Ya Bezzer!

Probably deserved to win the match although I thought it was a bit low key at times and a little like an end of season match. We'd probably had the better of the match up until Steve Jennings got injured and had to go off for stitches and while we were down to 10 men we started to sit back and we never really got out of that mindset afterwards. Tactically I think Aberdeen let us off the hook a wee bit, last week they played two sitting midfielders and three forward going ones (two of them Megginson and Vernon, actually forwards), this week they played two and we coped with that much better defensively for most of the match. Secondly, Fraser Fyvie makes that team tick and he wasn't there today. Although it was a little low key in my opinion until the end when we were hanging on a bit most of the players did a decent job and Johnny Page and Adam Cummin looked comfortable but Aberdeen didn't really threaten often outside of high balls and both those guys are 6 foot plus and coped with it. The one real chance Aberdeen had Randolph saved brilliantly - looked like a save of the season contender. Hammell took this goal great as well, fantastic hit right into the top corner. Big win today - there's a couple of big matches coming up now!

Our squad is going to be stretched tomorrow but we should still looking to win this tie.

Ah, well Higdon to do a Paterson and play a blinder as an emergency centre half!

If Aberdeen play the same system I think it would be foolish to play 4-4-2 especially with Lasley missing. Think we will have to match them up to get enough ball to cause them problems. ---------------Randolph-------------- Hateley----Hutchy----Clancy---Hammell ---------Jennings-------Law---------- Humphrey-------Ojamaa---------Murphy- ---------------Higdon---------------- I've not heard news about Hutchinson but people seem to be assuming he will definitely miss the match. Is that the case? To me it didn't look like a serious injury, just a heavy clash, and he's a tough boy, I'd expect him to be OK for the weekend unless there really was something more serious to it.

Well I disagree there. He's one of those players where if he make a mistake, people in the crowd jump on him, when if others do exactly the same nothing is said or there is only low key grumbling. His defiances are constantly exaggerated and what he brings to the team is over looked. For instance today, even though he didn't play well he still got at least 2 shots on target which I doubt many others managed and his crossing was a hell of a lot better than Hateley's. I was thinking about Johnny Gahagan who was equally inconsistent and yet he was a crowd favourite almost because half the time he didn't turn up and half the time he did and you never knew what you were going to get but the fans knew that on his day he brought something to the team no one else could. I think with Murphy people need to accentuate the positive a bit more.

Sadly Lasley is getting himself a reputation with referees. Could be another Michael Stewart situation where referees automatically go for a red instead of a yellow, or a yellow when they would let another player go. Still not seen the TV replays yet but if its as bad as being claimed it really does him no favours.

Murphy taking pelters yet Ojamaa who was equally poor today is currently winning the MotM poll... Going out the gates I heard someone saying 'Murphy hasn't kicked a ball in months' - just 2 goals in the last 3 home matches and 6 goals since the turn of the year. People have a short memory. Murphy is the new David Clarkson. Gets in double figures every season and some people still don't rate him and never will because as soon as he has a poor match they'll trot out the 'Murphy hasn't kicked a ball in months' line.

I raised that point in the main game thread. There is no need to have him there when Law can play there (and in fact that's his best position to) and Murphy can play right. You don't need to change any personnel or even the position of any other player. Just one of those baffling decisions managers make that you can't seem to grasp at all.

Went for Steve Jennings. Tried his hardest but nothing was happening up front or along side him.

