Mentioned this briefly on the match day thread but we have 4 big Saturday home games coming up (as well as a mid-week visit to Ibrox on the 4th March):

21-Feb - ICT v Hibs (SPL)

28-Feb - ICT v Motherwell (SPL)

7-Mar - ICT v Falkirk (SC)

14-Mar - ICT v Kilmarnock (SPL)

All winable and then we still have the games against St.Mirren, Falkirk and Accies before we play them again after the split....I can't remember anytime in the past when we had 4 continuous weeks of Saturday home games.

This should hopefully benefit the club with very little travelling and plenty of time to prepare through the month for each game...

This could turn out to be a great advantage at this time of the season and an increase in the home support would provide the club with a big lift. Also something that the club should be using to their advantage by promoting ways to get more through the turnstiles....

TB pre-split points accumulator stands at 5 points and a SC QF place - P5 W2 D2 L1 F6 A3 - not a bad start....

01-Feb - ICT v Celtic (SPL) - 0-0 (1 point)

07-Feb - ICT v Killie (SC) - 2-0

14-Feb - DU v ICT (SPL) - 1-1 (1 point)

21-Feb - ICT v Hibs (SPL) - 2-0 (3 points)

28-Feb - ICT v Motherwell (SPL) - 1-2 (0 points)

4-Mar - Rangers v ICT (SPL)

7-Mar - ICT v Falkirk (SC)

14-Mar - ICT v Kilmarnock (SPL)

21-Mar - Falkirk v ICT (SPL)

I would still be happy with 6 points and a semi-final place from the 4 home games and a point from the Rangers game as a bonus....then on to the Falkirk Stadium for the big one.... :thumb04:

Like so many I can't actually believe we took more than a point from our visit to Ibrox. Nobody would have dared believe that it was possible after our last few visits to Parkhead or Ibrox but the new management team have indeed turned things around and now just need to keep the ship going in the right direction.

so the TB pre-split points accumulator now stands at 8 points and a SC QF place - P6 W3 D2 L1 F7 A3 - still not a bad start....with hopefully a lot more to come....

01-Feb - ICT v Celtic (SPL) - 0-0 (1 point)

07-Feb - ICT v Killie (SC) - 2-0

14-Feb - DU v ICT (SPL) - 1-1 (1 point)

21-Feb - ICT v Hibs (SPL) - 2-0 (3 points)

28-Feb - ICT v Motherwell (SPL) - 1-2 (0 points)

4-Mar - Rangers v ICT (SPL) - 0-1 (3 points)

7-Mar - ICT v Falkirk (SC)

14-Mar - ICT v Kilmarnock (SPL)

21-Mar - Falkirk v ICT (SPL)

Personally' I'd be disappointed to see us take less than 4 points from our next two league matches. Anything less would be a setback. 6 points would be a real bonus anmd would go a long way to securing our league future.

I'm feeling positive I'm going for 6 points and a visit a to Hampden. :thumb04:

Edited March 6, 200917 yr by Morgan Spice

I'm happy to get beat by Falkirk in the cup if we can beat them in the league. (although secretly I want to win them all)

Nobody would have dared believe that it was possible after our last few visits to Parkhead or Ibrox but the new management team have indeed turned things around and now just need to keep the ship going in the right direction.

If you were @ the parkhead game last november you wouldn't say that. I had die hard Celtic fans approach me and say if we had a decent striker or 2 we would have hammered them. We passed the ball about well and got in about them more than i have ever seen us get in about them and the thing is, they were right. Ok we caught them on a bad day to say the least.

Right now the boys have every right to be on a high after Wednesday night and hopefully this will carry them through what shall be a tough game.

Saturday gave us a massive boost!

Even though Falkirk have big players our wee ones can nip round them!

So after the spate of home games the Butcher/Malpas era stats now reads overall P8 W4 D2 L2 and

for the League P6 W3 D2 L1 PTS 11

01-Feb - ICT v Celtic (SPL) - 0-0 (1 point)

07-Feb - ICT v Killie (SC) - 2-0

14-Feb - DU v ICT (SPL) - 1-1 (1 point)

21-Feb - ICT v Hibs (SPL) - 2-0 (3 points)

28-Feb - ICT v Motherwell (SPL) - 1-2 (0 points)

4-Mar - Rangers v ICT (SPL) - 0-1 (3 points)

7-Mar - ICT v Falkirk (SC) - 0-1

14-Mar - ICT v Kilmarnock (SPL) - 2-1 (3 points)

