Sneckboy

Revised 5th Round draw: Stranraer v Inverness Caley Thistle Rangers v Dunfermline Athletic Forfar Athletic v St. Johnstone Alloa Athletic v Dumbarton Hibernian v Raith Rovers Albion Rovers v Stenhousemuir Celtic v Aberdeen Dundee United v St. Mirren

I can beat that. Doubt I've changed my bed-linen since mid-July so it's been many, many minutes since I've had clean sheets, if that's what you're on about! All ladies welcome.

It's notoriously difficult to gauge crowds from TV vantage points. In reality, Kilmarnock has been our poorest home league crowd this season with only 11 more fans than County had yesterday!

Talking of Switzerland, they've got a decent chance of getting through their group. But France will no doubt come good at the right time. Ecuador qualified on the strength of their home form. They picked up 22 points from 24 in home qualifiers with just 3 from 24 away, suggesting they aren't great 'travellers'....or maybe the advantage they get playing their home matches at high altitude is considerable. I think Honduras will be competitive but without garnering many points. I predict: France Switzerland Ecuador Honduras

...and another guy could come from behind giving us more penetration.

That might have been Neil McKintosh?

I think it was Donald Park then as well.

I hadn't realised Paul Ritchie had been at Lochee United. It is our one! there's a small picture here: http://www.locheeunited.co.uk/news_detail.asp?ID=6927

Probably missing out an obvious one, but I can think of, Iain Stewart Barry Wilson Charlie Christie Craig Brewster Duncan Shearer Les Fridge David Bingham Paul Sheerin

"Offensive coach"!!! You've got to stop watching so much American Football, caleyboy!

If that was the case, why did he bother to show interest in the job? Generally. people don't apply for jobs they've no intention of going to. I don't think Paul Hartley has resigned himself to his future management career being excluded to the central belt. If he got offered the Forest or Watford jobs, for example, he'd be off! That'll make us look like complete mugs. Paul Hartley is an ambitious manager. He's quoted as saying he wants to manage in the English Premiership, eventually. He wanted the Inverness job. But something blocked him from committing. Kenny Cameron is a chairman of high regard. He doesn't speak out of turn or shows his cards. But even he initially said we'd have the new guy in place by the Morton game. But things clearly took a turn. For a club who have revealed little or nothing during the recruitment process, it suggests an appointment was imminent. But the assumed appointment of Hartley didn't materialise. Something has gone wrong along the way for us to 'settle' for Hughes. I fail to understand this if the calibre of candidate was 'so high'! Let's be honest, if OTB had sacked Adams and appointed Hughes, we'd not suddenly be in awe and jealous or overly concerned that County had bagged the hottest property?! I guarantee we'd be mocking them. Our board usually makes good decisions but have also been guilty of getting it wrong. Appointing Brewster 2nd time shows they can be accused of completely choosing the wrong candidate. That's all I'm saying.

Fast closing in on 'Butcher offski', the highest ever, which at present has around 80,400 views. Those two threads are well ahead of any others. But of course, a load of Hibs fans viewed the 'offski' thread as opposed to few Alloa fans when Hartley was looking likely. This thread has had over 79,000 hits now. That's more than one view for every man, woman and child in Inverness! Although it's slightly distorted as Renegade and Yngwie account for 4,000 hits each!

I don't buy the 'ruling himself out' argument. He's been here on football duty before, isn't daft and has relocated to Aberdeen and Bristol before. All while he's had kids. He knew it's full-time at Inverness and would have to move here. It would be strange to apply for a job you didn't want. I think he was simply overlooked.

Wednesday 4th December Championship Bryan Prunty (Dumbarton 1-1 Alloa Athletic)

Never mind a second red card, he effectively didn't even get one! His red card was later reduced to yellow on appeal!

Signed up until the end of season 2016-17: • Richie Foran Signed up until the end of season 2015-16: • John Hughes • Dean Brill • Aaron Doran Signed up until the end of next season (2014-15): • David Raven • Nick Ross • Gary Warren • Josh Meekings • Graeme Shinnie • Billy McKay • Daniel Devine • Liam Polworth • Ryan Christie Signed up until the end of this season (2013-14): • James Vincent • Cameron Mackay • Ross Draper • Adam Evans • Curtis Allen • Conor Pepper • Ryan Esson • Jay Cheyne • Calum Ferguson • Marley Watkins • Jason Brown • Joe Gorman • Alasdair Sutherland • Danny Williams • Calum Howarth • Nick Draper • Matthew Cooper • Ben Greenhalgh • Carl Tremarco Signed up until January 2014 • Torbjørn Agdestein

It's odd that relocating to Bristol or even Aberdeen didn't appear to be an issue for him!

