Andy_P

It probably says more about Dundee Utd's wagebill than an SPL prize money v Cup money guesstimate but mind its only a few weeks since they posted their accounts for last season and despite winning the cup they were only £66k to the good. But really in terms of rather than just playing our games it'll just be good to be in there (once confirmed ofcourse). The bottom six is completely dead in the water with Accies counting the days to their execution where as least we will have a say in fucking up one of the Old Firm's title bid - as we have come to enjoy. And if we can blag a couple of decent home attendances and sneak 4th or 5th then all the better.

Thoughts and votes please folks....

I read that as him acknowledging the volume of rain over the last couple of days rather than implied criticism of the pitch itself. Still hope we pump them though!

I like Hampden. I've been a part of some wonderful atmosphere's in there but but I do concede that it needs a certain amount of bodies in it for it to come to life as it truly can. Curiously though one of my least enjoyable Hampden experiences was in that South Stand upper you speak of (Norway when Faddy got sent off) and one of the best was about two rows from the front of the North Stand when we beat France. But yeah there large swathes of the ground I would try to avoid unless availability dictates otherwise. The hotspots for us at Scotland home games would either be the North Stand centre, wings of the North Stand as long as you aren't down the front at the corner flags or behind the goals, midway between the goals and the corners (Section B - wank, wank wank) usually halfway up. When booking Scotland tickets you generally get the choice front, middle or back. Not so sure that choice will be available when it comes to our Semi though.

Conspiracy Theory alert!!! What if.... Some particularly bright spark at Fir Park thought there was more than one way to skin a cat. From being pretty resolute that MFC had been wronged by Brown and Aberdeen and we would fight to get that redressed, suddenly it put the side as per the statement Ladywell has quoted. What say Saturday's wee scene was already concocted with a calculated gamble that just the right amount of hysteria would see both parties invited to appear before the SFA to discuss. And where in December the noises being made suggested that there might not be a case for Aberdeen to answer, Brown has been given enough rope to hang himself in recent days so that when Motherwell are asked to speak we have a number of damning quotes attributed to Brown to perhaps warrant some SFA action, or at the very least tear the innocent reputation to shreds. All bollocks ofcourse but what if.....

I thought it was a deserved three points though there were patches it looked like Aberdeen were going to continue their annoying of habit of doing absolutely nothing for a large chunk of the game, then pop up and score. I suppose they did in the end but fortunately we'd got that all important second goal by then. It was a good positive start and the goal was no less than we deserved at the time. Unfortunately we didn't really build on it and whilst Randy was never troubled we didn't look that likely to add to the lead. I thought they had a lot more of the game in the second half and there were a couple of spells where I thought you could sense a goal could be coming for them but on each of those occasions we fortunately managed to regroup and get back a little initiative ourselves - and McGuire's effort, brilliantly saved by Randolph apart, we still had the better chances with Jones and McHugh. Second goal looked to have have sealed it but not so and it was a nervy last couple of minutes after they made it 2-1. But we got there, and a very satisfying three points it is!

Ha ha forgot about that. Aye, I've heard him repeat that a couple of times on the radio in his usual cocky wee manner "I have spoken, therefore it will happen" style. I don't have much time for him at all so anything that comes back around and makes him look stupid is good with me. I thought it was fantastic entertainment listening to Traynor reduce him to a jibberring, stuttering sounding idiot on the way to the game today. Frankly I couldn't give a shit what the Rangers chairman said or didn't say, nodded or didn't nod but it made great radio listening to Traynor completely slaughter Young about his report and his abilities as a journalist in general.

Thoughts and votes please for get it (b)roon ye Saturday!!

For me the most satisfaction there is to be gained from Brown's return is not about trying to settle a score by heckling him outside FP but by getting another three points against his team. Giving him abuse as he comes off the bus, I suspect won't see him bat an eyelid in all honesty. But it will however likely end up with the media giving him a platform to tell all and sundry at some length about the hurt and distress he's been caused by it after all the hard work he did for us and how he took us to Europe and left us in the top six etc. Surely we all know by now he's a master at working the media. Every time Motherwell beat his team and every time he looks at the table and sees us above them will cause him much more aggrevation than any 'Well fan giving him stick for the twenty seconds it'll take for him to get from their bus into the ground. I'd say better to ignore him and give the impression we're now happy to have moved on to bigger and better things (even if that isn't actually how you feel) and to channel your energies to replicating the atmosphere of the other night to help cause him maximum annoyance when he's dispatched back up the road with no points.

Seating at Hampden starts with A right at the bottom and goes up if that helps give you an indicator There are a handful of rows up the back of the stands behind the goals that are rows are AAA and BBB for example with Row A right at the very bottom.

Can't mind what thread it was on but Dee mentioned some discussions with the club about the singing section and stuff that would appear to have gone positively. What about asking the club if there's any space in the South Stand either where the food kiosks are, or that gym/training area if that happens to be in use?

It's yours, Dee's, Bop's and whoever else is involved's call. Perceptions from previous fundraisers are though that the thread is better bumped than pinned though. Just let us know....

