MJC

Aren’t they all out of contract at the end of this season anyway? In which case I’d certainly agree that we won’t see them here next season. In the case of Grimshaw, McGinley and Maguire I don’t see what more they can offer the club as first team players so them moving on would benefit all parties.

I’m generally not a fan of players not celebrating scoring against their former clubs but it was a nice touch from Turnbull to keep his celebrations muted today. When you think of previous players who have moved from FP to Glasgow’a East End and their reaction to scoring against us, ie. Scott McDonald’s badge kissing and our aforementioned former Cup winning captain and his general wankishness then it was nice to see Turnbull showing a bit of class.

When did we last have such a bad run against Celtic? I certainly don’t remember anything like this in my time anyway. That’s us now lost nine on the bounce and we haven’t beaten them for almost six years. Obviously they are going to win the majority of games against us but as has been said we look beaten before a ball is kicked in this fixture now. Even back when they had Larsson, Moravcik, Sutton and Lambert etc and had Martin O’Neill as manager we at least managed to draw against them once a season and even managed the odd win. That, along with our already dismal record against Rangers in the last twenty years has to be a cause for concern. The club really need to address our mentality in these games.

As I said I don’t see us beating either of them again, or at least not any time in the foreseeable future. A combination of a lack of quality, lack of bottle, lack of luck and us always chucking them a cheap goal just when they need it. That said I think our current style of play is far more suited to playing Rangers and I wouldn’t be atall surprised if we got a point against them in a fortnight. We won’t beat them though, obviously.

That was as bad as any of the previous nine consecutive losses to Celtic. No belief that we could do anything and the customary cheap early goal conceded meaning that we were facing an uphill battle from the off. As I said after the Hearts game, we are showing signs of improvement this season under GA but while we may be able to get results against the likes of Dundee, Ross County and Livingston, we will always struggle against sides who have any quality about them whatsoever. When you add in us being like rabbits in the headlights like we were today then we have no chance of getting big results.

We’d probably have missed it anyway.

I said as much the other day, the man is an absolute cunt. A dribbling, whinging chump with a massive chip on his shoulder. The worst type of Celtic fan. Any Motherwell fan who was at the 2011 SCF and saw his behaviour that day would know what he is all about. There’s middle aged guys propping up the bar in the Railway Tavern that don’t come out with the amount of Celti-fied pish that he comes out with and yet he’s a club ambassador and regular commentator on their official channel. The arsehole’s arsehole.

Sadly I don’t think we’ll ever beat Celtic, or Rangers for that matter, ever again. We don’t have the quality, the luck or the belief that we can get these results. We might manage the token draw here and there but that will be our lot.

Another dismal goal to concede. It’s hard enough as it is playing Celtic without chucking one in like that. Game over already and the predictable pumping well on it’s way.

Not a chance it would be better than a cup final. Would there be weeks of build up, anticipation from club and fans alike? Would there be good luck messages in shop windows? C&A bunting hung up in the town? There would obviously be a fair bit of excitement if we got a good tie in Europe but nowhere near on the scale of a cup final. The home legs against Dortmund, Nancy and Panathanaikos are the obvious ones that spring to mind but did they generate the same anticipation and excitement of Cup Finals? Or do the majority of Motherwell fans look back on them like they do winning the Cup in ‘91? Not on your nelly!

Mugabi would be my shout. Probably for a last man foul giving away a penalty. If we are to have any chance of avoiding a pumping today we need to cut out defensive mistakes and lapses of concentration and perhaps even more importantly avoid gifting them a goal or two in the early stages.

Wouldn’t surprise me if we got a red card today. Not just because of Collum’s card happy refereeing but it seems like we almost always* get a red card in this fixture. On the other hand no Celtic player has been red carded at Fir Park since Boyd back in the early 90s. * I know that we DON’T always get a red card in this fixture, but it just seems like it sometimes. Just clearing that up in case any pedantic poster decides to take issue with this and provide a set of stats to back it up. Hiya weeyin!

No I’ve not and to be honest I don’t view us in Europe as anything more than playing a few glorified friendlies and the opportunity for the fans to go abroad for a jolly and a few days on the drink. A bit like the Tartan Army, funnily enough. Each to their own but I’m not overly fussed about Europe. I’d much rather see us reach the latter stages of the Cup competitions and maybe even win one, that would be the ultimate achievement for us.

I don’t really bother that much about international football, be that qualifiers, Euros or World Cup finals regardless of who’s in it. Obviously as a Scot if Scotland are involved then my interest increases to an extent but to nowhere near the same extent as when Motherwell are involved, in any competition. Each to their own, but I would consider Motherwell winning a League Cup group match against the likes of Annan or Stranraer as being better than Scotland winning any match in any competition.

