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Motherwell FC announced today that Bryan Jackson and the directors have agreed a proposal that has been sent to all creditors, which will see them being offered 15% of the total amount owed to them by the club when it went into interim administration.  There will be a meeting of creditors on March 17 to be held in the Corinthian in Glasgow, where the proposal will be explained in further detail and voted on.  Jackson is quoted on the Official Website as saying:
"We have been able to offer a dividend to creditors of 15p in the pound. We hoped the dividend would be greater but that has not been possible because we have to pay the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise as preferred creditors, which means they both receive £1 in the pound. We are disappointed because under new legislation the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise would receive the same as ordinary creditors. Unfortunately, Motherwell went into interim administration before the new legislation took effect and we are suffering from the letter of the law in this instance.

"However, we are able to pay a dividend where other clubs in administration have not been in a position to offer creditors anything at all. We can only pay out the money available to us and the only reason we can pay out any dividend at all is because the main creditor, John Boyle, agreed to waive his right to take a divided from this distribution of funds.

"There is a possibility of a further dividend to creditors but this would depend on the resolution of the financial dispute the club is currently involved in with a former player.

"The club is on course to come out of interim administration before the end of the season but this will depend on the creditors accepting the proposal sent to them."

I reckon the former player mentioned must be a certain Mr John Spencer, who I seem to remember was at one point being chased for something around £300,000.

The Scotland Under-21 international against Romania, scheduled to take place at Fir Park later this month, has been moved to Firhill because our pitch is apparently not up to scratch.  An SFA spokesman is quoted as saying:
"The pitch at Fir Park is becoming worn.  Rather than stage another match there, when it clearly needs time to recover, we are delighted that Partick Thistle have agreed to host the match instead."

The Under-21s lost 2-0 to Hearts this afternoon, the first goal coming from a penalty which saw 'Well goalkeeper Barry John Corr sent off.
Team: Corr, Ballantyne, Higgins, K MacDonald, Kinniburgh, Partridge, Keogh, Neville, Coakley, Craig, Scott.
Subs: Donnelly, Reid, Reilly, Connelly, Quinn.

Former Motherwell midfielder Simo Valakari will leave Derby County at the end of the season by mutual consent.  Simo, who hasn't played for Derby since December, is having talks with a USA soccer league club with a view to continuing his career in the States.

Terry Butcher spoke to the local press today, and said that despite our excellent recent run of results there is still a lot of hard work to do:
"I always said February would be a make-or-break month for us and the players have definitely played their part by winning five out of the six games we had.  It's now important they don't throw it all away as I want this season to be one of the best Motherwell have ever had.  At the moment we have given ourselves a great opportunity of finishing in the top six, but that's all it is, an opportunity.  We have seven games left to secure our place in the top six and the players are all focused on doing just that as our aim this season has always been to try and get into the top half of the SPL.

"After we lost 3-1 at Livingston, which was our only defeat last month, I promised I wouldn't go ballistic at the players if they produced a reaction in the three games after that against Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and Partick Thistle.  They did that and they deserve plenty of credit as winning three games in the space of seven days takes some doing.  However, it's not just down to the players. Everyone at the club has played a big part in what we have achieved so far this season.

"Over the last three games the supporters have had to dig deep in their pockets and it was great to see so many of them there last Saturday.  I know all the players have really appreciated their backing and I hope we've given them plenty to be happy about.  Now, both myself and the players are desperate not to let the season fizzle out starting with the Scottish Cup quarter-final game at Fir Park on Saturday against Inverness Caley."

"It's nice to get a break from the league but we will be treating the cup tie against Inverness just like we would any SPL game.  They have a good history of producing cup shocks like when they put Celtic out but we want to start March off in the exact same way we started last month and that's by getting a win.  It's our fourth home game in a row and the players are really enjoying playing at Fir Park.

"We always try to play attractive football and score goals so our approach to the game on Saturday will be no different although we know we must give Inverness plenty of respect.  They are a strong side with some experienced players like David Bingham, Barry Wilson and Paul Ritchie who are capable of causing problems.  John Robertson has moulded them into a good team and he also has plenty of experience about what it takes to win in the Scottish Cup and I'm sure he'll be passing that advice on to his players.

"It would be nice to get to Hampden again but we're not looking at that just now.  Everyone is just concentrating on this game and trying to get a positive result."

In a separate newspaper article, TB said that all contracts talks have been put on hold until we discover if we're going to be playing in the top six or not:
"Prize money rises by about £50,000 per place in the SPL table. The bottom line is that two or three places could mean the wages of a couple of guys to me for next season."

"We will keep looking to get more points before we think about contracts, I'm delighted with the way my players have responded in recent weeks. But we must try to push on and look for a top six place at least"

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