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We lost because two players fucked up. For me the team selection really wasn't to blame. The starting team, had we kept 11 men on the park, would have been good enough to take care of a piss poor Aberdeen team. The fact we were the better team with 9 men confirms that. The minute we went to 10 aside we pinned Aberdeen in, albeit our balls into the box were poor and we were trying to walk the ball into the net. The balls into the box didn't really improve after the changes. 9 corners and not one caused even a ripple of a problem for Aberdeen. Our set prices are one of the weakest parts of our game. However no one will convince me that the reason we went out was because of the team selection we went out because 2 players fucked up handing the tie to Aberdeen.

I do not think it was solely about the team selection, but it is difficult to ignore the role it played. The way we ask our goalkeeper to operate demands a particular skill set. I am not suggesting Connelly does not possess that ability, as he may well do, but introducing him in a fixture of that significance did not feel like the right call. It may even have been his pass that led to the situation which resulted in the first red card, if I am not mistaken. I have seen others make that point as well. As I mentioned earlier, cup matches are important enough that we should be fielding our strongest side. Connelly is a promising young goalkeeper, but he is not our first choice. Ward is. He should have started in my opinion. I don't think we're at a place where we can have a separate cup keeper. It is unlikely that this group of players will still be together if we do reach Europe. There is every chance that two or three will move on in the summer for decent transfer fees. Whether those who come in to replace them will be of the same standard is impossible to say at this stage. We would also be facing the challenge that most Scottish sides encounter in the qualifying rounds, namely going into competitive European ties with new signings in key roles who are still settling in, and possibly under a different manager as well. For me, the priority has to remain on the present. Each season, our objective should be clear and uncompromising. We should be attacking the domestic cups with real intent and giving ourselves the best possible opportunity to lift silverware.

Without getting too caught up in the detail of the guidelines, I do think recent decisions relating to ‘obvious’ goalscoring opportunities have been influenced by the VAR call to red card Trusty at Tynecastle and the fallout from the rejected appeal. The Falkirk one against Dundee Utd at the weekend was another example of trying to be consistent with the Trusty decision and appropriateness for VAR intervention.

The Cup v League position debate is and always has been boring. Its a hypothetical that doesnt exist in the real world. Had we won last night we would have been in with a good shout in the cup, but we would still have been in 4th place this morning chasing Europe on 2 fronts. We didnt. And the cup is gone for another year. So we need to re-focus and try and achieve whats left for us. Thats finishing as high up the league as possible. FWIW, I actually think this team is the best prepared for European football of any team we have had since the team that played Dortmund. So going out to some minnow in the qualifying rounds may not be our "prize" this time round......

Totally agree. It may have been the correct decision based on the laws of the game. But the law is an ass in those circumstances.

It’s not disrespectful to the team that finished second/third/fourth at all to say that the European ‘reward’ is nothing more than a bit of fluff at the beginning of the next season which looks good on paper for the club but is nothing to write home about on a football scale. I thoroughly enjoyed us finishing 2nd in 1995, for example, but the least said about My-Pa-47 in Europe the following season the better. Likewise our 2nd placed finishes under McCall. They were great at the time and I look back with fondness at what those teams did in those seasons. But you could not pay me to sit through the games in the resulting European ‘adventures’ again. Our ‘victory’ from those seasons was the football we played and the consistency in performances from the team.

Obviously winning a cup is better than European games and I really doubt Jen’s was thinking that when he selected his team. He has rotated before and it’s been very successful so he maybe felt fresh legs would have made more impact. As I’ve said before the red cards killed his game plan and he spent the rest of the game trying to adjust to things outwith his control. I get emotions are high, but take a step back and look at how the game went and ask yourself was that down to team selection or was it just a really unlucky series of events that went against us.

I'm not suggesting for one minute that the incidents were exactly the same only that we've picked up 2 very early red cards in Scottish Cup ties twice in 4/5 years. Both spoiled the games as a contest, irrespective of rashness or sheer bad luck.

Correct. Getting fucked out of Europe barely laying a glove on most teams we've played doesn't even register for me compared to a Cup win.

It’s very disrespectful to the team who managed to finish second over a 38 game season to belittle their achievement. Personally I could probably name as many of the champions league team as the 1991 cup winning team and I was there for both The second point about European trips and alcohol is absolute nonsense in my opinion and again disrespectful to the fans. European football means by default you have seen a successful team achieve a great season the season previously. No different to Motherwell winning the Scottish cup for example and then being knocked out in the 4th round the next season.

