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I would imagine that if Shinnie does exit in the summer we already have as good a player ready to slot in & re- establish himself. Step forward Nick Ross

Lagerback was linked but he is manager of Iceland at the moment. Strachan's managerial record is pretty decent: - Coventry: Kept them in the Premiership for three seasons, sacked when they got relegated, subsequent evidence suggests that they aren't a Premiership level club. - Southampton: Finished 11th and 8th and got them to the FA Cup final. - Celtic: The first Celtic manager since Jock Stein to win three successive titles. Took Celtic to the knock out stages of the Champions League for the first time and then did the same the next season. He did this against a Rangers side who spent a lot of money and invested heavily during that time. - Middlesborough: Terrible record, just didn't get it right. He was a success at Southampton and Celtic, half-and-half at Coventy and a failure at Middlesborough. He's managed and played at a high level and has a superior record to Levein, who was overpromoted after a semi-decent spell with Hearts, abject failure in England and a good spell at Dundee Utd. One thing that's important is that he'll have a good level of self-confidence and a more natural feel for this level of management than Levein did. Things like 4-6-0 smack to me of 'over-thinking' and a lack of self belief. Strachan knows he's succeeded in England and managed in the Champions League. he's a good motivator and that's important for an international coach. As for him not being a nice person, I think that's often overstated but in any case if he can get the team winning then I doubt people will care whether or not he eats live puppies and votes UKIP. Scotland actually have a decent side at the moment, if we were set up right. We have players competing regularly in the Premiership in a number of positions and a manager who can set the team up well could have success.

No we don't i have heard he is away back down to England. Wanted to move back to where his family are Is this all because they covered his car in post-it notes?

he has had plenty of poor games this season aswell as the match winning ones. might be best for him to sign the best deal he possibly can with anybody. ive said it before but with the league being so tight, we're only a couple of points away from the whole campaign taking on a very a different complectionm. we arent points clear into seocnd by a long shot and only a poor 90 minutes or a goalkeeping howler from being nowhere in the cups. if we have 2/3 bad games in a row, if we play celtic in the league cup final (fingers crossed) and get cuffed 4-0, if killie knock us out of the scottish cup... then suddenly the chat on here about "MIRACLES" etc will explode into a puff of mediocrity and the asking price for our players will correct themselves in line with the overview of the season. the likes of shinnie could be seriously out of pocket if he waits until the summer to see what we can come up with. everything is on a knife edge right now, a memorable season is still on the cards, its just the margin for error is minimal. if there is a contract offer from aberdeen or anybody else for shinnie, knocking back any offer worth more than we can give him is a MASSIVE gamble. he'd be risking about 100k over 2 years on one or two games going our way this year and the hope he can get a bit more in the summer, which is insane. put me in his shoes and its a no brainer, get the pre-contract signed. id expect nothing but 100% commitment from him for the rest of the season regardless of his decision, as would his current team mates, manager and future employers.

Great opportunity to remind everyone of England's 1938 shame!

Pray tell me Alex how do you know how good our youth coaches are? Oddquine is making some really sensible points and you reply with your usual drivel! My count of first team squad players who have come all the way thru our YDP is Laing, Polworth, Ross & Morrison. From my reckoning Shinnie and Sutherland arrived either at U17 or U19 but I stand to be corrected. Any others I have forgotten?

Industrial? Have they got that far yet? This side of the county has, we even have TV. Not so sure of the Wick side though

Lets face it. We cant hold on to our best players forever. If we have done all we can do to try and keep him then so be it, life without Hayes hasnt been so bad we will move on and get someone else. He has the potential to play at a really high level and he has shown what he is capable of during his time here. If he stays then that would be fantastic but at the end of the day he's a young player with high aspirations, he's gonna want to challenge himself at a better level...though it has been a season so far of bucking trends, there is still time to sort something out. If he is to go at the end of the season my only hope is that it isnt purely based on money and that he gives his all for the club as we've got a chance to make a bit of history for the club this season...nothing better than going out on a high.

Oddquine, we have very good youth coaches. We may even have good players at youth level being coached by these good coaches. Unfortunately, and partly due to our relegation, there is a big gap in age groups. We haven't had the talent come through, in the last season or two, that could do a first team job. Coaches can teach the laws of the game, they can teach how to play the game, they can nurture talent but they cant produce the talent. That is something born into the individual and if it isn't there then it can't come through. I do think you should take a good look at our first team squad and count the number of players that have come through our youth system. Approx 30% of the current squad came through our youth system. I'd say thats a pretty good reflection of what we do. It is a rule of membership of SPL that we must have a U-20 team. Prior to this season that league was U-19. Prior to that it was a U-21 / reserve league. There is no reserve league so we need to field eligible first team players to give them match experience.

Do these "nat hats" come pre-fitted with rose tinted glasses? Anyway, your broadcasting idea would breach EU laws.

