The African

Au contraire. We have earned the right to turn up. Sadly, that is no guarantee of getting a fair crack of the whip regarding the big decisions on the day. To assume so would be folly.

Let them be sickening. We have to be focused on ourselves and our own performance, and not be distracted by things out with our control.

History, if nothing else, would suggest that a dodgy penalty and a dodgy ordering off and we are not winning anything.

So, with the league season complete, how does the squad look for next season? Carson - bound to move on in the not too distant future. We need to plan for life without Trevor Griffiths - nice that he got a clean sheet on what will likely be his last appearance. He will be remembered for being better than Samson, which isn’t saying much. Time for him to move on. Ferguson - a decent young keeper who offers cover for the bench and perhaps will push for the starting spot once Trevor moves on. Tait - signed up and deservedly so. Kipre - we may get another year out of him, but surely bound for bigger and better things. As with Carson, we need to prepare for the time when he moves on. Hartley - his return from injury next season will be like a new signing. Dunne - recent performances have hopefully put the doubters to bed. Deserved the contract extension. McHugh - never going to sign for Barca, but key to our improved defensive record, along with a competent goalie. Longer term, if we aim to play a more technical style, he may be the one to miss out, but his fight and leadership may be hard to replace. Plummer - hasn’t had much of a chance, but on the rare occasion has failed to shine. Time for us to part company I think. Cadden - has he gone back a bit this season? Possibly in need of a rest and hopefully come back stronger next year. Doubt we will get many offers for him in the close season. Campbell - the find of the season. Hopefully only going to get better and make us a fair bit of cash when he moves on. Bigi - the disappointment of the season? Obviously talented but not really worked out for us or him. If he wants to go, and can find another club, I would not stand in his way. Tanner - very unlucky with a nasty injury. If we can get him fit he will prove to be a genuine asset. Frear - not without talent, but does he fit in to our system? Probably time to say no and let him move on. Rose - another who can claim to have proved the doubters wrong. Well worth the offer of a new deal if he wants it. Grimshaw - as with his first stint with the club, it has taken time for him to find his form and prove his worth, but now that he is fit, get him signed up for another year or two. Bowman - cannot fault his effort and workrate. Deserved his new deal. Main - has been great for us and it cannot have been easy to replace a legend. Hopefully he will sign an extension to his contract. Newell - unlucky with injuries and looked half decent given his limited opportunities. Possibly worth a punt for another year. Petra - sorry, had chances and not looked good enough. Time to say goodbye. Of the guys on loan Nadir - obviously talented, but would be a gamble, even if he were prepared to accept our terms, so I’d think he will be away. Aldred - alreadya great piece of business and getting him on a permanent basis would be even better news. Might not be as straightforward as we would like as you would think that other clubs with more money will have taken notice of his performances. Hendrie - not done nearly enough, so no thanks. And young guys coming through MacLean - has a year left on his contract and may benefit from a loan move and more first team experience. However, would that be us just subsidising a player who is not going to make it at our level? A tough decision to be made I think. Turnbull - early days, but looks decent. Hopefully get more chances next year. Maguire - again early days, but can only benefit from playing with more experienced players. Hopefully a few more get the chance to move on up. So not really looking to bad for next season. Would love Aldred to stay and for at least one of Rose and Grimshawto sign up for longer. The areas we need to address are more depth up front, some width,especially on the left, and a bit of X factor ability in midfield. Here’s hoping that a cup win and the lure of European football make the recruiting process a little easier.

Probably needs a run out, of sorts, on Saturday then. Does he start? Or do we give him twenty minutes at the end?

Just goes to show the difference that a decent goalkeeper can make. We will miss Carson greatly when he moves on. We can only hope for a big payday and a competent replacement.

Scott McDonald is pretty amazing really. Turns up here with his career on the rocks and going nowhere, and turns it around into a professional career of six hundred appearances, if Wikipedia is to be believed. He is thirty five in August so you wonder where he will go to next. I do think that he could still do a job for somebody in the A League for a season or two, if he stays healthy. Whatever happens, he has made the most of his limited ability.

Just play our best team and go for it. Trying to play half arsed is the best way to end up injured anyway.

Absolutely. As such, he may be in for a rude awakening when he discovers that the war chest at Ibrox contains two dead spiders, £3.80 in loose change and an old but beautiful sash.

Undeniably a pish performance and result, and one which could cost us seventh place and the cash that goes with it. We are what we are, which is definately not worldbeaters. We try and be too clever with selection and are left with egg on our faces.still, as long as we react to this in the right way, learn from it, and the individuals are big enough to take responsibility for their shortcomings and mistakes, we can move on and not let today be a defining moment.

Not sure about purely financial reasons, but I bet it beats doing it for nothing.

Any hope we have that they may take their eye off the prize is probably misguided. The new managerial appointment at their fellow bigots will only add to their desire to “make a statement” at Hampden. We really should not get involved in any of that thinking. Our sole aim has to be on preparing for and giving our best possible performance on the day. If we can do that, I honestly believe we have a chance of getting a result. If we do that, and still get a stuffing, then I can accept that, as long as we give it a go and gave it our best shot.

I am tempted to wait and see what happens with this one. McAllister has, as far as I am concerned, always handled himself with a degree of dignity that is not common these days. If he starts to come out with the usual guff about being a lifelong fan which plays well with OF fans then hell mend him, but, at the moment, I find it difficult to criticise someone for taking up a well paid job offer.

Not bothered about what Celtic are doing to prepare. All I care about is that we go about our business in a thoroughlyprofessional manner and give ourselves the best chance possible on the day. If we do that and the result does not go our way then I will have to be happy with that. As it happens, I have every confidence in Mr Robinson and his team that that will be their approach also.

Wouldn’t go that far, especially if we are still contractually obliged to cover some of his salary. Don’t think it will have done much for his chances of making the cup final squad or of being with us beyond that though.

Three points for the win and job pretty much done. We are in the top flight next season and anything else we achieve is really a bonus. We know we are not world beaters, but, in our league, it is amazing what team togetherness, hard work and organisation will get you. Hopefully we can keep focused for the remaining fixtures and secure as high a finish as possible, and the cash that goes with it. Then we can really concentrate on giving it a proper lash in the cup final.

They say that you should never meet your heroes. Maxie would appear to be the exception to that rule. It may be a little thing, but that has made my day and always good to be reminded why I am proud to be a Motherwell fan.

You’ve done it now. Virtually guaranteed to be at least 3 all.

Let’s hope that extent of the injuries is media exaggeration.

Would be nice to get a goal or two. Hopefully this is the fixture which puts us out of any mathematical danger.

Would imagine that any newstrip announced and worn will be the home strip. An away strip will probably have to wait until the close season.

Cool. By my reckoning we still have a couple of dubious orderings off and two dodgy as f*ck penalty decisions in the bank for this fixture. Things are looking good !

A point will do at this stage of the season. While not quite safe, we are basically a team with little to play for, playing against sides who should be fighting for their footballing lives. While we are not quite safe, mathematically, it is surely only a matter of time before we are. Other results will probably have as great a bearing on this asour own. Our task remains to keep everyone fit and sharp before the cup final. Not as easy as it might seem. Hopefully the injury to Rose is not going to scupper his chances.

No offence to the guy, but ,at 38, is Kenny Miller really what we should be looking for next Season?

Good for him. I wish him every success in his new post.