starchief

I'm surprised Falkirk are down there. At the start of the season, I'd have taken Bullen, Pressley, O'Brien and Lovell. McNamara I thought was finished but he's been ok, whereas McCann has done exactly what's been expected (nothing and injury prone). As for switching allegiance, most folk over, I dunno 25?, or so have done it. Most would probably have supported a Highland League Team and a Scottish League one (St Mirren and Clach for me) before ICT came along. I had to make my mind up pretty quickly - ICT's first game was against the Saints in a friendly! (we lost 3-0 I believe). As it is I still support an SPL and a HL team (ICT and Clach).

...and then in his second season...

ha ha, didnt notice your post, great minds eh..... Except fergieisonfire has Black in there whilst you have Duncan...

ICT will have the last laugh though. A bad run of results for County. Adams goes. Who's waiting in the wings?

You mean I was wrong to say what tactics I think would work best? Where did I say it was a 'piece of cake'? Not surprisingly I doubt we'll come away with anything but you think Butcher comes in and says "Look lads, we'll probably get stuffed here so don't bother playing tactics for this game." We could defend deep, defend high, attack down the flanks, through the middle, completely gung-ho, long ball etc etc.. The whole point of the thread is to say how best to play. My opinion it's to stop Boyd at all costs. My team had a sweeper as Boyd plays in the box, so snuffing out his threat, with the normal back four also taking care of the threats of Miller and Lafferty/Fleck. Naturally Miller could well score goals like he did last week. However, I don't think he's the main threat. Is your suggestion to stop Miller at all costs? Or what tactics exactly? Just give it up and play our reserve team?

What we really need to do is mark well in the box. If we stop Boyd scoring, then half the battle is won. Miller is never a striker and I don't think much of Lafferty either. Defend deep so that those two players can go on mazy but completely unproductive runs that end in a long-shot or a well-defended cross to Boyd.

There is but our strikers weren't doing it anyway. What they lacked was experience. The likes of Brew may not have had the skill to compete well in the SPL (although he probably does IMHO) but they do have the experience to lead the line. What we desperately lacked. I always thought managers put everything they had in to the club - obviously not...

Billy Urquhart to come off the bench at half time..?!

I can't really say much about Eric as I don't know where Butcher got him from or what he expect to get out of him. We've got Gattheusi and Proctor, plus I like Tokely (and not just for nostalgic reasons). I don't have a big problem at RB for the rest of the season. Probably will make mistakes but looking too good at the mo. Just have to differ. Munro would be first choice but I worry he's losing form. If he does, I'd go for McGuire but I would give Munro the chance first. OK, I see what you mean. Brew should definitely have gone sooner but even if he had, I'd have expected Butch to bring in both Kerr and Foran, so yeah, still not panic buys IMHO but desperate situations meant they had to be put in when they still weren't ready. More semantics, I guess on this one.

Can't agree with all that. Kerr and Foran were both big players for him at Motherwell so no surprise he got them signed up. Not sure where he got Eric from. Tokely is very under-rated. Look at the teams in the bottom six and you would struggle to find a better right-back. He looks ungainly but does a good job in my opinion. I've been waiting for DZ to fail but I have to concede that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. He's now looking a terrific left-back and I don't fear him being put in anymore. I also rate Hastings as an SPL quality left-back. He's looked bad at times due to the ineffectual centre-back pairings we've had. I do worry a bit about Munro. He's coming in to a bad game just as we need everyone. One last chance and, if he doesn't do it, I'd drop him. See - Kerr wasn't a panic buy. He's a first team player brought in by his former manager. BTW, I agree but both Duncan and McBain (and Vigurs) have played well this season, so I think we've got a few choices in that area. Foran does seem to come inn the centre a hell of a lot for a left winger. I presume that's a tactic rather than just his natural style of play.

Wonder what sort of salary he might be on? As in, top, middle or low earner?

What we don't want is to get hammered by Rangers, with one point being a success, so I'll go for a very defensive line-up of: Esson Proctor Tokely Mihadjuks Munro Dejbi-Zadi Kerr Black McBain Imrie Rooney Subs: Fraser, Duff, Hastings, Morais, Duncan, Foran, Wood It would be either Foran or Rooney up front, so let's give Rooney a chance. The line up also gives the full-backs the chance to power forward. If we lose an early goal, Proctor switches to right-mid (but I think he could do a good job as sweeper/defensive mid).

Disappointing but our next two Saturdays mean everything. Killie and Falkirk!!!

Thank goodness we're not relying on Proctor at the back against that Motherwell attack. Surprised but not disappointed to see Duncan and Black straight in.

Actually I'm just writing an article about Fergie's greatest feuds (I'm limited to seven - have a guess which), so I hope Benitez doesn't quit just yet!

I can see Hibs doing it this weekend after last week's shambles. Let's hope so anyway.

You've both got a point there. I'd be p!$$ed off if I was dropped after being part of a 2-0 winning team. I guess with team spirit being so important to us, that might just be the way. You're in if we win!

Chick's a strange one. He was actually one of the main voices in the media calling for Inverness to have a team in the days of old.

Most clubs are in favour apparently.

Yeah, there's four left feet between you!

Bigger clubs need a reserve team. If the other teams have decided that it's too much of a drain on their finances, then I think it's only reasonable that teams that are losing out be accommodated elsewhere. That may mean Div.3 or a local league but I support the idea in principle.

Depends what you were sent off for. Violent conduct gets a three-match ban for instance. So if this was the case, the player would get banned for three matches instantly. Also, the yellow and red cards would be added to his disciplinary points record. If he is over a certain number, he will also miss matches on top of that (the amount depends on how many points he has). Also, if he got two yellow cards, he would be sent off and miss the game. If he proceeded to boot a player in the face, he would get a straight red for violent conduct (so 4 matches missed instantly). Dave Bowman was red-carded FOUR TIMES in a single match!!!! Bizarrely, all red cards were for swearing at the ref - not one dirty tackle. Bowman was suspended for 17 games!

I guess there's two ways of looking at this thread: what would I do? or what do I think Butcher will do? I'm all for the first interpretation. -----------------------------------------Esson---------------------------------------------- --------Tokely----------Mihadjuks-----------------Munro------------Djebi-Zadi --------McBain------------Kerr---------------------Black-------------Imrie---- --------------------------Odhiambo-----------------Foran---------------------- Subs: Fraser, Proctor, Rooney, Wood, Hastings, Vigurs, Morais, Gattheusi (or Duff) Despite the goal, Proctor drops out for McBain. Duncan left out for Kerr to continue. Proctor can cover for the centre midfield. Black straight back in. Still prefer Foran and Imrie to swap positions.

BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Inverness' Adam Rooney 8.00 (on 90 minutes)!!!

Now Bavidge.