Steaua Bucharest - Motherwell FC

Let's talk here about the Steaua - Motherwell match with our friends from Scotland.

This is the english section of the forum people so please, show some respect to our scotish adversaries and use only english in your posts!

As I said in the other thread this is a huge match for a club like Motherwell. We are nowhere near as good as Steaua historically, we have only won our League once- back in 1932- our close proximity to Glasgow and therefore Celtic and Rangers means we don't have a large support, only around 5,000 regularly go to games.

As for the Scottish League, it really isn't that competitive, as has been said on the other thread, Celtic and Rangers aside, most teams are very average- it should be noted about Falkirk in their defeat to Vaduz that they were almost relegated from the league last season, surviving only on the final game of the season.

Motherwell have produced many famous players in Scottish Football history, some you may have heard of who started their careers, or at least played some part with at Motherwell are Gary McAllister (ex-Leeds, Liverpool and Coventry), Davie Cooper (ex- Rangers), James McFadden (Motherwell, Everton and Birmingham), Phil O'Donnell (ex Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday and sadly now passed on), Ian St John (ex-Liverpool and former record of the worlds fastest hat-trick).

We haven't had many Eastern European players play for us as, by our nature, we are a very Scottish side, our most recent Eastern European player was Hungary's Kristian Vadocz, although it would appear relations between Romania and Hungary aren't the best- the news of your Ultras banner at the recent Ujpest match certainly had me laughing.

Our last major trophy win came in 1991 when we defeated Dundee United 4-3 after extra time in what is said by many to have been the best Cup Final in Scottish history but in recent years times have been hard, in the early part of this decade, we were placed into administration and were lucky to survive but survive we did and thrived with lots of young players who have moved onto better things and our new batch of young players are beginning to show their worth now- Jamie Murphy and Paul Slane the latest in line to go onto bigger and better things than Motherwell.

We lost our manager over the summer so everything is pretty fresh and new to us and we are signing players each week- today we signed Everton's reserve keeper Paul Ruddy on loan and he will start next week in Bucharest.

As for the game coming up, I joked about scoring eight goals- this will never happen, and if it did, it would probably be Steaua scoring them! We will come to Bucharest looking to keep the tie alive and play defensively, trying to keep possession and use our pace on the counter attack. We are not a tall team- we have very few players over six foot and will just look to give ourselves a chance when we return "home"- unfortunately the game will not be played at our Stadium as the grass has just recently been relayed and is still unplayable- we are using the stadium of our local rivals Airdrie.

I'm just trying to give you an insight into Motherwell, a bit of history and bit of what's happening now as I'm sure we're not the most well known side outside of Scotland but you never know, perhaps if we can beat Steaua as well as our big win over Vlore we will become better known.

If you have any questions feel free to ask and if you are wanting to talk to Motherwell fans feel free to head over to our fans forum at www.steelmenonline.co.uk where you'll be made feel welcome- although I don't think a Romanian section will be set up as none of our fans, to the best of my knowledge can speak Romanian...

We finished sixth in the league last season and, actually, our last 3 seasons have been dezastrous for us. We haven't managed to win one league title or one cup. In spite of this we generally managed to enter the UEFA Champions League group stage and that's kind of all there is to say about our European campaigns in the last years.

Since thate semifinal in the UEFA Cup, Steaua game has been going down more and more.

Our owner, the european sheepherder Gigi Becali, is a moron. Actually, he is not the club owner, not on paper. He is just a loan shark whe lends money to Steaua. And everything that Steaua earns goes directly into his pocket. I don't think it's necesarry to say that he hasn't been investing that much into the team. In the last seasons we only signed free players, and players who accept a small salary(120000 euro/year - small for what Steaua used to pay). These players aren't all that great. We did hit a few lucky strikes with players such as Kapetanos and maybe the new guy, Grzelak, the midfielder who scored against Ujpest.

Steaua is in a really, really bad shape. We have a new coach and a lot of young players. Normally(and I don't mean this with any disrespect) we wouldn't even have taken an opponent such as Motherwell into consideration. But now, given the situation that is, you actually have a very big chance to win against us.

Our main goal is to get read of that parasite named Gigi Becali, the club owner. We don't really care that much about the match or the Europa League. We just want him gone and our old club back, the club we know and love. He has destroyed it, he took it from a European Legend and transformed it intr-o a 6th place, middle of the table, nightmare of mediocrity, stupidity and disrespect.

Neil, what do you know about your game versus Flamurtari? The media said that the final score was known before the start of the match as there was some dude playing a large amount of cash on Motherwell's 8-1 victory. Is that true?

[...]

you actually have a very big chance to win against us

[...]

