MJC_MKI

That would be the best result all round. At least that way we could all save time effort and money, not have to endure their supporters before during and after the game and be spares McCall's pitiful post match comments about how it's Celtic and nobody could live with them on that form.

Celtic now 5-0 up and it's not even half time. They could easily hit double figures against us on Friday night if they are in the mood.

7-0 Celtic.

If that's true then it's an embarrassing fuck up even by our standards. And all after McCall vowed in the wake of the Aberdeen fiasco that we would give our all in the Scottish Cup!

Exactly the point. For us to lose to a part time lower league club like that is sheer incompetence and there is absolutely no excuse for it. A favourite retort of the 'Happy Clappies' is "We're Motherwell, we ain't Barcelona" well, true as the statement itself may, we also "ain't Albion Rovers" either so nothing can justify that utterly shambolic and disgraceful result and performance today. Heads should fucking roll for this.

The buck stops with the manager. It's his job to prepare, motivate and set the team up to get results and to nevermind fail to beat a part time third division club but to lose to them is unacceptable. That, on top of some of the shocking results in big games/cup games during his watch and his abject failure to rebuild the squad over the summer means that his time is up.

Absolutely unforgivable result. McCall GTF now.

Anything less than a win here will be unacceptable. I reckon we'll have too much for them and while it might not be a walk in the park per se, I think we'll win 3-0, but we'll have to work for it.

Can't see us having any problems getting through the tie as I think we'll just have too much for them. I hope that we go at it with a professional approach and get a good, solid victory.

I was referring to Andy_P's quote from OSB in his above post and how that quote "fell on deaf or bitter ears". The majority of criticism in the light of recent results has been constructive on here from what I've seen, I have only seen fans voicing disappointment to recent letdowns and concerns about where we might be headed, that is all fair and constructive to me. Criticism which is not constructive I'd say would be abusing players mindlessly without any logic or reason, ie. "GTF McCall, yer shite, end of" or "X player is utter shite bla bla bla". Obviously there are the odd exceptions but the majority of here do not resort to that, if they've got a point to make they do so constructively and tend to explain their reasons for making the point. Like I said, there is a world of difference between dishing out plain abuse and scorn and voicing concerns and disappointment.

That's all fair comment, especially about a change in attitude of the 'core' support over the past two decades. However, I think it's perfectly understandable, especially among the 'younger' generation of fans that they have a different outlook on supporting Motherwell than those who were reared as 'Well fans during the barren years of the 70s and 80s because if you're time supporting the club began late 80s/early-mid 90s onwards then you have supported a club that's never been out of the top flight, reached two cup finals and qualified for Europe several times. So success breeds success and there is a perfectly reasonable desire to see us continue to build on that and prosper as a club, and as time moves on, the game changes and thus expectation levels change with it, but some Motherwell fans don't seem to want to hear that kind of talk, they'd rather harp back to the days of Roger Hynd and shout down anyone who voices disappointment at the results against Aberdeen in the cup recently with "you weren't here in the really bad times, it used to be that Aberdeen would beat us 8-0 etc". Well, times have changed.... Speaking of Aberdeen, it's often said that their fans are 'stuck in the 80s' and still think they are the force they were back then, and yes I would agree with that. However on the flip side of that, I'd say that some Motherwell fans are guilty of the same thing, just in reverse, because to listen to some of them, you'd think that we had been a yo-yo club like Partick Thistle of Falkirk or even like Hamilton who've barely been in the top division in the past twenty years, rather than been an established top flight club, unbroken for what is it, 24, 25 years now? So, when does Motherwell, never mind being a top flight club, but one that has regularly finished in the top six of the top flight in recent years become the norm for these fans who are stuck in the 80s? I've yet to meet the Motherwell fan who seriously believes that we can challenge for he league title or have a God given right to win Cups or even finish high up in the table, in fact on the contrary I'd say our support, even the younger element, harbour fairly humble expectations and continue to back the club win, lose or draw. Just look at the 'Well Bois and the support and backing they give the team, week in, week out, win, lose or draw. That's not to say that there aren't some utter arseholes in our support who do nothing but scream blind abuse and criticism at the players every week and that's not acceptable. However there is a world of difference between that and being upset or angry at poor performances like the recent Cup tie when so much was at stake or the thrashing by United and voicing constructive criticism of the team on the back of that, which is what most folk on here do most of the times only to be lectured about 'what being a Motherwell fan REALLY is all about, cos I lived through the 70s' and such like. Football fans can be fickle and ours are no different, but I'd say we are no different to any other set of fans in that when we win we're happy, when we go on a good winning run the mood rockets sky high and when we lose we're not so happy and when we go on a losing streak the mood plummets. It's human nature apart from anything else. But this 'supporting Motherwell should be a party, win, lose or draw'?? Nah...not for me.

