Tree

Why should any of our players be singled out for abuse? It is fair for any player to be criticised by the paying fan in the right circumstances. For some however there appears to be a desperate need to pick at least one player and give any form of negative comment that seems fit. Having just seem the highlights, yes Mikey made a blunder for the first. The second is one of those 50:50 calls which can be wrong either way. Over the past few games MF has been very consistent. If howlers continue then changes will need to be made. The fact that defender blunders have led to much of the confusion in the penalty box this season is agreed in principle by most. As we are up to 10th it would seem to make more sense to focus on the positives for a while and leave the negatives to Brewster behind closed doors (and I bet that a few harsh words are going to be said tomorrow morning when the players and management review the game).

Should that not read Mindless Individuals RiG

Nice to see a clean sheet as well :021:

They were separated at birth after all :029:

All that is needed is one of the stalls which are located in the corridors between Eastgate Phases 1 and 2. Costs must be reasonable (perhaps the Cheif Exec could even negotiate a good rate with some canny pillow talk :tic01:). This also has the added advantage of being highly visible to people walking by, thereby helping to raise the club's profile

---just simply incompetent :029: Yet again another set of baffling decisions including booking Barry for winning the ball. What do we have to do to find a ref who is consistent in applying the rules. Even some of the decisions he gave us were somewhat dubious.

The body language of Grant and Tokely is much better with McGuire than Caff (they obviously trust him much more). Caff definitely is not the answer and I am not convinced McGuire is either. It is early days for him in the defensive unit. I still think we need someone with a greater physical presence - Nothing can happen on this front until Jan anyway (unless Watt gets fit at least).

We will just ignore the deflection from McGuire then?

Having just seen the goals I am perplexed as to why Fraser is being criticised :024:. Some people must indeed be looking for scapegoats for the poor start to the season.

I understand that the change in management has now persuaded Hart to stay on and try and get his place back and is no longer actively seeking to leave.

Watt looked rusty (not surprisingly) and could do with some Brewster style fitness training, but otherwise showed signs of being solid (a younger version of Bobby Mann). Roscoe seems to be trying to set a new record for the number of headed assists for opposition goals :017: Caff looked very suspect in the first half, but I thought for the majority of the second he was more solid - Probably down to Tosh being tired though. Up against the more potent threats from the SPL he just is not up to it unfortunately. Cowie's mobility again was good and Black was also good.

Fraser playing behind a defence which is all at sea (neither Roscoe or Grant show any trust in Caff whatsoever), Utd score with a cross which should have been dealt with by the defence long before it got near him (he had little left other than guessing whether Robson would get a touch or not) and he then gets blamed for narrowing the angles well before Rankin and Caff dive in and take the player for a penalty. I fail to see why any of the above if Frasers fault. I would agree that he needs to be more dominant at crosses and take the ball at a higher level, however I would ask whether our goalkeeping coach (who has yet to convince anyone that he is adding value to the team) is teaching him to stay on his line. Why are some looking to have an undeserved go at the keeper?

Roscoe is one of the players who wanted Brewster back the most (he is still on talking terms with him)

In light of the sometimes over the top reaction (both positive and negative) to the replacement of CC it is time for a bit of calm and for everyone who supports the club (which is and will always be bigger than any one man) to put aside reaction to this issue until after the game tomorrow and get behind the team. The one thing that is certain is that winning tomorrow's game is important irrespective of who becomes the mangager and the less distractions there are for Donald and the team the better. Come 5pm on Sat evening the furory can re-commence. In terms of DP staying, I would suspect that he will make the final call irrespective of whether Grassa et al say that he is staying or otherwise.

Its been said by many before, but until we replace Caff we will continue to ship goals. This reminds me of our first season prior to Dods coming in!

I understand that Richie Hart has informed the club that he wishes to leave. There is also the possibility that he may give up full-time football.

Has the date for the game been confirmed as the 28th or 29th yet?

Everyone knows that we are CALEY when we win and THISTLE when we lose :023:

In deciding whether a work permit will be issued a number of criteria including international appearances, etc are normally taken into account to decide whether one should be granted. This includes consideration of the impact the person would have in the chosen vocation (i.e. is he better than most in that field). Very often this initial 'ticking the box' exercise leads to an initial refusal due to some of the criteria not being met. As DJS mentions, an appeal then is made with further background information being provided and any extenuating circumstances being advised, which leads to a tribunal being held which considers this information. In some cases (hopefully this one) the tribunal is a matter of procedure and simply delays the permit being issued. A number of players in both the Premiership and SPL have been through this process before and their teams have been equally as frustrated. Unfortunately much of this is new to ICT and we may not be quite as sharp as some teams (hence the phonecall to the local DWP Office last week asking how the clubs goes about these things!)

The frustrating things with Rory is that every now and then he shows something in a game that makes you think that he could make the grade. Unfortunately it appears to becoming clear that these moments are few and far between and some of the performances are mediocre at best, with elements which are not acceptable at this level (including at times appearing like a headless chicken). Wood in the pre-season games has shown a surprisingly good understanding of the tactical side of the games for his age and has the ability to score goals, hold up the ball and link. I don't think that there are many people who do not wish that Rory makes the grade. Indeed he comes across as willing to put the effort in. A spell playing out on loan may be beneficial to all sides in that he would get regular football at a higher level than the reserves and this should hopefully allow the Management Team to decide whether he is an asset or not.

CC not moving for Marsh or Austrian Clicky

Black in Daily Ranger Clicky

Typical pre-season game not helped by a very slow pitch (cutting half an inch off the length of the grass would have helped). Kerr looked the part, although was not under much pressure from the Clach attack for most of the game, and Vigurs/Zander also looked good when they came on. Movement from Wood was far better than from Rory (who had some good touches but many more dire ones). Difficult to learn too much from the game. Tackle of the game came from Morgan who tried to kick the ball and the player inot orbit but managed to almost miss both :015: Obviously has been working too much with Black in training!

Suggestions are being made by some County fans that Leitch was told that he would have to take a wage cut if they dropped to the 2nd Div and was not willing to do so. I would imagine that this combined with Adams not willing to back him on Saturday is more than enough reason to leave (oh, that and getting your team relegated :015:).

In determining whether Scotland's permit should be extended, the panel took into account that he was not an exceptional player in relation to his peers within the SPL (their opinion). In dropping to the SFL, the ability level of his peers reduced and the criteria for determining the extension changed (for example there is a general quota for non-EU players in the SPL but not for the lower leagues).