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Can you explain the logic in signing OTJ then? His injury record is every bit as bad if not worse. If the truth be told, aside from his one major injury at Liverpool GMS has played approximately 50 games over the past two seasons! Hardly injury prone? My worry is clear: TB does not value players like GMS as they do not fit into his preferred playing mode. I like players like GMS because they play the game the way it should be. I will pay good money to watch players like this. I will pay nothing to watch hit and hope football. I am not alone.

I could come on here and criticise all the players for the performance last night but that for me wasnt the biggest worry for me. The biggest worries i have of last night was the 'tactics' and 'personnel' chosen by the manager. I agree it must have been difficult to change things after putting on a good first half display at Aberdeen however we were playing a largely average Aberdeen side and it is clear to see that St Johnstone are playing well this season and may require a different approach. Whether we have a scouting system in place that analyses oppositions' normal tactics i dont know but it our tactics did not work last night. It was clear to anyone there last night that lumping high balls to a small forward was not working, this doesnt work ever, so why on earth were we happy to persist with it! Our midfield didnt gel at all last night. Tansey came here as an attacking midfielder who can score goals but he constantly plays deep and to be honest his set-pieces and shooting have been very poor of late. Foran started very well in his new role as a holding midfielder however with Tansey and OTJ basically playing the same role do we really need 3 holding midfielders? Where is the creativity? Set pieces were a shambles last night, do were practice them in training? All we did was lump the ball into the box and hope for the best Sutherland and Tade are wasted out on the wings and by the time Terry saw fit to change it, it was too late and his decision to put Tansey at right midfield was a strange one. We really need players like Hayes and Doran back to have any success on the wings Playing McKay up front alone was a risk and playing high balls to him was lunacy however on the rare occasion he got the ball to him, in space, in the box, he did very well and looked capable of creating something. It didnt happen often enough though I have to say last night left feeling really really disheartened and i havent felt this low about watching Caley in a long time. I dont get to many away games through other commitments and costs and i can honestly say i cannot remember the last time i left TCS thinking we played good football, were spot on tactically and i have optimism for the future. It seems on the rare occasion we play good football we are away from homee and youve got to ask why, i cant for the life of me understand why Bring on next season, get some new players in, dead wood out and start again

Rossco has to stay!! We are running seriously short of players who play with the traditional, true Caley Thistle spirit - and who play for the jersey.

Dear oh dear i must admit i saw this coming, excluding the run we went on in January we seem to have this habbit of being S**t after winning a game. Another game, another gifted goal for the oppostition. Not an OG tonight but instead a penalty. People think it was soft but for me Tade didnt have to be anywhere near the box, i dont think Craig was getting to the ball anyway and it just summed up Tade's performance tonight which was arguably his worst for the club. We huffed, puffed but just couldnt blow St Johnstones defence down but at the same time we were passing the ball to ghosts that only ICT players seemed to be able to see and when we did we spurned whatever chances came our way. Tade being the most guilty, the goal was gaping and he scuffed it wide, im sorry but my right foot is just for putting the other boot on and i still could have scored that. What was really frustrating for me though was that St Johnstone weren't even at their best tonight, one shot on target all game, which was their spot-kick. They had players like Croft and Sandaza out there who were easing through this game and it seemed that the best we could muster was a few passes that would eventually lead to nothing. One player who evades criticism tonight is Billy McKay who for me was awesome. He ran his little heart out, chasing long balls, chasing lost causes, trying to carve out chances for himself and team mates and doing his best against a strong defence and was probably the only player out there tonight for our side that could have been referred to as a threat. When Claude Gnakpa came on i feared the worst but in about 5 minutes he managed carve out a beautiful cross that Foran nearly got on the end of and a wonderful strike that clipped the bar in the last minute. If he would just put a bit more effort into his overall effort in a game he could be a good player. We HAVE to pick ourselves up for the Hibs game now, we have and will have no more games in hand now and need to keep as much distance between ourselves and the scrap for the drop as possible, i dread the idea of looking over our shoulders after the fixtures split. Boys you know you are better than this so start showing it!!!

Ach, where do you start with that rubbish. We look so highland league it's unreal. Tade and Sutherland were as guilty as hell of not bringing the ball under control quickly enough. Tudur-Jones can think again if he wants a contract, he was going through the motions and is Piermayr a footballer. We had no midfield and wee Jodie Morris showed everybody how it's done, able to put his foot on the ball and find one of his own players with the ball. We simply could not string more than two passes together, absolutely pathetic. Terry needs to get his finger out if he wants to keep his job. Wrong players on the park were easy enough for 3000 people to spot, but the bold Terence again leaves it too late before replacing the headless ones. We are struggling for quality, simple as that and it won't be Butcher that keeps us up, it will be Dunfermline. I am a big fan of Butcher, but he seems unable or unwilling to change the pattern when things are obviously going tits up. On the bright side. Rossco played his heart out and Shinnie tried hard. Golobart got stuck in and did reasonably well and it was only half price admission. Apart from that, there was no bright side. Hugely disappointing result, but not unexpected, just sums up our lack of invention really.

