CaleyD

What makes it even more embarrassing is the statement in the Inverness Courier saying that Sandy Clark is still in the running and a decision is still to be made...a statement which would have gone to press after Malky gave his comments to the BBC. As per the whole carry on with Brewsters appointment the club are trying to make out that it was not a done deal long ago...but again they have ended up making themselves look like amateurs. Will they ever learn?

No the one he scored from well within our own half :015:

Think we have 3 strips registered for this season. Sure someone said to me that due to the uncertainty on the new Away kit eing ready in time that we kept the white kit registered as a back-up. As the officials were in Black on Saturday that may have been the reason we wore our home kit.

I liked the guy and at one point thought he would do enough to make the cut, but the simple facts are that we have other more versatile players available and he just hasn't been able to break through for whatever reason. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go to one of the larger Div 1 outfits and I think he will be more than capable of doing a job for them. All the best to him wherever he ends up.

Have to disagree slightly with Finmack in that, although I don't think Niculae has the makings of a lone striker, he was the best option. We were undoubtedly playing with one up front, but the tactics seemed to be that any ball played forward to Niculae was with the intention of him holding it up and then laying off to one of the onrushing midfielders. It was actually a play exactly like that which tee'd the ball up for Black to score...although admittedly it was more of a stumble over the ball by Niculae than a clever lay-off. As much as Bayne will chase and harass, he doesn't have a great deal of finesse when it comes to controlling a ball played high to him and his first touch can and often does go anywhere and everywhere....he would have been eaten alive by the Utd back line and more often than not we would have seen the ball coming straight back at us, instead of getting us a bit of time to push everyone forward. Taking Bayne on when we did was the right decision, Niculae was starting to flag after a hard shift and Bayne had the luxury of getting himself a bit of space against a tired defense.

I'll let you know that I can still see my feet past my belly so am not too bad yet :016: I have a feeling this goal of Blacks will turn into a similar story to the one Wilson scored at FIr Park......before you know it, the shot will have been taken from the edge of our own area :015:

Well you do realise hes a centre back with no knee? Sure hes got less mobility than Niculae but in a team with NO fit strikers in it then hes still one of the better options. In our two games this season Wilkie has looked like more of a striker than Marius Niculae. With the exception of a few sympathy call ups for the Scotland B squad (as the game was at the TCS) has any defender in your history had enough "footballing ability" to get called called up for Scotland at full or B level? My apologies.....had I stopped to think about his knee I would have realised that high heels would have been out of the question.

For me the question is when does criticism stop being constructive and become abuse? In any match, be we winning or losing I am no stranger to shouting at a player to push forward more, play the ball sooner, get stuck in on the tackle...that, IMO, is constructive criticism. However, you cross the line when you start shouting things like "your crap" or booing a player...and it's taken to a whole different level when your doing it before the player has even taken to the field or to such an extent that your criticising/abusing a player every time they touch the ball. We all have players we like and we all have players we'd rather weren't wearing an ICT top at all....such is life and it would be a boring old world if we all thought the same. I'm no different to anyone else on that subject, but I try and look beyond my opinions as soon as they pull the shirt on and take to the field...at the end of the day I support ICT, not the individuals who make up ICT...be they players, management or otherwise. Of course, the above is the ideal scenario, and in the heat of the moment things can be said or done which go against what we like to think is the manner in which we behave...that's just the nature of the beast and we could all very likely find ourselves giving someone pelters for a bad play or mistake that costs us a goal or whatever. For me that falls into the category of "reaction" and nobody should be hounded for it as their is a big difference, IMO, between premeditated abuse and a comment in the heat of the moment. As to discussions on the forum or in the pub as opposed to during the match. For me similar scenario's apply, if the criticism is constructive then I welcome discussion with those who post it, but their does come a point where it slips into the realms of abusive and I don't personally think there's any need for it. I also think people should be conscious of the language they use as calling someone "utterly sh***" will be jumped upon by some as being far more sinister than simply saying "I don't think that player is skilled enough to be a part of the team". At the end of the day they both mean the same thing, but will promote very different responses. I'll throw one more thought into the pot.....15 years ago Internet Forums were few and far between, especially for football fans and I think they have revolutionised things in terms of how fans can communicate praise and criticism. They may even be partly responsible for quieter crowds!!! Prior to that the only real way a fan had of letting feelings be known was by the noise they made during a match, and it was probably more acceptable back then to "abuse" players, managers etc. The Internet is now an easy and largely anonymous way for people to "get the boot in" as they can say their piece and then choose whether or not to listen to what peer opinion is. Fans will always find an outlet for their comments, the Internet just provides another option. The debate as to whether it is for the better or worse will be one which I think will continue for a very long time.

It's all relative....Happy Yet?...in comparison to when, and with regards to what?

ICT aren't the only ones who don't do formal contracts then :023:

As the lady said to the gingerbread man!!! It was a fair skelp he took to the napper, just hope it's not a concussion as I think that means he has to take a minimum 2 week break from competitive matches....I could be wrong though.

