MelvinBragg

I was actually pretty alright about yesterday (well, as alright as it's possible to be) having seen this all before. Being in relegation battles, losing to Albion Rovers in the cup, administration, all these things make losing in a cup final seem like a "high class problem". However when a Celtic fan at my work said to me that "at least you had your day out" it was just too patronising for me to take. Just fuck the fuck off...

Aye, would be interested to hear from those at the game. Apparently we had a back four. Beyond that, I have no idea. No natural left midfielder so maybe a diamond midfield..?

Carson Kipré Hartley Dunne Cadden Grimshaw McHugh Rose Tait Moult Bowman Subs Griffiths Plummer Campbell Frear Tanner Fisher Petravicius

No chance...

I was going to say something similar but then I thought about it. In the last 15 years, we've finished in the top three several times, qualified for Europe on a few occasions and been to two cup finals and several semi finals. On that basis alone, the players from the recent past have as much right as any to be included. Perhaps we're guilty of dismissing recent achievements a bit too easily...

Interesting that neither of the Dundee clubs may be involved so you might say that Aberdeen has the pick of players in the North...

The best I've seen Bigirimana and Tanner play was away at Hibs when they came on in the second half when space was opening up so there may be something in 'keep it tight, playing your more physical midfield in the first half' theory. Of course, the flipside to that is that we may be trying to vary our approach to combat teams knowing our style...

Can't give anyone a three goal start and expect anything...

What does that mean?

Bowman and Frear for Rose and Dunne.. Carson Cadden Kipré Hartley Tait Tanner Bigirimana McHugh Frear Bowman Moult Hmmmm. We look very open with that. Could get even uglier...

Feels a long time ago now. Even against Accies and Rangers, we didn't play that well...

Good run over?

We have one chopped off then let Gardyne score as he always seems to against us. 1-0 down..

Still see it as a back three...

Other thing to remember is that not all season ticket holders will take the 5 tickets each...

I can see your point but the number of dreadful Motherwell games I've watched in that sometimes scares me. Then I think of the number of times supporters of those other teams have had to do likewise. We may not have won a cup in that time but we've probably had more excitement and entertainment than they've had. Even looking just at strikers or attacking players, we've been spoiled. McFadden, Murphy, Porter, Higdon, McDonald, Moult, Johnson, Ainsworth, McCormack, Humphrey, Law are just some of the players we've had that could really get you off your seat. I don't think you could name a similar list for many provincial clubs, including St Johnstone who have been consistently good. No cup win, but we've had it better than most...

Are you looking for a whipround for your ticket..?

I suspect that the one you read here was a quick cut and paste from the official site and so the repeated paragraph was the bit in bold...

Turns out that my opinion wasn't that controversial then. Like Jay, feared that I was maybe being a bit harsh but appears others share my view...

I hope not. I realise this may be controversial but I'm going to say it anyway. I will preface it by saying I love Phil O'Donnell and Davie Cooper. I have no issue with using the backdrop of the league cup final to try and raise money for what is a very good cause. What I do find slightly irritating, as I did in 2005, is the prospect of making it 'The O'Donnell Final' in the same way 2005 was branded The Cooper Final. Strikes me as the media looking for a lazy hook to use in the build-up to the final. Motherwell don't get to enough finals for me to have the memory of a former player to remember the game by. Maybe I'm just getting even more crabbit as I get older...

442 was the formation second half. Petravicius left wing, Tanner right...

I actually thought Dunne had a decent game. For me, our poorest players were Frear, Bowman and Moult. Hence Motherwell nil. Couple of times, Bowman in particular was slow to react. Just need to hope it was a bad day at the office. Having said that, even on a bad day at the office, we were only beaten by a wind assisted freak mistake...

Carson Kipré Hartley Dunne Cadden Campbell McHugh Rose Frear Moult Bowman

Or maybe we'll start playing well again and keep picking up points..?

I'm wondering if he's not actually been that poor this season but maybe looked comparatively better last season due to the fact that the others around him weren't performing that well. Or do we debate as to whether he's better at centre half or in midfield..?