MJC_MKI

Very tight and nervy game ahead but I think we can sneak this 1-0 or 2-1 and take a valuable three points south with us.

Careful, he will confront you!

I would agree with that but I'm pretty sure that if we drew Man Utd then the interest locally would extend beyond the stay away or exiled Motherwell fans to non 'Well supporting locals wanting to see Man Utd in the flesh, so I reckon Fir Park would easily sell out for a Motherwell v Man Utd Europa league match. At the risk of sounding like 'trafficlight' I reckon the Man Utd brand name would see such a game sold out no bother.

As ever, the truth lies somewhere in the middle...

5-2 to us with a Sutton hat trick, Ainsworth and Vigurs getting the others.

That's a new one on me, I'm pretty sure the requirements were three years worth of accounts. However whatever the exact ruling is I am 100% satisfied that 'Rangers' will not be eligible to play in Europe next season.

Quite possibly not given the shambolic way that club is run, but one thing is certain and that is that they don't have three years worth so therefore cannot play in European competition.

In ordinary circumstances a club going to the wall and starting again as a newco would have to apply to join the scottish leagues as Gretna did. However in 'Rangers' case they were straight in to the third division after attempts to place them in the first division were ko'd. I believed at the time and still do that the authorities viewed 'Rangers' old or new as part of the only selling point of Scottish football and moved the goalposts a bit as a result. Basically, without the 'Old Firm package' then Scottish Football would have no selling power to sponsors and TV companies so they parachuted Rangers' newco in to the highest point they possibly could in order to secure sponsor and TV support. UEFA on the other hand do not need or rely on 'Rangers' to the same extent.

They can't play in Europe next season because UEFA rules require that clubs are able to produce at least three years worth of audited accounts before competing in their competitions and 'The Rangers' only have two so its a non starter. And, unlike in Scotland, 'The Rangers' are small fry and are not depended upon to boost the reputation of the game and its tournaments, so UEFA won't be bending the rules because of special circumstances like the SFA did.

No I won't be doing that however I shall have a good old chuckle at the mouth foaming outrage that will almost certainly ensue as a result.

Fancy us for another win here, 2-1 with Sutton and Ainsworth on target again.

The Samaritans will have to take on quadruple shifts and that's just for the 'Rangers' haters on this site. God knows how the Celtic support and their obsessed bloggers and phone in crackpots will cope...I'd avoid the Erskine Bridge should 'Rangers' lift the Cup.

Very good win and a very important three points. It might not have been a great performance but Inverness are a decent side and they had their chances in the first half too, except we took our's when it mattered and for the first time this season Nielsen looked competent and pulled off a couple of smart saves. I felt a bit bad for Faddy tonight as he was trying his heart out but nothing came off for him and he looked a frustrated figure when he went off. All in all it's a good night's work.

Can see this being 1-1 and quite a frustrating night. Sutton to get on the scoresheet again.

No, but we've not always been 'best of the rest' throughout the last twenty years, indeed for large periods of the nineties and certainly the early part of the 2000s we were a bottom half of the table side so we didn't have the advantage that we had in the past couple of years of being better than the rest of the league out with the Old Firm. My gripe is that we have had a good, strong side, player quality wise in the past two seasons but when its come down to Cup games they've failed to step up to the plate.

In fairness to them while their Scottish Cup record is the worst of the worst they did manage to lift the League Cup as recently as 2007, something which we've not had a sniff of. It makes for galling reading those statistics as they prove that the silverware is there to be won by clubs such as us and especially as we had probably the best side out with the big two in the past two seasons and got nowhere near cup glory. Unfortunately we lack the character and bottle to be a good cup side as you need to raise your game on the day but that is lost on us and we have been badly let down in recent times by the manager and the players in that respect. I too fear that we will never win the cup again as our best opportunity was these past couple of years with us having a strong side while Rangers were out the picture and the likes of Aberdeen were toiling badly. Now the Dons have got it right on the pitch, likewise Dundee Utd and Sevco will be in the top flight in two seasons time spending money they don't have, so I really don't see where we will get such a good and realistic chance of silverware again anytime soon.

I can understand that but that's the gamble every manager has to take when handing a young player their full first team debut. It could go two ways, either as you say he doesn't have the best of times and it ruins his confidence and progress or he hits the ground running and his confidence soars. However given that our only other goalkeeping option has proved time and again this season that he is just not up to the job then perhaps this is a gamble worth taking.

I'd still give him his chance. Nielsen's had more than his fair share of opportunities this season and has failed to look anything other than completely unreliable so what harm can it do to at least give Stewart a couple of games in the first team?

Here Here.

I don't think it's too difficult to understand the point I was making. The poster I quoted said that if we don't win we'll have ballsed up somewhere, I replied 'in defence', meaning that yes, this is a very winnable match for us given ICT's commitments beforehand but the same could have been said of the Hibs game at the weekend, albeit because Hibs are a poor side, but we conceded three cheap goals, just as we did did against Partick Thistle and St.Johnstone and - Thistle game apart - ended up dropping points as a result. To simplify, I think this is a game that we can very easily win but our defensive frailties could well stop us doing that. That would be where we would have 'ballsed up' because while we can certainly score we can also certainly concede, hence I think this one's a score draw.

Aye, in defence. This one has score draw written all over it.

I completely share that view, the club really need to speak out on behalf of the fans here. In the times we live in when football is becoming more expensive and money is tight for everyone then clubs need to be encouraging fans to come to games and create atmosphere, not discouraging them. Attendances are poor in the game up here and atmosphere is suffering as a result so for a drum to be banned because it makes too much noise is utterly ridiculous, especially when clubs are forever trying to entice fans back to games. The 'Well Bois do a superb job at Fir Park in creating atmosphere where without them the place would be a morgue and they lead the away support and encourage singing and vocal backing at away games, something which can only be good for the game itself, never mind Motherwell FC alone. To actively hamper them from doing so is surely counter productive to the attempt to sell football and encourage people to attend as what is football without the fans? Its nothing. So, I really hope that the club takes a stand over this.

So basically they're a load of shite then?

1-1 with Ainsworth scoring for us.