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It wasn't great last night but it's really a glorified pre-season friendly. It's about getting the legs working again, getting the team used to each other. Obviously we want to qualify but it's not too important. So no point going into despair over a 0-0 with Albion or getting too excited about a 3-0 win over Brechin. It wasn't a great game, we struggled to threaten Stirling. Oakley had a few decent touches and Baird worked very hard, buzzing about well, but we didn't manage to create that many chances and those we did we didn't finish well. We were probably hampered by having to take Mulreany off early and replacing him with Chalmers clearly weakened us. Chalmers was a trier but he's not got the threat that Mulreany has. As someone else has said, our full backs seemed to offer the most width with Calder especially getting forward in the second half. Warren and Mckay were mostly solid, albeit with a couple of shaky moments early from Warren. In midfield, I thought Vigurs had a good game. He moved the ball well and played some pretty incisive forward passes. Draper was quiet and didn't have a huge impact on the game - if he stays he'll need to offer more than that in the Championship. Polworth huffed and puffed and had a few efforts on goal but wasn't particularly effective. Mulreany was quiet for the brief period he was on and then Chalmers gave it his all but doesn't really have the talent to play wide. I though Calder was the bigger threat on the left, might've been worth swapping them over. Zschusschen looked good when he came on - his touch was excellent and he did well with everything we offered him, which wasn't a great deal. Once he gets used to the team I think he could give some teams problems. Really though we lacked creativity going forward. We didn't have anyone who really dropped off and used the ball or did anything that different up front. It's very early days but if we are going to play 4-4-2 then we need to work out how to shape our team to create chances, how to drop into dangerous areas and stretch the opposition. Vigurs passing was good yesterday but he's doing that from deep, we need to make a difference further forward. If you play two strikers then you can end up just hitting them all the time rather than getting between the oppositions lines and that could be a danger for us. We'll see how the team develops.

I wonder. Would opinions be so polarised if he had not been at County .....

Iain Vigurs is like marmite, you either like it or loathe it. I get the feeling that he is one of these players that needs the manager to put his arm round his shoulder and tell him he is a good player. Last season he was played in a variety of positions and coupled with the management style of RF I can understand his inconsistent performances. This year we have JR and his style of man management coupled with playing him in his best position will get us seeing better performances more often than last season. Tonight against Stirling Albion he was very influential throughout the game and was one of our top players. Please lay off the guy and I am sure he will be a key player this season

Look on the bright side. We've still to concede a goal despite having been involved in a penalty shoot out. Keep that up and all 3 cups and the Championship will be ours at the end of the season.

Everyone has to call Riccardo Calder Jim, pass it on.

Vigurs was our best player last night. Hopefully Robbo will continue to coax the best out of him!

Brad's definetly hidden the scarf....

Be patient? I think the club (and fans) have been extremely patient. This is a player who has only started a game for us 26 times in the past 3 full seasons. Obviously no one wants him to compound his injury by coming back too soon, but I don't think anyone has shown a lack of patience with him. Just the opposite, many clubs would have cut their losses and released him a couple of years ago.

Yeah along with Seedorf he was probably the only player to try threading a pass instead of just punting the ball in.

Cue another thread.... The Liam Polworth enigma?

I was at the Hamilton debacle as well and the RF man management skills were made loud and clear in his post match interview when he said "Some of our players have not got the bottle, they showed that today. We might have been the better side in the first half and their keeper pulled off a great save from the penalty, but some of our boys are hiding and we are in for a fight now. I told them straight, 'I can see who is bottling it, I can see who does not want to take the ball'. It is not them all - I thought Billy Mckay was excellent - but it makes it a massive game for us now on Saturday against Dundee." I would be surprised if anyone would be motivated in a positive way least of all players like Iain Vigurs and to some extent Liam Polworth. RF can only aspire to have the man management skills of someone like JR

It could seen as a positive that he is still with us and hasn't jumped ship now we are playing at a lower level?

Yes. The fact he's been at County has nothing to do with it.

I've added our new striker Felitciano Zschusschen. There's been no official announcement but a) he came on as a sub v Stirling, b) he was mentioned in the post match interview albeit very briefly and c) there is a club photo of him holding the home strip with his name and number 19 so it appears to be a done deal. Contract length details will be added when known. If that means waiting for the new Football Manager then so be it.

It's a scandal!

Last year this was a game we would have lost so i am taking a positive from that. We had 20 shots which is good but with so few threatening the goal this maybe means we shot a little too early or didnt have composure I think I will really watch the defense and ridgers on saturday to see how much better the comms are from last season. No ofw news yet so looks like he is frozen out if he doesnt leave. Another clean sheet against falkirk and i will be happy. Then let the strikers gel.

