dead_ball_specialist

Malkowski will come good if he gets a chance. I'd put his poor start against Aberdeen down to rustiness and nerves. Fraser has no excuses.

I thought it was a shocking decision to drob Malkowski after 1 error, and its been punished tonight. What recouse has he left himself with now? Putting Fraser straight back into the side without having to earn it was a terrible call.

I hope he keeps his playing career going for as long as he possibly can. The only people who'll celebrate him hanging up his boots will be our opponents.

There was a piece in 4-4-2 last month called 'when Enlgish keepers were good', apparently back in the 80's the England team alternated between Shilton and Clemence every game, because the manager thought they were both equally talented. :024: I don't see any reason why we can't do the same thing with MF and ZM. Continuity between the sticks isn't really all that important compared to a back 4, a midfield, or a striking partnership. Competition for places is always important and whoever gets handed the number 1 jersey should feel under pressure for his place as much as any outfielder. Some of the criticism of Malkowski has been over the top. He had a nervy first few minutes against Aberdeen but did OK after that. Considering it was his first SPL action since January, and virtually his home debut (the CIS cup match was in a half empty stadium) I think we should cut him some slack and he has the potential to be a good player for us. That said, I've always rated Ally Ridgers and was glad to see CC bring him back to the club, even if it was on an ad hoc basis - he did well enough to earn a full time contract. The fact that Brewster sent him out on loan along with Sutherland suggests that he see's him as one for the future. The woeful form of MF and doubts about ZM might accelarate things a bit. It hopefully won't be too long before he gets a chance. IMHO AR is a much better keeper than MF, and possibly a better keeper than ZM whose still an unknown quantity.

They should start selling chicken curry pies at the pie stall.

What did he say in the Mail? This might turn out to be tosh, but for me he's not a natural striker. He moves around alot - and pops up all over the park looking for the ball, which is to his credit. But he isn't a penalty box poacher. And his efforts on goal often leave alot to be desired. He's clearly far better at creating chances for others than he is at hitting the net himself. I think he could run the game if he was put in the centre of midfield.

Zibi Proctor McGuire Watt Hastings Duncan Tokely McBain Cowie Wyness Brewster

I bet the players who play against him don't come out of it calling him Bambi. He gets stuck in - and for his size he's amazing in the air. He doesn't look like a centre half, but he certainly played like one today.

Lets lynch him after '1 costly error'. :rolleyes02:

I thought McGuire was half to blame for the second goal, he had a chance to slide tackle the Aberdeen player into the stand - but he stood off, stayed on his feet - and ended up giving away a needless free kick. Strangely, we seemed to solidify at the back when Proctor came on to replace McGuire at centre back. He looks lightweight - but he dominated the air and made some good tackles. His distribution was also first class. Perhaps we might be on to something? :024:

That'll be why Feyenoord signed him. :023:

Chick and the boys were taking the p*ss out of him on Radio Scotland today for not giving them an interview. They went as far as to say that he was out of order, and that players should be contractually obliged to talk to the media like in the States. The craic was something along the lines of "For all the money the media pours into the game, these players need to give us something back." I think it's refreshing that a player chooses to shun the limelight and do his talking on the park.

It was harsh to drop Fraser after a run of shocking performances, yet its OK to write off Zibi because he had a nervy first 15 minutes. :017: He made one error when the ball slipped under his body (it happens to the best keepers in the world) and his kicking was off for the first few minutes (he hooked it to the left 3 times). So what? He settled down after that and did OK. You couldn't exactly compare his performance to that of Fraser last week - not by any stretch! He's kept 1 clean sheet in 2 games, Fraser has kept 0 clean sheets in 10 games. :024: He had a good game against Gretna and according to all of the reports I've heard he's been excellent for the reserves. Instead of rushing to judgement based upon prejudicial pre-conceptions, we need to give him a reasonable innings to show what he can do.

Pearson was played in the middle for spells.

The team selection was wrong. Miller and McFadden might be a decent partnership when you're playing on the break - but against a team who were sitting deep it was a non starter. We should have taken a target man on, maybe even bypassing the midfield and going 4-3-3 or 4-2-4? There was far too much pitter patter passing in our own half a la Alex Smith. They packed the midfield - so it was never going to work (no wonder our first shot on target was in the 70th minute!) especially when you take into account how bad the pitch was, plus the fact that we had Pearson :014: in the center of the park - a total lightweight who couldn't hold onto possession, and who can seemingly only touch the ball with one foot. The only midfielder who got stuck in was Fletcher, him apart Georgia were first to almost every loose ball - Maloney and Pearson reacted like zombies most of the time. Ferguson did OK but he didn't get up the park often enough. It was a shame that Barry Robson didn't get a run out - I would have liked to have seen him running at their defense and whipping in a few decent crosses. He couldn't have done any worse than the players who started.

