RiG

Folk are saying Warren is out as well?

I assume all the buses will be leaving from Inverness?

Over reactionary drivel by the usual suspect sadly.

I suspect we will start as we did v Celtic however I wouldn't be adverse to the following: Brill Raven Warren Meekings Tremarco Draper Shinnie Doran Ross Watkins / Williams Mckay I think Shinnie is a better option alongside Draper than Williams who I would prefer to see deployed further forward. I know that when Watkins has played he has done so on the right hand side but I would be keen to get the Doran / Raven link up going again.

For a thread about Ryan Christie the promising youngster coming through the ranks at ICT this thread has very little about Ryan Christie the promising youngster coming through the ranks at ICT.

His positioning was actually correct initially (on the line of the penalty area) but he was let down by moving into the box somewhat prematurely.

Even for the most tedious troll on here that's absolutely pathetic.

Wait for them to try and use the disabled toilets at the next home game then jump them and flush their head in the toilet.

Celtic never got out of first gear and we still couldn't break them down. There's absolutely no reason why, if we had scored, they couldn't have upped it more to score more. They never got out of first gear because they didn't have to.

Are people seriously suggesting that we start to drop players from the starting XI that got us up to second in the league? We don't have the squad depth to be rotating players every week and we certainly don't have the players who can come in deputise for folk like Draper and Doran just hanging around in the reserves. Good point made about the Doran / Raven link up. Would be interested to see just how many goals have come down the right since Shinnie went in there are right back. The Greenhalgh tweet could well be something completely innocent should I wouldn't be trying to read something into it. As for the game I thought it was a very dull showing. Celtic were out the blocks quickest but after they scored they seemed happy to contain and seldom threatened for the rest of the match. We toiled in the middle of the park and could barely string together a pass in the final attacking third. Some good half chances were passed up but I must admit I am struggling to remember what they were like. It was a very forgettable match. Williams is getting some very unfair flack both on here and on Twitter. As I said on the Partick thread we are trying to fit square pegs into round holes whilst Foran is out and / or until we can sign a replacement even on a temporary basis. I thought Williams did a solid enough job and used the ball more effectively than he did against Aberdeen but you could certainly see there wasn't a good understanding between the two guys in the middle. Attacking wise I thought we were very poor. We seemed to take the wrong option at the crucial time be it taking on an extra man or delaying the cross or playing a poor killer ball we just didn't seem to click. We were unlucky not to get a point but we've played far better than we did today and gotten thumped. The acid test now is to get the guys set up for County. Three points against the worst team in the SPL, if it wasn't for Hearts points deduction, is an absolute must as far as I am concerned.

I'm not sure that all we need is an enforcer, though. Foran at his best retains possession and opens up play pretty well, as well as providing strength. There was a noticeable lack of creativity or meaningful possession in the middle of the park yesterday and it meant that we built very few decent moves and more often than not the midfield was bypassed altogether. Williams offered neither strength nor creativity in that position, which meant that Draper, as Mantis pointed , was doing two jobs. I'd hope that Ross, while lacking Foran's dig, would at least give us some vision in there. I'm not sure if Devine would do that. Of course, Ross might just find himself completely outmuscled and outpassed by the Celtic midfield; there are no easy solutions for Hughes here. I think that some of the roles might need to be simplified against Celtic as we will not be able to dominate the middle of the park as much as we might normally expect to do at home AND drive forward. Foran and Draper might have found themselves on the back foot more often than usual. Having Devine in there to add a bit of steel might help break up the Celtic attacks and we have some excellent roaming full backs in Shinnie and Tremarco who can carry the ball forward to the front four instead of channelling it through the middle all the time. One option that could give us some defensive stability in the middle and also an option to carry the ball forward could be Shinnie? He played in the middle a couple of times last season I seem to recall and he might not be a perfect fit but if we're still looking for someone who can take the ball forward after winning it then he could be a shout. Devine played midfield vs cownty last game last season and was totally out of his depth, Williams is a wide player and should not be played centre mid. Trouble is we have no other decent midfielders who can get stuck in and win the ball. I'm trying to forget that game. The majority of the team was set up incorrectly that day and I wouldn't put it all down to Devine who wasn't any more out of sorts than some others that day. Trouble is I think for the Celtic match we are going to have to rely on fitting square pegs into round holes.

if we are looking for simply an "enforcer" type player in there what about putting Devine into the middle of the pitch to replace Foran and allow Draper to move forward a bit more?

My highlight of the evening was seeing Scotty and his wee one in the pub pre match

Is Draper out then? Brill Raven Warren Meekings Tremarco Draper (Polworth) Shinnie Any three from Doran Watkins Ross or Williams McKay

Fully expect us to sign Kevin McBride now

Not taking anything away from Aberdeen, their away support was fantastic as usual, but they didn't sell out their allocation.

I'll be brutally honest here. I don't think Hughes is a good appointment for us. I think he is a very poor manager. However, I don't see how the first half performance was his fault. The team seemed to be set up as it was under Butcher (same personnel, same formation etc.). Our performance in the first half was shambolic at times as we were cut to shreds by a clinical and lightening quick Aberdeen attack. They were clearly the better side than we were in the first 45 minutes although a four goal lead was perhaps a bit harsh on us. Football fans are fickle, myself included. Had we got a 4th I'd probably be proclaiming Hughes as some kind of Simeone type mastermind but we didn't but even I don't think Hughes was to blame.

I don't think it will be Butcher because has just signed a deal at Hibs.

Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson! Ryan Esson!

Calvin Zola is garbage. We are more likely to be facing Vernon Crespo.

Hope Inverness win in this Tale of 2 Cities.

I hope we hump Aberdeen. I dislike them a lot and I like ICT so I hope we win.

Is it not also something like the 4th richest league in the world as well?

Jamie "Literally" Redknapp said that Atletico Madrid were the side that everyone wanted to face in this round

From @craig_killie on Twitter: From ScoRoss on P & B: Some food for thought.