Caley Stan

There's another iconic image at 1:30ish. A group of moaning old men in the main stand shouting abuse at a side on the verge of winning promotion and the title. They're quite funny though, and they're all wearing nice bunnets.

Were we better then than we are now? Surely Wilson, Stewart and McLean would all walk into the current team. Anyway, I would like a picture of Pele, standing alone in the corner of the dugout looking dour, smoking a fag, with a single headphone in his ear and a brutal cold sore on his bottom lip.

Glad to see the club coming out with this statement and hopefully we can move on from here. While I think that it's disingenuous to pretend that Friday's statement was anything other than an expression of disappointment and frustration that Sevco could not take their place in the 1st, the club have reacted quickly to allay fears of further corruption in response to that decision and it would be nice to think that this marks the end of our involvement in the affair.

Very disappointing statement from Cameron, topped off by a post from Caley100 that contained all the hallmarks of a raging currant bun. For Cameron to come out blabbering about a once in a lifetime opportunity to change Scottish football just begars belief. The attempt to place Sevco in the 1st was evidence of Scottish football's unwillingness to change at all costs, and the decision that SFL clubs made today gives us a chance, just a chance, of reconfiguring the game away from the tedious Old Firm domination that we have all got so sick of over the past 20 years. It will be tough. It will certainly be on a smaller scale, and more clubs will probably end up having to start afresh in the 3rd, but personally I would prefer to watch under 19's in the 3rd than a bunch of loanees from the English lower leagues trying to keep us in the SPL at all costs so that we don't lose our slice of Old Firm generated tv money. That's not sport for me. It's just a televised entertainment show in which we are suppossed to be grateful for our bit-part. I salute the SFL 25.

Wow. 3 wins in a week. We're 2 points off 6th!

If he scores the winner this afternoon it should make for a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iYhw_5ehZ4.

I left this game feeling slightly frustrated that we didn't take all three points. This was the worst Hibs performance i have seen in ten years of visiting Easter Road - they lacked confidence and cohesion and until a flurry of corners in injury time created absolutely nothing. After a slow start, we started to make our numerical advantage in midfield count and dominated possession and territory for the last hour of the game. As on Saturday, the strongest part of the team was the central midfield trio of Foran behind Davis and Cox - most folk were surprised to see Cox hooked as he was buzzing about well and didn't seem tired. Davis showed great composure on the ball in tight situations and looks a cut above this league, and Foran seems to lead the team better from the base of midfield - if there is a concern about him playing there it is that his passing can be erratic. Unfortunately, the wide players were unable to build on the platform provided by those three. Tade was poor out on the left where he caused Aberdeen a few problems on Saturday and the tactic of trying to him early with long diagonals was often wasted due to his poor touch. Hayes, on the other hand, tended to come deep to receive the ball while we were in possession and after a fruitful period before half-time wasn't given any space to play in the second half. While Gillet, and particularly Golobart were comfortable in defence, Hibs' inability get the ball into the front two made the night easier for them. Overall, i feel more positive than after the Aberdeen game, and a helluva lot more positive than i did before the week started. Worryingly though, two of our best players in these games have been Golobart and Davis. Hopefully we can hang on to those two and give the team a chance to build something on the strong and stable performances we have seen this week

I don't like these comments. Butcher needs to take some responsibility for our position in the league. The back 4 of Meekings-Tokely-Hogg-Gillet has just played consecutive games together for the first time, so it's hardly surprising that they look a little lost together. Butcher said after the Killie game that he's known his best team since pre-season but hasn't been able to play it because of injuries. This is clearly untrue because Hogg and Davis weren't signed until the season had started. I suspect that Butcher is only beginning to realise what his best team is, and that the amount of chopping and changing he's done in the meantime has a lot to do with the number of goals we've conceded.

I'm in, but i'll need to have a look at a team photo first. See you all in Diggers.

He may well be faster, but Tade's touch makes Bayne look like Bergkamp in comparison.

