ictchris

County clearly didn't care about this cup. They made nine changes and then didn't make a single substitution during the match. Adams obviously went 2-0 down and thought, f*ck it.

It wsa a fair challenge, one of those things. Hard lines Nick.

I just replied to you. On P&B.

Good post MarkD. Off the top of my head, Marco Pantani, David Millar, Jan Ullrich never failed drug tests but were all doping. As for the testimony if it was one person, say Floyd Landis, then it could be written off as sour grapes or a poor loser. However, it's ten people, who were testifying under oath, presumably without knowledge of what the others were saying. There was also due to be analysis of blood samples that Armstrong gave on the 2009 and 2010 Tours, which didn't have drugs in them but displayed signs of doping, which has been used to ban people in the past - I believe this is what lead to Contadors ban. The reason that Armstrong has given up on this is he knows that if he goes to a hearing the testimony, the blood tests will be aired in public and his image (which has made him millions of dollars) will take a battering. As it is he can fall back on the 'wtich-hunt' line and retain support and prestige.

The US authorities have again investigated Armstrong for the last 2 years and have no intention of prosecuting him. He is now being hounded by the US sports authorities based on the testimony of a number of confirmed liars and former drugs cheats that the American legal system decided were in all probability based on jealousy. He has been tested in excess of 500 times during his career and has never been positive. He was always a phenomenal engine from when he first started racing and incredibly motivated. If he is ever proven to have been a cheat then he must have had the very best chemists in the world in his employ, because the testing systems declare a positive in the event that any masking agent is found All that will be revealed about him during this Tour de France I suspect will be further innuendo. Oh well. Armstrong hasn't contested the charges and will likely have all his titles since 1998 stripped.

It's a valid tactic to have a big man out wide - Foran was tremendous in this role. The first section of this article is good on the rationale behind having a strong 'targetman' in a wide area - http://soccerlens.com/the-evolution-of-the-target-man/66361/ . Aside from specific tactics, we generally have a front four of McKay, Doran, Shinnie and Shane - the three players aside from Shane are smaller players. Nothing wrong with that but if we were to put Nick Ross (pre-injury) or Conor Pepper in Shane's position we'd have a front four of small, lightweight players. The problem has been how we are playing. Shane has often had the ball feed to him deep, meaning that he hasn't had a chance to make an impact further up the pitch. Even so, he's actually had a few good runs and shots. What we need to do is get the ball to Shane further up the pitch, allow him to attack the full back and put pressure on them. If we were playing further up the pitch then we could provide better crosses and diagonal balls for Shane to attack. Watching on TV on Saturday I thought we sat very, very deep and that isn't the way to beat Celtic, especially if you defend like we did. It also means that the likes of Doran and Sutherland find it difficult to have an impact as they get the ball in dangerous areas - Doran, Shinnie and Shane often had to drop back into our own half to try and get the ball. The best I've seen Shane play (again this was from my armchair, downside of being an exile) was the games against Celtic that we won 3-2 and the defeat last season to Dundee Utd. In the Celtic game, we pressed high up the pitch and Shane absolute beasted Izaguirre, who won player of the year that season. Against United, we were poor but Shane was responsible for most of our good positions and had some success against the United full back. Ultimately, we failed to create enough and were punished by a good United side that night. Sitting too deep and playing too slowly and without dynamism is something we were guilty of on Saturday and it particularly affects Shane. We need whoever is in midfield and central defence next week to push up and our experienced players to help build confidence and attack the opposition, rather than sit off. I do have my doubts about Shane's actual ability but we aren't giving him a platform to perform.

Polwarth and Christie up from against St jOhnstone, we are back in 1992.

Posted by Radford, St Johnstone chap on P&B Saints lost 1-0 to Inverness in Perth this afternoon. A tight match with neither goalkeeper busy but both sides tried to keep the ball on the deck as much as possible. Liam Polwarth scored the winner for Inverness in the last minute with a volley from the edge of the box after Saints failed to clear their lines. Think a draw probably would have been a fair result, as not a lot in the match. Both sides field a couple of overage outfield players, Moon and Robertson for Saints and Morrison and Foran for Inverness, who also included Saturday's goalscorer Conor Pepper. Saints: Tuffey, Tobin, Steeves, Moon (Thomson), Moffat, Rodger, McConnell, Robertson (Mitchell), Kane, McIntosh, Gray. Subs not used: Gilchrist, Reid (GK), Still, Norrie, McArthur. ICT: Mathieson, Skinner, Watson, Foran, Mackenzie, Laing, Pepper, Morrison, Whyte, Polwarth, Christie. Subs: Cheyne, Ferguson.

Steve Lomas? Non-footballing reasons? Threats of lawsuits flying?

