Interesting to read in today's press and journal that John Hughes fears he won't have time to replace Mckay.

 

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/football/inverness-caledonian-thistle/474843/john-hughes-fears-he-wont-have-time-to-replace-billy-McKay

 

Anybody worried about this sort of talk. I really fear for our European hopes if we don't get anybody in in time. Any names being mentioned regarding potential signings or we all in the dark

Without meaning to sound like a happy clapper, attracting players and retaining the services of who we would like to see remain at the club would be far easier if we had more fans attending. Replacing Mckay is a big ask - which player realistically is out there who:

A). We could afford and

B). Is a proven goalscorer.

Personally I'd like to see the young players on the fringes get a good run in the first XI

Without meaning to sound like a happy clapper, attracting players and retaining the services of who we would like to see remain at the club would be far easier if we had more fans attending. Replacing Mckay is a big ask - which player realistically is out there who:

A). We could afford and

B). Is a proven goalscorer.

Personally I'd like to see the young players on the fringes get a good run in the first XI

You are aware our development squad is bottom two of their league and frequently on the end of hammerings, sorry but something fills me with dread thinking of letting them loose on the 1st team

There are dozens of examples of top players starting out in one position and transitioning to a completely different role (Bale, Henry, Ronaldo, Mascherano, Matthaus - just off the top of my head.

Even just looking at our own club - Jim Calder started life as a centre forward, but ended up being one of our best ever goalkeepers. Dennis Wyness started as a midfielder, but ended up being our all time top goal scoring centre forward. Roy McBain started as a winger, but ended up being one of our best ever holding midfielders. Ross Tokely started as a striker, but ended up being one of our best ever right backs. Graeme Shinnie started as a left back, but also excels at right back and central midfield.  

We're too obsessed with categorizing footballers in this country. We have plenty of talented attacking players with pace, skill, vision and an eye for goal - all the attributes required for a centre forward. There's no reason whatsoever why Marley Watkins, Ryan Christie, Aaron Doran, Nick Ross or James Vincent can't play up front. We should focus on footballing ability, not artificial labels. 

Thankfully we have a manager who looks beyond narrow 'specialist' positions and looks to be trying to develop well-rounded footballers with full-spectrum knowledge of the game. I hope he succeeds. Let's give him a chance.

I think it is time we took stock and analysed what happened here.  Nobody died!  But reading some of the near hysteria on this thread, one would be forgiven in thinking someone had died!

We lost our striker in the transfer window, probably a few months earlier than we expected him to go.  A striker by the way, who apart from in the last few games, had scored precious few goals in all of 2014.  Yet we still managed to achieve a good league position in 2013/14, and are on track to better that in 2014/15.  No doubt I'll be branded a 'happy clapper' for even suggesting this is still possible.

A lot has been talked about contingency plans.  Maybe there was a plan to get a replacement in before the window.  I don't know.  Maybe Yogi expects Foran to play a part before the end of the season, and/or he feels there is sufficient talent in the squad to cope without Mckay.  One thing I was surprised about was letting Mckay's cover, Sekajja, go a few weeks before Mckay. To me this reinforces my view that Mckay moving in the window was unexpected.

But it is clearly down to Yogi now to manage the resources he has to ensure we maintain momentum for the rest of the season.  That is how we will judge him, and I, for one, expect him to succeed.

Looking to the future (next season onwards) it is clear that significant effort is required by the club to ensure that at least Meekings and Raven stay. Hopefully Watkins too.  I think

losing two stalwarts from the defence would be an even bigger challenge for us than losing Mckay.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, starting with a good cup win at Partick on Saturday.  See some of you there!

I agree with much of that but I don't think that letting Sekajja go indicated a confidence that Mckay would stay.  There had been a lot of talk about people coming in for Billy and clearly he was being watched.  Despite what were presumably the club's best efforts to get him to sign a new contract, he had not done so.  I think it would have been naive in the extreme for the club to be surprised at Mckay's departure and I don't for one minute think they were.  Sekajja either left because he wanted away or the club did not feel he was good enough to take on the role should Billy leave. 

Europe is over rated anyway. Being mid table is far more exciting and glamourous.

Hope this doesn't smack of desperation (cos it's not ;)) ... but the website below is actually quite an interesting resource.

 

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/

 

Then go to Transfers and Rumours / Transfers / Without Contract 

 

You can do a search for strikers without a contract, search by nationality and order the results by date became available or value etc

 

Apart from Jordan Slew there are some interesting recent releases now available include: Andy Johnson (ex-England international), Rob Earnshaw, Scott McDonald (ex-Celtic, Middlesbrough), Mikkel Beckmann (Denmark), Adama Diomande (Norway), Edson Buddle (US) ...

 

Appreciate wage demands, lack of ICT resources, player's desire (or otherwise!) to live in Highlands ... but one can dream! 

 

We are not Aberdeen but they've picked up some useful players who are ex-big clubs or maybe a bit down on their luck.

 

Apologies if teaching anyone's granny to suck eggs ... must have too much time on my hands :) 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31134390

Antoine-Curier saying he wants to stay in the UK. We could do no worse for 3 months with MAC on a short term deal IMO.

Without meaning to sound like a happy clapper, attracting players and retaining the services of who we would like to see remain at the club would be far easier if we had more fans attending. Replacing Mckay is a big ask - which player realistically is out there who:

A). We could afford and

B). Is a proven goalscorer.

Personally I'd like to see the young players on the fringes get a good run in the first XI

You are aware our development squad is bottom two of their league and frequently on the end of hammerings, sorry but something fills me with dread thinking of letting them loose on the 1st team

ferben1994, I was wondering if you have ever watched the U 20's & if you know anything about the individual players that make up the squad?  My guess is you don't have a clue as if you did you wouldn't make such a ignorant comment.  Let me throw a couple of names at you & maybe you could let me know exactly why you wouldn't let them loose on the 1st team!  Calum Ferguson, Ali Sutherland, Cameron Mackay? Nope, fair play to ya I haven't.

my comment although probably ignorant of individual talent was based purely on stats and reading the reports of others on other forums, so for that am sorry, however it doesn't mask the fact that as a team the development team get horsed most weeks and lie bottom 2 of their league.

from that I would wager that not many are ready for such a massive step up, but, absolutely would love it if I was proved massively incorrect ☺

I'd give Ferg a chance, even when we get horsed he seems to score

It's a very young team this year but there's still good players there. Ferguson, Suntherland and Mackay are in the older age bracket here. Just because results not as good as last year doesn't mean there's no decent players there. Would like to see Calum F get a try in first team.

I'm not overly bothered about not having a recognised striker, I'm more concerned that we secure contracts for our soon to be out of contract players and that we play to our strengths.  To my mind our strength is a lot of good attack minded midfield players and full backs who can all run and can shoot.  I'd like to see us be more positive in taking the game to the opposition with a front three having pretty fluid roles which would upset the defenders and pull them out of position.  Get players into the box and get the full backs to overlap and play low balls in with the likes of Tansey and Shinnie coming behind, exploiting the space created by the runners and looking to shoot from cut backs and half clearances.  Mixing it up a bit up front would make us less predictable and throwing the likes of Fergusson into the mix as well would offer further options for the team as well as giving him a chance to show what he is capable of. 

 

Because we had Billy as a recognised striker we tended to depend too much on him and build our attacking play around him.  Rather than focus on a lone striker, if we can focus more on the collective strengths of the team and encourage others to take more of the responsibility of looking to score, then there is no reason why we can't score plenty.  Watkins, Doran, Christie, Tansey and Ross all have an eye for goal whilst others are perfectly capable of getting in on the act as well. 

 

Goodbye "He scores when he wants".  Hello "They score when they want".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31134390

Antoine-Curier saying he wants to stay in the UK. We could do no worse for 3 months with MAC on a short term deal IMO.

 

 

Although I might take a punt on him to the end of the season, the part of the article that worries me is "Antoine-Curier has played for 18 clubs during his senior career" .... although, to be fair, he has seemed to stay longer at Scottish clubs than elsewhere .... 

