Welldaft Mk1

Saw the Killie highlights at the weekend and thought Ross County could have had a penalty. So it does appear they are getting the rub of the green and decisions in their favour. That said they seem a side with purpose and organisation and a fair few decent players to boot. Even Erwin is starting to get a game going. I would have taken him back in a heartbeat. Just thought he was getting going when he went off to Leeds. Not seen much debate over which side we want in the semi. In a little over 4 hours we will know assuming no ET and penalties. I am of 2minds. I felt we were better than Killie at Fir Park recently but that said we have beaten Aberdeen twice this season and they tend not to do so well in Glasgow. My choice would be Killie but I just have a feeling Aberdeen will win through and face us in the semi finals.

I was standing at the exit to the covered car park at FT when the car mounted the kerb, bloke got out opened the gate, moved the barrier and then the 3 stewards stood in front of his car. I genuinely thought he would run them over. To be fair not their fault - they are paid a pittance and are told what to do and as I witnessed took a constant stream of abuse. As for standing in the pissing rain for 25 minutes having bought a ticket in advance only to watch patg punters walk up and waltz in. The club need to have a word with Accies. It was just piss poor organisation. And right on cue they eventually opened up another gate only once we had been in the Q for 15 minutes. Accies are not to blame for the shambles that we witnessed on the pitch. The players have for the most part done well this season and exceptionally well in the cups, but today was just woeful. Play like that in the semi final and it does not matter who wins on Tuesday night. I would be bricking it playing Gala Fairydean. It is hard to give pass marks to any players and a fair few played their worst this season inc Cadden who looks a shadow of the player we know he is and can be. I would rather have won last weekend than this but that is the only positive spin I can put on it. As for the pitch. What standards are the SPFL looking at or for. It is simply not fit for purpose. For all of the above reasons when it comes to the Superseal stadium or whatever the fuck it is called I am out. Not going back there for a while if at all....

I was making that assumption. We play them both at home in the next few weeks and will have played both twice at home this season. I am not saying it would not happen, but I was basing my argument that finishing top 6 would unlikely yield an extra home game v either of the old firm. Usually one of the key reasons the club wanted a top 6 finish along with the fact of course you can finish no lower than 6th. I initially posted in another thread I would take a cup semi / cup final over top 6. It would be great to have both but if I had to choose cup all the way. We are in the Semi - hopefully we can get to another final.

With Killie winning tonite it somewhat lessens our chances of top 6 but could help in our cause to finish no lower than 7th. just catching up with posts above. I stated somewhere else I would prefer a cup semi final than top 6. Still maintain that. If we can finish 7th then very little between that and 6th and also means we would avoid playing Celtic or Rangers in the league no doubt the week before we play them in cup final - should we get through the semis. Playing Celtic more than once in close proximity is not good for our health as we saw in November. Added to the fact there is no financial benefit in terms of playing old firm at home if we qualified for top 6. If Partick or Dundee are in the mix for play offs or even automatic relegation they would bring more fans to Fir Park than Killie or Hearts finishing in 5th or 6th. In order to qualify for top 6 I think we need to win 3 of next 4 games which means beating either Celtic or Rangers at home. Tough ask.

Semi Final scheduled for Saturday 14th April. I believe a 12:15 KO

Agree on crowds - for previous round v Dundee their home support was circa 3000 and we took 1500. 3000 is at least 1-1500 lower than normal for Dundee. Plus it was not on TV V Hearts we had around 3000 which is disappointing for a home quarter final. But it was live on Council TV and the sh1te weather leading up to game would have knocked many hundreds from the gate. As to the semi-final. Not too bothered who we get. Arguably Killie at the moment are as good as Aberdeen but then again you think we would be closer in terms of squad profile / players. Also it would be good to have either Motherwell or Killie in a final rather than Aberdeen. So Killie is my choice. If it was Killie then you would be lucky to get 20,000 which would still be decent if both teams took around 10,000. But I would prefer Tynecastle or Easter Rd and fill it out. Anyway we can sit back and look on a week tonight. Will be rooting for Killie but have a feeling Aberdeen may actually be better away from home.

