IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER

To be honest Daddy to be That is not a bad Championship line up - on paper - if we SPEND the Draper money WELL - well Who knows ?

1st Prize - Autographed Ross Draper shirt 2nd Prize - A pair of Billys' Boots

Question - At the end of last season did anyone fear that we would lose Draper, Mckay and Meekings ? I feckin did becos I thought that all three were better than the Championship

It looks like the "norm" is to chastise present day players and extol those who have left or are undecided about staying. Lets face it - the mere fact that Draper may be staying is surprising but most would say that we really, really need him. I thought that he played well at Forfar, RIG (and probably others) feel that he played well against the Arabs. We will be getting the Vigurs Neanderthals shouting abuse at Draper soon ?

Perhaps we could then get players from the likes of Buckie Thistle to stay in the HL and play for our Colts ?

I think that Renegade was referring to Lochend United.

In my days the only place that you would see a number of Arabs in Raigmore would have been A&E. Plus in my experience SP the only comparison at half time is that you can be ejected at half time.

At first glance this looks petty - but fer fecks sake - what is happening to our club - it may be a minor input to the finances but is traditional to most clubs in the country. EMBARRASSING or WOT ?

I am far from being pessimistic. Lets say disappointed. The Arabs were understrength, we were at home, that to me was three valuable points lost and we have a difficult enuff start already. Just look at the other results. The loss does not look so bad but a win would have had us looking over our shoulders. It probably has applied a bit more pressure. As ever in a season, as Long Man alludes to, it is difficult to suss until 5-6 games in - but we are chasing already.

Basically same starting X1 as it was at Forfar. With injuries and looking at the bench the only semi-surprise to me is Mulraney on the bench but that must be a sign of Robbo showing who is boss. Great news that the Arabs do not have a recognised striker as that back four of ours looked very suspect last week. Unfortunately that also means that Polly will start wide right as well. Hey-Ho. Lets face it. Three starter points against a weakened Arab outfit would be a well above average bonus.

Spelling mistake methinks - it should read ganja ?

In my opinion Danny McDonald has all the necessary skills and specifications to be a Highland COO. But I like the idea of the Caledonian Colts team in the Highland League

Well Charles - What is the craic mun ?

Och I was not having a go at you, ya mooseheid. I was attempting to ensure that this thread did not turn into yet another whingefest.

Lets face it - they need a Marquee signing and Robbo is not in that status. Plus I am sure that Robbo and countless other Jam Tarts could clearly see the pending demise of Cathro and he would have never come to Sneck in the first place if he thought there was a chance.

In many walks of life individuals who give up their own time free of charge become disillusioned by unfair criticism, by relatively unworthy others (usually hiding behind forum signatures), of their performance or their product. If anyone has a complaint then they should either join in or take over. Otherwise shut the feck up.

Not quite ready yet but his time will chime.

I would be willing to take over Twitter.

Are we making comparisons with Dumbouya too soon. At Forfar people were hypercritical every time the ball went near him. Shure he was jostled off the ball but he is undoubtedly not used to the Scottish game. Some of his touches looked fine to me. He will be a good squad player and maybe rite for the second half scoring sub mode.

Probably more of a case of Defend but here is what I would go with RIDGERS SEEDORF McKAY WARREN CALDER VIGURS POLWORTH DRAPER BAIRD OAKLEY MULRANEY

It was good to see him in the shirt again. Played Ok but not convincingly.