 

 

Hope this doesn't smack of desperation (cos it's not ;)) ... but the website below is actually quite an interesting resource.

 

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/

 

Then go to Transfers and Rumours / Transfers / Without Contract 

 

You can do a search for strikers without a contract, search by nationality and order the results by date became available or value etc

 

Apart from Jordan Slew there are some interesting recent releases now available include: Andy Johnson (ex-England international), Rob Earnshaw, Scott McDonald (ex-Celtic, Middlesbrough), Mikkel Beckmann (Denmark), Adama Diomande (Norway), Edson Buddle (US) ...

 

Appreciate wage demands, lack of ICT resources, player's desire (or otherwise!) to live in Highlands ... but one can dream! 

 

We are not Aberdeen but they've picked up some useful players who are ex-big clubs or maybe a bit down on their luck.

 

Apologies if teaching anyone's granny to suck eggs ... must have too much time on my hands :) 

I would take Johnson if we can afford him for a season, if we get past Partick on Saturday we are 3 wins away from lifting a cup.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31134390

Antoine-Curier saying he wants to stay in the UK. We could do no worse for 3 months with MAC on a short term deal IMO.

 

 

Although I might take a punt on him to the end of the season, the part of the article that worries me is "Antoine-Curier has played for 18 clubs during his senior career" .... although, to be fair, he has seemed to stay longer at Scottish clubs than elsewhere .... 

 

 

 

The guy that knocked us back had played for 10 teams no wonder he wanted to stay at his existing club, he must be getting sick of redirecting all the mail. 18 clubs is going some.

Edited February 4, 201511 yr by 12th Man

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31134390

Antoine-Curier saying he wants to stay in the UK. We could do no worse for 3 months with MAC on a short term deal IMO.

 

 

Although I might take a punt on him to the end of the season, the part of the article that worries me is "Antoine-Curier has played for 18 clubs during his senior career" .... although, to be fair, he has seemed to stay longer at Scottish clubs than elsewhere ....

Admittedly, he wouldn't be my first choice as seems like his attitude is honking but for three months if nothing available it wouldn't be so bad.

Scott McDonald remains my first choice but doubt finances would allow it unfortunately.

Would love to see Calum Ferguson get a shout, completely agree with DoofersDad in the fact that we have good attacking midfielders and full backs so if we have a striker like ferg who will run and get into positions the chances will be created for him, why waste a wage on a striker who (going by quite a few of our recent strikers) have taken quite a while to get off the mark, perfect examples Billy Mckay and Adam Rooney. Would also like Ryan Baptie to get a shout at left back as well.

There are dozens of examples of top players starting out in one position and transitioning to a completely different role (Bale, Henry, Ronaldo, Mascherano, Matthaus - just off the top of my head.

Even just looking at our own club - Jim Calder started life as a centre forward, but ended up being one of our best ever goalkeepers. Dennis Wyness started as a midfielder, but ended up being our all time top goal scoring centre forward. Roy McBain started as a winger, but ended up being one of our best ever holding midfielders. Ross Tokely started as a striker, but ended up being one of our best ever right backs. Graeme Shinnie started as a left back, but also excels at right back and central midfield.  

We're too obsessed with categorizing footballers in this country. We have plenty of talented attacking players with pace, skill, vision and an eye for goal - all the attributes required for a centre forward. There's no reason whatsoever why Marley Watkins, Ryan Christie, Aaron Doran, Nick Ross or James Vincent can't play up front. We should focus on footballing ability, not artificial labels. 

Thankfully we have a manager who looks beyond narrow 'specialist' positions and looks to be trying to develop well-rounded footballers with full-spectrum knowledge of the game. I hope he succeeds. Let's give him a chance.

 

 

This was almost an excellent post until you said Roy McBain was one of our best ever holding midfielders!!!   

why waste a wage on a striker who (going by quite a few of our recent strikers) have taken quite a while to get off the mark, perfect examples Billy Mckay and Adam Rooney.

 

Aye, best not sign a striker, in case they turn out to be another Billy Mckay or Adam Rooney! 

The hype over this Ferguson lad is unbelievable ... how many appearances and goals has he scored in the SPFL??  

