Johnboy

Fair comment, H/Dee... Sunday's game was an absolute classic - a terrific advert for Scottish Div 1 Football. TB never even mentioned the game on STV, never even mentioned ICT, instead prattled on about how Rangers and the SPL are practically bankrupt. I'm wondering what this shareholder and supporter made of it all? See here.

You mean 1690....

He did ok in the short time he was on. Unfortunately Scotland lost 2-1.

I've watched Sunday's game several times now on Sky+, in an effort to discover what brought about the remarkable transformation (for both teams) from the 1st to the 2nd half. One thing stands out for me looking at the first half - our back four were immense - all of them pushing up to the halfway line and beyond to support the forwards at every opportunity. This ensured Dundee were kept penned in their own half of the field for most of the half. Bulvitis in particlar must have had his best ever 45 minutes for ICT - he actually had the ball in the net twice, and was unlucky to have his first effort chalked off. Tokely (and Proctor) provided quality support for Hayes on the right, with Gollabeck and Duncan linking well with Foran and Sanchez on the left. Have to mention Rooney here too, who was like a totally different player with the support and service he received. It's very hard to say what went wrong in the second half - the back four seldom got close to the halfway line, or were they just not allowed to? There must be lessons to be learned here - When we were in the SPL we were adept at soaking up pressure, but always ready to hit on the break - the 1-0 win against Rangers at Ibrox was a classic example. We don't seem to be able to do that so effectively now. Mihadjuks was probably a better defender than Bulvitis - I feel that individual players strengths and weaknesses could be better assessed by TB and MM and tactics should be planned accordingly.

Methinks Latviaman can't have seen much of Hayes... Has there been many posts suggesting he is unfit?

This was STV's programme shown in Scotland and aimed at a Scottish audience. England, and anywhere else showing the game would have had their own presenters and pundits. I'm surprised TB wasn't wearing a Rangers club tie....

B)

Pele, if you're reading this.... What would you have done?

You've been on TV representing ICT supporters... Didn't you have any say regarding the caption that went with your name?

Live on STV just now. Introduced by Rob McLean as "Former Assistant Scotland Manager" and former Rangers captain... With the caption above his name on the screen proudly displaying Rangers 1986-1990 - this is how our manager obviously wants to be portrayed - the man who's appointment was going to raise the profile of ICT. Pathetic.

Would Jock know that as well? Yes he would know that... He knows everything. Jock was one of Scottish Football's all time greatest legends - Probably the greatest. I was never a Celtic supporter but what he achieved in his time there will never ever be equalled. With all the talk now of too many foreigners in our game, and not much in the way of home grown talent coming through, it's interesting to reflect that the Celtic team that became the first British team to win the European Cup, contained only one foreighner - Ronnie Simpson, who came from Embra! All the others were Glasgow/West of Scotland guys.

I just hope Butcher will sit down with his players, with a video of the whole game, and work out with them, how they managed to perform so well in the first half, and so badly in the second. There just has to valuable lessons to be learned here. If they can start their next 6 league games the way they started on Sunday, and not squander 2/3 goal leads, promotion would become a very realistic target, and much more than just a distinct possibility.

It must have been a great game to be at. I watched it live on BBC Alba, and it was by a long way, the best game that's ever been shown on that channel. Such a shame there had to be a second half....

I agree with all these who suggest there shouldn't have been any changes in our approach to the second half, and that we should have continued to take the game to them, and let them worry about us. What I certainly wouldn't have done was take off one of our two best players a few minutes into the second half - replacing him with one who was completely innefectual. What bugs me about that switch was that he did the exact same thing against Partick Thistle in this competition at Partick, when he took Sanchez off early in the second half, which completely changed the pattern of the whole game - We led, and had controlled the first half very comfortably, but let PT back in the second half, who equalised, and were unlucky not to win in extra time - Esson saved our bacon in the penalty shoot out. It appears to me that TB never seems to learn anything from his mistakes.

Absolutely.... I'd start every game from now until the end of the season with the line up that started yesterday. (fitness, injuries, etc permitting)

That turned out to be quite an astute comment!

What happened to our game plan? All TB had to say to our lot was - This is great lads - just give me another 45 minutes of this and the cup's in the bag. Instead the man with the non-Midas touch decides to take off Sanchez - who was having the game of his life, and replaced him with a player who contributed next to nothing. His next master plan was to waste a couple of minutes at the end by bringing on a couple of subs in the 90th minute.... FFS you do that when your winning not when you're losing. Only thing I could give TB any credit for just now would be the signing of Foran and Hayes. I actually believe we've got a squad of players here who could get us back into the SFL - we won't come anywhere near that as long our master tactician extraordinaire remains in charge. H/Dee - maybe catch you in the Fluke for a pint one night this week?

I reckon Imrie was just p1ssed off at having to come on (in the pouring rain) for the last couple of minutes when the game was already lost. Who wouldn't have been? He probably had a nice welcoming hot bath on his mind when he made that "tackle".

All he needed to say to them at half time was.... "We've got them well and truly beat here.... just give me the same again for the next 45 mins" Taken Sanchez off was madness. TB did exactly the same thing at Partick Thistle in this competition. We had them well beaten by half time, but let them back into the game thanks to his tactical changes.

Spot on.... Particularly galling to note Dods scoring a last minute winner for D.Utd against Celtic. If only he was still here....

Oh.... That's a bit close for comfort, Alex.... Are these maps that accurate? Perfect weather for golf in Nairn all the same, and then watching the game in the clubhouse, with a pint or two... (weather permitting!)

Looks very ominous around Perth tomorrow on my weather map... :) Perfect in Nairn though... :) They should have played it at Station Park...

They'll get laughed off the park tomorrow if they all turn out looking like that.

I love it when academics come on here!

That's brilliant!! Hours of fun for me here too - now that I've figured out how it works... :)