ALSY

"Entertaining" does not even begin to describe! He's actually away on a five year expedition looking for the Chic Allan Cup but that project is still at the very preliminary stage of finding out who Chic Allan was. Somebody suggested he should ask a few former Caledonian fans. And what about Calgacus, Realjags, Sorearse, Alternative Maryhill? Oh and there also used to be this guy called Johndo MacKenzie. I'm still very much here Charles, and usually post every couple of days or so. Maybe the lower case initial letters of my user name horrify your teacher's sensibilties so much that you have developed selective blindness...

No mention of Billy Davies there? He'd be my choice, I think, though he's highly unlikely to take it. He had a good record at Preston on a relatively modest budget and seems to be starting to get it right at Forest. Intelligent guy too, and served a decent apprenticeship as a coach.

Just to clarify my earlier post, I didn't intend to sound like I was getting on Imrie's back - in the last game I saw him in (against Ayr) he played well and like you I thought he could be, and may still be, an important player for us in this division. I just didn't expect us to have such good competition for him in the shape of Hayes. I think they could play on opposing wings, but that might mean dropping either Foran or Sanchez, neither of whom I'd like to lose at the moment, and for me Hayes is the more direct player, especially on the counter-attack.

Don Cowie... oh no, wait, hang on...

Think Hayes has to start in a game where we'll probably be more on the back foot than we have been in most recent matches - his pace could be Dundee's undoing. Imrie sounds like he's been poor the last couple of weeks but he could be an effective sub - if dropped he'll be pissed off and want to prove Butcher wrong if he comes on. I think it would be folly to drop Sanchez, even if he does tend to be quiet during some games: he can still see a pass better than any of our other players. I'm excited to see what Eric can contribute at this level, but I'd still start with Rooney and make an early switch for Eric if that isn't working.

tiv, the 31st December publication date will be the 'official' release date the publisher has allocated to the book, but in practice there should be no problem picking it up today. I worked for Waterstone's for six years and found that the majority of books became available several weeks before the slkated publication date. The only titles that stuck to the official date were the massive sellers, such as Harry Potter, which were strictly embargoed so that all retailers began selling them at exactly the same time. As for having reserved a signed copy, Pele will probably have been asked to sign a certain amount of stock that can be set aside for people who can't make the signing. If you can and want to meet Pele and get the book signed personally, you should just go down at the time, pick a book off the pile and get it signed, then tell the guys in the shop to cancel your reservation. It won't be any problem for them as you'll still be buying a copy of the book from the shop.

Absolute puff. He was solid against Dundee at Dens park when we should've thumped them in their own back yard. So a one hit wonder. great! cant wait to see that again I'm assuming you haven't been to any away games this season, Caleykid? Sanchez was one of our standout players against Dundee, Partick in the Cup, Morton and exspecially against Ayr when he created three goals. I don't know why he hasn't replicated this form at home, but he's certainly not a "one-hit wonder" and if he could develop a little more resilience on the ball I still think he could develop into a very effective attcking midfielder.

This is going to be one of those arguments that just goes round in circles, but I agree with The Knowledge. Why should the club spend money it can't afford paying off Terry Butcher and assume that a new manager coming in mid-season is going to be able to make an improvement with a team made up of Butcher signings? There's no way we're going down this season and history tells us that the club that comes down from the SPL invariably struggles in the first season. We're going to have a mediocre season; it's disappointing but not a huge surprise. Unless the home support falls away drastically, it makes more sense economically for a new manager to come in at the start of the summer and begin rebuilding then.

Hayes is a far better player than Imrie IMHO and should have started! Yeah, Hayes has been excellent every time I've seen him this season. I can understand why TB was reluctant to change a winning side, but I think I said in another thread that against teams capable taking the game to us, Hayes should start as his pace is so effective in counter-attacking. Interesting that it was Sanchez who made way for him: he's also been pretty good every time I've seen him, but perhaps he wasn't doing it today.

Baws. This forum may not be a very pleasant place to be in the coming week... Sounds like Hayes made a bit of a difference when he came on, at least.

Thank feck for that. Robbo sounds happy. 2-3, anyone?

Cox on for Bulivitis... Butcher's obviously going for it now.

Who was taken off for Hayes? I missed what Robbo said. Was kind of hoping that Duncan would be taken off as he's a prime candidate for a second yellow, but Duncan for Hayes would be a bit of a strange one.

Right Midfield i think Ross is our best player to use. Centre mifield? No idea I would agree about Ross but somone more experienced i think would improve the width in midfield especially on the right. We need someone who can pick a pass in the middle. Proctor aint a centre mid and Duncan can't pick a pass to save his life, although his breaking up of opposition attacks is appreciated. Could mayb'e look at some loans from SPL clubs. Has Jonny Hayes been completely forgotten? He was outstanding on the right wing, albeit occasionally switching to the left, in just about every game I've seen prior to Ayr. I think he's extremely unfortunate to have been sacrificed for the new system, although TB has clearly found a combination that works. Wouldn't be surprised to see Hayes feature again in games where we may have to play more on the break (e.g. against Dundee or in cup games against SPL opposition). With Hayes and Ross and with Proctor and Imrie both able to fill in wide right if need be, I think we're probably better served in that position than anywhere else (except maybe up front).

