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Today was the first chance that I've had to see ICT since the end of last season and i'm impressed by the progression being made to adapt to Yogi's philosophy and style. We started off as shown below with Vincent, Christie and Williams often moving into each other positions to give us a fluid formation. This worked a treat as the players looked comfortable moving with each other and Hamilton found it hard to pick up the players as they dragged the defenders out of their positions. The most pleasing aspect of this for me was that when we did lose the ball, we quickly regained our 4-2-3-1 shape which we know is hard to break down. Starting formation Brill Raven Meekings Warren Shinnie Draper Tansey Vincent Christie Williams Mckay Meekings and Warren both seem to have developed a better understanding of what Yogi is trying to do and they were both more than happy to have the ball and pass it across the back four and at the right times, playing it into Tansey and Draper who were always dropping deep to ask for the ball. Raven and Shinnie played noticeably higher up the pitch (which suits them both) almost as wing-backs which pinned the Hamilton wingers back and allowed the centre halves time on the ball. This was particularly noticeable from goal kicks when the below formations was adopted. The ball was very rarely punted long due to Meekings and Warren splitting to the side of the box and allowing Tansey/Draper to drop deep and receive the ball. Occasionally, Christie came deep to pick up the ball with Vincent and Williams dropping inside. This allowed space for Raven and Shinnie to get up the wing. From Goal Kicks Brill Meekings Tansey Warren Raven Shinnie Draper Christie Vincent Mckay Williams One of my worries with Yogi has been the lack of a 'Plan B' however, there was definitely a change of style once the subs (in particular Watkins and Doran) were brought on today. Although possession was still the main focus, the supporting three stuck to their positions, provided width and we saw the end of the inter changing positions. Although this isn't a change of formation I'd certainly class it as a 'Plan B' and it fills me with confidence that we seem to have more than one system. Introduction of Watkins, Doran & Ross Brill Raven Meekings Warren Shinnie Draper Tansey Watkins Ross Doran Mckay Overall, impressive performance today but there is a long way to go and still a lot of work to be done. Hamilton were very poor today and against a stronger team we may need to raise the speed of our forward play. The key to this style of play is patience and realising that when we choose to go back to the keeper, rather than go forward, we are choosing to place a higher emphasis on possession to stop the opposition having the ball. We killed the game today by keeping the ball which worked a treat. Today was great to watch and the players looked delighted at full time and long may it continue. Top 6 and cup final is still very much achievable. Bring on Dundee

Would also just like to point out that the blonde selling refreshments was FIT!!! Definately a 7/10

Celtic: weaker Motherwell: weaker Aberdeen: stronger Dundee United: weaker ICT: no change St Johnstone: weaker Ross County: unknown but probably weaker St Mirren: probably a little weaker but nothing too different Kilmarnock: weaker Partick: around the same Dundee have signed well but I'd rather face Hamilton than Hearts. It's definitely a weaker league.

Fixed.

That was enjoyable. We played some nice stuff at times today, with Christie, Williams and McKay linking up well in attack, Shinnie breaking forward dangerously and and Tansey dictating things from the base of midfield. It undoubtedly helped that we seemed to be gifted a goal so early on though - I didn't really see what happened beforehand, but all of a sudden McKay was on his own at the corner of the box and was able to lob McGovern neatly. Towards the end of the first half and for the first 15-20 minutes of the second the inventiveness went out of our play a bit and Hamilton had a bit more of the game, but Marley Watkins coming on swung the momentum back to us - he looked really up for it and threatened a few times, most notably when, after cutting in from the right, he almost scored with a wicked shot that McGovern did well to touch onto the bar. I'd like to see him start against Dundee, possibly instead of Vincent who was the least effective of our attacking midfielders, but if not, he's certainly a great impact player to have. Doran was much less effective when he came on and still looks like he's carrying a bit of excess summer weight. Encouraging stuff then, but Accies were probably the ideal opening team for us - they looked nervous, gave the ball away too easily and also didn't really take advantage by pressing the ball when we were playing all the languid possession stuff. A more experienced team, more familiar with our players, would probably have managed to capitalise on that period where our level dropped more effectively, and that way losing control of games lies. Presumably the players and management will be mindful of that in future games though. Someone I was with at the game mentioned that today was a bit reminiscent of our first ever SPL game, when we were easily beaten by a pretty efficient and experienced Livingston team, and I reckon it'll take a few games before we get a proper gauge of how we're going to match up in the league this year. Incidentally, the Hamilton Young Team trying to noise up some Canadian children's sports team at Hamilton West post-match was the most embarrassing thing I have ever seen. What a sorry bunch.

