MJC

Yeah I get that and as I said ties against big European names like Borussia Dortmund are that bit more special than one against a virtually unheard of side like Kuban Krasnador. Dortmund was a glimpse into a level way beyond our reach and you could see that with the gulf not just in quality but how much more ‘streetwise’ they were on how to play the game at that level.

And I’d swap any of our recent European ‘adventures’ for St.Mirren and Ross County’s League Cup wins. I’ve said this before, to be able to properly enjoy Europe for us and clubs like us you need to be able to afford to travel to the away legs, especially if it’s a tie worth travelling to, ie. Dortmund. And then it’s more about the jolly abroad with your mates than the football itself if we’re honest. And that’s not a criticism of anyone btw, if that’s part of the football ‘experience’ for you then great. Me personally? I’d settle for winning a Cup match and celebrating with a few pints down the Electric with my usual crew afterwards rather than the ‘European tour’.

Obviously we are not going to go all the way in Europe, but by ‘something to shout about’ I was more meaning just scoring a goal instead of three consecutive 0-2 home losses where we never laid a glove on the opposition or utterly embarrassing ourselves against part time Icelandic outfits. Did anyone really enjoy any of those games? Fair enough it’s different if we get a glamour tie like Dortmund or are beating teams 8-1 or taking the lead against Steaua Bucharest but those ties under McCall were awful.

I think perhaps a lot of the excitement of Europe was sullied for a lot of fans with our dismal showings under McCall ten years ago. After we’d done all the hard work getting there we whimpered out every time without having anything to shout about. Obviously there was a bit of novelty with the Panathinaikos tie in the Champions League and obviously they were a reasonably big name in football, but the games themselves were a bit of a non event. The same goes for the Europa ties against Levante in 2012 and Kuban in 2013 where we failed to score a goal and didn’t even look like we believed that we could do anything. And then of course there was the debacle that was the Stjarnan tie in 2014. Say no more. I can’t speak for anyone else of course but that’s certainly how I see it. I can honestly count on one hand the number of European matches at Fir Park that I have actually enjoyed. Perhaps the wee run in 2010 under Craig Brown and the run in 2009, albeit that was played at Airdrie.

I quite like the League Cup Group Stages as a ‘pre-season’. Obviously it helps matters when we actually take it seriously and not half arse it against our local rivals like we did last year but it’s usually a good start to the season and has some meaning to it. If I’m being honest I’m not overly fussed about us playing in Europe as all it amounts to is two, maybe four games at the start of a season and a seeded spot in the LC16 draw which inevitably lands us the most difficult draw we could get against another top flight side. However obviously for the club playing European football is massive.

I think we might just get something from this. I can see this being a crazy score line in an end to end game. 4-4 with us scoring a last minute equaliser and Rangers raging.

Shaun Maloney has left Hibs

I can’t say I’ve ever noticed an obsession of us from either of them. The other way around, most definitely, but we are not unique in that regard. There have been periods where there has been a bit more needle between us and one of them, for example Skippy Sunday with Celtic and the whole episode of John Boyle asking us to give the Cooper Stand to them just before that game, there was definitely a bit more raised tension between the clubs at that time. The same with Rangers and the playoffs and the LCSF where Ryan Bowman broke one of their players noses and they got quite upset about it for a while. Apart from that I’ve never noticed much in the way of an obsession with us from either of them.

Big brave men kicking off with women and young families. Liberty taking cowards. No doubt the same mob of wee fannies who spray painted the walls around FP late at night last season before a closed doors game between the sides the next day.

Historically Hearts have dominated that derby. Indeed I believe they actually have won more Edinburgh derbies at Easter Road than Hibs have! It was also mentioned today that Hibs have never beaten Hearts at Hampden and that includes a 5-1 thumping against them in the final 10 years ago. That has got to be some level of torment if you’re a Hibs fan.

No sympathy with Hibs, or Maloney (his dive against us in 2001 to win Celtic a last minute penalty still irks me). The Edinburgh derby must be one of the most one sided derbies in world football. Hearts well and truly have Hibs number.

Wouldn’t have a problem with this if I’m honest. As long as the club have been approached and involved in the relevant discussions and are okay with it then it makes no difference moving it to the Saturday.

Yes all the best to Keith Lasley. A proper ‘club man’ and deserving of the ‘legend’ status given to him by so many.

It’d say it’s highly unlikely that Rangers will win the EL, if anything they’ll be lucky to reach the Final as they are easily the weakest side left in that tournament. That said it’s going to be amusing over the next few weeks watching the amount of folk shitting their breeks at the very thought of them being in with a chance of winning it.

Magloire? Let’s hope that that’s Daily Record lazy journalism in play there. If we are genuinely looking to sign him again then there really is no hope for this manager.

I know Van der Gaag was heavily linked with the job in the media and with the bookies at the time Baraclough got it, but was he actually seriously in the running for it? Was he even interviewed for it?

My views exactly. As Ian McCall said of his team last night even though they’d won “we were dugmeat” and have been dugmeat for most of the season and regardless of today and whatever happens in the last five games, Graham Alexander needs to go. However, that’s for another day. Today was massive for us and a top six finish, regardless of how it was achieved is important for the club, both on and off the park.

No more or no less ridiculous than the post he was quoting to be fair. Motherwell fans giving the GIRUY to other Motherwell fans is pathetic.

Perhaps although maybe it can be argued that Livingston deserved it more. But it’s irrelevant whether we deserve it or not, the only thing that matters is we got it, somehow. I think that was hugely important to us as had we lost and finished bottom six then the season would be as good as over and the crowds would have dwindled badly for the last five games. As it is we actually have something to play for now which is great. I make it that we should be at home to Hearts, Rangers and Dundee Utd and away to Celtic and Ross County?

Well, we don’t deserve that….but I’ll take it. It’s utterly incredible how poor we’ve been yet not only are we top six we actually have a chance of qualifying for Europe!

True McCall was a good guy to have around the club and in the dressing room and he was clearly very popular with the players and staff. As a manager though he was very one dimensional and couldn’t get the players to raise their game which cost us time and again in big Cup ties. He carried on that tradition against us in the playoff and I’ll forever be thankful that he was in Rangers dugout and not ours for those games as there was no way we were winning them with him in charge. He would have had us beat before a ball was kicked, just like he did in that 2012 League Cup debacle. Obviously the league performances and high placed finishes in McCall’s tenure were great, but he did benefit greatly from having one of if not the best group of players outside Celtic in the league at the time.

I really enjoyed Robinson’s first full season with us. Two Cup runs with some big wins in both and a team that although not easy on the eye was competitive and actually looked like they enjoyed playing for us. Like McCall he stayed on too long, he should probably have moved on in summer 2019. McCall did well for us with a much better set of players but was a complete bottle merchant in big games and a poor coach.

Fancy a draw on Saturday. 1-1

Well I never! A win AND an enjoyable game. Brilliant stuff. See what happens when you play your best players eh?

Slattery actually starts today!