The only way we're going to beat Georgia tonight is if we play an aggressive attacking game, otherwise we're looking at a 0-0. For this reason I would have picked Steven Whittaker to replace the injured Alan Hutton (NOT Alexander) Barry Robson or Andrew Driver in for the injured McUlloch, Derek Riordon or Shaun Maloney should be in to replace Scott Brown. Gordon Whittaker McManus Weir Naysmith Fletcher Riordon / Maloney Ferguson Robson / Driver Miller / Boyd McFadden

Are you on a wind up? I'm going to try that combo out. :tic01:

Watt is the kind of powerful defender we've been crying out for since Dods left. :tic01:

It's supposed to be a free country isn't it? Ritchie hasn't harmed anybody here. His personal life is his own. The only way it should affect his contract is if the gaffer feels it's affecting his performance on the park. I don't buy into any of the 'role model' arguments. When I was a kid I wouldn't have been swayed to take A class drugs just because I read in the Courier that a Caley player did. :017:. And there are other ICT players who aren't exactly role models - and whose allged mideeds weren't so victimless. Coke is quite a mainstream drug in Inverness now. I know people from all walks of life who use it. You see people taking it or asking for it in pubs and clubs every weekend. While we aren't exactly Leith, Inverness does have a problem with increasing drug use and abuse. I don't think it'd be fair to scapegoat Ritchie Hart. He wasn't dealing the stuff, he was using it. How would any of you feel about losing your job just because you were caught taking a recreational substance at Rock Ness? There were ALOT of people doing the same thing. I would also be suprised if he's the only ICT player to have ever dabbled. I say he deserves a chance to redeem himself. I've always considered him to be one of our better players. A bit of a poser, and perhaps not the most well liked off the park - but still someone who can do a job for us, and perhaps someone who can use this experience to do some good by using his public platform to proclaim the error of his former ways, and set an example by going on to achieve success now that he's 'clean'.

Fraser was 100% responsible for both goals. How many times will Colin Nish score with a header from OUTSIDE the box, that bounces twice before it even reaches the line??? Why do some people attribute everything to 'confidence'? MF has been a full-time footballer for years, he has a full-time personal coach, but he still lacks basic skills (handling technique, positioning, accurate distribution, judging crosses and long balls). I haven't seen any improvement in his game since he was handed the gloves. Either he isn't working hard enough or he isn't good enough.

You just have to laugh. Like ICTchris said, the litany of ludicriousness grows ever longer. If it means so much to them to 'play the right way', why did they appoint **** Campbell in the first place? The word is he just got a ?50,000 pay off. How can they afford to waste so much money? It's criminal. Perhaps Counties tuchtor fanbase simply couldn't bare having a Campbell in charge?

Every single County manager since Bobby Wilson has been mince apart from Robbo. I wonder which dud they'll approach next... Billy Stark, Maurice Malpas, Tom Hendrie, Jim Leishman perhaps? I wouldn't put ANYthing past those numpties in the Stags boardroom. They should go for a manager who's working his way up this time, not one working his way down!

:clapping03: I enjoyed playing in those leagues not so long ago, even got a run out in a final at TCS! There must be thousands of Invernessians who've played in the Street league over the years, including a few ICT players (Charlie Christie is one example). I think he deserves a minutes silence.

A very good performance, agree with most of the comments here. But yet another OG (almost half of the goals we've conceded this season have been OGs or needless penalties!) and some more awful distribution from Fraser. He really needs to work on his kicking. Malkowski can't be far away from getting the jersey. That apart, McGuire and Munro were solid and commanding - McBain and Tokely made amazing lung busting runs up the park throughout - even in injury time! (I've never seen McBain outpace anyone like he did today - even when he was a youngster at County!) Bazza looked like he'd turned back the clock, Cowie was always 3 steps ahead of his opponent. Blackie got on the scoresheet and didn't get booked, Duncan scored a screamer and worked his socks off, Wyness looked better than ever, and Niculae got stuck in.

My only criticism of Niculae would be that he almost always seems to flick or pass the ball to another attacking player rather than do something with it himself.