El Grew

Kudos to our head groundsman and his staff for the presentation of what must be about the best playing surface in Britain. Gone are the dark days of "Somme-like" conditions of a few seasons ago and yesterday the pitch looked like a start of the season pitch. In all the years thatI've been going to FP I've never seen the pitch as good as it is right now. Well done guys.

Robinson said after the game: "If you haven't won in a while it does put doubts in your mind. We've suffered from injuries and we've had to change our style of play slightly, put more perceived ball players into the team, but we know we have to get back to what we were doing and getting back into the shape that we played before and we'll do that over the break." What a load of sh*te. More perceived ball players? Like who? We have looked like a team of hammer throwers from the outset of the season and not much different to the last 6 games of last season. He has now been found out as a one trick pony as the rest of the SPFL have wised up to him. We are crying out for a couple of creative players in the midfield who can pass and control the play. Crosses in the box? Aye but do we ever get behind defences and cross? No. Just sling aimless balls into the box from deep positions - Neanderthal football and easy to defend against. Sorry but the countdown clock is ticking for him. If we don't win our first two games after the break (Accies in the cup and Ross County in the league) then he should be ditched pdq.

Gutted but really proud of our boys today. They fought like tigers right to the last whistle - witnessed by the last kick of the game being big Louis's strike against their post. We might well have lost without the penalty but at only 1-0 and with 11 men we were still in the game. I feel for big Cedric but everyone should rally round him now. Have made my feelings on Craig Thomson before and I can only wonder why he is still being allowed to officiate at all.

How sweet this was. Like a few other posters I have been supporting the 'Well for many, many years - since my dad took me to my first game and curiously enough it was against Rangers at FP in Charlie Aitken (Legend) testimonial game. Up until today I'd never seen us beat Rangers in any cup competition and have suffered many a sore heart against them. The very worst definitely being the semi-final of the Scottish Cup in 1976 when they cheated their way to a win. I cried just about all the way home that night and if I'm being honest I've never gotten it out of my system. However the team today did us all proud today and gladdened my old heart to finally beat this lot in a cup match. It doesn't totally take all that pain away but hell it certainly was sweet. I've seen better footballing 'Well teams in the past but the present guys are certainly one of the most gutsy we've ever had. They showed tremendous belief and desire today - something that we haven't always had against this mob in the past - and in the end were worthy winners. Thanks guys you made a long suffering fan very happy today.

This referee is absolutely woeful. Being conned by a bunch of Portuguese ballerinas.

Sorry to hear this sad news. A true 'Well legend and a real gentleman. RIP Robert. What a half-back line - Aitken, Martis and McCann. As someone above said, it just flows. Just like the forward line - Hunter,Quinn,St.John,Reid and Weir.

What a performance! Best I've seen us against a top side at FP for a long time. I can't single anyone out because to a man they were immense. This was reminiscent of the way we played in the '70s when we feared nobody at FP. Playing with real heart and feeling and harrassing and chasing all over the park never giving the opposition (better side?) time to play. You could see the guys were really up for it from the first minute and they imposed themselves on Aberdeen and forced them to play at our tempo - which they failed to match. Congratulations to all at FP for getting to the semi-final. Could earn much gelt from this and help repay investment in better players. COYW.

Went for null vote because I thought from 1 to 11 they were immense and all deserve MoM nominations.

A great sportsman and servant to the clubs he played for and a true gentleman on and off the park. RIP Paul. Thoughts and prayers for his family.

Ansolutely right.

The Ben Heneghan deal is Tommy McLeanesque. He was quite astute at bringing in players for small fees, getting decent performances from them and then convincing other clubs to buy them for decent money. Smudger Smith comes to mind - couldn't believe it when Dunfermline stumped up £60K for him.

I've always hated Hearts - even more than the bigot bros - so its really sweet to beat them. Terrific result and well-deserved. Great to see big Ryan Bowman getting on the scoresheet too as it will do wonders for his confidence now he's getting a decent run in the side. Onwards and upwards. COYW.

