MJC_MKI

No he hasn't, Goodwillie is a better player.

Okay first and foremost, there is absolutely no way we can even think of getting James McFadden, a 28 year old International player who was at an English Premiership side until his last contract expired where he would more than likely have been on more money than either Celtic or Rangers could afford, so let's just forget about that silly wee dream eh? Secondly, is it not time that Motherwell fans got over 'Faddy' and moved on? He was a terrific young player for us and his transfer fee did absolutely no harm to our financial situation at that time, but that time was EIGHT years ago! He was great to watch whilst he was here, brought us so much excitement in an otherwise awful time for the club, but he is LONG gone and guess what? He ain't coming back. Ever.

It's by no means a 'glamour fixture' but I enjoy a game against the Thistle and I hope they bring a decent number (for a testimonial game anyway) through for this one. It's no surprise we're playing them given that they are the only other senior professional club he's played for. I'll certainly not be missing this one as Craigan, past it as he may well be, has been a great servant to the football club over many years and he deserves a good turnout from Motherwell fans for his testimonial match.

Bit early yet to make any serious predictions but here's my gut feeling. Either Celtic or Rangers will win the league and which ever one doesn't will finish second. At this moment in time I would back Celtic as McCoist is never in a million years a manager but his media cronies won't say a bad word about him no matter how poor he does. Either Celtic or Rangers will the League Cup. Either Celtic or Rangers will win the Scottish Cup. Scotland will fail to qualify for Euro 2012, cue mass wailing and cries for Levein to get punted from the usual numpties who refuse to accept that Scotland just do not have the players or the resources to compete at that level. Motherwell will be fighting relegation, I know I say that before the start of every season but this season it's more likely than ever as we have a very poor squad and also a very poor manager who is only getting an easy ride from the support as a whole just now because he managed to buy himself some time with the Cup runs last season, but that will change as the support slowly begins to turn on him just as they did with Malpas when it was obvious that he wasn't the right man for the job. And as has already been said, we're probably 'due' a poor season given we've done relatively well over the past few years, but like I say, the manager we currently have isn't up to it IMO and this will become apparent as the season gets under way. I also confidently predict that we won't be anywhere near Hampden Park next season, after our three trips last season and it will be back to the usual dire performances in the Cups. And we still won't be able to beat Rangers.

We CAN'T get Celtic away on the opening day just like we CAN'T get Rangers at home. The Champions always begin at home and the runners up away, and Rangers and Celtic are never scheduled to play at home on the same weekend. These are the opening fixtures for the Champions & Runners up for the last fifteen years. 1995/96 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 1996/97 for both clubs: Rangers HOME to Raith Rovers, Celtic AWAY to Aberdeen 1996/97 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 1997/98 for both clubs: Rangers HOME to Hearts, Celtic AWAY to Hibernian 1997/98 Champions: Celtic; Runners Up: Rangers 1st fixtures of 1998/99 for both clubs: Celtic HOME to Dunfermline, Rangers AWAY to Hearts 1998/99 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 1999/2000 for both clubs: Rangers HOME to Kilmarnock, Celtic AWAY to Aberdeen 1999/2000 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 2000/2001 for both clubs: Rangers HOME to St.Johnstone, Celtic AWAY to Dundee Utd 2000/2001 Champions: Celtic; Runners Up: Rangers 1st fixtures of 2001/2002 for both clubs: Celtic HOME to St.Johnstone, Rangers AWAY to Aberdeen 2001/2002 Champions: Celtic; Runners Up: Rangers 1st fixtures of 2002/2003 for both clubs: Celtic HOME to Dunfermline, Rangers AWAY to Kilmarnock 2002/2003 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 2003/2004 for both clubs: Rangers HOME to Kilmarnock, Celtic AWAY to Dunfermline 2003/2004 Champions: Celtic; Runners Up: Rangers 1st fixtures of 2004/2005 for both clubs: Celtic HOME to Motherwell, Rangers AWAY to Aberdeen 2004/2005 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 2005/2006 for both clubs: Rangers HOME to Livingston, Celtic AWAY to Motherwell 2005/2006 Champions: Celitc; Runners Up: Hearts 1st fixtures of 2006/2007 for both clubs & Rangers: Celtic HOME to Kilmarnock, Hearts AWAY to Dunfermline, Rangers AWAY to Motherwell 2006/2007 Champions: Celtic, Runners Up: Rangers 1st fixtures of 2007/2008 for both clubs: Celtic HOME to Kilmarnock, Rangers AWAY to Inverness 2007/2008 Champions: Celtic; Runners Up: Rangers 1st fixtures of 2008/2009 for both clubs: Celtic HOME to St.Mirren, Rangers AWAY to Falkirk 2008/2009 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 2009/2010 for both clubs: Rangers HOME to Falkirk, Celtic AWAY to Aberdeen 2009/2010 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 2010/2011 for both clubs: Rangers HOME to Kilmarnock, Celtic AWAY to Inverness 2010/2011 Champions: Rangers; Runners Up: Celtic 1st fixtures of 2011/2012 for both clubs: Rangers will be at HOME, Celtic will be AWAY

Nah that would be too complicated for the SPL's 'computers'. They both can't be at home on the same weekend, it never happens.

