After an International Break, which courted better controversy than displays by Scotland, it’s back to the good old SPL this weekend. The games against Czech Republic and Lithuania did little to set the purple heather alight in terms of the results and the performances, giving the Tartan Army a Victoria Beckham type of slim, slimmest of chances at reaching Euro 2012.
The pundits have latched on to Levein’s statement of “progression” for Scotland under his stewardship, and that the World Cup is now the main aim. The former Dundee United and Hearts manager was hired to guide the nation to next years European Championships, and that should have been his priority. If I was hired to hit a yearly target (which I sort of am) and was failing at that (which I don’t think I am anymore), I would never think of using the excuse that in actual fact, I am preparing for next year’s target.
8 points from 6 games, which before Lithuania was 5 from 5. 97th minute winners against the worst team in the group. Playing Czech Republic with no strikers. Looking for fault in anyone but those in our national shirt and tracksuits. It’s not good enough. The blinkered Scotland fan will look back at the Czech game and claim that as we were “cheated” in a game which would have given us a bit of hope, that is why we are not going to qualify. I believe it stems back to Levein’s appointment.
He was the cheap, safe choice. It is probably testament to his tactical nous that unlike predecessors McLeish and Smith, who had the whole nation excited about our national team for the first time in a while, that no big clubs are trying to prize Craig away from the Scotland set up. While the makeshift team that disposed of the Hearts All-Stars got the job done, the whole game was flat. Fletcher’s penalty miss summed up the atmosphere of Hampden, where as frustrating as not scoring it was, it was kind of just accepted. Naismith took his goal well, Bannan was impressive and Goodwillie ploughed the lone furrow to a decent standard, minus the service form his colleagues and the enthusiasm if the crowd.
The likes of Adam, Brown and Miller were missing, but that is academic. I’m pretty sure the game would still have been a slog with them in the team. It pains me to contemplate that the missing spark, the mark of quality, the game changer was oddly tanned, Turkey disliking, Cardiff striker Kenny Miller. Where’s James McFadden when you need him?
He’s one of three places actually. He’s either on his way to Wolves after knocking back Aberdeen, slaying Dinosaurs in a bid to bring pride back to the national team (according to www.fitbathatba.com and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLWPyfpow2g ) or pumping money in to The ‘Well Society. Two out of three of those have truth backing them, I’ll let you pick which ones.The news that The Fad had reportedly invested some money in to Motherwell’s new Community Ownership project, was one of the highlights of it’s launch on Monday night. Having read a number of reports on it and trying to figure out what it entailed, I’m not going to lie, I’m still trying to get my head around it. Perhaps if I was more financially astute I could figure it out. Despite working with numbers and costs and VAT on a daily basis, my understanding of investment and shares is pretty poor.
In my opinion, I think that Community Ownership is probably a good thing as it should make for some innovative ideas going forward and allows the fans a chance to be able to contribute to the Club they love. If I could afford it, I’d probably chip in as best I could. I’d imagine that there has been a slight surge in EuroMillions tickets sold in Lanarkshire this week, to see if anyone can realistically pump a Romanov amount of money in to our club.
I’d imagine it’s something that crosses a lot of football fans minds, the notion of owning their club and how they would run it. I would not have the first clue on how to do it, so if I had the money, I’d probably pay someone who did to do it, while taking all of the credit. I’d maybe go a bit John Boyle about it and try and invest as much as I could to make Motherwell the true Third Force in Scottish Football, but only if it wouldn’t jade the fans.
Man City for example, have almost all of the world’s economy at their disposal, but the majority of their fans who have seen relegation, struggle and the loss of their original Maine Road are still pretty grounded. They accept that they are possibly one of the richest clubs in the world,but you still see them shuffling in to the Etihad wearing flatcaps and Brother sponsored strips. Their fans don’t seem to feel like they have an entitlement to win every game. Yes, they will get frustrated that a team of such stars may not perform to their best each week, but they accept that.
Compare that to Chelsea, who up until really this millennium, were never really title contenders in the EPL. Now 2 bad results means their boss’s jacket is on a shoogly peg and their fans are pulling on it’s sleeves. They have grown to rely on Abramovic and his oodles of Russian money which I forget the name of, in order to win and compete in the most expensive games in European football and buy the best that world football has to offer.
I’d much rather the fans were content with my investment, while making sure the Club is financially stable and try and bring in at least 1 marquee siging per season, while keeping the focus on Youth Development. No matter how much money anyone ever pumps in to Motherwell FC, we would never have the profile or catchment of fans that the Old Firm have, based on history and heritage.
To that end, the club would need to keep creating it’s own legacy and I’d like to see that done by focussing on the youngsters, giving them the best facilities and training they can get to better themselves. Gordon Young is doing a greta job in bringing through future stars, whether they play for Motherwell or anyone else, and his enthusiasm and eye for a prodigy needs to be encouraged in future coaches as well.
So, yeah, I’d make the club stable, fund them enough to compete every year, give the fans some excitement each year with a big signing and invest in youth. Would this make our league and national team better? Who knows. People complain about a myriad of things that are making the SPL as bad as the Irish League, but maybe if we were more positive about our game as opposed to bashing it all the time, then maybe it wouldn’t seem so bad. These dark days of Scottish Football are only here this season due to Celtic and rangers being out of Europe already.
If the heavy hitters in the Scottish sporting media took off their green and blue specs and looked at how teams like Motherwell, Kilmarnock, St Mirren and more are trying to play the game this season, then they will see the games are not all bad. It may not be as skill packed as La Liga, or as tactically minded as Serie A, but there is still football to be enjoyed up and down the country. The state of our game may look bleak, but the clouds, they are a-clearing.
Motherwell take on Celtic at Parkhead this weekend in a 2nd versus 3rd match, where a Well win would be a major step towards staying up “there” for a decent chunk of the season. They can be beat as St Johnstone proved, but by playing ugly. If we try and play them at football ala the Rangers game, then we may get a hiding. Hopefully not though, so that my latest podcast gives me something to crow about!
My blog is now home to The KJ WellCast, with the first proper episode hopefully being recorded in the aftermath of Parkhead tomorrow. No doubt, links will be free flowing to it all week.
So, thanks for reading and keep your ears peeled in the next few days for some irreverent Motherwell based banter.
Up The Well!!
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