Motherwell

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Martin Dowden, BBC Sport Scotland

Motherwell chairman Jim McMahon has been talking to the media after the club launched an unorthodox campaign to attract external investment in the club.

Here are the key points from his press conference:

• The club is financially stable for this season and next. Over the long-term they have cumulatively broken even, but want to find sources of income beyond that to de-risk the club.

• McMahon says the social media video, which ends with one young supporter saying, "Taylor Swift, gie's some dosh", is part of a wider strategy and has seen an increase in Well Society members since it was published.

• He added that 10 interested parties have been in touch since the video's release. There was no detail on who the people or investors are, but Motherwell are looking at those approaches.

• To fans who are perhaps embarrassed by the video, McMahon said: “We are not desperate for money. We are financially stable. I don’t see it as begging for money. I’m not embarrassed by it.”

• McMahon says this does not mean the Well Society model is failing and they are not looking to sell the club. Rather he sees the environment as changing in Scottish football with Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs attracting money which makes it more difficult to compete.

• McMahon is not against the idea of a joint-owner who shares the values of the Well Society.

• As it stands, if Motherwell finish 10th in the league without a cup run or a large player sale (a la David Turnbull) there would be a gap between cost and income.

Robbie Mahon has left Motherwell after playing just five first-team minutes, joining League of Ireland's Dundalk.

The 20-year-old joined the Fir Park side in March 2022, earmarked as having "untapped potential" by then-manager Graham Alexander.

But the youngster found minutes hard to come by in North Lanarkshire, spending time on loan with Dunfermline Athletic and Edinburgh City.

Speaking on Mahon's departure, current boss Stuart Kettlewell said: “Robbie has had a very successful personal loan spell with Edinburgh City in the first half of the season."

“He has aspirations to play back home in Ireland and we wanted to ensure that the right move was secured for club and player.

“I wish Robbie the very best with his future career and thank him for his efforts.”

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This one might be fairly obvious...

But regardless, now that the January window is open again, we're asking you the reflect on the summer dealings at Fir Park.

Who has been Motherwell's best summer signing, and let us know how they've made the mark on the team? What have been the highlights of their early months in North Lanarkshire?

Let us know.

Motherwell have launched an unorthodox campaign to attract external investment in the club, pointing to the recent rise in Hollywood stars putting their money into the game.

The fan-owned club say they're hoping to increase the number of Well Society memberships and new sponsors with the film, as well as show their values and work in the community.

Chairman Jim McMahon said: "We have launched a campaign to attract new investment to support the work our club does both on and off the pitch.

"The campaign features a tongue-in-cheek 90-second film, which riffs on the growing trend of US celebs owning UK football teams.

"We're proudly a fan owned club but we are always looking for ways to do more and achieve bigger things. This is a slightly, out of the box approach, but with it, we hope we can increase Well Society memberships or find businesses or individuals whose values align with ours.

"Most football clubs operate at a loss and are only viable through significant annual subsidies from their owners.

"There’s a lot of talk of famous investors from the US right now. So we thought it’d be fun to put our own spin on the theme, to show what we’re all about at Motherwell Football Club.

"Hopefully you can see that we’re a club that goes beyond just the 90 minutes. With things like walking football and mental health support, we’ve always helped the local community to make sure the positive effects of football can be felt off the pitch too.

"We welcome anyone who wants to support a proper community club. Whether that be new additions to the Well Society or new sponsors. And if anyone from Hollywood wants to get involved then we’re all ears."

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There's a reason Blair Spittal has played every minute for Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership this season.

The 28-year-old has been a driving force in the middle of the park, making his mark on a side that endured a disheartening winless run.

His eight goal involvement- three goals and five assists - puts him just outside the top 10 contributors in the top flight so far this term.

He's also right up there in terms of chances created, with only Celtic's Greg Taylor, Matt O'Riley and Luis Palma - as well as top two James Tavernier and Danny Armstrong - ahead of the Motherwell man.

It's not only in an attacking sense the midfielder is contributing, having won back possession on 142 occasions. There's just five players in the division who boast a better success rate, with St Mirren's Alex Gogic leading the way.

Midfielder Barry Maguire has returned to Motherwell following his loan spell with Kidderminster Harriers.

The Fir Park academy graduate spent the second half of last season with Dundee and featured three times for Well in the Viaplay Cup group stage this term before the spell down south.

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Motherwell interim CEO Derek Weir has addressed a range of issues including performances on the field, arguing that Motherwell could not afford to change their manager each time they had a bad run, and that players were behind Stuart Kettlewell throughout their recent 15-game stretch without victory.

Here were some of the main takeaways from the lengthy club video, external.

On transfers

With the departures of Brodie Spencer, Pape Souare and Conor Wilkinson, Weir says the club have more flexibility in the transfer market.