 

... and he should be thrown in and expected to replace a 20 goal a season striker.. no pressure then!?! When he doesn't meet these expectations I'm sure no one will get on his back like they did with Rory McAllister 

 

We have received a transfer fee for one of our players for once (although undervalued) so the board should have invested this.  Yogi had gone on the record to say he expected to lose McKay and Shinnie so no doubt has handed a list of possible replacements to the board and instead they have used the Mike Ashley approach - pretend to look for replacements to appease the fans and actually do feck all and wait for the clock to run down til it's too late.  

 

Butcher as good as said it last time we missed out on Europe the board believe it will be too expensive so are actively looking to avoid it. I'm sure they think this as having the best interests of the club at heart but it is completely short-sighted 

Harry

 

Do you think that  this would even be contemplated--not to try to get into Europe, I mean?

 

I very much doubt it --I think I heard John Hughes mention the club's ambitions included getting in to Europe...so.....?

 

Would the crowd at Tulloch be sufficient to justify the challenge. Are the gate receipts conjoined from the home and away games and then split down the middle? 

It's a very young team this year but there's still good players there. Ferguson, Suntherland and Mackay are in the older age bracket here. Just because results not as good as last year doesn't mean there's no decent players there. Would like to see Calum F get a try in first team.

What was it Alan Hansen said?

The home team keeps the gate receipts in the Europa League. I'm sure we'd get a big turnout for the first ever European tie in Inverness/Highlands.

 

But, it seems UEFA no longer regionalise the draw, so we could end up with a trip to the likes of Armenia or Azerbaijan - who share a border with Iran, or a trek to Kazakhstan who have a communal land border with China!

Motherwell and St Johnstone were 'hit' last season with unfortunate pairings. Some interesting quotes from the mamagers here:

  

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall believes the Europa League should be regionalised to minimise travel costs for smaller clubs.

The Fir Park side travel to Russia to face Kuban Krasnodar for next Thursday's third qualifying round second leg. St Johnstone have had a similar trip to Belarus for their tie with Minsk.

"To be having to charter planes, it's going to cost more than we're going to receive from the ties," said McCall. "Something that's been put forward is regionalising. Certainly, in the early stages of the Europa League, it makes sense. "I'll just concentrate on the football side of it, but it is a point that we'll possibly be losing money.

 

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright agrees with McCall's concerns and believes that small clubs are being "financially punished" by long-haul Europa League trips. The McDiarmid men flew out to Belarus on Wednesday for Thursday's first leg against Minsk in the city of Grodno, 140 miles west of the former Soviet state's capital, while Minsk's Dinamo Stadium is redeveloped.

Saints chairman Steve Brown has been forced to pay out a £4,500 bill to cover the cost of fast-tracked visas for his squad, while a larger sum will be due after the club had to charter its own plane and then pay to keep the tiny Grodno Airport open until after the game so they can return home.

 

"I know from my time in the Irish League some of the trips that part-time clubs are asked to make and financially it was costly," said Wright. "Getting into Europe should be looked upon as a reward for doing well. But it's as if you're being financially punished because you get some horrendous trips."A lot of the time there is no chance of going through either, because of the clubs you are up against.

"So I do agree with Stuart, it should be regionalised. But then again, we only work in the game, we don't run it." "For the players and the staff, these things don't affect us," he added.

"Would all the hassle it put me off getting to this stage again? No. It might put the chairman off but not me."

Edited February 5, 201511 yr by Sneckboy

Just book a city break on teletext holidays. 50% chance its a place listed.

You would think we were bottom of the league the way a lot of folk on here are speaking. That or we were Billy Mckay FC. He's at Wigan now deal with it. We have goals in the team and we are 3rd because the team got us there not one guy. He doesn't need replaced we need to play to the strengths of the players we have. As for saying the club is actively trying to stop us getting into Europe that is a total joke. And our younger players are in a Development League if I'm not mistaken where individual development is more important than the standings in the league. But aye our club is doomed because we never signed a random below average guy that is deemed to be a striker in a small transfer window just to appease all the Football Manager fans we appear to have.