21-Mar - Falkirk v ICT (SPL)

05-Apr - ICT v St.Mirren (SPL)

11-Apr - Aberdeen v ICT (SPL)

18-Apr - ICT v Hamilton (SPL)

As I see it the next two games are crucial as even though Falkirk have a game in hand their next two games after Saturday are against the Old Firm - 6 points for ICT from the next two games would see us heading towards the split looking for as high a finishing position as possible. Even 4 points (a draw against Falkirk and a win against St.Mirren at TCS) would be a good haul and set us up nicely for the remaining 7 games with an improved goal difference. At present ourselves, St.Mirren and Hamilton are all on -16, Killie on -13 and Falkirk on -12....

Edited March 17, 200917 yr by Tichy_Blacks_Back

The pitch hasn't been at it's best due to all these home games.

well it gets a chance to recover with an away game on sat and an iternational the next week.

It should start to look better as the good weather comes back !!

noticed that on saturday, wasnt looking the best. was living up to its daily record of 5/10 even ha.

as said, 2 weeks off will do it some good.

hope we are 7 points ahead of falkirk for that 2 weeks!

So after the spate of home games the Butcher/Malpas era stats now reads overall P8 W4 D2 L2 and

for the League P6 W3 D2 L1 PTS 11

01-Feb - ICT v Celtic (SPL) - 0-0 (1 point)

07-Feb - ICT v Killie (SC) - 2-0

14-Feb - DU v ICT (SPL) - 1-1 (1 point)

21-Feb - ICT v Hibs (SPL) - 2-0 (3 points)

28-Feb - ICT v Motherwell (SPL) - 1-2 (0 points)

4-Mar - Rangers v ICT (SPL) - 0-1 (3 points)

7-Mar - ICT v Falkirk (SC) - 0-1

14-Mar - ICT v Kilmarnock (SPL) - 2-1 (3 points)

21-Mar - Falkirk v ICT (SPL)

05-Apr - ICT v St.Mirren (SPL)

11-Apr - Aberdeen v ICT (SPL)

18-Apr - ICT v Hamilton (SPL)

As I see it the next two games are crucial as even though Falkirk have a game in hand their next two games after Saturday are against the Old Firm - 6 points for ICT from the next two games would see us heading towards the split looking for as high a finishing position as possible. Even 4 points (a draw against Falkirk and a win against St.Mirren at TCS) would be a good haul and set us up nicely for the remaining 7 games with an improved goal difference. At present ourselves, St.Mirren and Hamilton are all on -16, Killie on -13 and Falkirk on -12....

So Overall P9 W4 D2 L3 F9 A9 and

for the League P7 W3 D2 L2 F7 A8 PTS 11

01-Feb - ICT v Celtic (SPL) - 0-0 (1 point)

07-Feb - ICT v Killie (SC) - 2-0

14-Feb - DU v ICT (SPL) - 1-1 (1 point)

21-Feb - ICT v Hibs (SPL) - 2-0 (3 points)

28-Feb - ICT v Motherwell (SPL) - 1-2 (0 points)

4-Mar - Rangers v ICT (SPL) - 0-1 (3 points)

7-Mar - ICT v Falkirk (SC) - 0-1

14-Mar - ICT v Kilmarnock (SPL) - 2-1 (3 points)

21-Mar - Falkirk v ICT (SPL) - 4-0 (0 points)

05-Apr - ICT v St.Mirren (SPL)

11-Apr - Aberdeen v ICT (SPL)

18-Apr - ICT v Hamilton (SPL)

Still not a bad start as we are now definitely back in the mix as they say but two defeats to Falkirk (home and away) is a big blow especially as we have to play them again after the split and they will definitely believe that they can get the points off us again - I am not sure if the same can be said about our team. The 4 goals conceded at Falkirk last weekend has also made a big difference on the goal difference and this could be crucial come the end of the season as Falkirk currently now have a far superior goal difference to the others in the bottom 5 (Falkirk -8, Killie -13, Hamilton -16, St.Mirren -16, ICT -20). This can change in the remaining 8 games but I know I would prefer to have the twelve goal cushion.

As it stands at the moment I would also prefer to see Hibs fall into the 7th spot instead of Motherwell as to date we have got better results against them. Before then though two home victories against St.Mirren and Hamilton are critical, a few goals to help our GD, and something from the trip to Pittodrie would be a bonus. Whatever happens we don't want to go into the split back on bottom.