MOTHERWELL FC: IT'S BEEN A WHILE...

Having done a power of writing for various outlets over the last month or so, I have ended up neglecting the place where it all began, my blog. Today, seems about the right time to get back in to the blogosphere and get my own thoughts and opinions across on a few things that my other work doesn't allow or give me opportunity to.

Having split myself between my media role at Motherwell FC and my STV blog/column on the Elite Ice Hockey League, I have been slowly building and building a firm body of work to project me to where I want to be. There's nothing wrong with being a Business to Business phone salesman, but writing and commentating and commenting on sports is what I want to do, and by and large, I am doing the right things to get me there.

It's just taking ages.

The experience that I am gaining from it is immense though. While not claiming to be bezzie mates with any of the players at MFC, the majority of the first team are aware of who I am and what I do, and the occasional head nod or "alright" from them in passing still has me feeling like a fan. Even though my current Well heroes are mainly younger than me, I still feel like 10 year old me, the wee boy that would clamber to the front of the East Stand to get Dougie Arnott's autograph on my programme or show Stevie Woods the unflattering caricature I had drawn of him waving to the crowd, while the ball whistles past him.

From a "professional" point of view, writing match reports, programme reports, player profiles etc is really bringing on my writing to where I want it to be. I've always been good with words (if not typing) and while some things can seem somewhat repetitive (there's only so many words you can use for "kick" without using the actual word "kick" in a sentence describing a shot at goal), my turn of phrase is getting better and hopefully that comes across in the reports that go up after games and in to the programme.

Commentary is not something I'd really given much thought to when I came on board at MFC. It was something I was always willing to do, but due to a slight speech impediment (can't roll my Rs) wasn't sure I'd be able to pull it off to great effect. When the opportunity arose in January, in a 1-0 defeat to Inverness, I grabbed it with both hands, despite my Jamie Oliver tongue, and have not looked back since. I absolutely love doing it.

I often feel like the boy in Father Ted that presents the Euro Song show, an alcoholic, stuttering, slavering wreck until the curtain goes up and then he is the consummate professional. As soon as Graham "The Mouth of Motherwell" Barnstaple, my co-commentator, puts us on air, I seem to change from my usual low Lanarkian-Weegie drawl, to a slightly clearer sounding, more annunciated Lanarkian-Weegie timbre. Hopefully the MFCTV subscribers are becoming accustomed to my voice and mannerisms when they tune in, as I appreciate, Graham and I can be somewhat of an acquired taste.

(I've also yet to get my own Broadcast Pseudonym, "The Mouth" fit's Graham well, not just from his ranty ways, but now that he is Chairman of the Well Society, his words come with some sort of authority I guess.)

We have built up a great camaraderie on air, which I believe helps the flow of the broadcast, and is helping me to find my broadcast voice in this capacity. having dabbled in podcasting last season, my main worry was that I wasn't speaking clearly enough to really embark upon such a road, but with almost a year of doing MFCTV comms, it's is a great string to add to my bow.

This weekend sees the MFCTV team travel to Inverness to broadcast from the Tulloch Stadium, for a game that may be quite a toughy for The Well. With ICT in fine form, and the Steelmen somewhat struggling, I very much doubt there will be a repeat of the 4-1 win over the Caley Jags that I missed while in Malta. Likewise, I am not so confident in a repeat of our jaunt up the A9 last season, where we stole a win from El Tel's side.

Had I been on comms for that game, I very much doubt I'd have been asked back. Having ventured up to Inverness with my mates on the Friday, to say i was fragile on the Saturday was an understatement. Being far from a hardened drinker, a night of Jaeger-Bombs and JD and Cokes, were probably correctly followed up by just having to do a match report and Twitter updates on the game.

It meant i didn't have to talk to anyone with the risk of vomiting on them, and it meant I could keep my emotions in check, reducing movement and the risk of emptying at the other end. As the game played out, with Keith Lasley scoring from the Moray Firth and Tom Hateley lashing in a late free kick for the winner, I'm pretty sure I'd have ruined the Glensound Radio Unit, as I exclaimed that we'd won.

Perhaps not the most professional moment of my sports writing to date, but an experience nonetheless. The same pilgrimage is being made this weekend and I am stating now, that i will not be in a similar state come kick off on Sunday....

It's an important game for The Well, as the pressure begins to mount after some not so great results. It can be argued that we are going through an unlucky spell, what with the Hibs debacle, losing to a late goal versus Dundee United and only netting one in 18 attempts against Dundee last time out. The luck has got to change at some point. Some have said that we are due to give a team a roasting, but having already beaten the form team in the SPL 4-1 at Fir Park, I doubt a hiding will be delivered this weekend. I'd be happy with a draw.

The one thing that I would ask for is a goal, any kind of goal, from Henrik Ojamaa. He's cutting about in games just now like the "Little Engine That Could" bursting his Estonian arse for the side to create, but he just can't find the net himself. It has been over twenty games since we last saw the pistols, and I for one would love to be doing my best Mick Foley impression on Sunday. It was on the tip of my tongue at St Johnstone and again when he hit the post and bar against United, and I pray that I can shoot the soundbite out properly this weekend.

The players have received a fair bit of stick on forums and whatnot throughout this poor spell and I think that is indicative of the situation that we have found ourselves in. Graham mentions it most weeks to me that this generation of Well fans are spoiled, as by and large, barring the administration times, things have been comparably rosy. Regular top six finishes, European jaunts, two Cup Finals (albeit disappointing ones) in the last few years; all a far cry from relegation and bottom of the table battles.

Yes, this season hasn't seen us hit the heady heights of last, and yes we haven't really found replacements for Craigan and Jennings, and it could be argued that certain substitutions have been incorrect or ill timed, but we will come out the end of this. I don't believe at this moment in time that we will be involved in a relegation battle, just as I don't believe that Hibernian and Aberdeen will be able to keep up their good form for the rest of the season. Both of those sides are performing where they "should be" for once, and fair play to them for it. But in my view, I don't think it can last. As the first round of SPL games have been and gone, it shows that any team is capable of taking points off any other this season, in what has been a very open and coupon busting term so far.

You can look at recent results with ifs and buts, but the same conclusion can be made that things just aren't going Well's way at this time, but I don't think it's through lack of effort on the team's part. this is no happy clappy statement, just calling it how I see it.

So for this weekend, get behind The Well in the Highlands so that the journey back down the A9 isn't as grim as what it's forecast to be.

That's probably enough scattergun writing for the time being, cheers for reading.

KJ

Up The Well!