Rickoza

Proud as punch of them tonight. Wellied a good team and won by the length of the street. Brilliant.

I make it 1951-52 the last time we made both semi-finals in the same season. That's history in the making tonight.

Tom Hateley twittered earlier that the team was on it's way North this afternoon. Should be fully refreshed tomorrow. Think the key tomorrow is simply repeating the energy displayed on Sunday. You can be sure Inverness wil be up for it, and if we are that'll do the job.

Sorry, but is there really any need for that. Not just Celtic fans that are Catholics.

Pretty sure the pitch was being reseeded right after the game on Sunday. As long as we don't get a cup replay then it will be 2nd April before the next game, otherwise the replay will be probably 23rd March (given they have a home SPL game on the 16th). That'd at least give the pitch a full month to grow.

Indeed. Inverness are nowhere near the side they were pre-Christmas. I know we have been a bit inconsistent, but even when we've lost we have not been dominated. We can go there on the back of Sunday and take confidence from it. Do the chasing and closing like we did and it'll be another crucial three points in the bag.

That's funnier than anything that's ever been on Only An Excuse.

If you ever think for a moment you wish you were someone else, just be glad it's not a deluded, paranoid clown like this Celtic "fan".....

This is funny. Over 150 posts on a game which doesn't involve their team. And some of the comments are quite strange..... Sheepy Board

Unexpected. Why? We are Motherwell, ANYTHING can happen!

I like this....though I don't think at any time we were under the cosh. Analysis Motherwell find a way to halt Celtic's run By CRAIG CAIRNS When asked post-match about how Motherwell were able to stop Celtic, Sky Sports pundit Neil McCann hit the nail on the head when pointing out that Motherwell had successfully nullified the threat from Celtic's full-backs, especially the in-form Emilio Izaguirre. Even with ten men against Rangers, Celtic were able to push the Honduran and Mark Wilson forward, effectively making them wingers, and feel confident that Daniel Majstorovic and Charlie Mulgrew would deal with a 2 v 1 situation at the back. Against Motherwell it was a different story. Chris Humphrey and Jamie Murphy both possess a lot of pace and both played wide and high up the pitch, meaning that, given their threat on the counter attack, they caused Wilson and Izaguirre to think twice before their forays into the Motherwell half. Despite this, there were certain times in the match - towards the end of each half, for instance - where the Motherwell wingers focused on getting behind the ball with the rest of their teammates. Motherwell started the match in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation with John Sutton leading the line. Stephen Craigen was injured so on-loan Blackburn defender Gavin Gunning was moved into the centre of defence with Steven Hammell returning at left-back. Francis Jeffers was left on the substitutes' bench with Ross Forbes coming in to form a central midfield three with Keith Lasley and Steve Jennings. With Beram Kayal suspended, Celtic lined up as expected. Lennon opted for his favoured 4-4-2 formation although he altered the shape slightly. Against Rangers and Dundee United recently, Kris Commons played as an out-and-out winger, whereas Scott Brown took up a more tucked in and less advanced role. This time Commons started slightly more infield and Brown more advanced than usual. Celtic surrendered a soft goal within two minutes but their frailties had been exposed prior to this when a Mulgrew error let Humphrey in. Mulgrew was at fault again for the goal, this time waiting for Fraser Forster to come and collect the ball, allowing Sutton to sneak in between them and touch the ball past the Celtic goalkeeper before rolling the ball into an open goal. Celtic's response was to remain patient and to try to force openings but, by their own standards, they rarely threatened the Motherwell goal. Motherwell's midfield three of Lasley, Jennings and Forbes were excellent throughout and got behind the ball at every opportunity. They offered terrific protection to the defence and never gave the Celtic midfield a moment's peace, pressing high before returning into position. Moreover, when the home side did hit on the counter attack, they moved the ball quickly and precisely and always seemed the more likely of the sides to score. When it became clear that the initial game plan wasn't working Lennon changed his side's shape to a 4-3-1-2, moving Commons into the hole just behind the strikers and Brown into central midfield with Sung-Yeung Ki and Joe Ledley. Admirably, Lennon is not afraid to make changes early in matches rather than stubbornly sticking to his pre-match tactics -see the recent Old Firm Scottish Cup clash for another example of this - but on this occasion Plan B was just as ineffective. With 4-3-1-2 possessing such a narrow midfield, to be successful it requires the full-backs to provide width and, as noted, Motherwell successfully prevented this. The second half took a similar pattern to that of the first. Motherwell doubled their lead from the penalty spot through John Sutton then sat back and attempted to catch Celtic on the break. And yet again, when Motherwell did get forward they put together some excellent passing moves and looked the more dangerous of the two sides. Lennon had switched back to his original formation at half time but brought on Georgios Samaras and Efrain Juarez for Anthony Stokes and Mark Wilson within minutes of conceding the second goal. The change at full-back was enforced due to injury although the change in attack was a tactical decision. Celtic had started the match with two out-and-out strikers, both of whom were reluctant to drop deep and link with the midfield. Samaras provided this option but Celtic but with the Motherwell midfield now sitting deep, he struggled to find the space to have an effect on the game. As well as the midfield offering plenty of protection, Motherwell's young centre-back pairing of Shaun Hutchinson and Gavin Gunning marked the Celtic strikers out of the game and won the physical battle when they faced up to long direct passes. The pair only started together due to the absence of captain Stephen Craigen and have given their manager Stuart McCall a big decision to make when he names his side for Saturday's trip to Inverness. Celtic came close from a Mulgrew header and through a curling shot from Commons, which was saved superbly saved by Randolph in the Motherwell goal, but by this stage in the match Motherwell had almost everyone behind the ball and were restricting Celtic to very few chances. In conclusion, Stuart McCall stopped the Celtic full-backs from having an impact on the match by fielding two pacey wingers high up the pitch against them. Humphrey and Murphy not only kept Wilson and Izaguirre pinned back but they also defended from the front, pressing at every opportunity. This is a luxury not afforded by many sides in the SPL, including Celtic's next opponents Rangers in the Scottish Cup replay on Wednesday. Nevertheless, this was not the only reason for a Motherwell victory here. They harassed the Celtic midfield from start to finish and rarely afforded them time and space in dangerous areas.

