MJC

Indeed they would and I suspect so would most clubs unless they are pressured by their supports in a manner similar to the vote on the new Rangers club in 2012. But back then Celtic were still in the top league ensuring sponsorship and TV deals would still come Scottish footballs way. In my opinion it’s a nice idea but in reality the only clubs that would truly benefit from the Old Firm leaving Scottish football and playing elsewhere would be the Old Firm themselves as they would only grow in stature and support.

This subject comes up at least once every couple of years and has done for as long as I can remember. And while I can see the ‘romantic’ idea in the Old Firm leaving the Scottish game thus leaving the rest of Scottish football to compete for the baubles and free of all the baggage that comes with them and also the ‘glory hunters’... However, them ‘leaving/moving from’ Scottish football would not mean that Parkhead and Ibrox are flat packed, loaded onto the back of lorries and driven down the M74 or across the Channel with all of their core support following behind them as they set up in somewhere like Manchester, London, Paris, Madrid or wherever. Their core support would all still be up here and if anything their popularity, and ‘glory hunter’ element would only grow a lot further, thus harming the rest of the Scottish game. And that’s before you consider the impact it would have on sponsorship and TV coverage. I personally don’t see it ever happening and I for one am glad for that.

Hopefully they lose then. Even if they don’t, it would surely take a disastrous set of results to see us in the playoffs now.

Great win! That should be us safe and great to finally get a win against that mob.

Good stuff. Great position now, don’t fuck this up Motherwell!

You’d struggle to notice whether there or not in normal times to be fair.

Agree with that, the first goal is crucial tonight. If we get it, especially early doors then I’d be reasonably confident of us getting the points but if it goes the other way, given our dreadful record of scoring equalising goals this season then we’ll be in trouble.

Accies always seem to be more ‘up for it’ than we are in these games for some reason, especially this season and given their position and need for points I don’t see tonight being any different. We are not officially safe yet so I hope/expect to see a much better attitude from us tonight.

Yes I agree with that, but that’s really my point on him moving on from us for the sake of his career and development now. If he seriously wants to challenge and improve himself further then I think it’s now time for him to test himself at a higher level.

He won’t ever play at the ‘top level’ and he’s clearly not of the same quality as Turnbull (meaning no disrespect to him) but he’s more than proved himself as a solid midfield player who, in the right team with the right players around him, would do very well. I just don’t think that the ‘right’ team for Allan Campbell just now is us, or any Scottish Premiership side for that matter.

I think Campbell could comfortably hold down a place in an English Championship side. He would benefit from playing in what would undoubtedly be a better side than he currently plays in. Obviously from a purely selfish point of view I’d want him to stay here but realistically for the sake of his career and further development he probably needs to move on now.

The “wee club, punching above our weight” thing is nonsense. Self defeating nonsense and a ready made excuse for not performing well in games or competitions. I am under no illusions about the size of club we are, we are obviously a ‘smaller’ club than the Old Firm and the City clubs but outside of that, there is not much difference in size of supports etc. From our point of view we have been a top flight club for well over thirty years, in which time have won the Scottish Cup, regularly competed and finished in the top half of the league which has on a good few occasions now earned us European qualification. And yet STILL, we have supporters saying “oor wee club, we really shouldn’t expect anything other than survival” and other such nonsense. Some inside the club seem to buy into that too it would appear. So how long do you have to punch above your weight before that becomes your weight?

Hopefully the likes of Crawford, Mugabi will be squad players next season and not regular starters otherwise we will be in for another dismal campaign. I’m happy for GA to get the summer transfer window before he is properly judged in the job. As for your point on the “punching above our weight” mentality, that is something that is unfortunately deeply entrenched in the club these days and I believe plays a huge part, perhaps subconsciously, in a lot of the apathy we have seen over the last few years, even on the park. Any player or manager joining us will know that there is no real expectation to go the extra mile or to try and win a Cup, because so many within the club and the support are happy to see us as this tiny wee club that are miraculously able to play in the country’s top league. I love the club and always will, but I truly despise that outlook.

My views also. O’Donnell is never captain material, indeed we don’t really have anyone in that squad who are. There are no ‘leaders’ that will shout, motivate and give instructions on the park and we haven’t had that for a while. Gallagher, like Hartley before him seems to be slightly out of his depth in the role.

That doesn’t sound too encouraging about Campbell tbh. Hopefully he’s not out for any length of time as he will be a massive loss. He almost literally is our midfield.

It could simply been a case of extremely poor recruitment by Robinson. Let’s face it, the last three summer transfer windows have been utterly abysmal when you think of some of the dross Robinson was allowed to bring in and that was reflected by the on field product which was dismal. Even when we ‘finished 3rd’ last season we were pish for large spells especially from January ‘20 until the season was abandoned and this season with yet another batch of poor signings we were even worse. I’d say it’s highly possible that this season is purely the result of having a poor squad with many players who have a stinking attitude. As for Wednesday night, I have no faith in us doing any better than the previous three meetings with Accies this season. 2-0 home win.

Horrible game but job done. Bring on the Hibs!

Suffering f*ck. Totally unprofessional from us.

Great goal!!!!

Doesn’t look good for Campbell there.

HT in ET 0-0

Hard to disagree. Penalty shootout defeat coming up here. I don’t see us having anything about us to win the game before the end of extra time and I wouldn’t trust any Motherwell team as far as I could throw them in a penalty shootout in such a big Cup tie.

It certainly is. We’re playing a struggling Championship side at home and we look completely insipid. In spite of how poor we’ve been this season, this performance is unacceptable.

He’s an excellent goalkeeper at our level. You shudder to think where we’d be had we had had to rely on Chapman being our No.1 for the second half of the season.

I said as much last weekend, he has been our best signing this season. As without him we would be in serious relegation trouble.