starchief

I don't understand the whole situation but 15 points of Dundee's penalty were due to who they owed money too. Apparently, Rangers are more likely to get the 10 point penalty but, as they owe money to their owner, get off with the 15 points. All above my head but what I've heard.

Thought he was one of the very few that held his own when Spurs trashed Hearts earlier in the season. Not sure I can agree with you either on the supporters. Celtic have the terrorist supporters, Rangers have got the Manchester riots, Hibs for years were the worst casuals, with Aberdeen not far behind. Hearts equal to them but not really any worse. Most ok. A small minority disgusting. I'd still feel for those genuine supporters but it was always going to happen. But I still wish they had kept Burley and challenged for the league. Who knows what a splurge of Champions League money might have done but anyone, please win the SPL for a shot of interest. Outcome? Heart of Midlothian crash'n'burn. Hearts of Edinburgh (or whatever) to rise like a phoenix. Murrayfield shared. Romanov left with huge debts and a ground to sell. I'd welcome that. Maybe a new start for them, a crippling of Rangers and Lennon to stay at Celtic might mean a better season next year.

Looks as though the inevitable end has come for the Jam Tarts. David Templeton to Rangers is obvious. I would have thought Black would also be ideal for either of the Old Firm. Without McCulloch and Brown, they're both lacking a bite-yer-ankles player. http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/3911799/Hearts-tell-big-earners-to-quit.html

So, referees are anti Rangers, Celtic, Hearts, St Mirren, non-Old Firm and now ICT. No wonder Motherwell are second in the table. They must be getting all the decisions every other week. Referees are crap but, besides a small fraction, not corrupt - not even Dougie McDonald if you read what actually happened. As for Romanov - death throes of a mad empire. "there is no point is spending millions" = I have lost interest. Prepare to see both Rangers and Hearts do a Gretna. Actually, prepare to see them do an Airdrie. People get ripped off but nothing much changes. They re-apply as new clubs on their own license. Too big and important for the SPL to do anything about it.

My god, it's pics of dust!!! Probably ghostly dust at that too! Thank goodness you had a camera there in time.

No, it doesn't lie. With injuries, we've been unable to play with our first and second choice central defensive pairings. We've not had a defensive midfielder - the bedrock of the team - for the most part and there's rarely been a chance to play with wingers. Hence, we've struggled to score or keep a clean sheet. We've been rocked by late goals and some amateur defending, as well as bad decisions (that's still part-n-parcel of football). But at this stage, it doesn't matter. The table doesn't lie now and it won't lie at the end of the season. ICT can only get better with hugely important players to come back. There's little chance, IMO, of us being down here come the end of season.

It'd be great. Financially, who knows? You just got to do your best with the hand your given. Football-wise, it's fantastic. Although Celtic fans would love to see Rangers demoted, I'm sure really, they love playing them and would actually prefer them to be in the same division. Same with Ross County.

This (assuming no Hogg/Meekings)

How many goals would Dargo or Rooney get without Hayes or Doran, but instead Shinnie, Davis and Tansey providing any "crosses"? I've become more convinced it's width on the park, not predatory instincts that's the biggest barrier to scoring goals. Dargo and Rooney would be even more lost than Tade and Foran are at the moment, standing around at the edge of the box trying to win the big punt up the park.

It's not unfair, just an opinion. And I don't think his managerial record is poor. Thought he was excellent with Motherwell and Coventry. Ok, with Sunderland. Not much chance with Sydney and Brentford. Didn't have time to develop his squad there. Many people here were all for sacking him before Xmas in SFL1. A manager needs time. He's done well when given that.

I think it was Adam didn't want to go. Get our wingers back and I believe we'll see Foran scoring again. I think we miss them (and a defensive mid) more than we miss Rooney. Adam wouldn't have scored anything like those goals if he had to rely on A.Shinnie, Tansey or Davis playing wide.

How will Sutherland or McKay score, without anyone providing? I think Foran will score when he's got some service. He's done it before. Our biggest let down for goals is a lack of width. Playing people like Tansey and A.Shinnie wide just isn't going to work. Obviously, we need Hayes and Doran back but, in the meantime, Chippendale, G.Shinnie and Foran should be getting moved wide where they can provide. Without the ammunition, strikers cannot score - even ones that need a few chances like Tade and, dare I say it, Rooney.

Ignore that troll.

Esson Meekings - Tokely - Golobart - Gillett Cox - Tansey Chippendale - A.Shinnie - Foran Tade With Cox in there, there's some bite and protection. That should help Golobart to return. He's got a lot of talent, so let's develop him. G. Shinnie rested after a couple of bad performances but definitely a big part of the squad for many years to come. Alongside Cox would be either Ross or Tansey. I've gone for Tansey as he's a better passer but Ross would certainly be on at some stage. Chippendale deserves his chance and A.Shinnie is developing into a mainstay of the team. Any poor performance and Tansey moves up, with Ross replacing him. Up-front, I'm not so sure. Tade looks the most dangerous so can't really be dropped. However, Foran probably suits that Rooney role better. Probably Sutherland does too. But just on form, Tade keeps his position, with Foran going back to wide left. Both G.Shinnie and Sutherland are waiting in the wings. Possibly MacKay too, except he's not scored much over the years to look like the penalty box striker we need. We'll see what he's made of in training and sub appearances before staking our future on him. So, that's my counter attacking style, with width, bite and goals. Back to what we're best at.

Do you not think his form is down because he's playing as a traditional striker but there's no width to support him? You might say Tade is playing better but different players. With no wingers, Rooney would probably be more lost than Foran, whilst a player like Bayne would look more effective, even though he's less likely to score. Let's either swap to the 4-2-3-1 with Foran wide on the left, or get Chippendale or G.Shinnie out wide.

