CoF

The competition with Aberdeen right now is fucking great, it adds a real excitement to every single game as we simply can't afford to drop any points. It makes tomorrow feel like another huge game, which in some ways is better than sitting slightly more comfortably like we have done the last few seasons. Going for a squeeky 1-0 to us.

Any links?

Not something I know anything about but surely that's only relevant if he's on a contract, as opposed to pay per appearance?

Absolutely. Going into Europe again with half a team would be galling. It would be amazing to start the season with more or less the same team and really hit the ground running. I like your positivity but I think we'll need to finish 2nd to be able to resign McManus, Faddy and Ainsworth. Even at that, it wouldn't surprise me to see Ainsworth move back down south. That said, we're his 13th club in 8 years and given his success here he might be tempted to aim for some stability in his career.

Aberdeen away on the last day of the season. I'd be up for that! The fixtures have been announced around the 9/10th April the last two seasons but I'm not sure if it's taken till then for the split to be decided. As it's already decided I really hope they get the finger out and give us as much notice as possible.

4th gets Europe I think.

Great three points which is even sweeter against a top 6 side. We played some nice football in the first half and I really thought we would have went for it after the break but after an initial 5 minute impetus we seemed content to sit back and give Inverness the ball. I'm not quite sure what the game plan was at that point. I can only guess that the tactic was to draw them in as they searched for a goal and catch them on the break, which makes sense given the 120 minutes they had played on Sunday. Looked like things weren't quite clicking on the break so I'm guessing our focus became parking the bus for the last 20. Who knows, but it worked.

Despite there being no stand outs, everyone put a shift in. Special menshy (and vote) to Gunnar though. He did what was needed when called upon and, while he wasn't overly tested he pulled off some good saves. Given how low his confidence might be, I think he deserves massive credit for tonights confident and assured performance.

I can only think that it's because it would be impossible to divide Europe by region without having massive differences in the quality of each region. This would mean that some regions would be easier to get out of than others. At least with this setup teams get through rounds on merit.

Replying to the bit in bold, only 3 teams outwith the OF have won the Scottish Cup since 1991. It's clearly not there for the taking. The league cup though, that's maybe a different story but on the flip side, at least we aren't St Johnstone. Like yourself however, I do worry that we've missed our chance in the last few years. Maybe not forever (a bit ott??) but for another few years at least. We've been strong while the stronger teams have been pish. Not to be overly critical though, we've capitalised in the league and the club should take full credit for that. That said, it's a cup competition. With a strong Aberdeen, Dundee United and Sevco inevitably recovering, going in over the next few years without the weight of expectation isn't necessarily a bad thing.

According to wikipedia's post war stats, it's never happened.

Looking at it again, it's not actually Paterson's momentum that brings him down. He gets his foot in front of the ball as Faddy hits the shot. Faddys own momentum sends him over the ball. It looks worse than it is. I'd greet if a quality last ditch tackle like that was now a foul.

Studs down, on the ground, not from behind, taking the ball first. Yep, they are.

I thought it was a great tackle. Took the ball clean and momentum took him through faddy. It's fitba, it happens.

His pace wasn't an issue from where I was sitting. Maybe I was still queuing for my cup of tea.

Loads of positives to take from yesterday - Regulars coming onto a great game, newer faces doing very well, Hollis looking confident. We also played some of the nicest passing football I've seen all season. Hearts were pish, but to dominate a potentially sticky game off the back of two sore defeats will hopefully give them full club a lift. We play Hibs and Inverness before Aberdeen play their next league game so two wins there and the pressure is back onto them.

Hollis played 90 minutes midweek. Looking forward to hearing the squad being announced...

A fair point. Only one I can think of recently is Lawless. While he's not quite playing at a comparable level, having him on board could have given us a bit more flexibility this season.

I agree the results against the top 6 are worrying but I think it's unfair to belittle the consistency we've had against the bottom 6. With the exception of Aberdeen and Celtic, I don't think there is a huge gap in squad quality between the teams in this league and the fact that St Johnstone, Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee United have all dropped a lot of points to the bottom 6 is testament to that.

Eh? In what way is his age 'showing' if he's our best midfielders having one of his best seasons in claret and amber? When I forget my specs you could easily convince me we've got a 25 year old playing in the middle of the park.

The cup exits were absolutely gutting but if this is classed as a 'very disappointing' season for you then you seriously need to consider supporting another team. When our league position starts to accurately reflect our budget, get help.

Commentary from MFC TV?

Would love to see him start, Anier looked in a bit of pain at times the other night. We might not see too much of him on Tuesday again. As MJC says, can't see us keeping a clean sheet but I'm confident we'll click going forward. Another high-scoring game, 3-2 to Motherwell.

Fair points, however our current league position and last two league finishes under McCall might suggest that we're probably one of the hardest first teams to break into simply because our starting eleven generally performs so well. Would some of our key u20 players be getting a game for teams below us? Probably, but I'd say even Moore (wonder goal aside) has looked a bit out of his depth just now. He might step into Partick's or St Mirren's starting eleven, just not ours.

Yip, straight into tonight's squad according to the official site.