I'd have to disagree. Thought Las got his legs clipped, however accidentally, by the Celtic defender.

Very point I was made throughout the game. Virtually as soon as a Motherwell player mistimed a tackle, out came the yellow. Yet the only think they received a booking for was for kicking the ball away. And at that they went mental.

Like to think he told them to F*ck off, where were you last year when I didn't have a club? Didn't exactly see anyone from Parkhead desperate to sign him then. Keep up the form for Motherwell Randy and you'll get to the Premiership, Celtic won't.

Can't have Celtic looking bad on the BBC can they? They were soundly beaten today by the better team, simples.

Sittin there in his slippers sippin cocoa no doubt. Bet you wish you could've done that today Mr Broon!

Did you see SM go round the dressing room at the end of the Sky stuff. Took particular time with Randy.

"Don't care how much you get paid, yer still a fanny and nae f*cker likes ye"

Jenno was MOM on Sky.

Look around the rest of the SPL. You'll see why. We aint the worst. Not much grass, but since when do you have to have a field of grass to play a game of football on it?

Completely and utterly justified win. Better team all over the park, hungrier team. Like I said during the week, it's football, you just never know. Sutton was immense, I thought Hateley had a good game and tackled well. The visitors were dismal but that was down to what we did, not what they didn't. Well done to the lads and to Stuart McCall. Brilliant.

I personally think Dundee United are going to be undone by their schedule, so many games on such heavy pitches are going to hammer them.

Pittodrie looks dire today. Not just our pitch but, desipte looking every bit as bad as ours, Mr Burley aint criticising it much.

Why can't we to be honest? Been plenty of top defences went to places they really shouldn't have conceded at and lost. Course we can do it! Always when you least expect it.......

Did anything ever come of that, seem to recall NLC were going to get Knox done for the abuse he dished out?