alternative maryhill

If mine is one of the posts you're referring to here then, with hindsight and the benefit of a night's sleep, you're correct that it was too much of a knee-jerk reaction, born I suppose of disappointment at the result and performance. You're wide of the mark in your comments about 'bitching' and 'waiting for an opportunity to stick the knife in (again)' in my case at least, but I do agree with you and Alex that it would be pointless to keep referring to the loss of Duncan and Munro, as we need to move on. However, in trying to put together some sort of match report for this first game, I do think it's going to be necessary to weigh up what we have lost - with reference to all the departed players - against what we appear to have gained on first impressions of the new players. Briefly, as I will need to develop this in more detail later anyway, what concerned me most yesterday was that we appear to have lost a few players who are capable of reading the game and anticipating opponents' moves. Duncan, Munro and Rooney were all particularly strong in this area and thus tended to be in the right place at the right time more often than not. This is why I'd always preferred Duncan to Cox as deep-lying cover for the back four, although I suspect that once he has recovered, this is where Cox will be played. I thought Aldred, despite his undoubted strengths, looked a little prone to be pulled out of position - he reminded me a little of Bulvitis in this respect. Tade, too, didn't always seem sure of where he should be - there was no doubt about his hard work and the amount of running he did, but it did look a little aimless at times. Hopefully, however, this was down to over-enthusiasm and as the team gels and the new players settle into the SPL, their abilities to read the game will emerge and they will hold position better - it was, as several people have correctly pointed out, just the first game of a long season. Tansey, incidentally, looks an excellent signing - with his vision and range of passing he might be a replacement for Ian Black, a player we have missed badly IMHO.

Nah, I'm not convinced. Both players managed to make major contributions to the side under Paterson, Robertson, Brewster, Christie and Butcher, and it seems reckless, to say the least, to dispense with them so quickly. While I do think that Butcher is a good man manager and should be entitled to expect the loyalty of his players, could the alleged discipline issues not have been dealt with a little more diplomatically? Even the offer of one year contracts for these two players, explaining that in the long term TB envisaged building a team around younger players, would have allowed a smoother transistion. Today really was dreadful: unless we improve quickly then we could be cut adrift by the end of the first quarter. I'm not prone to melodramatic pessimism - honest - and I will be very happy if I'm proved wrong, but I think it will be a very difficult league this year.

I am deeply saddened. That is all. Not quite all. I will buy a lifetime's supply of Waitrose Coconut and Lime ice cream* for anyone who can convince me why it was a good idea to remove two of the most reliable, consistent, experienced and loyal players from a team that finished halfway up the SPL in its first season after promotion. *It is really good ice cream. Trust me.

Go on then - seeing as I'm still on holiday. I'm thinking I might not make quite as many games this season though, so it would be great if a few more people got involved in writing reports and previews.

Not terribly much better, no. Although it would explain a lot. The little garnish of shoe grit did make it taste marginally better. Dropping it, incidentally, was purely a result of trying to liberate it from its tinfoil thingy. It was in no way connected to the party keg that Red Card took for the train.

Incidentally, the steak pie I bought today was the single worst piece of catering I have ever experienced at a football ground. The top was burnt and ringed with dried gravy that looked like fossilised keech encrusting a pub toilet. The base was undercooked, housed in grey, soggy pastry with the appearance and consistency of dead flesh. I spent about half an hour trying to unpeel it from the little tin receptacle which it was welded to. If Lavvy somehow manage to win the league they should be disbarred from promotion on the basis of the health risk that their pies pose to visiting supporters.

This, this and this. Stevenson was pretty much anonymous. I'm not really sure where he was meant to be playing or what he was meant to be doing. Shinnie did try to take players on but looked very lightweight and certainly nothing like a striker. With a bit more confidence he might be able to play the 'hole' position linking midfield to attack, but he didn't look capable of causing too many problems today. Tommy the tank Aldred is a big, scowling, misanthropic, ill-natured creature who spent the afternoon shouting at his team mates and kicking opponents: already a cult hero in the making. I was also quite impressed with Tansey, who was always looking to get on the ball and saw and made a few very good passes. To look at, though, this was a very atypical ICT team: take out Hayes and pretty much all of them were well over six feet. Ideally, I'd like my team to be mostly made up of nippy wee shortarses rather than big cloggers. It was a pretty horrible game to watch, but I'm assuming this won't be Butcher's preferred starting line up once he has a full-strength squad to choose from, and we still managed to be marginally the better team over the piece despite an excellent goal from Livi. Not going to make the west country games but hopefully they will give Butcher a chance to fine-tune the line-up he sees as our starting eleven against Motherwell.

