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Our midfield trio are pretty swish, but that's no use to us if the defence are hopeless and the attack are impotent. It's not clear from watching today what Robbo is doing to rectify these problems, as our issues have been pretty much the same since July. That back four and keeper have now conceded seven goals in two matches. Three of the defenders have been at the club for more than a year, so it's not as if they need time to gel. Raven seemed decent enough defensively today, but the other three were catastrophic. McKay frequently loses concentration and either gets caught out of position or loses his man; Warren is now frequently bested in physical battles by players who he would have easily dominated 2 years ago, and has become slower than a week in jail; Chalmers is easily beaten by wide players and is so woeful in possession that I might change my username to 'Chalmersgivesitawayagain'. Ridgers might have been quicker out for the second goal (that may be harsh - I'll need to see TV pictures to check) but was faultless for the first and third goals today which I suppose means improvement. At the other end of the pitch, our complete lack of pace means that defences never have to worry about a ball in behind. Bell's movement is clever enough to partially compensate for this, though I actually wondered if his goal today was a miscued cross, going by his bodyshape and Alexander's reactions. Cooper just dribbles sideways till he either passes it backwards or loses the ball, while Baird has the opposite of the Midas Touch - anything he does seems to go wrong. His linkup play is dreadful and so is his decision-making. He's a player whose game is based around a lot of hard running, but now he's 32 and lost a yard he is completely toothless against a reasonably organized defence. I can't remember the last time I heard a cheer for an ICT player being subbed, but he was so awful that even the lovely elderly couple on holiday from Plymouth who sat in front of me were slagging him off. Meanwhile Trafford does a solid job of breaking up play, while Vigurs and Polworth both put in great shifts today, desperately looking for teammates in front of them to actually make enough space for a killer pass. I felt desperately sorry for them. Sadly, I don't think we've hit rock bottom yet. Yes, we had lots of possession, and Livingston's three goals came from their first three chances...but did we make more than three clear-cut chances in all that time? I don't think so. And the three goals we conceded were either from corners or from not properly clearing corners (at least the third involved a quality finish, which makes a nice change). Teams that can't defend set pieces are badly organized, and badly organized teams are usually badly coached. The problems at the back will not be completely solved just by installing a competent left-back. We know Elsdon is out of his depth, so unless Donaldson turns out to be the second coming of Franco Baresi we're screwed at centre-back for the near future. And up front does anyone really expect Zzsuschchen or Oakley to be the answer? In conclusion: this is just the pits.

Far too early to pull the trigger but if things are no better by December the board will have to be much more proactive than they were last season. Robbo has had one decent spell as a manager almost a decade and a half ago but he has no track record at all of recruitment having been fortunate last time around to inherit the fantastic squad of players assembled by Steve Paterson who, by that time, pretty well managed themselves. I realise he was working in constrained financial circumstances but those players he has recruited, particularly in defence, including the goalkeeper, have been woeful. He was not at fault for losing his job at Hearts, he quit at County and quit again at East Fife who again were playing very poorly. He does deserve more time, at least another two months but, if things are no better then, then a decision needs to be made instead of just letting things drift and hoping for the best like last year. Relegation into the Championship was a bad enough blow but to then drop down another division would be catastrophic, leading inevitably to part time football. It almost happened to St Mitten last season and would have had they not made a timely managerial change. I sincerely hope that we don't but, should we find ourselves in that position come December we will have to do the same. That said, I don't want to see a manager sacked and hope that in two moths time the improvement in the team will make such thoughts redundant.

How many times have I seen ICT come out from the start and be on top of the game, for 15 to 30 minutes, and not score, only for our opposition to go up our end and score with ease. It happened so many times last season and it's the same this season. Once their second goal went in we lost everything, our shape, our will and every second ball. Towards the end of the game we were just kicking it aimlessly up the park, not even able to string two passes together. It looked like we were the team winning 3-1, just coasting to the end, instead of sweating blood for the cause. I have given the players and manager the benefits of the doubt so far, as a new team that needs to gel, but, the team needs to give the supporters something to cheer about, and today's offering was unacceptable. For me, only Vigures, Polworth, Trafford and Bell get any pass marks for their first half display . It's going to be a long hard season and at this moment, I would take surviving in this league as our number one target.

