Aberdeen v Motherwell 18/02/2026 Cup 🏆

[johnstone]

5 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Oscar Priestman's red card last night wasn't our earliest. Remember Bevis' one in 2022, when he was sent off in the first minute. This is becoming a habit and an unwanted one at that!

A habit? What does that even mean! So a red card 4 years ago in the first minute under a totally different manager and team is a habit 😂 
 

Oscar slipped, it wasn’t like he did anything bad. 
 

The reaction to this game has been off the scale. 

[Richie]

Winning the cup gives us a better chance of progressing in Europe.

Finish 4th = 3x ECL Qualifiers

Win Cup =  E L qualifiers, but if we lose first one we go into the ECL Play-off

[Faddyisgod]

8 minutes ago, MJC said:

The Winning a Cup vs Playing in Europe debate comes up every single year and from a football perspective I cannot see any reasonable or rational reason for why playing a few rounds in Europe early in the season could possibly trump winning a domestic cup.

Ask ten different Motherwell fans who were around to see us lift the Scottish Cup in 1991 to name the starting eleven from that day and I’d guess that most of them would be able to answer it correctly. Then ask the same ten Motherwell fans to name the starting eleven that played against Panathinaikos in the Champions League Preliminary qualifying round 1st leg in 2012….how many would be able to name half the team that played that night?

I have said this before and I will say it again. The majority of people who say that they prefer Europe to winning a Cup do so because they are more interested in going abroad for a good time and a piss up than the football itself.

”Big leap to the left! YAAAAAASSS!

Big leap to the right! YAAAAAASSS!

We’re all goin on a European tour let’s get pissed and fall into a fountain WHOOP WHOOP!”

It’s very disrespectful to the team who managed to finish second over a 38 game season to belittle their achievement. Personally I could probably name as many of the champions league team as the 1991 cup winning team and I was there for both
 

The second point about European trips and alcohol is absolute nonsense in my opinion and again disrespectful to the fans. European football means by default you have seen a successful team achieve a great season the season previously. No different to Motherwell winning the Scottish cup for example and then being knocked out in the 4th round the next season. 

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 hour ago, David said:

It's not actually like that whatsoever, but you can feel free to think that if you like. We should be trying to win every single game. Absolutely nowhere do I say we "are not going to try" to win the league because we want to win a cup. 

For me, it's simple. At this stage of either cup competition, especially against Premier League opposition, you play your strongest team.

After the next round of the cup, we're going to be looking at no Hearts, only one of Rangers or Celtic, and Dundee United/Falkirk, Dunfermline/Aberdeen, St Mirren/Partick Thistle. That's one of the more winnable Scottish cups I've seen in a while. 

As for the league, however, if we're being entirely honest, we're looking to consolidate 4th spot. And we're currently 5 points ahead of Hibs with a game in hand, so I don't think we necessarily had to rotate as many players as we did last night. would having Ward, Longelo, Watt & Said instead of Connelly, Gordon, CRC & Bjorg have made any difference last night? Who knows.

If those players who stepped in last night are equally as good as the ones who were rotated out, I wonder if we'll see similar rotation if and when we play Saturday/Wednesday in the league between now & end of season?

It may just be me then, but I don't look back on the games in the qualifying rounds of Europe against Flamurtari, Krasnodar, Stjarnan or even Panathinaikos with the same fondness that I do our Scottish Cup win in '91. And I'd go as far as saying that none of the teams who played against any of the sides we've played in Europe are as highly regarded as that Cup winning side. There's a reason for that.

What St Mirren did this season in the League Cup against Celtic? If that was us? We'd be dining on that for decades, and rightfully so. 

Again, not saying Europe isn't important. This isn't an "either/or" situation. All I'm saying is that when it comes to football, there's nothing that compares with actually winning something. For me, anyway.

Correct. Getting fucked out of Europe barely laying a glove on most teams we've played doesn't even register for me  compared to a Cup win. 

[Kmcalpin]

7 minutes ago, johnstone said:

A habit? What does that even mean! So a red card 4 years ago in the first minute under a totally different manager and team is a habit 😂 
 

Oscar slipped, it wasn’t like he did anything bad. 
 

The reaction to this game has been off the scale. 

I'm not suggesting for one minute that the incidents were exactly the same only that we've picked up 2 very early red cards in Scottish Cup ties twice in 4/5 years.  Both spoiled the games as a contest, irrespective of rashness or sheer bad luck.  

[johnstone]

Obviously winning a cup is better than European games and I really doubt Jen’s was thinking that when he selected his team. He has rotated before and it’s been very successful so he maybe felt fresh legs would have made more impact. 
 

As I’ve said before the red cards killed his game plan and he spent the rest of the game trying to adjust to things outwith his control. 
 

I get emotions are high, but take a step back and look at how the game went and ask yourself was that down to team selection or was it just a really unlucky series of events that went against us. 

