Ya Bezzer!

The ratio of free kicks scored to free kicks taken is tiny even at the very highest level. David Beckham had a 50 to 1 ratio at free kicks and he was considered to be one of the masters.

Forget about protecting Murphy, the team Captain should be TAKING the penalties. Sure, might be a bit of a nail biter seeing seeing big Crags stepping up to take a penatly but he couldn't do much worse than most of his predecessors lately (O'Brien, Forbes, Sutton, Murphy) and if Steven Pressley can do it surely Craigan can! I seem to remember Craigan scoring a penalty in a penalty shoot out or am I imagining that?

I strongly fancy us for a glorious and memorable victory - cos I can't make it! Only the third home game I've missed since 2003. It will probably hinge on the first goal, if we score it I think we'll have a great chance of winning but will our legs hold out? Celtic can bring in fresh players, we can't.

We've been through this before. The money Premiership clubs get from their foreign and domestic TV contracts means the ticket revenue isn't that significant. They could afford to let everyone in free all season if they wanted never mind charging £37. At Motherwell its basically the season ticket and gate revenue that keeps the club alive. Motherwell FC is basically our club, we have to pay for it or it doesn't exist. It's that simple. Believe me I'd rather be paying £12 rather than £20 but I'd also rather pay £20 to keep the club going than see us fade away down the league system or just go bust.

When I was coming out of the South Stand there was a group of guys in front of me and one of them said "Ah, back to watching Rangers in the Champions League." There's your problem right there.

Voted for Murphy. As for Humphrey well we've been over that ground and nothing has changed. You can't fault him for effort but he's not a footballer.

Come home with a really heavy heart tonight. But at the end of the day the game is about converting chances into goals and over the two legs we must have had twice as many good chances as OB and they out scored us 3 to 1 and that's what its all about. For all our effort they have that 5 or 10% extra quality that we don't. Its that so close but so far feeling that weighs so heavy, reaching, stretching but never quite making it. Ah, well.

Broon just said Blackman up front, Sutton off the front, Murphy left, Humphrey right.

Apart from beating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu!

Trying hard not to get excited about it. OK, I'm a wee bit excited but I've been a Motherwell fan for too long now. It would be amazing if we did it but we've got a long way to go before we get there!

My new burd doesn't let me out on a Sunday so I'm not sure what way I want this to go!

Just checked the official attendance for the match against Nancy was 11,318. We'll be doing well to beat. Anyway, I'm in the South Stand for only the second time ever. Last time we got pure humped of Hibs so hopefully its a better result. I was in one of the boxes in case you are wondering!

Three good points! The same result on Thursday.....

Terry Butcher was the best manager we've had since Tam McLean. I'm sure he'll do well this season with Inverness and remember we struggled twice against them last season. There is absolutely no chance of them getting relegated.

Come on 'Well! Played seven so far this season and scored in all of them, hopefully we can keep a clean sheet.

Don't always agree with Steelboy but he got this spot on. Most of those guys should think themselves lucky they only got sacked and not run out of town on the end of a whip.

No less than we deserved. As someone said earlier at 2-0 we had very little chance, now we have a real good chance. And here was me saying "don't hit it from there it's too far out...."

Another stupid foul given away outside of the box has cost us. Can't these guys remember as far back as Saturday? The disappointing thing for me is that it has been Lasley and Hammell that have given away the free kicks in those positions. Otherwise I think we've looked comfortable. We don't really look like scoring so far but we've controlled spells had a lot of ball in their half and not look ruffled. 0-1 wouldn't be a bad result but if we can score an away goal I'd fancy us in the home tie.