Can we afford anyone and if so, do we really need to add to the squad? I'm not absolutely convinced by Bulivitis, but I do think we have reasonable depth in the squad. The inconsistency this season, IMO, has been more to do with a lack of confidence at home, new players taking a while to gel and most importantly finding the right system. It might be jumping the gun to say that it's all sorted now, but at least the past couple of results should have given the team the confidence to push on and they can start to look forward to games.

Good luck to Darren. Went to school with him. Haven't really seen him for 20 years mind, so I don't know what he'll be like at the job.

Would some kindly moderator please update the prediction league soon? I think I have a few points coming to me from weeks 10 & 11 and I want to see if it takes me to an all-time high before the inevitable mid-season slump. Ta muchly

Yesterday was what going to the football is all about. Good crack in the pub beforehand, an excellent vocal support throughout, a passionate and committed performance and an Ayr-supporting 70-something ex-pro who gave myself and Caley Stan a dram at half time. Butcher has to take a lot of credit for the team he put out. He did exactly what a few of us have been calling for by playing Proctor in the middle, Sanchez off the main striker and Imrie wide. Playing Foran deeper was a surprise - I felt he was wasted there last season - but it worked brilliantly: he worked as hard as ever, was able to have more influence on the game and, ironically, scored three. Imrie looked to getting back to his best, Sanchez had another fine game with a hand in the first three goals, and although Rooney looked a little slow, he took his goal really well. Hopefully that will be the monkey off his back in terms of not taking chances when through on goal. If someone had told me before the game that Hayes wouldn't be starting, my heart would have sunk, but now he may struggle to get into the team. A word about the Ayr support: we were in pretty close proximity to them and although quite a few left before the end, I didn't notice any of them booing or getting on the team's back. I was impressed by that: it must have been pretty gutting to watch your team fold within half an hour, but they seemed to realise that booing would have been counter-productive. And Ayr did contribute to the game: they looked fragile but were prepared to keep coming forward and made a few chances. I really hope they stay up.

Ross - I'm no expert on FirstScotrail policy but I do travel on trains a lot and I guess it might have a lot to do with the age of the rolling stock. I've seen power points beneath the tables in prole class in some of the more modern carriages. I wouldn't be surprised if you found you had access to a powerpoint between Aberdeen and Glasgow but not between Glasgow and Ayr, as the trains that run on the Ayr line are often quite old-looking. I've got my annual evaluation on Monday so I'm going to be in for ages tonight writing one of those jump-through-hoops lesson plans that we all pretend we do every period...

Sounds like we might have a decent-ish support there. Last time I was at Ayr there were about 30 of us.

Have you had a chance to see Hayes playing in the flesh yet Chris? I think he'd maybe be a little wasted as a striker, because one of his great strengths is picking the ball up deep - sometimes in his own half on the counter - and using his pace to beat the holding midfield and defence. If he was played too far forward we might lose some of the impact of that, and it's been our most effective weapon this season, away from home at least. I like the sound of Jay's team - we need to try to find some formation where Sanchez can pulll the strings in an advanced midfield position.

This one really surprised me too - Gibson is renowned for sticking by his managers. Wonder if there's something more to it?

There might be an argument for getting rid of them before the end of the season depending on just how committed they are to staying with the club in the long term. If we lose touch with the leaders and Butcher intends to leave at the end of his contract then why not start the rebuilding process as soon as possible? This is a hypothetical scenario of course. For now, i think we should be getting behind the manager and team as much as possible. It's a very tight league and a few wins would see us climb up it very quickly. I take your point. I worry though, that a manager coming in say three, four months from the end of a disappointing season might not be given a fair crack of the whip if the team didn't start to show some kind of improvement, even though he'd be playing with someone else's signings and having to get to know the team while preparing for competitive games in front of a disillusioned support. I think that would create unnecessary pressure and be unfair on the new manager. If TB wants to walk, fine; I still wouldn't waste the monmey paying off the rest of his contract.

DC; Renegade: Fair enough, you don't rate Butcher as a manager; I have doubts myself. But can either of you explain why it would benefit the club more to sack him now, accrue extra debts for the club paying off his and MM's contracts and leave a replacement (probably of equally or more dubious pedigree) to fashion a winning side out of TB's signings, rather than accepting we're going to have a poor season and allowing TB and MM to walk away at the end of the season at no extra cost to the club? And if you can't, don't you think it's potentially counter-productive to be so relentlessly critical of the management team? I'm not having a go: I've just not been convinced yet by any of the arguments in favour of changing the management team mid-season. P.S. Apologies for not being able to quote properly from multiple posts in one reply - maybe some kind person less technically inept than me will explain it some day... I think most of us have come to accept the fact we are stuck with TB and MM till the end of the season. I just don't see why that should completely absolve them of any criticism regards the players they have brought in, the players they have let go, the tactics and team selections they adopt. Their shortcomings are there for all to see..... The buck has to stop with them - there is nowhere left for them to hide. I agree, which is why I specifically used the phrase "relentlessly critical". We certainly should be clear about where and why we think things aren't working. I just feel that a lot of the criticism has nothing constructive about it and also goes beyond merely venting anger after a bad performance. I also agree that most of silent majority are prepared to see TB and MM continue to the end of their contracts, but there is a strong presence on the forum that seems to think we would be better rid of them straight away and as I suggested above, I've yet to hear an argument that convinces me that that would benefit the club.

I'd love to see that team on Saturday. And why not be bold, when we're playing a team that is struggling and when we're playing away, where we tend to perform better?