Catweazles ring piece

Funnily enough, Higdon was my first thought to replace Sutton when he left. Strong, aggressive and an eye for goal. He does seem to be a bit lazy and at times over weight, but that will come down to the management team to keep tabs on. However, the balance in midfield and wide players will determine his success at F.P. Hopefully S.M. can fit the final pieces of the jigsaw in the coming weeks (Gomis type of midfielder) and things will start to look rosy for next season. I'm pretty sure with the right service, M.H. will be a huge player for us.

We blew a great chance - end of. Celtic FC were pi$ poor and were there for the taking. S.M. called the wrong team selection and tactics. If we played 4-5-1 (which I agreed with B.T.W.) it had to be further up the field, in their face and supporting Sutton. Unfortunately sitting deep in that formation was only going to end as it did. Post split preparation and rejigging the team and formation (to shoehorn players in the showpiece final) was a huge mistake. A confident, settled team all knowing what roles they were playing were IMO the best preparation for the final. Anyway its done and dusted and I can only hope everyone has gained something from the match and preparation. I only wonder if S.M. would do things differently if he got the chance again?

Enjoyed the build up, enjoyed bumping into mates I hadn't seen for years and I'm really looking forward to seeing pics and videos of the "Well End" and "The Display" Even in the family section the atmosphere was colourful and pretty vocal - well done everyone. I don't think the fans can feel disappointed in their performance. IMO though,we've blown a great chance. Celtic were poor and still ran out winning without being really troubled. In the end multiple permutations might not have made a difference to the outcome of the result, but, I honestly feel, the 5 or so matches prior to the final should have been honing the players and system for yesterday's match. Not surprised with the 4-5-1 set up, but totally surprised with the player line up. Yesterday wasn't the day to try a new system. S.M. may well be reflecting on team selection and set up, but its time to dust down and get ready for a new season. Well done on a good season and best wishes to any players who decide to move on. It certainly looked like a few played their last match yesterday by their actions at full time. Looking forward to the MFC roller coaster for next season.

Well done to everyone involved in setting that up. Brilliant

Hope you enjoyed the "nibbles" trainbus. Keef hopefully will post up a few pictures of all the gang and the "cup" Well you've got to dream!!! Great to have 3 generations of Well Fans enjoying a pre-final party. Regardless tomorrow - suck up the moment. TIME FOR NEW HERO'S

Friday night, everyone from The Tayside and Fife MST are heading to wee Rhones hoose for drinks and some "nibbles" (the nibbles bit sounds interesting!!). Great that we've got custody of the Scottish Cup, which incidentally has claret and amber ribbons on as we speak. Special thanks to Karen for decking out the cup in our colours. I'm sure someone can post up our pre-match celebrations on Friday. Picked up 10.30 by bus before heading into a club for a few drinks, before the big one at Hampden. Hope the rain holds off on Saturday or The Scottish Cup will turn into a tin foil, ribbon and cardboard mess. Any chance someone can start a new thread and for all fans to post up pics of "Well Fans" celebrating us getting to the final. Enjoy the experience everyone.

Well, if S.M. has been thinking about players and tactics. Today's match has surely finalized his game plan. Personally, I would go with Al B's set up with 5 in the middle and try and strangle Shellic's threat going forward. However, IMO we have to play a high line getting into their faces and be prepared to attack them at every opportunity from both wide flanks. If this keeps their full backs from overlapping, this gives us a chance. If we lie deep and isolate Sutton with no out ball, we're fooked big time with constant Celtic pressure. However, S.M. may go 4-4-2? The defense and in particular central defense has to be mobile and totally focused. This pairing is essential. Big decisions ahead for the management team. Best wishes to the team and I hope every supporter plays their part on Saturday. Motherwell F.C. for the cup.

Strange that without the information, you can paint a picture of villains and angels in any scenario.

Make no mistake here. Come the final, every player has to be close to playing at their peak if we have any chance of winning. My main concern is, if players are going through the motions for a 3 week period are they capable of hitting 100% on the day. The players selected might think they are up for the match, but poor results, players hiding and positional and formation tinkering must have a bearing. Personally, I would prefer every player bursting a gut in all matches since the semi and taking their chances on the injury front. The '91 team never held back prior to the final and that included at training. If we don't turn up on cup final day, we've potentially lost it in our preparation. I really hope S.M. is calling this one correct.

Can see Randolph moving shortly, either down South or to our cup final opponents! He took a gamble and a pay cut moving north, but he's high profile now with a string of great performances and "clean sheets" The clean sheets won't have gone unnoticed with a barrel load of teams and scouts keeping tabs on him. Hope MFC can cash in when the time comes. Even in "Motherwell FC cut price times" he's worth £1 -2 million.

