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Dear oh dear, someone's in a bad mood and you can tell someone's really raging when they right in capital letters! Of course, not everyone brought in by Butcher/Marsella was a success. Claude Gnakpa, Curtis Allen, Tom Aldred, Philip Roberts, Jordon Gibbons, Andre Blackman to name just a few. Sekajja and Horner were brought into be squad cover and that's all. It's unfair to slate Hughes on his signings just yet, when under his reign, we haven't really needed anyone who'd be a first team starter. Let's see where we are next season before we really cast judgement over that part of his management. Marsella's at Grimsby now by the way...

Can SeVco afford the wages he is on at SeVco???

We do have a very (comparatively) young/inexperienced "development" squad (over half of them having just made the step up) and this season is being viewed as being thrown in at the deep end and results aren't the be all. The numbers, in terms of squad size, are also not as high as they have been in the past (14 players if my count is right). I believe most of the development squad are local...and whilst he is technically a local, Ferg is the only non-Scottish player in there (as per FIFA Eligibility rules he's currently Canadian)...so that's a good thing. As I understand it, there's progression planning in place in regards to how the Development Squad are set up/train etc and how the first team do things (I think they also train together sometimes as well). Yogi attends all the home Dev League matches (as do other coaches and a good few of the first team squad) and provides "feedback" from the stand during games, so in that regard he's hands on.

Ched Evans is still available - actually best not, cos 60,000 of our 3,000 fans would be in uproar!

Given that we were going to lose Mckay for nowt in the summer anyway, £150,000 seems about fair - it's the equivalent of finishing one position lower in the league than we are now. We only got £50,000 for Don Cowie in a similar situation 5 years ago. The chairman's comments seem to imply that we'll be bringing in a replacement, possibly with some of the money. Let's face it, Wigan are a much bigger club than us; given that it isn't a derisory sum, it'd be unfair to deny him this opportunity to prove himself at Championship level. There's no question he's a huge loss though. Anyone who thinks he was 'over-rated' or 'not that good' is deluding themselves. Like all but the most elite strikers, he had lean spells in front of goal, but his movement off the ball was always terrific and his link-up play is excellent. His poorest spells for us - his first season, and the second half of last season - came because we weren't getting the ball to him at all. I'd claim that Mckay is currently the best striker in Scottish football not employed by Celtic (maybe with the exception of Adam Rooney). Is he good enough for the English Championship? The jury's out - defenders will be quicker and stronger than in Scotland. But he deserves to have a crack at it. Good luck to him.

£150k is a joke if that is the actual sum agreed. His goal scoring record is second to none over the last 4 years and he is an international player at age 25, who has played at a club consistently top 6 and cup finalists. I understand the club not wanting to stand in his way but his contribution to get us higher up the league and a potential euro place would easiliy equal more than the above fee... if not in monetary terms but in historical terms for puting our club amongst European elite, potential increase to fan base etc. etc. Some of you need a reality check if they don't class McKay as a quality player.. he may have bad spells but the test of a quality striker is whether they come back from those spells and continue to score goals, which McKay has always done. He will be a massive miss to the team and although Watkins is a good replacement there is a difference from filling in a few games and taking on the responsibility of club top goal scorer so just hope he's up to it... or we will need another striker in cos at Foran's age I don't see him becoming a prolific striker. I have complete admiration for the club for their general running of the place and always keeping our heads above water but, if £150k is the agreed figure, they have demonstrated again how poor they are at negotiating in the transfer market in terms of selling players. Apart from Niculae-gate ... the highest transfer fee we have ever received is £65k for John Rankin... £65k FFS!!!

Sure thing. Here's a few for starters: Jaeger Bombing 16 Dancing 7 Pulling Birds 12 Chat Up Lines 3 Not Spewing After A Lads Night Out 18

Good luck to Billy, he's been a fantastic player for the club. Bit of a strange one I always thought. While his goalscoring record has been excellent, he missed as many sitters in his time here, and he was terrible in one on ones. For every fantastic volley against County there was an incredible miss against Hearts in extra time in the semi two years ago. Overall though, a great player. His work rate was phenomenal and his ability to hold the ball up and play the lone striker role was exceptional. Sad to see him leave but all the best to the wee man and I hope it works out well for him down south.

Its a bit unfair to criticise these young lads as four of the starting line up are in their first season at this level with all three subs also in their first season. All seven are 17 excluding the goalkeeper who is 16. These boys are adjusting to the massive step up from u17's. These lads need the guidance and support of the older experienced pros that play beside them. However as our first team squad is rather bare these lads have had to face more experienced opposition many with first team experience without this support. . Most of these lads that turned out for Hearts U20's are at least in their 2nd year, one is 16 and with a few over age players . This year has being pretty much a baptism of fire for our guys from which im sure they will learn. So lets offer them a bare minimum our support.

I will keep off the capitals so as to have a more balanced opinion ! Marsella went to Bolton then left there and has been unemployed for months and working free-lance whilst considering a position with Motherwell No guesswork just fact Hi Steve

WE HAVE 9 UNSIGNED PLAYERS WITH NO REPLACEMENTS DO YOU BELIEVE WE CAN GET SOME GEMS LIKE MARSELA HAS SOURCED IN THE PAST BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE SEASON -IT TAKES TIME AND HOURS ON THE ROAD TO GET THESE GUYS . HORNER AND IBRA WERE HARDLY THE TYPE OF PLAYER WE WERE AFTER -IN FACT 10 OF THE CURRENT 1ST TEAM ARE MARSELA'S

If Billy goes I wish him well. He has been a very good player for this club and we will make some money on him. Far better way to do business - well done ICT

So after a cracking Saturday this could be one of the worst 36 hours for ICT supporters in recent months. Losing Mckay and Shinnie in such quick succession is a massive blow.