[MJC]

It’s not disrespectful to the team that finished second/third/fourth at all to say that the European ‘reward’ is nothing more than a bit of fluff at the beginning of the next season which looks good on paper for the club but is nothing to write home about on a football scale.

I thoroughly enjoyed us finishing 2nd in 1995, for example, but the least said about My-Pa-47 in Europe the following season the better. Likewise our 2nd placed finishes under McCall. They were great at the time and I look back with fondness at what those teams did in those seasons. But you could not pay me to sit through the games in the resulting European ‘adventures’ again. 
 

Our ‘victory’ from those seasons was the football we played and the consistency in performances from the team.

[joewarkfanclub]

The Cup v League position debate is and always has been boring.

Its a hypothetical that doesnt exist in the real world.

Had we won last night we would have been in with a good shout in the cup, but we would still have been in 4th place this morning chasing Europe on 2 fronts.

We didnt. And the cup is gone for another year. So we need to re-focus and try and achieve whats left for us.

Thats finishing as high up the league as possible.

FWIW, I actually think this team is the best prepared for European football of any team we have had since the team that played Dortmund.

So going out to some minnow in the qualifying rounds may not be our "prize" this time round......

[David]

6 minutes ago, johnstone said:

Obviously winning a cup is better than European games and I really doubt Jen’s was thinking that when he selected his team. He has rotated before and it’s been very successful so he maybe felt fresh legs would have made more impact. 

As I’ve said before the red cards killed his game plan and he spent the rest of the game trying to adjust to things outwith his control. 

I get emotions are high, but take a step back and look at how the game went and ask yourself was that down to team selection or was it just a really unlucky series of events that went against us. 

I do not think it was solely about the team selection, but it is difficult to ignore the role it played.

The way we ask our goalkeeper to operate demands a particular skill set. I am not suggesting Connelly does not possess that ability, as he may well do, but introducing him in a fixture of that significance did not feel like the right call.

It may even have been his pass that led to the situation which resulted in the first red card, if I am not mistaken. I have seen others make that point as well.

As I mentioned earlier, cup matches are important enough that we should be fielding our strongest side. Connelly is a promising young goalkeeper, but he is not our first choice. Ward is. He should have started in my opinion. I don't think we're at a place where we can have a separate cup keeper.

4 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

FWIW, I actually think this team is the best prepared for European football of any team we have had since the team that played Dortmund.

So going out to some minnow in the qualifying rounds may not be our "prize" this time round......

It is unlikely that this group of players will still be together if we do reach Europe. There is every chance that two or three will move on in the summer for decent transfer fees. Whether those who come in to replace them will be of the same standard is impossible to say at this stage.

We would also be facing the challenge that most Scottish sides encounter in the qualifying rounds, namely going into competitive European ties with new signings in key roles who are still settling in, and possibly under a different manager as well.

For me, the priority has to remain on the present. Each season, our objective should be clear and uncompromising. We should be attacking the domestic cups with real intent and giving ourselves the best possible opportunity to lift silverware.

[FirParkCornerExile]

15 minutes ago, johnstone said:

Obviously winning a cup is better than European games and I really doubt Jen’s was thinking that when he selected his team. He has rotated before and it’s been very successful so he maybe felt fresh legs would have made more impact. 
 

As I’ve said before the red cards killed his game plan and he spent the rest of the game trying to adjust to things outwith his control. 
 

I get emotions are high, but take a step back and look at how the game went and ask yourself was that down to team selection or was it just a really unlucky series of events that went against us. 

We lost because two players fucked up. For me the team selection really wasn't to blame. The starting team, had we kept 11 men on the park, would have been good enough to take care of a piss poor Aberdeen team. The fact we were the better team with 9 men confirms that.

The minute we went to 10 aside we pinned Aberdeen in, albeit our balls into the box were poor and we were trying to walk the ball into the net. The balls into the box didn't really improve after the changes. 9 corners and not one caused even a ripple of a problem for Aberdeen. Our set prices are one of the weakest parts of our game.

However no one will convince me that the reason we went out was because of the team selection we went out because 2 players fucked up handing the tie to Aberdeen. 

[Mccus28]

Folks

 

Some of the reaction to a single game which was played on a ploughed field where a guy slipped and was red carded and then another had a brain fart and was red carded is off the charts.

 

Some of you have reverted to type.

The level of arrogance to suggest we march up to Pittodrie and steam roller the cup holders just because in your eyes they are pish, is actually wild to read.

I must admit, i had a double take at the line up last night and was a tad confused but the manager knows his players and he felt it was right.

Somebody even suggested the Well Society should be reminding Jens how important cups are....................jesus christ

 

We lost, it was shite, lets get over it and move forward before this gets a tad toxic

[thewelllfan]

3 hours ago, wellon said:

Will priestman be suspended?

I honestly don’t know straight reds normally carry over no matter the competition.