Totally understand what you say Dave, but, totally disagree. If we adopt that attitude until cup final day, we'll lose most games by a barrel load and have confidence issues. I'd rather have every player playing for a starting slot and confident than that today. Players at a certain level are committed and focused on every match they play. If some don't have the desire to compete in the remaining fixtures, they will play themselves out of the fixture they are protecting themselves for. Really noticed huffs and lack of work rate from certain players today - I'm sure S.M. noticed also.

All the best Dee in organizing the display - well done. One thing we've never ever done and that used to look really impressive, is the old 70 - 80's Jambo's scarf twirling. Used to look great when they all did it as one - would be much better than Sellics Walk On. Anyone got any old clips that they could post up.

McCloy had moved to Rangers when I started watching MFC, so not sure about him. Although I never really rated him very highly at Ibrox. Keith McCrae was superb and for some reason always thought he was the best. (Stuart Rennie was another favourite.) I honestly believe Darren Randolph is on par with Keith McCrae which is high praise indeed. I just hope we see him at F.P. for a wee while longer before he gets a big move. Any other older fans got any thoughts about McCrae vs Randolph?

One of the best keepers I've seen at F.P. in 40+ years supporting MFC. He came to F.P. because he wanted to play matches and not waste time waiting for the starting slot at Charlton. (They know they've boobed big time) That was one happy guy in the dressing room after the sellick match. He's absolutely delighted at the result and at his record shut outs this season. Well done Darren Randolph.

At least this algae keeps these rare breeded "foxes" away Although, I've never seen a disgruntled, ex employeed fox with a black balaclava and splade before. Watch the groundstaff at halftime. Hilarious, if it wasn't costing The Club £700K? This mob would give The Chuckle Brothers a run for their money. Check out - its scary!!!!!!!

Hope auld Craig and Archie settle in well to the big hoose Milne built them. Pity they didn't read the fine print of their contracts (they don't bother with them anyhow) to realise they've been placed in a nursing home for incontinent, pissy panted auld floppers. Anyway, credit to McCall and the team for chamfering a new one up Brown's Box.

Sounds like a good performance and Jeffers seems to be causing all sorts of problems. Come on Well

Darren Randolph is the biggest asset at F.P. It was a big ask to better Ruddy, but this guy is better and is a major signing. IMO I don't expect to see him at MFC next season.

3 really good matches. The one at F.P. was the one with the hibs fan being taken away with the dart stuck in his head.

Brilliant match and a really entertaining team. Jumped on umpteen trains to get to this match and made even better by sitting next to Hugh Sproat heading to Clydebank. Great support that day and pretty sure Kilbowie was the first British all seater, even although it was all wooden benches? Might have been mistaken, but pretty sure Shuggie was in goals that day.

Remember that question and let's see how many times its brought up over the coming season!! I'm thinking more of boardroom decisions and financial stratagies. I've always thought good leadership and planning worked better than just throwing money at something, with recent managers proving the case. Is S.M. the man for the job? Lets ask the question, who picked him and what was the reasoning? Has the squad enough depth or quality, who made that decision? Players have off days and managers sometimes get tactics wrong.... IMO there's bigger questions in the background needing asked! It would be nice to hear some information on that front but unfortunately it's all gone quiet in that department lately!!!!!

Brown and Knox £UCKED off, because they had a better offer and knew they couldn't built on or sustain the level required for 3rd spot. I still believe they would have delivered top 6. D.W. stated that he is the man making decisions these days. Typical bean-counter. He'll do his job balancing the books and give himself a pat on the back for it. The downside is a total dismantling of a team in both quality and depth. Any decent player we're left with, will be banging on the managers door or phoning their agents for a speedy move. S.M. and K.B. raised a few eyebrows to a number of fans - probably not the right men for the job at this time and especially under these circumstances. Another bad move IMO. There is a realistic tipping point, between spending way beyond your means and cutting back too deep and harming your business/team. Unfortunately, we've done the later and will suffer the consequences. Hard time ahead IMO. And before the moaning starts, I've watched better and worse teams in my time and have feck all expectations.

Always like the auld bellshill bus positivity Andy. Unfortunately you have more chance of pulling a hare from yer arse as getting anything at Ibrox. It was always bad enough getting points with a full squad, but with injuries and lack of quality and depth, I fear a pumpin' from a poor Rangers team. Fingers crossed today on something positive but I wouldn't hold yer breath.

We definately need to get someone in to freshen things up a bit, because at this minute we're going down the league quicker than Linda Lovelace in a porno. Can't say whether Jeffers still has it or whether Casa will ever have it? Time will tell. The bottom line is, every place we drop represents a drop in £££'s and that will have a knock on effect on next years budget. So, if things don't improve, we'll be complaining about not retaining Jennings and the likes of Randolph etc being disenchanted. The knock on effect is huge to M.F.C. Its a big call for Stuart, I really hope he nails it!

Gie him a big pair of Ronald McDonald boots to wear at the half time kick about and he could flattened a few bumpy bits on the park. We could then save a few bob by putting the current groundstaff out on loan to the moon or an army shelling range. Goal machine - my arse