Eagle4Caley

By giving away a penalty

Don't you mean all of Scotland?!? Still at least we are used to playing with 10men

I think that's a useful advantage! We play Dundee Utd twice before the end of the season...that gap is close-able We probably didn't think it at the start of the season, but (injuries and suspensions aside) we probably have the squad to get through a long play-off, with decent enough strike options in Bell/Oakley/Austin(?) and yes even Baird. Nice options on the wing with Doran and Mulraney, defensive strength, and not a bad looking midfield with Vigurs, Polworth, Chalmers and Trafford. (You can tell I'm also a CPFC fan ...relentless optimism!)

I have a sneaky feeling we'll be playing RC in the Play-off final!

I get the feeling that Chalmers and Inverness are a good fit for each other.... strikes me as a player you miss when he's not playing. Guys like Chalmers (and Trafford) do the work that allow the other more creative players to prosper. We can all see now that the club and Robbo have done a pretty good job of rebuilding the team. I'm excited by the potential.

TBF it's no more than a goal a game....and three of those games, we were down to 10men, the settled backline that had that great record, hasn't been settled in those 6 games, so I think it's still a solid run, defensively...seems that Calder has settled in and looked good past couple of games, and if Seedorf could stay fit he has real potential. Great to see Doran score today. he looked pretty good against Falkirk as well...it's almost like a new quality signing Has to be said after a shambolic season last year and a difficult summer and start to the season, the team has come on leaps and bounds, and in Donaldson, Bell, Chalmers, Oakley, Seedorf, Ridgers and Calder we are seeing additions that are looking worthwhile having been given a bit of time (I think Trafford is in the same category, but hasn't played much recently, Baird I think has done OK, Austin obviously to soon to tell). Both Mulraney and Brad Mckay seem to have kicked on this year, and for all the criticism of him Polworth looks an increasingly important player for us. Vigurs and Tremarco have been stella for us, but I'm looking at the newbies and the youngsters Not only am I up for the Falkirk home game in March...but I have managed to sort another trip up for our last home game against Dumfermline, my gut feeling is we'll have secured a play-off position by the end of that game, the play-offs are of course a marathon if you finish in 3rd/4th, and I don't think it's been done very often, but I can see us going the whole way (which I didn't expect to be saying a few months ago) if we are lucky with injuries, and suspensions.

Looks like Nathan Austin is already having an effect! Oakley does seem to be finding the net quite regularly now Overall a great result .... I think we've killed any prospect of relegation, and now seem to be looking more likely as a play-off contender with 3rd place looking very attainable.

Gripping stuff following that at work, I guess I would have taken the point given the sending off...if we could have just kept 11 on the park! Still thinking we'll eventually get into the play-offs

Seems like a good move

Watching the highlights Mortons No.9 blocks Tremarco deliberately during one attack to stop him covering the wing play, then holds him back....Tremarco puls him over to get clear...the ref sees that but misses both infringements by their player Ridgers pulled off a couple of great saves...one from a free kick showing a fleetness of foot that would shame my other team's so-called Welsh No.1 Hard to tell from a few hghlights but Seedorf looked OK, particularly going forward So far we have only been beaten in the last 12 games when we have been down to 10 men.

James Vincent always seemed a bit injury prone....probably not a good bet His run up the pitch to score the winning goal in the Cup Final is the memory we should let linger in our hearts for eternity

From the highlights, which admittedly will probably have painted a rosier picture, we looked pretty decent and could well have won by a couple more, with Ridgers only having to make one pretty decent save to keep us in front. A 10th clean sheet in 11 games though....alright not against the mightiest of opposition, but in anybody's book that's pretty impressive stuff! Coupled to a thumping win for my other side, made me as happy as Larry...oh and what a way for Celtic to lose their unbeaten run!

Just seen on Twitter, Carl has penned a two year extension to his contract. Great news, that's half the defence sorted We're going in the right direction If we get Connor Bell tied up soon, that'll make a good Christmas

Fantastic!... I enjoyed letting the guys in my London office know about this. They gave me a slightly bemused response!

Something rather awesome about a team that got relegated rather badly, faced all sorts of upheaval over the summer, with a large turnover of players with a lot of newcomers of perhaps questionable pedigree (by that I mean experience and quality) having had a terrible start to the season, and earning strong criticism from fans, questioning both players and managers competence, now completing 9 shutouts out of 10games (with the one loss aided and abetted by incompetent officials)...with the latest after a horrendous journey down. if there's such a thing, this season is becoming a bit of a mini epic, one that makes me proud to consider myself an ICT supporter. By coincidence my other team also earned a battling draw after a difficult journey away, but just a mere 2 and half hours stuck on a train in the cold and dark!

Chuffed for Baird, and Oakley....Bell on target again, and another clean sheet. It might be 'only' Brechin, but actually they've rarely been stuffed this season and got a decent draw with Dundee Utd at the weekend. With Brad's goal that is more tonight than all our previous home league games!

