Tannochsidebear

Typical of the gutter press to keep stoking away at this issue that has been done to death. Everyone should know by now that hun or ****** on their own is not illegal, it is about the context used. Hun bastards = jailed ****** bastards = jailed Listen to they Huns singing their songs = ok Look at the ******s leaving early again = ok What is even less surprising about the article is the usual lack of balance. It is basically telling one side they are fine to call us huns without the balance or explanation about context. As an aside, when I addressed the senior police officers at a meeting about this issue, and we went through the context issue, I am still waiting to hear of any time the word hun has been used in a complimentary fashion. My meaning being that if the adjective is always used in a negative connotation, and never used by ourselves when addressing each other, then the only thing left is that it is being used as an abusive term, which would be illegal. The powers that be refused to concede on this and blamed the top legal guy, who himself has used the term many times and will not concede its derogatory connotations or even enter into discussions about it, even when asked to do so by the now (2ic at the time) first minister. That told us everything required about it.

Why is it a surprise that Laudrup would be in this list and the diving, cheating, leg-breaking Swede isn't? One is top top quality and the other is a good player. There is night and day between them and only bigoted tims think they were of a similar quality. One played a huge part in his country, as huge outsiders, winning the tournament. The other was second striker in a good Sweden team that failed to deliver. As far as the poll goes, it is an absolute no-brainer that one is included and the other is not. He wouldnt make the top 100 either if it was about performances in the Euros.

Given it is just friendlies and Scotland doesnt have a competitive game for 6 months, it would be the right thing to do for any Championship players not to be called up this time to allow then to play for their clubs, and their clubs to play their games as scheduled. Of course, who cares what makes sense where Scottish football is concerned.

SFA knew they could do this, but as some of the broadcast fee would have gone to Rangers, Hibs, Hearts & Killie (if both replays were shown) and not to the only team they are there to look after, then they couldnt be arsed picking up the phone to UEFA to get this overturned. Of course if our (n)ever-reliant media had been on the ball, they could have put more pressure on the SFA at the appropriate time. Amateurs in charge all over the place, no wonder the game is in the grubber.

Hardie Aird Thompson are all away on loan & Oduwa is back at Spurs so they wont count for our three call-ups. Perhaps McKay if there are U21 games? Is Shiels still getting call-ups for NI? Zelalem for USA? If Zelalem, Shiels & McKay all get called up our game will be off, no doubt about it. It is unfortunate the very nature of these things is we wont know the squads until usually about 10 days before the game, so effectively about 12 days or so before the QOTS game. Not much time for those Bears who require planning to make it to games to either confirm or change plans.

Gutted at the draw if I'm honest. Didn't want to play them this season with our defence so bad at dealing with aerial set pieces, which is of course the Timmy way. Our only chance is to take every chance we get, not something we are known for either. The scum will be right up for this, make no mistake. While every time I have seen them they look garbage, this is the game that will get them motivated like no other. I dare say we will be too, of course, but we will rightly be huge underdogs and our support would do better to remember this. The bookies after the draw make the tims 8/13 favs to win the cup with us second best at 4/1. No prices yet for the actual game but we will be an attractive price which may reflect our chances fairly. Thankfully most of our players know nothing of an OF game and it is this game most of them signed up to come and get the chance to play in, but with youth and inexperience of big games can come nerves. The build-up will be like nothing they have ever experienced and will only add to the nerves, so our experienced guys like Miller, Weir, Durrant etc will be really important to teach them what to expect. Warburton seems to really believe the mantra of one game at a time so I hope he gets the players to park this away until after the diddy cup final and we don't allow any loss of focus on winning every game between now and then.

Copland Rear, fairly central, a great view of the match. You recall one incident where he runs 20-30 yards, I recall one incident where he is merely watching proceedings from 5 yards inside their half while we are playing the ball around at the edge of the box looking for our striker to play it to. I'm not saying he didn't have a good game and played his part, I merely pointed out that in my opinion several players were better yesterday. I have read he had a hand in all 4 goals, which is clearly nonsense as the only contribution he had in the first goal was a misplaced pass straight to a Dundee defender whom Forrester went on to dispossess and score. The third was great dribbling by McKay to earn a FK for Halliday to score, and Law sends Wallace away to score the fourth. I would agree with the notion that he appears to be a better player the further away from goal he plays, citing some good link-up play and pulling defenders out of position for runners to go in behind. The cynic might say that has more to do with his terrible finishing and the less opportunities to flaff his scoring attempts he has, the better his overall contribution appears to be!

