Row S

My heart has just sunk. If this is his first final then he will be out to make his mark.

It would be interesting to know if any of the Falkirk 1st team played today given their fixture gap before the Cup Final.

Apparently The Celtic Shop wanted to move to that unit in June but we got in there before them on a temporary basis and they're raging that the walls were painted blue. GIRU them, again.

I wouldn't say I'm particularly fond of Errea but if the deal with Errea makes the club more money than with, say Adidas for example, then that's more than good enough for me.

 

Regarding the comment about a red n blue stripped Adidas number - that's what Bayern Munich wear.  I seen their strip on TV the other week and thought I'd love us to be wearing our version of that.

.....but we have our version of the Paris St Germain one. I understand that special Scottish cup final 2015 embroidered versions of it will be available to buy next week.

Good info on Wikipedia indeed. The draw being on 22 June doesn't give a lot of time to get organised especially if we get a country outwith the EU and need flights and visas.

Fantastic and well done to the guys. What a great season with another year on year improvement.

Passport up to date and suitcase looked out. 1st round Europa qualifiers on 2 & 9 July. Go on and win the Cup and we first play on 16 & 23 July. Looking to keep my diary free for those dates and possibly get a last minute break to away location. As long as it's anywhere we can get flights from Scotland.

Much above to agree with. The boys recovered well after the bad start and held out in the end. However, I still have doubts about playing Vincent on the right flank. I would like to have seen Nick Ross in that position tonight.

I think the results this Saturday will work in our favour and we can then relax and enjoy the Cup Final even more. Get your passports ready, Europe here we come!

Sounds like it. Yet another game for the bad dog walkers - can't hold on to a lead.   

Confirmed that this game will be played on Tue 5th May with a 7:45pm Kick-Off.

That one slipped under the net. I only found out on open all mics this afternoon. Other arrangements made for that night so that's another game I'm missing. Cr*p!

Bump!

In other news. Well done Ryan on been named on shortlist for SPFL Young Player of the Year. The full list is:

-Ryan Christie (ICT)

-Jason Denayer (Celtic)

-Jamie Walker (Hearts)

-Sam Nicholson (Hearts)

No reason he can't win this.

Being born and brought up as a Jambo I have great admiration for both Jamie Walker and Sam Nicholson. I was also at school with Sam's dad.

Ryan is a great talent and thoroughly deserves the nomination. However I cant help feeling that the West Central Belt bias will see Denayer win it. I hope I'm wrong though.

Some questioning on another thread that Josh is banned for this game. I would also give others a run out to help increase competition for Cup Final places.

Esson

Raven Warren Devine Tremarco

Doran Tansey Shinnie Ross

Watkins Ofere

Subs MacKay, Horner, Christie, Polworth, Kink, Ferguson, Williams

Interesting to hear that the original letter of complaint included a rant from John Collins about a conspiracy against Septic. Then we get the SFA compliance officer with the name Tony (presumably Anthony) McGlennan asking for Josh to answer the charge. If that doesn't sound like an Irish name then the Pope is not a Catholic. Add to that the previous CO was called Lunny, another Irish name, who said that Josh was guilty. So who was is the conspiracy against then? 

I would also add that I was told by various friends who listened to the BBC Radio Scotland live commentary and the Sky TV live coverage of the game that both were heavily biased towards Septic. 

So in the face of such adversity all I can say is GIRUY to all these twats!

I'm sorry but if we can't get 15,000+ for the final it will be a complete embarassment. Every effort should be made from all concerned to get as many there as possible. This is all down to us as regular fans, the club, the Inverness Courier, Moray Firth Radio, the Highland Council, schools, the bus companies, the train company and local businesses. We have 5 weeks to do it so get your fingers out folks and clear your diaries to get there.  

I have friends and clients who are Ross County, Aberdeen and St Johnstone fans who all want to come and support us. Most of them do because we beat Celtic and share our hatred of them. 

After all that out-pouring of rage and well made points there is not much I can say to add to it except the SFA and CFC can GTF for taking things this far !!!!!!
 

I'd like to see the team concentrate on consolidating 3rd spot over the next few weeks. If they play the way they played yesterday they should do that. Then they can go out and win the cup to provide the added bonus for European qualification to play in the 2nd round. I can also see St Johnstone snatching 4th spot from the Arabs to get the last Europa League qualifier slot.