What makes you think that? We usually do well to take 400 to Ibrox.

We won't be away against Celtic or at home to Rangers on the opening day because the league champions always begin the next season at home to unfurl the flag. As Rangers are the current champions, they will be playing at home and so therefore Celtic will be away on the opening weekend. I reckon we'll either be going to Ibrox or Pittodrie on day one.

I'm not saying I rate Kenneth atall, far from it. But while his only asset is his size, Reynolds' is his pace and while Kenneth as you say can't pass and most of his tackles are assaults, Reynolds can't pass and most of his tackles, with the exception of the odd decent on, are powderpuff and he's shoved about by opposition strikers. There isn't a 'good' centre half between the two of them, but Kenneth's 'style' if you can call it that is far more suited to the game in this country than Reynolds' is.

Because Gary Kenneth at least has the build of a centre half and a bit of physical presence about him. He's a dreadful footballer but at least he can be put in the 'no nonsense centre half' bracket so I suspect that's what swings it for Kenneth. Mark Reynolds is far too leightweight for that position and if I had a choice between him or Kenneth at CB in my team I'd pick Kenneth.

Mark Reynolds was/is one of the most overrated Motherwell players in the eyes of the support in recent memory. At best he was a decent defender and nothing more. His distribution and positional sense were absolutely dreadful and he is far too lightweight for a centre half. He has one asset, pace. Apart from that he's a very average player. It was absolutely laughable that there were Motherwell fans insisting that he should be playing for the National side, or at least it would have been laughable if they weren't serious about it. It's no surprise atall that he's been found out down South.

He had 'mixed results' in the transfer market I'd say. His good signings were; Gordon Marshall, Stephen Craigan, David Partridge, Scott McDonald, Phil O'Donnell and to an extent, Richie Foran, albeit he was very much a 'hit and miss' type player who did not deserve anywhere near the amount of 'cult' status that he held and continues to hold with some of our fans. His not so good signings; Alex Burns, Richard Offiong, Gerry Britton, Gary Bollan, Jason Dair, that boy Vaughan, Daniel Sengewald and Brian Kerr (who should have and could have been a great signing had he not been such a lazy bugger)

The best manager Boyle appointed was McGhee without doubt as he took us to a 3rd placed finish and Europe, playing the best football we've ever played all in twelve short months which was all the more remarkable that it came on the back of the disastrous Malpas season and also that we also had the tragedy of Phil O'Donnell's death midway through the campaign. Terry Butcher's time in charge was probably the best era we've had in recent times as although the football we played under him was at times absolutely awful, we were nothing if not exciting and the League Cup run of 2004/2005, especially the Semi Final against Hearts will live with me forever. He had a great relationship with the support and brought a great deal of unity between club and fans, although administration played a part in this aswell, and unlike McGhee and a few others, Butcher really seemed to have some degree of affection for Motherwell FC.

The problem is that these 'IRA/Republican' songs that Celtic fans sing are NOT sectarian, under religious grounds, whether you like or dislike them. As long as people try to attack such songs as 'sectarian' then they don't have a leg to stand on because all Celtic FC need say is "okay then, explain how such songs fall into the sectarian, under religious grounds, cateogry?" and that is the debate over. Celtic's PR department is top notch and they know full well that the singing of such anthems cannot reasonably bring accusations of 'sectarian chanting, under religious grounds' and a large number of their supporters are also fully aware of this. If you really want to take the fight to Celtic over what their fans sing then the first thing to do is get the facts straight. Their supporters sing songs that are totally inappropriate for football grounds and promote an organisation that is recognised within the United Kingdom as a terrorist organisation. Challenge them on those grounds and you might find yourself with a stronger case. IRA songs are NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING to do with religion and cannot in anyway be classed in the same bracket as 'The Billy Boys' when it comes to 'religious sectarianism', but the problem is that so few people can actually understand this. Too many people are scared to venture beyond this "The Old Firm are as bad as each other and have identical problems" stance. In reality both are completely different and raise completely different issues with the songs they sing and I've tried to explain this to numerous amounts of people who moan and greet about the 'Billy Boys' being outlawed and forbidden whilst IRA promoting songs are not, but it seems that some people in the West of Scotland just cannot accept, or understand this. You want to fight Celtic and win? Well get your facts straight first!

The performance on the park was as bad as it could have been. We all know that nine times out of ten Celtic will beat us but it was so disappointing that they didn't even have to break sweat to do it last week. The atmosphere in the Motherwell end was pitiful, I commented at the time and afterwards but I think a lot of that can be put down to; a) there were a lot of 'non football fans' there, just folk out to see a Cup Final; b) Deep down, most Motherwell fans knew we hadn't a hope in hell and didn't believe we could pull off the shock given our dreadful form in the run up to the final, and; c) With all the pressure on Celtic to win a trophy given that they hadn't done so for over two years and had just lost the league by a point and what with all the off field carry on with Lennon, everyone knew that they would be absolutely determined to win that game and so would not fail to do so, whatever we did. The atmosphere wasn't a patch on the 2005 CIS Final, although I'm not sure it was quite so much as a let down on the park as it was that day as we had a better team back then and we just completely froze but certainly off the park back then the Motherwell support was in great voice throughout, before, during and even after the game. There was none of that last Saturday and for me that was the most disappointing thing. All in all it was just a rotten day for us, and the bus fiasco after the game combined with the weather on top of everything else meant it was a day to forget. It should be forever remembered as 'The Damp Squib'.