----------------------Esson----------------------- --Meekings---King----Warren---ShinnieG--- --------------Draper----Morrison------------------- -----Ross---------ShinnieA------Sutherland---- --------------------McKay------------------------- I think Meekings is a better option at right back and while Nick Ross has played in central midfield he's a more attacking option so I'd slot Gavin Morrison in there. Hopefully his time eating sheep's head suppers in Iceland has done him well. Nick Ross has used the ball a bit better than Aaron Doran when I've seen him, I think he deserves a start. Sutherland hasn't hit his stride yet but he is strong and we need that in our front four, who are all pretty slight.

I like Richie Foran, I think he's a great player and is unfairly maligned by a lot of people on here and in our wider fanbase. BUT I cannot stand players that do things like he did today. He was raging at the stupid penalty (rightly) and just flew into a stupid tackle in a stupid area of the pitch. Fouls are part of the game, if you are in defensive midfield you need to make tackles and you're going to pick up bookings and perhaps red cards but sometimes they are required. Today was just a nonsense, a tantrum from our captain. Twice in two weeks we've had an experienced player do something reckless and not onlly put the three points at risk but further weaken out squad for upcoming matches. Very poor from Richie.

I thought we played very well and were well deserving of a point. We were caught out with our defenders getting sucked in for their first goal and Novikovas had an easy task to finish it off. The game was relatively even, Hearts probably had a better time in midfield and had more of the ball and more pressure but we looked relatively OK. Utterly bizarre penalty decision, it's rare that you see a spot-kick given that no-one in the stadium appealede for. From what I saw of it, Richie Foran's red card was a stupid swipe, very unprofessional from him. He's our captain and while you can understand being frustrated at the penalty he needs to lead the team and didn't do it. The second half was a great effort though. Draper really impressed me in the middle, he got about, won the ball and used it intelligently. It was a big performance from him in the second half considering his main partner wasn't there. Andy Shinnie is by far our best player on the ball, he uses it so well and plays clever passes all the time. Very impressive start to the season from him. His brother was also impressive, especially when breaking forward, he was a real threat attacking down the left and helped us with both goals. I was more impressed with Meekings than Raven, I'd prefer Meekings to be first choice at right back. King and Warren were also relatively solid, Warren in particular won every header he went for with King being a bit more mobile. The main thing that impressed me about the performance was the guts and determination. Tynecastle is a difficult palce to go and with ten men we clearly decided to fight it out. The number of blocked shots from our defenders and midfielders was remarkable and the pressure we put on Hearts when they were in possession was admirable. The work-rate from every player was commendable as well. We've heard a lot said about how we've lost the 'heart' of the club by releasing long serving players, I don't think you could've asked for any more heart or determination than we got today. The togetherness at the end when we scored and at the final whistle was tangible. Very encouraging. We have a tough run of games coming up and we need to capture that feeling if we are going to continue in this vein.

Will there be a supporters bus running from Inverness for this game? Asking for a friend.

A quiet half in Robertson's anyone? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-19243886

I'm doing exactly as I said in my text message - pub for 9am, booze, booze, booze, then the tgame then off to the Jack the Rippers to the max out my credit card. Anyone that doesn't do that isn't a real man.

Wetherspoons is horrific. Better drinking in the street than in there.

In terms of pubs Tynecastle is a brilliant away day. THere are numerous tremendous boozers either side of the ground. Aside from Robertson or Stratfords I wouldnt' say any of them are unfriendly.Top Six is just a New Town yuppy who is too scared to go to a proper boozer. He probably wants to go to the Dome in George Street for a couple of pre-match Cosmo's. ;-)

In modern football it's unusual to have players for long periods of time. The night Tokely was confirmed as leaving I posted something on Twitter about it and an East Fife fan replied, saying that they have had two players in their entire history, over 100 years, who played for the club as long as he did for us. If people aren't renewing their season tickets because of that then they must be rather naive about how football is. The problem with releasing these players is that they haven't been properly replaced. When we let Grant Munro go, I thought Butcher had earned the right to make that decision. It was his responsibility to replace him with someone better and he didn't do it. That's the problem - if Grant had been replaced by a player of equal or improved standing then there would be no issue.

Having seen the highlights, definite red card. Idiotic and now he'll be suspended for games against Hearts and Celtic.

The idea is for Jones and Draper to sit in midfield, protect the back four, break up play and act as a bridge between the front four and the back four. You'd expect them to play lots of simple passes when in possession and make lots of tackles and win headers. This gives the likes of Shinnie and Doran the chance to get the ball higher up the park and create chances. The problem yesterday is that Draper and Jones, after the first 20-25 minutes didn't do it. They needed to impose themselves on the game and they didn't manage it. On too many occasions the ball dropped into the midfield area and Jones and Draper weren't there. The passing shown by both men also wasn't up to standard. I once read a description of Edgar Davids playing in midfield for Juventus as treating every opposition player coming within ten yards of him as an insult, chasing them out of the centre circle. That's the attitude that Jones and Draper need but all too often when I see Jones he doesn't stamp his authority on games. The guy is an internationalist, he obviously has talent and he is phyiscally imposing. He needs to do more, and also to not get stupid red cards and miss games. Perhaps Foran will do better when he comes in next week. Regarding Sutherland, having a player who is good in the air in a wide position is a good tactic, you can hit diagonal balls to them as a 'outball' to relieve pressure and it gives you more variety in attacking options. You need to provide proper service to them though, good balls for them to attack. I wonder if Sutherland is good enough for this level though - he's a big willing worker and a strong runner but is he really good at any of these things? I hope he proves me wrong but I have my doubts.

