ictchris

That's from two weeks ago. I doubt they'll sign him in this window.

Posted this on P&B Derek Adams was clearly an excellent manager for County. He took them over in the seaside leagues and lead them into the top six of the SPL, with a couple of league wins and a cup final on the way. County's club culture before Adams took over was heavily influenced by Alex Smith, a negative emphasis of performance over results and the Largs-speak of passing football, liking 'wee strikers' etc. Adams focussed on achievement and built an excellent group of players which County's ascent to the SPL was based on. If you want to critically examine his tenure then he built his title winning team on solid, dependable First Division-winner players. He built his team around Munro, Brittain, Vigurs, Gardyne, McMenamin - it was really a triumph of experience, organisation and solidity over any innovative team-building or tactics. Nothing wrong with that of course, the objective is to win the league and they did that by miles. I'd compare it to the Caley team that John Robertson took to the First Division title - he signed Barry WIlson and David Bingham, both experienced at that level and tightened up, improved organisation and we bagged the title. The period where Adams impressed me as a manager was when he rebuilt his side in the January 2013 window. He'd shown that he could put together an organised First Division side and do OK in the SPL but in signing Ikonomou, Sproule, Wohlfarth etc he freshened up his side and took them into the top six. It showed that he could operate outside the markets he'd used previously. Where he fell down was that he couldn't build a sustainable team the wayhe did in 2011-12 in that way, leading to the mass intakes of the last couple of windows. To me, it was reminiscent of the business Livingston did in the seaons before they went down, everything bought in a panicked way, without great thought as to an overall plan. Adams' character and personality has also come under scrutiny. Leaving aside what opposition fans think of the man I think his manner may have contributed to some of the problems County had last season and this. I've always thought that a sniping negative manager can set the wrong tone for a club and that positivity is important. You have to assume Adams' didn't say the same things to the players that he did to the press but there was often a negative feeling around the club. Adams obviously demanded high standards but part of that is dealing with failure and perhaps he didn't do that in a way that inspired his players. While I appreciate that some of the players carping about him on Twitter were binned by him, I've never seen former players rejoice over a managers sacking like that before, and I've also thought that some of the transfer dealings were a bit strange. Grant Munro started five games in a row last season and was then released to sign for Brora, the club captain? County went on to look very weak in central defence last seaon (and this). Munro is too much of a gent to say anything though. From a fan's perspective, I'll miss him, he's exactly the sort of person you want managing your local rivals. Hopefully County don't go for some meh appointment and go for Butcher, if only for the derbies, and the LOLtastic relegation.

Anyone got a date for this?

. Best team name ever.

Zuckerberg 1 Winklevoss Twins 0

I think we'll probably sign a striker on loan just before the window closes.

He was garbage for us. He played fifty odd games and had one, maybe two, acceptable performances.

He actually makes a bit of sense, the Scottish Premiership is an unpredictable league - a few changes can hoof sides up the league or drag them down. Aberdeen finished bottom six clearly and then bounced back to nearly take second last season. County had a fantastic season in 12-13 and then came pretty close to going down last time out. I doubt he's telling the players to settle and be negative. I'm more worried about what he's telling players to do on the pitch - emphasis ball retention, slowing the game down etc.

Paddy McCourt is awful. Signing guys who can play in a load of different positions like Horner does make sense, it's good to have players like that when our squad is small. Proctor used to be good for that role.

When will the date be decided for this one?

We can't sell him, we don't have any other strikers!

Football is back. What are everyone's thoughts on this? I haven't seen any pre-season games but from what I've read we are playing the same way we did in the latter part of last season. This doesn't fill me with confidence, I have to say. The emphasis on maintaining possession over playing in the right areas of the park doesn't help us pick up points. We're less likely to score goals as Billy McKay gets isolated on his own up front as the midfield is pressed back and we are more likely to conceded goals by giving the ball away in our own half or in deep positions, putting our defence under pressure. Not all our performances in the second half the season were poor though and I think the XI we put out are certainly capable of getting a result against Hamilton. Having looked at the lineups in our pre-season games I'd expectus to go with something like this --------------------------------Brill------------------------------- ---Raven------Meekings---------Warren-------Tremarco--- --------------Tansey--------------Shinnie----------------------- -------Ross------------Vincent------------Doran--------------- -----------------------McKay-------------------------------------- You could swap Christie for Vincent and Watkins for Ross. Richie Foran is obviously a huge loss for us, we had a poor record last season when he wasn't in the side and with Ross Draper out as well our solid '2' in the middle are missing. Shinnie and Tansey, however, paired up well in the 2-1 derby victory last season. Shinnie is dynamic, hard-working and can attack from deep whereas Tansey can use the ball and pick passes. They complement each other well and Tansey was a good performer for us following his return. Doran is a key man. Outside of McKay he's our main goal threat and has a great record in assists as well. I know a lot of people will be looking for Christie but Doran is here and now and if he plays well we have a markedly better chance at winning. Vincent might not get people excited the way Christie does but he is more solid and probably better positionally and defensively. In away games I think he'll be preferred and he must be looking to improve on his relatively disappointing season last time out. Watkins could come in for Nick Ross as well, giving us a bit more power in that role. Watkins is also strong at set pieces, which could be important. Who is all going? I can't wait, enough of this world cup nonsense, give me the Spice of Life Stand any day.

Pre-season training started today, I think. Anyone seen any of the trialists?

We'd benefit more from keeping Shinnie for a season than selling him for what Aberdeen could pay. If his brother could get a move to England so could ShinnieG.

I got refused entry to the Moray that night, beat that Tom Hughes, what a complete dickhead he was.

