starchief

Foran praised by Chick Young (I know, I know)

A.Shinnie couldn't do the (good) job Foran is doing either. I wouldn't have dropped Shinnie if not for injury but it would be for Tade. Foran is more of a straight left-sided midfielder with his fair share of defensive duties. Can't see A.Shinnie taking on that role. Maybe his brother could.

I think it might be a 4-3-3. with Foran, Cox and Tansey in midfield. It's a little more fluid upfront. Hayes on the right but Tade (on the left mainly) and McKay seem quite withdrawn, taking turns to be furthest forward. I don't know if that's Tade (probably) not being as disciplined or a deliberate ploy. Cox looking good and Foran's mind full on the game. G.Shinnie also playing well.

I think 4-2-3-1 that's worked so well for us in the past. Can't see Tade fitting into the 3, but then can't really see McKay in there either. Interesting.

Can't understand these 'let's go for it' attitude. We needed a win at home to Dundee United. We didn't get it. What chance we beat the current champions and league leaders on their home turf, whist we have a variety of injuries? That's Berti Vogts/George Burley's Scotland attitude of ignore the opposition and play with no real tactics. How well did that work out? If we could really match, hell, BEAT, Rangers by out-performing them with a barrage of goals, then don't you think these players would be at Rangers? It's the triumph of hope over reality. Our best bet is to play it cagey, try to get a point away from home. Possibly even sneak a win. Getting tanked will just ruin our goal difference. And if we play an attacking line-up, with our injured and no-clean-sheets defence, tanked is what we'll get.

If Black quits, he'd be an ideal signing for Dundee United. That'd give great balance to their team. Let players like Rankin, Flood and GMS play to their best. Personally, after his performance against Spurs, I think he could perform in the EPL. Wigan or Wolves would benefit from him.

He's had his fair share of injuries too. If players like Barr or OTJ were not injury-prone, we could never sign them. But, as they are, should we be signing them knowing they are potentially much better than what we could get otherwise? I guess that's up to the medical men and the manager on a case by case basis. I don't think we could afford too many, maybe even one (I wouldn't say none as it can work spectacularly well for us too).

Well, Killie offered him the job so couldn't have been that bad. I've no idea how he organises the day but does it matter if he's successful? Clough barely appeared on the training ground for instance. Wouldn't criticise him though. He spent his budget (not decided by the manager) to have a team that went from relegation candidates to top 6 and qualification for European group stages then, after sacking, to relegation candidates again. Which other provincial club has managed that? And I'm pretty sure Hearts had a higher wage bill. Nichol and Calderwood were partners. Nichol's had successes and failures. Sounds like they complemented each other and that's why they worked together so well. Who's been a better manager in recent years (long-term - non of those one season wonders)?

Walter Smith used to sit in the stand for that very reason. But then, he used to come down for the second half. Supposedly it's to get their point across to the players but they could phone and ask the coaches to do that. I think it's just part and parcel of the passion. They're so desperate to be involved, they need to be as close to being on the pitch as possible. I must say, I enjoy the whole Martin O'Neill dancing about on the sidelines theatrics. Adds to the game. Steve McLaren was quite happy to sit in the stand under an umbrella but all he did was look foolish. Give me an incompetent but animated manager any day. It's all entertainment after all.

Proctor and Golobart it is then

Gary Mackay-Steven. Owain Tudur-Jones. Can't say we should never have signed one player with a history of injury problems but real talent then criticise when we sign a player with a history of injury problems but real talent. Can't blame Butcher for this one. It was the right deal at the time - both for ICT and GMS. It's worked out for him but he took a real risk.

Incompetent? His record with Aberdeen and Dunfermline was incredible.

Not here but he's a holding midfielder that can switch to central defence. That's what he was billed as when he arrived.

Had to look again at seeing Golly in there. Thought we were back in time for a second. As for Tade, depends how you're playing the match. I'd play to stifle Rangers and maybe grab a chance. McKay's job would be to play right up front to stop the Rangers back line advancing too far up the field. Tade couldn't do that. What a midfield of Hayes, Cox, Tansey and A.Shinnie could do would be told hold onto the ball. Take the pressure off. Again, Tade wouldn't do that. It's a romantic idea to think we can just belt into Rangers and come out on top but realistically, scrapping for a point or even sneaking a win is a far more realistic idea. Tade for the second half makes more sense.

