ALSY

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?

I'm a bit mystified too, Gordy. Why the animosity towards the Diggers? Thought it was great in there as usual pre-match, despite how busy it was, Great crack, great staff. Did something happen post-match, CC? Cheers. Been really impressed with the magnanimity of the Hearts fans on P&B too since the game. After our draws against the old firm, the message boards were rammed with supporters of those clubs waiting to tell us how pish we were and how lucky we'd been. They were talking rubbish, but Hearts supporters might have had more of a case to be aggrieved, as they have easily been the best team we've played over two fixtures, and had the better chances on Saturday. Instead, we get realism, rationality, graciousness and a recognistion that organisation and good defending are part of a successful team. Good on you.

Went for the United game in the end because of the overall quality of the performance and goals, and for the sheer unexpectedness of it, but it was quite a difficult decision. The best single moment of the season, I think, was Granty's equaliser againsr Celtic, although I also enjoyed our second at home against Aberdeen: the ball seemed to take forever to cross the line and it was pure euporia when it did.

I wondered about that a bit too, but maybe it says something about his standards: perhaps he realised we were not at our best today and thought that it would be presumptious to do the whole crowd thing, despite the achievement. Anyway, as far as the performance goes, I concur with everything that has gone before. Hayes was anonymous, Cox seemed to be on the wrong side of the ball too much, we couldn't retain the ball at all in the second half, but the defence was immense. Rosscoe continues to confound all the reservations people have had about him as a central defender, and Munro must be one of the most underrated players in the SPL. Superb from both, and Duff also had a pretty good game up against Templeton, especially considering he was booked so early. Truthfully, we were maybe a little lucky to get a point from that game considering the imbalance of possession, but there's no disgrace in that; Hearts are the best team we have faced this season and I could see them finishing above Celtic.

If you wake up early Andrew we are meeting in The Counting House for 09:30 for a fry up and a cheeky pint or three :-) I'll keep it in mind, but it would probably be a disastrous error of judgement. I need to stay awake at least until full time...

Don't know if it's just me, but the prediction league page isn't letting me predict this weekend's games. Is it still to be updated? Cheers, A

I'm aiming to get the 11.30 train from Queen St then heading up to Diggers with Caley Stan. Work night out on Friday, unfortunately, so might be a little fragile.

Could be they've been assured Willie Miller need not be staying on as DOF. Could be . Chick Young is now claiming on Sportsound that Brown will take the job - possibly to be confirmed later this evening. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Willie Miller who pushed for Brown's appointment. There's a strong relationship there as far as I know - bizarrely, Brown was suggesting Miller for the Scotland job a few years back. I think it was either after Vogts' or Smith's period in charge. He said something along the lines of Miller being an excellent coach and tactician who hadn't had a fair crack of the whip. No doubt, as you suggested earlier, the Butcher for Motherwell bandwagon will start rolling if Chick is correct. Please God, no.

Done and dusted and wonderful service as usual! Just pray the train gets through OK now...

Tried a couple of times, but it went straight to mailbox. Thanks anyway. I'll try to remember to phone tomorrow.

Right, I know I should probably be checking this via phonecall or pm to L-G or the club shop instead of cluttering up the forum with this, but time's short and I keep forgetting to check while I'm at work. So, does anyone know if I'll be able to buy a ticket at the ground just before the game on Saturday? I've booked a train to come up tomorrow night, but I'm still not 100% that it'll be running so I've held off buying a ticket in advance. Don't imagine it'll sell out, will it?

Happy birthday, ed.

Ah. Cheers, Don. B*gger. I thought they'd be fairly easy to get hold of. Wonder if she'd knit me one?...

Excellent story and pictures, mate. Have a greeny. Edited to add: not quite as exotic, but in the spirit of tm4tj's request, I just remembered I had this picture of Arbroathawayday taking the ICT message to Verona in 2005:

Looks good. Can anyone tell me if the 'Contemporary Bar' scarf is just the straightforward red and blue bar design? There's no image available for it on the site. The missus is hoping to get me one for Christmas as the scarf I currently have is too easily mistaken for a Rnagers scarf on the streets of weedge. Might ask for a club tie too - would be a nice wee feature at work.

At least the knots they used to tie it to the stand would have been secure...

According to one of the broadsheets at the weekend - either The Sunday Times or The Observer, can't remember which - the Spain/Portugal bid was the clear favourite, on the first round of voting at least. But then a lot of pundits on the BBC tonight were plumping for Russia. Neither seemed to think England stood much of a chance. I'd like to see a World Cup in the British Isles in my lifetime, but I'd also like to see Russia get it if only because they've never hosted it before.

I'd be suprised if Butcher ended up in this job, although Richard Gordon, as an Aberdeen supporter, is understandably pushing the idea pretty enthusiastically. Milne will have to fork out a lot to pay McGhee off and he'd surely have to offer TB a pretty good incentive both in terms of wages and transfer budget to persuade him to join. Also, would Terry really want to exchange the stability and potential in Inverness for a club that has been such a graveyard for managers over the past 20 years, and where morale is obviously awful and the squad so poor? It's a bigger club, sure, and as he showed by coming to us, Terry isn't afraid of a challenge, but he seems genuinely happy with us and if he is really ambitious for a move to a bigger club then surely continued success with ICT would put him in the shop window for a much more attractive move than this one.

A really good interview - strongly recommend that anyone who didn't hear it should try to find it on iPlayer. TB came across as so enthusiastic about the squad, the players and the lifestyle Inverness offers. He must speak better than just about any manager working in Scotland at the moment. Genuine admiration from all the pundits too - we're definitely starting to get some appreciation for what we've achieved so far this season, from the Beeb at least. The best bit, though, was the compilation of the Sportsound commentaries of all our winning goals, and the equalisers against the old firm: I was dancing about while washing the dishes.