From an Inverness perspective the game really summed up what's been frustrating for me this season. The first half I didn't think we played well at all, we sat far too deep and while we maintained possession we were unable to make any inroads into Motherwell. The penalty was the right decision, having seen it now on TV. Draper shouldn't have tried to see the ball out and ended up making a stupid tackle. The second goal was unfortunate for Warren but came from a corner after Motherwell attacked us in wide areas. There were a couple of occasions in the first half when we managed to get into decent positions but we never really got players in the box to support Mckay and a header from Keith Lasley was the closest we came. The second half was markedly different - it seemed as though Motherwell decided to sit back a bit, which happens naturally when you are defending a comfortable lead and that allowed us to take the initiative in the game. The primary reason for this was Graeme Shinnie, who was playing in midfield. He really drove our team forward, was always looking for the ball and, most importantly, was always positive, whether making attacking runs or using the ball. Shinnie really is a hell of a player and I'm beginning to think that we should play him in midfield all the time - Tremarco is good cover at full back and having Shinnie in the midfield makes our play so much more positive. Shinnie's goal was a little fortunate, he drove forward and his shot was deflected in. Following that though we put pressure on Well and managed to create a few chances - Mckay hit a shot wide, Tansey had several set pieces that tested the goalkeeper and Warren nearly put away a couple of headers. The main reason for our improvement was the fact that we pushed forward and played positively - if you are in the opposition half then every set piece is a chance and we can get goals from those, even when we aren't playing well. Right at the end Mckay's chance hit the inside of the post and rolled along the line, agonising stuff and I think we deserved a point for our second half efforts. Our best players were Shinnie and then I'd say Tansey and Tremarco had good games. We had a sparse support down but it was good to be at a game again, finally. The Motherwell pitch invasion was **** though Their section of fans in the 'Keep Cigarettes Away From The Match Stand' were in good voice, no Erasure songs though.

Be interested to see what formation we're playing.

You can't compare Moyes this season to Ferguson in the late 1980s, completely different situations. From what has come out he lost the players, fell out with the coaching staff and wasn't trusted in the boardroom. Manchester Utd are rumoured to be spending £200m this summer and clearly the board decided that they didn't want Moyes in charge of that money. Considering he spent £30m on Felliani I can see why. When it comes down to it I just don't think Moyes was proactive or positive enough to be manager of a club like United, he was a cautious manager at Everton, to the extent that there were some rumblings about him among Goodison fans over the past couple of seasons. Martinez has shown what can be achieved with a fresh approach.

---------------------Brill-------------------- --Raven---Meekings---Warren--Tremarco-- ------------Tansey-------Shinnie-------------- ---Doran----------Vincent----------Watkins--- ---------------------McKay------------------------ Maybe swap Vincent for Christie. A bit harsh on Draper but I thought our midfield was much more dynamic against County, Shinnie is good on the ball and can drive forward. I'd like to see Christie get a start before the end of the season but throwing him into this game probably isn't what's needed. He had some good touches against Aberdeen but was shrugged off teh ball a few times, Vincent can hold space better and is in a better position to drop back and help the deeper midfield players. Given we'll be under a lot of pressure at Parkhead you could put Draper in midfield instead of Shinnie, who could replace Tremarco.

Unsure if anyone's noticed but Rangers are currently in the process of collapsiing again. In a statement to the Stock Exchange the club have admitted that they've spent nearly all of the £70m raised from their share issue, season tickets and commercial revenue streams. Yes, that's right, Rangers spent £70m to win the Second and Third Divisions. I wonder how much money we spent to get promoted from 3rd to 1st under Pele? One result of the madness at Rangers is that the club are unable to process credit/debit card payments, as their merchant provider has requested security over Ibrox. You have to assume that they don't trust Rangers to settle up or think they are heading for administration again. I don't recall Hearts, Gretna, Dundee or any of the other clubs who went into admin beign cut off by their merchants, it's a grim outlook for them. The report also advises that the club signed players it couldn't afford last summer, invested money in short-term ventures it didn't need (jumbo screens and wi-fi for Ibrox) and dismantled their scouting network at a time when they needed a full squad of new players. In order to address this the board propose ANOTHER share issue. Madness - "hi guys, er, we blew all the money you gave us a year and a bit ago so, er, could you give us some more money? it'll be OK this time" My main comment on all this now -

Hibs need to save their money for when they sack Butcher and pay to replace him with another certain failure.

What would Che Guevera make of it all?

Watkins and Doran were brilliant last night. Why didn't we play that system in previous games?

If Hughes does want to play like a Spanish side, we should play like Atletico. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2014/01/10/atletico-madrid-proving-tackling-can-be-a-quality/

Also, emphasising possession over all else, which is what Hughes does, is out of date and negative. Keeping hold of the ball, no matter what, is negative - you are putting preventing the opposition scoring at the heart of your game, if they don't have the ball they can't score. The issue is that not being Barcelona we aren't good enough to keep the ball, so put ourselves under pressure and end up knocking it long and/or giving away stupid goals by putting ourselves under pressure. Emphasising pressure over position on the pitch also means that our attacking players don't get the ball near the opposition goals - look how isolated Mckay is most games now. It's no surprise that he's hardly scored since the turn of the year. Pressing high up the pitch, putting pressure on opponents and getting the ball into dangerous areas had us as one of the best teams in Scotland, with a deadly striker and some excellent attacking performances. Now we are anything but that, we are soft touches. The team selections and the quote that we are going to 'play down the middle' is just baffling. There is no part of the pitch that is better to play through, you play to your strengths. We have excellent players who can attack from wide areas - Nick Ross, Marley Watkins, Aaron Doran. In the last few games at least two of those have been left on the bench while we string central midfielders across the park, who are told to keep the ball with each other at all costs, so we get pushed back, we turn backwards, we hit it long and lose the ball without threatening.