[Yabba's Turd]

3 hours ago, MJC said:

 

That is absolutely unacceptable.

JBA only lost us to a double double header fixture vs Aberdeen, bad luck is in our control now?, fuck off with the unacceptable pish, don't like it, don't go.

[FirParkCornerExile]

18 minutes ago, Mccus28 said:

Folks

 

Some of the reaction to a single game which was played on a ploughed field where a guy slipped and was red carded and then another had a brain fart and was red carded is off the charts.

 

Some of you have reverted to type.

The level of arrogance to suggest we march up to Pittodrie and steam roller the cup holders just because in your eyes they are pish, is actually wild to read.

I must admit, i had a double take at the line up last night and was a tad confused but the manager knows his players and he felt it was right.

Somebody even suggested the Well Society should be reminding Jens how important cups are....................jesus christ

 

We lost, it was shite, lets get over it and move forward before this gets a tad toxic

Mate Aberdeen are shite by any measure, that's why they are where they are. That's why we've beat them 3 times already this season

We are a better team than them and that's why folk are a bit raw about it. 

Even the starting selection, that everyone is going overboard about, should have been enough to take care of them.

We lost because two players fucked up the Keeper and Gordon. Everything else is over complicating a situation that basically saw us  put ourselves out. It really doesn't get much more complicated than that. 

[bobbybingo]

18 minutes ago, thewelllfan said:

I honestly don’t know straight reds normally carry over no matter the competition.

That's the case in England, but looks like the suspension is still served in the relevant competion here, according to their rules.

VAR is checking for a possible rule change.

[MJC]

23 minutes ago, Yabba's Turd said:

JBA only lost us to a double double header fixture vs Aberdeen, bad luck is in our control now?, fuck off with the unacceptable pish, don't like it, don't go.

No. It is unacceptable that we have failed to reach the Quarter Finals in the Scottish Cup in the last four seasons having been knocked out by two Championship sides, bottom of the table St.Johnstone and a rank rotten Aberdeen side way below us in the league.

Unacceptable.

Put it in your pipe and smoke it.

[bobbybingo]

3 minutes ago, MJC said:

No. It is unacceptable that we have failed to reach the Quarter Finals in the Scottish Cup in the last four seasons having been knocked out by two Championship sides, bottom of the table St.Johnstone and a rank rotten Aberdeen side way below us in the league.

Unacceptable.

Put it in your pipe and smoke it.

If it's unacceptable, what should be done about it?

[Yabba's Turd]

3 minutes ago, MJC said:

No. It is unacceptable that we have failed to reach the Quarter Finals in the Scottish Cup in the last four seasons having been knocked out by two Championship sides, bottom of the table St.Johnstone and a rank rotten Aberdeen side way below us in the league.

Unacceptable. Put it in your pipe and smoke it.

Yes, it's not unacceptable for different managers and teams to lose games.

[grizzlyg]

I don't think it will get toxic, its just a real frustration going out to an average side and with wrong set up.

Anyhoo after the st mirren semi final defeat look at how we have bounced back plus Welsh will be available again.  I expect a reaction from players on Saturday and hopefully get back to winning ways.

Altogether now........COYW!!!

[MJC]

1 minute ago, bobbybingo said:

If it's unacceptable, what should be done about it?

Perhaps start taking Cup games more seriously? Perhaps the team on the park at the time not folding and losing to teams that they are well capable of beating in Cup ties?

Just now, Yabba's Turd said:

Yes, it's not unacceptable for different managers and teams to lose games.

It’s not on just any one particular manager. I’m talking about us as a club and as a team failing to reach the Quarters of the Scottish Cup four seasons in a row especially when you look at the sides we have been paired with and who have knocked us out in those campaigns.  I don’t think that that is anywhere near good enough or acceptable. If anyone disagrees that’s up to them but I have given my reasons why I and I stand by it.

[bobbybingo]

9 minutes ago, MJC said:

Perhaps start taking Cup games more seriously? Perhaps the team on the park at the time not folding and losing to teams that they are well capable of beating in Cup ties?

Since you believe this team and manager have been guilty of these things on two ocassions this season, and that is unacceptable, what is it you think the club should actually do about it now? Because simply informing them they must win these games in the future doesn't guarantee a thing.

[robsterwood]

Anyone else think Shinnie is an absolute bell end?

[grizzlyg]

2 minutes ago, robsterwood said:

Anyone else think Shinnie is an absolute bell end?

Oh yes!! An absolute horrible character 

[Kmcalpin]

15 minutes ago, robsterwood said:

Anyone else think Shinnie is an absolute bell end?

Certainly not. According to Richard Gordon he's simply committed.

Aye right. 

[Richie]

25 minutes ago, robsterwood said:

Anyone else think Shinnie is an absolute bell end?

Said earlier, or on another thread, he's just a Poundland Scott Brown.

Charges about thinking he's double hard. Vastly overrated.