Let's think what's gone right, what's gone wrong. None of the "he's p!$h" and drop him, without being constructive. Plenty of threads for that. Basically, we've played probably more good games than bad. Yet, we're still struggling to win. Ok, we're missing Rooney. Finding a gem though is difficult. Especially for free on low wages. I don't think we should just be saying 'sign someone' without coming up with free, low paid answers. Maybe, let's stick to who we've got until we can find someone. With ammunition, I think Foran and Sutherland have proved themselves in the past, whilst Tade is our top scorer. But at the moment, they have to find their own ammunition. Where we've really been missing players is in the injury section: wingers, defensive midfield and centre back. I think both Tansey and A.Shinnie could be top midfielders. However, neither are wide players or defensive mids. Can't really blame Terry for playing Tansey there as, without Cox, Proctor and Jones, he's probably the closest we've got. Duncan isn't playing much for Ross County. Probably injured I suspect and, if he is, he would just as likely have been injured for us. It's been such an important position for us that I think either Proctor or Cox must play there when fit (Jones later on). It's been the crux of our style of play since Butcher found a winning formula. Without any wingers, getting balls in is always going to be difficult. Foran is normally a good enough finisher to take them, and Tade is big enough to cause trouble. At the moment, we are relying on them to basically hunt down a ball from the centre and create their own chances. So, with Doran and Hayes out, who's the substitute? We could switch Tade but I'd prefer to keep him up front. Sutherland is also a better striker, so I'd say it's time to give Chippendale or G.Shinnie a run-out there. Chippendale has looked half decent when he came on. Maybe he shouldn't start but definitely after half an hour or so. That gives desperately needed width. Letting Munro go was a mistake. There you go. But what can we do about it now? Obviously Hogg and Tokely (who has looked commanding in a number of matches) are first picks but Hogg has been out for a number of matches. Proctor might be playing defensive midfield. If he is, keep him there. If not, then it's between him, Meekings and Golobart, or possibly Gillett. No idea how good Gillett is in there, so I'll leave him aside for a second. Golobart has looked good but rash. Partly, I think due to having no defensive midfield. Therefore, I'd like to see Golobart and Tokely together, with Proctor/Cox just in front. So, with that, we have a system with central defenders being protected by a defensive midfielder. That should cut down the goals and give Golobart confidence. We have good creative passers in A.Shinnie, Tansey and Davis (Ross can play in front or with the defensive mid, depending on formation), plus a (normally) clinical finisher in Foran and a battering-ram in Tade. By introducing a winger, we can have an outlet for the passing, rather than a big heave-and-hope, plus someone to provide the ammunition for the strikers, so they don't have to do it all themselves from just inside the halfway line. It's the same system we have been using for a while but with injuries, we seem to have lost our way. It's simply going back to basics and replacing them with perhaps some inferior, but better suited, players until the injury crisis is over. Otherwise, we have a lot of similar players doing jobs they are not capable of doing. We made our name in the past couple of years on 4-1-3-2 or 4-2-3-1. Let's keep our heads and go back to those systems, using players that can play those positions. Protect a nervous back four with a defensive mid and have an outlet/provider with a winger. That's how we won promotion. That's how we got so high in the SPL. That's how we'll get out of bottom of the table.

Garlands is a weird but great album. Total 80s goth.

Surprising really. He'd be a decent shout for an Airdrie or that ilk.

Don't know if I can agree with either Fraser or Brown. Mike was going to be the second string keeper of a relegated team. He's now the first choice (I think!) of an SFL1 promotion chasing team. Not much of a difference really. Brown was always going to be second choice at Celtic. Probably still a step up most keepers would take. Look at Alexander. One of the best keepers in the country but content to sit on the bench at Rangers. Now Brown is at a bigger club than ICT and with a fighting chance of becoming their regular if he takes his chance. Again, about equal. He could have gone further mind if he had left us for Hibs or so back then. Not really dropping though, just not reaching higher. I'd maybe say Dargo was the biggest fall. His performance for the Buddies was shocking. Considering he was going to be our highest paid player and team mainstay, he's fallen pretty far.

Johnboy?

We're a few years to late for that. I'd love to have seen a defence with Tokely and Djebi-Zadi as wing backs, with Proctor sweeping up behind Munro and Mihadjuks. Not so sure Tokes would be up to it now.

And who would that player be?

Once Hogg is back and running fit, our centre-back pairing is as good as most of our rivals, with Jones also being able to fit in there. Easy to say we need a striker but who? Do we do a Dunfermline and go for a seasoned, but unremarkable, pro like Barrowman. Or do we go down the leagues to pick up a goal machine from there, like Rory? So, for me: DEF: I don't see how we can have a fit Tokely, Jones or Hogg on the bench. I doubt we can afford better than we've got. MID: what we're desperately missing is a defensive mid. However, that's just injury. No problem when they are back. WING: Not many clubs at our level with the likes of Hayes and Doran to call on. No problem after the injury crisis. ATTACK: bringing in a regular 20-goal striker would be ideal. But if Hearts, Aberdeen, Dunfermline etc are struggling with that, you've got to say who? If we can, great. But we'll score more with Hayes and Doran firing in the crosses. In other words, don't panic. We're not so far off. Yep, we're missing Rooney but those players aren't easy to find. Who are your suggestions for a cheap attacker that will guarantee goals? We couldn't even afford Darren Mackie - and that says a lot.

I seriously would love that.

13 goals in 79 matches for Northampton. Doesn't sound like a penalty box striker to me.