tm4tj

First game out of the way. Gulbis is a tough hard hitting opponent and Murray did well to contain him. With the right coaching Gulbis could go to the top. As it was, Murray had to weather the storm then strike at the right time. Good win for Murray against a player who when on his game is no pushover.

Stand by your couch Mr potato, he will be on in the wee sma hours.

Aye, no worries P, eveybody and his dog have had a go at the team after the rubbish on Saturday, I thought I would look on the other side of the coin. At the end of the day we were well humped, but................did that decision dishearten us, oh dear, it's not going to be our day, and give County the lift they needed at that point of the game to go upfield and kill us off. It would appear to be the latter, but as I alluded to earlier, nobody gives a monkeys due to the overall performance and the overall result.

Thanks for your input P I asked if anyone thought it was a penalty as it has been somewhat overshadowed by other events on the day. Like it or not, it did happen and it may or may not have changed the outcome, however, we had the impetus at that moment and may or may not have seen off County from that point. That particular incident has caused unrest amongst our fans and some people questioning the management teams capabilities. Lionel has been castigated and about eight others have been brought to task. All I am saying is that we could have had a very different outcome but for a dubious decision.

Little has been made of the penalty incident in the second half when we were 1-2 down and almost clawed our way back into it. I doubt it would have changed the game...............or would it. We were on the ascendency, had one cleared off the line by Vigurs, and at that point and I feel if we had been awarded the penalty and scored, we would have gone on to win the game. Did most other people forget the incident due to the time spent booing Lionel and the inept display from our entire squad, or did you think it was a stonewall penalty. In case you forgot, it was seconds after Rooney missed his standard one on one with the keeper, he was then felled/poleaxed by Watt I think, but the ref took one look and ushered play along. Had it gone our way, we may have been celebrating and going over the bridge into the jailend to wind up County fans instead of tearing lumps out of our own team. What a difference a decision can make during a game, whether right or wrong.

I think he will do just fine, but I am concerned about his lack of goals, even against lesser opposition. I know he scored two against Annan or some other wee team, but he could and should have scored six in that game. Nonetheless, give him a few weeks and hopefully he will forge a scoring partnership with Hayes or Eagle or maybe even Rooney or Barrowman.

Hope all goes well for you. Shocking news.

8 goals then Joe...............in 370 games

Golly has been known to score goals.

Well, we wanted experience and we got it. Hastings has been poor for a long time and will not be missed, trust me.

It is the matchday thread from the day the game was played. Do you have difficulty with that, or are you just winding us up? Agree about the booing. He did play poorly, but he was not alone, although he looked a forlorn figure when he was subbed amidst a barrage of boos. It won't help him one bit.

Check out the two voters for Lionel please Don, obviously gudgies.

The threads usually end just after you post on them. I am sure you are a virus. One day we will laugh about this result when we tell our grandchildren..........well maybe laugh is too strong.

As Butcher said in his aftermatch speech, he is as baffled by the players performance as well. It was the same guys that performed so well at champions elect Dundee, in fact I thought we were the better team, considering we were the away team. Dundee are also finding out that it will not be easy. I don't know why they performed so poorly either, lets hope it was just one of those days when nothing went right. We seemed jaded. Maybe we should have rested some for the cis/alba cup games. Anyway, chin up folks, it must surely get better.

why not?

It was started by a Ross County fan and is a tongue in cheek question, unfortunately some people seem to now believe that the ICT fans are unhappy with Butcher. I doubt that the majority of fans would like to see change so early in the season.

Nice meeting you pair of dudes.

I take it then that you were happy with Mr Brewster and his management style and were content to watch the team get relegated without putting up a fight.

I think Mr sorted got out the wrong side of bed this morning. The club did nothing while the team sunk and it was left to the fans to remind them that we were going under. They took too long to do anything about it and the damage was already done. Butcher needs a fair crack of the whip, just like his predecessor. If he is not up to the job then like his predecessor he will be relieved of his duties, lets hope that if it comes down to that, then the board have the balls to act with a bit more urgency than they did the last time.

Butcher picked the players. He has brought in half a dozen guys this year. I am not a big fan of some of these players as they don't appear to have the toughness required when the going gets tough. Yesterdays game saw us out thought and out played by a County side who were better prepared for the battle. Now for the life of me, I don't believe the players deliberately set out to play rubbish. Were they playing to the managers plan? If so, what was that plan? As far as I could make out we had no width. That seemed a strange decision when Eagle and Hayes should have been ripping into the County defenders. We had no ball winners in the midfield, Cox was surprisingly subdued, while Stratford and Sanchez are afraid to go into any sort of challenge. We don't need fairies in the middle, we need a ball winner and a creator, yesterday we had neither on the park. Foran failed to deliver, Rooney did what he does best, hits the keeper with the ball when he is one on one. Some of these things are outwith the managers responsibility, but the way we set out our stall was surely his remit and therein lies the problem. Terry is a marvelous PR man, and he must have said something naughty to them at half time, but it was too little too late. By half time Lionel was shot to pieces, our solid backline was looking fragile and County exposed us for what we were. The opening post asked the question regarding his signings. I am not so sure after witnessing that debacle yesterday that they are right for this league. Get some Highlanders back in there and get stuck in. I wonder also is the Scotland job having any effect on his day job.

Oh well then................as long as he is a bit of a hunk, he is worth keeping............

Get yer tongue out of yer cheek..................if the wind changes............ OK, I'll stick my neck out here, Stratford is not Good enough, especially when Roy, Russell and anyone in the North stand can perform better.

Specky four eyes, I believe you will find he is on holiday in warmer climes..............but no worries, I am sure he will return to warm your ears one day.

OK guys, try and keep this to the original subject. I believe that the fact Butch signed him is the sort of give away......he is his signing and he will play him. Come on Terry, Russell or Roy could have done what he did today, in fact give me his shirt and I could have done what he did today...........thats right, feck all... diddley squat. He was useless, as he has been in previous games but it did not matter. Today he and we were found out big time.............suckers, the lot of us.

Can't be bothered reading through all the stuff tonight.........I blame Scotty, but we were pathetic in the first half and almost bearable in the second. All credit to Ross County who, to be honest, looked like scoring every time they went forward, and but for an incredible Lionel block would have dedservedly gone in at half time two goals ahead. Unfortunately that was to be the last positive input from Lionel as he ended up being the subject of the boo boys after a serious of schoolboy errors. The disappointing thing though, is he was not alone as Bully, Proctor, Coxy, Sanchez, Stratford, in all honesty anyone in an ICT shirt played shite. I am struggling to find a way forward after the most humiliating afternoon of my life...................thaks Terry, you have to shoulder the blame, while Mr Brewster must be laughing all the way to the bank. No hard feelings from me to the gudgies, they were superior in every department today, so well done to them, Terry and his superstars can hang their heads in shame. Sanchez, Stratford, Foran, Lionel, Proctor, Eagle, Bulvitis, Coxy, hang yer heads in shame, only Hayes Grantie and Esson deserve any credit for this shambles, although some may have blighted their copybook by gesturing to the unhappy bunnies in the Stand.