joewarkfanclub

I dont recall reading anything about us getting paid before he signed for Hibs, but regardless, it still doesnt make up for the conduct. I dont doubt for one minute that it was more lilely to be Caddens agent and the clubs that came up with the wheeze, but the player could have easily instructed them to play fair by the club. Its not as if it was a ransom they were being asked to pay. Unfortunately for Mr Cadden, he will never again be revered at Fir Park in the way that Turnbull and Campbell are. Motherwell FC were a huge part of his development as a young player and, in those circumstances, there is a way to conduct yourself when you leave. He failed to do the right thing.

I think you CAN point these things out. You just cant call him a cheat. I back Goodwin 100% for doing so ( although given his playing career he has a bit of a cheek) but he should have been smarter with the language he used. If he had said that Porteous "influenced the referees decision using the dark arts of the game" he would probably have got away with it. But everyone would have known exactly what he meant.......

Precisely why it was my highlight of the match!

Some good defensive performances yesterday. Thought McGinn was solid and Lamie and Sol look like they are starting to form a good partnership at the back. However, Ive gone for Penney again. Another solid showing capped by taking the utter piss in the 2nd half out of Cadden who had to pay him a tenner to get back in. Highlight of the match for me! PS another shout out for Efford who continues to impress going forward

Tight game yesterday and it felt like the big moments all went Hibs way. Didnt think we played particularly well first half but even so we were far from outplayed. A mixture of poor decision making from Hibs and very good defending from us kept us in it to half time. I thought the takle on Spittal which caused his injury was a shocker and certainly felt it merited a yellow at the time. Having seen it back on the highlights there is a case for a red card. Second half I felt we started brighter and with more purpose but the red card scuppered any chance we had of gaining any superiority. Re Sheilds red. Porteous goes down like a bag of spuds, but he would have been clean through on goal so no complaints there. Personally, I would have let him go and trusted Kelly 1 v 1. Felt we defended really well with 10 men and were always in the game. The goal is unfortunate with the deflection, but you cant argue with the finish from Porteous. Its a great header. Thought we looked better after the substitutions and continued to cause problems right up until the end. Frustrated to leave with nothing, but pleased that despite a poor first half and playing for so long with 10 men, we remained competitive.

I fancy quite a decent away support will be through today. Not too far to go and off the back of a good result and a 2 week break for most. Hopefully we put in a good performance, score a few goals and come away with a positve result. We need to keep the "feelgood" factor going into this next run of fixtures.

Apparently there are lots of roadworks through town so I plan to drive all the way around the city bypass and come in the back way and park at Meadowbank Shopping Centre......

I agree that it is going to be difficult for them to compete at Champions League level, but Rangers showed last year they can absolutely compete at Europa League level. Their big problem is that they sold their 2 best players close season in Bassey and Aribo and despite the rather large transfer fees and Europa League money, didnt replace them with players of anywhere near the same quality. Add in that the directors were probably looking to recover some of their soft loans and its not hard to see why they have gone backwards. I think Celtic are a different matter. They seem to have recruited well and should have been in a position to compete better in the Champions League, however, they have picked up injuries to key players which has prevented them from doing so. Im thinking Starfeld, Carter Vickers and now McGregor. Its going to be tough for them now and Europa League is probably best they can hope for. Given the number of games both have played in Europe over the past few seasons, Im not sure exposure to more competitive football is the biggest issue for them. If it was of course, both could help to create a more competitive environment in their domestic league by agreeing to a fairer share of the wealth in our game. But thats a whole different argument and one they would never agree to. For me the problem they have is mostly financial. Scotland doesnt have a good enough tv contract to generate the revenue they would need to attract the level of player necessary to compete at Champions League level, which is why the big 5 leagues dominate proceedings the way that they do.

Shame the trains are on strike as I like a wee away day in Edinburgh. However, after last night and given how shit the weather looks all weekend, I may still drive through for this one. Not something I would have said under Alexander. The confidence should be high in the squad now after seeing some tangible results for all the hard work they have put in and we have yet to see McKinstry and Moult up to speed. But when they and Tierney are your options from the bench, there is a lot to be happy about. Hopefully we have a full squad to choose from and we can go give another good account of ourselves. Keep wee Boyle quiet and we have a chance.

