starchief

1. Paterson: what he did was amazing! 2. Christie: got us to our highest league position - should have stayed on 3. Butcher: up first time of asking 4. Robbo: could have done so much more but chose to leave 5. Brewster: made the mistake of coming back to early but only got the DU gig after some impressive ICT performances

1. Brown - I think it's easy to forget just how good he was. Took the money but lost playing regularly and that's set him back 2. Esson 3. Calder 4. Fraser 5. Tuffey - needs to play more to justify being any higher. I wouldn't be surprised for either Esson or Tuffey to leave. Difficult call as they both have their uses. Esson, more experienced but older. Tuffey could grow into a highly-prized keeper with a possibility of a transfer fee.

Was Gil a striker, a midfielder, a winger? Y'see the guy could play anywhere and maintained his level of performance. That performance being crap or injured unfortunately. For the #1 midfielder, it's difficult to see past Brian Kerr - remember how the stadium would reverberate to 'there's only one King Kerr' as he led what became known as 'Brian's Battlers' out to the glory of relegation? Tudur-Jones has been near perfect. He's only really had one bad game in his whole time here. (and one good game and one injured game). It's unfortunate he got injured but who could have foreseen that? Dan Stratford has to be in there. It's the usual story. Plays for ICT one season, then is snapped by a club down south. Why oh why won't our board commit to long-term contracts? He must have missed Scotland though as he's back up here with Partick. Difficult to believe, but he's yet to play for the Jags. I know, I know... Halfway between a forward and a wide mid, the one and only Dougie Imrie. Who can forget the amount of times, Dougie would be cheered on by supportive fans, as he sprinted down the wing, to hoist in a near-perfect cross for the waiting strikers, just a few metres over the crossbar and on to the roof of a van in the car park. Sheer class, that boy.

I can't see how Brewster can be named first either. His career was very near over by the time he came here. For me, Wyness and Stewart are in a class of their own. The amount of goals they scored for ICT was phenomenal. You could argue that Stewart never played at the highest level and Wyness didn't do much at Hearts and wasn't top when he came back but I just wonder what would have happened if they continued with us to the top flight... Next up, Dargo. He always looked like he would score. Another one who didn't look anything special before he came and after he left, but a potent striker whilst he was here. Paul Ritchie just below but he's another with amazing statistics. Could he have played at a higher level? His goals scored column suggests quite possibly. Fifth? I'd go for Foran, just above Rooney. Different players, but I believe Foran would have scored a lot more in a different system. Put Rooney with no Foran and I think we'd struggle more than Foran with no Rooney. Yeah, I know it's not going to plan currently but Foran's getting on and I still think he'll get his goalscoring touch back before too long. Had he chosen to stay longer, David Bingham could easily have cemented his place in there. But he didn't, so he doesn't.

I think that says it all about Brewster and his second time at the club. IMHO, most fans were against him returning from the off (including me!). Just like McLeish at Villa, there's far less give'n'take.

Heard you the first time. Wow, Renegade. You've changed your tune. Although I disagree about Jimmy Calderwood. Look at the before and after of his time at Aberdeen and Dunfermline to see what a fine manager he was. I applaud the decision (see, I told you). He's done wonders since he got here. Let's give him a longer run to run the club his way, the same way that Pele moulded ICT to his ideas.

Kevin Pressman, the Sheffield Wed keeper, was in that situation once. He basically just blasted it as he would from a bi-kick. If the opposing keeper had got in the way, it would have taken his head off!

I suspect Foran will start banging them in sooner or later. He is a goalscorer and at the heart of many of our chances. His form is good but his touch is slightly off. I don't think the latter will last long. If you're looking for ability, I think Foran is the best player we have. He can score, he can pass, he can win in the air, he works like a dog. Whether in central midfield, as a striker or on the left-wing, he's a regular start for me. I don't know why people are so keen for McKay to start. 75 apps for Northampton, 13 goals. Hardly rapier-like. Yet to score an SPL goal too (although perhaps not entirely his fault). Let him prove himself from the bench first.