Just want to say a big thank-u to MFR for their match coverage yesterday. Excellent commentary, and not having to listen to OAM on Saturdays will do my blood pressure a world of good this season...

That promotion flag at the start is from 2008!

It's not just the teams that have been swapped out though, there have been some quality players leave the top league already, potentially weakening several sides. Kris Boyd, Shaun Hutchison, Ryan Gauld, Andy Robertson, Fraser Forster, Georgios Samaras and Stevie May to name a few. So personally, I think in general it is a bit weaker. I reckon only Dundee over the course of the season will prove to be better than the two Edinburgh teams that went down.

....that is all.

Ryan Christie is undoubtadly one of the brightest prospects playing in the SPFL just now - his and Mckay's link up play today was superb. Hope we can hold on to him for a few more years. He certainly has the potential to do what Ryan Guald has done

10th or better. I used to be 11th or better but the play offs threat has raised my expectations..

Pot, kettle, black.

Despite being generally underwhelmed by JH's tenure so far (with the exception of keeping the squad together and signing new deals) if our next 75 halves of football are just like that one I'll start the fund to build a statue in his honour.

Not going to judge Hughes till I've seen how things pan out this season but I have my own interpretation on the quoted statement. One that could just as easily have been misquoted for press sensationalism. "I'm a great believer in that you'll always finish where you deserve to finish and I think we'll win more games than we lose next season. "If we stay up then we'll be happy and anything else is a bonus. That's playing down our chances, we'll let everyone else tell everyone what they're going to do." The statement in bold is one I've heard our fans say on more than one occassion in the past so lets say that Hughes actually said ---- I've heard people say if we stay up then we'll be happy and anything else is a bonus but thats playing down our chances. Lets all give the guy a chance and judge him on results at Inverness and not on results at other clubs.

I heard Yogi had a sausage roll at lunch the other day. Surely the f*ck*r now owes Morrissey an apology. Does anyone know what colour shoes he'll be wearing on Saturday? I'd like to have a moan about this too. It's only right. We, the fans, deserve better.

He hasn't come across as badly as some make out. Obviously he's nowhere near as eloquent, charismatic or funny as Terry Butcher - but which Scottish manager is? Whilst some of Hughes remarks (water kills the plant, workmans tools, honest lads) are facepalm-worthy. His positive, cheerful demeanour is actually quite endearing.

Are you seriously suggesting that if he said the things you mention, it would encourage more people to attend matches. In my opinion, the people of Inverness just do not want to come out in numbers to support the team each week. Even when we were plating really attractive football, scoring goals and at the top of the league at the start of last season, the crowds did not pick up. Unless people start coming along on a more regualr basis, we will have more seasons outwiith the top 6 than within down to purely financial issues that could be helped if more supporters came through the gates.

Im sorry but this is turning into a witch hunt of Hughes. The majority have been against his appointment and then since then anything that he can be criticised about they have got there teeth stuck in. So what if he says that a lot of people said the same thing before last season who assumed our first finish in the top 6 was a one off. Im sure Hughes knows we are capable of better and I remember him saying he wants to take us back to the final after last years so i'm sure he does have greater ambitions.

We've been top 6 for 2 seasons in a row, have kept the squad intact with the younger players improving all the time, and the calibre of our opponents is weaker than ever. If we aren't top 6 again, we most definitely have the wrong manager in place.

50% of takings for a potential match at Ibrox plus TV revenue, a nice early boost to the kitty.

You just described Ryan Christie. So John Hughes is doing his transfer business right then? He hasn't had to do any transfer business to get right or wrong. I take faith from the fact that a good number of players have signed extensions since he arrived (and I suspect more will) and if/when we have need to replace players then he can be judged on how that goes. Our squad is small, but it's fairly versatile. There's good argument for a second experienced striker, but can we afford to have that and either them or Billy passing time sitting on the bench? If we could, then I imagine we'd have brought someone in already.