Initially huge respect to both Chris Hogg for fighting to this level of recovery and to the club fer sticking by him. Unfortunately it may be a case of easing him in with hope that he returns to his previous self. If he doesnt then at least we have witnessed the "battle" of a clearly very determined young man - that places himself in a legendary status to me. My wish would initially just be to see him on the pitch in a first team shirt again, even if it was a 89th minute cameo appearance. With such injuries a return to the hurly burly of the SPL is hugely doubtful but lets hope that he has a few more seasons under his belt at a lower level left at least. As fer Cooper - he is a child fer fecks sake - he is learning and has coped fairly well fer being chucked in at the deep end. We dont have that much spondoolachs and he is an excellent cover player. I was really impressed with his performances in pre season.

Glad to see him making real progress as been a long haul for him and his family. As for the OP regarding Matty Cooper well I can only assume that this person didnt have to learn their job. Matty is a young man learning his trade and as such should be given a chance.

Without having access to the full article (and I refuse to pay 60p for the privilege) then it's impossible to tell if there's any substance to the story or if it's just a bored journalist making something from nothing in order to fill some column inches.

So the under 20 team consisted of 4 (as far as I can see) over 20 first team signed players, plus Laing who, as far as I can ascertain, is signed to the first team, (going by the Courier blurb when he signed) earning appropriate wages and Cooper who has been benched and has played for the first team, even if ICT may not yet have upped his wages. Devine and Roberts are imports from England,..so of the players in the under 20 team....only Skinner, Watson and Ferguson are homegrown ICT youth players...and the only ones, (apart from Devine who has been here ten minutes) with no first team experience. Heck that bloke with the funny name we don't appear to have signed got more games for the under-20s than most of our own youth players. So excuse me if I am being logical here....but was the whole idea of the under 20 set up not to give a cross between allowing up to four over 20 (first team ) players (not an obligatory four over 20s) to get match practice after injury etc and the eligible players in the youth system to get accustomed to playing against older, more experienced players, given the lack of a proper reserve league and nothing but the under-20s at a level above the under-17s? If what ICT is producing is a reserve team-lite...what do the other seven of the signed under 20s do..twiddle their thumbs every week, because there is nowhere for them to get a competitive game? If we are so hard up for cash....why bother with an expensive youth system at all, when we can do as we have been doing over the last couple or so seasons, taking kids from other clubs, not playing those we have been raising from the age of nine or ten and just punting them at the end of the season? Why are we paying out for what appears to be crap coaches raising players the ICT management appears to think are crap?

Interesting (and perhaps somewhat encouraging) to hear that this might not be the only new signing in this transfer window according to Butcher in his interview last week. In all positions, I'd say that there's cover all over the pitch, even with players ready to step up the mark if the likes of McKay et al were to get injured. The only area I would say that some cover is needed (and this is where the Arsenal link might come in handy) is at left back. With the loss of Brislen-Hall and the punting of Blackman, you've got to wonder what would happen if Graeme Shinnie at left-back. Warren can apparently play anywhere across the defence, but I think something would be lost if he wasn't in the centre. I don't think I'd fancy seeing Raven or Meekings drafted in there. Simon King may be option as he's left footed but he seems to have disappeared into thin air! All in all, I think a back-up left back is needed.

Hey there?

Speaking as an Englishman, I would say that English players would far rather face a Scotland team led out onto the park by Levein than one led onto the park by Strachan. Scotland is too small a country to have a team of top quality players but it can have a top quality team. One of the key ingredients of that is passion. Not only does Strachan have that, he can transmit that to his players. I think he's the man for the job.

According to wiki Michael Mcintyre is funny...

I've taught Ryan Jack and Cammy Smith at their respective secondary schools and have taken in quite a few of their youth games. Cammy is light years ahead of Ryan in terms of ability and attitude. He will definitely end up playing for Scotland IMO...

I've not seen Laurence play so can't make an objective comparison. However, I'm very happy to have such a talented youngster as Roberts in the squad.

oh appologies for not being an expert on birmingham folks!

No feud at all. Here's the unpleasant email I sent. It was a response to outlandish comments you were making on Scottish Independence. My point stands. You are asad person with a real chip on your shoulder.

If one or two of the guys are interested in building the current stats segment then I'd be inclined to give them the power. I would,however, ask that they use spell checkers and good grammar and make sure the profiles look professional. The Wikipedia ICT page looks like parts of it have been written by a barbary monkey on acid.

Was in today getting 22 tickets and was told we have sold just over 1200 so far . Unless there is a big surge in the next week and a half we could go down with a support far less than our team and management deserve . The club have done virtually nothing to sell the match to people who do not attend matches on a regular basis . Surely we should be on Moray Firth radio trying to encourage the local community to support the club as it tries to make history !!!!!! When our neighbours county were in their semi there was non stop coverage on both the radio and the local press ,which resulted in a fantastic response .