Tree

Presently the only fit central midfielders we have are Foran,Ross,Tansey and Cox. If Cox were to leave then it wouldnt leave us with much options given that OTJ is still out and Morrison doesnt appear to be in the managers thoughts

Cox has only started 4 league games this season and is injured once more. Hasn't added much to our options anyway

This morning's Espress has a story that Cox is about to move to Swindon Town in a £25k deal.

Realistically we are unlikley to keep Hayes.

Tuffey will move on for a game if we keep Esson

Tokely's wife has just taken a job in Aberdeen - will he be off to Peterhead?

The concept appears fundimentally flawed on the basis that we are likley to be able to fill most if not all of the North stand for this game (if we get through of course).

The inability to get decent crowds for cup games is something which has grown over the past few years (including in England where there are very few capacity games in cup matches).

I was not surprised at the low turnout for the Dunfermline game and to be honest I suspect the attendance would not have been much higher even if we only charged a £1 to get in.

Apparently the club shop were telling people first thing this morning that there was no plans for a pitch inspection, yet here we are with a pitch inspection and no game on???

Upgraded drainage appears to have worked a treat then.

The only reason I can see for us keeping Chippendale is if Hayes leaves at the end of the season he could be a possible candidate to replace him

End of season or in January

Ah...the age old catering issue raises its ugly head again. The old Saying..."you pay peanuts, you can expect to get monkeys" springs to mind

Unfortunately we, the punters, are paying anything but peanuts.

The standard of catering at football matches is limited to say the least. In the 'Biscuit Tin' in Wellington (NZ) the offerings include fish and chips, burgers actually made of beef instead of ground 'meat like object' as well as the usual hot dogs, etc. The cost is a bit more (the cost of living in NZ is higher in general anyway at the moment with the exchange rate, etc), however I know I would pay a bit more for real quality.

If ICT had any other manager, Foran would've been dropped ages ago. He's not even the player he was even last season and his captaincy skills leave a lot to be desired - his pathetic booting of the ball out of the stadium at one point yesterday being a prime example. Sadly though, the fact that he's Butcher's goldenboy means that he'll never be dropped - and if that's not favouritism and poor management, I don't know what is.

I never thought this would happen however I have to agree with Renegade.

His performances have been in general poor and he seems on occasions to want to do everthing himself...............and ends up doing nothing.

Not sure what motivational skills he has off-field, however there is little obvious leadership on it.

This is not a case of trying to slag him off, however he is not justifying being picked at the moment other than the fact that we lack experienced players on the park at the moment.

What a shower of bottlers.

When the second goal goes in everyone sits in the stands and waits to see the collapse.

This is little to do with the defense and much to do with the midfield.

1st goal - Our two central midfielders decide to run into each other and leave the defense exposed

2nd goal - Johny Hayes decides to play at being right back and tells Davis to stay forward and then can't be bothered to actually do the job of the right back - man of the match..........really!!

3rd goal - defnse left exposed once more.

We can pretend that we are going to click at some point and move away from danger, however on this display this is unlikely. Reminds me of the season when we got relegated. we effectively get ourselves safe with a single point needed from the last few games and then bottle it

Yes, this is immediately after the game and I am raw but the facts speak for themselves at the moment!

Is it not therefore time a similar exercise took place - new money - new people - a new start!

Good Idea! You can start it off by popping in a couple of million and we can start a thread to work out how to spend it

The missing easy chances is indicative of the pressure which Foran and Tade are feeling in terms of having to score. This is not helped by our shipping goals at the moment which means we need to get goals in the back of the net.

Anyway, Tade is simply following on from where Wilson Robertson (younger fans will be saying 'Who') left off in terms of one on ones

With that logic I can only assume that Foran, Hayes, Esson, Tokley, Ross and Doran (oh and Hogg) should be dropped as thay were all part of a team that failed last season. Therefore if we achieve any less than 7th place this season will it be an abject failure in (TB's) and others eyes? Maybe I'm the only negative guy in Inverness! (perhaps living in Glasgow for too long!) Dont get me wrong but I'd love nothing more than to make top 6 but on current evidence (as you say we can't see the future) things are not looking too hot.

PS - IMO we need a poacher / target man ASAP but then maybe I don't understand our new passing game we have.

It is probably my failing, however I do not understand your logic.

The whole point of the changes made since last season is to look at moving the club forward over the coming years. Whether we end up higher or lower this season is in many ways academic as long as there is progress being made by what is an exceptionally young team with a view to improved positions over the coming season.