It's quite clear from that game, Sutherland is not a winger FACT. McKay is not a lone frontman FACT. Tade is just a striker, not a wing man FACT. Countless long balls to a slight 5"7 striker, up against two 6"+ centre-backs is just not going to work FACT. And if things continue like this next season, then we're going to be in for a tough time. Oh, and Tokely must stay FACT!!!

Telford Street Park was a 5 minute walk from my house when I was a bairn. Obvious really!

And he had a terrible injury record. So bad that when he played one non-competitive game (which he wasn't even able to finish), he was then out for months. Depsite this, ICT still offered him a pay-as-you-play contract. GMS was so hesitant about his ability to play any significant amount of games, that he turned us down. He had no interest, we must assume, for any team in the SPL and SFL1 to end up at Airdrie. If we had signed him, he would probably have been in the treatment room and recupuration for most of the season. He'd then be coming back towards the end of a one-year contract with possibly some fine performances. I then suspect he'd reward that faith in him with a 'next season down in england or even at the old firm'. ICT saw the talent. Saw the injury record (that was ongoing) but were still prepared to offer him a chance at SPL football by a play/pay contract to prove his fitness. It was absolutely the correct decision. maybe so but we still lost the most exciting player to emerge in scotland for some time. superb winger with pace to burn, has a trick to pass players - just ask dave mackay at sj, who also delivers excellent crosses. listning to radio on saturdays no one talks about his injuries just the boy is pure class. if we had taken a chance on him we probably would not have kept him past the winter transfer window anyway. wait and see what he goes for when the bigger clubs start calling du but six months of watching him on the wing or the crap i have watched this seaon. hmmmm let me think about that for a second

People were saying this about tokely in just about every league we've played in. Rosscoe will live forever!

I heard he stole Terry's Choc-Ice. Wouldn't have been too bad, but it was a Neapolitan Dark Chocolate one and they're Terry's absolute favourites....and it was the last one...and it was on the hottest day this week!!!

that for me is an excellent suggestion. I think if you relieve some of the defensive duties asked of Tansey then he has more scope to get forward and link the defence to attack. Tansey and Ross in the midfield in front of Jones would be hugely more creative than having three deep central midfielders IMO

Long ball is a style that's worked for many clubs. It's not simply a matter of not trusting players, just a tactic. People like Ruud Gullit and Glenn Hoddle would regularly, and would be lauded, for making the long ball. The difference was that they were usually at an unexpected moment and absolutely spot on. That said, I think a midfield that can bring in Jones, Tansey, Ross and Foran (leaving aside the wingers and the injured) is actually at it's best when playing the passing game. None of them are really the 100mph engine players that Terry wants them to be. Building from Jones at the back, with Tansey and Ross passing up to the wings is the way to go.

A bit of perspective is required. Yes, it was poor and the points regarding the overall lack of quality are accurate. Unfortunately we are in the business of looking for free signings and paying low wages - this does not add up to the ability to simply make simple changes. In terms of Butcher, the biggest problem that he seemed lost as to how to change things in the second half. That said, we simply do not have any 'impact' players on the bench who can fundimentally change the type of game we play (the two who could are both currently injured). The defense as a whole were pretty solid. TJ as expected after being out for 6 months ran out of steam after an hour, however he is one of the few players who doesn't panic when people come near him and can pass to within 20m of a team mate (when they are only 20m away!). Tansey - I'm afraid he is one of the most 'ordinary' players I have ever seen for a while. Never has a poor game, but then rarely seems to have a good game. Came hear as a 'goal scoring' midfielder you will recall The main difference last night can be summarised as the difference between top six and bottom six teams (we are clearly the latter at the moment). We have two gold plated chances and can't even shoot without tripping over the ball. They get a sniff from a penalty and win the game. Unless we get a serious amount of money from somewhere (which we won't) we have to look to build a team over a few seasons and hopefully develop our own players to augment this. This is year 1 of the development and there are some changes to be made over the summer, however to maintain perspective, we were not played off the park and we did in fact have clear chances in the first half to win the game.

Butcher has got into the habit recently of getting into arguments with members of the crowd behind his dugout. I get the distinct feeling that his failure to make a change for so long was sheer bloody-mindedness at the fact that everyone in the ten rows behind him kept pointing out that substitutions were needed!

