Caley Stan

Brewster and Barry have never got on with each other and i understand that relations reached breaking point after Barry was first dropped from the squad for the game at Ibrox earlier in the season.

"There's no doubt that the wage structure at Caley Thistle has moved on a fair bit in recent times and I feel I should be up there". That's the quote from Duncan. "Duncan maintains that he turned down the initial offer because it did not meet his expectations and believes that any new deal should reflect a wage similar to what the top players, such as Marius Niculae, receive". And that's the line from the Courier. The Duncan story was covered by nearly all of the national newspapers and his press conference is on BBC online. Only in the Courier has the name Marius Niculae been mentioned in relation to this. Unless Russell said this to a reporter, it's a pretty stupid line for the Courier to take. Of course Marius's wages have caused disruption and of course out of conract players are going to feel they have got a right to ask for more money because of the riduculous wage Marius receives, but the Courier makes it look like Russell wants 4 or 5 grand a week and as much as i love him as a player, that's just silly.

Let's not get carried away here. While the filth might not knock 4 or 5 goals past teams on a regular basis anymore, a quick glance at the league table shows Rangers 15 points and Celtic 11 points ahead of 3rd place - and that's with a couple of games in hand over most of the chasing pack. They've got less money to spend than in the past but the same goes for the rest of the SPL. What has changed recently in Scottish football is that we've produced a good crop of young players - some of them too good for the old firm to get their filthy hands on (Craig Gordon and James McFadden) or keep their filthy hands on (Alan Hutton, maybe Scott Brown). But as we have witnessed, good young Scottish players usually want to go there and as soon as a team develops that might pose a threat to their dominance they succeed in breaking it up quickly. Caley D's prediction is brave indeed. If a non-of team wins the league in the next 5 years it will because of a surprise investment in one of the Edinburgh teams or the new firm, rather than because of a gradual levelling out between the filth and the rest.

The holding midfielder looks a bit exposed. And i'd love to see Blackie's tantrum when he's told that he's playing wide left!

From what i've seen so far i'd fancy Ivory Coast. Marcel Desailly has pointed out that they are more European than the other teams in the tournament by which i think he means that they have a controlled passing game and a solid defence although he could just be saying that nearly all of their players play for top European clubs. Their match against Nigeria was tight for the first hour but once they scored they started to look really dangerous going forward. I'd like to see them win it and then go on and make a seious challenge at the next World Cup. With Drogba, Kalou, Eboue, Zokora, Keita and the Toure brothers this is something of a 'golden generation' for the Ivorians and it would be great to see such a team fulfill it's potential. Vive le C?te d'Ivoire.

Richie and Russell play in completely different roles. Richie is an attacking mdfielder who hasn't made the grade in the SPL. Russell is a defensive midfielder who plays every week and is irreplaceable.

BBC Gossip has this line from a Sun story: "Inverness striker Marius Niculae has been told by Romania boss victor Piturca that his recent form could lead to a place at Euro 2008". Can't find the full story on the Sun's horrible website. I'd still be really surprised if this happens for Marius. Was reading today about his injuries. He had reconstructive surgery to his left knee and he still has two pins in his right foot after a fracture of his fifth metatarsal. For all of his class on the ball, his movement around the pitch always looked hampered by some kind of injury.

Is it? Barry Wilson, Richie Hart and Markus Paatelainen couldn't even make the bench last week. Rory and Zander had to go out on loan and Caff and Morgan had to move on. The squad we have right now has an impressive depth and we are more able to cope with injuries than some of the teams around us. We can always improve the first XI though. The lack of pace in defence and attack was cruelly exposed at Easter Road and i'd like to see a defender and a striker/attacking midfielder brought in if we are serious about pushing for top 6.

Burns is now odds-on to get the job. The fans aren't going to like this if it happens for a number of reasons: 1. The Berti years. 2. He hasn't been a manager for nearly 10 years. 3. He managerial record (promotion with Killie, Cup with Celtic, short spell at Reading) is variable. 4. McGhee, Levein and Burley all have recent history of improving teams. Burns doesn't. 5.There will be a lingering suspicion that appointing Burns is an attempt by Gordon Smith to placate the other half of the filth. I'm not suggesting this is true but it will be an issue. Having said all that, if Tommy Burns gets this job then i will shut up and em..................accept him!

Rangers are 'away' to Gretna on Wednesday 16th so McCulloch should be free to play against us. Hutton has a 2 match ban so is now suspended for our game. Of course none of this matters - Mr Brewster and our boys won't need any favours.

