Scottish Cup: Talismanic Shankland, Warnock has a grip and Cortes fills a gap - your weekend action views
- Published
Lawrence Shankland scored twice as Hearts beat Airdrie 4-1 in the Scottish Cup on Sunday
While the league action has (largely) taken a pause, the Scottish Cup provided no end of talking points for supporters up and down the land.
We asked for your views on a notable weekend of fifth-round action - so here's what you made of it all.
'Very professional job'
Hearts cruised through to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals in the weekend's last tie, with Sunday's 4-1 victory at Airdrie boosting the confidence of their fans - who had plenty of compliments for their hosts.
David: Good solid team performance with Lawrence Shankland yet again being our talisman. Special mention for Calem Nieuwenhof who is settling in nicely. Scott Fraser looks like being a useful asset once he gains full fitness.
Jim: Good solid performance and four good goals. Hearts moved well and kept wide, causing them problems. Good to see a game killed early for a change.
Sandy: Wonderful, professional win for Hearts playing a great passing game, rarely losing the ball. Four fantastic goals were the icing on the cake. Full marks to Airdrie who also played a passing game.
Mike: Got to say Airdrie played some nice football, stuck to their philosophy rather than lumping the ball up the park. Very professional job by Hearts - the three early goals settled things down. Same application should see us through to the semis.
Neil Warnock led Aberdeen to victory over League 2 side Bonnyrigg Rose
'Warnock has hold of the dressing room'
What a difference a week makes. Not even seven days into the Neil Warnock era at Pittodrie, and already the Aberdeen fans claim to be seeing something of a difference under his influence. They beat League 2 Bonnyrigg Rose 2-0 on Saturday.
Justin: Not the greatest result today but at least Warnock is being open and honest about what's going on. It just shows the level of rebuild parts of the team may need.
Davis: An entirely different Dons team. Warnock obviously has hold of the dressing room, and a tactical use of three subs on 60 minutes with a little defensive push really made the difference.
Chris: Pleased to see some experimenting on the best team at Aberdeen. I think it's good to send a message to Roos after the Rangers game.
Andy: Having a manager as experienced as Neil Warnock is a great move by the club. I'd love to see him stay a season or two as I think he could get a really competitive team on the park.
In Sunday's other big tie, Celtic won 2-0 at St Mirren - but despite the victory for Brendan Rodgers' side, their supporters had decidedly mixed feelings.
Christopher: We really need to snap out these boring, dull, training session performances. There is no creativity in the squad at the moment. Our wingers don't get to the byeline. The midfield players stand still and twirl. The forwards are non-existent, and all our full-backs give the fans the fear.
Tommy: Poor again but better than the appalling displays of the last few weeks. Thankfully someone took Palma aside and told him to attempt to beat his man get to the byeline and cross the ball. Hopefully Rodgers was paying attention.
Tom: Idah is looking like a good addition to the squad. It's good to see Maeda back from the Asian Cup and he's made a massive difference to our squad already
As for the Buddies? Well, the lack of goal threat continues to raise its head.
Alistair: We really need a proper striker. Eleven corners without scoring from at least one of them shows how lacking we are up top.
Alan: St Mirren need to shoot more from outside the 18-yard line - we're always trying to walk the ball in. Celtic were there for the taking and we never took it but we've had a good season so far.
Rangers' Oscar Cortes - taking on Ayr's Logan Chalmers - impressed as a quarter-final place was secured
'Cortes looks the part'
The arrival of 20-year-old Colombian forward Oscar Cortes on deadline day has given Rangers fans a new favourite - and he shone on his first start as they beat Ayr United 2-0.
Elaine: Good to see most players getting some game time. Cortes looks like a real find. We didn't really have to come out of second gear but well done Ayr for not parking the bus.
Pete: A frustrating game to watch - our final pass, and desperate defending by Ayr, stopped us from scoring a hatful. Cortes looks the part - he's very skilful and exciting to watch - a good acquisition by Philippe Clement.
Frazer: Been needing a player like Cortes for a while. Seems to fill that Ryan Kent-sized hole and then some!
Spare a thought for poor Motherwell fans, though. They were less than impressed with what they saw in Friday's shock 2-1 cup exit at Morton, and have had all weekend to stew over it.
James: Probably as bad as we've performed since last year. No urgency until after the subs came on. It was a mistake to drop Halliday. The league's the priority, but gutted at the level of fight.
Adam: A total waste of time for all the supporters that travelled. Not a single player earned their pay. They looked like lost souls with no friends to play with. Very poor. Hope this is not how we continue to play or we will be relegated.
Elsewhere, with no other shocks to speak of, there was an air of positivity from fans - yes, even the Livingston ones…
Neil (Livingston supporter, after a 3-2 win at Partick Thistle): That was so good. Chuffed for big Nouble - he has had a tough period and was back to his best today. It looked like we had three Jason Holts playing, he was everywhere absolutely magnificent. Great escape is on now!
Sandy (Hibs fan, after a 3-1 win at Inverness Caledonian Thistle): That was a good performance against a side who were right up for it. Pleasing to see a full squad used properly by the manager. Welcome back to Chris Cadden and Adam Le Fondre getting minutes. I keep saying it - right manager, good signings, and a lot to feel positive about.
Kevin (Kilmarnock fan, after a 2-0 home win over Cove Rangers): Great to be in the next round and overall we deserved to win. Lack of movement and urgency made it look like a pre-season friendly. Kevin van Veen will be important for us and Marley Watkins is exceeding expectations.
Jordan McGhee scored Dundee's 89th-minute winner as they came from a goal down to beat St Johnstone
In the Scottish Premiership, meanwhile, Jordan McGhee's late winner completed a dramatic derby comeback as Dundee defeated St Johnstone 2-1 - and left Dark Blues fans feeling fired up.
Grant: We should be aiming to stay in top six and maybe even aiming for fifth. Docherty's biggest job will be replacing the excellent loan players we have - particularly Beck, Donnelly, Boateng and Mellon.
Doug: The Dees wholly deserved their win after putting in a very convincing team performance. A one-goal winning margin was not an accurate reflection of their dominance. We can only hope that Mellon's injury isn't as bad as it looked!
Meanwhile in Perthshire…
Gordon: Far too negative after taking the lead. I have zero faith in Levein and Kirk. Watching Saints is awful. The idea of getting to the top six is a joke. As for VAR, it's killing football. I have been a season-ticket holder for more than 20 years but am close to having had enough.
Brian: The match today was abysmal. Why is Levein taking off strikers and then parking the bus? It doesn't look to me like the players know what the manager wants them to do. Today's game didn't give any hope for the future. Completely depressing.