Anchorman

Surely he would want to discuss things with his wife? From what I heard he only lives 3 hours from Glasgow easy enough to do it 2 days in a row. I know a girl that drives 2 hours to her work everyday 5 days a week. 9to5

Remains to be seen, but I can't see it.

Well informed poster on FF has posted that Barton is booked into a hotel in Glasgow tonight to try and complete the deal.

Personally I don't believe that is the case. I don't think he would have gone home after playing golf at Loch Lomond yesterday, to come back up again today, and I don't think he will rush any decision either. I think he is putting himself in the shop window for a 2 to 3 year deal, maybe even with Burnley again. Probably still in a huff with Burnley because they didn't have a medal for him.

If Ashley keeps it rumbling on long enough, and Newcastle come straight back up next year, does it mean he no longer has an issue under the Premier League' different rules again?

What's changed? Oh, yes, we humped the "champions"!

I still don't know why they weren't in the previous squad.

That was going to be my point exactly. That and we are now a 'PL team'.

That free header they got two yards out is embarassing.

King has no composure at all. This is turgid!!

This is really getting annoying now. Third game in a row where we are slack and utter dross. You cant just flick a switch and turn it on for a cup final. We could easily end up with egg in our faces.

Wilson is murder. Billy King is a headless chicken. I actually don't think MOH will ever be suited to our style either. Players going through the motions and more atrocious defending. Horrible viewing.

Guy on Twitter who hates CG and the merged fans group stirring it saying that CG has been sent by the club to Canada all expenses paid. Anyone know what it's about? NARSA?

Tell him to get a fricking life. Enjoy Chris - wish it was me!

I don't see MOH being a hit for us. NO side in Scotland (given our display on Sunday) will try to open up against us now, and consequently leave any room in behind their back line. He doesn't have tricks to overcome that. He needs space to run into and without it he is nullified. He also doesn't have a great football brain (all very similar to Billy King) so doesn't do combination play very well with the full backs supporting. King doesn't compliment Wallace, and its no coincidence Tav has a poor game when MOH is playing. Wallace and Tav love combining with McKay because he has a football brain, and knows how to lift his head and find the pass. MOH and BK are not conducive to our style IMHO.

I've heard him say 'We' a few times now.

Warburton on now

MW now coming on later. Talking about the game. "Phenomenal, electric, huge turning point, football Rangers played, looked after possession. Rangers outplayed Celtic".

As title. Adrian Durham is about to speak to Mark W shortly.

You've got to factor the pitch as well. I think midfield could get quite turgid. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to see them by-pass the midfield in their build-up i.e. play long balls into the channels for Griffiths etc, and then have their midfielders close us down as high as possible. There wont be any silky stuff played on that park I don't think. Our players were having to take at least two touches every time last week (especially Halliday, which is why he is often clattered).

To be honest, if I want a battler in mdifield, I'd look for Shiels rather than Law. And that aside, Shiels is more attack-minded and likely to have a shot too. Such games and circumstances make you prey to the Fates that non of our fullbacks pick up an injury, as we essentially have no adequate cover at all. At least when it comes to the style we used to play.

Shiels has proved himself an impact player only. He has never shone when given a starting place.

More chance of me playing. A return outing on that surface ? You're having a laugh.

I think Law is a certainty to be the replacement. MW knows the midfield could be a battlefield at times, which is why he wont put a 'lightweight' in. And to be fair, when we turned Hibs over at Ibrox I was gutted when he took Law off, as him and Holt were totally dominating midfield by that point.

Well the league says otherwise, but yes. We'll call it a draw over the two seasons....

You've got a castle (as my Hibee colleagues at work used to love to chant to me when I worked in the wee toon in the east) . We've got promotion. All's fair in love and war.

.... Cv can. C

Sums it up perfectly for me.

Caught some of John Brown's comments. Just lacked a bit of class i thought - "we will put the final nail in this Celtic manager's coffin". I'm no admirer of Deila, but i thought it was all about the Rangers.

Bobby Russell?

Last of a dying breed - signing from a junior side - Shettleston. What an elegant player Bobby was! Who can forget the night in the Phillips Arena when he stroked that ball home on the way to turning PSV over on their own patch? Bobby would have been worth a kings ransom today.

Some forget we weren't exactly 'wiped out' in last year's 0-2 at Hampden, all we learned was... Rangers are dire and the Filth ain't far behind.

 

Completely different situation this year...the Filth are bricking it while comparisons to the Rangers of last year are night and day.

 

Next season's onslaught for 55 will have to wait...knocking those cnuts out on our way to Scottish Cup glory feels like old times.

 

I'll be gutted for everyone if we lose that game.

The truth is they didn't get out of 2nd gear last year. They beat us in a canter. To say otherwise is false.

I get what you are saying, however there is no "maybe" about losing to them this time - it will bloody hurt and it will be an absolutely terrible thing! I can accept that not gaining promotion has made it easier to make the transitions within the club to enable us to have a really good punt at it next season with an more experienced management and staff than we would have had to run with this year had we beaten Motherwell. I think MW was lined up either way to come in so I dont think we would have lost out on MW if McCall took us up. I recall most of us were saying something along those lines when we were leaving Fir Park last year.

I agree 100% with you about the pain of losing to them but the point I am making is - if we somehow overcome them next year (because they held on to Deila too long after beating us) would I feel pain then? Don't get me wrong, I would much rather experience the euphoria of beating them. The only point I'm making is that we can never see the full canvas.

Just as in the 4th tier and the 3rd tier, winning this title is nothing to get all excited about. It is no more than what should happen given the resources and opposition. That we somehow managed to completely mess it up last year is to our eternal shame. I will do what I done when winning the 4th div and the 3rd div - wait until the trophy is presented, applaud, and then leave. A lap of honour is taking it too far. When we win 55 in either 2017 or 2018 that will be one of the sweetest days of being a Bear, and the celebrations will be well earned and go on long and hard, but until then, it is all just a part of the journey.

 

Just the same with winning the diddy cup, nothing to celebrate there. It should be 4IAR for that competition given the standard of opponent and our squad of players each year, but again we managed to mess up every time until now. If we lose to Peterhead, I will repeat what I said when we lost to Raith, the manager should resign. Simple as. It won't happen this time though as we are far too professional and too good a team for that to happen again.

 

I will most certainly celebrate winning through to the SC Final - if it happens - as we are a huge underdog going into that one against our oldest and fiercest rival and it would be a fantastic achievement to win that match. That will be the biggest achievement of the three for me, obviously assuming that we will then go on to win the trophy against another one of our most hated rivals. I think a 6-2 victory over Hibs in the final will be the perfect symmetry to the season!

I wouldnt rule out a St Mirren result tomorrow and final confirmation of our promotion to be complete by 5pm tomorrow.

I go back to my post about 'maybe'. We all think we can see the full canvas in front of us, and therefore we all think we know what is good and bad for us. But maybe not winning promotion back to the PL at first attempt was the best thing that could have happened to us. Maybe we wouldn't have Warburton. Maybe even with Warburton it was too early for the team and we could maybe be watching our team toiling in the PL at this moment while calling for Warburton's head.

Would it be a terrible thing if we lost to them in SC - maybe! Would it be fantastic in the long run if we beat them - maybe (they could go out and get a new manager that has them flying - who knows). But I'm leaving it in the hands of the Gods now 'cos I never seem to guess correctly what lies ahead.