Spiderpig

Lets be honest about this the SPL needs Rangers in it, so of course a newco will be voted in, with the financial and points penalties applied as appropriate, its all about money and nothing else. If Rangers / Newco were denied entry to the SPL and relegated to Div 3 then Sky TV would walk away, or offer a fraction of the money on offer just now. So apart from the loss of TV revenue, every other SPL club would suffer as well, in motherwells case the loss of around 5 or 6k ticket sales 2 possibly 3 times a season at £25 a time thats approx 200 to 250k lost income, not to mention catering / hospitality etc. So if that is repeated over the other 9 Clubs (celtic excepted) and combined with reduced or no Tv money then the SPL will lose tens of millions each year, at this time it has no sponsor in place for next season either !!! So yes Rangers / Newco need to be penalised but not at the expense of the other teams, which is what would happen if they were not in the SPL. I hope Motherwell vote yes to these proposals as they go a long way to protecting our clubs income and survival.

Agree with this one, Remember its the team you will be appluading, not the Celtic fans,Whatever the view you have of the team they deserve to be champions, if motherwell were the champs we would expect nothing less. Give them fuck all to complain and moan about then get ripped right into them and produce another skippy Sunday to spoil their day.

So you are not giving us much hope of making the group stages then !!

We are in a great position, 5 clear with 5 games left. Celtic at Fir park next, they have already won the league so a few of the fringe players will be getting a game to get their totals up so they get a medal, so we have a good chance of beating them, our home record against the green ugly sister is reasonable. We will beat St J at home and Untd at home so i reckon we will finish on 62 or 63 points (assuming a point from Celtic and possibly hearts) The CL place is only ours to lose, but we will get there i suspect with a couple of games to spare.

I think Saturday will be the time we end the Rangers Jinx, they raised their game to beat Celtic to stop them winning the league at Ibrox, but their season is F***ed, nothing left to play for, so they are there for the taking, 6 points from our next 2 games will see us over the line. St Johnstone are at Parkhead next, Celtic are looking to win the league, they will get pumped, if we can get to the split with the 8 point lead or better that we have now then we are sorted. Its time to believe and live the champions league dream.

We have 3 very winnable games left before the split, maximum return from these would see us go into the last 5 games at least 8 points in front of the 4th placed team (assuming StJ win all their games which is unlikely as they play Celtic at Parkhead the day after we play rangers) So if we have a lead of 8 or 11 points going into the split we are sorted, finishing Second would be great but 3rd gets the champions league spot and thats what we need to secure 1st.

Sad as it is i dont think the game should be postponed, if it was a player or club official then yes, but for relatives etc i dont think its appropriate. And celtic will not win the league at Ibrox as we will beat Kilmarnock, so that when we play Rangers the next week it will only be us and Celtic that can will the league.

Sorry to add more confusion but the Cup runners up only get a Euro spot if the winners have qualified for a higher place ie champions league. So if Celtic win then Aberdeen or Hibs go into EL Q4, If Hearts win then they take the EL Q4 spot and Aberdeen or Hibs get feck all, A St Mirren win gives them the EL Q4 place and again Aberdeen and Hibs get nothing. This is assuming that Well finish 3rd and go into CL Q3 with Celtic, so the only way Aberdeen or Hibs are getting into Europe is if Celtic make the final or they win the cup Confused...you will be

Awarding the corner was a shocker but we lost the goal because the defence made an arse of defending it ...the Aberdeen players were allowed 2 headers inside the 6 yard box without a motherwell player getting anywhere near them..so we paid the price.

Shocking tackle.. badly timed, no malicious intent., fully deserved the straight Red, lets all move along.. no story here anymore

Sorry forgot the draw was made and no chance of Celtic / Hearts final

As i understand it if Celtic win the cup then as they will be in the champions league whoever gets to the final with them will get a Europa league place. The team finishing 2nd or 3rd (hopefully Motherwell) will get the second champions league spot and the other 2 Europa league places will go to 4th and 5th in the league (i am assuming Rangers will be no lower than 3rd ). So if it is a Celtic / Hearts cup final then all 5 teams in the top six as it stands now will be in Europe.