Following further research I fear that I may stumbled on a side issue but perhaps a potential reason for the Young Team behaviour at Brechin. IT is amazing the effect that E-additives and caffeine can have on adolescents. We would not be banning them. We should be sending them to a dietician.

Is this the same John Hughes that got Raith relegated last season?

Worse than anything Foran dished up last year At least he could use the excuse that the quality of the opposition was a step up from the team that easily turned us over today. Absolutely rank rotten today , give the game up with still half an hour to go. Never once saw Roberston out of the dugout trying to motivate . Honestly the 3 stooges we have in the dugout Robertson, Rice and Kellacher look like they should be running a pub team. Only Vigurs and Bell offered anything today the rest were f.....ing terrible and that is being generous.

Certainly not in the centre of midfield anyway.The trio of Polly, Trafford and Vigurs are the only part of the team that looks acceptable to me We have a keeper who costs us at least a goal a game. The defence in front of him have no confidence in him and can't defend set pieces(All 3 goals today came from set pieces). Our wide players are mostly anonymous and our forwards are toothless barring the bright spot that is Connor Bell.

First league game I've seen. Verdict: We're going to be battling at the wrong end of the league. The heart of midfield is fine (Trafford, Vigurs, Polworth) and Bell is lively, but the rest are poor and the centre halves are a shambles. We had a lot of possession and transition was good, but tried to walk it in from 18 yards. Played some decent stuff in the first half but fell apart in the 2nd and barely threatened. All 3 goals involved missed headers at the heart of the defence: Not good enough. After we went 3-1 down, Livi were first to every ball. Weak.

I'm absolutely flabbergasted that players like Ridgers, Cooper, Baird and Chalmers, who we knew were rubbish before we signed them, have actually turned out to be rubbish after we signed them!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Much as I agree with you about the official club crest, it is possible to become just a little too obsessed!

Trying to look on the bright side, we scored a really neat goal. And we should have gone 2-1 up, that was never offside and it is telling that none of the Livi defenders even claimed for it.

Whooosh!

Those players have collectively had about one good game between them and one has only played in a single friendly match.

Dont agree with this at all. Seedorf, Zak, Trafford ,Calder, Bell , Oakley when fit all look like decent prospects at this level who will develop. Polwarth is now being Used correctly. Chalmers I think has had a couple of decent touches and looks fitter than the first few games. Think Ridgers baird, and elsdon are very suspect. This is a much better ratio than last years donkeys to winners ratio.

Excellent post, we can trace this back to JH's time where we had a style and system even though it was not appreciated by large parts of the support the players knew what they were trying to do and stuck by the system which won us the SC, 3rd in the league and 7th the following season which was marred by a horrendous injury list. This system was thrown overboard by the rookie Foran who had no experience as a Manager or even as an assistant, none , nil, nada. Now as last season there is no system, no understanding of how a team should play as a cohesive unit. I agree with the 2nd para also, I slated Brechin and Dumbarton as possibly worse than ICT in this league, if we get beaten by the Sons next week watch out because Falkirk will not languish long in the lower half of the league, they have a good a pool of players. Third para dead on, JR inherited a great squad from Patterson first time round and though his football at that time was a throwback to when JR played, the players he had were good enough to make it work but he was chosen this time as the cheap option having been out of the game for over a decade. If he manages to keep us in this league I would consider that a success.

It seems as though I'm the only one who found this afternoon to be thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable. But then I was at my Grandson's first Birthday party. I wasn't the only one not there though. The falling attendances are a real worry and they won't improve until there is a major improvement on the park.

Don't buy the excuse that the team need to gel , we are rapidly approaching the first quarter of the season played at least 4 games in the league cup , plus countless friendlies, the management have had plenty of time to work with the players. Oh and by the way 7 of the players that finished the game today were playing last year, so let's not try and use the excuse of a completely brand new team needing to find their feet either. Pure and simple the whole club has to up its game or face being in a relegation battle by December.