Fantastic result and just about deserved. Good jump about when McHugh hit the winner. Get the thread updated to Semi Final please. Good draw and decent chance to make it 2 finals in a season and possibly a spot in Europe. It has been discussed in depth on here and yes I agree all the reasons why it was a poor home crowd. But some comments are laughable. I met fans from Aberdeen and Borders who made it no problem. If you really wanted to go you would have been there regardless of weather etc. Hearts are a bigger club by some distance but still rather embarrassing that they outnumber us in a cup home quarter final. Well done Robinson and the players. They deserve our total respect for cup performances this season. 11 games and 1 defeat is immense especially given the teams we have played.

Barry says you have sno balls Dave :-) Only Joking...... It is snowing lightly on M8 but clear on the roads

On way through from Edinburgh now via Winchburgh. All roads absolutely fine. If 4500 Jambos can make it through - don’t see how it can be a problem myself unless you live in a rural area. Mon the Well

I think there is every chance it will be on. Unless BBC are way of the mark their online forecast is for NO or very little snow tomorrow or Saturday and even into Sunday in Motherwell. That being the case the clear up can begin tomorrow a full 2 days ahead of KO. Again assuming BBC forecast is accurate !!

Also just seen that the Jambos have sold all 1200 extra tickets already today ! So 4700 or so Hearts fans. That is quite impressive. I assume that is there lot. Hope we get along in good numbers to ensure we match the Hearts support on the day. A 9000+ crowd would be a very good effort as it is on council TV.

Possibly - but the BBC forecast for Motherwell (for now anyway) shows little snow falling on Friday, Saturday and Sunday which should give enough time to clear pitch and surrounding areas from today and tomorrow snowfall.

Doubt it very much. If we were playing Saturday maybe, but 4.5 days to recover should be more than enough for a professional footballer. At least tonight's postponement means new no injury concerns (unless in training) and no possible suspensions, although not sure if that applied to anyone in any case.

I remember being in Aberdeen on work so I could go to the game and it was a lovely sunny but cold day and I thought no way will it be called off and it was. Cannot remember if it was 2nd or 3rd postponement. So god knows what will happen. But as pointed out I suspect more time will be given since it is scheduled for Sky. But if it was snowing all afternoon. Not sure how the game can get the green light. It is not just down to whether the pitch is playable.

I see according to Evening news that Hearts have secured an extra 1200 tickets ! Some come with restricted views which does indeed mean they must have a section of the home stand. Unless I am missing something the away stand holds 4500 and that takes their allocation to 4700 and with broken seats must mean at least 4-500 in Main stand ? I hope our fans turn up in similar numbers. It would be a bit of a brass neck to be outnumbered in our own stadium. You expect it against the Old firm but for a 1/4 final of the Scottish cup v any other team......

Yes and no We have had 3 own goals conceded for us this year inc the comical one in the cup game v Accies which set us up for victory. Could have had 4 if Broadfoot had gone in instead of hitting the post. These own goals are down to the pressure we are applying but also down to some good fortune. I was p1ssed off yesterday for the 1st time in a while. I don’t like it but I can almost accept when a team comes to Fir Park and plays better and deserves the 3 points. That was not what happened yesterday. Killie were great in defence and decent in midfield but there was only one team with concerted pressure or most of the match and that was us. Poor decision making and final ball was to blame but we never really got any break of the ball. Very rare when you have 30 crosses into the box for us not to get a slice of luck. Also can you imagine the same penalty incident of Ciftci v say Celtic and Dembele with Craig Thompson refereeing. I think we know what the outcome would have been. Worried a little we may slip back into the battle against the drop. Hard to see Partick, Hamilton, St Johnstone and Ross C all going on good enough runs to trouble us. That and Dundee also play the Old firm, Aberdeen and Hearts before the split. But if we lose next week at Dens it could get a bit messy. Anyway I would take another Cup semi over top 6 - make it so Motherwell.

I sometimes despair of posters on this site. Not all but a fair few We were the better team today and yes we were powder puff in front of goal. But to say Clarke is the better manager based on a few months. Maybe - but give Robinson some credit for keeping us up last season and playing 10 cup games and winning 9. Not many managers if any have done that before and we still have a quarter final to come. Oh and finally why does anyone in their right or wrong mind reply to Yodo. He is clearly a pathetic and quite poor troll and needs no encouragement at all.

