Scottish Cup Final v Celtic (Hampden) 19/05/18 15:00

[Lukemfc1]

Let's not beat about the bush here. We shat the bed big time first half.  Didn't do what we are good at.

Our main assets this seasosn has been, pressing, winning 2nd balls and competing. We done none of that and that's how Celtic demolished us without getting out of 2nd gear. Celtic actually outfought us.

I'm still mwi but I'm pretty sure we didn't play our normal system at times today, Cadden was central at points for example. Didn't go well for him.

2nd half was good to see some fight but was too little too late. 

As for fan observations these sorts of occasions will and have always attract hangers on from the other side of the old firm. I've seen this manifest itself from both sides but self policing usually does the job (as it did today)

I'll be honest I'm not a huge fan of the whole cheering the players off regardless of result thing but I can understand it after the second half display.

In the cold light of day this has been a class season. It's just a bit disappointing that we didn't create that special moment. I do genuinely wonder when and if we will see another trophy win but I guess it's just part of the ride

 

 

[Goggles & Flippers]

Celtic will get another Ronnie Deila. Prior to the summer of 2016 Radio Scotland rightly pointed out 10 non OF teams won either cup in the previous 10 years.

What we see now is a legacy of the Champions League cash disparity and glory hunters leaving Lanarkshire, Edinburgh , Ayrshire, Perth, Stirling, Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen to bus it to Govan or Parkhead every second week. The one's in Lanarkshire no doubt calling up NLC screaming "Ma cooncil tax money is bein used for claret and amber buntin, disgustin!"

[SteelmaninOZ]

3 hours ago, The African said:

Was able to go back to bed after the final whistle. Probably did me good to get a couple of hours sleep.

Disappointed with the way it went obviously. Unfortunately we lost goals at bad times and the game was pretty much over when the second one went in.  Cannot agree with anyone putting the boot into McHugh. The guy looked utterly dejected. At our level you win as a team and you lose as a team. Also felt that, while we did improve when Bigi came on, he benefitted from the state of the game at the time. Celtic had taken the foot off the gas and the midfield opened up nicely for him to show his abilities. Absolutely no guarantee that he could have done that from the outset. Cannot fault them on effort and attitude.

as I sat watching, alone in the dark at 2am on a cold Kiwi morning, trying to ignore the shite commentary on BEIN sport’s covera, I was sure I heard the applause at 19 minutes for the lad who passed away a day or so before the final. I felt a shiver down my spine and stood for a moment, holding my late father’s scarf just a little tighter. At the end of the game, watching their players and support celebrate, I immediately realised that I could never support a team like that. If you are a Motherwell fan, you are in it for the long haul. No religion, no politics, no “we won and that makes me better than you because you lost”. Just a sense of the place from where we or our families came from and a love of the game and trying to play it the right way. Today my team gave their all and behaved with dignity when it wasn’t enough to win the prize. I can live with that. And so the story continues.

Aye, had the same commentator must have been his first time having to talk about a team he knew only from the negitive ie red cards ....and then to say Motherwell playing in Yellow and burgandy. Hope it wasnt too cold this morning in Kiwi Land

[Donaldo87]

Aye the smoke bomb lad was hung out to dry by being instantly spottable. Saw a police lassie point to him as soon as it happened. 

Normally I'm in support of the smoke bombs etc but I saw today how upset a wee lassie was by it and it kinda changes your outlook on them.

[The African]

1 hour ago, SteelmaninOZ said:

Aye, had the same commentator must have been his first time having to talk about a team he knew only from the negitive ie red cards ....and then to say Motherwell playing in Yellow and burgandy. Hope it wasnt too cold this morning in Kiwi Land

The yellow and burgundy line told me early on that he was going to be talking out of his arse. Wasn’t too chilly here. Anything in single figures and the locals start to moan. Strangely, I still miss a proper winter.

[claretband]

Anyone else think a major factor is it was simply too hot for us today to play our normal kick and rush style? We looked tired from the off and never really got going.


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[something else]

6 hours ago, wellgirl said:

I have a mate who was from Palestine and would be killed on sight if he went back. I dont like celtic as a football club, but good for them for doing their bit for Palestine. Someone needs to. 

Fuck off

[Goggles & Flippers]

A friend got his son a picture with a certain former player .... he will always have a special part of my manlove I thought only Tommy Coyne could own fully

[milo]

9 hours ago, wellgirl said:

I have a mate who was from Palestine and would be killed on sight if he went back. I dont like celtic as a football club, but good for them for doing their bit for Palestine. Someone needs to. 

