wellfan

Yes, cheating.

Being terrified of Celtic is not justification for cheating. If it appears an official is genuinely compromised, and there is ample evidence to suggest that is the case for many of them, then they should not be anywhere near Celtic games in the first place. The options cannot be either cheat or have your windows panned in. If that is the situation, they should be removed from officiating in the Premiership entirely until they can prove they are fit and competent to do the job. That would require competent leadership, accountability, and real change, which we clearly do not have at the SFA with chief clown Collum in charge.

Of course it wasn’t. Beaton is a cheating coward.

Aye. JBA and most of the best players will probably be off now. Because if I were them, I wouldn’t want to be involved in this corrupt league any longer than they had to be. Unless they all go to Celtic, of course.

The SFA, SPFL and Police Scotland: sweep, sweep, nothing to see here… unless it’s Motherwell fans’ pyros, of course. I’m sick of it, and last night reminded me why I generally avoid going to Fir Park when either Celtic or Rangers are in town. The bottom tier of the South Stand should be closed off when they visit and, as punishment for their continued disgraceful behaviour, the footballing authorities should be making those clubs compensate Motherwell for the lost ticket revenue. I really hope Caldwell goes public on this ongoing nonsense at the end of the season, because it can’t continue. Otherwise, families will start feeling forced to keep their children away from these games. It’s just not safe.

The officials’ cheating will have well and truly knocked the stuffing out of us, so sadly I’m not expecting much from Saturday now.

What’s the fucking point?! That’s cheating in plain sight. Clubs need to do something about this.

We shouldn’t expect anything other than double standards and incompetence from the media and officials when it comes to critical thinking, the application of the rules and consistency.

We’ll probably see a back four of Longelo, SOD, Gordon, and Sparrow or Koutroumbis for this one. What’s up with McGinn and McGhee?

Gordon for coming in from the cold and doing really well.

Not all contact in football is a foul though. Kyziridis clearly threw himself to the ground and McInnes is an odious prick. The ref got that one right and clearly thought he went down too easily, so disagreed with VAR.

Thoroughly enjoyed that game last night and, all things considered, a point feels like a decent result. I’ve given Gordon stick before so it’s only fair I give him some praise after that performance. I thought he showed up really well and has clearly been listening to the coaching. He looked a much improved footballer last night, so credit where it’s due. He should be pleased with his efforts.

I said a wee while ago that 4th is ours to lose, not theirs to gain. We just need to win tonight instead of worrying about those beneath us.

Possibly? Unless Collum pumped FIFA’s maw, the collective incompetence is definitely the reason.

Honest and decent interview from Halliday.

Kettlewell will soon be ‘coaching’ a junior team while simultaneously live streaming his post-match monologues to an audience consisting entirely of his own phone screen.

The bigger picture for us in footballing terms is that JBA, and Wimmer to a lesser extent, has reset the club. That process was set in motion by the current board. The only real concern for next season and beyond isn’t JBA leaving, which is inevitable at some point, but whether the board changes direction. I don’t think they will. They’ve been clear about the path they want the club on, and it feels like a structural shift rather than a short-term project. The key test will be whether they appoint the next right man when the time comes, and whether the footballing direction remains consistent. If it does, revenue should continue to rise and, with that, the calibre of player and results will follow.

We just have to make sure we beat Hearts at home on Saturday night, then we can relax and the Celtic and Hibs games shouldn’t matter a jot.

Collum would swear the sky is green to cover mistakes and deflect. The same incidents get different decisions every week. All dressed up with whatever explanation suits at the time. No consistency. No accountability. Just clowns making it up as they go. The VAR review is pointless as well. It’s just a box ticking exercise so he can claim transparency and say they are listening. It’s the same script ever time and only pisses fans off even more. Nothing has improved. Our officials and their use of VAR has objectively ruined the spectacle and brought even more incompetence, cynicism and apathy into the game.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other. As I’ve said, if you can’t grow or maintain grass, you’ve no business in the top league. That applies to us as well. We’ve had to spend heavily to fix past mistakes, and others should be expected to do the same. It’s not fair that some clubs effectively gain a bigger playing budget because maintaining a plastic pitch is significantly cheaper than grass or hybrid surfaces. And if you underinvest in your grass surface and ignore drainage issues, leaving tattie fields, there should be penalties to discourage it. This is a spectator sport. We wouldn’t accept a pockmarked cinema screen, so why accept substandard pitches? There should be a level playing field in the top flight for all. Pun intended.

These plastic pitches have no place in the top flight. I’ve said it before: if you can’t grow and maintain grass in Scotland, you’ve no business running a professional football club.

We need to be at 100mph today. Overrun them, overwhelm them from the off. Take an early lead and we come away with at least three goals today.

Devastated. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

If JBA stays, maybe Slattery does too. And surely the club can now afford to offer him a new deal on improved terms to reflect his importance.

This team needs a Slattery. We saw exactly how much it suffered during his recent suspension, and if he leaves, he’ll be a huge loss.