Whilst the decision to send off Oscar Priestman was technically correct, I think that the law desperately needs changed in the interests of fairness. Had the incident taken place inside the box then he would have been yellow carded and a penalty awarded. Thats an inconsistency to start with. However, I believe that accidental slips or Louis Laing type stumbles should not be punished in the same way. A free kick or, at worst, a free kick and yellow card should suffice. This unfair law has the potential to ruin games for the paying public.

Winning the cup gives us a better chance of progressing in Europe. Finish 4th = 3x ECL Qualifiers Win Cup = E L qualifiers, but if we lose first one we go into the ECL Play-off

A habit? What does that even mean! So a red card 4 years ago in the first minute under a totally different manager and team is a habit 😂 Oscar slipped, it wasn’t like he did anything bad. The reaction to this game has been off the scale.

Two defeats in the cup are down to the manager. The only two competitions we have a chance of winning. Will crowds drop? Possibly. Cup runs keep the enthusiasm high and given we are guaranteed top 6 finish it's possible. As for last night. I personally think the ref and VAR going by previous outcomes in games got them correct. Others will differ. For all the possession we have in games the goals scored are paltry. We have signed Hendry, Stamatelopoulos and now Björgólfs­son as a striker. The first two are nowhere good enough. Haven't seen enough of Björgólfs­son to judge. We certainly don't play to his strengths. Last night when we got in good positions to put the ball in the box it was pass backwards, sideways and recycle the ball. He got no service even when it was 10 v 10. He showed his Ariel ability against Rangers with his lay off for the goal but not once did we get the ball in the box. Taking him off was another mistake because when we were down to 9 and got a corner we were forced to take short corners because we had no physicality in the box. All in all between the starting line up and choice off subs it was not a master class by the manager.

Yup i remember that and newell and porteous right in referee's face. 2 more horrible characters but still not on same level as Shinnie

Very true pal but European opposition is total different kettle of fish. Will see where we finish at end of season snd worry about it then

Oscar Priestman's red card last night wasn't our earliest. Remember Bevis' one in 2022, when he was sent off in the first minute. This is becoming a habit and an unwanted one at that!

Yeah, for a lot of Motherwell fans football's about happy - or not so happy - memories. If it was only about winning, most of us would've given up long ago.

Why realistically will it not happen? We would likely be seeded in the second qualifying round of ECL. I would fancy us to go through that and then we can easily beat most teams in Q3/playoff over 2 legs. There is no team in the league this season that has beaten us over a 2 game aggregate score for almost a year. If we keep most of this squad together then I don’t think it’s any more likely or unlikely than us winning the cup this season. We would suit ties over 2 legs and if there is one manager I would trust to have us ready and match sharp for these games it’s Jens. Also Ross County and Inverness have experienced league 1 relatively recently as well - I would prefer our current position to there’s over the last 15 years including cup wins.

You off your meds?💊💊💉💉

My vote as well

The Winning a Cup vs Playing in Europe debate comes up every single year and from a football perspective I cannot see any reasonable or rational reason for why playing a few rounds in Europe early in the season could possibly trump winning a domestic cup. Ask ten different Motherwell fans who were around to see us lift the Scottish Cup in 1991 to name the starting eleven from that day and I’d guess that most of them would be able to answer it correctly. Then ask the same ten Motherwell fans to name the starting eleven that played against Panathinaikos in the Champions League Preliminary qualifying round 1st leg in 2012….how many would be able to name half the team that played that night? I have said this before and I will say it again. The majority of people who say that they prefer Europe to winning a Cup do so because they are more interested in going abroad for a good time and a piss up than the football itself. ”Big leap to the left! YAAAAAASSS! Big leap to the right! YAAAAAASSS! We’re all goin on a European tour let’s get pissed and fall into a fountain WHOOP WHOOP!”

Yup but I couldn't be bothered quibbling

Agree with you mainly, but playing Connolly in a must-win game was a strange one...but thats not what lost us the game Renfrewshire, surely?

Gordon shouldn’t even be on the bench, let alone in the starting eleven again. He can’t play our style of football and is a complete liability, as last night showed.