DoofersDad

Absolutely. There are many who would like to go more often but who, for whatever reason can't. Nobody should be critical of people in that position. I think what people are hoping for is that the cup final success will persuade people who previously have not wanted to watch ICT on a regular basis to come along more often.

There is still no word on this on the SFA site. It was suggested in the BBC report over a week ago that it might take some time for any notice of complaint to be issued, but I am not sure whether the delay is because of the seriousness of the issue or because the compliance officer is on an all expenses paid holiday in Turkey. I trust the SFA will not allow the shameful scenes at Motherwell to allow the Ciftci incident to slip off their agenda.

Stayed at the Premier Inn near the Buchanan Galleries. After going out on Saturday night for a drink and a meal we headed to the hotel bar for a nightcap. I thought a nice Highland Malt would be a good way to round off such a great day, but not only did they not have any Highland Malts, they did not have any Scottish malt whisky! I had to settle for a Jamiesons diluted with a splash of tears.

Not only that, but they had the 4th best goal difference in the league! Only 15 points separated top from bottom compared with 62 in the SPFL. Guess it keeps the interest going without the need for play offs.

Thanks. And well done to Motherwell for soundly beating The Rangers and keeping them out of the top flight for at least one more year.

It would be nice if there was a bit more media focus. Footballing headlines at the moment are very much focused on the FIFA situation and it strikes me that there is a real story here in the contrast between the money grubbing corruption at the top of the game and the honest endeavors of players, officials and volunteers associated with small clubs like ICT and Falkirk. Here's two clubs who don't have much cash but who have shown great commitment in winning through to the final. Maybe Hampden won't be full but there will probably be more people there who have never been to a final before and win or lose it will be a day they will remember for the rest of their lives. It is a day for the small clubs: it's a day when hard work and commitment triumph over buying success: it is a day for fans who dream rather than fans who expect. Whilst the international body tasked with leading the game shames the world of football with its greed and corruption, two small teams with small supports will tomorrow show the world that football is still the beautiful game and still the people's game. Win or lose it will be a great day out, and I for one feel privileged that I will be a small part of it.

I hope they can extend that lead on Sunday! It will be important how they approach the game - if they look to simply hold onto the lead and contain The Rangers then they put themselves under pressure. Concede one and it becomes very nervy. They need to take the game to Rangers and look to score. Play offs can play hell with your nerves and composure. Last night's rugby play-off between Worcester and Bristol for a place in the English premiership was a case in point. Worcester edged the 1st leg 29 - 28 at Bristol and led 16 - 9 at half time. In the 2nd half Bristol then scored 3 tries to lead 30 - 16 with 10 minutes to go - and then self destructed. Two players were sin binned and they gave away a penalty try. Worcester then scored a converted try in the last minute to tie the game 30 - 30 and edge the tie by a single point. Anything can happen in these high pressure situations so I'm taking nothing for granted, although I am delighted Motherwell are 2 goals ahead and not 2 behind!

I'm not sure how they assess how many will be on each train when they are not allowing reservations. People will have open returns which allows them to travel there and back on any train and not a specific one. Hope I manage to get a seat because I'll be standing all afternoon!

Apparently it clashes with some good sport on the telly

That's very interesting. I've been a Villa fan since my childhood and certainly hadn't clocked this strange coincidence. But here's another one. Villa finished 17th in the EPL this year. Falkirk were 5th in the Scottish Championship and therefore also 17th in the league structure. In their respective finals, both are playing the team that came 3rd in the league

I certainly saw compellingly persuasive photos in one of the tabloids. What we seem to have is a mark on one photo which looks like a bite on McAlister's leg at exactly the point corresponding to the position of Ciftci's mouth on another photo of his face apparently in contact with the said leg. He obviously saw the mark and selflessly kissed it better

I believe McAlister was taken to hospital after the game. Not sure whether it was just for an assessment of the alleged wound or whether he had a rabies jab. But even if there is a medical report which states that McAlister has a bite mark on his leg the SFA will presumably find no evidence to prove it was Ciftci. It will be interesting to see what action (if any) the compliance officer takes this week

If you want to be different you could always wear a Celtic shirt and a Rangers Scarf. I don't suppose there will be many of those being worn on the biggest day of the Scottish football calendar. The outfit should also guarantee you a friendly welcome from all the locals as you go on a celebratory pub crawl later in the evening.

I agree with the first bit of this and to me that is the most important thing. As long as we play with a high tempo and look to get forward quickly it doesn't really matter which two of Doran, Christie, Williams Ross and Vincent we have starting as we should be too good for Falkirk. But personally I think we should start with Christie as his outstanding performance against Celtic showed what he is capable of on the big stage. He also showed he can keep it up for 120 minutes so I would start with him and look to run their defence ragged from the word go. I would start with Williams with a view to bringing Doran on around the hour mark.