"very big" are 2 very big words

Sounds like a very bad situation, it's all relative though- I doubt there is more than one or two of our team, infact, i'd doubt there is even one, earning even 60,000 Euro's a year- that gives you the idea of the gulf in power of the sides. We've rarely paid money for players in the last 5 years- indeed, until last year when we signed Jim O Brien from Celtic, we hadn't paid a feee in 2 years. We deal in free players and young players who are hungry to have success in the game- as mentioned before, we sold James McFadden for over £1.5 million and more recently young players have left such as Ross McCormack who is playing for Cardiff now and is valued at £6 million pounds.

How much is it usually for you to get into games at Steaua? Over here, for a league game you have to pay around £20 to get in, which is far too much for the standard of football.

I think the prices for the Steaua match is £15.

Neil, what do you know about your game versus Flamurtari? The media said that the final score was known before the start of the match as there was some dude playing a large amount of cash on Motherwell's 8-1 victory. Is that true?

We've heard nothing of that over here apart from one of your fans on our forums, I'd be VERY surprised if this was the case as certainly, we could have scored more than 8 so for that to be the case i'd be shocked. Especially given the odds offered for the match, in Scotland anyway, Motherwell were 4-11 favourites so there would not be much money to be made unless they were very different in Albania.

Match fixing isn't something that is common in Scotland, indeed in my time following Motherwell, I've never known it to happen- apart from cheating referees who give all the decisions to Celtic and Rangers when they are struggling to beat teams like Motherwell.

About the Flamurtari game, all I know is, we had about five chances before our first goal and when our 3rd goal went in, a fantastic 20 yard shot (the goals are here

Well, actually, tiketing isn't that bad over here. Seeing as how Romanians earn a lot less than your people, it is understandable.

Last year our cheapest ticket was about 1,5 Euros. And it went from there to 3 Euros or 6 or 15.

This season that bastard of a owner doubled the price of the tickets so the cheapest is now about 3 euros.

15 pounds is a lot of money in Romania.

Neil, wellcome, lad, and let me tell you, it's an absolute pleasure to have on our forum an adversary that can actually talk without swearing.

Ceud mile failte and God save the Queen!

God Save The Queen may not sit very well with a lot of our fans, alot of whom are more Scottish than British...

3 Euro's sounds like my idea of sensible pricing! I have no idea of the average wage in Romania, but Lanarkshire is a relatively poor area of Scotland, our average life expectancy is as low as 63 in some areas and there is high unemployment. I hope the price of our tickets doesn't put any of your fans travelling, unfortunately, the closeness to the tie and the fact very few airlines go from Scotland to Romania means there won't be so many Motherwell fans travelling, maybe only 500-600, where as we took 2000 to Wales and 4000 to Nancy in France last year where we drank the city of beer in under one day!

Make sure your bars are well stocked.

Make sure your bars are well stocked.

No worries here

God Save The Queen may not sit very well with a lot of our fans, alot of whom are more Scottish than British...

I know that, Neil, just pulling your tit.

I know that, Neil, just pulling your tit.

always best just to make sure!

I wish I would be in Bucharest for this match. Just to drink my ass off with you mates. I am across the ocean now and i said to myself if Steaua reaches a final i will show up for that. We couldn't have got any closer three years ago but bloody Middlesbrough spoiled my dream. Anyway I have huge hopes for 2012, for the final shall be in Bucharest, on the new stadium.

From Scotland to Romania means there won't be so many Motherwell fans travelling, maybe only 500-600.

That's an acceptable number for this distance .

Bunã ziua noi fotbal freinds in Bucuresti!

I leave London for Bucuresti tommorow afternoon. Neil has given you a good insight into Motherwell. We are a small regional club who have had financial difficulties. Our manager left last year and many players also left as contracts ended, with other players sold to raise money.

It would be fair to say our best players were all sold, perhaps with one exception (Stephen Craigan). He is our club captain and current Northern Ireland International central defender.

As we have sold all our players, or had contracts finish, we have turned to our youth team. Of the goalscorers against Flamurtari, the oldest was 20 years old...

A new manager has arrived, and he has signed some unknown young players from English football. I have not seen them yet, so don't know if they are good.

It would be honest to say we do not expect to beat Steaua. We simply hope to give a good account of ourselves and keep the tie alive, while enjoying a trip to Romania. As a small club we do not get European football often. Before last year when we played Nancy, the last UEFA game was 1995, which made it special and everyone wanted to go. Do not expect 4000 in Romania. Motherwell is a poor area with high unemployment, and many fans will have used their money and holiday for our earlier game in wales.

We have had happy trips to France and Wales in the last two years when we made many freinds. We hope to do the same in Bucuresti.

See you in the bars or in the Stadionul Ghencea!

I hope for a good game! hopefully not one sided!

Cheers

Dunk

Cheers Dunk!

Tomorrow afternoon, you mean thursday? If so, tell the driver to step on it.

