ALSY

Malpas at centre half? MALPAS AT CENTRE HALF?! This is just so typical of the sort of armchair boo boys that come on here and try to tell the manager how to pick a team and pick holes when he's just doing an honest job, and then they go and make fundamental errors like this. It sickens me. It really does.

Baws.

Robbo not really bothering to hide his leanings on the radio there. Great to see Sanchez on the scoresheet.

Glad to see TB giving Odhiambo and Sanchez another chance - Odi was excellent on Tuesday and Sanchez had a decent first half. Let's hope they take the opportunuity to try to cement their places in the first team - if they can give Rangers problems, surely they can give Hamilton problems.

One of the Rangers supporters at my work (easy to spot - there are only 3 out of 1700 people)has just claimed that Rangers are interested. I suspect my chain may be being pulled...

We can take quite a lot of encouragement from that performance. It was maybe a good time to get a little experimental with the line-up - a game where a defeat wouldn't be considered a failure - and I thought it improved the team. Odihambo had a fine game on the right wing, running at and beating his opponents regularly and also working back well. His choice of final ball wasn't always great, but he's worth persevering with there for as long as Hayes is out. Sanchez also offered a bit of composure on the ball - he's not afraid to take people on either, and looked willing to shield the ball and try to make time for effective passes. If he tracked back a little more and was willing to put his head in where it hurts sometimes, he could be really effective playing behind a main striker. There was certainly a lot more creativity going forward today than on Saturday, and Nick Ross looked very solid playing in a deeper role alongide Duff. The defence also played well: Tokely had Weiss in his pocket for most of the game and Innes and Munro look very composed playing together. No glaring weaknesses for us tonight, although the final ball could have been better, but Duff needs to look up and choose his passes a bit better, and Foran wasn't as influential as he's capable of being. We were speculating about whether he's still carrying an injury: despite the header that was touched onto the bar, he's certainly not winning as much of the ball in the air as he did last season, although admittedly tonight he was often competing against a very good header of the ball in Andy Webster. Rangers created few real chances and got the goal at a very lucky time after we'd matched them throughout the first half. It was good finish from Davis, but it looked like we had lost concentration for a minute after surviving the previous attack, because no-one got out to close him down. Apparently Rooney was fouled in the build-up, but I don't remember the incident. Rangers definitely had more of the ball for most of the second half, but in the last ten minutes Caley Thistle were on top and there was obvious anxiety around Ibrox that we would get the equaliser and a geniuine sense of relief when the final whistle sounded. A decent performance and a dsiappointing result then, and although Hamilton will set themselves out differently against us, I hope Terry Butcher will give Odhiambo and Sanchez another chance on Saturday. Away to listen to this much-trailed interview and then to bed.

Ah go on. F*** principles. I'll certainly be in Brechin's beforehand and hopefully in the ground, assuming the saga of the ticket has a happy ending. Unfortunately it's not as easy to sneak over the fence at Ibrox as it was at Kingsmills.

It would certainly save me a lot of hassle. Due to a story that is too long and complicated to begin recounting, my ticket for Tuesday is currently residing in a tin of Victoria biscuits somewhere in the bowels of Fir Park... I blame Rangers for everything.

My word, that was a boring game. Pretty solid defensively, but we had very little imagination going forward: the punt is back big style, unfortunately. Nick Ross was our best player by some distance: the only one prepared to take the ball and run with it, and he tracked back really well too. A lack of service was the big problem for Rooney today, not a lack of commitment. Given how dispiriting playing that lone striker role must have been for the past few weeks, I was impressed with his work rate. Sanchez didn't make much of a difference when he came on, tbh, but I'd still like to see him start against Rangers because he is capable of finding that defence-splitting pass. Yesterday's was a decent result, but the team badly needs a spark.

Cheers for the heads up on this. Laura in the ticket office is usually pretty good good at getting the tickets out pronto. Guess this will be all-ticket rather than pay at the portakabin or whatever? Not a great date in terms of us bringing many supporters, nor if Hayes is still injured.

All bets are off then. Any player in his right mind would walk over hot coals to play for Steven Pressley...

Seems like years since he was with us, but I'm pretty sure he didn't sign until the summer just before our first SPL season - seem to remember him coming in at the same time as Ian Black. I thought he was decent too, if a little lightweight. I remember him coming off the bench to score an equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Killie at Rugby Park, and I've got a feeling he might have done the same thing against the same team in Inverness. Parratt's a player that intrigues me: I don't recall ever seeing him play for us, yet he went to Hamilton and was a regular in the team that got promoted, then I believe got injured right at the start of their first SPL season and never made it back into their team. Don't know what happened to him, but he can't have been too bad a player. Fetai came to us on loan from Rangers in January 05. Made 9 starts and never scored. My post was about Liam Fox rather than Fetai, Alex.

