Renegade

To play devil's advocate here, is Foran still good enough to be one of the first names on the team sheet? I'm almost certain that (in the event of a fully available squad), Draper and Vincent will have the middle two roles sown up, while I was also more impressed by Polworth in there, than Foran in pre-season. If we continue with 4-2-3-1, Mckay is going to have that position up-top sown up everyday of the week, and should he be injured, then Allen or this Norwegian fellow would presumably get in there ahead of him. I believe his days on the wing are finished, while Ross, Pepper, Williams, Doran and Marley Watkins (who IMO will regarded in due course as our best signing of the new batch) would get in there first, while I believe Ben Greenhalgh will come good in the end. He won't go into defence unless there's a real crisis and in the "hole role", Doran seems to be first pick now, with Ross and possibly Pepper going for it. Does that mean Foran's days as one of the first names on the team sheet are over? Will he, from now on, be a "veteran-off-the-bench" type figure? I'm not sure of that just yet, but I won't be surprised if this season is his last, in his current regard.

So, what exactly do we do with Foran? I think his days on the wing are finished, and there's not much chance he'll be in defence unless there's a real crisis there. I think Draper and Vincent have the central spots sealed up, while I also wasn't that impressed by Foran's passing in the times I've seen him play there in pre-season. For me, I'd like to see him either in the Andrew Shinnie role (though Doran might be first choice in there), but I'd particularly like to see him up-front with Billy Mckay, as I was quite impressed with him there when he was played there last season. Is he good enough to start matches anymore though? Up-top from the start for me.

I see Dean Brill had (one of) the new goalie kits on against Charlton. Very smart I thought. Edit - Here's the best picture I could find (and it's not a very good one!) -

I'm surprised we haven't used the Arsenal link more in pre-season. Did the club ever look at having a friendly with them up here, or even when we were down there, even if it was against their reserves or U21 squad? Or what trying to get involved in one of these mini pre-season tournaments they have from time to time?

I was there! What a lovely stadium, even though it was a little hot, particularly in the first half! Thought the back four was superb and was really impressed by Vincent and Draper. Brill seemed fairly solid, but then again didn't have that much to deal with. Polworth and Williams were alright, while Mckay worked hard but wasn't in it much. Seen Doran play better if I'm honest. Our style of football at times was a sight to behold, where I think the only long balls were a goal kick and a couple of clearances. Our set-up without the ball was interesting to watch as well. From what I could see in the first half anyway, Warren and Meekings marked the furthest forward central players, while Williams dealt with the Charlton number 14 (who looked a good player actually), while Shinnie covered the space. Seemed to work quite well. Play like that this season, and we'll have a great one to look forward. I think at this rate, Europe is not just a possibility, it's a probability.

I see it's a six month deal he's been given initially. Reading up there on the Brighton fan's views of him and most seem to be sad he's gone because he looked like he had a lot of potential. Butcher comments also seem to suggest he might be thinking of going with two up top, with him coming straight into the side. Haven't seen any word on what number he is either. I see 13 is still available (as usual!), but presumably he'll take 23.

Esson Raven Warren Meekings Shinnie Doran Draper Vincent Watkins* Foran Mckay Subs - Brill, Devine, Ross, Tremarco, Pepper, Greenhalgh, Williams * - Should Watkins still be injured, Williams takes his place, with Polworth coming onto the bench. Well that was difficult. No place for Curtis Allen (who I presume is injured or something), Liam Polworth, Ryan Christie, Joe Goran, Adam Evans, Calum Ferguson, Matthew Cooper or Torbjorn Adgestein. Foran is up top but is more the creator of the two, often coming deeper. Evidently, a lot more strength in depth this year.

I see he never even got on for Hibs. The Caley Curse has struck again!

What a result! If this doesn't convince Richard Brittain he was right to leave County for Saints, I don't know what will!

Dunfermline, Hamilton and Falkirk were all in it last year as well.

Looking at the line-up I'm inclined to think Butcher is giving a few youngsters a chance of a first team game just now because from the weekend the full concentration will need to be on first team Nick Draper is a youngster. He's been brought in as the U20/third choice keeper this season. Presumably he's injured and Butcher (if he's even there) is playing Mackay as Brill played last night and he doesn't want to risk anymore keepers.

What about that chant :"We are SPL!"?. "We are SPFL Premiership, We are SPFL Premiership" doesn't exactly have a nice ring to it.

What's happened to Nick Draper, is he injured? Also, I see Ali Sutherland's just come on. He must be the fastest player I've ever seen!

Can we pay at the gate? Also, are we to be given our own stand/section?

Is that the record for the most goals scored by a single ICT player in a match? I know Paul Ritchie (I think) has the competitive record with four in a single game about ten years ago, but surely that must be the most when you take friendlies into the equation.

Perhaps when the whole story comes to light, we'll be able to more effectively come to a conclusion over that issue. Wouldn't surprise me if Foran comes out looking the better after this kerfuffle though. Interesting that a lot of people seem to gloss over my dressing room comment and dismiss it out of hand. Do they really just think they're all going to be all sad because Richie got arrested for some reason? Come on. I didn't just put it in there for fun. Again mods, treading carefully!

I read somewhere that County paid Man United £75,000 to play last Saturday. I doubt they've had made much money, if any for hosting it.

I see Greenhalgh's on the bench this week. I won't be surprised if he's that type of player next season - off the bench with 20 minutes to go type of thing.

I'm actually quite surprised football clubs are as liberal with alcohol as they are. You'd think they'd be clamping down on it as after all it is one of the most harmful and destructive substances in society. I know last season, Zdenek Zeman banned his Roma players from drinking coffee during pre-season and if it were cigarettes or other substances, I doubt we'd be so happy about it. From what I understand, and I'm not naming any names here, the way some of the players go about drinking doesn't seem to be very healthy at all. We aren't talking here about one or two glasses of wine on a Saturday night, we're talking about a full-blown can hardly walk and incomprehensible slurred words type of thing at weekends, and that's something that needs to be curtailed.

No sign of Curtis Allen yet?

I'm treading carefully here, but you may have noticed that the report doesn't mention how the incident started, it just says that Foran was "caught up in it" (ie - didn't necessarily start the disturbance, but it did involve him). Thus it will remain to be seen if you're belief will remain in due course.

Agreed. He isn't some wee boy who's being led astray. Also, I see the Record have described it as a "team bonding session". Really? By the sounds of things, these "bonding sessions" happen at least twice a week!

Richard Foran is 33 years old and has a wife and child. Why's he out in the Nedhole that is Miami?! You don't hear of Gary Warren getting involved in such shenanigans! Nonetheless, such antics won't be good for team spirit and all that stuff.

I see Butcher's away in Germany just now. I wonder why he's over there? Presumably he'll meet up with the rest down south on Saturday.

Certainly heard of Shelvey again and the wee guy in the midfield - Spearing - to name but two, but it didn't define "glamour" to me. Two or three have since come good (one played in the last World Cup for Paraguay, while another [san Jose] now plays for Athletic Bilboa]). A lot seem to have disappeared into the mists of time though.