Good to see Bowman getting some credit for once. Probably never going to be a prolific goalscorer but everytime he plays he gives his all and as a fan, you can't ask for more than that. As I said last week he needs a run in the team to build his confidence. Agree with most of what's been said and I did say after last week at Perth that we play worse and win - and we did that in spades today. Criticism of Fisher is a bit unfair. Robinson obviously asked him to play a particular way (don't know why) today but when he was at ICT he was an out and out penalty box striker. Fans sometimes unfairly criticise players when the players are really trying their best in an unfamiliar role which the manager has asked them to play. The manager cocked it up first half and it looked as though the players were totally lost with all the tinkering that went on. The time for experimenting was during the pre-season not when the season is under way. I recall the year we won the Cup seeing Ian Ferguson being asked by Tommy McLean to play wide right to prevent the Falkirk right back from getting forward. It worked a treat first half but Fergie duly got pelters from the fans. Second half he followed the instructions for about 5 minutes then decided "f*ck this" and moved further forward abandoning his "defensive" role. Well soon after a signal came from the bench for Fergie to get back, but he was having none of it and signalled back with the two fingered salute. Tommy McLean went ape and shortly thereafter Fergie was subbed.

Absolutely superb.

Watched whole game on BBC Alba and I thought we played really well. We dominated possession but failed tp capitalise on this and too many times our final pass was poor. For their first goal their player handled the ball on halfway line and ref gave them a free kick from which they scored a really poxy goal. Second goal down to poor defending by Tait I'm afraid. But even at that I still thought we were the better team and after we scored we looked a good bet to get at least a point. At no time were we outplayed or carved open. Craig Thomson has previous, and not just with us as I think most clubs have been on the end of his ineptitude. I think Carson did handle just outside the box though I doubt it merited a red card. McHugh's first booking was nonsense but I'm afraid his second should've been a straight red. As for Dunne's red card, words fail me. It was the same as the one ICT got against Celtic last season. For that alone Thomson should be drummed off the grade 1 list. I saw nothing to be down hearted about though and we'll play a lot worse and win games. But if we keep playing like this (and avoid Craig Thomson!!) then the breaks should come and we'll have decent season. Not top 6 but out of relegation danger.

On another subject, I cannot believe Cedric Kipre is only 20. What a find! Where has he been hiding? If he keeps playing like this it won't be long before other bigger clubs take an interest. Hope we can persuade him to stay for another season.

Don't understand the bad feelings ditected at Ryan Bowman. The guy has given his all every time he plays and is a real good honest hard worker. Okay he may not be a prolific goal scorer but he does make some great runs and drags defenders about and never gives them any respite. If he can just get a decent run in the team and score couple of goals then his confidence will rise. He's a worker that plays for the jersey and that will do for me.

Aye just like he did in the cup match at Ibrox!!

Ditto.

Hibs announed today that they have already sold over 11,000 season tickets for new season. Assuming an average price of £400 that equates to more than £4.5M. We just can't compete with that.

Given the size of re-build job and bearing in mind it will take time for players to settle in I'd be happy if we managed to finish safely in the top 8.

Absolutely priceless!

Oh no? Remember its Motherwell.

We are not running an old crocks home so McManus, Hammell, Lasley, McFadden and Lasley, in the parlance of the US President, need to be terminated. Great club servants sure but no room for any sentiment when the club are on a tight budget. Robinson only needs one assistant manager and he should be allowed to decide who that is and not have 'Well old boys forced on them.

I think Robinson feels the likes of Hammell and McManus may be better off with more off field roles as they certainly don't contribute as much as they used to on it, but a lot of that will determine what kind of players we recruit this summer. If we are seriously strapped in the playing budget then we should not be considering adding ex-players to the wage bill in the coaching department.