Harry Chibber

The same could be said about all you folk who slag off Duncan every week. What level have you played at, and how many years have you been watching? Because when I keep my eye on him, I see the very opposite from you - Duncan working extremely hard whether it's him that's lost the ball or somebody else. So what if he thinks he's better than he actually is. He never hides unlike a few others that 'grace' our midfield especially this season, and he gets stick for gifting the second goal to Buchanan last week despite the fact he was the only ICT player within 30 yards. Never mind just Stratford, I think people should be looking at the darling of the fans, Cox. What's he done for the past 6 or 7 weeks? Well said, Duncan has an ego but which footballer doesn't... at least he has some fight, which is something we seem to be lacking at the moment. Jay... answer the man!!

Q: Who is to blame? A: Our fans.

This post makes all your other posts irrelevant

So did Roy Keane

Gago! F'ck sake Gary! Whilst none of those players are renowned for their passing ability (apart from maybe Pirlo who is a wonderful passer of the ball) what they did do was perform simple short passes to retain the ball. Sadly Duncan struggles even with passes of around 5 yards. A pretty key skill for a midfielder to have! lol Gago's a cracking player... or certainly will be. I was trying to think of combative midfielders to compare him to... the likes of Pirlo, Carrick & Alonso play in the deeper midfield position but they are not what I'd call a defensive/combative midfielder... they're job is to keep the ball moving they wont make challenges and aren't in the team to cover the defence. De Rossi (that's the player I was thinking of)... you can replace Gago with De Rossi RIG ;)

You are getting at it in your earlier posts. My point is simply there are a number of factors as to what contributed to our relegation on the final day of the season. Tokelys sending off being perhaps the biggest one. The biggest factor that contributed to our relegation on the last day was the fact that we had not already assured safety. Simple really, Butcher relegated us. Brewster did the ground work but Butcher finished us off. You're a broken record... and what's worse is that you are talking absolute p!sh! No one ... NO ONE... could have saved us from the position we were in but at least Butcher gave it a good go. The one result that we should have done more about is the Motherwell game when we were minutes from safety but we could have expected to lose before the fixture had kicked off. I'd agree with most of your other posts but I'm sick of hearing how it's "Butchers fault we were relegated"... absolute boll0x!

Pele?? FFS our fans are living in dreamland It wouldn't make a difference... 1 year from now we'd be replacing him with someone else anyway

On paper we have the strongest defence in the division IMO... Munro, Tokely & Esson would walk into any other team but all it takes is one bad egg and the rest are pulled out of position. I think we have 2... Bulvitis & Proctor have both been poor.... as I've mentioned previously I would have preferred McGuire!!

I don't think Cox is half as good as everyone (including myself) first thought, plenty of effort but no quality. We have no balance in the centre and no one who will switch the play = predictable football, very easy to defend. I wasn't Black's biggest fan because he was a wee 5hite but that's the one thing that he did very well, whenever he had the ball he showed composure, waited for the defenders to move in the direction they expected the ball to go and then switch the pass in the other direction. We don't have anyone in the team who has the composure, intelligence or balls to see the second pass Stratford takes too long on the ball. I wish Duncan would drop the attitude because it would be a lot easier to feel sorry for him, he does a lot of good things when he's on the park.... plays anchor, positioning is excellent, basically gets stuck in... but can't pass for 5hit! To be fair when you look at some of the best defensive midfielders in the world none of them were/are known for their passing capabilities i.e. Makelele, Keane, Souness, Gago, Mascherano, De Jong...... Lennon McBain is the answer!!!

My prediction for the next year: 1) We lose to Dunfermline & Raith.... pressure builds 2) Draw with Ayr 3) Butcher walks 4) Robbo comes in 5) We have a great finish to the season but don't get promoted 6) Next season starts and we don't live up to expectation 7) By January we're looking for a new manager .... and then the cycle continues

Both legends and deserve a good reception... I'd be disappointed if there is any booing

You are so vain, I bet you think this thread is about you, about you. Do you not realise I'm ICT supporter of the year for the last 3 years running

I'm spartacus!!

I'd take him over Bulvitis I've been thinking that... he'd be doing a grand job for us I reckon but probably cost a small fortune on wages so I can understand why the club wanted rid

Great post

Not that I want to disagree with our next manager but this is the first time since Robson left the club that we have actual wingers so why not push them further forward as additional front men and the formation almost works out as a 4-3-3, the extra man in midfield offers an option so we might actually pass the ball. At the moment, Foran is almost playing as a lone striker while Sanchez wanders about the pitch, it makes sense to swap him for an additonal man in midfield so we can dominate possesion then at least if we are 0-0 with 30 mins to go we have the option to throw on another striker. These threads are aimless anyway... I think everyone knows Terry will be playing the same team he played against County unless there's an injury

1 up front !!! That'll have the fans flocking back to TCS . not like you to pick out one of my posts Didn't see any Chelsea fans complaining when Mourinho was playing 3 in midfield, Drogba & 2 wingers... or Liverpool fans complaining when they have Torres as the only front man with Gerrard playing off him??? Infact the majority of games last season Man U played with Rooney on his own And before you ask... yes Foran is a poor man's Drogba.... Cox is a poor man's Gerrard and Hayes is a poor man's Ronaldo!!!

Esson Tokely Bulvatis Munro Golly Duncan Hayes Cox McBain Eagles Foran

Happy Birthday big man.. all the best

Beckford had plenty of offers the end of last season but said he wanted to get Leeds to the Championship first before moving clubs. Trust me Snodgrass is a classy player. I'm really looking forward to watching Dorrans tbh, seen him play a couple of times for WBA this season and he's easily been their best player

I would also like to see McBain featuring more in the first team but I can't believe some of the people who have completely changed there mind over Roy!! Last season (infact the majority of SPL seasons) McBain has been labelled as "not up to SPL standard" (whatever that is) or the "invisible man" and now involved in a campaign to have him back in the first team. I'm sure McBain will get his chance at somepoint in the season as Duncan has recently. I think Butcher has obviously noticed that the squad has been lacking pace down our wings for sometime now so I can understand why Eagles is preferred... also noticed during the County game, while watching afar on Alba, that Eagles offers excellent defensive cover on the left wing and probably worked harder than anyone else in the squad For me McBain hasn't got the pace, energy or skill to play on the wing..... he came on against Dunfermline for the first game of the season and did nothing but lose the ball. The best performances I've seen from McBain throughout his career at ICT have been when he's either played left back or in the centre of the park.

Have to say after slagging the competition I was on tender-hooks until the final whistle. To top it all off Morton pulled of a stunning result against QoS so if we can pull something out the bag this weekend it could be an excellent set of results B)

Made it to the final of a highly respected competition, won our first home game in donkeys, beat our rivals and got some revenge, learnt some gaelic in the process......... what's everyone complaining about??

I thought some of you might like to read the email conversation with Mike Smith:

I can't wait to attend the final of such a prestigious competition pr!ck :021: