MJC

Definitely and there is an incentive for us to get through. You’d expect Celtic to beat Dundee Utd removing the latter from the Quarters and also that Del and Rangers take care of St.Mirren so we won’t need to worry about playing them in a Cup tie in this tournament.

Happy enough with this draw though Stenhousemuir sailed through their group so it’s definitely not a gimme. Hopefully we don’t burn ourselves out in the (potential) European game on the Thursday night because this one is more important. We won’t be able to wear our new Claret away kit for this one either, which isn’t a bad thing.

Booth starts, as does Wilson. Sparrow has the captains armband Charles-Cooke on the bench

Davie Cooper is the most obvious one. Apart from him Tommy Coyne has got to be up there with our best. He was in his 30s when he signed and went on to be one of our top players of the 90s. I’d also give a shout to Michael Higdon. He was that annoying journeyman who always seemed to pop up with a goal against us for Falkirk or St.Mirren but when he came here he became a proper No.9 and we got the best out of him.

There’s no reasonable justification for why they came down on Watt for basically saying what everyone else could see. The SFA and SPFL are incompetent and more or less at the behest of one particular club so any dissenting voices need to be silenced.

And so they should. That is exactly the issue here, that both were punished for telling it like it was was utterly ridiculous. And as I’ve already said I want us to question why our player was given a straight 4 game ban while McInnes got 3 with one suspended.

Again, I don’t see anything in Del’s comments that were anything different to what any of our fans or indeed anyone outwith Celtic were saying at the time. It was disgusting and there is not a snowballs chance in hell VAR and Beaton give that decision to us up the other end in the final seconds of injury time. That award took away a massive advantage that Hearts would have had going into the final game of the season and handed it directly to Celtic who ended up profiting from it when they won the league. As Hearts boss at the time and hearing of that incident and in the heat of the moment it was perfectly understandable that McInnes was angry, indeed he had every right to be. And that’s before you take into account O’Neill’s wee phone chat with Collum about refereeing at the start of May. Had it been us in Hearts position on the penultimate game of the season and Jens had said exactly what McInnes said then would anyone on here or in our support have a problem with it? Would they hell as like! I get people don’t want to be seen siding with the now Rangers manager, but it’s important not to lose sight of the real issue here. That Celtic were handed the league by a disgraceful decision given against us by an incompetent VAR and a referee who is too scared to give anything against Celtic due to previous grief he’s had from them and their supporters. And yet despite that and the fact that their supporters invaded our park in their hundreds and the game ended with them all on the park on the Wednesday night and they then did the same in their thousands on the Saturday they completely escape punishment for it? Indeed the only ones punished were the ones who called it out including one of our players.

God, have we ever won a game where the Bois have done a march to the stadium? You’re absolutely allowed to criticise them, I’m not a fan of them myself. I think you can guarantee that there will be flares aplenty tonight because that group clearly care more about their own image than the club itself.

Well technically he got a four match ban with one suspended and I don’t think what he said was that much worse, he said it was “disgusting” which is more or less what every Motherwell fan was saying about the decision. However I would like to see us as a club asking why he was served a four with one suspended whilst our player was given a straight four game ban. The fact that Watt is no longer our player is irrelevant, it was handed down to him whilst he was and he was perfectly within his rights to question such a ridiculous decision.

It’ll probably be the opposite of when we have a white/non claret away kit. We’ll wear it against sides who we wouldn’t normally change against ie. Hibs away where I fully expect it to debut a week on Sunday. Against the sides we would usually have the away kit on such as Aberdeen and Hearts we will wear our home kit when we visit them. And then there’s the anniversary blue kit which will probably get a run out against Dundee Utd. Having seen it up close in the shop this morning it is a nice jersey, but I feel it would go better with the white shorts of the home kit and likewise the home jersey would suit the claret away shorts.

Each to their own. Personally speaking as a passionate supporter who wants nothing but the best for the club then I do feel embarrassment when we get bad results. Maybe I just care more than you

The usual Euro non-event/embarrasment for us at Fir Park. 0-1

If it’s anything like the 2018/19 effort then we’ll be wearing it in every away game apart from Hearts and Aberdeen. It’s not too bad having had a better look at it and the outline around the badge is smart. It’s similar to the 02/03 Untouchables kit which I personally loved at the time but no Claret away kit will ever come close to the mid 90s classic by Pony.