That’s why I made a point of saying no disrespect to the genuine Scotland fans who follow Scotland in order to support the team first and foremost. The ones I was having a dig at are those who only seem to be interested in going along for the piss up (nae Scotland, nae party etc) then tell everyone that was just great to be there. In my opinion that is a big, big part of Scotland’s problem when it comes to sport in general. There’s too much emphasis on celebrating failure and too many are more interested in booze more than anything else. Is it any wonder then that Scotland don’t qualify for tournaments/perform well at that level in that case?

That’s pretty much my feelings too, I just can’t get on board with supporting Scotland. For starters the SFA are and always have been a shambling, incompetent ‘jobs for the boys’ network who are only interested in lining their own pockets. Then there is the Tartan Army. No disrespect to guys/girls who are genuine Scotland fans who faithfully follow them all over the world but to so many of them the football itself doesn’t seem to matter, it’s all about getting together for a big piss up. Take the Euros in the summer there. Scotland’s performance was dismal and I defy anyone to contradict that. Three games, two at home, only one goal scored and only one point. But hey who cares? It wis some laugh for the tartan army to get a weekend jolly down to London, get a good swally, run over by a motorbike and then fall into a fountain..whoop! whoop! Wha’s like us! And folk wonder why Scotland took over 20 years to reach a major tournament?

Speak for yourself. I like seeing the national team doing well but I’m not a ‘Scotland supporter’ in the same way that I am a Motherwell supporter. Scotland winning does not bring me anywhere near the sense of joy that Motherwell winning does, likewise a Scotland defeat doesn’t annoy me anywhere near as much as a Motherwell defeat does. To suggest that anyone who doesn’t support Scotland or enjoy them winning makes them “sound like one of the religious bigots” is absolutely moronic patter.

Dave Bowman was an animal of a player. Indeed was he and a few other United players not red carded in the tunnel for protesting about our winner that day? And seeing as you mention him and to bring the thread back to the topic of Motherwell v Celtic, Tom Boyd is an odious, sanctimonious wank who has done nothing but disrespect us since he left. I don’t care if he was the last Motherwell captain to lift a trophy, his attitude and behaviour towards us since have completely sullied that.

Agree but it 100% would be given as a foul nowadays, as would the challenge on Main for Kirk’s winner that day. Goalkeepers get a ridiculous amount of protection these days.

I’m genuinely surprised at that and I’d guess that it must be a fairly recent addition. I certainly don’t think I’ve ever heard it used out-with the Celtic/Rangers soap opera in this part of the world and I find it a ludicrous term, especially the way it is used. I tend to find that it is used predominantly by pro-Celtic types or people who lean towards them in the Celtic/Rangers debate, like Jeanette Findlay, Graham Spiers, Michael Stewart etc. They resort to it when confronted with a question or set of facts that they don’t like or that doesn’t suit their agenda so play the ‘whatabouttery’ card in order to shut down the debate and keep their views as the only ones being voiced. They don’t seem to mind engaging in a bit of ‘whatabouttery’ themselves mind you, when it suits them.

So are made up words like ‘whatabouttery’.

Anyway to turn things back on topic for Saturday, I just don’t see us getting anything other than an absolute drubbing. Celtic have front players who will be able to exploit us badly at the back and and I fully expect them to continue their recent run of scoring at least four at Fir Park. 4-0 Celtic.

Exactly. I could maybe accept the “not every foul results in a booking” argument if the fouls per card stats were in any way close, but they’re not. Celtic are clearly being let off with a lot more than other sides are, we’ve seen it ourselves particularly over the past eleven years since the referee strike. I don’t think it’s down to cheating mind you or Celtic supporting referees deliberately favouring them, I think a lot of it is down to officials erring on the side of caution when it comes to Celtic as they know that if they make the ‘wrong’ call in their eyes then they will be hounded for it. They’re also not backed by their bosses at the SFA as was seen with the ref strike and when Scott Brown had a completely justified red card overturned on appeal a few years back.

I think it’s a certainty that there would have been some sort of ‘sweetener’ from the club to push his departure through. And given that he never appeared to be too bothered about not playing regularly whilst still on our books then I doubt he’ll be that hung up on having a few months without a club. He’s 30/31(?) now anyway and probably heading towards lower league football, possibly even part time which he could probably make last for a few years yet with the right club so I can see why he would agree to a severance from us if that is indeed the case.

That’s actually quite a staggering set of stats and yet again blows any ludicrous idea that referees are anti-Celtic right out of the water. You won’t hear anyone in the MSM bring these up mind you, can’t be upsetting the elephant in the room. What this also does though is show that Celtic’s faux victim propaganda and bullying tactics work in their favour. Since they caused the refereeing strike back in 2010 many match officials have been running scared of them and to be honest I can totally understand why. Celtic, their support and their backers in the media and in politics are an extremely dangerous bunch who could and would make their lives a misery if they didn’t toe the party line. It just wouldn’t be worth the hassle on a personal level but it’s a sad reflection of the Scottish game that one club have so much control, on and off the park.