You could say the same thing about Rooney when he first started (apart from the defenders bit). By the end of the season, we will see. He's played a handful of games with a weakened team. Look at how badly Torres started with Chelsea. Let him get at least half a season under his belt before condemning him. I was a bit wary at the start but I think he'll come good. Getting in the right position is a big ask of a player. Tade seems to be doing that. A bit of confidence, a bit of a run and he may well outstrip Rooney. But let's give him a chance. If Hearts, Motherwell, St Johnstone, Dunfermline and Aberdeen (and I'd say Rangers too) can't buy penalty box strikers, then how can we? Same as we did with Rooney. We get someone with an inkling of talent and attempt to coax a bit more from them. I think he'll do well come the end of the season. Right now, he's absolutely a first pick.

Ah go and play with your frisbee "It's not the same without Bart....he used to watch me"

And the weird thing is, I don't think he's ever played in his most natural defensive midfield position. He looked half-decent when first at CD but didn't have the strength to pull it off. Munro wasn't the big aggressive character he needed, so faded very badly. Luckily, Tokely seems to have grown into a Dods. Maybe the big battering ram, with a player that can see the action could work wonders. A little similar to McLeish and Miller (although not as world class). Let's give him a run there.

That boy Shinnie. What a player! He was everywhere. Tackling in defence. Up front with the attackers. Out on the wing. You'd think there was two of him! (apologies to Denis Law and the de Boer brothers for plagiarism)

yet neither of you has suggested your line-up. Easy to criticise. Would you have put A.Shinnie in 3 weeks ago? I very much doubt it. No Foran and no Tade? So, presumably Mackay up front? Our strongest line-up is then a player that's never started an SPL match, much less scored a goal. Let's see your choices before criticising others.

Whereas I agree with CaleyD, it's just a bit of fun. I'm quite sure Butcher will pay no heed. It's Championship Manager, except that you get over-ruled most weeks.

Esson Piermayr - Tokely - Golobart - Shinnie Ross - Davis - Tansey Tade - Sutherland Foran Going for the Xmas tree approach here. Two big, quick, skilful players that can batter away on the wings and in the middle all day long. Foran staying up front and bringing in other players. A midfield with a bit of passing ability to get the ball up. I think this might well be the way to go with the wingers out.

I doubt it would be Hayes in the middle and Doran on the left. Probably, when fit and on form, Esson, Tokely, Foran and Hayes are first picks. Tansey, Doran, Ross and Tade close to it but probably struggling to fit them all in, with a defensive midfielder. Hogg would probably be in there but with no pre-season and an injury, perhaps not. I think we have options at RB and excellent LBs. Anyway, here goes: Esson Piermayr - Tokely - Hogg - Shinnie/Gillet Tudur-Jones - Ross/Tansey Hayes - Foran - Tade/Doran (no-one) Don't think any of the strikers have covered themselves in glory. Foran and Tade don't look as though they're strikers (any more in Foran's case), so I'd give Sutherland or McKay a go, until maybe just going back to Foran again (still might be our best bet after all that).

You are aware that you can block users, so all you see is This post is hidden because you have chosen to ignore posts by Laurence . View it anyway? The guy turned his back on ICT coz they weren't good enough for him, stating he would stop posting here. Personally, I'd like him to keep to his promises.

Thought we've been doing okay. Just don't have that extra bit of quality Celtic pay millions for. It's a bit like when Scots play in Europe. You can see we compete and are unlucky to lose but yet, it's obvious there's just that bit missing. Tade's looked lively. Foran's days as a striker are gone surely. First choice for a midfield berth but I'd rather see Mackay or Sutherland get a goal-hanger role. We're crying out for someone that doesn't do half the work that Foran or Tade do, but are very selfish, waiting to grab the glory of an easy tap-in. Chippendale was drafted in due to injury to Hayes and Doran...and you can see it. Not a patch on those players. Not that he's done badly...just nothing special.