Humph was the best player? For a start he was hobbled for most of the second half and didn't last the game because he was absolutely fucked with cramp. He played better than the other two games this season but I don't think he actually beat a man or put a cross in under pressure. He's fine running into space or taking on players in a race but he gives the ball away far too often if he has a man on or he has pressure put on him. His feet are poor. He can't create space for himself in a tight corner. He's a runner, he tries hard, his crossing was better when he had space and not much better when he didn't. As for Craigan's passing he is a central defender I don't judge him on his passing, I judge him on his defensive ability and his team leadership and I thought he did very well considering Hibs attack was completely nullified in the first half and in the second half we were under pressure from perhaps the most potent attack in the league. Craigan did 80 - 90% of his job. Humphry did 50 - 60% of his but Humphry ran around fast so let's give it to him, eh? It pisses me off when our stalwart players get heavily criticized and players that have never really done it get hailed as heros because they have 'novelty' value or that some people think adopting players that aren't that good makes them 'better' supporters. And while everyone goes on about the 'pish' defending of Craigan and Reynolds where was Saunders for the third goal? He was miles out of position and sure someone could have been tracking back (wasn't it Humphry that was supposed to be playing on that side...oh I forgot...he couldn't run by that stage) but it was Saunders mistake that killed the game for us but it's not mentioned it's Craigan and Reynolds that get it. Imagine if Stevie Hammell hadn't been our best player this season so far - he'd probably be getting it in the neck as well.

Randolph was excellent but I'd like to see the scrambled Hibs goals on the TV. I'm giving it to Craigan.

Humphrey was done. If anything he should have been taken off earlier. The only thing he really has to his game is speed and since he had cramp there wasn't much point keeping him on.

Beaten but not disheartened. I thought our first half performance was superb. We should have been at least 3-0 after 20 minutes and I stopped counting at that point. The equalizer was an enormous blow. To go in at 1-1 when we had blown them off the park for 45 minutes was obviously going to effect our confidence. In the second half things just didn't go our way. We hit the inside of the post and Hibs went up the park and scored. I've not seen the TV pictures but I thought Sutton should have had an absolute stonewall penalty and Hibs went up the park again and made it 3-1. We became disjointed and stretched in the second half but that was only to be expected as we threw forwards on, the players tired in hot conditions after putting in one hell of a shift and we were chasing an equalizer. It was just one of those days, we didn't get the luck and the referee Thomson was absolutely deplorable which didn't help. I'd call into question his decisions in at least 3 of the goals. The problem now is we have 2 away games and its important we pick up some points soon and we don't get jittery but as far as I'm concerned today we played at a Top 6 or very close to Top 6 level and if we can replicate our first half performance most of the SPL will be beneath us come the end of the season. Randolph (7) Couple of good saves, one world class save but I'd like to see TV pictures of the two scrambled goals? Was he fouled or could he have done better? Saunders (6) He's a young lad with a good future ahead of him but his inexperienced showed when we went behind. His head goes down too easily when things go badly. Craigan ( Thought he was excellent once again and played the captain role to perfection Reynolds (7) One bad mistake but he made up for it. Hammell (7) Good first half but was forced back in the second half. Jennings (7) Best of the midfielders Hateley (6) A decent enough display but he can do better Lasley (6) Great in the first half but lost the plot in the second. Probably trying too hard. Humphrey (6) Getting better in terms of attitude and commitment but I'm still not sure he has any technique. Sutton (7) Got the goal but became less effective as we lost our shape. Murphy (7) He showed signs last season but I think this will be his 'coming-of-age' season. Blackman (4) Showed some good touches. Casagolda (2) Not much opportunity to shine.

At home? Excluding the great McGhee season you have to back into the mists of time for a win! 09/10 - D 6-6 09/10 - L 1-3 08/09 - L 1-4 07/08 - W 2-1 07/08 - W 1-0 05/06 - L 1-6 04/05 - D 1-1 04.05 - D 2-2

The big questions are will Aberdeen bounce back or go completely to the dogs and what Hibs team will turn up? Rangers Celtic Hearts Dundee United Motherwell Aberdeen Hibs Hamilton St. Johnstone Inverness St. Mirren Kilmarnock

Our home record against Hibs is pish. I'd take a draw and no injuries.