Maybe it as the gloves that were causing Blacks attitude issues....stroke of genius that he left them at home yesterday. I think Niculae having the gloves on made him a little top heavy as he seemed to be on his erse a fair few times :015: Seriously though...I noticed a couple of our players sliding about early on yesterday and it brought back memories of that spell under Robbo when it appeared that our whole squad had gone out with no studs on at all and seemed to spend more time slipping on their butts than anything else.

Perhaps not Kencar and I share your reservations...however "every cloud has a silver lining" as they say, and if this is the case then the absence of Wyness has proved to be a blessing in disguise.

Thanks, I've saved the article for when next years accounts are distributed :023:

Why is everyone so certain that Niculae's wages (or a portion thereof) are being met by Orion (Alan Savage)?

You can't screw the nut too tight or you risk killing his spirit. All he needs to control is the petulance and I think he'd doing a decent job of that.

A much improved performance compared to what we have seen in the last 2 or 3 games. When Brewster arrived back at first he seemed to have an immediate impact and our performance away to Hibs was top drawer despite the result. Today we proved again that we can get results when we choose to keep the ball on the ground and play football....add to that the fact that Brewster has found a way to utilise the best we have available in the squad with the setup he put out there. I'm not convinced we had a "solid" formation on the park today as it seemed to drift from 4-1-4-1 to 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2 to 4-3-3, the players seemed to be reading the game and each other pretty well and adapted to suit the play....I think this gave Dundee Utd huge headaches as they were finding it difficult to man-mark or even play any kind of zonal positioning. Having that extra man sitting in front of the defence paid dividends as he was able to drop back and cover when Hastings or Proctor were pushing forward. The game plan today didn't suit Niculae at all, he doesn't have the speed to play the lone striker role and despite turning defenders he didn't have the pace to play the ball and chase it....however, you could see he was trying and I would not question his commitment. Not sure if his shaking the refs hand was time-wasting or getting at the Utd fans who were going ape over not having got any of the dozens of handballs we apparently committed in the box....a bit of gamesmanship and if nothing else it got a laugh. Rossco.....better start bringing a cushion with you on match days as your going to be spending a bit of time on the bench if Proctor keeps performing the way he has been. Don't think the lad put a foot wrong today and it would be hard for him to take if Tokely were to get straight back in to the squad. I'd go as far as to say that Proctor out there today reminded me very much of a younger Rossco....long may it continue. Hope Hastings is ok as that was a nasty knock he took...I heard the "clonk" from the stand as he was caught....Wouldn't be surprised if he had a serious concussion and he looked white as a sheet as he was carried from the pitch. His departure saw McBain move into the left back role (which I think should be his new position on a permanent basis) and the arrival of Wilson looked to be causing the Utd Defense problems. Rankin and Black....if these guys didn't prove today that they are worthy of a regular start then I have no idea what it will take. The two of them were out there giving it everything. If a discipline issue exists with Black then Brewster has to find some way of dealing with it that does not result in him missing games. As to the opposition..... Wilkie...all the footballing ability of a Hippo in high heels. He spent more of the game on his erse than anything else and his endless attempts to run through players instead of around them should have seen him on at least 2 yellows. Not since Viduka in "that game" have I seen any player so entirely owned by the ICT defence Dods...We talk about missing him from our squad this season, but I tell you something, based on todays performance I wouldn't have him anywhere near the current ICT team...he was largely ineffective and seemed more intent on fouling our guys than playing any kind of football.

At game and have to say i agree with commentators, it's a different team out there today

When Brewster said he was taking the team for Spin lessons...I automatically assumed it was to the gym :029:

Championship Manager, or whatever they call it these days, I suspect :015:

Quality :015:

I think Clacher has a point there, and it's one that's been raised by a few people. The treatment of Rory may not have been a direct result of what's happening elsewhere, but a definite undercurrent of dissatisfaction and frustration exists among many of the fans and the results seems to be that people are going that bit further in all reactions to things they don't like or disagree with. It's all about "the mood" - and it's a fact that people who are already in a bad mood about things will snap at others, even when they may have done little to warrant such treatment. I don't think people's thoughts on Rory have changed any of late (for the better or worse), so it's the only thing I can think of to explain the treatment he received last week.

Them's the risks you take I guess. But it would be a waste to just jeep him out of the squad on the basis of "what if's" and going for the op just now would be an almost certain end to his season...since this could well be his last season then it makes sense to get the most out of himself....even at the risk of being injured again.

Think the BBC and Sky both get a chance to televise matches in the cup, so we'll probably see more than one game on the box. We were unlucky on our trip to Easter Road earlier in the season and if we can get back to playing as we did then I would fancy our chances.

The shoulder thing has already been discussed somewhere, but in short I believe that another knock will not make the injury any more serious in itself. The risk at present is that it could simply go at any time without much needed to help it on it's way (a bit like most of best players really!!!). Any operation to fix it would see him out for most of the rest of the season (in terms of playing)....so he has decided to delay the op and take the risk with the shoulder as is.