beagriestache

Hello Saints fans, sometime Perth resident and Stoke fan here, once again, to celebrate another fantastic achievement! I wish I was still up there and able to join in the fun tonight for a quite superb season. Thankfully, the pubs are open again and you can celebrate in style! I watched the final and, as an 'almost neutral', I can safely say that Saints thoroughly deserved the win and were by far the better and more attractive footballing side. Two cups in one season, just fantastic. Delighted for my old town and the many Saints fans I used to know in the 90s back before three cups were safely in the trophy cabinet!

Well, this needs updating... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_football_clubs_in_Scotland_by_major_honours_won

Ha! No, that wasn't me, mate! Sadly, I was back down south by the time that Cup Final came around. I had slightly mixed feelings about that one as my best mate in Perth was a huge Arab, and as you all no doubt know but probably don't care!, they have a long and painful history with the Scottish Cup. So I felt for him, but the right side definitely won that day!

Congratulations Saints! I don't come on here very often, being a Stoke fan, but I've always kept an eye on Saints results since living in Perth throughout the 90s and going to a good few Saints games home and away, including the last league cup final in 98 and Monaco home and away after that. Just another gloryhunter! Well done on completing the cup set, bit annoyed you couldn't have done it when I was up there to join in! Such a shame the pubs are closed, but enjoy your celebratory swallies anyway. Just the league left

Hello Saints fans, Stoke fan and sometime resident of Perth here with some shameless self-advertising! Having lived up there throughout the 90s I still keep a keen eye out for your results and was delighted when you won the Scottish Cup for the first time a couple of years back. Shame we didn't manage the same against Man City in 2011. Anyway, digging through some old keepsakes recently I came across my two tickets and a badge from the AS Monaco home and away legs I went to in the UEFA Cup 1st Rnd back in 1999. If anyone wants them I'm flogging them on ebay here! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172065830095?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 Both in good condition apart from where the turnstile operator tore off one corner of the away leg ticket which I've tidied up. You can't beat European games - I went to Valencia Stoke in Feb 2012 along with about 6,000 other Stoke fans, what a few days that was. Anyone who was there at the game in Monaco may remember Ally Main throwing his gloves into the Saints fans after the final whistle. I managed to catch one but gave it to a 'proper' Saints fan, seemed the right thing to do. Anyway, good luck for the rest of the season.

Enjoy your trip to Luzern, Saints fans. We played another Swiss side FC Thun in the last Europa Qualifying Rnd a few years back and it was a stunningly lovely place. How many do you think you'll be taking?

Just seen the highlights finally, not so easy to find down here south of the border. How lucky was Mannus yesterday!? I can't believe neither of those shots that hit the woodwork bounced back off him and went in. I must admit I thought Saints were a bit fortunate in the semis with Aberdeen missing at least two giltedged chances and it looks like the good fortune continued. That's not to belittle the win in any way, every team needs a bit of luck and overall it was a well deserved victory. I also want to congratulate both sides and the referee for a full blooded proper game of football which must have been hugely enjoyable to watch in full if the highlights are anything to go by. Proper tackles, nobody crying like a wean or falling over at the merest touch like that little queef Cazorla did all game in our cup final. End to end stuff at times too. Brilliant. Tell you something now, that match yesterday will be more enjoyable and less frustrating to watch than 90% of the coming World Cup games with all their playacting drama queens. Congratulations again!

If somebody could put the highlights on here at some point I'd be very grateful.

Many congratulations, Saintees! Thoroughly deserved and so great to see you win this old trophy. Wish I could see the Cup procession through Perth. Enjoy the party!

3 minutes, they'll never score twice!

2-0 get in! Hold on now, Saints :-)

Yeah, that's pretty much bang on. Especially about the tabloid/media guff. Most of us 'genuine' fans are very realistic about the relative dearth of genuine world class English players and the chances of our national team at these tournaments. I'd suggest that the only truly world class player England has had in the last ten years has just announced his retirement from the international scene - Ashley Cole. You probably want to believe that we're all deluded types who think we're going to win every tournament we enter. No doubt it makes it easier to 'hate' us or laugh at us when we don't, but the reality is the opposite. Very few people really think that, despite the odd southern idiot (and it's nearly always a gobby Londoner!) saying we're going to win the thing that the TV crews have dug up after desperately hunting around for! My feeling is we won't get out of the group. I went to the England v Chile game back in November and we got an absolute footballing lesson. The British Isles are light years behind the majority of the rest of the world and will remain so until we sort our coaching out from age 5 onwards.

Hello, ex-Perth Stoke fan here again. Just wanted to wish you all the very best for the game on Saturday, hope you win and you all have the day and night to end all parties! I'll be keeping a close eye on the result and hoping for the right outcome. How many of you will be going through? I hope you've sold out your end and make a racket to do the old town proud. Not sure what you all think of Charlie Adam being an ex-***, but I wish you all the enjoyment of the mental I had at the Hawthorns last Sunday after his last minute winner. Picture Stevie May in place of Adam in the pic below! COYS

Congratulations Saints fans, Stoke City fan here and sometime resident of Perth (92-00). Well pleased with the result today. Still keep a fond eye out for the Saints score and always wish them well. I remember going to the League Cup Final against Rangers in 98 was it? Nick Dasovic scored and got MoTM I think but the Gers won 2-1 in the end sadly. Then had a mad trip out to Monaco the following year in the Uefa Cup, happy days! Good luck in the Final, you must have a good chance against the Arabs. Surely a better chance than we did when we got to the FA Cup Final in 2011! At least the Arabs won't have a £28.5m substitute they can afford to keep on the bench all game! All the best

I forgot to mention, Maccabi Tel Aviv's fullback got sent off for kicking his boot at the lino. This was a couple of minutes after getting Cameron Jerome sent off for pretending to be hit in the face by an arm, so you can imagine the gentle sendoff the Stoke fans gave him. The truly ironic thing was Ryan Shotton had just left his boot in on him so he had every reason to be hacked off. Karma is a bitch! Here it is, the clown!

