starchief

Even if it doesn't, what should the score have been? Probably a draw against Highland League opposition at best. They completely changed their side in the 2nd half but the one that started was pretty darn close to their strongest side and they were still one down. BTW, remember there are a few non-ICT supporters, so maybe one of them voted for the boy Butcher?

They should do it by wage packet size. You can see the unity it would bring. Duncan (as he punts the ball over Foran's head for a goal-kick): "You should have got to that Richie............................................................ .........................with the wages you're on" Great for the supporters too as they demand one of the high earners gives back his pay as he sits on the bench.

I can understand why. Firstly, he wants to better his position by playing for an SPL club. He probably has enough faith in his ability to believe he will be first choice by the end of the season no matter who starts. Nobody came in for him except us. Why should it be any different next year? Even if he only gets a few games with ICT, he'll still be seen more. He's still pretty young for a keeper. Esson was initially offered a one-year contract. Maybe Butcher has told Tuffey he's the future, so will be looking to bring him in sooner rather than later with a longer term view. Remember he's only coming from Partick and unproven in the SPL. Only now will some of the bigger clubs be seriously looking at him. It's good for both sides. I think Cammy Bell was the best GK in the SPL last season but he arrived from SFL1 (loan) as a back-up. Now, he's close to a Scotland call-up. Probably same thing on Tuffey's mind (and I know he's not Scots for the pedantics)

Most SPL clubs have two first-team keepers (bar Hibs of course - they've gone from zero to three!). Killie, Motherwell (even if one is Fraser), Hearts, Aberdeen are trying, Accies... Our normal stance of one decent, plus a Highland Leaguer is more unusual.

Maybe something more like Man U and Argentina have sometimes played, i.e. a 4-3-3 but not in the traditional sense but one where it's 3 more defensive midfielders and 3 more attack-minded mids but no out-and-out striker/wingers. It allows more creation and is difficult to man mark. However, those three attackers need to be some players to be both creative and predators.

fixed it for you

Very technical and cagey. Mind you, I love that, so I'm not complaining. I'm more into tactical battles than shoot-on-sight, so it was pretty good for me. The referee was appalling in the first half, giving yellow cards from everything from rolling down someone's socks to a karate kick. No consistency. Thankfully, he improved in the second half, otherwise it would have been 5-a-side. The Dutch weren't that dirty. A couple of bad challenges (the karate kick was very poor but more a rush of blood than an injury attempt) but stopping the Spain mid was the game plan. Spain had the best players, so Holland had to counter that and did so fairly effectively up until the end of the second half, when the Spanish began to dominate. ICT won't play an out-and-out attacking game against the Scottish champions, so it's reasonable to expect that Holland will do the same with the Euro Champions. It may not have generated the amount of excitement of some World Cups but there were some real mind battles in this tourney. Can't wait 'til the next one!

A bomb-scare at left-back but potentially a fantastic left-wing-back. (Tokely on the right, DZ on the left, Proctor sweeping - that could have been a good basis for a five-at-the-back)

It's just not right there's a limit on medals. If a player plays in a cup final but gets injured after 5 mins (even if the team's a goal down at that time), they wouldn't be denied a medal. They played a part! The medal scenario is stuck in the time of no subs and small squads.

Yep, pretty decent at the moment but not "always had a pretty decent side". And I agree, they've cleaned up substantially.

I was wondering this myself....they have won it something like 3 times previously. Pretty amazing feat! They won it twice but that was when the tourney was just invitation and treated less than seriously. Only in 1966/1970 did it become something of importance. Apart from this year, they've only made it past the first round twice since 1970 and failed to qualify in 5 out of 10 world cups since that date. Better than Wales sure but not 'decent'. Renowned for cheating too. Spitting, injury-attempting tackles, injury-feigning (before the rest of the world caught up), timewasting. It's a pity that's now the norm.

As long as we don't use England's 0-2-2-2-2-2-0 formation, we'll be okay.

Duff's far better in attack than defence. No doubt he'd be in the Duncan/Cox role but I'd prefer him either in the Sanchez/Odi position, or even out wide.

I thought he gave his absolute best. Tried desperately for every shot, right until the very last game. Nadal, on the day, was just better than him. As Mowbray used to say, sometimes you have to take it on the chin.

But if you have a terrible manager, do you work as hard? I don't mean deliberately but keen-ness for the job wanes. It's not somewhere you want to be. Unhappiness doesn't produce good workers. When I manage in the workplace, I try to inspire. I try to get my people to focus on why they are in the job and what it means (I'm lucky enough to work in a field that's as much a vocation as a career). The project goal then takes care of itself (to a certain extent). Sure, you do your job, no matter what, as that's what you're paid for. Put in a decent manager, then it becomes so much easier to do a good job. And of course, if your manager is the one giving directions/tactics, if his guidance is patently not working and he won't listen to ideas, it's doomed to failure. So, no, it's not always the managers fault. Individuals can let themselves down, but when it just isn't happening for the whole team - football, office or factory - you've got to look at the boss first to see if it's their fault.