Ciftci's going to miss a lot of games through injury so in a way he's not really being punished at all! Even if they'd hit him with a 6 game ban it wouldn't make any difference as he'd be side-lined anyway. It would be better if the bans were effective only when the player is fit for selection as he's not going to actually miss any games he could have played in!

I doubt we'd have the likes of Warren, Draper, Tremarco, Raven etc who are English guys of the age where they would have grown-up idolising Butcher. If our manager had been a man-of-many-clubs Scotsman called Butch Terry, they probably wouldn't be here. I'm sorry but I simply don't understand how you think John Hughes has more managerial experience than Terry Butcher. That's simply factually incorrect. We can try as we like to put a sugar-coating on this, but nobody a month ago would have swapped the status-quo. Plus he had no backing in the 'Who do you want?' thread. Rewind a month. Would anybody seriously have dared start a thread entitled "Time to get rid of Butcher, Malpas and Marsella. Bring in John Hughes!!!" It would have been treated as a joke and you'd have been mocked for suggesting such utter nonsense.

I agree Yngwie. I've been dipping into various fans' forums and have been pleasantly surprised at how the consensus is we're 'better' than appointing him as manager. I mean even Jimmy Nicholl had more backing than Hughes with our fans and he's gone off to Cowdenbeath! For many Scottish football followers, with John Hughes as our manager, we're now just another St Mirren, Hamilton, Dunfermline or Partick with a journeyman manager. The high profile has certainly gone. Henrik Larsson would have grabbed attention and got bums on seats. How things change in football. A month ago we still thought the sun shined out of Terry's backside and were on for a memorable, historic season. Now, I'm not so sure. The squad already at ICT might paper-over-the-cracks until he has to start building his own team with his inevitable Scottish journeymen. Can he convince our soon to be out of contract players to stay? Time will tell.

It'll be interesting to see how the poll on another thread develops. We're a fickle bunch us football fans. Many may become glass-half-full pundits and see only the good aspects of John Hughes' appointment. However, there'a been an ongoing thread and poll under "Who Do You Want" and over 100 possible names were mentioned over 7 pages of discussion. John Hughes was mentioned once...on page 6. By Gringo (I think?) but only to discount him as a viable option. We can't suddenly become happy-clappers over this. Hughes got 3 votes and was passed as a "no chance" candidate by most, along with the others of the same ilk like Ian McColl, Jim Jefferies, Colin Cameron, Peter Houston, Allan Moore and John Brown. We have prided ourselves on innovative appointments in the past - but this is very unimaginative. I wouldn't have been surprised to see him taking the Morton job, for example. Despite the weeks of rumours and names swapping places as 'certs' at the bookies, I think it was DoofersDad who first said that despite all the speculation there will likely be a candidate nobody's mentioned who'll come out of left-field and get the job - and so it seems! Okay, he wasn't favoured, but yes, we must get behind him.

Hopefully the fans will be getting Trains, Planes and Automobiles to the games and not staying Home Alone, listening to the radio! I trust you're all not planning staying Home Alone 2? Joking aside, it might turn out to be Somekind of Wonderful appointment. I just wonder what kind of Weird Science the board were using to come out with this appointment. Forget Ferris Bueller - clearly, today must have been Kenny Cameron's Day Off!! Yeah, some great films from the director, John Hughes. I really liked The Breakfast Club - but this outcome surely is a dogs dinner!!!

This appointment is likely what Kenny Shiels was alluding to last night in his downbeat appearance on Sportsound when he hinted that ex-Old Firm players seem to get the managerial posts ahead of other candidates. He was obviously aware he’d been over-looked in favour of Hartley or Hughes. Jimmy Calderwood has a superior record in management than John Hughes. I can't understand why he's still out of football - maybe he's been 'away' too long and it's a vicious circle....and maybe Shiels has a valid point.

Hughes went through 3 clubs during Butchers time at ICT. But an interesting stat, that can't happen very often is that in September 2010, Terry took his Inverness team to Easter Road to face John Hughes' Hibs side. Nobody would have expected in the future, those managers would be in opposition again managing the other team!

What will Yogi do with Toby?!