The injuries which have happened have had a significant adverse effect in that a different team is having to play each week. This is not helpful for getting players to gel with the rest of the team.

I still look back to the fact that we were good for the early and end parts of last season and had relegation form for the middle two quarters. This gave a big hint that some changes were needed and the Manager has broadly turned to younger untried players (at SPl level), but whom offer greater potential than some of the players last season.

If we had money to spend then we could buy in the finished article. We simply don't and as a result a number of the players are brought in on the basis that they will develop over time (think back as to how many people thought Tokely, Duncan & co would be able to hack it at SPL level when we first got promoted?).

It would of course be nice if they could 'click' next week before we drop too far off the pace

When ya play wee team in pre season ya are on a hiding to nothing - this week will be interesting but I doubt that we will see the real ICT until Muversmell.

No comment required, you jinx.

As I heard some peeple stating yesterday - "Yon Johndo is prophetic".

No, you misheard. They were actually saying "Yon Johndo is pathetic"

If that's the shopping finished then we are ******, unless Mckay produces the goods.

Jesus, overreaction or what???

Overall many positives from a team who are still to learn how to play with each other.

Positives - Tudor Jones and Piermayr both look cracking captures with Tansey also contributing in spells. We created a number of chances

Negatives - Lack of composure in front of goal (match fitness should hopefully change this), Aldred is sound in the air but needs more agression when the ball is on the ground - at this level you simply cannot back off from a distance as a centre half (Hogg should be fit enough for next week though), Hayes still getting caught in possession in bad areas (suppose this is the curse of attacking players) and Officials (four sound penalty claims and a linesman who could not see a ball a yard over the line - even the referee 25 yards out could see this).

Otherwise frustrating to lose a game like this. I think the shot was even going wide till Esson got an unluckly glove on it.

One year deal confirmed on official site

Linky

If we're to avoid a relegation battle this season then i think we need a right-back, a centre-half, and a striker.

Do we not already have a 'new' right back signed (subject to International approval) as well as a striker (subject to fitness following injury)?

If Proctor has a role in this squad then it should be as cover in midfield, but maybe even that is too close to the defence for comfort."

What is with the sudden constant slagging of Proctor? A couple of poor early season games suddenly deletes the fact that he has been pretty solid in previous seasons (aside from his short spell as centre half under Brewster)?

The team both tactically and match fitness wise will take a few weeks to gell. This is the same for a lot of teams and I recall Pele always used to say that knee jerk reactions for the first few games may be misleading.

I also seem to recall we started on fire in the first quarter last year before showing relegation form for the November to March period.

Reading Levein's comments today shows what a lot of rubbish is being spoken in this debate.

Playing the best is what matters apparently!

Why then is a team which is playing in a league with only 2 good teams and a lot of average ones is being suggested by many as the best team ever?

Why are England not the best team in the world when they probably have the strongest league?

Why were Scotland not world beaters when we had a league of only 10. And indeed why did everyone get fed up of it and want to change it to try and stop the falling standard.

In your opinion, who is ICT's most Underated player of all time?

As a converse thread to that started by SMEE, who is the most underated player of all time. I will kick off by selecting Russell, who up until the last 12 months was slated by many in spite of being a key player.

I'm sorry, but what a pile of tripe

If they're free, I say we just sign them all.

but we do have to pay their wages....

Recon Butch will sign young English boys.

Hang on, did anyone see something fly over my head

Is this topic not overstating the situation?

We are losing 2 players (Grant and Russell) who can be considered as part of the current established first team.

Golly and Roy are both on the fringe (mainly due to age), Hogg only ever came up here for a few months of football, and the remaining players are all fringe players (for varying reasons).

Stonewall red card, Pedz threw a punch....had to walk unfortunately!!!

The highlights confirm that this must have been an invisible punch. It appears all Russell did was bump his body into Mair.

As previously stated, a yellow card. I suspect an appeal would be successful.

It was deserved.

No, a yellow card was deserved. From what I could see he pushed him in the chest which is a yellow card as opposed to contact with the head which is a red card

Another MOM performance from Munro.

Feel very sorry for Russell. It was handbags and his hands were only on the body - under the refs own guidance this is supposed to be a yellow card. Don't blame the referee though as he went on advice from the Assistant. Pity the Assistant wasn't as good at seeing when balls hit hands!

Incidentally, should Rooney not be getting offered a two year deal?

I suspect that the club know that he will not sign a 2 year deal