I've gone for Danny Lennon. Not so sure filling up your team with 'Beath players is a great idea. They may well struggle between that and a rookie manager. MacPherson did well for them. They could well press the panic button. I think Hughes and Mixu will both see the season out. De Graff has a good pedigree so could see Hibs hit Top Six again, without that much of a struggle. Mixu's done well with smaller teams in the past, so could well be the man to make Killie stay up. McGhee will really struggle. A good shout for the sack, especially if he continues to have a problem getting players in. He barely has a team as it is. Lennon's targets seem bizarre. McManus, Hooijveld and Loovens, with Rogne, Thompson and O'Dea in reserve are good enough for the SPL. They just had a silly number of central defender injuries last year. Campbell is a waste of money. Three of four years ago, Bullard would have been a fine acquisition but too long out with poor form and injury. We'll see about Darryl Murphy but the striking position is the place definitely needed. Stokes would seem to be the ideal purchase. In fact, Liam Miller would also be a good acquisition to sit with Scott Brown. But unless he gets a striker in, then I can't see the likes of Fortune or Samaras suddenly being goal machines. A lot of players required for Celtic, plus Lennon struggled against some teams last season. Even if he did win in the end, it was far from convincing. I'm not sure Celtic will be much to shout home about this season. Rangers could do with a few squad members but only really NEED one player - a replacement for Boyd. Lafferty seemed a different player when played through the middle mind you at the end of last season. A left-winger is of course still required but they did okay the last couple of years without one.

I don't think so. With such a high risk of disease............they wouldn't go near him. It was plain that Wayne Rooney couldn't score in a brothel during the World Cup

Gerrard's going to get one BIG shock when he finds out - his wife doesn't have a sister! She does have a brother or two. I suspect it'll be the first pregnant man... ...yeah, that'll be it... ...or it's complete :moon2:

I think it might be tough for Adam this season if we play the one up front. If we do, then maybe he'll be as much a provider than a scorer. That position can either work as a goal-hanger or someone to hold up the ball whilst the attacking mids get a chance to join. It's going to be a tough role, no matter who plays it. Barrowman v Rooney? Both have played SPL and SFL1 levels. Compare the stats. That tells you all.

Too early to tell. Give them this season and we'll see what they're really made of.

More exposed than Tony's what?!? :(

I think that line-up has a chance, with Barry concentrating on the defensive side. Still would fancy Germany but Harry's has got a much better chance. Captain - you've misunderstood me. Many of my points were about preparation before the World Cup. My point was that Capello only cultivated a first team, not an experienced squad. The likes of Carragher, King, Milner and Warnock had little to no experience before the Finals, so injuries took a hard toll. Sure, Carragher or King are decent players but untried in that current defence. Put it this way, if ICT had done a Ross County and got to the Cup Final, would you have dropped Tokely from central defence to put in, say Bougherra? Possibly the best defender in Scotland but completely untried in our defence, with no understanding of how Munro plays. Capello had years to prepare for the World Cup. Naturally, he'll have a first 11 but he also has to look beyond that, in anticipation of key players being injured. For such a meticulous, experienced man, I'm surprised he didn't insist on both King and Carragher having games before the World Cup. I could repeat myself about balancing the midfield, not being able to cover for injuries there, or playing players on reputation (Rooney hasn't scored for either club or country since that 'minor' injury in Munich) rather than form. Capello may have struggled to win the game no matter what but the strict formation he played and selecting on reputation led to that huge loss. Having said that, he's lost two games in his whole time and coasted through qualifying. He deserves a chance to learn from his mistakes. Burley? Something else entirely. A good club manager, that thrives on unearthing talent. It just doesn't work that way at international level though. I think he'd do well at ICT but not an international style manager.

Some strange errors from Fabio when examined properly: - the defence had a first team 4 but no-one to replace them (which experienced player would play with an injury to either A. Cole or Johnson?) - no automatic replacement for Rio Ferdinand, instead Fabio chose players without knowing how well they played together. Carragher couldn't be bothered turning up and King was too injury-prone. He should have made sure the defence could fit by insisting these players turn up or are dropped. - the team was picked on reputation, not form. Lampard was poor but was first pick to the detriment of a Gerrard, who looked half-decent but was completely sidelined out wide. Rooney never looked like he could score but rather than being dropped or moved out to the left, played every game as a non-scoring striker 'til the end. - Heskey was never good enough. There to make Rooney play better but he never did. Crouch and Defoe would have scored goals but never got the chance. - no replacement for Beckham. Gerrard, Lennon and Wright-Phillips were all tried with Walcott left at home. How come it was such a shock to Capello that his first 11 might not be fit? So few replacements. - not having a first-team goalie was madness. He's had years to settle on one, yet never did. It surprises me but Capello just didn't do enough preparation. Besides the goalie, he had 10 outfield players as his first team. No squad though ready to step in (how many games did Warnock, Carragher, King, Milner, Wright-Phillips have?), so the whole pack fell apart with one or two injuries.

It's a close call who I dislike more - England or Germany.

I despise Italy. I'll even support England over them. Full of world class talent but content to sit out 1-0 leads against far poorer teams. I've no problem with the likes of Scotland or Austria playing defensively, as they don't have the players. Italy do (or certainly have in the past). They can always cite their success for keeping that system but, as a neutral, that means nothing to me. Italy bore me rigid. Glad they're out.