star sail

Congratulations to the management and players for a season that we will not forget. 4 th is the very least they deserve. Time to celebrate.

There is that word subjective again. You are right, the SFA don't even understand the purpose of their own process. VAR is there to remove subjectivity. It allows referees to make a judgement on the basis of fact and evidence. The referee makes a subjective call in real time. In that regard the analogy holds firm comparing with players and managers. VAR is supposed to remove the subjectivity. Referees now get a benefit of hindsight that no player or manager has the luxury of having. Anyway now that the SFA are in statement writing mode, I would imagine they are putting the finishing touches to the statement condemning the pitch invasion at Ibrox in the Cup and we will be reading that statement in the papers in the morning.. 👍

There is nothing new in this sadly. I have said on here a few times before that my family were good friends with a prominent referee back in the 1980's and they had to be moved out of their house for a week after a controversial decision in a Celtic v Dundee Utd game. Needless to say it was not the Dundee Utd fans that targeted the family. That was long before the days of VAR. It was a very scary situation for them at the time. As I have also said before this particular referee was a Motherwell fan and I remember him saying that when he looked back on his career he felt that he refereed Motherwell more strictly than other teams almost like a unconscious overcompensation so that he could never be accused of favouritism.

I heard Chris Sutton today defend the decision by saying that John Beaton made a subjective decision that it was a hand ball and that is enough. The point of VAR is that the subjectivity is removed and the referee makes an objective decision based on overwhelming evidence. It is crazy that Sutton will be getting paid a small fortune to analyse the game and he can't grasp this. John Beatons subjective decision was no penalty in real time. The objective, beyond reasonable doubt decision was then to actually give the penalty. This is even more crazy when the camera angle used as evidence looks like it has been taken from the CCTV cameras at the Civic.

I thought Motherwell were fantastic tonight. Really, really unlucky in key moments of the game but the travesty of the penalty aside, it is equally a travesty if we as Motherwell fans cannot appreciate that performance tonight That team did not bottle it tonight. They were the better side in almost every aspect of the game and but for two moments of real quality from Maeda and Nygren they would have won the match.

Agreed. It is difficult not to be motivated by a full Firpark when the title chasers are in town. Next Saturday eve is box office. I think we will see a more motivated Well side to beat Hearts and I think we will. Having said that, I was expecting more from today. I would have thought the team would have been motivated. I think it is naive to think that the season is over for us. If Hibs win tomorrow ( which is very possible) they are only 3 points behind. Today was disappointing on a few levels.

Strongest hint yet from JBA that he is keen to stay and build something meaningful at the club. Loved his answer about being motivated to beat Falkirk. Slight look of menace in his eyes. As confident as you ever can be of a victory, I think tomorrow is looking good for the win.

48 hrs later and I am still buzzing!! The joy of football!

Still buzzing today. Felt confident going into the weekend and feel even better now. Hearts will also be experiencing the Motherwell magic very soon. Happy days.

I think JBA in the press conference said that Koutroumbis and Thor are back in training so hopefully we will see them soon. Time is running out for the season though. I think as you have suggested the Hibs game will be the most important so hopefully they are fit then.

I always assumed that I am one of the really old timers on this forum but when many of you are sharing memories of Ancell babes I realise that I am just a young thing. Willie Pettigrew was my first Motherwell hero and that was in the late 1970's when I would sneak in to watch the last quarter of games for free after they opened the big terracing gates. I am feeling good about tomorrow. I think the team will return to form and the bad luck with decisions has to change at some point even if it is Rangers at Ibrox. Biggest thing is to avoid getting any players sent off or making challenges in the box that give the referee a decision to make ( I know that is so much easier send than done). Take some of the chances we create and it will put Rangers under real pressure.

Absolutely. Delighted for Simo. Always thought he deserved a chance with us as manager but it never quite happened. He seems like a very decent character. Hope they can stay up when they come up (as long a Motherwell finish above them).

Was just reading in the BBC gossip column that Michael Stewart has been banned from Hampden for his comments about referees. I remember Jim Traynor doing the same to the BBC at Ibrox in his role as Head of Communications. It seemed perfectly in step with that particular club given the control they like to have of the football narrative in Scotland. It seemed a very petty approach at the time. It is really interesting that the SFA themselves have chosen the very same approach. I am not a huge fan of Michael Stewart as a football personality but he is an articulate, intelligent reporter (and he LOVES Motherwell this season). It seems like a slippery slope when an organisation starts to sensor the voices it does not want to be heard.

I think it is all going to come together for this one and it is going to be the statement win of the season. The jewel in the crown!!!

I think it is beyond the influence of one club (out with the OF) to have any influence. The clubs need to join together to call out specific instances and make it clear collectively that they don't accept the current standards. Rangers and Celtic have the power to look after themselves. To my mind Rangers have been refereed differently this season since they made a song and dance about the Trusty incident in the league cup semi final back in November. It works for them. Football is so partizan in nature that week by week supporters will shift their opinion based on the hot topic of the week. Look at Falkirk, St Mirren , Hearts fans comments in recent weeks on social media in relation to Motherwell for evidence. For me the most obvious and blatant miscarriage of justice this season was the Fernandez deliberate handball against Livingston at Ibrox. Clear and deliberate denying a certain goal. It could be argued that that decision alone changed the course of not just that game, but Livingston's season. The decision to not award a penalty was so clearly indefensible that eventually the reason given was an ' honest mistake ' by the referee and VAR. The temptation by supporters of other clubs is to say f**k Livingston, we would rather they suffer than us, but by allowing Livingston to fend for themselves, we are also building the culture where Motherwell and every smaller club has to fend for themselves when it is their turn. What should happen in instances like that is that the 10 non OF clubs should join together in support of Livingston and collectively say 'we are not accepting this as a standard for the professional game in Scotland ' My opinion of that particular incident was that it was easier for the officials not to give the penalty than to give it because the game was at Ibrox and Rangers were under pressure at that point in the game. I don't think there is any conspiracy about this. It is human nature when under pressure to consciously or subconsciously choose the outcome that causes the least discomfort to ourselves. That is why the 10 Non OF clubs have to make it as uncomfortable as possible for the referees to take the easy way out in 50/50, 60/40 situation. The reason why that particular incident would have been a very powerful one to get behind was that it was 100% a penalty. No subjectivity, no interpretation of the rules. Until the smaller clubs coordinate in this way nothing will change.