MJC

Anyway to turn things back on topic for Saturday, I just don’t see us getting anything other than an absolute drubbing. Celtic have front players who will be able to exploit us badly at the back and and I fully expect them to continue their recent run of scoring at least four at Fir Park. 4-0 Celtic.

Exactly. I could maybe accept the “not every foul results in a booking” argument if the fouls per card stats were in any way close, but they’re not. Celtic are clearly being let off with a lot more than other sides are, we’ve seen it ourselves particularly over the past eleven years since the referee strike. I don’t think it’s down to cheating mind you or Celtic supporting referees deliberately favouring them, I think a lot of it is down to officials erring on the side of caution when it comes to Celtic as they know that if they make the ‘wrong’ call in their eyes then they will be hounded for it. They’re also not backed by their bosses at the SFA as was seen with the ref strike and when Scott Brown had a completely justified red card overturned on appeal a few years back.

I think it’s a certainty that there would have been some sort of ‘sweetener’ from the club to push his departure through. And given that he never appeared to be too bothered about not playing regularly whilst still on our books then I doubt he’ll be that hung up on having a few months without a club. He’s 30/31(?) now anyway and probably heading towards lower league football, possibly even part time which he could probably make last for a few years yet with the right club so I can see why he would agree to a severance from us if that is indeed the case.

That’s actually quite a staggering set of stats and yet again blows any ludicrous idea that referees are anti-Celtic right out of the water. You won’t hear anyone in the MSM bring these up mind you, can’t be upsetting the elephant in the room. What this also does though is show that Celtic’s faux victim propaganda and bullying tactics work in their favour. Since they caused the refereeing strike back in 2010 many match officials have been running scared of them and to be honest I can totally understand why. Celtic, their support and their backers in the media and in politics are an extremely dangerous bunch who could and would make their lives a misery if they didn’t toe the party line. It just wouldn’t be worth the hassle on a personal level but it’s a sad reflection of the Scottish game that one club have so much control, on and off the park.

Yip good riddance. Wasn’t good enough first time around and contributed nothing second time around. A pointless signing and a waste of a wage and it’s best for both parties to go their separate ways.

Bit of a distraction aren’t they?

He did yes. But on the other end of the scale there was Declan Gallagher who seemed to lose focus/interest for us once picked for Scotland. So it could go either way. Tony Watt has been a man of many clubs for the last decade, he’s never properly settled anywhere for whatever reason but he seems to have found his feet at Fir Park and is playing very well. I would just prefer it if he wasn’t picked for Scotland just now and his sole focus was continuing to play well and deliver for us.

Yes it’s a selfish viewpoint from a purely Motherwell perspective, no denying that. I’m happy for him, and any of our players for that matter, to not play international football if that prevents them getting injured, their heads turned or noticed by other clubs. I make no apology for that because Motherwell are my priority in football. However I accept that if Tony Watt continues his form for us then he will be on the national sides radar and indeed that of other clubs so if/when that happens then good luck to him. In the meantime though I am in no rush to see that happen.

I think in Watt’s case he’s seen as a ‘journeyman’ who’s struggled for form at several clubs before joining us and perhaps that counts against him in terms of national team selection. But as I said, I hope he doesn’t get picked any time soon. I’m not a Scotland fan I’m a Motherwell fan and I want him fit and fully focussed for us without the distraction of international football and the exposure to other clubs that playing for Scotland would bring him. If he stays with us, below the radar, focussed and playing well it will benefit us and himself in the long term.

It’s ‘whisky’ in Scotland. Our national drink and so many people spell it wrong. It certainly does help improve your mood and enthusiasm mind you, I fully agree on that.

It’s just as well Celtic beat Aberdeen away on Sunday, otherwise they’d be coming to Fir Park having not won a domestic away match since February….and everyone(well some) would be saying that “teams on a bad run always end it against us”. And that, along with Turnbull being the “ex player who always scores against us” would be like a double whammy.

I meant in a purely footballing sense of course. They’re maybe not as good as they were under Brendan Rodgers or ‘that good’ by their own standards but from what I’ve seen of them so far this season is that they are very strong from middle to front yet suspect at the back. Their front players like Kyogo, Jota, Abada and Forrest (if fit) are by far and away the best frontline players in the country and if we play against them like we did at Tynecastle then we may well get an absolute pasting. They also have a good midfield which is also an attacking threat in McGregor and Turnbull (who is bound to score against us). In short, they are more than good enough to give us a sound beating in two weeks time.

They are definitely suspect at the back, but we need to be absolutely clinical with any chances we get, something we weren’t yesterday. What worries me more is up the other end and how we handle the pace and quality of their attacking players.

We’ll get our back doors caved in.

No chance! If Celtic get their act together and stop dropping daft points they will romp the league but we all know that Rangers will finish second in that scenario. Hearts are, I maintain, a level above us and will certainly be in the mix for third but they’ll be nowhere near a title challenge.

Not disputing that but if you give players like Boyce chances he’ll punish you nine times out of ten. That was only our second league defeat of the season with the other coming against Hibs, two sides who are a level better than us and have players who can punish our mistakes at the back. We are an improving side as we’ve shown with impressive results against Aberdeen and at Ibrox and as you say we shouldn’t be fearing the likes of Hearts or Hibs when they come to Fir Park and indeed on our day we could well get a result against either. However we will need to work on our defending and chance taking if we are to get such results.

Celtic will destroy us in two weeks time. We won’t cope with their pace up front. As I said, it’s the worst possible game to hope to ‘bounce back’ in.

If you give away cheap goals and don’t take your chances then that’s what happens. Hearts as a side are a level well above us and that’s why they took the points today. They have forward players like Boyce who is clinical at this level and a top quality goalkeeper in Gordon playing behind a better centre half pairing than we can put out. We’ve got a long way to go before we can start taking points against the ‘better’ sides regularly. Unfortunately for us we’re now into an international break then we’ve got Celtic next so it’ll be a good few weeks before we can realistically hope to get back on track.

Just a matter of how many now. We are improving as a side but we’re nowhere near good enough to deal with sides who have the forward players to punish us. It doesn’t help when we give away avoidable penalties into the bargain. Big reality check for us this.

Mugabi in for Lamie today.

The one time Seedorf actually looked like a player for us.

You’re right, but it doesn’t always work like that does it? A point would be a great result today and this will be a big test for us, especially defensively.

I’m never confident going to Tynecastle. Plus they’re top of the league and have players that can punish us at the back. I could also mention that our unbeaten run is due to end and the manager of the month ‘curse’ into the bargain….but I won’t bother.

I don’t see us getting anything other than a pumping today. Not confident at all. 3-0 home win.

Aberdeen fans will always want more. They are the most deluded, arrogant, pig headed, po-faced chumps out there. They think they have a divine right to be challenging for league titles and making inroads in Europe when the reality is that they are are no more than a standard Scottish top flight side these days. Whoever takes on that job would be on a hiding to nothing.