Libero

and tear the majority of the home fans hair out!! LDZ going forward is not the problem, its his defensive qualities or lack of which are the problem. Too many times the opposing team recognized this as a weak link and exploited the left wing for goals. I'm sorry but the Ross County game will live long in the memory as one of the worst performances ive witnessed in the flesh in a long, long time. Back four for me would read: Stratford/Proctor Tokely Munro Golly

as Jay said, i doubt it

Not really that scary. i think its pretty scary to be fair, you dont give a bank robber a job in a bank do you!!

Robbo as boss, CC as assistant manager and Bazza as first team coach with Pele as chief scout. Recipe for success?? :025:

nail on the head! that is something we seem to be unable to do at present, we have a starting game plan (which some may agree with and some may not) but when the opposition changes their formation or tactics we seem anable to adapt. That is such a crucial part to a team and i think thats why we are losing points. We need to attack at home and turn chances/possession into goals. a 4-5-1 doesnt really lend itself to attacking football if you ask me but if we are losing 3 goals at home with a 4-5-1 then we shouldnt be questioning the tactics and formation it should be the players!

you have a point and normally i would agree but i just couldnt take another beating by County spot on

i completely agree, i was extremely suprised he was hooked, looked a lot more determined than ive seen him in the past

spot on!! IMO the rot started with so many of the core of our relatively successful team being sold or allowed to be sold on. It is worrying that so many of our best players left under a certain managers tenure; Black, Rankin, Cowie, Dods, Wilson, Wyness to name a few!

i fear you may be right. what i would really like to hear is the boards and the current chairmans view on where the future of ICT lies.... are we as a club happy to stagnate in Div 1? are there any plans afoot to generate investment? are there any plans to grow the club? what are the clubs ambitions?

you have a point, but the club are telling stewards to enforce 'no standing' and even censoring words from songs so its a no win situation. I should probably add that it appears to be restricted to the home end as ive lost count of the times away fans come to our stadium and stand if they want and sing what they like. i saw a game on the TV the other week of the Manchester United vs Liverpool game and saw crowd footage of thousands of people standing. If standing at games is tolerated and also not causing direct health and safety problems at a stadium with over 70,000 fans then why is it such a problem at TCS? IMO i think the home form problem is all psychological, its not that we cant play well because we can. Its something that we need to sort out ASAP because if not we are going to see a mid-table finish in Div 1 at best!

Thats a quote from the reporter rather than Butcher. The article says that RD, DLZ and DP are all in contention, fair enough they are in contention but so is everyone else in the first team pool. The reporter is quite simply adding column inches by stating what everyone knows, if tokers and eagle dont make it then RD, LDZ and DP could replace them. No where in the article does it give any details for what Butcher plans to do with line up. Words like player x is in contention and player x has done well and i might freshen the team dont really give us any info on the starting line up maybe i'm just being pedantic because its a friday and am eagerly anticipating finishing work! :029:

didnt see anywhere in the article where Butcher was quoted as saying that he was looking at re-introducing Lionel. (thankfully IMO) That was the only reference to LDZ that i saw and the reporter is merely stating a fact that LDZ is available like any other un-injured player in the squad.

Back then players could play more than 1 game in a week and not moan about fatigue! You would think with all the sports science and fitness coaching nowadays that players would be fitter than ever. How often do we hear a manager come out and say a player wasnt match fit? 20 years ago if you didnt have a broken bone or similiar serious injury then you were fit enough to play!

spot on i think the only team in this league that have genuine quality in reserve is Dundee and even their squad in envied by SPL managers. I recall Aberdeen being interested in Leigh Griffiths but were outbid by Dundee, Griffiths hasnt even been a regular starter this season! I think the one area that may need attention is right midfield

More to the point why is the club not sponsored by Tesco?! They play in Tescotown after all... Grant working in Tesco... I used to work with his sisters there good point. I reckon a kind gesture from tesco for Invernessians continued support would be to buld us a nice new stadium! looks like the ICT squad has been fixed

I would be happy with that, only change perhaps would be Barroman for Sanchez i agree with Johnboy, this weekends games is an absolute must win for us, we have to shake this jekyll and hyde form, we need to build on good performances and not think we are on easy street

nice, hadnt realised that, cheers shame i noticed it too late!

get in!!!!!!

270 minutes of football in 8 days shouldnt be a problem for fit professional footballers, every game a footballer plays carries a risk of a knock so cant see that being an issue i can see there being changes however i cant see Butcher dropping our best players As you say i can see Barrowman and Duncan possibly coming in but other than that cant see many other changes

The league is a priority for us however decent runs in the cups are very important for us as an added source of income. I think field our strongest team, i believe we have a strong first team capable of competing on more than on front

Absolutely. i'd be inclined to give McBain a try as well. i wouldnt mind seeing Renegades line-up but in a 4-4-2 with Foran left and Hayes right with Rooney and Barrowman up front

thats way too sensible for a Renegade prediction, a GK in goals??? two defenders in defence?? :tonguecheek:

thats for sure i think if we were to sell him then we would be wise not to sell him to another first division side. Championship would be fine :tonguecheek: for a decent transfer fee :tonguecheek:

Fixed it for you! i think ICT have shown in the past that they have a patient board (which IMO was a mistake in Brewsters case) and i think it is certain Butcher will get a fair chance this season. Butcher has been allowed to take in his own players but hopefully it has been budgeted for and will not affect the long term future of the club. In Dundee's case with such large sums being thrown at the team, the time in which they exepct to see a return is greatly reduced, they want instant sucsess, im pretty sure that the Dundee money men would want Dundee flying high at the top of the table for the entire season. Just like in chelsea' chase no matter what players are bought, if the manager doesnt deliver asap then he's out the door. Back to the OP, i think the fact he has won one game in ten (i think) is adequate reason for dismissal.

the one place i think technology could be useful would be in the case of goal-line debates, it is one that is frequently debated and often IMO because linesmen are intent on checking player positions for offsides that line of sight cannot sufficiently determine when a ball is over the line. the only thing is if something like that were to be introduced then where would it stop, video replays for fouls, transmitters in football boots to gauge offsides, video cameras on the referee to see his view of the game....... i think it would be hard to limit technology once it started. i do believe that more emphasis should be placed on referee coaching/training which should ensure that a consistent standard is maintained in all games. Coaching may tackle this or why not simplify the rules. All too often decisions are questioned because the rules are not black and white. in any situation there are so many rules and sub-rules that the referee has countless options on how to assess a piece of action, simplification of the rules would aid consistency IMO.