Too little too late. To be honest I thought we were pish for almost all of the match and it was more Aberdeen coming down to our level than us going up a few gears. Say what you like about the corner decision it still had to be defended and we didn't do that. Losing a goal in 3 minutes says it all really. Aberdeen came out better prepared and much sharper and even after a few minutes it was hardly a surprise when they scored. It was one of those days when the defence was all over the place and we looked disjointed all over the park. The penalty should have been a way back in but it was a disappointing effort, same side as his last two and an easy height for the keeper to save. As for the sending off, I've not seen TV replays but it looked a 50/50 tackle from the stand. I heard Fyvies leg was broken and I see some criticism of Lasley on the board so perhaps it was worse than it looked in real time. Good luck to Fraser Fyvie and I hope he recovers quickly, he played well today. It was also disappointing to see the return of Law on the right and Murphy on the left when they have shown lately that they work better on the opposite sides and Brown's 4-2-3-1, a change from their last visit, demanded tactical flexability from our manager which he didn't really respond to until it was too late. I'm afraid with the extra man and Lasley off form and then sent off they controlled midfield for most of the match. Our goal sparked a revival but it was still pretty scrappy stuff from us and although we could have nicked a late goal we didn't really show the quality in the final third. We'll need to do better next week if we want to stay on course for Champions League football and I'm guessing Lasley will have quite a hefty suspension coming up.

I had a successful day at the bookies yesterday but I don't know if I'm lucky enough to get cash off the bookies and see my team win on the same weekend. If we lose you can blame me. I think this will be a tough match, Aberdeen might not be great but they have been turned into a typical Brown type team that's hard to beat and doesn't give away much at the back. I think we will need Ojamaa at his best to help break them down. I suspect it could go to a replay at Pittodrie but even if that happened I'd reckon we'd still be in with at least an even chance in the return match.

I don't like Rangers. They are my least favourite club in the world. I am enjoying their current plight but when it comes down to it I don't really give a fuck about them - whether they go out of business, stay up, go into liquidation or any thing else. I'm a Motherwell man, I support Motherwell and that's all I really care about. The fact that a lot of people in here are saying they will walk away from their own club because of something that happens at Rangers or SPL headquarters offends me much more than any slippery skin saving deal Rangers might be able to get behind the scenes. Seems to me too many people hate Rangers and Celtic more than they love their own club. If you think after 26 years I'd throw my own club to the wolves because of ramifications coming out of Ibrox or else where you are very much mistaken.

We have quite a few players, senior and otherwise, that have re-signed by negotiating new deals. I'd imagine re-signing players is more expensive than bringing in free transfers. For instance Tom Hateley will probably be earning a lot more now than with his initial deal. Same with Murphy, Jennings etc. Keeping a playing staff together for a number of seasons I'm fairly confident is a bit more expensive than having a turn over of end of contracts and free replacements.

I hope all this doesn't unnerve the team and we can stay on form.

PATG or season ticket I'll be there as long as I've got breath in me!

I think some people are letting rivalry cloud their judgement! The current Celtic side is probably the best team to play in Scotland for quite a number of seasons. And it would be a brave man that would bet against Celtic to win the treble although I'm sure we all have hopes ourselves of a Scottish Cup win! If McCall finishes second and wins the Scottish Cup that would be a magnificent achievement and he'd come into contention but I doubt very much if he would simply for finishing third with no silverware.

As I remember it Raith Rovers scored direct from a free kick in the last couple of minutes to equalize. I'm pretty sure that was the only time we failed to defeat Raith Rovers when they were a Premier League team!

For a young player that's played at a decent standard his entire career, has excellent pace, good technique, can play in a number of positions, is an U21 international with a good record at that level and has scored double figures in the last three seasons despite generally not playing as an out and out striker - well I don't think it's unreasonable to start the bidding at a minimum of £500,000. Sadly, I think Jamie Murphy will be sold massively under his true worth just to get cash into the club. I understand the club was letting fans know what our financial situation was and is, but perhaps in retrospect it wasn't a smart move to public announce that we have to sell a player in the next window. Automatically from a bargaining position it devalues our player assets.

Maybe this is verging on the conspiracy theory side of things but I couldn't help notice that before Rangers went into administration they sent a lot of players, especially younger players, out on loan. Perhaps a way of saying to administrators, our younger players are out on loan, therefore we need more senior pros to be retained until the end of the season to have a viable playing squad. But I don't know the legal situation in terms of the administrators being able to break loan deal agreements and call back players at other clubs. Just a thought! Rangers currently have 7 players on loan at other clubs.

