Motherwell held AGM 117 at Fir Park on Tuesday evening. The manager and chairman faced lots of questions.
This year the AGM running order was flipped on its head with the manager carrying out his Q&A before the discussion with the board re finances as he was obviously keen to watch the Linlithgow Rose v Raith Rovers Cup tie!
Stevie Hammell confirmed that he realised he was taking on a tough task in charge and that matches over the next few weeks will be physical encounters. There should be a couple of ins and outs before the windows closes.
It is envisaged that Max Johnston (on the hope he will sign a new contract ) & Euan Wilson (currently on loan at Albion Rovers) can be our full backs of the future and that Shane Blaney has essentially been carrying out a pre-season without weather-cancelled reserve matches to achieve fitness before making his debut at Arbroath.
On the injury front, Joe Efford is about 5 weeks away whilst Nathan McGinley’s issue is longer term - injury updates are limited as some players and agents have issues about disclosure and incorrect information being made public to the point that two players in England have sued their clubs over this. Ross Tierney has been short of match time as he is seen as a Number 10 that needs two destroyers in midfield behind him and it is hoped that Stuart McKinstry can get his wish and stay at the club for as long as Leeds will sanction.
The manager also confirmed that his players know he is not just a Mr Nice Guy and can ‘flip’ in training sessions and dressing rooms when required.
Jim McMahon And Alan Burrows went on to advise and discuss that this year's £1m loss would be higher next year barring a long Cup run or player sale and that we are at a crossroads as regards plugging this size of shortfall in the coming years. The plan to resolve this is by going to a wider audience to promote our club values, ethics and ideology in the hope of attracting a company or individual either local or worldwide who buys into our ethos and would be willing to inject regular cash to cover shortfalls a la Hearts/Ross County.
The new pitch should cut the annual summer cost outlays by 90%, it is increasingly difficult to attract players from England especially in January as shown with Matt Penney when the two clubs agreed a season-long loan but the player wanted 6 months, and it is hoped that our next crop of young stars are being brought through as a consistent squad as Stephen Craigan did with Turnbull/Campbell/Hastie etc.
(Many thanks to Christopher for the report)