First of all, well done to you for responding to that without the predictable 'toys oot the pram' retorts, abuse and remarks about 'wife beaters' and such like that you are noted for. However, your post about 'win - yay', lose - boo' etc, do you really think that Motherwell fans are any different to any other set of fans in that respect? I'd say that ANY set of fans from ANY other club would have exactly the same attitude as that and I defy you or anyone else to prove otherwise. For me I think it's perfectly natural for fans to voice their disappointment to results like recent Aberdeen and/or Dundee Utd results and likewise give credit for good results like today. It's pretty sad in my opinion when folk like yourself try to score brownie points against other fellow fans on the back of a result which is good for the club rather than just taking satisfaction and pleasure from it as most fans almost certainly do.

Probably shouldn't bite here, but can you not just enjoy the fact that your team has won without bitching like an old wummin' about what other posters reactions to results are?

Great three points today. Just what we needed and nice to win by more than one goal for a change.

1-0 Well. McManus getting another winner at the right end.

2-1 to us after Hibs score first. Sutton double I reckon.

If you'd actually read what I'd posted you'd have seen that I said that there "obviously are exceptions" and mentioned them. I'm referring to Cup games at Fir Park over the years in the main here and our record in such games, especially in latter stages, is poor to say the least. If you or anyone else can offer me any evidence to suggest otherwise then I'd be glad to hear it. Obviously I hope we win on Wednesday, for nothing else than it'll be great to get one over on Aberdeen for the last two Scottish Cup encounters at Fir Park and to shut up their cronies in the media, but most importantly because I believe that if we can overcome this tie then we've got a real chance of achieving our greatest feat since 1991. But like I said, I've seen us 'choke' on so many occasions over the years when in a similar position.

No, but like the more recent two occasions when we played them in the Scottish Cup Quarter Final and 4th Round replay respectively, on both occasions when we were out-performing them in the League yet still managed to screw up against them in what should have been very winnable Cup ties. Obviously there are exceptions, ie. the 1-0 win over Aberdeen in the LCQF of 2005 which you refer to, and the 2011 Scottish Cup Quarter Final against Dundee Utd, but on the whole our record in Cup games, especially at Fir Park over the years has been deplorable and although we all hope Wednesday will be one of the exceptions, I've just got no faith in us in these types of games, ie. one which the support is absolutely desperate to win to progress to a Semi Final of what is an open Cup competition. I've seen it all before.

Not in big Cup games against Aberdeen we're not. Let's face it, in the last two seasons we've had, on paper at least, better sides than Aberdeen had yet we still managed to choke twice against them in Scottish Cup games so I really don't see how things are going to change given that its them who now have the better side man for man. I look at it this way. Even if you take away the fact that Aberdeen are the form side in the SPFL just now - outside Celtic anyway - our record over the years in Cup games, especially at Fir Park is utterly appalling and I really don't see Wednesday being any different. We either fail to turn up or get absolutely every possible thing that could go wrong for us, going wrong for us, ie. penalties being missed, corners wrongly awarded etc. Wednesday will either go two ways. We'll either lose convincingly by two goals as we did in August, or it'll be a fairly even game that we'll lose late on or on penalties. Either way we will lose.

I see what you did there.... As for the game I think it'll come down to who scores first. If we grab the first goal their heads will go down, their fans will turn on them and I reckon we'd see it out and maybe even grab a couple more. On the other hand if they were to score first then I think we could struggle, ala the Inverness game last month. I'll try and be optimistic and go for 3-1 to us with Sutton fgs.

Money is everything in football. After the Craig Brown episode of late 2010 Motherwell fans should know this as well as anybody. Loyalty doesn't come into it when a bigger pay cheque starts calling.

What about Billy Reid anyone??

Adams would be a great appointment but it'll never happen. We'd have to fork out a decent compensation package and offer him a better deal than he's got at Ross County. Both of those are unrealistic IMO.

Higginbotham's goal was a thing of beauty. Not just the finish but everything that lead up to it.

Bending it a wee bit, but he definitely had Paddy McCourt on trial here and let him go (likely due to fitness reasons) and he definitely signed the aforementioned three duds.