Pointless slating sub-standard signings for being sub-standard. They're simply churning out performances commensurate with their ability and the salaries we're offering. The outrage is that someone within the club has felt it appropriate to shell out two and three year contracts to guys who are quite simply never going to get us into promotion contention but that again seems to be in line with Yogi's recent comments regarding board members calling the shots on signings. I guess as we plummet through the divisions one or two of these players might ultimately find their level but wouldn't count on it. It was fantastic while it lasted but I think we are clearly raking over the dying embers of our meteoric climb from Highland League to Scottish Cup glory and should probably try to get our heads around a future consisting of part-time lower league obscurity. A truly grim proposition but seemingly inevitable unless we see fundamental regime change and significant investment in the club by a wealthy benefactor with cash to burn. Robbo has clearly taken on the gig on the basis that he'll work with whatever squad the club can throw together so is probably safe until the point they opt to throw him under the bus and install another patsy who accepts to work with the dross they've assembled on and off the park.

Wish Robbo had listened to you Renegade

Happy clappers are still going to root around for positives, those who live in the past with the rose tinted glasses will say robbo needs time etc etc. Today we were awful, the team is low on quality all over the park with no creativity, no cutting edge, a defence that looks like they've never met before and a keeper who's out of his depth at this level. The plan of clearing out and signing a load of jobbers at this stage looks to be a huge mistake. Let's hope the board learned from last year and will act of things don't improve soon before its a lost cause of a play off place.

I started to ask that question for the first time today. At least Richie appeared animated on the touchline like he cared. Mark my words we are sleepwalking to another relegation unless our porous defence and shot-shy midfield/attack wake up and smell the coffee.

Photo of Laurence in his hey day. There is a link to the thread as the horses were all fed Black puddings.

God I've got a double?

69 at any time sounds good to me

ffs, 69 replies. Help me lord.

I see High School alumna Ali Smith has just made the short list for the Man Booker prize. Remind me, what year was it that "The Caddy Rats" trilogy was nominated for the Mun Booker?

FFS, aye, let's send them to the Harriers, the Sneck's own failure factory for the toon's bourgeoisie, a wee jog roond Queen's Park while they ruminate over their Higher Physics homework.

we WERE an established top flight club until our chairman at the time thought he knew better than yogi and effectively sacked him.

Thanks for your inspiring input.

Exactly - I don't particularly like the 'Pride of the Highlands' crest either, but it doesn't particulatrly keep me awake at night... Plenty other issues for us to get ourselves in a froth about

Very good idea but but absolutely no interest in anything displaying that "ICTFC Pride of the Highlands" crap. Pity someone doesn't bin that sharn once and for all. This club is called Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC and those running the club should remember that. Still hope we gub the Livi.

How many of our players would NEED to run round the ground 50 times? I'm afraid Laurence's observation doesn't quite match the training activity with the competitive demands. I remember discussing this with Charlie Christie when he was manager, and finding a lot of agreement. The specific performance requirements of a 90 minute game of football are very far removed from, and far more complex than, very extended, steady paced running as described. Any manager who exposed his players to this kind of activity would find that his team very quickly got into extreme difficulty. As for Inverness Harriers, apart from our club policy that our coaching resources are targeted exclusively at the needs of our own members so we don't offer a "fitness service" for other sports, the second quoted sentence over-simplifies the activities of an athletics club just as much as the first does with football. I'm also quite sure that ICT management are perfectly well qualified to devise fitness and conditioning regimes which are absolutely specific to football.

Sounds like one of these Rough Boys From The High School is getting all chippy about his long distant schooldays again It's so Freudian!

Don't get too worked up about it MJ. If you aren't from these parts, or of a certain generation, you may not fully appreciate the context and background. ? Nor indeed some of the typical retaliations

Sure Robbo will make that decision zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Not a chance in Hell that we will get back up this season. Unless we can get an investor and a new manager we will be a long time in the lower divisions, and I don't mean the Championship. I said it before that our club had been ruined by Ritchie and his blarney along with our chairman who believed all his talk. I liked JR first time around but he took over a successful team and listening to him now, I think he is a little bit lost. Big changes are needed NOW. Anybody want to disagree with this??