Pressure pushing down on me

Pressing down on you, no man asked for

Under pressure, that burns a building down

Splits a family in two

Puts people on streets

Of course TB is under a degree of pressure - the Midden result just adds to the frustration of not being able to sustain the away form in our back yard. The Longman should be a fortress but we are using it as a Dump.

At home we are 9th in the table, six points in front of Hammies who have two games in hand and only two points better off than Aberdire and St Jones Town who also have two games in hand

Played 9 Won 2 Drawn 2 Lost 5 For 11 Against 13 GD -2 Points 8 Yellows 12 Reds 0

Away from home we are second in the table, six points behind Rangers and a point in front of the Jam Tarts and Cellic with two games in hand:

Played 9 Won 5 Drawn 4 Lost 0 For 18 Against 9 GD +9 Points 19 Yellows 12 Reds 0

Those statistics really are amazing but - take away the Old Firm (good point against Rangers) and Jam Tarts (worst home preformance of the season for me) - and lets face it - dropping points to Midden, Hamilton, Well and St Jones Town should not happen.

And it aint got antyhing to do with our disciplinary record either as it is identical at home or away - and here is another interesting wee stat - Shots at home (146) / Shots away (183) - Corners at home (92) / Corners away (124) - WTF ??

So what are the reasons ?

1. It would appear that the large majority of teams - other than the OF - are geared up to defend in depth and hit on the attack away from home - I dont think that we adapt to tackle this and I would say that our home formation and the selection should be different - as we tend to be static and go with who played well the week before.

2. We dont use the width as well at home - for some reason we dont pass as crisply and as accurately - and our concentration at times is simply wayward - that has simply got to be down to confidence and application. I bet that away from home that we go on to the pitch thinking that we can pinch at least a point and at home we go on with a degree of trepidation rite from the onset.

3. Ever see the heads go down away from home ? Ever see the heads go down at home ?

4. When we are facing adversity away from home there is positivity in the tactics and substitutions but at home it is trepidation as well - at away its a case of - feck it lets go fer it - and at home it is a case of better one point than none at all.

5. But sorry but the SUPPORT really is a major influence - enuff said.

Personally a start for me would be an attacking philosophy and get beat 3-2 or 4-3 against Killie - if it meant a change. It simply has to be done

Butcher is charasmatic but we need a sports psychology angle here: This has got a lot to do with self esteem, self confidence,stress /anxiety control, concentration and motivation.

So lets start getting it rite on and off the pitch. See ya in Section G dudes.

?There can only be one state of mind as you approach any profound test; total concentration, a spirit of togetherness, and strength.?

It's only 2games that we've lost. Terry is not under any pressure yet. look where we are sitting, no to bad for a first division side!

Those statistics really are amazing but - take away the Old Firm (good point against Rangers) and Jam Tarts (worst home preformance of the season for me) - and lets face it - dropping points to Midden, Hamilton, Well and St Jones Town should not happen.

I can't believe the arrogance of this statement. Inverness, Hamilton, St. Johnstone and St. Mirren are all teams of equal size. Why can't any of these teams regularly take points off of each other? What makes a team who have only just been promoted remember, seem to think they have the divine right to turn up and claim points before a ball is kicked? Caley are on an enviable run of form just now. That can't be called into question but in reality are just a small team as are these other sides mentioned. Howden needs to drop the Old Firm attitude and live in the real world.

Where I agree with a lot you have said there about the teams mentioned being of equal size and stature I don't necessarily think IHE was being arrogant if you look at it in a different context. If you look at our run of form and results this season he is right that we shouldn't be dropping points against St Mirren, Hamilton and St Johnstone, when I say points I mean not winning at home and anything less than a draw away. Against Motherwell I'm not sure as when Brown was in charge they were a very decent team.

We can't go to Tynecastle, Celtic Park and Ibrox and take a point from all three then entertain St Mirren at home and play so badly and lose all three points, if you look at those 3 away results I mentioned we have every right to question why we are losing points against those so called 'lesser teams' (which by the way aren't lesser to ICT just lesser in the SPL) and expect to be able to at least challenge and take all three points.

If ICT and we have any aspirations of a top six finish this season we need to be expecting to beat the likes of St Mirren, Hamilton and St Johnstone. There is nothing arrogant about that.