Haven't blogged on The Well for a while due to being super busy with lots of other stuff going on, so I suppose now is as good a time as any for a catch up. Not a lot has changed in the world of Motherwell FC since my last blog, we have fallen to third since losing to Celtic a few weeks back and have re-signed Stephen Hughes, but that's really it.
Despite the Celtic loss, the season has continued in the same vein as it began. We have ground out results away from home, while finding it a little bit tougher at Fir Park. It's hard to believe we are now in to the 2nd round of SPL games, and have only played 3 home games that have had a 3pm Saturday kick off. the opening day win over Inverness, the heavy defeat to St Johnstone and the weekend's draw with Dundee United are the only home games we've had with a traditional kick off, with the rest being lunchtimes, Sundays, Sunday lunchtimes or midweek fixtures. Is it possibel that the change in kick off times week i week out is breaking the team's momentum, therefore resulting in below par Fir Park performances? Probably not, but it certainly makes it frustrating for the fans.
This Friday night sees yet another home game played at an unusual time, when Hibs visit for the secodn time this season. Pat Fenlon's first game in charge of the Hibees will be played under floodlight to a crowd paying an encouraging reduced price, nullifying the whole idea behind Friday Night Football. The experiment is to see if it is a success, but reducing the costs will surely not give the desired answers to that question. From a club point of view, it is a good idea to generate interest in the club, and if it brings a few hundred more through the gates, then it may serve well in the long run, but from an SPL point of view, I don't think it will garner the facts they need to implement it permanently.
Anyone making their way to Fir Park on Friday night, will get a chance to have a look at the "10" artwork, commemroating Phil O'Donnell on the side of the POD Stand. Erected by the MST on Saturday, it has split opinion on it's aesthetics, but just ahving the meorial there has been received positively by the fans. It was rather poignant (at leats I felt it was) that it was put up last weekend, just hours before news broke on the death of Gary Speed.
When Elaine came down the stairs to tell me she had heard some Welsh footballer had died, I was thinking someone a bti older like Neville Southall or John Toshack or even Ian Rush. When I found out it was the Welsh manager, i was taken aback, more than I thought I would be. I quickly put on Sky Sports News and sure enough the ashen faced presenters were intervieiwng former colleagues of Speed, their voices cracking in disbelief on muffled phone lines. I turned over to the Swansea v Aston Villa game and again the commentators had that reverential tone reserved only for tragedy.
Watching the minutes silence, which turned in to a minutes appreciation, it was hard not to have a lump in my throat. Many of the Swansea and Villa players and staff had known or been in contact with Gary Speed at some point in their careers, Shay Given probably the closest to him due to the time they spent at Newcastle. As the players lined up around the centre circle, the emotion running through all of them was tangible. The eulogy the PA man gave to signal the 60 seconds of remembrance, followed by the mascot kicking the ball off the centre circle while all around bowed their heads, to me at least, raised a smile. Not through morbidness or anything like that, but it kind fo embodied the sentiment that every player and manager seemed to emit. Going ahead with the game is what he would have wanted.
The day Phil died, I was relying on Firparkcorner.com and the BBC website to tell me what had happened. I was at work, selling phones to kids and students whose Christmas money was burning mobile shaped holes in their pockets. I had been getting excited every time the goals showed up on the screen, Clarkson having a great game, that would go unseen. The BBC said that Phil had collapsed and was taken to Wishaw general. while rumour and conjecture spiralled on the forums as to his wellbeing. It wasn't until I got in to my mate Jamie's car and got back to our flat, that I found out he'd gone. I was numb and disbelieving that this could happen. It brought back memories of finding out Davie Cooper had died, or even young Andy Thompson, and was brought back to memory when Jamie Dolan and Paul McGrillen departed.
For a generation of Well fans, this was one of the darkest days in the club's history, as the Uncle Phil played such a vital part in one of our brightest. With Gary Speed, his future was just beginning. Every report has listed his achievements, so I'm not going to regurgitate them, but it was his work with the Welsh national team, that was looking to cast his legacy in stone. We'll never know if his influence from his playing days would spark a revolution in the Valleys that would lead them to the World Cup, but he certainly had them on their way, most recently with a 4-1 win over Norway. being drawn with scotland in the qualifiers was soemthing Speed had been vocal about welcoming in the past few weeks, and form all around him, he seemed to be loving life. A life that he took himself.
This is a blog, not a forum for me to go in to my thoughts on suicide, moreso as there are no facts to back up any particular reason as to why he would do it. I can kind of compare it to former wrestler, Chris Benoit. The Candian grappler took his own life, after killing his wife and son about 4 years ago, when he was due to be made Champion on of the WWE's brands. At first, the WWE came out in praise of his attributes and accomplishments, before knowing the ins and outs of his and his family's death. In a complete U-turn, they scrubbed Benoit from their history books and DVDs.
Now I am not saying that Gary Speed was capable of the same thing, but no matter the outcome of the inquest, I will choose to remember him as a footballer over any other attribute he had. While not being a hero as such of mine, someone as well lauded as Gary Speed should be remembered for what he gave to the game we love.
Sorry for bringing everyone down with this by the way, just wanted to get my thoughs out on it.
Anyway, here's to this Friday and another 3 points for the Well!
KJ