I know we all have our favourites and also those we do not rate, and it is also well known I dont rate Miller at all. Everyone seems to think he was exceptional yesterday, but for me I didnt see it. I saw him at times stuck in midfield with the game going on around him, his inability to get up with play meaning we were without a striker in the box at times when our wide players were looking to make a pass and he was 40 yards back showing no effort to get forward. I can only say what I noticed from my seat. He made a good contribution overall and I was happy with him yesterday (I dont "want" him to be bad, he is playing for my team!), but I genuinely thought there were 5 or 6 better than him yesterday. Ball, Forrester, Holt, Tav, Wallace, McKay all put in fantastic performances doing what they were in the team to do. Halliday & Miller would be next, with the 3 least worked players, (Wes, Wilson & Kiernan) doing their jobs efficiently if not spectacularly. Perhaps a reflection of a smashing overall team performance. The big question for me is can we reproduce that type of energy, pace and quality when Morton come calling on Friday and shut up shop. We all hope yesterday is the catalyst for some successive good performances and victories in the remaining games and we dont go back (or are forced back by opponents tactics is perhaps more accurate) to a slow-paced, inaccurate probing game.

Loved the game with top performances from Tav, Wallace, Ball, Holt, McKay & Forrester, and the rest weren't too bad either! To not go too overboard you would have to concede that our opponents played tactically right into our hands with an attacking formation. Their arrogance to believe they could play us at our own game and win was their undoing. No matter our SF opponents, nobody will repeat those tactics against us. Have to laugh at the OP claiming Miller was playing as a false number 9. That is exactly what I have said about him his whole career!! I concede we may not mean the same thing though! Over 100 goals for the season in the first week in March is mightily impressive, especially when at leat half our games have been against 10 man defences. If everyone used the same tactics as Dundee , 200 could have been achieved by May. Morton in the SF and Hibs in the final will do me please!

There is very little to beat the feeling of being at the piggery when we stuff them. The Rangers fans in full voice outsinging the scum in their own midden while handing down a damn good thrashing is one of the highlights of following our team everywhere. Rarely do you get a party like that anywhere else. Personally I made the decision in the last season before we went down to never go back to the Piggery due to the ridiculous pricing, policing & stewarding, and some other factors. I wont be going back to Tannadice (hopefully wont be an issue next season!!) either after their treatment of our fans at the abandoned game until their scumbag of a chairman is gone. There is one point I dont believe has been raised in this discussion which is of major significance to both clubs. The OF game is the sole big selling ticket for tv coverage around the world. It is certainly not for the quality of football, it is for the passion of the fans and the rivalry and noise created by these games with a large travelling support at both grounds. While I would personally love to go to a situation where they get the 800-1200 in the corner like everyone else, the tv viewers would soon disappear if the atmosphere was almost exclusively one-sided. For us fans the result is everything, but to sell this game around the world we have to focus on what makes our game unique, which is the atmosphere generated by two large numbers of fans in passionate opposition.

While I am confident of success, what fellow posters have not mentioned is the "Rangers effect" of a team playing well above and beyond their skill levels because they are playing the biggest and most famous and feared club in the country. Every Motherwell fan I have spoken to agrees that the two pay-off games were the best Motherwell performances in many years. Look at the results of a wee team the game after playing well against us, they invariably get pumped as they cannot reproduce that cup final attitude and level of play against other opponents. That is the added pressure of playing for Rangers. Every opponent will remember the game for a long time, and will treat it as a cup final, with the team performance usually being one of their finest of the season. Our players always have to first win the battle against lesser opponents, then our better players can skillfully win the game. With Dundee fielding a weakened side (SPFL Rules anybody?) against the champions in what should be a crucial game for them in their bid to finish in the top 6, which would be a huge achievement financially for them, tells you everything about where they believe the Big Game to be in their fixture list. It should be pointed out that are nowhere near safe from a play-off spot either. Despite them having little chance of winning the cup, they have prioritised this match against us over the bread and butter of league points. I am expecting a very tough and close match, another goalless draw would not surprise me given our goals have dried up over recent weeks as we have tried to tighten our defence. We cannot continue to be as wasteful and if we can get ahead we can stay ahead. If there is a first goal, I do not think that side will lose. It could be that tight.

The side they had with Ravanelli and Canniggia was an outstanding side to watch, as was the side that lost to us in the SCF. I havent seen Dundee to see if this team is their best in 40 years, but if it is better than them we will have a very difficult match on our hands.