[Puts on best Roy Walker voice] Ahh it's good, but it's not right..... I think if there were enough supporters to fill the place then what they've got in place would be pretty good. They've given folk the option of sitting in a singing section with a view along the side. There's a family section with the weans getting in a bit cheaper. You can sit behind the goals if that's your bag, with a cheaper price to reflect the view and if you're of the inclination of watching from the "Main" stand that's there too. We've also got the fact that there will be a group of Saints fans to our left that we'll be able to interact with as well. I think its fair to acknowledge that there is a degree of choice being offered. The hope would be that we sell enough tickets that there is a flow of support that carries from the singing section along the North Stand and links up with the 'Well fans behind the goals. The fear however is that we simply won't take enough fans and you'll have three smallish sections of isolated chunks of support. As I say I think its a good set of options for watching, just perhaps we're not the two teams that the options are best designed for.

Happy Days!!! Get voting people!!!

I'm quite comfortable with either a claret and amber strip which represents the club's colours over the bulk of our hisotry or if its a one-off blue and white kit. Perhaps another option might be to do what Aberdeen did to mark one of their anniversaries was to incorporate their original colours, black and gold as I recall, as the away shirt for the season. That way both the past and present are marked.

Wore a crinkly blue shellsuit top to the game Got a row off the old dear for giving the fingers to a Utd bus Looked on at the disbelief at the faces of my mates when old man came in with the celebratory drinks he promised us all if we won - India Pale Ale!! But who cared - Motherwell had won the Cup!

I think I would find it irresistable not to put something the club's way if I was ever lucky enough to win that kind of dough. I do think like Sieb it would be specific purpose donations rather than chucking money for players. Things like a team bus so that they don''t need to pay hire charges for the next few years, a couple of training pitches with undersoil heating so there's always somewhere for them to train, club museum so that it'll generate income (albeit a small amount) without any investment required from the club. That kind of thing.

I'd say, Hateley for the next three home games. After once our hopes for the season become a bit clearer, whether top or bottom six I'd like to see Page or whoever at right back and the likes of Meechan, Pollock etc across the team get a start or two to help their development for next season.....with Hateley at right back for the Semi and Final

A couple of things perhaps slightly veering off topic a little. On the season ticket options for youngsters mentioned, was speaking to the Clyde fan at work. He reckons they are going to continue with the initiatives they introduced this season - the cheap package with the vouchers for numerous local companies. One of the things they've concluded with the cut price tickets or whatever it was, was that quite a few youngsters bought the tickets but loads of them had fallen away from attending. They are considering a balance between a slightly higher priced ticket for next season but adding in an incentive for the kids to keep attending - like a voucher each game that they can use in their shop for example say enough credit over the season to buy a new strip or something. Maybe something worth considering as additional incentive for our youngsters? Pleased to see consideration of a more gradual step up in pricing for tickets too. But have the club given any thought to what can be done to go from a massive leap from a juvenile ticket £83 to an adult ticket £270 if they don't happen to become a student and get the concession rate? I'm all for getting the next generation through but how many do we lose once they hit the juvenile price ceiling?

Hmm. Yes and no, Grew. No disagreeing that the next three league games are crucial, without question much rests on them. Without getting into the will we or won't we about the top six, there's already another thread about that, whilst there's been some pretty dire performances in the last three or four months, there have been a smattering of at worst half-decent displays too so whilst we could easily fall out of the top, I'd say its not beyond the realms that we'll come up with enough to see us scrape into the half either. I disagree about the signings though. There is no way that Gunning and Jones are anything like as poor as the trio of Irishmen quoted. At 34 I had a low expectation level about Jones but thought prior to his injury he had been doing pretty well. Being out for a month has clearly knocked him back somewhat but I thought he was a fair addition for the six months he's likely to be here. Gunning I actually quite like. I don't see him being a English Premier League there but I do see some potential and someone who could become yet another player to have played at Fir Park and end up in the English Championship. Think he has been another half decent signing in that he can cover at left-back and central defence. Unfortunately in keeping with almost all youngsters, of which our squad is punctuated, their form can be up and down. As for yesterday it made more and more painful viewing the longer the game went on. Despite the injury set-backs we started with a purpose and were well worthy of the lead. It was a poor goal to lose, the first but despite Killie getting the lift we held our own. The penalty really was a sickener though and that was your game changer. The third was another poor goal to lose and it was worrying just how badly we capitulated after that. It could easily have been five or six and from being in such a good position, was pretty desperate stuff.

Put the rod back away Deco!

If you hovver your cursor just to the right of a player's name a box will appear saying "View Votes", click on the box and and a speech bubble thingy will appear with the names of the folk who've voted for that particular player.

Thoughts and votes please....

I'll worry about the timing of the game if and when we get there but unless there's been a revision on the TV deal or Sky/BBC still have live games up their sleeves to show both, I don't think there's a hard and fast ruling as to when the Semi Finals are played. There have been some in recent years that haven't been televised. I don't think Utd's Semi Final last season was shown live for example, it was 3pm on the Sunday. I remember listening to it in the house seeing as how we we were looking for them to win the Cup to help us get a Europa League place.

Where does the 48 hours come into it? Is that some sort of official ruling? I have my doubts though I'll happily bow to your greater knowledge if you can advise us otherwise. I just can't see them moving the game 24 hours if it wasn't going to change a thing. Surely pointless if that's the case. Assuming there is no written down regulation, the key thing here for me is that it brings Randolph right back into the frame. Remember that whilst Craggs will be will involved in a Qualifier with NI, the Republic of Ireland are only playing in a friendly. Whilst there aren't any written down rules, international managers have been known to be accommodating to club managers on occasion when it comes to players with important matches looming and realistically would he have been starting anyway? I would fully expect Craggs to be involved to the full with NI mind you so I would still consider him unlikely to be involved. Perhaps on the bench as cover at best? Its not completely ideal but its a help I'd say.