I was on Bus 23 from Fir Park and assumed we would be going into the Coach Park at Hampden when we got there so when we drove past that, we just got off and walked it seeing as the steward told us he wasn't sure where we were going to be parking. I thought that was a joke to be honest as all the Fir Park buses had official passes on the front of them that should have allowed them into Hampden but obviously the Polis had other ideas. I can't fault the club for that however I can't help thinking we should have left Motherwell a lot earlier than we did considering we knew we would have to go over the Kingston Bridge then down through Shawlands on a Saturday afternoon when the traffic is bad enough but on Cup Final day it was always going to be even slower than normal so possibly the car park was full by the time we arrived at twenty to three.

If that's true then that's disgraceful. Bad enough that the '91 team has their bus leave without them leaving them stranded but to then be refused entry to the Centenery Suite just adds insult to injury. Very poor way to treat them.

Another new kit? Do we now change kits every single year? I can't remember the last time we had a home strip that was used for two seasons.

They both have issues with their supports, but at least the Rangers fans don't deny it, Celtic's refuse to accept it and point the finger at everyone else. It's like if you are on a crowded train and the 'Rangers fan' is the guy who does a loud, belter of a fart and then laughs about it while everyone else looks on in disgust and doesn't care what anyone thinks about it. The 'Celtic fan' in the same situation is the guy who does a silent but deadly fart then blames everyone else for it whilst refusing to accept it was him that done it. Either way, they both stink.

It comes down to personal experience and what annoys you more really. I wouldn't say it was a case of 'preferring' one to the other, it's more which one gets up your nose more than the other. If you have had more grief from Celtic fans than you've had from Rangers fans then chances are you'll dislike them more and the other way around. For example, if you went to a Catholic school which in general are full of Celtic fans and you were one of the few Motherwell fans there and you got constant abuse and hassle for it, then that may cause you to have stronger feelings against them than Rangers because you've been exposed to them and their shite more often. For me personally, I really dislike Celtic, partly down to the above reason and also down to the 'everyone's against us' and Victim mentality, aswell as the paranoia, sheer hypocricy and high horse attitude that that club and it's supporters are famous for. I don't find Celtic fans particularly sectarian either as although I don't agree with the IRA chants, they are not in any way sectarian, more political sentimental whinging that has no place in football. With Rangers, the sectarian bigotry is clearly worse but if I'm honest, I'm completely indifferent to them and just let their backward looking attitudes and nonsense go over my head. If find it easier to laugh at them than anything else. I absolutely love 'We are the Peepul' as none of them have a clue what it means. But that's just me, other folk will see it completely differently and will find Rangers' bigotry more infuriating than Celtic's paranoia and holier than thou' stance. Each to their own and that. I fail to see how disliking one more than the other makes you pro the one that you dislike the least and at a guess, I'd say that the majority of fans of Motherwell and most clubs outwith Celtic and Rangers hate one of them more than the other, for one reason or another I can't see how that would make them any less a supporter of the club that they actually support.

Possibly was mate, I can only comment on what it was like from my own point of view. I just think it seemed flat for a Cup Final, both on and off the park, but hey ho, we did well to get there I suppose.

Maybe it was better where you were sitting but from where I was it was dreadful. I was in the South Stand and you could hear a pin drop for most of the game.

Reading through some of the posts on this thread and I honestly cannot believe the amount of folk saying that they were 'proud' of that today. Proud of what exactly??? We were awful today and got exactly what we deserved. Second to every ball, allowed Celtic to cut us open at will and offered nothing up front. 3-0 flattered us if anything. And off the park we were equally shite as the atmosphere in the Motherwell end was non existant and not even a patch on the 2005 CIS Final or even the two semi finals from this season. Completely outsung by the Celtic support all day long and it felt like a normal run of the mill league game instead of a Cup Final. I left as soon as the second goal went in and make no apology for it as I refuse to highlight and applaud such a poor performance.

The odds are firmly stacked against us, the chances of us doing it are slim to say the least. But tomorrow is a special day for the club and I hope against hope that somehow we can do it and win our first silverware in 20 years. Good luck to Stuart McCall and his boys, if they win this then by God they will have written themselves firmly into Motherwell history.

It's twenty years exactly to the day since we won the Scottish Cup in 1991 with that 'stupendous performance' quote commentator Jock Brown in the best Scottish Cup Final in history. It's hard to believe that was 20 years ago and even harder to believe that two of that squad are no longer with us. So raise a glass to 'The Class of '91' tonight Well fans, a squad that will forever belong in Motherwell folklore. I wonder if we'll ever see the likes of them again