I've been getting all misty eyed watching Billy's goals from 2012/13 and 2013/14. If I were a Wigan fan watching those, I'd be absolutely wetting myself with excitement.

Is Scott McDonald on his way?

The press release was October last year I can assure you he is no longer at Grimsby nor at Bolton but doesn't really matter as it appears JH has access to a better regime so time will tell.

Just watched BBC News. No mention at all about the possible transfer of one of Scotland's most prolific scorers over the past 3 years! An absolute disgrace in my opinion.

Much as Shinnie will be missed come the end of the season, we have a very talented young left back on the books who is apparently keen to stay. Prolific forwards are a different matter altogether and Billy will be much harder to replace.

Somebody more in the know will probably be able to confirm this properly, but this romantic idea of Marsella putting in a pin a map of Northern League grounds was nothing of the sort. My understanding was ICT used to be offered players by agents and Marsella would go and watch them and report back. On top of this, he wasn't the only scout ICT had access to and the agent/contact network we had down south still exists, with Hughes adding a few to it.

It'll be disappointing if he goes before Saturday - I'm sure we'd all like to give him a send-off (after he's scored a hat-trick against County, of course!)

He has an excellent record for us, but it's a team game, and that record owes a lot to the chances served up to him by his teammates. Intuitively speaking, with no stats to back this up, I hazard a guess that his 'chance to goal' ratio isn't that exceptional. What cannot be questioned though is his work rate. In the early days when he was struggling alongside Tade, he still managed to endear himself to the fans by putting himself about and getting well and truly stuck in. Even then you could see occasional flashes of brilliance in his play, and Butcher deserves credit for persisting with him even when he wasn't scoring goals. Good to see he's chosen to test himself at Championship level rather than go to Hearts. I might even stay up to watch the football league show on Saturday nights now just to see how he's getting on. It's always fascinating to see a player you're familiar with competing in a 'big' league. (David Davis and Andrew Shinnie currently doing us proud) . In some ways McKay leaving actually solves one of our current 'selection headaches'. I would play Watkins through the middle now, freeing up space in midfield for some of our creative players who have been unlucky to find themselves on the bench in recent times.

We have Calum Ferguson so it's all ok

He's got a small k.

While Marsella often took the credit for "finding" players, it wasn't like he was turning up at random English lower league matches and spotting players. I believe we still have other scouts as well and Hughes has added to them.

I actually saw all the lads getting onto the bus after the game in Edinburgh as I go to uni here, didn't know what the score was but could tell they got humped from the grim looks of their faces. Hearts under 20's have been struggling so it's a poor result, although they have much more emphasis on bringing through young players than us, not to mention the standard of their facilities. Several of the players in the Hearts line-up, I would imagine, will go on to play first team football and are legitimate prospects (Ian Flanagan, L Smith, Robbie Buchanan, Liam Henderson, Gary Oliver etc), while I'd be surprised if even two or three made the jump for us.

Don't say that. It'll just encourage him to ask for more than the club can afford! Good point. Meekings is shite. Worse than Moshni in my opinion.

watched a bit of the game between lectures today Hearts were the dominant side and most of the football was being played in our half by hearts I unfortunately only seen one of the goals and the goalie(hobban?) just seemed to get a hand to it before it looped into the net anyway As has been mentioned a lot of the hearts side had first team experience ferguson looked to be causing some trouble to the hearts defence with his pace and movement, was also quite impressed with Ryan baptie whom I think may have been playing in a more advanced role Lewis Horner however seemed to be out of his depth even at that level

The guy that posted it usually spot on with stuff regarding us. I think he works/worked with Sky Sports.

Billy is offski, Marley 50/50 but I doubt he will stay. Meekings, Ross and Raven I'd retain. All three are key players and there contribution will be even more pivotal if we face a bit of a rebuild. Polworth has done nothing to convince me he is worth a place in the team and the fact he barely makes it onto the bench says it all - time to bin him. Same with Horner, hes no use. Devine by the summer will have been here for 2 and a half years and while he looks decent he's never been able to break up Warren or Meekings for any length of time. If he values his career I would imagine he will move on in search of games. Though were Meekings to leave I'd get Devine signed up.

Talking about Marsela we need him over the next 12months to replenish our depleted squad. Understand he is unemployed but if any team knows his worth it is ICT. He would be worth signing at probably a wage well below the footballers as current management team have found no one over 12 months

I'm not surprised that Calum Ferguson scored again today - he's probably still 'smarting' from finding out that while he was away, Alistair Sutherland made his first-team debut and he now owes Ali £20!

Thanks for the updates WE were hiding them from Aberdire

Don't say that. It'll just encourage him to ask for more than the club can afford!

I'd place Meekings as one of the best defenders we have ever had. He's brilliant.

Might unsettle one or two in their own dressing room as well.

He has been a very good servant to the club and, I am in no doubt will continue to give his all until the end of the season. To be critical of him for joining his home town club, with a fan base four times ours, for a substantial salary increase seems to me to be churlish.

Are you suggesting it was the feckin jeggies Thistle fans were always more polite than those rough uncouth Caley fans

OOPS sorry - just noticed it said CULT.

Are you suggesting it was the feckin jeggies

Time taken for ICT to notch up their last 4 wins: 20 days Time taken for Ross County to notch up their last 4 wins: 260 days

How much did you pay ? both payed 10 quid considering I don't earn enough as it is