Och, I enjoy all that. It's all part of the passion. Do you really want Steve McLaren sitting with his umbrella? I much preferred it when I saw Brian Clough and Jock Wallace lamping their own fans for daring to cross them. That's the fun and the passion. The more of that, the better.

The Old Firm over a Highland team? Never! The Old Firm over a provincial team? Never! The Old Firm over any other Scottish team? Never!

If I remember correctly Tudur-Jones played 3 times. The first, he was man-of-the-match, the second, he was average and the third, he only lasted 2/3 of the final match due to injury (and how long was he injured for in that match?). That's a bit early to be writing him off. Remember, Hayes wasn't great to start with, with Eagle looking a better player early on. I do think Terry can still blame injuries as they are in specific areas. All the defensive midfielders were injured. It's the heart of the team and dictates our play. Just look at Arsenal. Terrific world-class players - no bite. Our two wide players were injured. Chippendale is an emergency loan, so there's no reason to believe he's as good as either Hayes or Doran. He may very well be a third-choice, better-than-nothing player that will be used as fresh legs from the bench. A fit Hogg is also a better player than Tokely, Proctor or Golobart. With Hogg, Proctor, Tudur-Jones and Gillet all injured, there was really little choice in the central defence. A crucial part of the team. I know people will say Butcher should have kept Munro. Although I agree in principle, in practice, that's not the problem. It was probably Hogg or Munro - and both are as likely to be injured as each other - so it's an injury, as opposed to a player. Who could anticipate all the defensive midfielders being injured? All the central defenders, barring Tokely being injured? Both wingers being injured? I don't think we can anticipate short-term emergency loans to be of the same quality as our first choice team. The big player we're missing is Adam Rooney but no surprise really. We can't sign anyone of that immediate quality. And just because Golobart can play attack doesn't mean he's as good up there as he is in defence. I'd also say, when you're having difficulty scoring, losing goals through showboating is unforgivable. Perhaps the best thing for Golobart is to lose a bit of confidence, so he does the simple thing, rather than the extravagant. That said, I do think we have to adjust our tactics a bit to make us a bit more defensive minded. Make us difficult to beat. Once we get our defence-minded players back and a winger, then we can be a bit more expressive. But for now, something that makes us solid and counter attacking is our best bet.

We'd get hammered with that team. We can barely score as it is, never mind against Celtic. The defence would be ripped apart and the midfield nowhere near strong enough. It would start off cavalier and end up embarrassing.

In many ways, it's not that different to most leagues now. La Liga has to be the most uncompetitive. Other leagues, such as the EPL (Man City's takeover is a bolt from the blue), Holland, Serie A, Belgium, Portugal etc etc are being dominated by 2 or 3 clubs more and more. It does need the other 10 clubs to take a stand and demand a more equitable share. If the OF won't accept it, breakaway then. No chance of it unfortunately.

Malpas at right-back?!?

I wrote out my team yesterday and it was very similar to Mahonios. Everton had a lot of success with 4-1-4-1 when they lacked strikers and wingers. There'll be a lot of dissent as it will look pretty poor. But with hard work, we can get some results if we can pick off chances whilst frustrating the opposition. Esson Piermayr - Tokely - Gillet - G.Shinnie Proctor Ross - Morrison - Tansey - Foran Sutherland Proctor looks to me a natural def mid. I'd be really interested in seeing what he can do there. Tade doesn't have the strike rate, so Sutherland gets his chance with McKay his substitute. A.Shinnie might be a bit unlucky in being dropped but it's simply perm 2 from 3. If one doesn't perform, he's on. Gillet was one of our better players and can apparently play in central defence, so gets his chance. I do think this team, with Hogg, Cox, Tudur-Jones, Hayes and Doran back is capable of surviving and prospering. However, if we don't, it's Armageddon for SFL1. Virtually every player will be gone, with little chance of replacing them with quality.