Not surprising. Of the 3 TV slots this is the one I would choose. Noon games are too early and 4pm on a Sunday - no thanks. Q - how much do the clubs get for televised game at this stage or any for that matter in Scottish Cup ? I would assume ticket prices for Adults at £15 as it is on TV. There is a precedence and any less would make no sense for a cup 1/4 final. So easy calculation is say average £12 (inc children and concessions) to be divided by TV money. Say £40k - would equate to 3333 fans. Effectively meaning that we probably won’t be any worse of financially, but there will be a potentially a few 000 less than there would have been had the game not been on TV.

As much as it often appears as if there is a conspiracy going on with the old firm in cups. I think you either have the luck of the draw or you dont. In the past even when we have had easier ties we have found ways to screw up... In saying that looking at the last 2-3 years alone means we have effectively drawn a top flight team in our last 9 draws. Makes sense as you reach quarter final stage but that is a pretty tough run without a lower league side ! Still we have faired well enough this season despite the tough draws......

I thought so at the time and freezing it as the free kick is taken to me proves it was not offside. As per usual Sportscene give us a few minutes v Hearts St J getting 20 + and never even mentioned offside goal. Thanfully it did not have a part to play in the overall outcome. But it most certainly could have......

Absolutely this. Some players inc Scott Brown seem to have a cloak of invisibility. Some of his tackles (Dundee No 5) were yellow cards on their own merit. Funny game in many respects in that Dundee had their chances but were profligate, whereas we took our chances and Carson and defence as usual were very good. Dunne was my MOM. What a difference from start of the season. One chipped pass down the line was exquisite. Main has been a revalation and has instantly made us almost forget Louis M. Whether it was his goal or not you feel he is going to score in every game. Very decent away crowd. Announced at the game as 1447. And Burrows has tweeted his thanks for 1500 fans. Almost 50% of the home support. Would like Falkirk or Morton at home but we know Celtic and Rangers will draw them. If they don’t they will draw us. An away draw may be more lucrative but I would take anyone at home in the quarters.

Overseas at the moment and absolutely delighted with the win. I have noted the posts on here the past few days about all the negative posters and how it gets some people down. Truth is as has been mentioned anyone who is a regular on this site knows who they are and knows to take their posts as a pile of horse manure. Everyone is entitled to this opinion but it is obvious when regardless of the result and performances the negative pish keeps coming. I picked up on page 3 of this match thread tonight. I read with interest the positive posts from around 18:30 or whenever the team was announced for about half an hour. Absolute comedy gold. Go back and read them - about 6 or 7 posts. All the positivity ahead of the game. How about just waiting and seeeing what transpires before spouting such garbage. Then again the more things change the more they stay the same. The negative posters on this site will always be the negative posters and there is not much that will change that. Sad I know but hey ho. Great result and pleased for Curtis Main. 4 goals in as many games. Loved Louis but Curtis is doing his best to make us almost forget. long may that continue.

I have read and agreed with perhaps one of Yodo posts. Mainly because it is overly negative pish. However he is not far wrong in stating that we have been poor for many 1st half’s only for Robinson to make changes and the 2nd half is totally different. Twice we have been 3-0down at HT to Ross C and Partick only to come back to 3-2 and arguably deserve a point. That said the only player I would have started with is Cadden. Tanner deserves his place over Ciftci and Aldred over Hartley. Also think injuries are playing a part. Hibs have enjoyed more possession but reading BBC text both teams have had 8 shots at goal...

They live on a different planet metaphorically speaking. I wish they did actually live on another planet.... Carson would be a great keeper for anyone inc that mob. I agree with poster above in that they would probably sell him for £1.5m next season or something ridiculous. Clearly Carson is going nowhere or at least not to Celtic. Would be hilarious (although concerning for us) if we sold him to another team for £750k this window. Bottom line is I hope this does not affect him or his performances for the rest of the season.

According to an article from Hartlepool local paper Carson transfer fee was £20k. £10k has been paid with £10k still to pay. The sting however is 40% sell on clause. I guess if we were to get £500k+ that would represent good business under normal circumstances but the 40% would explain why we are hanging on for more. It appears that Celtic have offered £375k with a 2pm deadline. £200k to lose our best player means Celtic will need to go and find someone else. Carson is worth much more than that for the next 2 seasons !