Not as good, IMO. The first three or four times I saw him last season I was underwhelmed and thought he flattered to deceive: he seemed to spend an awful lot of the time loitering by the touchline and not getting invoved, whereas Jonny is constantly looking for the ball. To be fair to Doran, I think he really grew in confidence toward the end of the season and showed what he is capable of more consistently, and I would be happpy to see him back this season, but I agree with you that he doesn't look near first team EPL level, at least yet. Maybe with a season or two of SPL football under his belt he would develop into a more complete player than Hayes - we'd have to wait and see.

Don't know if it would make it worth resigning him, but Robert Eagle bore an uncanny similarity to Windy... Around the same vintage as Noddy, but different shows. Noddy came from Toyland, in an unspecified county of England, and was the invention of Enid Blyton, presumably under the influence of some sort of mushroom... Trumpton was one of three shows set in different communities in the county of Trumptonshire - the others were Camberwick Green and Chigley. Trumpton was a handsome, substantial market town and civic centre - similar to Inverness, perhaps. Camberwick Green was set in an insular landward village and involved all manner of questionable goings-on inside a giant musical box - clearly the Dingwall of the trio. Chigley was coarser and more industrialised, containing a factory and a railway line - think Invergordon or Alness...

I like this idea. Doran, Foran, Shinnie, Shinnie, Tade, Nade and Cox: the ICT equivalent of the firemen from Trumpton*. *Those under about 35 will probably have to look this up, depressingly enough.

I'll be joining the Central Station crew. Looking forward to it.

Curse you, you fiend.

Just paid Scotty, but didn't manage to leave my username anywhere during the process due to my incompetence at anything done online...

Possibly. Myself & T6NY are discussing coming down for the Bristol game. Creature comforts for me though - I'll get a hotel. Bristol's a good night out - the wife and I stopped off there on the way back from our honeymoon.

9/10 too - got Q8 wrong.

Hooray. I'd forgotten about that bet until just now. I guess you guys are coming through direct from Edinburgh rather than going via Glasgow, yeah? Hope you can hang around for a couple of pints after the game.

I'll be there. Might be slightly later to the pub than usual though - going to try to squeeze in a round of golf first thing in the morning.

Or even better, let me be manager for the last two games! After all, there's nothing to lose! Ah, but would you be able to get Lionel back over here at such short notice?

Hell yeah

Spot on with all of this. I guess the greater chagrin around Duncan's and Munro's departures simply reflects the fact that the majority of posters feel they still have a lot to offer the club on the field, while it was generally accepted that, legends though both are, Golly and Mcbain had come to the end of their top flight careers. I certainly believe that both Duncan and Munro should have been retained and should have been starters in all our games this season. Surely there must be a personality issue between Butcher and these players, and while it's understandable that he wants a unified squad, is it really sensible management to cut loose two players, who have been demonstrably as committed to the ICT cause this season as they have for the past decade, on personality grounds? Maybe I'm being far too sentimental, but despite the success Terry Butcher has brought to the club, I've lost a little confidence in him with this decision, and I'm willing to bet (Top Six Next Year, are you ready to take me up on this?) that we will finish in a lower position next season than this, partly because these club lynchpins will not be adequately replaced.

Was thinking that hearing him interviewed the other day. Alex Neil is a very good player and would be an excellent signing, as long as his recent injury problems don't become a recurring issue. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a few offers from clubs in more convenient locations for him, however.

Agree completely with most of the sentiments on here: I'm really sad about this decision. Russell Duncan has certainly been our most committed, and imo also our most effective, central midfielder since Ian Black's departure and I've always been mystified at Terry Butcher's reluctance to play him. He's made an exceptional contribution to the club over the last decade and the continuity offered by having players like him, Tokely and Munro at the heart of the club has been one of the reasons I've been proud to be an ICT supporter. I'm not going to condemn Terry Butcher outright for this though, because if he can find a stable midfield partnership and the team continues to do well next season then he can claim he's made the right decision. I do hope, however, that he gives Russell the chance to say goodbye to the supporters by giving him an appearance in at least one home and one away game (hopefully the Hamilton one) before the end of the season: to deprive him of even that would be very harsh.

Good second half performance, and Doran's best game for us so far. Hope this gives him confidence for the rest of the season, as he could be the creative difference we need to consolidate seventh place. Was also impressed with Gillet again and thought Sutherland showed real strength and commitment in midfield.

Another lovely goal.

What a goal. Was about to post saying that I'd been a little more impressed with Doran's workrate tonight after thinking he'd looking scared of the ball in previous games. Not tonight though!