Poor display, but even poorer management. I'm probably the umpteenth person to say it, but I'll say it nonetheless as it's obvious to all us fans - Mackay is by no means a lone striker and our system was horrifically unfair to him (1x 5'7 attacker vs 2/3/4 6'+ defenders only ever has one winner, despite Billy's absolute best efforts), Tansey's starting berth begs belief and Tade and Sutherland don't work out wide. Tade is very much a form player and it was apparent from early on that nothing was going his way and he needed subbed, yet Ross was kept on bench till too late (not the type of guy to instantly turn a game) and Winnall bizarrely never got near the pitch, yet Gnapka got a run out. Not one did I see TB or MM encourage the team, all the screaming did was instill more fear in the players. Fair play to those on the pitch, didnt see Foran do his usual turn-on-teammates stuff, and amazingly Tokely and Golabart didn't have a bust up after a crigeworthy mess on second half. Tokely most obvious MoM in a longtime, passmarks to Shinnie too.

tokely mckay golobart

lets start from the back. tuffey- had nothing to do one save and one penalty. not stressed at all thanks too.... ....tokely and golobart who look to be a partnership and a half back there. shinnie and piermayr for me were decent at the back but going forward nothing worked the midfeild which wasnt strong enough got dominated foran and tansey couldnt get the ball jones done well but when your playing a midfeild 3 then all 3 of them have to work together i thought theyd continue in the same vein as saturday obviously i was wrong. they had no outlets. no width was give tade- lost confidence early on and nothing he done worked sutherland- not a winger. simple as that mckay put in one of his best performances of the season for me which we seem to be saying every week now. he put in a shift held up the ball, everything he done worked which couldnt be said for most the team. we had 2 shots on target to st johnstones 1 which wasnt till the 70+ minutes (not including the penalty obviously). now the penalty. WARNING: ranting :WARNING . if we dont get them no one should and we havnt fecking got 1 this season. any chance of some consistency referees! its been over a fecking year now. this is something that was a bit of a joke at first but now its gone beyond that its got to the point where its sickening. we had no shouts for a penalty tonight but what annoys me is the fact that the first shout for a penalty they had tonight they got when weve had at least 15 shouts in the last year and not got one. it doesnt take a genious to watch a game and tell when theres a foul in the box or not especially when you a fecking asistent in your ear for 90 minutes ''helping'' you and i use the term helping lightly as it seems to me that assistant refs have absolutely no balls about them in this country. its a joke rant over. tonight i felt we looked like a team with nothing to play for and im certain that butcher will knock it out of them (possibly literally) and itll get better from tonight to the end of the season.

After thinking for a while, I've managed to come up with 3 positives from that game... - Tokely was flipping brilliant - Tuffey looked assured in goal again - It was a nice night and I got some fresh air Everything else was absolutely dreadful. The penalty looked soft to me, and I thought the ref had a poor game, but I don't think we warranted anything from the match. It's particularly frustrating as St J weren't particularly special, but they kept the ball, looked organized and always posed a goal threat. I thoroughly dislike Sandaza (surely he should have got a second yellow for that dive/deliberate handball combo?) but I'd kill to have him in our team. How come they could get him and Sheridan, and we've only got the willing but goalshy McKay - who spurned three excellent chances tonight - and bloody Tade, who was trying in more than one sense of the word tonight. After he missed that early sitter he could do nothing right. I felt we were second best in every area from the off - it was as if that tremendous performance at Pittodrie had never happened. Our midfield, so good against Aberdeen, was rank rotten. I've been a big champion of Jones, but he was far too slow and kept getting dispossessed. Why Tansey gets a game is beyond me. Foran has the right attitude, but not the quality - you could say the same of Sutherland as well. I suppose our defence is at least a bit more solid, though Piermayr kept giving the ball away. Shinnie had a hard time in the first half but certainly improved in the second. This is another game which could be used in evidence against our management. Lomas had done his homework - press us high up the pitch and we quickly revert to punting high balls at McKay. Yet it was 70 minutes before Butcher made a sub - and 10 minutes before that he changed to 4-4-2, sticking Tansey on the right wing, which seemed to make us even worse. Too many times this season the tactics have been wrong, and by the time the manager changes them it's too late. Anyway, after being briefly perked up by last weekend's result, I am descending back into depression. I've a 1 litre tub of Mackies Honeycomb Ice Cream in the freezer that's going to get demolished tonight...

For the love of the wee man our passing has been abysmal!

Chick Young has just mentioned Tudor Jones has ACCEPTED a new contract with ICT.

And if we can't manage that we could always follow the example of the FC Magdeburg fans who felt the need to show their misfiring forwards where the goal is!

I'd rather see St Mirren go down - Paisley is a tragic away day experience. Pity we're going to lose one of the east coast teams. Especially Dunfermline - the bridies = nom.

I have to say that because we were given a bit more freedom yesterday by the stewards i thought that was the best away day ive been at all season in terms of atmosphere. The way we wheeled the team home towards the end with constant singing put the hairs up on the back of my neck. It meant alot to the players and TB, that was clearly evident. Oh and the fact you could still hear us at full time on Alba through their TV adverts shows we can be well heard, you can only project that kind of noise if your standing up, so i think the stewards deserve a bit of credit for simply leaving us be, even if its taken them forever to do so.