Hopefully some support for us from St Johnstone fans as a win for us secures European football for them.

I'm a bit surprised at some of the players that are being released but I guess this simply reflects the size of the current squad. Kiss and Burgess are returning to the clubs they came on loan from and of the other 12, only Reguero started on Saturday in their key match against Hamilton which confirmed their survival. There will be a bit of money saved by offloading so many players, and if they can be selective in bringing in 3 or 4 better players and run with a somewhat smaller first team squad they may well be more competitive next season. They will need to be because the league will be stronger next year and a good bit stronger if The Rangers come up and King splashes the cash.

Ah, the joys of commercial interests! I note Ashers display an old shirt design and not the current one with the current sponsor's logo. I wonder why that is

Well, he's certainly had a lot of practice this season.

Yup, Collum's the referee.

I imagine Yogi has decided on his final starting line up but if there are any decisions to make it would be whether he starts with Williams or Doran. He may decide to start with both on Sunday and tell them they are playing for a place in the final. I think too much is being read into the Celtic wanting revenge bit and the injury risk. Celtic will be motivated to win this well for a number of reasons but I don't think revenge against us will be the main one. They are being presented with the league trophy and they will want to end the season in style. It is not in their interest to have a game which is too combative and to risk red cards and injury in a game which for them is a celebration more than anything else. We don't have great depth in the squad and bringing in too many fringe players risks us getting a heavy beating which is not the way we would want to end the league season. If that was what Yogi was inclined to do, then surely he would have done it against Dundee Utd. My guess is that he will try to keep things pretty tight at the back with the aim of hitting them on the break. For that reason I would see him maybe picking his usual first choice defence along with Draper and Tansey. Both Williams and Doran to start in midfield. I'd then put Watkins up front instead of Ofere in order to exploit his speed and I would rest Christie and start with Vincent instead. I agree that it is tempting to play MacKay in goals but if he was to be given some big match experience before the final he would have had it by now. He would be likely to have a pretty torrid time against Celtic and whilst the experience may do him good, the risk that it would be damaging for his confidence is significant. Personally I don't see a problem with Meekings playing. Of course he will get some abuse from the crowd but he will get it next year in any case. Any abuse they give him is a reminder that we beat them the last time the 2 sides met. Esson Raven Warren Meekings Shinnie Draper Tansey Doran Vincent Williams Watkins

After tonight's superb win, we are now just one win away from securing 3rd spot. On Saturday our two challengers play each other in Perth. Should they draw then a draw for us at Dundee would be enough. Another pressure game against Utd would be hard and we can't expect to get anything against Celtic (who will have a point to prove) so it really is important to get 3rd spot secured at Dundee on Saturday. Another performance like tonight's and Dundee will find it hard to live with us.

The best game I've seen at TCS for some while. Fantastic performance in very difficult conditions. I was disappointed with the starting line up thinking it looked rather negative but we actually played a much more positive game than usual with the lads looking to get forward at every opportunity and pressing the opposition hard. Hughes was saying the right things yesterday about the importance of this game and it showed in the comittment of the players. Whilst Utd were better than many teams we have failed to beat this year, it was clear that our lads wanted it more. Nobody had a poor game but Williams and Vincent were the two who stood out today. Mention also to Meekings who was excellent at right back and had a number of good runs down the flank. Also Devine who performed very well after his nightmare start when a backpass got caught in standing water. But a couple of little gripes. Why do we persist in quickly taken short free kicks around the half way line which tend to peter out into nothing? Why not get the ball in the box and put some pressuire on the opponents' goal? Secondly, we need to be better at retaining the ball when holding a lead at the end. Of course the big hoof is sometimes the safe option but we should be looking keep hold of the ball in the latter stages. We gave them the opportunity to put some pressure on us but fortunately they couldn't take advantage and we held on for a thoroughly deserved and extremely important win.

This is actually pretty impressive. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32508618 Who said Chelsea were boring?

What! All 20,000 of us?

He joined us in Jan 2009 when we here headed for the drop. We did go down but bounced straight up in some style. We progressed in the following years and he left us in November 2013 with us sitting in 2nd spot in Scotland's top flight. So that's actually a pretty good record. Clearly we are doing well this year and the squad we have is basically players Butcher brought in. Butcher and his team seemed to have a knack of finding players who were underperforming in the lower reaches of the English game and getting the best out of them here. There is a downside to him as others have made pretty obvious. People here are bitter about the manner of his going but to be fair, that is because before he decided to jump ship to one of our richer rivals, many here thought he was fantastic and wouldn't hear a word said against him. They feel betrayed. Personally I see no reason why he can't do a good job at Newport but if he doesn't take a liking to certain players he will be ruthless in getting them out. As long as he is surround by players who are his players it'll be fine. Oh - and you might need to reinforce the dressing room doors and walls.