I’m calling utter bullshit on that.

Killed by whom? 

“Palestine”?! Do you mean the Gaza Strip?

[The African]

2 hours ago, Goggles & Flippers said:

A friend got his son a picture with a certain former player .... he will always have a special part of my manlove I thought only Tommy Coyne could own fully

Form is temporary, class is permanent. And that gentleman is pure class. Someone who genuinely realises that the relationship between players and supporters is a two way street.

 

 

probably a little too late, but Tom Boyd, please take note.

[Yoshi-1991]

Woke up still feeling shite. What a come down. 

[Shotts Well Fan]

13 hours ago, robsterwood said:

Think if we were winning or drawing we would never have sang flower of scotland. Just done it to get back to them. I didnt sing. Found it strange. Quite surreal.

Its a shit song anyway. Dirge.

[Kmcalpin]

It was always going to be a tall order to be beat Celtic and so it proved.  They were the better team and deserved to win.  I did expect that to be honest but I didn't expect the game to turn out the way it did.  Lets be clear though the players tried their best and I've no gripe with that.  What did surprise me though was that Celtic worked harder and won the physical battles.  Thats despite all the pre match hype.   That did disappoint me and shows that we've got work to do on the physical side of our game for next season.  In the first half the players looked like rabbits caught in the headlights and I just didn't expect that given that most of them had already played 3 times at Hampden this season.  They were clearly nervous and allowed Celtic far too much space and time.  Our game plan too was a bit out and we suffered roastings most of the game down the wings as we played very narrowly.  

I won't dwell on  individual perfomances but thought that our midfield had a poor game and struggled to compete with, not outplay Celtic.   As a result, Main and Bowman struggled on poor service.   Plenty of food for thought for next season not least of which was the sight of our captain being substituted after 55 minutes or so.

Plenty of questions too for our Police but I've little hope of them being answered.  Policing and the criminal justice sytem have to be fair and be seen to be fair.  

To finish on apositive note the final will have boosted  our bank balance considerably.  

[Katie]

Would I be right in saying this is the first time we’ve lost four finals on the trot? 

[Clackscat]

A deflating day, although I must admit, my disappointment eased a touch having gone back to Fir Park after the game for a bit. It was nice to be around like minded souls.
Obvious stuff but the game was won and lost in the first half.  It was just such a disappointing first half performance from us.  I think just about everyone bought into in the air of assurance and confidence that all at the club were showing beforehand but I think that just made the tentative and hesitant performance in the opening half hurt all the more.
We performed much more creditably in the second half but Celtic obviously had the two goal cushion and had no real requirement to push on at that stage.  If Bigi's free-kick had gone in or Cadden's header gone in or even veered further in the direction of Frear, who knows how the last few minutes might have panned out but the better team won and on this occasion we only have ourselves and not Craig Thomson or any official to blame this time.
I think there's definitely a debate to be had about where we stand currently and what we need to do to progress and move forward but are those few minutes after full time when the rawness after a Cup Final loss is at it's greatest the time for that? Or when some of the contributions smack of capitalising on an opportunity to air negative opinions when morale has taken a hit.
Rather than any perceived failing on the support I actually thought that most waiting around to applaud the team after the game and when they got their medals reflected well on us. A fact remarked upon by one or two in the media and some of the opposition support. I've seen loads of finals where the losers have fucked off pronto but I think it's to our credit as a support that we've sucked up the results of the League Cup and Scottish Cup Finals and hung around to show appreciation to the team.  It can surely only enhance the rapport between the players and supporters and be viewed as a positive when attempting to attract or retain players.
So, a disappointing end to the season without question but undoubtedly a season that's been a success on so many levels be that the improvement in league position, the success we've achieved in Cup competitions that have been so coveted and are so valuable to the club financially.  But the club's Twitter account is right, it doesn't end here. It can't end here. A success it has been but there remains a fairly high ceiling in the league for improvement, an opportunity to expand upon to the style or at least add a variety to the type of football played and of course we will always retain aspirations of lifting silverware again (oh for the fortune of playing a non-Old Firm side in the Final again!)
I'll be renewing the season ticket next week!!
 
 

Effing brilliant post Andy P, hits the nail right on the head.

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[Richie]

5 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

.  In the first half the players looked like rabbits caught in the headlights and I just didn't expect that given that most of them had already played 3 times at Hampden this season.  They were clearly nervous.

Unfortunately I think that's a symptom of the opposition having >75% of the stadium, rather than the actual Final as an occasion, if that makes sense.