That's kind of my impression of Vigurs as well - would put Polworth in this category as well. Hopefully the man-management skills of Robbo will get the best out of these guys (& the rest of the team - felt that the 'people' side of RF as manager was his weakest - not that tactically he was strong either!). I remember being at the 3-0 defeat to Accies in Jan, watching our midfield just being ran over the top off - definetly think Vigurs & Polworth, given the guidance of a good manager, are far better players than that & will be crucisl this coming season..

Be patient and let him build up his strength and fitness.

#justice for zschuschen

the pictures have been taken ... but no official press release from club yet

Still haven't seen a scarf picture yet. Bizarre that he's already made his debut v Stirling (according to the courier) yet nothing official appears to have been announced.

Current official logo is fine...not the 'pride of the highlands' version!

How much will it cost to get his full name printed on my shirt ? - Felitciano Cederick Zschusschen - from henceforth I will refer to him as FCZ and save a feckin bomb. To the tune of the Joe Jordan classic - "Six foot two - Curacoa Blue - FCZ is after you" I doo like his national beverage though

I sponsor Iain and can catagorically state this is nonsence. I think he is a quiet unassuming guy and maybe not as ourgoing as some. He is very polite and chatty and certainly not one of first to leave. Some real keyboard warrior personal opinions going on in this thread and its not nice.

The General Manager role is important. It is basically the business manager. they are responsible for all aspects of the club not directly under the football managers purview and in many ways is a larger role than the football manager. They look after the business, the hospitality, the day to day running of the actual club and stadium, stadium health and safety and matchday security, the administration and paperwork etc etc etc .... its not glamorous but it is necessary. We do have people in place to perform each individual role ... Peter doing the matchday security stuff for example and JF taking care of all the relevant paperwork that needs to go to the SFA/SPFL or Ian/Charlie doing various commercial activities but you absolutely need someone to pull all those individual roles together and oversee them. As alluded to, Kenny Cameron did the majority of this whilst he was chairman but the new chairman was adamant that this was not something he was going to take on ... I can understand why as its a big task. Considering who has held this post before then I think it has to be someone with both a business and football brain ... you cant run a football club exactly like a normal business or even another sporting association ... its a unique task. Shame Paul Beirne was tapped up from Brighton to help form the new Canadian Premier League, he would have been an excellent candidate ! Director of Football is another role we need to get right. The DoF role is liaison between board and coaches/players/management so again should have experience of both sides of the fence on this one . If interested then the likes of Danny or Charlie would be good candidates I think. Both have been players and both have been involved in managerial or coaching aspects of the club as well as business stuff. The likes of Barry Wilson is another potential candidate or perhaps someone older with substantial football knowledge from completely outside the club ....

Always appreciate trustworthy onlooker comments on newbies Chris. My concern was that FCZ was just another walrus. Hopefully he is given game time to develop. We also appear to be relying on the Big 5 experience base of Warren - Mackay Polworth - Vigurs - Draper Hopefully we have the fullbacks not overdoing the wing-back style and having the pace to cover back in more traditional full back style. My concern is about how we play the three in midfield. We seem to have the same dilemma as last year, even without Tansey. We have to make that threesome a consistent but effective unit. In the Championship I can see Vigurs in the role of playmaker yet, like Tansey last season, he needs to be 20 yards further up the field to produce the killer touch. I have never liked Draper deep as he tends to drift forward, as does Polworth. Draper, to me, is most effective in the no 10 role but then who defends the midfield. Are we falling into the trap of trying to accommodate those three at the expense of a more solid, wider system. Are we looking at the Championship as being don't concede and hit on the break ?

Is it just me but Im old enough to remember players like Billy Urquhart, Kevin MacDonald and Des Bremner moving from HL to big clubs and doing very well. I do think this is getting forgotten. Pleased to see us looking for any gems around locally tbh

Oh of course!!!

Somebody obviously liked the dots so another red one for me! Wow - I probably wont sleep tonight.

Herr Polworth and Herr Vigurs feck the English at Stirling Bridge.

To welcome Susan to the club and with such a good opportunity for a bit of fun is there any chance we could come up with a good song for him. Do you think we could come up with an alternative lyriced .'boy called sue' . Even better if someone could then get there guitar out to play it.... JOHNNY CASH A Boy Named Sue Lyrics New! Tap highlighted lyrics to add Meanings, Special Memories, and Misheard Lyrics... Play "A Boy Named Sue" on Amazon Music Advisory - the following lyrics contain explicit language: Well my daddy left home when I was three And he didn't leave much to Ma and me Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze Now, I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid But the meanest thing that he ever did Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue" Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk It seems I had to fight my whole life through Some gal would giggle and I'd get red And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue" Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean My fist got hard and my wits got keen Roam from town to town to hide my shame But I made me a vow to the moon and stars I'd search the honky-tonks and bars And kill that man who gave me that awful name Read more: Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Who red dotted me for that - only having a laugh!!

Well that doesn't say much for the rest