starchief

10, 12, 16, 20 or a 100 team league wouldn't make much difference I fear. It's completely and 100% to do with wealth distribution. The 80s were a terrific period for Scottish football, despite the ten-team league. Neither Celtic nor Rangers had ridiculously more money (significantly more but still within reason), so there were opportunities to get ahead with a good manager. Clubs could spend the odd quarter of a million here and there. I don't think Scotland's third team in Hearts have spent a penny on any player they've brought in. At the same time, finances were such that a player would never consider a move from Hibs to Preston as a step up. Youngsters would stick around and develop their skills alongside seasoned-pros. When the best players did go, it would be to a top club, not the old Second Division or lower. Now, they'll up sticks at the first possibility to sit on the bench at a Championship club, never becoming the player they should be and leaving the SPL far weaker. The solution? Probably a British league but there's no chance of that happening. Fans would never accept that for a start, never mind UEFA (I'd quite enjoy it myself). The only other solution I can see is to accept a decline to a lower status. Accept that any good players, like in the Irish league, would leave when possible. Once we accept that, we can then just say, the domestic league is everything. Even out the money somewhat and make it more competitive and more enjoyable (and I'd go for summer football). Perhaps the quality won't be better. It's just be a little bit more fun.

So when Terry Butcher or Ally McCoist is punched on the head by a Celtic fan, I take it he'll not be charged with assault then as long as he doesn't utter a religious-hating remark? This opens the floodgates for pitch invasions and what I would term 'assaults'. If a Hearts fan can punch a manager, why can't a fan of other clubs?

Even if they chose not to believe that and throw out the sectarian aspect, not an assault...? Really?

The jury accepted breach of the peace but rejected sectarianism, so how they couldn't do the same thing with the assault is beyond me. I've never agreed with the Celtic paranoia - even during the lying referee stage (he gave the initial decision against Dundee Utd, then got the decision right but told a white lie to his supervisor, not Celtic, over why he changed his mind) - but maybe they have a point here. Makes Scotland a laughing stock.

Bajram Fetai much?... Didn't say sign everyone from the Old Firm, I said don't write them off just because they're from the Old Firm. Who they played for is irrelevant if they can do a job for ICT. Dargo: 2010-11 32 league appearances - 3 goals...and not much to speak of before that. I suspect his time is past and we'd end up with a player a shadow of himself. A lot worse than even Wyness towards the end of his ICT time.

Yeah, cause St Mirren really suffered by bringing in Charlie Adam on loan from Rangers! That's a crazy comment Ten4 - how can you say someone is a "big time charlie" simply because they play for the champions of Scotland. Would you turn down Steve Davis as well if he falls out of favour? I'd be happy to have Rangers and Celtic rejects like Cillian Sheridan or Charlie Adam. It all depends on what they can do for ICT, not what jersey they once put on in Glasgow.

All depends if their manager, Broeken de Teekoop, will let him go.

Frightening stuff. How much more can we cut?

Hibs have a couple of good attackers in Griffiths and O'Connor, along with Murray and their goalkeepers. Besides that, the squad is immensely poor. With Calderwood stating that it's perfect and he won't be adding to it, I'd be hugely disappointed if we were below them after Xmas. Even when they beat us, ICT were the better team, but just not firing on the striker front. Nothing to fear from Hibs.

Incredible result at Old Trafford. Already under pressure with players leaving and a lack of 'tough' signings or deadly strikers, Wenger has just seen his team thrashed 8-2 by Man U. Can Arsene survive this? My view: yes, his results in Europe are good but he's got to splash the cash (which he seems to have) on some basic footballers. Defenders who can defend. Keepers that can save (maybe they've got that now) and a midfielder with a bit of steel, not just delicate passing. Wenger can do it but he must change his philosophy. I'm also shocked that Spurs got crushed by Man City. Harry looked to have built a far better squad than that.

Adam Rooney scores for Brum again. No surprise he's being missed by little ol' us.

As the debate seems to have been expanded by Andy Gray's comments: I'm not so sure there is the case of not developing youngsters. Look at some of our best prospects: Bannan, Cowie, McArthur, Goodwillie, Fletcher etc etc. All of them and many more (Nicholson, Snodgrass, Hart, McLean etc etc) took the low road to Englandshire for a few extra bob, rather than stay in Scotland where they could have helped Aberdeen, the Old Firm or the Edinburgh clubs to become a better footballing team. I'm not saying I necessarily blame these players (depends how much extra money) but is there much point developing that talent when the likes of McGuire would rather warm the bench at relegation strugglers Derby, rather than play football at one of the SPL's leading clubs? Getting back to ICT, surely we can only have a nucleus of Highland/Scottish players if we offer long-term deals? They may not be accepted but it seems to be ICT's stated position that we're only going to offer short term contracts. How about at least offering Ross, Shinnie and Morrison 3 to 5 year deals now, complete with relegation clauses? Perhaps they won't accept but worth chancing our arm surely. It's how Jim MacLean made a success of the second team in Dundee.

It's fine to blame it all on the red card, the early penalty and defensive reorganisation but only if Celtic hadn't been unable to bat Sion at home. The chances are they'd have been beaten anyway if that's the case. Quite possible that irregularities may mean Celtic progress anyway. Much as I want Scottish teams to progress in Europe (and I most certainly do), I'd be embarrassed if Celtic go through. What an ill-deserved 'victory' that would be.

