dunning1874

One thing I did think of there typing '£750K' out several times for that post, and this is maybe an extremely stupid point but I don't know how these things tend to work with foreign investment, I assume the agreement would be based on them spending that value in Pounds rather than them spending what the current equivalent is in Euros? You wouldn't want two years down the line to have seen a massive economic collapse in Europe that means the amount of Euros they invest is actually worth far less than £750K. Similarly I suppose you could once again see a huge spike in inflation in the UK that means £750K is actually worth far less in 2028/29 than it is in 2026, but that's an unavoidable reality with any investment over time regardless of where it comes from.

That's a valid question that needs answered, but at face value with no insider knowledge I wouldn't particularly expect further monetary investment to continue after the first three years and £750K, on the basis that £750K is the price of the shares they're buying and they'll then have bought them. Maybe I'm wrong about that and more money would flow in, but if my guess is right then while they could at that point stop providing the services they value at £150K annually for free as well, that would strike me as cutting their nose off to spite their face. Once they own 35% of the club and have sunk £750K of actual money in, it's in their interest to see the club do well so the value of those shares increases, in the absence of having access to anything to asset strip with Cappielow remaining wholly in MCT's hands. If £150K a year is being diverted away from other areas of the budget then that's less to spend on improving the infrastructure of the club or putting a better team on the park. All the clubs they have a stake in having continuing free access to the facilities they provide seems to be the whole point of their "horizontal model" exercise (the LinkedIn speak does make me want to throw up any time I quote any of it, but it makes sense in this case).

It seems huge to me, putting the overall value of the club without Cappielow at over £2.1M. The detail is going to be important here in terms of safeguards, eg is the full 35% shareholding being delivered immediately on the deal being signed, what recourse does the club/MCT have if there's a default on some of that £750K versus the agreed payment schedule, but I'm cautiously seeing nothing to immediately dislike about this while needing more information to be fully convinced.

We do have a pretty nasty run of fixtures coming up after Airdrie. A six game run where the three home games are against the top three with the three away games being Ayr, Raith and Dunfermline. League results have still been good under Murray despite yesterday, 8 points from 5 is solid and gives you confidence that we can win a couple of those. If we pick up points at the same rate and take 16 from the remaining 10 games that'll be really good and enough to see us comfortably somewhere between 5th-7th, but we could really do with a win over Airdrie now to build a huge gap between us and them before hitting that run of games.

Aye, bang in line with the halfway line I only suffered smelling it once in the first half but there were some people moving around to get away from it saying it was going on all game.

You could fairly give man of the match to any of the back four despite being a game we dominated and all of their best contributions being in possession, all of them were superb, but Wilson was so good it was genuinely funny. I said before the game that I'd move him back to midfield because we all know he's better there but it's extremely hard to move him when he was that good. It was like prime Pique, he could just waltz around someone pressing him like they weren't there. The number of times he intercepted a Dunfermline pass under pressure then managed to retain possession in scenarios where you'd usually have no qualms about a defender being safety first by conceding a throw or hoofing it back up the park was silly, his composure for someone playing out of position was wild.

We should genuinely have won that 8-0, but excellent result anyway. The confidence Murray has given some of those players is wild. When we were only 1-0 up at half-time after a half where 5-0 would have flattered Dunfermline you naturally feared the worst, but we stayed in near total control outwith one counter attack until we were 2-0 up v 10 men and the game was put to bed. It shouldn't have been such hard work to stay 2-0 up in that scenario either, but there's no harm done. Four points from the last two games is terrific work which means it would take an exceptionally terrible run of form to end up getting relegated. At the point Murray was appointed I'd have been delighted with 8th, and if we play like that every game we'll end the season far closer to 4th than 9th. A month ago I was looking at the Queen's Park & Airdrie double header thinking we'd likely need at least four points to keep our heads above water. Now four points from it would put us right in the mix for fourth.

That's a sitter of the century contender from Main, outstanding from Garrity and especially Delaney to give him the tap in as well.

I'd go with Wilson into midfield and Owens in at centre back. Wilson has been great filling in there but we all know he's at his best in midfield. Even if Gillespie is sharp enough to start you surely aren't getting another full 90 minutes out of him, and you need to have one of those two there at all times if you don't want to leave the defence badly exposed. Murray's explanation for persisting with Wilson in defence on Saturday made perfect sense with what he said about introducing two new centre backs to the defence at once, but with how well Lopata-White did on Saturday and how good Owens was coming on v Ross County I'd be comfortable with the two of them together. Would hope to see one of O'Halloran or Lyall replacing one of Main or Brophy as well as we surrended a bit much of the midfield for no discernible benefit at times on Saturday, but not too concerned which in either case. Could even put Crawford in if the former two are still absent, but don't know if he's ready for that after so long injured.

At the time I thought it was a penalty and he'd taken Gillespie out before playing the ball, but having seen it back it was a great tackle. Lopata-White was really good, for a player to look that accomplished on their professional debut is wild. If he can maintain that standard of performance then we're looking much stronger at centre back. I'd prefer to only have one of Brophy or Main in the team at a time in favour of an extra body in midfield, and particularly when we've got a midweek game you want one of them fresher and able to have an impact off the bench.

Naturally Estrella is going to be the big focus now, but thought the Cappielow 150 stuff was interesting and reiterates that both MCT and GMFC are looking at infrastructure and long-term planning. I'm looking forward to hearing more about that and it does seem the sort of thing that could once again hook someone like Brian Bonar (without wanting to bang the Dalrada drum over again). Make a donation explicitly for infrastructure for the stadium and that's how you contribute to a legacy, certainly Paul Farren seems eager to make that emotional appeal to people to get funding in place.

Disappointing that details have leaked right off the back of what was a very positive meeting covering a range of issues, when the MCT board were clear that due diligence and negotiations are still being carried out and the identity of the interested party & details of the offer would come when that's complete. It's intriguing and on the face of it it sounds like they're ostensibly looking to do what Dalrada haven't by directing investment towards infrastructure rather than the first-team, which is the correct way to put the club in a healthier position and leave a legacy of a stronger club. However we can only sell the shares and retain majority control once so need to get it right. Interested to see the finer details once they're shared with members. Worth noting that there was a comment from the board to the effect of (I can't remember the exact quote) "it's not Dalrada level money", so the suggestion of £1M over three years that's appeared with the leak would seem to be inflated on that basis. Whatever the sum is though, using the money you have smartly is better than having more and wasting it all on a larger squad.

Or not. Robertson on loan to East Kilbride. Considering that he's not made an appearance under Murray and that's with Wilson being needed in defence, Taylor injured, Crawford not appearing in either league game and Lyall & MacPherson each missing a game too, we didn't need that many central midfielders. You wonder if Firhill was a really bad first impression with Murray in the stand, while Shaw was the main culprit Robertson didn't look clever defensively at all having came on at 2-1 up. Some game time at a lower level to learn a bit more of the defensive side of the game might be exactly what he needs, although East Kilbride doesn't seem the best environment for a young player to walk into.

O'Halloran starting all three of Murray's games so far while Garrity & Moffat have started two and Shaw has only had sub appearances suggests he is at the bottom of Murray's pecking order, and only coming on in the 91st minute on Saturday tells you how much he trusts him even as a sub. It would really depend on Imrie wanting to take him to Raith on loan as surely no other Championship club is going to want him and likely no League One club is going cover enough of his wage to allow us a replacement making it worthwhile for us to let him go, but if anyone is going to leave on loan now he's the obvious candidate.