     ...I can't stop laughing about Griffiths's interview on the news tonight his greetin face was an absolute picture...    

 ....... and he got what he wished for when interviewed by the press last Thursday - not a Celtic v Hibs final. GIRUY ya wee Hibee bawbag!

Can't believe this is even being discussed tbh. Our players wanted Hampden yesterday and were inspired by it! Hampden it is. End of discussion for me.

I completely agree. Finals at Hampden without the OF make it even more enjoyable, as I have witnessed in recent years.

Interesting that Hearts v Gretna in 2006 attracted more than Hearts v Hibs in 2012. 

We all (fans, club, monied directors and employers, bus and train companies) need to make as much effort as possible to entice as many folk to attend. I'm already looking into booking a coach-load into Cambuslang Bowling Club for pre-final lunch and bar.    

 

Leigh Griffiths was a lucky boy to stay on the park yesterday.  Deliberately heading the ball against Meekings' hand in an attempt to get a fellow professional sent off is quite shameful

 

Seriously though, the ref got the decision spot on.  I accept that 99 times out of 100 the referee would have given a penalty for the handball incident but just because that is the case doesn't mean it would be the correct decision.  Remember that the handball law refers to deliberate handling of the ball which is commonly extended to holding your arms in a position which make it more likely that the ball might strike the arm/hand.  And yes, we've had these discussions before.

 

In the incident yesterday what is absolutely as clear as the fact that the ball struck Josh's hand, is the fact that Josh tried to get his head to the ball.  Imagine yourself in the position that Josh was standing and imagine trying to head a ball going just below your right shoulder. Try the move yourself!  As your head goes down your right arm naturally comes up. I think the ref got it spot on when you consider three crucial factors.

1.  Josh was attempting to make contact with the ball with his head.

2.  He was not holding his arm deliberately in a position which would make it more likely to block the ball.  Instead, the position of his arm was a natural consequence of his genuine attempt to head the ball.

3.  The closeness between Griffiths and Josh was such that Josh would have had no time to react to consciously withdraw his arm when he realised he would not make head contact with the ball.  Indeed he probably wouldn't have realised that the ball was going to hit his hand until it actually struck.

The only conclusion you can draw from these factors is that Josh did not deliberately handle the ball and therefore it was not a penalty.

 

This was a correct and courageous bit of refereeing which we should be applauding. 

 

Our "luck" yesterday was the fact that the referee got two crucial penalty decisions correct.  The fact that he did so meant that his failure to award us an absolutely stonewall penalty late in the game did not affect the outcome of the match.

I admire your attempt at logic....but now view the incident again having removed your red and blue tinted glasses....

 

No, I agree with DoofersDad. More a split second reflex movement by Josh. Would also be very harsh on him for the Compliance Officer to look at (as Septic fans are calling for on other websites) and give him a red card with a two match ban. If that happens then CO should also take a look at all the dives by Septic players throughout the game, the two fouls and yellow cards that never were for the "free kicks" in the lead up to their goals and the punch in the back of Ofere's head for the penalty we never got. Sour grapes are hard to eat!!   

Brilliant, just absolutely brilliant! I can echo all of above, only in writing though as I lost my voice when our third went in. Great day out including winning match bet, which was spent in Ikea and on dinner and a few beers in Perth. Didn't get home til 10pm.

What a disgraceful shower on Sportscene though, especially Nevin. Mostly about Celtic not getting a penalty for the Meekings handball. Well tough s##t. Always the same when the Old Scum lose - ref at fault or other team cheated. Yes the ref was poor but also for us.

Will be interesting to know how Falkirk will keep match fit in the 28 days of no competitive games before the final. I also hope we can take 20,000.

Gosh, it's so quiet on here. Has everyone left for Glasgow already or tucked up in bed for the early start? I'm just heading to mine now and will be up at 6am to set off before 7 but don't think I'll sleep much - thinking about the game. 

Perhaps we should drape protest banners over the empty seats that say thanks to Sky Sports and the SFA dictating the 12.15 kick off we cannot sell tickets to fill these seats.

Get him back here on loan?

Oops, sorry folks just seen reference to this topic under the ex-players thread.

Now that Malky has been sacked by Wigan perhaps Billy will get a game for them. Either that or he'll be shipped on. Perhaps we can get him back on loan?