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The bigger picture is Rangers and Celtic will never field poorer teams than this season and we are better than any other team in the league if we field our strongest eleven. Load management? Hectic schedule? We never played a match for weeks. The whole point of this season is we'll never have a better chance to win a trophy and we've fucked it with a very poor performance against St. Mirren and a crazy selection by the manager for this match. Obviously Askou has done great things but he's not infallible and he got this completely wrong. Trying to make out like there is some mysterious greater purpose to the season that we mere mortal don't understand is just feeble apologia.

You’ve obviously not been listening to the manager… ‘load management’ is often mentioned. Given hectic schedule, I was comfortable with changes. We get it, an opportunity missed. A lot of variables went against us tonight. ‘All on Jens’ and questioning Matty Connolly’s inclusion is quite the stretch. Maybe some should look at the bigger picture…

Maybe it's just me but last night does nothing to change the enjoyment I've got out of this season. Ultimately it takes more to winning a cup than just being good. You need a fair bit of luck as well which we clearly didn't have last night and we've not had in general for a while when it comes to things like the draw. It seems like for a good few seasons now all we've had, in both cups, is ties against a Premier League team, the recently relegated Premier League team or Morton. No trips to Auchinleck Talbot for us. Everyone needs to settle down a bit. We've had 2.5 bad games all season, it's just unfortunate (as much as it's a bit of a scunner) that 2 of them have been in the cups.

Knicker wetting in the extreme. Invest in pampers

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.

You summarised pretty much what I have been thinking since last night. Some of the reaction to our defeat has been difficult to believe, given the amazing transformation in our style which had been achieved by both manager and players working in unison this season. Maybe some posters should find something else to do with their Saturdays if they are so disenchanted with and critical of the team they claim to support after a freak result in a game with so many refereeing "inconsistencies" and played on a poor playing surface whose condition should have been taken into account by any sensible referee/VAR team at the first and crucial sending-off. IMO, the last time we played football of such quality was the era of the Ancell Babes. We had (from memory) six full internationals in the team but won nothing because our attacking philosophy neglected the more practical/cynical aspects of the game. People who saw that team still talk about it, whether they supported MFC or not. Frankly, I wouldn't swap watching MFC for St Mirren this season, despite their winning the League Cup. I've had enough of the eye-bleeding football inflicted on us by various recent Motherwell managers, thanks very much. I'll be interested to see how JBA plans our recovery from a disappointed night so I look forward to the rest of the season. Let's get behind the team and management and see where they take us. And smile, we could be Arsenal fans 😱.

I find it difficult to know where to start when reading the comments of the last 24 hours. One thing is for certain, all the good will that has been built up over the last 6 months seems to have been tested very quickly. We can talk about a special bond between manager, players and supporters all we like but when all it takes is an accidental slip on a slick Pittodrie surface to show the cracks in the supports patience then it is clear that there is no special bond. We are not any different from any other support in the country. Nobody knows if the team selection would have worked last night. Going down to 10 men after 3 minutes changes the game completely. We played with a man short for 3/4 of the game and probably still looked like the better team. The attitude of the players was fantastic. We cannot expect that the same starting 11 play ever game. Watt is coming back from injury. Slattery has looked tired in recent games. I find the energy that Just manages to put in game after game quite remarkable . The modern game requires some squad rotation. JBA has always been clear about that. Anybody expecting that we just turn up to a Scottish Cup tie away to Aberdeen and walk away with a simple victory are displaying OF levels of delusion. We can talk all we like about building a platform for the future, building a playing style and identity, a new way of looking at the game in Scotland. What the last 24 hours has shown however, is all that really matters is the result and that even an exceptional manager like JBA has very little wriggle room to manoeuvre. It is disappointing but not surprising. The result will dictate if it is all sunshine or all shite after Saturday night. It's the way it always was and the way it always will be.

Folks Some of the reaction to a single game which was played on a ploughed field where a guy slipped and was red carded and then another had a brain fart and was red carded is off the charts. Some of you have reverted to type. The level of arrogance to suggest we march up to Pittodrie and steam roller the cup holders just because in your eyes they are pish, is actually wild to read. I must admit, i had a double take at the line up last night and was a tad confused but the manager knows his players and he felt it was right. Somebody even suggested the Well Society should be reminding Jens how important cups are....................jesus christ We lost, it was shite, lets get over it and move forward before this gets a tad toxic

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.

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.

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.

