star sail

From memory, in all three the referee David Dickinson had no hesitation in giving all three decisions, to give Rangers the penalty on two occasions and to dismiss Motherwell's claim for a penalty.I don't think VAR was involved in any of the three. Interestingly in last night's Tarvenier decision, VAR did not get involved whereas it did get involved to upgrade Trusty's yellow card to a red. There are huge discrepancies in that system regardless of which team you support.

I think we are all frustrated by the inconsistencies but there have been some really crucial decisions that have favoured Rangers this season and a good few of them involved this same referee. As an example, three penalty incidents involving Rangers, all with very similar degrees of contact in the box. One v Aberdeen: penalty given for Rangers. Two v Dundee Utd: penalty given for Rangers. Three v Motherwell: penalty not given to Motherwell. The consistency comes from the fact that the incidents are all very similar, that Rangers get the benefit of the decision in all three cases and that the same referee is involved in each decision. The inconsistency is that the referee has used different criteria to arrive at a decision. Is this proof of conspiracy? No. Is it worth considering the environment that brings about these inconsistencies? Yes. That is free thinking.

Massive moment in the game when Killie are only 1-0 down. Funny how Trusty is a red card and in an almost identical incident last night the ref gives nothing. What about the Fernandez hand ball against Livingston? Again critical moment in the game. Massive decisions that are really difficult to explain. You talk about thinking for ourselves. I think it is very reasonable to ask the questions. They are strange decisions and deserve some further consideration.

Couple of questions for you MJC: Should Tarvenier have been given a second yellow last night? Was Trusty's at Hearts a yellow or red card?

We have to dream. Can you imagine what it would feel like going into the split with a shot at the title. Something that seemed impossible 12 months ago. Still a very long shot but the fact the opportunity exists at all is miracle enough. The next two games could either kill the dream or keep it very much alive.

Have you given up on a title race this season? I don't think it is quite over yet. I still believe that Hearts will fall back into the pack a little. IF we get a win against Dundee, the Rangers game becomes huge and could potentially drag us right back into the fight. I know it is a long shot but this season still holds much excitement. We still have to play Rangers, Celtic and Hearts twice. I am making an assumption now that top six is secured. Unbelievable to be making that statement in January.

I really enjoyed that interview. 👍 Seemed to have a little more depth than a standard pre match player interview.

Things are really hotting up at the top of the table. Motherwell are now in a group of 4. Interesting article on the BBC Sport page today about points v performance, the takeaway being that Hearts and Rangers have more points than their underlying stats (performance) would suggest and Motherwell are roughly where we should be on points. I think most of us would instinctively agree that was the case. Rangers have benefited from a good few 50/50 decisions (have not seen today's penalty decision v Dundee). Hearts as Orinoco says above have been resilient and clinical with set plays. Motherwell have been as good as the teams above. We have Rangers looming on the horizon at Firpark. If (big if) we can go into that game with another couple of wins under our belt, then it becomes a massive game for us. Given a level playing field in that game (and I am not talking about the condition of the pitch) we should have nothing to fear. Very interesting times.

Were they both Stuart McCall seasons? It is impressive when you see that. Even now this season we will be going somewhat to reach 70 points. Thought Slattery's pass for the first goal was sublime today. It really shows what he is capable of. If he is 3rd/4th choice midfielder at the moment it shows the strength of the squad.

Tough draw again. Meanwhile Rangers maintain their extraordinary good fortune of drawing home ties against lower league opposition.

I have felt all season that Hearts are in a false position and that the wheels would come off at some point. It will be interesting to see how they react to this defeat Having said that, for all the rightful praise JBA had been getting at Motherwell, what about McGlynn at Falkirk. They are having a remarkable season.

It has been a really special season and it has been the results in Glasgow and Edinburgh that has kept us from being in absolute dreamland. The what might have been from Hearts at Tynecastle, Celtic at Celtic Park, Rangers at Ibrox and Hibs yesterday. Small margins in games making the difference. I think now the quest for top three is over. The Celtic armageddon that latest all of three weeks is over. Rangers have found an impressive level of consistency and Hearts are now just too far ahead to reign them back in. I still believe we are at least as good as Hearts but they have been clinical in getting the job done. Strangely 5th place would almost seem anticlimactic now after some of the performances ( and consistency) this season, yet 4th will still require a herculean effort. A victory yesterday would have kept us in that top 3 fight so it seems like it has been a decisive weekend the way results have gone. Motherwell have hardly put a foot wrong this season in the league. It is a demonstration, if nothing else, of the consistency required to win a championship.

Totally agree with what you say. I think he helped establish Motherwell's reputation as a real family club with traditional values. In some ways it is these values that has set the club apart in the modern era when football clubs have become more distant from it's support. JC was a friend of my Grandfather's and on the few occasions that I met him, he always seemed like a very grounded, nice man who genuinely cared for the club and the community. Sad news. RIP John Chapman.