 

[CoF]

5 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

It was always going to be a tall order to be beat Celtic and so it proved.  They were the better team and deserved to win.  I did expect that to be honest but I didn't expect the game to turn out the way it did.  Lets be clear though the players tried their best and I've no gripe with that.  What did surprise me though was that Celtic worked harder and won the physical battles.  Thats despite all the pre match hype.   That did disappoint me and shows that we've got work to do on the physical side of our game for next season.  In the first half the players looked like rabbits caught in the headlights and I just didn't expect that given that most of them had already played 3 times at Hampden this season.  They were clearly nervous and allowed Celtic far too much space and time.  Our game plan too was a bit out and we suffered roastings most of the game down the wings as we played very narrowly.  

I won't dwell on  individual perfomances but thought that our midfield had a poor game and struggled to compete with, not outplay Celtic.   As a result, Main and Bowman struggled on poor service.   Plenty of food for thought for next season not least of which was the sight of our captain being substituted after 55 minutes or so.

Plenty of questions too for our Police but I've little hope of them being answered.  Policing and the criminal justice sytem have to be fair and be seen to be fair.  

To finish on apositive note the final will have boosted  our bank balance considerably.  

A fair analysis, more or less what I was about to post.

However, I'm not actually sure we looked like rabbits caught in the headlights - not from the first whistle anyway. The first 5 minutes we were playing our physical / pressing game and looked well and truly up for it.  Celtic quickly adjusted to show that bit of quality and intelligence by simply passing their way out of any pressure. On another day, we could've had them rattled however we seemed to loose faith pretty quickly in the system and reverted to standing off them. I'm not sure if every player was guilty of that, but it's a system that needs everyone 100% on it and it falls apart if one or two aren't quite there. Celtic weren't brilliant,  they simply had an quality to find a man when under pressure and that's what let them control the game. 

Regardless, we should be immensely proud of this teams achievements. 

[numpty]

6 hours ago, claretband said:

Anyone else think a major factor is it was simply too hot for us today to play our normal kick and rush style?

It did look a bit like we'd been told to only do it in certain areas of the park, first half at least. Never pressured Craig Gordon on kick outs, for example, which we've always done before.

[eddiemunster]

I'd rather lose the cup than be a celtic fan.

[Katie]

On 5/20/2018 at 10:22 AM, eddiemunster said:

 

[CoF]

12 hours ago, Andy_P said:

Rather than any perceived failing on the support I actually thought that most waiting around to applaud the team after the game and when they got their medals reflected well on us. A fact remarked upon by one or two in the media and some of the opposition support. I've seen loads of finals where the losers have fucked off pronto but I think it's to our credit as a support that we've sucked up the results of the League Cup and Scottish Cup Finals and hung around to show appreciation to the team.  It can surely only enhance the rapport between the players and supporters and be viewed as a positive when attempting to attract or retain players.

Couldn't agree more. For all the concerns about day trippers and part time fans dampening the atmosphere, yesterday was raucous and had an energy through the full 90 minutes.  It was night and day from 2011. 

It's been a two way thing. Fantastic effort from the fans (well boys in particular) however there's a few people at our club who deserve credit in creating this connection - Steven Robinson , who has brought in players with a mentality that the fans respond to, and Alan Burrows and the media team who simply get what it is to be a Motherwell fan. 

[Spiderpig]

10 hours ago, weeyin said:

That's how any crowd control works at any event. It's about safety and keeping the peace.

It's never about fairness, and if you're part of the majority, you get more leeway.

Don't talk shite, it's about police Scotland taking the easy option and not doing their jobs, 1 person committing an offence or 100 people doing it should not matter, but the shitebags that are the police and stewards let the old firm fans, especially Celtic away with it time after time.

Celtic care the most fined club in uefa for all that political banner pish, but every big occasion the same stuff happens and the stewards and police stand by and watch, instead of wading in and ripping the banners down. Oh and when it's all finished the Media give them an easy ride for it.

[Yoshi-1991]

I commend those who stayed behind but I make no apologies for leaving before the whistle, and had nothing to do with our team, I just simply couldn't handle watching those scumbags celebrating. 

[wellowell]

I waited until all our players had their medals same as last time ,but was well out of there before Celtic climbed steps .

[ECOSSE1991]

Stayed after the final whistle and didn't take my eyes off the Motherwell players, staff & fans. Never looked in the direction of anyone wearing any other colour than claret & amber. Proud of my club.