If Duncan was still up to it, he would be getting more matches with Ross County. Munro's a mistake for sure but Russell wouldn't have made that big a difference. A fit Cox or Jones is a better bet. Naturally, they're not fit but Duncan's just as likely to be in plaster as anyone else. Jones? Well, he has a history... Ross got a lot of plaudits earlier on (as did G.Shinnie) and was a certain starter. They both had a bit of a loss of form but they'll both be back soon I'm sure. Both worthy of a place in the squad over the course of a season.

Centre-backs are Tokely, Hogg (injured most of the season), Jones (injured most of the season), Proctor (injured most of the season), Meekings (injured) and Golobart. Very unlucky with injuries. We don't have the money for even our present squad, never mind some first team player to sit on the bench in case there's an injury.

The fans might want Rangers and Hearts relelgated but there's no way the chairmen or TV bosses will. It's not about what's fair, it's about business - and that is why football, not just Scottish football, is bust.

Damage limitation for me. Rangers don't have all that much inventiveness going forward, so stifling them might just work. Snuff out Jelavic and there's not many goals. However, they are pretty solid defensively, so no point bombing into a brick wall. Tuffey Piermayr - Tokely - Golobart - Gillet - G.Shinnie Tansey - Cox Hayes - McKay - A.Shinnie I'm giving Tuffey a chance. Not because Esson's been to blame but it's come to a stage when a new broom is needed. Golobart will play more of a sweeper role. He seems to need a bit more time on the ball. With Tokely and Gillet man-marking, Golobart will probably get that. The alternative is someone like Cox to go back there. McKay pushed a lot further forward than Hayes or Shinnie so Rangers have to hold the back line lower down the field.

I believe we did offer a contract to Mackay-Steven but he wanted too much for someone very injury prone, who couldn't even play in all of our friendly matches. IIRC, he had to come off in the only one he played due to injury. It's a convenient excuse but no other SPL team (or SFL1) took a chance on him either at that time. Can't blame ICT for not offering a colossal contract for someone who looked like playing a game a month. It's the same old story. IF we either had Hogg fit for the season, or Munro staying, we wouldn't be having these problems. Someone like John Potter would have been a good player (freed by Saints to sign for Dunfermline). It's a terrible excuse but we really have been unlucky with injuries, refereeing decisions and, today, United scoring with every shot on goal. It's tough to cope with all of these factors but what can we do? Not overly worried about teams below us and their games in hand. They aren't all going to win them. To have a good season, all we need are key players back and staying fit. It's not easy but without a budget to spend, it's going to be a struggle if that doesn't happen.

someone needs to give Mackay-Steven an injury. All it needs is to cough on his ankle, judging by his injury record.

He's quite a different player to most of those you mentioned. He's more vying for a spot with A.Shinnie. Not someone who looks like being dropped any time soon.

The Sunday Post (in a brown paper bag of course) gave pretty lousy marks for the team. Esson, Tokely and Gillet only a 5 each, with Hogg and Golobart on a 6. If that were the case, we should have shipped a lot more goals than that.

If you want to trawl the match reports, there was an outcry to drop G.Shinnie after a few bad performances on top of previous good ones.

With no pre-season and a run of injuries, Hogg was always going to struggle to get going. The busy festive period will bring out the best in him. I really don't fear for a defence that can call on Piermayr/Meekings, Hogg, Tokely, Gillet/Shinnie - possibly a little light in the centre (except I thought Golobart could have been a crucial player by now had we stuck with him - too late now I'm guessing) but that depends on Jones coming back. Too many injuries, plus too much bad luck with decisions. Unlikely it will stay like that. Imagine our team now but with Doran, Jones and Cox back, plus Hogg and Hayes motoring on full strength. That's easily better than the Pars, the Saints and a good few others at least.

Same as last week for me. I was tempted to put in Sutherland for Tade but Tade blows so hot and cold, I'd give him a first half/60 mins. Hogg just needs a couple of games to get settled. Cox needs some reserve games/from the bench before coming straight back in. Tansey looks the pick of this year's bunch for me. He's still pretty young and playing largely in a withdrawn role. If we could tie him up to a longer contract, I think we could have a future captain on our hands. I'd expect him to be a lot better once someone like Jones or Cox comes in as a defensive midfielder. Chippendale should be used more but I think of him as an impact player with 30 mins left. And I don't mean that as any sort of slight on him. I can see the value of Tuffey coming in. Basically, I would see it as a matter of who will stay and who will leave regarding contracts. It's not a problem position.