investment openness, they will ultimately be asked to ratify whatever is in this market. This is where it will be crucial to clarify exactly what any investment will mean for the club and its future.
I suspect that many of the members who did not vote on that first point will fight more when there is something concrete to consider, and something that could affect the future of the club, for better or for worse.
There may be many who will see the promise of foreign investment and think that more money can’t be a bad thing, perhaps, but of course there are a litany of cautionary tales throughout the recent history of the Scottish game to ensure that there is a warning.
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Investment can be a good thing, and the board of ‘Well Society’ itself has said that they are encouraged by the noise coming from the potential investors that they want to work with the Society rather than discarding it.
So let’s proceed with an open mind, but also with a healthy dollop of skepticism. The devil will be in the details.
AND ANOTHER THING…
With the direction of the club off the pitch being the main topic of conversation over the past week, I noticed a lot of discussion as the fans filtered out of the Cooper Stand last Saturday about what they had just seen on it, and the direction of the team .
This is not a criticism of Stuart Kettlewell at this particular time. His top priority is survival, and the harsh reality is that until Motherwell’s Premiership status is sealed, fans may have to accept that the football may not be the prettiest in always.
Teams are coming off every point at this point in the season, playing for the top six, European football or just to stay in the division, so no one expects tiki-taka to break out.
That said, the quality on display at the weekend was often poor, despite the teams showing good fighting spirit to come back and get a point against St Mirren. And often, I think, games that turn out in such an abrasive way can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This point is not specific to Motherwell. You hear managers say it all the time. We are playing St Mirren, they are physical, so it will be a battle. Oh, we’re going to Livi or Killie, it’s a plastic pitch, this will be about winning the second ball.
I would have loved to hear more about how a team was going out with the intention of playing well, passing the football and imposing their identity on the opposition, rather than accepting being dragged down to their perceived level. .
Easier said than done, and perhaps a bit naive or even idealistic. But football, despite what Bobby Williamson once famously said, is in the entertainment business. If we’re paying 26 quid to watch it, maybe we’d be entitled to set our expectations higher than last weekend’s fare.
