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Appreciate that football is a matter of opinion but .............. Ryan Esson is recognised by many as being in the top five Scottish keepers playing at the moment. Not that long ago he was under serious consideration for the national squad and posters on here were very critical of his exclusion. Now, for no apparent reason other than 'fancy a change' some want to replace him 'as it might make a difference'. Come on guys, this isn't Championship Manager! Quite clear to me that the one area we definitely don't have to worry about or change is our keeper. But if (in the unlikely event that) Terry does chose to follow your advice, I would expect Ryan to be banging his door and seeking a move in January. And he would be right. Let's focus on issues not perception.

So the logic for dropping Esson is not that he has played badly but that a new keeper may make the difference between having a clean sheet or not. How is Tuffey meant to improve the communication for the defence when he has hardly played!. Unbelievable.

How would that be any different than what happened with the likes of Rooney and Cowie? We are never going to be able to hold on to our best players forever. If a player leaves we replace them, thats the way its always worked and that will never change. And dipping into the loan market this season was out of necessity with all the injuries we had at the start of the season.

It's funny what a good voice on the radio will do! I remember a few years ago, Brewster got rid of Barry Wilson and Dennis Wyness and he was absolutely crucified on here. Now, Wilson I agree maybe had a bit more to give, but Wyness was injury prone and had been past it for the best part of three years! Munro and Duncan are essentially in the primes of their career for the positions they play, unlike Wyness and Wilson who were on the way out (at least Wilson was replaced by Morais!). I wonder if it had been Butcher who'd gotten rid of these two, then the attitude would be different? You can't always replace experience with youth, it doesn't work like that. Have you ever seen Meekings at centre-back? No, neither have I. Has Terry even? He might be a good full back but rubbish at centre-half for all we know. Sitting bottom of the league, nah it doesn't matter! And so will his. But to put it in perspective, Wyness's time had come to an end. Wilson's time was coming to an end. McBain's time had come to an end. Golabek's time ended years ago. Duncan and more importantly Munro's time wasn't over. They had much more to give and wanted to give it - and you know it. i just think more backing needs to be given to butcher by fans on this forum instead of looking at the 2 players he got rid of look at the likes of meekings, a.shinnie, piermayr, tansey, and tade, who have all done well for us so far, munro on his own would not keep us off the bottom of the league no 1 player can have that much of an effect its a team sport munro was 3rd choice centre back at the end of last season, he isnt as much of a loss as people are making out i just want to move on from this whole subject, its getting old. its a new dawn at tcs and its time to look forward and not back

There's 10 players I would drop before dropping Esson, He is not the weakest link. This literally would be change for changes sake and extremely unfair on him.

TBH I think Butcher gets a great deal of backing from people on this forum and that us ICT fans on the whole have been more understanding and patient than fans of many other teams would be in a similar situation so I really don't see your issue there. However you can't say that you should back a manager with blind faith and agree with everything they do, unless of course that's your genuine view. Some people might disagree with substitutions, team selection, formation, signings etc that doesn't necessarily that they hate Butcher and everything he does. Dunno if you are still at School/College/Uni or out in the working world but just because someone's the gaffer doesn't mean their always right, trust me. Surely some people can look at the evidence so far this season - the results and say well maybe he should have done (and do) this and that? IMO out of the signings you mention a couple look good, a couple look mediocre and one I just canne decide WTF I think. If you are tired of the subject and wanna move on save your energy and just stop posting (on that particular topic, not everything obviously lol)! As for a 'new dawn' I'll wait till we start racking up points and stop propping up the table before I start buying into anything close to that!! I suppose though 'It's always darkest before the dawn' :biggrin:

This whole debate about Munro and Duncan is dragging out far too long, but i'll get involved lol I hear people going on about ten players leaving etc. How many were influential in getting us to 7th? Certainly not Golly or McBain last season. Three players that played most weeks were Rooney, Munro, Duff. Duff has been replaced in Meekings Rooney was always going to be hard to replace, but Tade is starting to score and show his worth Munro probably should still be there but on paper having Hogg and Tokely in the middle ain't bad! Duncan: Well he didn't actually play much last season. He was on the bench most weeks which seems to have been forgotten! Plus, we have an excellent midfield on paper. I'd say Cox is the heir to Duncans position. Tansey can be seen as a replacement to Duncan. Most people rate Tansey as well. I've heard people saying things like Butcher 'cut too hard in the summer'. He had no control over Rooney, Duff didn't look like ever signing, McBain and Golly had to go. Sanchez hardly featured, Duncan didn't feature much last season. Odihambo blew hot and cold (more cold) We can't keep a team full of substitutes. If Munro had been kept, would we be say top 6 right now? Probably not. Terrys building with the likes of Meekings and Tansey. If we can start to climb, then the future looks great. Also, remember, with the defensive injuries we've had, the back 4 haven't been settled. If we can keep the same back 4 for the next few games, I am sure they will find consistency.

Esson Meekings, Tokely, Hogg, Gillet Davis, Tansey Hayes, A Shinnie, Foran Tade Subs: Tuffey, Piermayr, G Shinnie, Cox, Ross, Sutherland, McKay

Munro is better than Hogg, Duncan is better than Tansey. Even more of a reason why he should of been kept then. So has Munro!

It'll be even worse next season if the current trend keeps up. Make of this what you will, but I have been very reliably informed that Butcher's hit-list ain't over yet. He got rid of Duncan, he got rid of Munro, there's one more left. munro for hogg duncan for tansey i dont see what butchers done wrong there duncan wasnt exactly a mainstay last season he played his fair share but he wasnt vital to our season munro in january was replaced by hogg our squad would look stronger with munro in it without a doubt but he wouldnt start every game he would be a fill in centre back for hogg or tokely which we could of done with because of our injuries but what could butcher do about that he isnt psycic munros a valuable part of our past but its time to look forward as for the one left i asume this is tokely and i believe this is bulls**t why would butcher get rid of the only player that has played 90% of the games hes been in charge of unmoved the whole 3 years almost tokelys been the most consistent performer of of butchers reign in charge. come the end of the season i believe tokely will be getting offered a new contract but i also believe it will be his last 1 or 2 years i dont know. thats just what i think but we can speculate what we want but its butchers team and i believe hes the man for the job

http://ictfc.com/news/team-news/288-injury-duo-and-butcher-blast?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ictfc%2Ffeed+%28ICTFC+Official+Feed%29&utm_content=FaceBook I'm not the only one sick of no clean sheets who's the only one really who's not been changed?