RiG

While it was fantastic to get 3 points the next time the attendance issue is brought up then you can point to yesterdays game as "Exhibit A" as to why people won't part with a fair amount of money to watch ICT.

He had a nice flick that nearly sent Wyness through on goal.

With the ball on the deck we are a good side. Shame Brewster seems intent on pumping long ball after long ball up to the forwards. Only one team played passing football today and it wasn't us. What was even more staggering was when the wind picked up and the ball was getting held up in the air. A perfect chance then to change the way we were playing and get the ball down to retain possession yet we still went for more aimless long balls. Some of the distribution, especially at set plays, was painful to watch.

Hilarious that some people boo players and shout abuse then the second they get some back their way they are greeting about it :015:

Everyone knows I love a good boo but even I didn't boo him when he came on!

The stuff about Black was in todays Sun. He left the ground at half time and was spoken to by CB on Monday. He was fined his appearance money for his tantrum. From the article it was said he was annoyed that even though he wasn't the worst performer he was still hooked and that other players who were sent off weren't fined. As for todays game I agree with DavieB. Defence still very shakey. Took forever to clear the danger, awful header by McGuire towards the end. Our midfield was non existent apart from their one piece of link up play to score. Cowie starting on the left? :017: Up front I thought Wyness and Niculae did well but Niculae was somewhat ball greedy and wasteful. As for the ref I think this will sum him up nicely! :008:

Not sure about Fox. Prunty maybe?

He was played in a variety of positions when at County and never once impressed. They laugh that he is viewed higher than Rankin at ICT given their experiences of the 2 players.

Rankin showed more in a few months of last season than Morgan has done in his entire ICT career.

I'm far from his number one fan but it is the fact that players who have been fringe players for some time now who are suddenly ahead of him that is causing the general bewilderment. I wouldn't exactly class Morgan or Markus as fighters myself incidentally. Agree with that myself.

:015: Agree with CH2. Not a single one of those players is better than Rankin on the left hand side. Morgan has never been consistant enough and he's had more than 2 years at ICT to try and show what he is worth. He was absolute dross when on loan at County as well. Paatelainen is consistently injured and has done nothing to suggest he is even half as good as Rankin is. Barry Wilson isn't as effective over 90 minutes but he is good while Roy is to defensive and doesn't carry the same threat going forward. Rankin offers more than each of those four players both on the left and in the middle of the pitch.

Who do you feel in our squad offers sufficient talent to provide back up to the left sided midfield position? Good point below ymip. Rankin has played 40 minutes of football this season and people think we can demand a hefty fee for him to get in a new defender. Stuff of fantasy.

Plenty of players have gone on loan to teams and gotten injured the team then terminate the loan of the player. Depends what the terms of the loan are of course.

*Here* is what the P & J says today. Brewster seems quite keen to let him go provided some money can be recouped. Basically it seems that Brewster is happy enough to see him leave be it on loan or permanently.

I'm just remembering how awful we were at home under Brewster. We played the same style both home and away. It worked when teams came onto us away from home and we developed an excellent away record. But think about the times we were done over by teams who employed the same counter attacking style that we use when we played in Inverness. We couldn't break them down, we never changed our style of play and in the end they picked us off and nipped down the road with 3 points. The football on display the other week was, from an ICT point of view, horrific. Football is an entertainment business. It's great if we win and that is the most important thing at the end of the day, but people aren't going to forgo their Christmas shopping to watch a big Munro punt up to Wyness in the hope someone might latch onto the loose ball and score. That's even assuming Wyness wins the header of course. Brewster style of play is long ball, no matter what he tries to dress it up as. Bottom line, under Brewster we played some of our worst football ever. The last couple of weeks we've heard how we have played some magnificent stuff. I can't for the life of me think where this passage of play took place. I for one am not looking forward to this game on Saturday. However the FlyBe challenge should provide from light entertainment for a spell.

I *think* i have mentioned it elsewhere on here but not completely sure. Anyway, Brewster doesn't seem to like flair players such as Juanjo. Rankin may not be in the same category as Juanjo when it comes to flair but I don't think he also fits in well with Brewsters "hard craft" philosophy that he appears to implement. That's why players like Duncan, McBain and Morgan will be preferred to the likes of Rankin and Juanjo. It's still a surprising decision however as I feel Rankin has a lot to offer ICT. Plus Morgan has had so many chances before yet can't seem to break through. Rankin appears to have been given very little time to impress the manager and is now on his way out.

I had said at the start of the season that Gretna were shoe ins for the drop. Early season I maintained this stance and the 4 - 0 thrashing did little more than back up the idea that Gretna were going down with the lowest points total ever. Now, after some questionable displays, rumoured off field problems, odd team selections, loss of discipline and selling one of the clubs more consistent performers (and record signing) from last season I must admit to becoming somewhat solicitous over the last couple of weeks. I don't think Gretna will spend as big as people think but it will likely, at this rate, to be enough to see us a lot closer to the relegation spot than any of us would ever have anticipated.

I was critical of Rankin when he first arrived but he soon worked his way into being a very important part of the team. I fail to see why he should be one of the players who should be moved on to make space in the midfield area. It's a decision that quite frankly beggars belief.

There were apparently a few Motherwell "casuals" up the other weekend for the game so it might have big these giant fannies you had the displeasure of sharing a bus with. I had to get the train back to Aberdeen with some of them. It wasn't enjoyable. Most of the time the Away fans are good crack (I don't count the Old Firm) and I bet this was just a one off?

McGuire has been just as good (or bad if you wish) as the rest of our defence this season. In fact, the best defender this season for me has been a midfielder in Roy McBain!

McLaren is a clueless fool and the FA will regret signing him up to the job. He will never achieve anything more than finishing in the middle of the EPL - not good enough for England at International level. To have been thrown a lifeline by Israels result against Russia and then to balls it so spectacularly speaks volumes of his managerial ability. Beyond their firxt XI, which is very good indeed, England have a derth of talent. Wayne Bridge and SWP just aren't good enough. England were apparently seeded top of their group as well and this atrocious failure will have to cost McLaren his job.

And someone who can't spell.

*Petition*

While I agree it was a shocking decision it was the linesman who gave it - not the referee. Again it was the same linesman who didn't offer up any kind of assistance for the penalty claim. The linesman on the other side was very much in our favour as well with those two (not) offside calls. People seem to be focusing on this one decision and forgetting the other couple of important breaks we got during the game.

A very poor keeper. County had him last season and were delighted to see the back of him from what I have been told. Just because he has been called up doesn't mean he is any good. This is called the Kevin Kyle theory.