The Dundee game should give us a better indicator than even the Killie game did, given Dundee are top 6 and Killie struggling badly near the foot. I disagree that our defence looks good, i still think it looks very dodgy and better opponents would punish us consistently. We need 2 good centre backs for next season. One might be enough if it is the right one to play alongside Kiernan/Wilson, but the Kiernan Wilson partnership will not win us the title next season. I am absolutely convinced of that. Warburton will have had a clean slate to work with, a year in a lower league to bed himself in, 3 windows to mould his squad, the second biggest budget in the country, and anything less than second place next season will be an absolute failure. There is no other way to look at that. Hearts went up last year only due to our complete meltdown and are comfortable in third. I dont expect celtic to be as bad next year as their fans will flood back, they will bring in some quality and perhaps a proper manager as well. The title may be a bit beyond our young squad next year but it has absolutely got to be second place. Third/Fourth place would be a poor result but I would continue with Warbs into the following season to see if he can learn from it. With regard to Rousseau's comment about celtic having the luck, I am frankly more paranoid about that and would say they have the SPFL directly in their pocket, along with the pressure on referees etc, is worth 10-15 points a season to them. Just because I am paranoid about this, doesnt mean I am necessarily wrong! How we deal with these bad decisions by referees, tribunals, etc next year will be interesting to see. Will we meekly accept them as we did throughout the Murray era, or will we actually have some PR people work alongside our boardroom to get some balance on these issues. I wont be holding my breath on that one.

GZ was not listed in the 18 man squad for the St Mirren game that was released 1 hour before kick-off. His injury must have been picked up on Friday at training rather than in the warm-up. Just for clarification purposes.

It made for a much better listen with the idiotic repetitive questions edited out. That was probably 15-20 minutes edited down to 3:45 and gave us all we needed to know. I hope those editing on behalf of the club continue with this style.

sounds good to me

Really impressive home debut for MOH yesterday. A clear MOTM (unless you were the numpty who actually voted for Tav!) and always looked to run at defenders both inside and outside. If only he could shoot!

8/10 I can honestly say I have never heard the Gaelic translation of Ibrox before, so I took a guess and got it wrong. Feckin dead language anyway!

That is quite a tweet Ian. If one of our RSC's had tweeted something similar about the UVF and ****** scum, not only would they be banned from getting tickets from Ibrox, the twitter operator would be on a charge from the authorities. Our media would be all over it, with headlines all over the place about sectarianism, radio phone-ins tut-tutting about it, demanding quotes from our Directors, demanding action from the PF etc etc.

Sounds good Frankie. Done it twice but would have no hesitation going again as it is always being updated and is a wealth of information and history. Gersnet founders Trail tour followed by a dinner too much?

I might be picking this up different guys, but I am reading that since his election he has found out the things he has mentioned in the article, like others resisting the professionalism he is trying to bring in, and if RF resists becoming more professionally run, he may have to leave. Bringing in a constitution, articles of association and proper accountants and advisers are all part of him making RF more professional. His suggestions might be being met with resistance from some of his fellow newly-appointed Directors.

He tried his hardest, gave everything he had, unfortunately that wasn't a lot. Will always be remembered by the wonderful ditty sung by us during the final OF game of the season (dead rubber unfortunately) "Sebo's on, we're taking the piss". My memory suggests this was also the game of a rare (only?) Boyd OF goal, and Charlie Adam's great free kick under the jumping wall. Happy to be corrected if wrong.

It's simply not funny, or even an attempt at humour, when the victim of the "joke" is also the victim of a crime which is only now, many years after the event, beginning to come towards court action. I cannot imagine for a moment anyone having a laugh at a rape victim, years later, or laughing about the murder of a loved one when the pain of it is still so strong and no justice has been had yet. Instead of sympathy for what our club has had to go through from unscrupulous owners/rapists from fellow football fans who should fear that a similar fate could easily befall their beloved clubs, we get abuse and vilified. As many have said before, our beautiful wee country is on the way to hating itself to death.

Like Goran and Klos before him, he is taking time to settle in and show his true worth. I think that is where the comparisons will end but I am more content with his form now than at the start of the season and he is progressing well. Still makes mistakes and lacks concentration at times, and I really want a guy his size to be more commanding when we defend corners as our centre backs need the help, but he is starting to get some clean sheets which will help confidence. Should be all the better next season for the experience this season.

I have a feeling our poll is going to be quite reflective of the final result. I would expect at least 5 of the 7 we are voting for to be elected. Incidentally I havent seen much campaigning from the ones with connections to the club. Has anyone else seen or heard anything from Messrs Blair, Gough, McQuarrie during the campaign other than their opening statements?