“We are hoping that by the end of this transfer window we have some new faces in and some players back from injury,” Weir said.

On club finances

Weir insisted “the club is absolutely not in financial difficulty” and would have money in the bank at the end of the season, after departing chairman Jim McMahon said the club needed “significant investment”.

But Weir admitted a significant part of recent transfer income, including the £3.25m fee for David Turnbull, had been spent.

On financial comparison to Kilmarnock

Weir defended player turnover as “not out of line” with other clubs and responded to analysis of the club’s recent spending. Motherwell’s staff costs went up 60% in five years and were £6m higher than Kilmarnock over the first six years under fan ownership.

“I don’t know anything about the Kilmarnock cost base but I don’t think they spend as much on pitch maintenance and training grounds as we do. That’s fairly obvious,” Weir said.

“Also during the period that’s been talked about, they were relegated at one point. So that was likely to impact the cost base.

“And you are not always comparing like with like. Some clubs for example, if you take match day staff, account for that as staff costs and other clubs put it through as supplier costs.”

On investment

Weir believes Motherwell should welcome a new investor to work alongside the majority shareholder, the Well Society, which has raised close to £2m in fan contributions, in order to build an element of risk into spending plans.

“We would like someone who is a Motherwell supporter, works with our fan-owned structure, and just provides a better element of financial security,” Weir said. “And that is really what Jim was saying.”

On pitch and stadium costs

Weir says the club’s recent installation of a new £1.2m pitch “had to be done” because the old pitch “stopped draining” and added: “We will recover some of the money because the maintenance costs are certainly down.”

He admitted the club had made mistakes over the resulting work that was done to the John Hunter Stand, which affected views and displaced season ticket holders, and that subsequent remedial work was necessary to get a safety certificate.

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Jenna Thomson, Motherwell fan

With the Scottish Premiership on pause for the winter break, it's time a take a step back and assess Motherwell's season to date.

Season so far: 5/10

Motherwell started the season in promising form, and there are always hopes of a top-six finish in the opening weeks of any campaign. We kept that buzz alive until St Mirren at home in September when a 1-0 defeat sparked a dismal 15-game winless run that only ended at the end of December.

Best Player: Mika Biereth

When Kevin van Veen departed there was a concern we wouldn’t be able to find someone anywhere near his level, but then Mika Biereth arrived at Fir Park. The Arsenal loanee has six goals and five assists in the league, and has been vital in keeping us away from Livingston at the bottom.

Most disappointing player: Bevis Mugabi and Stephen O'Donnell

Frequent errors from O’Donnell and Mugabi have cost us goals and in some cases even games. O'Donnell has also been played out of position down the left a few times which has left us far too exposed.

Manager rating: 6/10

I have been critical of Kettlewell the past few months, but I did always say sacking him won’t solve our issues. He has taken us from a team on the brink of relegation, to competing for Europe, to facing a relegation battle. Overall, I would have to rate his performance based on this season alone as a 6/10 due to the different issues we’ve had in the background.

Predicted finish:

If things continue the way they do I can see us finishing ninth or 10th, but if we are able to replicate our recent performances against Livingston and Hibs we could push for sixth.

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Motherwell's interim chief executive Derek Weir has given an update to supporters regarding the club's search for a permanent CEO.

Weir replaced Alan Burrows on a short-term basis last year, and he is confident an appointment will be made "by the end of March".

"We are speaking to some people," he said. "There's a number of different moving parts to that, with their current positions, what they do, but we are in active discussions with people.

"We are trying to target people who have no connection with the club, somebody with a fresh perspective. We are trying to identify strong candidates; these people tend to be in roles currently.

"I would like to step down by the end of March, and I think it's realistic we can have someone in place in that timescale."

Former Motherwell striker Kevin van Veen is not on Rangers' radar, despite the Groningen forward claiming the Ibrox club still want to sign him despite him rejecting them last summer. (Daily Record)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.

There's nothing like a new year's derby day win.

On 6th January 2007, Motherwell fans were celebrating just that as they took on Airdrie in the first competitive meeting between the sides since the original Airdrieonians fell into bankruptcy.

That extra layer added even more bite and stakes to a fierce Scottish Cup contest, meaning Richie Foran's winner meant even more to raucous travelling support at the Excelsior.

The hosts piled the pressure on as the clock ticked down, but the Steelmen held on to ensure safe passage into the fourth round.

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After a "scary" journey left Motherwell's visit to Aberdeen untenable last month, a new date for the fixture has been announced.

Stuart Kettlewell's side will now head to Pittodrie on Wednesday 14 February, with kick-off at 19:45 GMT.

The reverse fixture provided plenty of action at the start of November, with the visitors prevailing in a 4-2 thriller at Fir Park.

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