The airport is at the northern end of Bucharest and the stadium is located in its south-western side. You will have to cross the whole city and the traffic in Bucharest can be a killer, especially between 18.00 and 20.00. Matchday for Steaua doesn't help, traffic-wise, either .

You don't need to carry too much cash with you. The city is filled with ATMs and exchange offices. One EURO is worth about 4.2 RON, one Pound is worth about 5 RON. The decent price of beer is between 4 - 8 RON per bottle (0.5 liters), depending on location and label. If you are asked a price higher than 10 RON, you are overcharged. For 50 cl of scotch (consumer brands, not specialities), the typical bar in Bucharest charges around 12-14 RON. Among my favourites I mention Cutty Sark and Glenfiddich.

If you have any other qouestions, feel free to ask.

Bring me (should I said us?) some whiskey, all you Motherwell fans!

Maybe it will be a one sided game :>

I hope Steaua will score every 10 minutes

Wow.

Some excellent football from you boys so far, what a goal there for number two.

Neil my friend, I am sorry to say but your team still has a long way to go if they really want to achieve something. Steaua didn't really play that well. It was your team that made the match easy for us.

I think the lack of experience on your boys' part took its toll. My personal opinion is that your team gave in to the pressure of the match and that of the crowd. You have some good, talented, hearty lads but they lack experience. I hope to see another Motherwell next week. I really hope to see them fight to the bitter and give us hell.

It may sound weird for me to want my team to have a tough match but I'd really like to see them perform to their full potential. Just like you, we also have a "new" team this season and I'm not quite satisfied with what I see.

Salut ziua mea Bucuresti freinds !

M-am intors de la dumneavoastrã frumos oraș yestrday și a trebuit sã merg la lucru de la aeroport. 36 ore, cu nu dormi! de lucruri ne facem de fotbal!!

I think I speak for all motherwell fans in saying what a beautiful city Bucuresti is, freindly people, beautiful girls to look at, great bars (Terminus) and a city with a very good team in Steaua!

As a small scottish side we did not expect to beat Steaua, but it would have been nice to have a goal to cheer and to keep the match alive for the next week. Unfortunately we only made one chance and hit it high over the bar. I think the tie is now dead, as I think Steaua will score at least once in Scotland.

We take no shame in losing in Bucuresti, but there is some disappointment that we could perhaps have played better. In truth it could have been 6-0 rather than 3-0, but we took pride in being in Bucuresti and representing our team and our nation as supporters. A security man at the Stadionhul Ghencea said we were true fans as although we lost 3-0, we still sang for our team and gave support. This was nice to hear. I suppose football fans who will travel so far to watch their team are all "ultras" at heart.

I liked the Steaua fans singing from the terrace behind the goals. One side sings, then goes quiet, then the other side responds. It was very impressive for a visiting fan and created a great atmosphere inside the stadia!

The security at the stadionhul Ghencea was very tight. I would have liked to be amongst the Steaua fans outside the Stadionhul Ghencea as we were in the city. I think there was no need for the security as we are freinds in football, and from the saluting, waving and exchanges of scarves via the stewards at the end, it was obvious there is respect for each other as fans and cameraderie in football. But I realise that the police and security have a job to do and must be cautious, as they do not know Motherwell fans and we could have behaved like the English or the Hungarians. Ha Ha.

On the game itself, I agree with Adrian. We have a lot of work to do to improve as a team before we can compete and I agree that some of our players (two in particular) were affected by the atmosphere and froze.

We have a new manager and he is still learning his team and players. His formation in 1st half was not good for defence, but credit to him he changed it and improved defence slightly in the second half.

The motherwell right winger in the first half (Humphrey) has been signed from lower division English football and never played in front of such a crowd and occasion. He may become a good player in time, but in the first half our tactic was that we put the ball wide to him and move out of defence. Unfortunately he kept loosing the ball, and as we had moved forward, were open for Steaua's quick attacks. On two ocassions he lost the ball and caused 1 penalty and one goal. If you give the ball away to quality like Steaua, you will loose goals.

Plus points for Motherwell were the new goalkeeper (his first game for us) who was excellent and without him it would have been Steaua 6 Motherwell 0. Craigan also played well, despite scoring a bad own goal. He made many vital tackles. And the performance of our left winger (Paul Slane) who is only 17. He made some good solo runs with the ball and looked like he could perhaps play for a team like Steaua some day.

My man of the match was the Steaua number 10. Great playmaker, great close control. He was the pivot in all the moves. He looked a fantastic player. Steaua's 3rd goal was magnificent.

One thing that cheered the motherwell fans was the news of the other scottish clubs. Our manager and assistant betrayed us to join Aberdeen.

Aberdeen 1 - Sigma Olumic 5

At least we can say we lost in Bucaresti to the mighty Steaua......

Sigma who?

Ha Ha

Motherwell and Steaua - warm memories and freinds in football forever!

Dunk

You guys have a really good goalkeeper!