Along with thousands of others, i stood and chanted that in the direction of David Taylor as Scotland were destroyed by Sweden at Easter Road a couple of years back. Today, the BBC calls him the "front-runner" to replace McLeish. He was unacceptable then and he's unacceptable now. Why would we appoint someone who hasn't been a manger for 10 years and who achieved very little when he was in club magement? Same goes for Joe Jordan. We need someone with a proven track record of success.

Graham cleared things up for us in yesterday's papers by insisting that that he's a donkey, not a chicken. Straight from the horse’s mouth: "Marius really benefited from having someone doing the donkey work for him against Killie. "I don't care if I have to do a lot of the spadework, especially if we win 3-1". Bayne was also dishing out loads of praise for Marius and says the goals will come: "It was the same with Craig Dargo when he was here. He struggled to score initially and then went on to hit an absolute barrow load for us." With all this talk of donkeys and barrow loads, i just hope he manages to keep his feet on the ground.

Let's hope that whoever's flashing the cash hasn't been watching him over the last couple of weeks.

Marius was supposed to be playing up front against Falkirk but it he ended up getting dragged back into midfield as this was where most of the game was played. He did some good work there, winning headers and releasing Rankin a couple of times but JR fluffed his chances. I don't remember Marius having a shot on goal in the whole game. Against Killie he was absolutely immense. Playing behind Bayne he found himself in space time after time and we played some beautiful football through him in the second half.

I assume that you refer to our finances and not our playing staff when you call us "the most thinly resourced team in the SPL". We might pay the smallest wages and have one of the smallest home gates but we do appear to a have a bigger and stronger squad than some of the teams around us. Teams with thin resources have done it before. Since the turn of the century the following non-OF teams have qualified to represent Scotland in Europe: Hearts (3 times), Aberdeen (3), Kilmarnock (2), Dunfermline (2), Hibs, Livingston, Dundee Gretna and St. Johnstone. Teams of our size (and smaller) do qualify for Europe and i'm sure we would do lot better than the likes of Dunfermline and Gretna if we got our chance.

Bayne's running, passion and commitment have never been in doubt but people have rightly expressed concern about his touch and finishing. He's also got a reputation as 'headless chicken' which suggests that he runs all over the place but not into the right places. This side of Bayne's game has definitely improved and can only improve with Brew as his tutor. He won me over around this time last year when he played a couple of games with Wyness and linked really well with him. He doesn't score many goals but has a great habit of getting really important ones. Bayne hasn't been fully fit all season but now he is and he shows so much hunger when he comes off the bench. Brew has a big decision to make on Wednesday.

Great drama, crazy game and most importantly 3 more points. They didn't look likely points as we invited Hearts onto us again and again in the second half but along with a bit of luck, our fighting spirit and belief saw us through at the end. No little skill on display either. First goal was a great move and a great strike and just watch the way Russeldinho turns defence into attack for the penalty. He was immense throughout as was Black who shouldn't have hooked. McBain had a great first half and Mikey's handling was superb. What more do you want? Well a solid defence would be nice. We always look vulnerable at the back and i think the full-backs are often responsible for this because they stand off for too long when teams drive at them. Tokely was great in the air but i'd still bring Proctor back on Wednesday. Niculae! What the feck can you say about the guy. He stopped running after and hour and somehow stayed on the pith 'til the end. A really weird display from the big man. He is at least involved in things higher up the pitch now and if he wins us a penalty every week then we can't complain i suppose - but what a weird big lump of a player he is.

I'd take 8 points. 2 home wins and 2 away draws.

Is this the same contact that told you Lee Bullen would be our new assistant manager and that Blackie would definitely start against St. Mirren?

SFA website has both have down for 3pm, i'd like to think we'd have been told by now if there was any change. If the police can handle simultaneous full houses at Murrayfield and Tynecastle surely they can handle this.

Kingston's injured and Stewart's suspended. They've still got a few decent midfielders thought. Jonsson looks quite good and Driver will cause us problems. I do wonder though, if some of these guys have the stomach for a midfield battle with the likes of Duncan and Blackie.

Just bought mine over the phone. They say that if the ticket doesn't arrive in the post by Friday they can get Hearts to print a duplicate to be picked up from the ticket office. ?2.50 booking fee is a bit OTT.

That's right, it was the 0-0 game. In fairness to Blackie, he wasn't the only one who lost the head a bit that day. We were lucky to get draws in both of the Dunfermline games that have been mentioned. How times have changed.......

Definite penalty and ref didn't have the balls to send Pressley off. The incident also proved what i think most people already knew - Elvis is past it.

"We had all the possession, all the chances and all the decisions went against us" Gordon Strachan - w@nker