I dont think they were in the main stand though. They were in the very corner of the away stand behind the goal. The worst possible view. The main stand would actually be better. Likewise when we have put fans in the POD. I get stewarding heating costs etc, but if the stand is already open, what does it matter if they are sat in one section in the corner or one section behind the goal? If you are gonna give fans a poorer experience, at least drop the price to reflect that.

That doesnt really justify it though does it? Not as if they would be coming into contact with any of the home fans. They could have cordoned off half the stand from the goals to the corner and achieved the same objective with the same numbers of stewards. That would have allowed fans to at least get a half decent view of the game. As it was fans have made that journey in bad weather, paid £28 to get a shite view of their team. What happened to football being "entertainment"?

Great to have Slattery back. Really showed his worth and what a great partnership he and Goss are in midfield.

Lots of worthy candidates tonight. Efford, KVV and Goss were all excellent. For me Slattery was my MOTM. Given the couple of weeks he has had, he came back in, showed why he is our best midfielder and capped it all with a great goal. Well done Slatts!

Great result. First half performance was solid, but unspectacular. I thought we were marginally the better team but there wasnt much in it. 2nd half we just took control of the game and thoroughly deserved the margin of victory. Lovely hat trick from KVV and King Louis deprived once more! Hopefully when his goal comes it will be meaningful! Well done Stevie Hammell. Your team is worth following.

The one we missed was Moults disallowed goal!

Slattery being back is a major boost. With him and Goss back together in the middle and willing runners in front of them we should control the game. We need to start taking chances though....

The futures still bright. The futures Hammell!

Maybe it was Callum McGregor.......

With Slattery missing due to family reasons, we are pretty limited in our options in that position. If its not Maguire or Cornelius we are looking at Lennon Miller or dropping Tierney or McKinstry in there. Not sure any of those options would have been the right one going to Celtic Park. Going forward, if Slattery is still out, we might be able to change it up a little and go more attacking. Id like to see what KVV and Moult could do together. Neither is the best as a lone striker, but they are both intelligent players who I think could feed off each other. McKinstry wide getting good delivery into the box could be tasty. I like Tierney playing in the hole but it might mean a change of shape to get them all on the park at the same time.....

Thought the back 4 all did reasonably well considering and Goss tried to make things happen on the ball, but had little help and was largely over run most of the game. Probably give it to Penney as he caught the eye more than the others.

Really need to take the 3 points. Dont care how ugly it is. We need to take something out of this run of fixtures and Tuesday is probably our best chance. Be nice to see Hammy mix it up and start McKinstry Moult and KVV up top and just go for it.

I thought we started the game quite positively which was refreshing to see. But it wasnt long before we were chasing shadows. Not that Celtic were cutting us open repeatedly, but they did have pretty much all the ball and created 2 or 3 very good chances over and above the goal. Conversely when we had it it we couldnt seem to keep it at all. The own goal was a stroke of good fortune but it seemed to give us confidence and I though we finshed the half more strongly than before. Second half I thought we were better. We kept our shape well, really limited their chances and looked more composed on the ball. We got into some good areas, but our decision making and quality of delivery in the final third was poor so we didnt capitalise on our good field position. The red card gave me hope that we might sneak a point at the end, but letting Morris hit the free kick when he should have been nowhere near it was a ludicrous decision. Overall, we got what we deserved from the game, but the players and the manager shouldnt be judged on yesterday alone. We missed Slattery big time and Goss had no one to feed off or help him try and retain possession. Maguire and Cornelius were willing runners, but you need more than that going to Parkhead. Maybe Hammell could have played McKinstry and/or Tierney instead of Maguire and/or Cornelius, but there is no guarantee they would have kept the ball better and defensively it may have left us too open. The positives are we didnt take a tanking and we have easier games coming up.

Gonna be interesting to see what Hammell does tomorrow. Playing negatively and trying to park the bus against Celtic hasnt really served us that well in the past. However, I accept playing an open game and having a go could equally end up with us getting a tanking. Taking care of the ball and trying to limit their possession of it would appear to be the best bet, but thats a lot easier said than done the way they can press you from the front. No great expectations in this one. Happy to use it as a learning experience for the cup game. Anything we can take out of it would be a huge bonus.......

That is good news. Im sure the family will be very relieved. Best wishes to all......

Aye. I made a comment about a big game under the lights deserving a big performance! But the ko is 6.15pm.