Seems like years since he was with us, but I'm pretty sure he didn't sign until the summer just before our first SPL season - seem to remember him coming in at the same time as Ian Black. I thought he was decent too, if a little lightweight. I remember him coming off the bench to score an equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Killie at Rugby Park, and I've got a feeling he might have done the same thing against the same team in Inverness. Parratt's a player that intrigues me: I don't recall ever seeing him play for us, yet he went to Hamilton and was a regular in the team that got promoted, then I believe got injured right at the start of their first SPL season and never made it back into their team. Don't know what happened to him, but he can't have been too bad a player.

I'll be there. You going direct from Edinburgh, or via Glasgow, Top Six?

2-0 Rooney - Sanchez involved again.

Can we now, please, see Sanchez getting more game time? I know it's only Elgin, but that is the second time this season he has come on and made the decisive difference.

Tremendous work, you great overgrown ned. I'll have the scarf round the wrist in tribute tomorrow - and Shang-a-lang on the stereo... One issue. The Jaggies did not 'sneak it' in 86-87 - we feckin romped it.

The home support gets a lot of stick for being quiet, but I don't think anyone could accuse it of disloyalty - in terms of numbers it held up far better last season than the supports of some relegated clubs have done (Livingston being a case in point). It's basically a case of location for most - I make a point of going to every away game now that I no longer work on Saturdays, unless it's Aberdeen midweek, but only make 4-5 home games per season. Many of the guys I travel with are in the same sort of situation. The guys I probably admire the most are those I see at nearly every away game, who I know travel from Inverness and also attend the home games - a lot of them are from the younger end of our support too, which is really encouraging for the future - and there are also the likes of Top Six Next Year, who make all the away games and also keep a season tcket and travel north frequently. For a lot of people, though, it just isn't possible, financially or timewise or workwise, to make every game home and away: degrees of loyalty don't come into it.

Yeah, I noticed this too, quoted in the Herald. This isn't what he seemed to be saying a few days ago when he talked about 'exciting' loan prospects, and it's a little concerning. I agree completely about Blumenshtein - he was about as ineffective as any ICT player I've ever seen yesterday, and I'd get rid asap. I suspect TB will want shot of Sanchez first though, given how few opportunities he's allowed him. I sincerely hope he isn't entertaining the thought of trying to sell Duncan, who always seems to be the first player dropped whenever TB decides to shake things up. Might also mean that the club will accept offers for Hayes or Rooney, although Rooney probably hasn't done his reputation any favours in the past few weeks.

Very late subs again. If Odhiambo was as poor as Brian Irvine says he's been, why not pull him a little earlier? Blumenshtein getting the last 7 or 8 minutes for Foran. Still no Sanchez though.

Lots of unhappiness on the boards after yesterday's result, and the main complaint appears to be that we had very little creativity going forward. I was struck by this comment from ajsict92, a poster who always speaks a lot of sense IMO: I wonder what people's opinions are on whether Sanchez could perform this role? He took a lot of criticism last season for missing easy chances, but I was always struck by his ability to put his foot on the ball and make passes that our other players couldn't seem to see. Eric at times has looked dangerous breaking from midfield, but seems to be more effective when running on to loose balls, whereas Sanchez, to me at least, looks more composed doing something with the ball from a more or less stationary position. He made a big difference to the game when he came on at Easter Road this season yet since then has barely featured, even from the bench. Should he get his chance from the start against Killie?

Gah. Really disappointing. Guess it's days like this that remind us why Butcher is so keen to strengthen in January. Worried about Wednesday now though. Killie seem to be a much stronger team than St Mirren at the moment.

Baws. 1-1. Sounds fully deserved - St Mirren have had far more of the last 20 minutes with Dargo the main creative force. Terry will need to apply a bit of the boot at half time - sounds like we've created almost nothing since the goal.

Yay. Just woke up from my fat f*****'s Boxing Day nap to this scoreline. Keep it up ICT. Nice-sounding run from Sutherland there. Was hoping Sanchez might get his chance today, but in Butcher we trust.

Ah, ok. Got to say I wasn't aware of that. Too busy getting pished in the corner, obviously... Incidentally, are you going to change your username now you've moved to my neck of the woods?