A Claret away kit it is then. And not one of our better efforts either on first viewing.

As I’ve said many times before, European qualification for me is just a bonus for a very good season or a Cup win. The ‘reward’ for me was how good we were last season when we were at our best. On paper of course it is great for the club and yes, financially it is good for us (albeit we have reported it has cost us money in the past) but I am more concerned with what happens ON the park for us and I just can’t get on board with this idea of mere playing a couple of Euro qualifiers being held up as some sort of trophy by the club because it looks good on paper, and by the supporters because they get to enjoy a piss up abroad somewhere when the actual football is very much an afterthought. Each to their own and of course and no harm to the Motherwell fans who invest time and money to travel for these games, but it’s just not for me.

Gannon and Brown oversaw some good results in the early qualifying stages including the aforementioned 8-1 win. Even scoring at Airdrie against Steaua Bucharest was a great moment. However our efforts under McCall were pathetic and we went into the games against PAO, Levante and Kuban beaten before a ball was kicked and failed to score against any of them IIRC. And then we had Stjarnan.

It’s just a non event for me. We know we’re never going to do anything of note in the competition but apart from the novelty factor of playing a big name like Borussia Dortmund and then playing PAO in the CL prelims, I can’t remember much, if anything, for us to shout about especially in games at Fir Park in Europe. Obviously Flamurtari 8-1 was great but that was the exception…and it was at Airdrie. But in our last seven European matches at Fir Park we have one win to our name and that was behind closed doors during the lockdown season. Outwith that one our record is played six, won zero and scored two goals. Us playing in Europe is like Scotland at a major tournament. The team do nothing apart from occasionally embarrass themselves. But hey, what does that matter? The fans had such a wonderful time, the locals loved them and it was a great trip! Big leap to the left! YAAAASSS! Big leap to the right! YAAAASSS! Who cares about the result we drank the pubs dry! YAAAASSS!

Exactly. Optimism, positivity and championing progress will only work for a manager if it is actually backed up by what is happening on the park. Graham Alexander, albeit who was as dull as dishwater, made a habit of coming out after a loss and a dismal performance and trying to tell everyone that we played well and everything was fine, when everyone could see that it was anything but. That really didn’t help his standing with the support by trying to state that black was white.

I miss us being in the League Cup group stages. They’re the perfect preparation for the season whilst being serious games themselves in a competition that we actually have a chance of making a scratch in. Unlike this ‘European’ nonsense which is essentially a couple of glorified friendlies which we always make a complete arse of and get embarrassed in.

Wouldn’t mind a mostly claret away kit as long as we don’t wear it in just about every away match like we did in 2018/19. We should always be in our first colours unless there is a direct clash.

Great to see EJ starting. Hard to tell how this will go but hopefully a good workout for the players selected.

Indeed. And if he is not handed at least a four match ban the same as Watt then we need to be questioning it.

Any comments made by anyone about refereeing decisions should be being highlighted by the club in regards to this. It doesn’t matter if it’s John McGinn or Derek McInnes or whoever. If someone else has made similar comments about match officials and isn’t hit with the same punishment as our player then we need to be asking serious questions in a very loud voice.

Club have now released a statement about this saying they are extremely disappointed at the outcome of this and have asked for written reasons to explain it. Also that they will “liaise with solicitors on any next step”. I’m glad to hear it and also pleased to see a swift response.

Another load of word salad and tired old patter from you as usual, but I prefer to actually look at things as they are. Rangers clearly have more clout than we do and indeed every other club outwith Celtic, but they are not on the same level as Celtic in terms of control, manipulation and running the game through bullying tactics. Certainly not today, in 2026. Derek McInnes has also been citied for comments he made about the very same incident that Elliot Watt has been “put in line” for speaking about. He made those comments on the night of the game whilst still the Hearts manager. I believe his hearing is next week. Now, if what you and the above poster are saying is true then the authorities will surely go easier on him now that he is Rangers manager? Yeah? So, if McInnes gets a touchline ban of anything similar or more than what Watt has been banned for then that would very much fly in the face of the idea that “both of them are equally culpable” and such like? I will watch with interest on this one.