The whole thing about Fir Park being 'done' is an argument I don't get. Most of the stadium is less than 20 years old. Nothing stays state of the art for long. If we move to a new stadium then what happens 20 years after that? Do we move again? People seem to think a new stadium would remain pristine and modern forever. Actually it would age at exactly the same rate as the Davie Cooper stand or the South Stand or any other stand.

Quoted for truth.

Someone said they'd be amazed if we didn't take three points? I'd never be amazed if we didn't take three points from anywhere but this is one we should still win. They've only kept one clean sheet since Paul Gallacher was injured and I agree Chris Smith is a bombscare although apparently he had a good game at Celtic Park and kept the score down. I think you've under estimated their ability to score, Andy Kirk has 8 goals in the league from only 18 matches, Buchanan has 4 in 8, Cardle 6 from 16 (good for a wide player) but I reckon if you can score twice against them you are probably going to win 95% of the time. Our recent record of scoring away from home isn't great though (1 goal in the last 5 away matches: 0-1, 0-0, 1-1, 0-3, 0-2) although we've generally played teams with better defences than Dunfermline. I said last week I think our run in to the split is tricky so if you are being honest this should be a good opportunity to get 3 points on the board but like I said at the top it won't amaze me if we don't! They have managed two draws in their last three home matches and we ought not to be too over confident.

Me too. When Dougie scored to go 2-1 up, me and the guy sitting next to me (who I didn't know) hugged me and we jumped up and down in delirious celebration! I also remember going close when I think it was Coyne scored and then Shivute put us 2-1 up but we didn't quite hang on and it ended in a draw. My last trip to Ibrox was a heart breaker, when Duncan Ferguson scored very late on to give them a win. We were in the lower tier of the stand and the scumbags above were spitting down on us and throwing coins. I was hit on the head with a coin which drew blood and after that I vowed never to go back - which I never have. We did use to take huge away supports (4,000 at least) to Parkhead back in the terrace days but to be fair a lot of them, and I'm being charitable here in my descriptions, were the type of Motherwell supporter than only turned up for Celtic games! It probably also helped that we had a terrific record against Celtic in those days. I can't remember exactly, but it will be in the correct ballpark, in the late eighties and early ninties we went on a run against Celtic where we only lost 3 out of 11 matches. Something like that anyway. I also remember a 2-0 win against Aberdeen at Fir Park which was a big result in those days and a little further back, a 4-2 win against Dundee United (88/89?), again another huge result comparable to beating the Old Firm nowadays. I traveled to all the away matches back then, I have a 100% record at Pittodrie! Tannadice was a different matter though! And of course the run-for-your-life dash from Easter Road across the wee railway bridge that was necessary in those days (it was worth it to see Mio score)!

Clancy has come in and done well and deserved to keep his place but maybe last night was a bit of a wake up call. With all due respect to the likes of Hearts and St. Mirren they do not have quality strikers in the mold of Griffiths and O'Connor and have struggled to score generally this season. Maybe these teams have made Clancy look a bit better than he is due to their paucity up front. I'm not saying Craigan should or shouldn't come back in for the next match but away from all the hoopla of winning last night conceding three goals at home to the joint bottom team in the league isn't that great and the defence was poor, with Clancy being the poorest. McCall has something to think about for the weekend. Perhaps Clancy deserves the benefit of the doubt but let's remember we won't be up against Obua and Templeton at the weekend, or Thompson and Imrie.

Lots of confidence around here today but I think our upcoming games to the split are quite difficult. First of all we have both the Old Firm. That's always going to be difficult even with Rangers in administration. Secondly we have Kilmarnock who have been a difficult opponent this season for us and we've been perhaps fortunate to get the 2 points off them we have. Aberdeen are also much improved and currently in the 'form' league table are fourth behind us and the Old Firm. Aberdeen have been keeping a lot of clean sheets lately and could be a difficult nut to crack especially if the crowds are getting a bit excitable. Then there is Hibernian and Dunfermline. We've beaten both recently but with the relegation battle getting serious now both teams will be giving their all to stay up, especially in front of their home fans. Definately an opportunity to get away points but I don't think anyone should be counting on wins before we've actually earned them. I agree with Diggle, 8 points from those games would be a decent aggregate.