Hello, Stoke fan here, used to post on this board a few years back and had some banter with a Saints fan who also kind of followed WBA (up to the point where it was obvious they were going straight back down!) I've only had a glance at the possible ties for you guys (hoping you win tonight) so correct me if it's no longer a possibility but I'd go for Maccabi Tel Aviv if I was you. We drew them in the Group Stage a couple of years back and I can safely say they were the worst team I have ever seen at the Britannia Stadium. They offered nothing up front at all (they could still be playing now, and it'd still be nil to them) and were appalling at defending corners and crosses. Literally like schoolkids watching the ball come over and get headed into the net! The best I could say about them is that they were neat and tidy in possession, while having no cutting edge at all. It's a long way to Israel I realise and you're all perhaps hoping for a trip somewhere closer, but you'd have a great chance of making the Group Stage if you draw them, then you'll have three nice away ties to look forward to. I ended up going to the Mestalla to watch us take on Valencia in R32, 3 of the best days of my life; 6,000 Stokies living it up, beautiful city, wall-to-wall sunshine in February, a famous old stadium, a decent crack at it, great stuff. I used to live in Perth and followed them to Monaco back in 1999 (?). I even caught one of Alan Main's gloves after he lobbed them into the Saints fans. I gave it to a proper Saints supporter at work. Anyway, hope that might have whet your whistles for a European adventure. Good luck tonight.

Muzz, PM me on Oatcake site when you get a minute. Cheers

eh?! Agreed Jim

Yes it does. And what a waste of lives, innocent and otherwise, state-sanctioned murder is, however you want to dress it up be it war, execution of murderers, police marksmen etc etc. I don't want to be part of a system which lowers itself to the standards of the murderers (be they child-killers or not) by murdering them in turn. Remember also you'll never really KNOW whether they were guilty or not. You're right, these people who kill defenceless kids are beyond the pale and should spend the rest of their days in jail. Incidentally, Britain's last hangman, Albert Pierrepoint, said that capital punishment does nothing other than satisfy the lust for revenge of the public. If anyone should know, I'd think he would. We should take the understandable emotion (largely whipped up by the appalling tabloid media we have) out of decision making about violent criminals and do what's best for the victim's relatives, the state financially, the state morally and I'm afraid the offender too (who might not actually be guilty - no judicial system is infallible). That's why I think we should be prepared to lock them up for good but if they want to save themselves a future in prison we also shouldn't stand in their way.

No, you misunderstand. You are sanctioning state murder. I am saying the state should be prepared to provide a safe prison for murderers if that is what is required. That is the mark of a civilised society however unpleasant the taste it leaves in your (and my) mouth. However, keeping lifers like Huntley alive when they want to die seems utterly pointless (and vengeful actually, when we should all be striving to rise above vengeance). You're right though, assisted suicide is currently illegal, but laws can change and hopefully this one will in due course to allow the terminally ill and full-term prisoners with no chance of reprieve to take their own lives. Sadly, I don't suppose it'll ever happen with regard to prisoners which is a) a waste of money and in the current prison system, ensures murderers and other violent crims eventually walk our streets again.

Capital punishment is not defensible for two reasons: 1. You can rarely be 100% sure that the convicted and condemned person is actually guilty. Even if they say they are, they may in fact be mentally ill or just plain lying. If you are prepared to take someone's life you should be 100%certain they're guilty. One innocent person executed is one too many and there have already been hundreds if not thousands throughout the world. 2. By murdering murderers the state is simply lowering itself to their debased standards when it should be setting a higher example. Having said that, I think anyone convicted of murder (and paedophilic crimes and probably crimes of sexual violence) should be locked up for life which should mean life. The dead person doesn't get a reprieve so why should the murderer? Also, anyone wrongly convicted would still be alive should the real culprit be found in future years, and available for release. Locking people up for life would cost an awful lot of money (approx £50k per year per person) but this is something a civilised society should have to accept. One way round this would be to allow convicted lifers to take their own life if they've had enough since they're never getting out. Why we persist in preventing the likes of Ian Huntley and Ian Brady from killing themselves is beyond me. Huntley's got another 40 odd years left in him which is roughly £2million by the time he croaks in jail (he'll never be released). What a pointless waste of money which could be spent on better issues.

He's big He's black It's in the onion sack Abdy Faye, Abdy Faye...... Get in big man!

Gosh, reigning European champions team worth half a billion beats team worth £20 million 5-0. Hold the front page! Next game: Stoke 1-0 WBA. That's what you call spirit. Come on you Potters Sheeeeeeeeeee stood there laughing.....

Don't get to many away games unfortunately, Muzz, only barely managed to persuade the missus to let me buy a season ticket this year. I've got a couple of Oatcakes if you're interested, Spurs and WBA. Happy to send them on if you want. PM me on the Oatcake site if interested. That Beagrie goal was against Bournemouth wasn't it? Penalty area to penalty area, remember it well.

As a Stoke fan, I'm hoping Portsmouth, West Ham and Newcastle all go belly up and save us the heartache of going down. What do you reckon? If they did all go into administration, the FA would introduce some new exemption from points penalties because of the current financial situation. After all we can't have big boys going down can we? Much better that Stoke, WBA and A N Other suffered...