Nah, there's a lot more to it than that. As someone who was there when we last won a cup, it's still something that lives in my memory to this day. Being there with family who are no longer with us, the anticipation, the build-up to the final, then the aftermath with the open-top bus parade and the whole town being absolutely bouncing. There's a reason why the team that won in '91 is considered club legends. Even if we did get to the group stages of European football in most likely the Conference League, which would be great financially, I don't think anyone will be sitting here describing it in the same way over thirty years later. Actually lifting a trophy at Hampden is likely as good as it gets for a Motherwell fan.

COYW!!!

So you’re saying that various different managers and players since the club was founded have mostly all had this wrong mentality? I think Hibs went about a century without winning a cup, did they all have this same mentality? Is it contagious?

To be fair our mentality in the league has been s**t hot so far. We bounced back before so we all need to get right behind team and JBA for 12 massive games

I mean as far as I'm concerned his giveaway caused the red and then from that he doesn't save the resulting FK (I accept there's a deflection but there was literally only 1 side of the goal for Nisbet to aim for). He was Ok after that but the damage was done. Your not going to find anyone blaming Preistman as he was trying his best to get back and slipped it's unfortunate. Gordon also killed us just that 1 happened first and made it an uphill struggle.

Didnt get to watch the game but seen some clips. jBA’s selection may or may not have been good enough, due to the red cards we won’t know the answer. We do know that he has been pretty much right, this season so far, in his selections. just have to deal with the defeat in whatever way you choose and then move on to next game. still 100% behind JBA and the players.

Anyone else think Shinnie is an absolute bell end?

Since you believe this team and manager have been guilty of these things on two ocassions this season, and that is unacceptable, what is it you think the club should actually do about it now? Because simply informing them they must win these games in the future doesn't guarantee a thing.

Yes, it's not unacceptable for different managers and teams to lose games.

Making referees decide what is an accidental slip or stumble versus a player pretending to slip or stumble (or not even trying to pretend but getting away with it anyway) sounds like it would result in even more controversial decisions. At least with the current rules they don't have another judgement call to make.

JBA only lost us to a double double header fixture vs Aberdeen, bad luck is in our control now?, fuck off with the unacceptable pish, don't like it, don't go.

After reflection and my chronic disappointment of last night, I actually think Connelly did quite well after the 5min mark. However the first 5mins did have a huge bearing on the game.

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.

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.

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

My vote as well

Yup but I couldn't be bothered quibbling

A lot of frustration from myself. Yes a lot of what ifs re red cards etc but let's be honest Jens putting in connelly and Gordon for our biggest game of season was not a good move. Our play this season is built on ward and mcginn welsh/sods keeping ball until time is right to move it. By changing 2 of that 3 to players that haven't been in team was strange. Gordon not good enough on ball and connelly untested. If some say when will he get tested then it certainly shouldn't have been in our up to now biggest game of season. All ifs buts and mibbys and I'm sure Jens will realise he made a mistake in selection but there's no way he can say that as it would ruin players confidence. We know he has been great and I'm sure he will learn from it and we will kick on again. Glass certainly half full here

My Aberdeen supporting schoolmate did reply with a classic though when I mentioned Dons red card. 'Geiger looks pish, worst effort by a German on Scottish soil since Rudolph Hess parachuted into Ayrshire' 🤣🤣🤣

Back to league business and perfect response would be to get a massive 3pts and have a right go at finishing as high up league as we can, no squad rotation, put the big guns out as we are now a game a week as Dundee away now sat 7th March. Ward SOD. MCGINN. WELSH. LONGELO WATT. PRIESTMAN SLATTERY. JUST. SAID MASWANHISE COYW!!

I was also there when we won the Scottish Cup as a child and wouldn’t want to belittle the achievement in any way. However I just don’t think the sentimental or nostalgic elements that you describe for the fans should outweigh the actual achievements of the team that we have seen on the pitch. We are now over 30 games into the season overall having played 26 in the league and people are still talking about us being outsiders for the league title. This isn’t the early 90’s any more. The financial gulf between us and the other 3 teams is massive. To be where we are whilst also playing the style of football we do us nothing short of remarkable and is the biggest achievement by far for me.

It was a horrible draw, which represented a bad start and that was well outwith our control. I get the need to rotate the squad but think that JBA overdid it a tad, certainly in terms of swapping keepers. To be fair though, he didn't really get the opportunity to find out if it would have worked. Once the game started, a mixture of bad luck (Priestman's red card and a deflected free kick) and questionable refereeing did for us. The pitch wouldn't have helped. Still, as with the League Cup semi it gives JBA another valuable opportunity to learn and assess his charges. He has to learn and quickly from it. We also avoided the need for extra time. To their credit the players never gave up. Some points of concern though. I'm still not convinced of Matty Connelly and despite some good saves, his early error killed the tie. Our lack of another left back is starting to hurt us. The fact that we didn't source one is a source of puzzlement to me. Like Grizzly, I'm just not convinced of RCC. Apart from a goal at Pittodrie he just hasn't done much. I ahd hoped that we'd learnt lessons from Sunday on how to stop Aberdeen's midfield but that didn't seem to be the case. Despite all our nice football, have we the qualities necessary to play on heavy tattie fields in winter? Still onwards and upwards and hopefully we can put tonight's experience to good use in preparing for next season's cups, which with some luck and ability to learn, we will have a more realistic chance of winning.

Why should that be the case, thats like saying we are not going to try in the league as we want to win a cup. Success in any form is what Fans want,from league titles, cup wins, European qualification, group stage football, playing effective attractive football, etc to avoiding relegation. Yes other clubs have won trophies since our last success in 91, but we have been successful in other ways, fairly regular European qualification we have played in the champions, Europa, and conference leagues since 1991, been a premiership team for the last 40 years, so is one cup sucess for say St mirren in that period equal to what we have achieved as well, fo me no it has'nt

You can only judge what impact making 5 changes had if the game was 11 a side ovef the 90 mins. Down to 10 on 3 mins and 9 on 46 rips up any game plan JBA had so any critisicm is irrelevant.

I agree with you on the penalty, but I wouldn't want a penny back. From the word go not much else could've gone wrong, but they fought to the end, and I think the vast majority of fans appreciated that.

I think people are forgetting we had a player sent off within 2 minutes and we were down to 9 men by 46 minutes. As such we will never know if tonight’s team selection might have worked over the 90 mins. Such a big decision happening so early does have a massive effect on the team. Perhaps it is a continental thing and appreciate it might be controversial but I am never really bothered about winning a cup. The only benefit winning the Scottish cup is getting into European competition. Looking forward this team needs to put all its focus over the next 6 months into achieving group stage football - this is the thing that could potentially have a massive financial benefit to the club and it is still very achievable for the team.

I have seen lots of posts like this tonight. The game was massively effected by the red cards, we spent most of the first half trying to adjust to their 11 men and then the last 10 trying to force our way back into the game, there was no rhythm to it due to this. Then JBAs game plan is effected straight after kick off in the 2nd. If it was 11-11 all night and he played poor then fair enough, but throwing players under the bus based on what happened tonight is really unfair in my opinion.

Reimburse the fans for what?If you are implying that the team gave up and didnt try then you must be watching a different game from what i watched nine men where fighting for everything.

I think it’s a bit hard to blame the team selection when the game plan goes out the window after two minutes. We don’t know if it was going to work. Connelly other than that one mistake with the pass was excellent tonight. Once it goes to 10-10 we looked like we were getting back into the game and then the second red which to me was just mental. He wasn’t the last man and has two covering defenders ahead of the striker. It’s a really odd decision, similar to the Celtic one earlier in the season that was also not a red. Game is done once we go down to 9, but we still created a few chances. I agree you maybe go with your best side, but we could still have gone down to 9 with that team too. Hard to criticise team selection based on the way the game went.

What? For a start, this is Aberdeen away not Albion Rovers. The day any Motherwell fan thinks we can simply turn up to these games and walk away with a victory is the day we have turned to OF levels of entitlement. Secondly, ever player that started tonight should have been capable of putting in a decent performance. Gordon was the natural replacement for Welsh. The club have just invested in Connelly as a long term goalkeeping option. But for an unfortunate 3rd minute incident we could and probably would have been more than competitive this evening. It is very interesting how quickly it all turns sour. If JBA were to read these boards this evening he would have every right to think WTF!!!

Still 10 v 9 as we have RCC

The way always goes and it’s absolutely infuriating. What is also galling is that we haven’t even managed to reach the Quarter Finals in the Scottish Cup for FOUR years now. And not once in that time have we been paired with one of the Old Firm or been beaten by an inform high flying side. We’ve lost to Championship Raith Rovers and Morton in the 5th Round, a bottom of the table and utterly hopeless St.Johnstone side in the 4th round and a rank rotten Aberdeen side who are nowhere near us in the league. That is absolutely unacceptable.

Yip. I really like Jens and have absolutely loved what I’ve seen from him and the team this season. But this one is on him I’m afraid.