Stenhousemuir v Motherwell 16/08/2026🏆SLC

[MJC]

4 minutes ago, weeyin said:

If the favourites win every cup tie we might as well just give Celtic the trophy now and the rest of us can focus on the league. 

We’re the top flight side playing against a lower league team in a Cup competition which we have reached the semi finals of in the last two seasons.

We should ALWAYS be aiming to go as far as we possibly can in the domestic cups even if our chances of winning the competition is slim.

But as we saw with St.Mirren last year if you are still in it you can still win it. Celtic were the favourites to win it this time last year as they always are, but had St.Mirren fielded a less than full strength side in earlier rounds and lost then they wouldn’t have won the trophy against a very much out of sorts Celtic side when they played them in the final.

[robsterwood]

2 minutes ago, MJC said:

We’re the top flight side playing against a lower league team in a Cup competition which we have reached the semi finals of in the last two seasons.

We should ALWAYS be aiming to go as far as we possibly can in the domestic cups even if our chances of winning the competition is slim.

But as we saw with St.Mirren last year if you are still in it you can still win it. Celtic were the favourites to win it this time last year as they always are, but had St.Mirren fielded a less than full strength side in earlier rounds and lost then they wouldn’t have won the trophy against a very much out of sorts Celtic side when they played them in the final.

Celtic look much improved this season. Think last season was our best chance of winning it. Still could make money from semi final or final though 

[MJC]

32 minutes ago, robsterwood said:

Celtic look much improved this season. Think last season was our best chance of winning it. Still could make money from semi final or final though 

They do, but in reality they were never going to be as bad as they were last season when it certainly was our best chance of winning silverware especially with the manager and players we had. We didn’t get anywhere near it though but that’s history now.

Celtic will more likely than not win the treble this season because they are the biggest club in the country, have the most money and therefore can afford players of a far higher standard than anyone else. But I still want us to go as far as we can in the domestic cups because that keeps our albeit slim chance of winning a trophy alive. I certainly don’t want to see us whimpering out in the last sixteen against Stenhousemuir.

[Faddyisgod]

Hopefully we rest most of the starting 11 for Thursday. For me the league cup should be seen as an opportunity for the fringe players to get minutes. If it was the Scottish Cup I would feel differently but never really understood the attraction of the league cup and it should be even further down the priority list given the number of games we have played so far and may potentially be playing in the future. 

[robsterwood]

50 minutes ago, MJC said:

They do, but in reality they were never going to be as bad as they were last season when it certainly was our best chance of winning silverware especially with the manager and players we had. We didn’t get anywhere near it though but that’s history now.

Celtic will more likely than not win the treble this season because they are the biggest club in the country, have the most money and therefore can afford players of a far higher standard than anyone else. But I still want us to go as far as we can in the domestic cups because that keeps our albeit slim chance of winning a trophy alive. I certainly don’t want to see us whimpering out in the last sixteen against Stenhousemuir.

Yes odds against us financially but yes I want us to get to semi or final. We playing some good football but against old firm we up against finances and also referees. 

[robsterwood]

I won't be going to semi final or final if it's against the smeltic now  as seen that movie far too often. 

[MJC]

34 minutes ago, Faddyisgod said:

Hopefully we rest most of the starting 11 for Thursday. For me the league cup should be seen as an opportunity for the fringe players to get minutes. If it was the Scottish Cup I would feel differently but never really understood the attraction of the league cup and it should be even further down the priority list given the number of games we have played so far and may potentially be playing in the future. 

It’s one of the only two trophys we can realistically win. That kind of outlook might work in England for the top sides but we aren’t going to win the league title and we’re never going to do anything of note in Europe. Just dismissing it as “it’s only the league cup, let’s just rest players” is an incredibly arrogant and naive take on it.

[twistandshout1983]

I definetly do not think we should be resting players today,  get the game done and dusted then hopefully bring on a few fresh faces 

While winning European games and progressing the way we have done so far is great and the icing on the cake , for me both Domestic cups are more important as I want to see us walk up those Hampden stairs and lift another trophy regardless of which cup it is 

[weeyin]

44 minutes ago, twistandshout1983 said:

I definetly do not think we should be resting players today,  get the game done and dusted then hopefully bring on a few fresh faces 

If a player hadn't fully recovered from Thursday they absolutely should be rested, but we should be fielding our strongest available team.

[twistandshout1983]

2 minutes ago, weeyin said:

If a player hadn't fully recovered from Thursday they absolutely should be rested, but we should be fielding our strongest available team.

Yes exactly this 100 percent

[Faddyisgod]

12 hours ago, MJC said:

It’s one of the only two trophys we can realistically win. That kind of outlook might work in England for the top sides but we aren’t going to win the league title and we’re never going to do anything of note in Europe. Just dismissing it as “it’s only the league cup, let’s just rest players” is an incredibly arrogant and naive take on it.

 I think that’s a slightly outdated take on it. Depends what’s important to you personally as a fan. An extended run in Europe boosts the club coefficient which would allow potential seeding in the future meaning more chance of seeding and potential progression into the group phase. 
 

The LC is automatically devalued by having no associated European entry point for the winners. It’s no more valuable than winning the old summer cup. The Scottish cup is the only real cup of any value. I appreciate that may seem a radical view to some but ultimately it is true. If Motherwell qualified for the group stages of the ECL it would be far more viable financially than two games at Hampden in the League Cup.