Here's our home record in recent SPL seasons 2007/08 - P19 W9 D2 L8 F32 A28 2008/09 - P19 W4 D5 L10 F18 A27 2010/11 - P19 W7 D4 L8 F25 A24 2011/12 - P19 W5 D5 L9 F19 A27 We are poor at home. One season in the last four with a winning record? If we won games and scored goals then more people would show up. Also, and I don't want to go on about pricing, but it's expensive. I paid £26 for a walk up Main Stnd ticket yesterday. Our 'hardcore' fans will always go no matter what but to increase attendances you need to attract more of the casual, walk up fans who go to big games to attend regularly. The best way to do that is to be good. As it stands we are asking people to pay a lot of money for something that's likely not be that good.

The pubs in Gorgie are brilliant.

He should count himself lucky that we have relatively docile fans. At other clubs if he shouted back given our rubbish home record he'd have people jumping the barriers for a more intense discussion.

The day started on a strange note for me as a steward tried to prevent me entering the ground, saying that I and my two companions were Killie fans and then that we were drunk Only after speaking to the steward in question and giving him our Inverness postcodes were we permitted to enter. Caley lined up with the same XI who started against St Mirren and we began the game very well. We dominated possession in the middle of the park and played some good stuff going forward. Billy McKay looked good, he made some clever runs and picked the ball up well. Doran also looked lively out wide and it was from his corner that we scored. Doran looped it in, then Draper headed it down (I thought it was JOnes who knocked it on at the time but subsequently read that it was Draper) and ANdy Shinnie slid in low to knock the ball home. We looked flying at this point and Doran nearly set up McKay to double our advantage, but McKay couldn't turn it in. Doran then burst through and was denied by a good save from Cammy Bell and our attacking players couldn't put the ball home. So far, so good. However, after the first 20 minutes Kilmarnock started to get hold of the ball more and put pressure on us, especially in wide areas. Raven, who looked patchy throughout, gave away a penalty for a rather innocuous looking foul but Ryan Esson saved Rachi's penalty, which was low but close to the keeper. More impressive was Esson's follow up save from james Drayton, whose powerful effort he blocked. That didn't give us a boost though and Kilmarnock really dominated the closing stages of the half. Most of our fans would've been happy for the half-time whistle to come and give us time to regroup but in the five minutes of injury time (Harkins and Dayton both going off injured following meaty tackles from our centre halves) Killie equalised, Pascali looped a header in from a cross on the left. It was no more than Killie deserved and meant that we went in on a downer. The second half probably had less incident than the first and again, Caley were wasteful in possession. Too often we hit speculative balls rather than a meaningful pass. We were also very deep and balls up to McKay weren't 'sticking'. Our creative players, Shinnie and Doran, weren't getting as much of the ball as in the opening stages which really blunted our attacks. Shane Sutherland had a couple of shots but he really didn't impress - a big willing worker but he didn't show either guile or power. I was surprised when it was McKay who came off for Nick Ross. With around ten minutes left Jones was sent off. Fowler slid in late and brought him down and Jones reacted aggressively. From my seat I couldn't pick out exactly what he did but from what I've read he went to headbutt Fowler, I certainly saw him waving his hands around. Really stupid behaviour from an experienced player and it meant that we were hanging on at the end. We don't have a big squad and that's one player missing for a few tough games. Down to ten men, Butcher barked at us to stick it long into the corners, drawing the ire of a couple of fans who he exchanged words with. Right at the death Nick Ross forced Cammy bell into a good save when he directed a header on target but couldn't beat Bell and our final chance to take three points was gone. A disappointing first home game of the season then. We showed our potential in the first twenty minute but the fact that we didn't build on that and lost a lead for the second game in a row is worrying. I can see what Butcher is trying to do - solid back four, two big guys in midfield and then four attacking players but we were eased out in midfield. You need Draper and Jones to dominate the middle of the park and they were often posted missing, I thought. Often Killie were first to loose balls in our half and Doran and Shinnie had to drop in to win the ball. That's not their forte and not what they should be doing. It'll be interesting to see how we perform with Foran coming in, we need a bit more dynamism in the middle of hte park and hopefully he can provide it. Final point about the crowd, it was poor but untypical for us. The fact is, we've been pish at home for years and it's not going to draw people into an expensive trip to the stadium.

I almost didn't get in. One of the stewards said my companions and I were suspicious because we'd got out of a taxi with a Killie fan and split up. We were asked if we were Killie fans and one of us had to give his Inverness postcode in an effort to prove we weren't from Ayrshire. Thank goodness we have these consummate professionals looking after us. Imagine the death toll we'd have had over the last few years if we didn't have these guys.