So, while long ball has worked for other teams it "should never be played by this club". Why not? Mixu is a pragmatist. When he was at Hibs, they accused him of playing long ball. At Kilmarnock, i believe he made the decision to play the most effective football possible with the tools he had at his disposal rather than on any ideological commitment to passing or attacking football. It was a unique situation in SPL history because Killie had a unique player in their team in the form Alexei Eremenko Jnr, a player who was reputed to earn more money than any other player in the league. Mixu played everything through him and earned a lot more than praise than points. Ren, i'm not a big fan of the hoof either, i'm just looking at our squad and thinking about how the hell we're going to stay in this league.

Should we stop playing long balls altogether? Perhaps ban all passes longer than 20 yards? There's not point in being dogmatic about this. We got a point that we barely deserved yesterday by resorting to direct football and we'll need to do a lot more of that if we plan on staying in this division. Tell me Ren - would you prefer to go down playing tiki-taka?

Got all of the 2nd half on a stream. We showed good character and imposed ourselves well physically in midfield. There are more positives to take from this game than the Well game. However, it's going to be a real challenge for Butcher to sort the back four out.

My stream died just before the goal but at that point we looked reasonable in the midfield with Hayes in particular looking impressive. However, the defence continues to look shambolic, even at corners. I was very surprised to see Tokely keep his place. I also can't understand why Butcher has gone into this season with Tade as our main striker. He simply does not look like an SPL player.

Cracking free-kick from Tansey saved well by Gallagher. He's going to score one those soon enough.

Good move from Tansy and Doran sees Tansey free in the box but his touch lets him down and he fails to get a shot away. Caley fans singing Elvis.

Ryan saves brilliantly from Barrowman who was inside the 6 yard box.

An unacceptable oversight on my part. I watched that in the Auld Toll with a raging flu. It was one of Charlie's first games in charge and didn't hint at the brief explosion of exciting football that was about to follow. Just looking back at the stats - we scored 18 goals and conceded 11 in Charlie's first 6 league games!

Just short of 10 years since we found ourselves with a midweek game at Somerset in the quarters of the same tournament. We had a very healthy crowd down that night between the stand and the terraces. I really think that Rosscoe should be allowed to play in centre midfield for this game.

Where the feck is Hayes playing?

This was certainly the case in the 1st half at Motherwell where he looked a lot more comfortable in the middle after the break. I think his best games have come when he plays in a deepish centre midfield role.

I was hoping for Greece but this might turn out to be even better. I'm going to keep my kilt in Athens and buy a season ticket for the Balkan Express. We could win this group and we could finish bottom of this group. The group also has the potential to cause serious problems in the chain of wooded mountains, and as sad as that fact is, it may be our best hope of qualification. A small confession here. I've just been checking for rooms in Rio for June 2014. Chic Young says he's going to retire at the end of this World Cup, and that alone is worth celebrating.

I think we just about managed to wet the wee man's head tonight with Montecristos and Black Isle ales on the roof of Lothian House. Granda Murray seems to be coping well so far - i'll be punting plenty of that responsibility in his direction. In spite of my best efforts, Dennis, Telford, Charlie, Pele, Herchie, Vetle and Johndo have all been rejected as potential names. The poor wee bugger is called Kyriakos Murray McKenzie - Caley100 has already shortened that to 'Jock'. Mother and baby appear healthy, and we're in the early stages of explaining the theory behind 'The Wyness Shuffle' and how to use it most effectively. He's a big boy (10lbs 6oz) and is feeding well. The way things are going he might manage a steak bridie at East End Park on Saturday.

Can't seem to find much detail on this. Certainly, the payments will only apply to those who have been capped for the U21's which rules a fair few on the list above (everyone but Nicky?). As for how recent the cap needs have been and whether the player actually needs to start the game, i don't have a clue. Aldred's birthplace shouldn't be an issue if he has actually been capped at U21 level but i don't think he has.

A defence first, counter-attacking 4-3-3: Esson Piermayr Tokely Aldred Gillet Ross Tansey Morrison Hayes Foran Doran Nicky, Tansey and Morrison (until Cox is back) would have to stay narrow and disciplined to protect the back 4. The front 3 would also have defensive duties, especially Foran who would come deep whenever we lose possession. More of a stop gap until we sign a striker and a defence.