numpty

I'd also have like to see us appeal in on principle, as you know all the Friends of Brendan will now just say "see, even youse thought it was a red card" from now to eternity. Then I read his comment about Cedric probably not serving the ban as he could be playing in the English Premiership by then anyway. Advantage Robbo.

Basically true. FIFA gave them a $5m loan that was used to revamp the Aviva stadium, and the FAI dropped their threatened legal action. It was to be paid back if Ireland qualified for the 2014 finals, but they didn't, so it was written off. The thing that's always annoyed me about the furore is that the goal only took a penalty shoot-out off the cards anyway, which Ireland were hardly guaranteed to win. It didn't change what they had to do to win outright: score in extra time. (And not lose another, of course.) I know that's still an injustice that needed addressing somehow, but the way they still bang on about it you'd think they'd been 3-0 up before Thierry banged in 4 with his hand. Certainly didn't merit a $5m handout.

Right now it's certainly the best feeling we can hope for. It won't make up for Sunday (especially for me as I flew back home today!), but the cup is history and it's all about the league again for now. And any league win is a good win.

He's dished out 10 red cards in has last 16 games. Admittedly 4 of them have been for us, but 3 of them have been for St Mirren as well. I don't think it's us in particular he has it in for. He just likes sending folk off.

More specifically: "I have to say the decision's disgraceful. The penalty decision's disgraceful. I don't like to see that sort of thing. There's minimal contact, the player goes down. And not only do they get the penalty against them, they get a red card as well"

If they go after Robbo for that, they'll have to ban Neil Lennon for life for what he said about it on live national TV.

Nah. Always take the sporting and moral high ground when available.

They've been using VAR in the MLS and the Bundesliga as well this year, haven't they? Anyone who watches those any comment on how it's going?

My guess is they'd probably have been expecting the same sort of exciting performance that got us there, rather than the measured holding game plan on display.

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Oddly, though, by the letter of the law they'd be yellow cards for different reasons. Simulation is defined as "feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled", so exaggerating an actual foul isn't technically simulation. However, it certainly is "showing a lack of respect for the game", which is also a bookable offence for unsporting behaviour.

Went for Tait, but special mention to Louis who despite seeing virtually nothing of the ball in the danger area all day was still only inches away from scoring twice and never stopped chasing down anything and everything long after the game was done and dusted.

Of course, Celtic fans to a man are saying Kipré should've been sent off in the first half, and thus the incompetence evened itself out...

Maybe. Trouble is, it's not against the rules to decide to fall over if you feel contact. It's only against the rules is if you feel contact that wasn't actually a foul (or don't feel any contact at all) and decide to fall over to make it look like a foul, and he hasn't gone as far as admitting he did that.

Even if he was, that's not really one of the criteria any more... has to be a goalscoring opportunity, *and* a deliberate attempt to foul.http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36047575

A link to that clip via Twitter:https://twitter.com/BBCSportsound/status/934406324896415744

I'm confident we'll play better than we did in the 2011 cup final. That's as optimistic as I'm getting.

I'd be delighted with the totally undeserved winner, cos that's fitba'. Being a liberal old sap, though, I'd much rather win without getting away with anything we shouldn't have got away with. Fair and square always feels ten times better.

Pity. The longer I live in Ireland the more I want them papped oot of every competition ASAP

Flow said on Twitter tonight that it was unlikely, just not logistically possible to run any more.

One of my favourites that one, too.

They didn't (and rarely do), according to Mr B: https://twitter.com/Alan_Burrows/status/923090466169597953

Haven't watched it so I couldn't tell you. Your comment about "regardless of who he was aiming at" just suggested that it wasn't clear at the time, in which case it shouldn't have been a free kick.

The ball has to be "deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper by a team-mate" to be a free kick, though. So who he was aiming at is very much the key point.

Sounds like a football version of the WWE...