Motherwell one game away from a final

[Handsome_Devil]

Think if we can keep or nerves and temperament in tact and play a high pressing game from the off. Then there is no doubt in my mind that we have every chance of a victory. My one and only real concern is that the players let the occasion get to them, and this is where the likes of the backroom staff like McManus,Lasley and Craggs could be invaluable in helping our younger players.

My fear is that the high pressing, like we did against Aberdeen, is so much harder at Hampden than Fir Park. It will be virtually impossible over 90 minutes and there's no chance we can do it for 120 if needed. On the other hand, there's so much more space for our guys to run into.

However, while this Rangers side are better than us - they will be in the top three come May, they've only lost twice domestically all season etc - you just can't compare them to the previous teams they've had which gives the name weight. If you go through the elevens player by player, Dorrans and Alves really stand out but most of us will remember when every single one of their guys was head and shoulders above ours - that's simply not the case now. If the players we face on Sunday were lining up in Hearts, not Rangers, jerseys, we'd clearly fancy our chances of an upset.

So on our day, we can definitely do it. As for the mind-games from Hartley, Robinson etc...normally it's not my cup of tea but this week I'm less against it than usual. Given they will get nowhere near Celtic in the league and could quite well finish behind Aberdeen, the cups are the only thing standing between Pedro and his P45 in eight months time and the pressure on them - relative to their ability - is absolutely huge. Reminding their players that they are (largely) one or two losses from being dispatched back to anonymity may not hurt at all.

[texaco cup]

SFA and SPFL originally wanted to charge Motherwell fans an extra £5 for semifinal tickets as we will be having singing and dancing in our stand ��������������������������������������

[jwok]

It can be done. Have a look at Scott Mullen's chat with Ian St John as he remembers the famous day

Rangers 2 Motherwell 5

As I walked down the Copland Road
I heard a mighty clamour
For the boys in blue
Got f***** 5-2
By the boys in claret and amber

[Handsome_Devil]

Nice article, I managed to miss that in January.

I also looked up our 2002 Boxing Day victory line-up - rarely will we ever have won a game when (with a couple of exceptions) we appeared so comprehensively outclassed.

If Dubourdeau, Kinniburgh, Corrigan, Partridge, Hammell, Adams, Cowan, Leitch, Pearson, McFadden, and Lehmann can beat Klos, Malcolm, Moore, Amoruso, Muscat, Ricksen, Ferguson, Lovenkrands, de Boer, Mols and Caniggia (Dodds 72) then our current lot really have nothing to worry about...

[sieb1886]

Nice article, I managed to miss that in January.

I also looked up our 2002 Boxing Day victory line-up - rarely will we ever have won a game when (with a couple of exceptions) we appeared so comprehensively outclassed.

If Dubourdeau, Kinniburgh, Corrigan, Partridge, Hammell, Adams, Cowan, Leitch, Pearson, McFadden, and Lehmann can beat Klos, Malcolm, Moore, Amoruso, Muscat, Ricksen, Ferguson, Lovenkrands, de Boer, Mols and Caniggia (Dodds 72) then our current lot really have nothing to worry about...

Quite!
If that's not an inspiration, I dunno what is!