RiG

Watched it on TV (midweek games are harder for me to get to these days) and thought we were poor overall but at least we scored a couple of decent goals and are in the next round. Still concerned at our overall lack of pace, width and creativity but Mutumbo had some nice touches but these were offset but dribbling the ball out of play under no pressure. Kind of like Tade. Superb second goal. Lovely quick passing and very direct running. More of that kind of stuff please instead of the slow paced sideways passing. Motherwell away in the next round is definitely winnable but not exactly an interesting tie.

What was the previous information on Meekings and where was it reported? I hadn't seen anything.

These are, apparently, direct quotes from Hughes. It's not like the journalist has taken what he has said and then misinterpreted it as something else.

Here is the story from the Courier: http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Sport/Football/John-Hughes-launches-surprising-attack-on-Caley-Thistles-injured-players-19012016.htm

I reckon Josh is reading 50 Shades of Grey and is disgusted by the filth involved.

Any chance of some updates regarding Meekings and what has happened with him?

Ross County - 'We are the Highlands'? F'ck off.

Dani Lopez.

I thought it was a poor game, certainly from an ICT perspective, but it was made quite enjoyable with the conditions. Killie just shaded it. I think we had more shots on target but a lot of them didn't really test MacDonald. A header from Warren in the second half and a couple of long range efforts from Tansey were probably as close as we came to drawing level. I can't recall us creating an awful lot in the first half but we did have some long range efforts that MacDonald struggled with a wee bit in the conditions something I would liked to have seen us try and replicate in the second half more often given how much the ball was squirming about. I think we were a bit unfortunate with the first goal. We struggled to clear our lines and Tremarco, who had a reasonable game at CB, seemed to fire his clearance off a Killie player and it looped up in the air and found Kiltie unmarked who coolly slotted past Fon Williams. On another day the ball might deflect somewhere else so bad luck for us but still a good finish. Rare goal for Draper to get us back into it. Corner from Tansey was played back to him by Wedderburn and the second cross wasn't cleared and Draper swept the ball into the next from close range. Tansey, as mentioned above, had a couple of long range efforts in the second half. One from a free kick that clipped the net and looked, from our angle, as though it had gone in and the second was a shot across goal which bounced just wide of the post. Great goal from Slater for the winner. We didn't cover ourselves in glory again at the back struggling again to clear our lines. Looked like Raven could actually have taken the ball down as he didn't appear to be under any real pressure but regardless, the finish from Slater, under pressure, was superb. A wonderfully controlled volley over Fon Williams which you just knew was in as soon as he hit it. Few crumbles from ICT supporters that we should have had a free kick prior to the goal but the referee had allowed us to play on as we had an advantage but we wasted it and then allowed Killie to go up the other end of the pitch and score. No issues with it for me. Still a concern about how narrow we are playing just now. Storey continues to have run all across the front line and finds himself with little support. As I've said before a player like Watkins or Doran who can attack down the flanks and play balls in for Storey is desperately missed. Tansey and Draper played well and Tremarco, as mentioned, was competent enough in the centre of defence. Big game v Partick next week. We're only four points off the relegation spot and we need to start putting some daylight between us and 11th spot. EDIT: Just watched the highlights and it was a block by Raven not Tremarco that saw the ball deflect up for the first Killie goal.

My guess would be the nicest guy on the planet Tobi Sho-Silva.

Now Dundee United have had a bid for Stokes on loan accepted. He'll have plenty of options to pick from.

Oh was that in the article? I didn't read it I just remember it being talked about at the time the deal was agreed

Because a lot of the grounds Rangers were playing at didn't have the facilities or infrastructure required for BT to broadcast live games they were given cash by the SPFL towards the cost of hiring the required equipment.

Seems like Stokes has signed for Hibs on loan.

Absolute beta draw for us. Fully expect Sky to snap up the Edinburgh derby and whoever Celtic play leaving the BBC to take Rangers v Killie in front of 15,000 at Ibrox.

We can't afford the luxury of continuing to play a player until they become good. Any flashes from Lopez were absolutely minimal and he always looked far too slow and cumbersome, frequently displaying a shocking lack of control of the football and turning over possession time after time. We cannot persevere with a player who was performing as poorly as that in the hope they suddenly become good. I'm sure he's a lovely guy, gobbing on fellow players aside, but the fact is that he was a very poor player and well out of his depth. You need only to look at how quickly Miles Storey has adapted to things to see when a player really does show flashes of talent.

Do we know how long Meekings is out for?

I've long felt that we don't really go for the jugular under Hughes for reasons discussed at length elsewhere (slow build up, prefer to pass than shoot etc.) Using the BBC Sport information as a proxy here are the number of shots on target for each domestic game this season: Motherwell (L) - 0 Saint Johnstone (D) - 3 Partick (D) - 3 Celtic (L) - 5 Dundee (D) - 4 Hamilton (L) - 4 Hearts (W) - 5 Dundee United (D) - 3 Livi (W) - 6 Aberdeen (W) - 5 Ross County (W) - 4 Killie (L) - 2 Saint Johnstone (L) - 2 Ross County (L) - 4 Dundee (D) - 3 Motherwell (W) - 4 Partick (L) - 1 Celtic (L) - 2 Kilmarnock (W) - 3 Dundee United (D) - 4 Aberdeen (D) - 4 Hamilton (W) - 7 Ross County (W) - 4 Stirling (D) - 2 Average of 3.5 shots on target per game. Pretty much every match where we have had more than our (current) average shots on target per game we have won the match bar a couple of fixtures. Anything below that we have tended not to take anything from the game. Not exactly rocket science but if we don't shot, we don't score and don't win games. Really need to improve in the final third to create some more chances for the likes of Storey.

Stokes apparently going to reject a loan move to ICT: https://www.sundaypost.com/sport/football/scottish-premiership/celtic-striker-anthony-stokes-set-to-knock-back-plans-for-inverness-loan-move/ No direct quotes though.

Tends to be the case when the only wide player is your main striker who should be in the box trying to feed off these crosses. When it wasn't Storey actually crossing the ball he was often forced out wide and linked with Raven and was therefore quite out of position. We desperately need a Doran type player in the team right now to provide for Storey.

Praying that we are after some kind of wide midfielder / winger with a creative spark and some pace.

Very poor from ICT. Our lack of creatvivity when attacking, especially down the flanks, was laid bare today and Hughes needs to look at this. Players like Doran and Watkins are missed badly from our current line up which is set up very narrow and quite sluggish to say the least. Far too many times it was Storey who was taking the ball out wide and had no one to cross for or link up with. Fisher didn't do an awful lot when he came on but he will offer something a bit different for us. A striker that looked more like he would be useful in the air rather than another nippy forward like Storey. Stirling were superb defending our rather toothless attacks and coped easily with pretty much everything we tried. In the second half things opened up a wee bit more and Stirling were unlucky not to grab a goal and we had a couple of reasonable chances as well. Can't argue with a draw. Would the replay be a candidate for Sky?