Have to agree with this, Murphy has been pish all season, the odd goal here and there is not good enough, he is too lightweight any slight nudge from an opposition player and he is off the ball. He was anonymous yesterday and contributed nothing to the game, its time he warmed the bench for a while, bring Daley in he will be more effective.

He is an obnoxious little arse wipe who deserved all he got, Las never hit him hard enough.

Are you a natural prophet of doom and gloom or do you have to practice hard ??? Have some faith in the team FFS, Hearts are riding their luck just now, we will beat them, 2-0 to the well Higdon and Ojamma

There must be loads of spare match abandoned vouchers going, everybody was taking at least 2 or 3 on the way out, somebody might have one for you

Brilliant draw for Motherwell, home tie against Aberdeen probably, but QOS might surprise the sheep Sh***ers in Dumfries, so who knows. Either way a very winnable tie and a great chance to make the Semi's.

Has this thread run its course - Yes Should it have ever been started - No Is SMC'c time up - ( Top 3 all season apart from a couple of weeks, Cup final last year, on course for Europe this year, brought in players who have improved the team, Law, Higdon, Ojaama.) - No its just beginning So in the words of Daryll Broadfoot F**K off and gies peace....End OF.

Have to agree with this, we don't need wasters like Riordan at Motherwell, he has had more clubs than Tiger Woods recently, so they all can't be wrong, he is a Pr**k and should be avoided at all costs

Morton will be a step up in class from Queens park but they are Mid table in Div 1, nearer the bottom than the Top, so we should be too strong for them. Given that there were only 2 teams in the draw with a lower league position than morton, it is a great draw for Motherwell. This is a great chance to get into the last 8, then it starts to get interesting.

A true Motherwell fan who will be sadly missed, he worked very hard for the club over the years, especially with the ground improvements and the new South and cooper stands. I only spoke to him on a few occasions but he was a true gentleman. Condolences to all the family, A sad loss to scottish football.

We cant afford the luxury of having a "cup team " and a " league team" i hope McCall picks his first choice starting 11 or as near to it as he can. Bring the fringe players on for a runout after the job has been done but not before. These games are about building confidence and getting back into the goal scoring habit, so there is no point in starting with players who wont be regulars week in week out in the league.

Have some faith in the team we will pump Queens park, they will do well to keep it below 5 or 6, they are in the 3rd division for a reason... ie they are pish. This game is just what we need for a confidence booster to get the team back into winning habits for the business end of the league campaign. After the season we have had so far anything less than 3rd or 4th will be a big disappointment, hopefully 3rd and a guaranteed return to Europe. A good Scottish cup run will be a bonus, a return to Hampden would be great, so we have an easy starter on Saturday, mon the well

voting for Craggs...best goal of the 3..the way he took the ball 1st time was excellent

These "safe standing areas" wont be as straightforward to implement as some people think, its not a return to the terracing of years ago, see the quote from SPL cheif exec below, "When revealing the rule change, SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster was at pains to stress the plans do not signal a return to old-style terracing. He pointing instead to modern systems used in Europe like 'rail' - where there is a safety barrier and a seat on every row which can be locked for domestic games and unfolded for other competitions or events." This would involve considerable changes to existing infrastructure to implement, which implies a lot of cash the club can not afford. The plan is attractive to both of the ugly sisters as they can squeeze more fans into the ground, charge them the same as the seated areas and make more cash. When you look at Fir Park there is no suitable area to convert, the old enclosure under the POD is a possibillity but would probably not be allowed as it would block emergency exits etc. So the main question is will Motherwell FC consider spending significant sums of money to implement a safe standing zone,to be a good investment...In my opinion i think they wont. Perhaps if the club finally decide on moving to a new stadium at the Craig, the safe standing zone could be incorporated in to the design, but as it stands Fir park needs a lot more urgent work than safe standing areas, they struggle to spend money cleaning the seats etc in the POD so what chance is there with major reconstruction work !!