Crisis over!!! Luke McCowan has exorcised the demons!!!!

Celtic are not in crisis. It is media driven hysteria fueled by fans who think that they have a right to win every single game in every competition they play. The actual reality is that they are sitting two points AHEAD of an excellent Motherwell side who have hardly put a foot wrong all season. They have a squad of players that any other team in the league can only dream of and a bank balance that will allow them to buy their way out of any domestic trouble in January. Any half decent manager (JBA included) would take Celtic to the league title this season if given the chance. The rhetoric from the media is genuinely laughable. Of course it sells papers and gets hits on websites so it is a very lucrative perfect storm to manifest. Nancy looked haunted, Luke McCowan is haunted, the players and fans are devastated, it is apparently a crisis the likes of which the history of mankind has never seen etc etc... It is total, made up nonsense!!! Fortunately, I don't think JBA will be exotic enough a name for Celtic but would he do well with Celtic, yes! Would he go if approached, definitely yes!!

This is something I find interesting with JBA. To what extent is he enjoying it here? He tends to play with a poker straight face. There is absolutely no doubt that Scottish Football is driven excessively by emotion. I listened to the OF game today on the radio and there was actually very little commentary on the actual game. It was all about the drama around the Celtic predicament and Nancy in particular. Every adjective is pulled out to describe the emotions of the fans, the players, the horrors of Nancy's predicament. Read Tom English's article this evening on the BBC . It is pure sensationalism. I think 'haunted' is used in the headline to describe Nancy's demeanour. It is straight out of Hollywood. JBA has made a point of cutting through all that noise. At times he has made some of the inane questioning of the press sound ridiculous because he refuses to get drawn in to the emotion, instead concentrating on the very effective job in hand . I do wonder if behind that very pragmatic exterior if the club and maybe even the warts and all of Scottish football itself is actually starting to grow on him. I suspect unfortunately that JBA will look at his own career in much the same way as he forensically builds a competitive Motherwell side but it would be nice to dream that he has grown enough attachment to the club that it will at least raise the bar for any potential suitors offering riches to entice him away.

Looking forward to the next time we play Celtic and their manager (whoever that might be) says, 'we will have to be at our best and Motherwell will have to have an off day if we are to get anything from the game'

Forgetting about budgets and history and the odd dodgy decision, could Motherwell actually win the league this season? They have matched Hearts, Rangers and Celtic in terms of performance this season and have shown they can get results rotating the squad. Based on that performance tonight it must surely be a possibility?

The best bit about it is that the result is not really a surprise. I really do believe that Motherwell are the best team in the league right now.

😂 😂 😂 Weird!! Enjoy your night.

We have been the best team in the league this season. It is a shame the points total does not reflect that I think sometimes the table can lie a little. Just a fantastic result and performance.

Reassuring to know that somebody is taking the level headed pragmatic approach. We may need your calming, unbiased voice of reason if Celtic get a dodgy last minute penalty on Tuesday night to win the game. 😉

Spoken like a true Rangers fan. 😉 I don't see anything being made of yesterday's wrong decision. It is controversial because it was wrong but there is very little to no coverage about it. The one for me that is indefensible was the handball v Livingston at Ibrox. It is a real stretch to say that officials cheat but that is as close to it as I have seen. An absolute stonewall penalty denied because Livingston were playing Rangers at Ibrox.

Their success rate in home cup ties over the last 10 years runs at 80% (4 in every 5 draws) very often against lower league opposition. Motherwell's in the same time period is 50% much more in line with the probability of an evens chance. I find it very difficult to believe that this is fixed because if it is our game is truly corrupt but it is also some coincidence that the most influential and powerful team in Scottish football just happened to have lucked out to such an extent in Cup draws. It would be very interesting to know if there is any other Scottish team that has an 80% success rate in home Cup ties over the last 10 years.

The media have a big part to play in this. If the roles had been reversed and Rangers were denied an injury time penalty this would be a headline story this morning. The story would run for days and the referees name would be in the spotlight to ensure that his personal life would be very uncomfortable for a few weeks. I looked at the BBC sport page this morning and but for a tiny reference in the match report there is nothing. The last example of this was the Trusty head knock on Butland. That story ran for almost two weeks and look at the decisions that have gone Rangers way since. The Livingston non penalty actually did get some press time because it was so blatant but the story disappeared fairly quickly. Rangers know this works for them and there are Rangers minded people in the media that are more than happy to help out. It will never change. Had it been up the other end yesterday it would have been a penalty. I don't think it is a conscious decision by the referee to purposely cheat but in a split second he has to make a decision that will have implications for him personally over the coming days. It is always the safe option to favour Rangers in that situation as the lack of coverage of the incident proves this morning.