Renegade

Sounds like he's away.

He wouldn't be saying that had we done it.

I think we should maybe give this one a re-think.

The fact of the matter is, we were beaten by the better team. County looked far sharper, far more creative and far more dangerous going forward. We only had one good chance and even then we wouldn't have deserved to win or even draw. The two defenders in midfield system didn't work and playing Pepper for the first time in months over Ross was bizarre and also didn't work. County were better all over the park and the desperate hoof balls towards McKay was dead easy for Boyd to deal with. Andrew Shinnie wasn't at his best while the aforementioned McKay wasn't in the game. I've said it before and I'll say it again; Doran is not and never will be a left sided player. Never. On our form in 2013 and on today's performance we've been nowhere near as good as we should have been. To be second for so long and then third, before failing Europe altogether is very galling indeed, but on the whole we have no-one to blame but ourselves. In saying that, the ending with Butcher was class and the fans chanting made it sound like we made it. Sadly though, we really should have done better. Life goes on.

We never rise to the occasion and haven't done so for years. The relegation game in 2010; one goal would have kept us up and we blew it. The Challenge Cup Final; 2-0 up and cruising at half time and end up getting beat 3-2. The League Cup Semi-Final earlier in the season; 1-0 up against ten man Hearts, miss an open goal and end up going out. Last week was the hammer blow I think. We really should have had Dundee United with all those chances and going into Dingwall, I thought the best chance we had of getting it, was a Motherwell win. When Saints scored I knew we'd had it. On the plus side, apart from A.Shinnie and Reguero going, we have the bulk of the squad signed up for next season (unlike County!) and a few new players should see us through. On today's performance we never deserved Europe, and our form in 2013 is rather when you compare it to the end of 2012. I hope we haven't blown it for good, but I still can't wait for next season to get started.

St. Mirren: Goalkeeping error. Hearts: 50-50 penalty. DUFC away: More than dodgy penalty. 3 of the goals have absolutely nothing to do with the substitutions OTOH, when were Pepper at Hibs and Roberts at Dungwall brought on when they scored last second equalisers? Whether they were dodgy penalties and goalkeeping errors or not, throwing players on that late is going to knock the rhythm of the team. This will thus allow the other teams more time on the ball and thus more attacks on goal. It is also the case that it is often more inexperienced players coming on, and in the case of St Mirren and Dundee United, it was Polworth that was brought on, who's a more attack minded, inexperienced player. That'd open the game up again for the opposition to have one more attack. Pepper came on in the 79th minute and was the final change that day. Roberts came on in the 91st minute, with County scoring in the 92nd. He also ducked out the way of Brittain's free-kick. That could quite easily have been another game when a late substitution could have had dire consequences.

HT - Ross County 1-0 ICT FT - Ross County 1-3 ICT Ross County 1st scorer - Wohlfarth ICT 1st scorer - Doran Attendance - 6,087 1st goal - 34th minute JOKER

Gary Warren and Doran and Foran! Gary Warren and Doran and Foran! Repeat until tired. This could also work with side to side head movements!

I was doing some stalking research just now, and apparently Simon King's injury has led to his retirement from the game. That's a shame.

As things stand: Signed up till the end of season 2013-14: Ryan Esson Richie Foran Ross Draper Conor Pepper (Butcher and Malpas are also in this category) Signed up till the end of season 2014-15: Josh Meekings Nick Ross Gary Warren Graeme Shinnie Billy McKay Daniel Devine David Raven Liam Polworth Ryan Christie Joining next season: Ben Greenhalgh Danny Williams _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The following players are out of contract at the end of this season: Owain Tudur Jones Simon King Aaron Doran Martin Laing Loan deals expire at the end of this season: Charlie Taylor Deals unknown: Matthew Cooper Leaving the building: Andrew Shinnie Antonio Reguero Chris Hogg Shane Sutherland Gavin Morrison Scott Mathieson Kyle White Already gone: Philip Roberts Jordan Gibbons Latest developments/changes in bold.

Haven't heard about Simon King for months, but I presume he's away if he isn't already!

Hogg for me is the only surprise. Shame he's away, as I think he's been very good since his return from injury. Mathieson I thought might get another year, but perhaps Butcher has a better young keeper lined-up (likely Robbie Thomson) and it's no surprise that Morrison is offski as he never really cemented a place in the team. Having watched Sutherland as a centre forward in the U20 game the other week, I'd have been inclined to give him another year as long as that was the position he was played in. Playing him as a winger (I thought he was meant to be the new Jonny Hayes‽) was a waste and totally ineffective.

If we get into Europe, will there be another Butcher sermon a la Ayr United 2010?

As I said earlier in the thread, for someone who said a couple of months ago that "he couldn't understand why anyone would leave ICT", Aaron Doran is taking a heck of a long time to sign up. I wonder if the County rumours are true after all, but he doesn't to announce it till after the game on Sunday.

Rory Fallon might be worth a look. Would certainly offer something a bit different to McKay up front. Wasn't overly impressed with him when he came to Inverness for the U20 game last week. Supposedly, we have interest in ex celtic goalkeeper Robbie Thomson. Who by the way, played against us in the League Cup earlier this season for Stenhousemuir. From what I remember he was rather good that night as well.

And that is the end of that!

2-0 now and through Fraser's legs!

Better get your telegram machine out!

I was doing some stalking research on Twitter earlier in the week and apparently Calum Ferguson is staying on because he signed a two year deal last year.

Late Goals Conceded/Late Substitutions August 4th - St Mirren (A) - Andrew Shinnie OFF Liam Polworth ON (87 minutes) - St Mirren equalise 90th October 27th - St Johnstone (H) - Andrew Shinnie OFF Gavin Morrison ON (89 minutes) - St Johnstone equalise 90th November 10th - Hearts (H) - Andrew Shinnie OFF Gavin Morrison ON (85 minutes) - Hearts equalise 90th December 15th - Dundee United (A) - Andrew Shinnie & Billy McKay OFF Polworth & Roberts ON (89 minutes) - DUFC equalise 90th February 13th - Kilmarnock (H) - Andrew Shinnie OFF Daniel Devine ON (85 minutes) & Aaron Doran OFF Shane Sutherland ON (89 minutes) - Kilmarnock equalise 90th May 11th - Dundee United (H) - Nick Ross OFF Shane Sutherland ON (87 minutes) - Dundee United win in the 90th. Going by that, these late substitution don't help matters. Bar the Hearts 1-1 draw and the 85th minute change in the Kilmarnock game, we've conceded five times this season having made late substitution in three minutes or less. I wonder if these late changes do more harm than good, unsettling the team going for the final home strait. On almost every occasion (Sutherland excluded) the change has been putting more inexperienced player on from the one that came off. Surely the evidence shows that this is unsettling and disrupting the flow of the team and contributing to conceding late goals and thus losing points.

We need to win, so we may as well go for it. It's a very narrow pitch at Dingwall, so wingers will be no use. An attacking 4-3-3 for me, so let's go out and gub them! Reguero Raven Hogg Meekings G.Shinnie A.Shinnie Jones Ross Doran Sutherland McKay Subs - Esson, Devine, Pepper, Taylor, Polworth, Christie, Mathieson

Said it before and I'll say it again; if we don't get Europe we'll have no-one to blame but ourselves.

And they won it as well! Shame he never got on though.

You'll never have better chances to win a game than we had today and I'm scared we've blown our chance. Graeme Shinnie was my MOTM while I feel Pepper could have given us a bounce for Nick Ross as opposed to Sutherland, while Doran's final ball is often very poor. We never seem to rise to the occasion.

Time of goal - 37