Trembling Blue Stars - Fast Trains and Telegraph Wires: beautiful dream indie pop electronica. Probably listened to them more than any other band in the last two decades. Sadly, songwriter Bobby Wratten has announced this is their last album

There's got to be something we can learn from terrible results year upon year. I know some will say it just reflects Scottish football but we're constantly being tanked by teams whose players individually wouldn't get in our teams. I blame the kick and rush culture. Too many shin-plays in Scottish football.

Alex: you're including full-backs there too, so either include the wingers in the attacking options or realise that there's normally 4 defenders per match, yet only 1 or 2 strikers. How many did we have last year? Only really Foran and Rooney, with Sutherland in reserve. The likes of Gil and Sanchez were really midfielders and never got a game anyway. Numbers wise, we're at least as good as before. It's quality that counts though and we're going to struggle to replace a Championship quality striker. We don't have money to throw at it and still one striker to come back from injury. Finding gems for no money ain't easy, especially when first choice Terry Gurnell (spelling?) would rather go to lower league Accrington Stanley, than us. I'm sure Tel would love to get in a real quality striker for a budget wage but, I'll say again, who? Dunfermline's solution was Barrowman. Who is ours to be?

What choice did we have other than chop'n'change? Aldred had come in for some harsh comments previously, so when Hogg came in, virtually everyone (I think there was one who didn't) hailed it as a landmark signing and a first choice pick (how many left him out of the starting line-ups thread?). He came straight in with Tokely. That would have been the regular pairing but Tokely was suspended. Therefore, either bring in someone who had been getting criticism or someone new that Butcher probably rates higher, bearing in mind that Hogg and Aldred hadn't played much together either, so no consistency with any pairing. So, presumng no-one wants Aldred/Golabart, either: Hogg - Aldred (very little time spent playing together and not as good as Golabart) Hogg - Golabart (no time spent playing together but a better player than Aldred) I don't see one as a stand out pick.

Tuffy Piermayr - Hogg - Golobart - G.Shinnie Morrison Ross - A.Shinnie - Doran Sutherland Limited experimentation but our back four needs time to get to know each other. This (maybe with Tokely) seems to be our first choice, so they stay together. Hayes is rested as I think he's still getting over his injury. Two games a week might be too much. A.Shinnie gets his chance in his favourite position. He has to deliver or he's dropped at half-time and will do a Gil/Sanchez, i.e. struggle to get a regular game. Sutherland gets his chance to stake a claim. Foran a very important substitute that can come in for Morrison/A.Shinnie/Doran/Sutherland, depending on who's floundering against lower opposition. This team should be able to beat SFL1 teams. For some of the players, it's play or be dropped for the foreseeable future. Their chance to shine.

Except....many of them will be out of contract come the end of the season. Unfortunately, with that system of contract, we're not building for the coming seasons, simply the one in progress, then starting from scratch all over again. We could be top 6 one season, lose our best players for zero, then relegated the next season with this brinkmanship.

I think the dropping of Tade was to reinforce a midfield, as we have no Proctor, Cox or Tudur-Jones in the defensive mid, so went for a more solid 5 across. Although we've not won yet, there have been games where we've done very well, just not done quite enough. It's easy to say, get a striker in, but who? We've lost a Championship level striker, yet couldn't persuade one to choose ICT over Accrington Stanley (even for more money). So who do we go for? Do we compete with Dunfermline for Barrowman? Bringing in a 20-goal striker ain't easy. We've got an injury/suspension crisis at the moment but no need for panic. Get a couple of players back and I think we've got a real team here. Certainly better than the likes of Dunfermline or Hibs and equal to the likes of Killie, Aberdeen etc. Significant losses were Munro, Duncan and Rooney. Munro has been replaced I believe, as would have Duncan, except for injuries. Rooney? Not easy. But who's cheap and available, yet would guarantee goals?

This is the real problem. A great tackle is as impressive as a great save and a great goal. It seems to be a rule change for fairweather football fans that can't appreciate anything other than goals.

How about on the basis of losses this season to Maribor, Malmo, Slask Wroclaw, or losses last season to OB, Maribor, Utrecht, AEK or Braga. And we can go on to previous results against Icelandic teams, part-time Scandinavians etc etc. Terminal decline.

I thought Hearts could have done something. Beforehand I looked at a teamsheet of: Kello Hammill - Webster - Zaliukas - Grainger Black - Mrowiec Driver - Stevenson - Templeton Sutton and thought 'that's a decent team'. I didn't think there was a 5-0 difference but there you go. They desperately needed to drop a player into defensive midfield as the 5-man mid was very square, allowing Van Der Vaart and Kranjcar to run riot. Surprised Rooney didn't get on from Brum, considering what he did in the last game. Our fears may be coming true, that he just won't get the chance to stake a claim, no matter what he does. I find that quite ridiculous. I'm really not sure that the OF will get through. Especially Celtic, if they can do nothing at home. All Rangers need is a home win, when they dominated away from home. Not easy but Scotland's best chance. All very depressing.

ICT are in a very precarious position. Let us in the hands of an egotist and another Gretna is on the cards. We don't have the fallback of a stadium for any guarantor of financial stability. We just can't go beyond our means. So let's hope we absolutely know who and why this buyer is interested.

I can see Foran being in there but the Tade role needs some footballing intelligence (hence why Sanchez would play there). Foran could move forward to that but it's a shame that Proctor, Cox and Tudur-Jones are all natural def mids, but all out. It's a big problem. Maybe if Gillet had been fit, G.Shinnie might have been able to go in there but it's a weakness.