Could NOT access the report forum so here is my final report A BRIDGE TOO FORFAR !! Well we bowed out of the Betfred Cup at far too early a stage. The Bairns were always going to be a tough nut to crack but we should have hit the nine points from the other three. John Robertson certainly played it down with – “We’ve had a decent League Cup without being hugely impressive – It’s been four matches against quality opponents (!!) that has put us in good stead for the league campaign and allowed us to gel and get fitness levels up”. Hopefully he really meant – “I have now had a chance to look at everybody and I know the way forward”. Station Park may be difficult to find but it is a homely wee stadium and the “astro turf” looks in very good condition. (OK I prefer grass maself). The wind was strong assisted by the intermittent spells of drizzle. We certainly played better when faced to play football against the elements in the first half. The second half became more of a punt which did not work well with the wind and the pitch. I note that the attendance was quoted at 517 but looked more to me. Good turnout from the Highlands – must have been 100-150. The Central Belters/Juanjo Away were well represented and driven to the game from Dundee by none other than a taxi driver called Bobby Mann. Me – I arrived there – by feckin car – 20 minutes before the kick off with Mrs Johndo and Mini IHE – stone cold feckin sober !! At least my grandson (Leighton) had a winning start to his ICT career. We totally dominated the first 45 as we had to play football in its true sense. We could have/should have gone in 3-0 up. The final ball/ the final strike was sadly missing. We played some neat stuff but basically fecked it all up at the close. Calder could have netted a hat-trick. Just after the half hour we had a chance to practically ease the game. Initially it looked like a soft penalty award and a trip on Baird but it was reported as being a hand ball. Not sure why Vigurs did not step up but it was left to Polly – possibly to boost his confidence (DOH). It was really a very poor strike and adds to our penalty taking woes. Four minutes after the restart Marc Scott put Forfar ahead. Perhaps Ridgers was partly to blame but David Cox made a fool out of Chalmers and the initial shot, well saved by Ridgers, should never have been allowed to be completed. Yngwie and I were joking earlier that Cox had enjoyed his summer holidays as he was clearly overweight. But then he tormented Chalmers which says it all. Perhaps that was a wake up call and at least we reacted. Five minutes later McCallum was at fault as he pulled out of a 50/50 with Baird. The ball went loose and George Oakley neatly tucked it away. Before you could say Inverness Caledonian Thistle a Polworth corner was headed on and John Baird hit a screamer at the back post. And the photo does not lie as Mini IHE shows his seerness by evidently predicting the outcome !! After that I was expecting a barrowload but we appeared to relax. Substitutions may not have helped but we were careless. We did not possess the killing off factor and nearly paid the price. So it was back to the 1984 Lounge for the Juanjo Away and a pickup by Bobby Mann. I headed to Camperdown Park to run the feckin dog, went to Tesco and had ma first feckin swally at 20.00 hrs. So feck the family it is Virgin Rail on my own from now on. SMILEYMOMETER RIDGERS Neither worried or inspired me. Looks like a decent shot stopper and a decent distributor but he needs to get nasty and start shouting more. RAVEN Nice to see him back. Looked good in the first half but outpaced on a few occasions by the speedy Scott. Looks more like a squad player. CHALMERS Disappointed. Taken to the proverbial cleaners by a fat Cox. Perhaps that was a Twiiter prediction ELSDON Looks the part but not the most mobile and looks very green and surprisingly not the best in the air. McKAY Thought he was going off in the first half as he appeared to have pulled a muscle. Expected more from him. POLWORTH Why does Robbo not realise that Polworth is wasted wide right - but there again where does he fit in ? He appeared to be given more of a roving role in the second half but we can do that at Forfar but ?!! The roving role however appeared to nullify both Vigurs and Draper VIGURS What was the abuse for ? Vigurs was a class above everybody else in the first half. A sweet left foot comparable with the taxi driver called Bobby Mann. Ran the game for 45 minutes. Faded in the second but the wind was with us and punts became predominant. My MOM by miles. DRAPER Some are stating that he is in second gear. He has always appeared to be in second or third gear to me. He linked well with Vigurs playing in front of him. We really, really need to hold on to him CALDER Calder was impressive but NOT a left winger or a finisher. Looks more like a polished wing back or deeper wide player - unfortunately much like Mulraney. But Tremarco and Calder together really is a juicy prospect. But again where do you play him Robbo ? OAKLEY / BAIRD I x2 Impressed by both Oakley and Baird. They are both pacey and thinkers. They are not on the same wavelength yet but the potential is definitely there. Both took their goals well. MULRANEY Mulraney to me was a breath of fresh air but also a greedy *******. Perhaps trying to impress too much but was more of an individual than a team player to me. BELL Bell did not have much time but looks like the perfect back-up fer Baird FCZ (Susan) . I think I was initially spooked by the Clach reports. He is gangly and awkward but he showed signs today that he can hold up and pass. At the moment a good back-up for Oakley. And he is much better than the Walrus. SO .. I am really worried about the lack of pace at the back. Seedorf and Calder at full backs may assist. Polworth is wasted and perhaps needs to be an initial back-up for Vigurs and Draper. Or what about Polly at right back and Seedorf forward. The front two picks themselves.

Warren is important but his discipline is terrible. We will really miss a Meekings type player as we are sadly missing pace centrally.