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Very disappointed at result but more than anything the manner of it , hard to stomach , so much went wrong . But I will not question our leader or our team , long time since went to FP with smile on face and left with a bigger one . We are a Motherwell I'd thought never see again with current set up and resources available i used to trudge to every game now I skip

Sorry about that; fixed it now - think of it as MOTM load balancing.

I think I’d much prefer said on against st Mirren. He’s got a bit of steel about him and is a bit of a bull who can deal with their hammer throwers.

After a very disappointing cup exit, important to hit the ground running with a victory going in to our last 12 league games. Dont want any negative momentum gathering..... Ward SOD McGinn Welsh Longelo Priestman Watt Slattery Just Said Maswanhise

Disagree with Jens all you like, there’s a reason he’s in post and you’re offering opinion on a forum.

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 😱.

Time to give them an utter scudding

Shinnie is a complete fuckwit. He’d make an excellent ref.

"Team news?" "At least Oscar is fresh"

In the olden days, referees would take playing conditions into account when considering punishing "culprits". Not now though. No common sense being applied.

Going to a sportsman dinner with him as a speaker and me as warm up comedy act would be stuff of nightmares!! 🤪🤪🤪

Shinnie is a very average player , if he marked his man the way he marks the ref, he'd be a player

Yup, Milanovic, very kind gesture. What you don't see is Shinnie off camera wanting him banned for 10 games!!!

Good stuff, the gods weren't on our side, don't think the line up would've mattered re OP slip. I've not looked into law, take it wording doesnt mention deliberate foul?? Also I noticed one of Aberdeen players asking for him not to be sent off, which is admirable. I'd Like to think I'd give benefit of doubt to a player who slipped especially so early in game...

I blame Kenny McLean for Gordon's red card.

There is a better option: a full overhaul. Move to full-time officials who are subject to promotion and demotion, with oversight from independent, ideally foreign or remotely based officials rather than retired SFA refs. They must be properly held accountable for their performances. If the current crop don’t like that, they can leave. We must demand better. It’s ruining our game as it stands.

St Mirren's away form is catastrophic and has put them in relegation danger but their recent home form is actually pretty good, only 1 defeat in 6 in the league. St Mirren have kept 5 clean sheets in those 6 matches and we've failed to score in 4 of our last 6 away matches if you include the midweek cup match. We also failed to score there earlier in the season. I think this will be a very tough match for us and very much a potential banana skin. It's important we don't lose two in a row as once you start to lose matches it can start a more serious rot.

It all goes back to competence of referees and their ability to understand the game and the context of the game. IFAB have tried remove the need for referees to figure out intent, which is why we ended up with the ridiculous handball rules. The same goes for the situation for Priestman where the rules have tried to create absolutes rather than taking context into account. If the refs could be trusted to understand and appreciate footballing situations, we could let them apply common sense. Sadly, I don't see that changing any time soon. On a slightly different note, regarding "ruining games for the paying public", I completely agree with that. I've often wondered if it wouldn't be better to allow a red-carded player to be replaced with, perhaps, harsher punishments for those that are red carded. In a sport that has tried many things to be more entertaining, a team going down to 10 men early in a game can spoil the spectacle for both sets of fans. I know things like sin-bins have been trialled, but maybe that would another option for the Priestman situation. 15 minutes off the pitch. Or instead of a red card, always book the player and award a penalty even if it wasn't inside the box. There must be a better option, even if it's not perfect.

Wednesday is past and all focus on league . Just to remind everyone that since we lost to Falkirk on Oct 18th this is our league record P 18. W 11. D6. L 1. F. 25 A 5 we will have full team available apart from Fadinger. I wonder if Nicholson might start instead of Said. Not ideal opposition as we know they will just disrupt and foul us but a win would be massive and get rid of the disappointment from Wednesday. COYW

I’m hoping McGhee could feel like a new signing in the run in to the season but I never recall watching him before thinking he was good on the ball? Time will tell but as he’s quite versatile with positions I imagine he will probably be quite tuned in to formations etc i think it’ll take quite a bit of time for the big striker to find his feet, im thinking we’ll need to be patient with him. He looks very raw so far. I was hoping for a Biereth style start but that’s not happening I’m afraid.

The (probably apocryphal) story about that was Sam saw the ref going for his card and said, "Aw, ref, you're not going to book me this early?" to which the ref replied, "No, Sam: you're off!" So Sam, Sam had to pick up his musket and leave the field of play. Was that not the same game Jim Herriot broke his leg trying to stop Willie P. from scoring?

Jens' interview post match should show you what he's about

The voice of reason Grizzly. Last night was a very eventful and traumatic cup exit and its not surprising that folk got a bit emotional and let off steam. I have no problem whatsoever with posters venting their frustration on here as long as they don't get abusive or personal. I do think though that expectations pre match were overly optimistic. Last Saturday I'd have put our chances of winning at 50/50, but by Sunday evening I'd estimated they'd dropped to 40/60. The Aberdeen we saw last Sunday was a very different outfit to the one we'd seen earlier in the season. Thats not to say they were world beaters as they're not. Had we lost, with a stronger team and no red cards then I reckon that there would not have been half as much frustration. To put matters in perspective there was a considerable meltdown on P & B as well. That frustration was also mirrored on socials too. Its football fans being football fans. Maybe double standards on my part, but I sincerely hope that the management team didn't get worked up or angry but rather are taking a cold, analytical and dispassionate view of the debacle to ensure lessons are learned and consequential changes made to ensure continuous improvement. We've achieved a lot under JBA but still have a lot to play for this season and improvements need to be made, especially in terms of away form which has been solid, but unspectacular.

I reckon Sam Goodwin’s against Thistle in the early 70’s was even quicker. It was almost in the “warm up” 🤣

Your points are all vaild and well made but the frustration comes from the feeling we are watching other clubs our size win things while we don't despite having some very good teams over the same period. If starting Xi had been Ward, Sparrow, SOD, Mcginn, Longelo, Preistman, Fadinger, Just, Slattery, RCC, Maswanhise, (That's what 3 changes from the side that actually started) and we'd went out I don't think there would have been the same level of discontent at the result. Even if it was Ward and SOD making the mistakes Connolly and Gordon made they'd have been easier to take as those players have been performing well for us this season. I think the point of nobody knowing if the team selection would have worked is also a bit silly considering we've played the same opponent 4 times already this season with a similar team each time and won 3 drew 1 before that and the team he selected caused the issue that saw us down to 10 after 3 mins.

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.

The explanation is useless bastards.

Connelly didn't kill the game plan. He made a mistake that could've resulted in a goal (prior to the free kick). He didn't cause Priestman to slip and get a red card.

Referees are the problem, incompetent poor officials, who know they will face no sanctions irrespective of how they perform, they struggle with the normal rules of the game, so judgememt calls will be no different. Theve always been poor but VAR has made it worse its ruining football as we all saw last night, the whole set up is not fit for purpose.

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.

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!!

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.