I tend to like the Big Man/Small Man combination which would suggest Oakley and Bell together.... be interesting with Doran on one side and Mulraney on the other However I've liked what I've seen of Baird in recent games, if both Baird and Oakley could start scoring goals we'd have a nice problem on our hands

Yes good work....... Obviously spurred on by the 'Robertson Out' thread

In the end of club of ICT's size needs to have a 'selling' policy to survive, whilst sustaining any sort of premiership ambitions. So we need to identify those players who've we bought in, that look like having future resell value and ensure they are given longer (rolling) contract extensions quite quickly...guys like Bell, Mulraney, and Donaldson probably fit that profile. Obviously there's a limit to how many we can do that with, and there has to be an acceptance from supporters that this is a necessary evil. Mind you transfer fees of £50 to 200K don't fit the bill, and we would still need to be able to employ one or two 'old hands' to steady the ship.

1 on 1's are not certain goals, Bell was pretty close to Alexander with a tight angle, whereas Mulraney probably could have done better, although it looked like the ball got stuck under his foot when he went to shoot. ....if he was playing more regularly of course he may have done better as situations like that become more instinctive. ....that disallowed goal against Bell must have been the tightest of decisions, it looks to me on the replay there is at least one outfielder and the goalie in front of Bell. I think one or both of the officials played safe. I agree with RiG, Livi were definitely hanging on!

Well, I really enjoyed my trip up North. Almost a perfect day for the football, and great to be in a vociferous crowd of ICT fans, and thanks to Cath who I befriended at the 'wrong' turnstile, we spent the entire game in chat about how it was going. Given how well Livingston are doing... they could have gone top with a win, we acquitted ourselves really well, and I thought we were the better team after the initial 5 minutes. After that I didn't think we were in much danger, and with a bit more composure (from Mulraney) or luck (Bell ) we would have come away with all three points. Another clean sheet is pretty impressive after the start to the season, and Donaldson impressed me, and Ridgers looked a lot safer than the early season reports would have suggested....on the whole his kicking was pretty good. I generally agree with most of IHE's marking, although I would score Polworth and Vigurs the other way around. For me Vigurs was the stand out guy, not just for the way he was pulling the strings in midfield but for the level of effort in winning the ball back, something I'd never really thought was his strong point. I felt during the game how lucky, given our finances, we are to have someone like Vigurs in the team. Another guy who impressed me was Baird, who worked extremely hard and showed no little skill at times, whether he is a true goalscorer in the Mckay mould I doubt it, but I could imagine he'll have a 'purple patch' at some stage in the season. Perversely the introduction of Oakley, in his place, towards the end of the game did seem to swing the game in our favour, mainly I think because with the benefit of fresh legs and a taller frame he seemed to give their defenders something to worry about. I'd almost say Livingston were hanging on in the last 10mins. If Mulraney can maintain and then improve on his current level of game, we are going to be quite a dangerous side going forward, coupled with the clever and dogged play of Bell. Chalmers has certainly got a decent cross in him as well, and seems to be another finding his feet. Overall a decent performance in my book, from a bunch of 'budget level' players who got off to a bad start to the season, many of the newbies with a bit to prove, and now some of them are showing their worth.

Encouraging that players previously being criticised for being poor are upping their game...I think Baird is due a goal (he'll score next week I bet) he seems to be doing most things right. Even more encouraging that we have won our last two games without Trafford, who before then seemed to be one of the few positives, looks like we have some depth on the bench

In football some truisms remains as ever they were....it takes time for a new manager, with a new group of players, in a new league to become a cohesive unit and find an effective style. Robbo appears to have found a balance between roughing up players in public, when they have let themselves and the fans down, working out who responds to what, and who fits in where, and praising where praise is due. We've clearly got a step on the ladder climbing up, matches against Livingston and St Mirren, will tell if we can match the best, and keep climbing...we have a nice run of games to the end of the year that could see us in a good place.

In successive weeks we have beaten two sides in the top four who had previously beaten us (in the Pars case convincingly) kept our 5th clean sheet in a row, and seem to have found both attacking threat and a solid back line....progress in anyone's book. Bell rapidly becoming a bit of a hero? I'm up (and buzzing) for the Livingston match next week which I have a good feeling about...it'll certainly give us a hint of whether a run to the play-offs is a possibility (it's a long season I know!)....crowd of near 3000 as well. And my weekend was made all the more happy by a 97th minute equaliser for my other team

Takes a bit of time doesn't it, new gaffer, loads of new players, who is any good, who works well with whom, who will settle in? Definitely some green shoots there, and that 2nd goal is a thing of beauty...If Man City had scored that it would be on SkySports all weekend, the ball was moved so quickly it caught all of Dundee's team out. Looked like a great away crowd btw! As an aside loving the new shop and the work of the Stadium Development Project, feels like the club is going in the right direction