alternative maryhill

Same old - game killed by a goal right at the start of the second half. Is Brewster aware of how often this happens and is he trying to address it? Frustrating Rangers in the first half worked OK - doesn't he realise he should be trying to start the second half the same way, keeping the ball rather than allowing it to get into vulnerable positions where players end up diving into challenges? It was also screamingly obvious how much the heads went down after the second goal - understandable, perhaps, but Dundee Utd, for example, wouldn't react like that, and Rangers, frankly, were nothing special today.

A slightly improved first half performance, but overall, there was nothing today to suggest that we can get out of this position.

0-3. Negative goal difference now heading towards Hamilton's. Only positive is that this shouldn't give Brewster any opportunity to defend his position.

Have a look at the Duncan and Royster opportunity - substitute Black and Wilson and GOAL - so what do we do - take off our only other skillful midfielder - Rooney YES - Vigurs no.

I see what you're saying, but I don't think Black got int the game at all today, and Vigurs had fallen out of it badly. As I said above, this should, in theory, give Cowie a chance to show what he can do in his preferred position and Imrie's capable of beating players when he's in the mood, even though he has less ability than Black or Vigurs IMO.

Vigurs for Rooney. Glad to see Rooney on. Vigurs was quiet second half, but showed some skill during the game. Guess we'll get a chance to see some attempt at two up front now - and Cowie has been a bit better this half when he's dropped deeper.

Imrie for Black. Normally I'd be unhappy about Black going off this early, but I'd say it's the right decision today - Black's had the quietest game he's had in ages, and we've got to get used to playing without him. Would like to see Rooney for Barrowman before too much longer as well.

How many times have we conceded goals in the first few minutes of the second half this season?

Well pleasantly surprised - we have killed the game with 10 men behind the ball and Rangers are poor but ya can feel a bit of passion but oh fer some quality.

Esson has been confident, Rosscoe has had his usual jekyll and hyde stuff, Hastings has stuck to it; Proctor has marked Boyd very well; Granty still looks indecisive; Royster is MOM by a feckin mile; Duncan has been poor: Black average: Vigurs invisible for the most but could have got a brace.

But where is Cowie playing and why is Barrowman playing ?

We are just sneaking it on points - we have had the better chances - neither team has shown any touch of quality - but I fear that the arrival of Burke and Velieca is not far off.Next 5-10 minutes will be vital - Smith will have given them an absolute bollicking.

I hope you're wrong about that. I think Burke could make a big difference for them - tricky on the ball, provides natural width and we've struggled against him in the past. Smith doesn't seem to rate him, though - never understood why.

Get Imrie on for Duncan, who's having a stinker, and they could still do it...

Rangers are effing crap...

C'mon Caley.... Make Johnboy rich....

I don't agree actually, Johnboy - in terms of stopping Rangers playing, he's been our most effective player. His passing has been dreadful, though - if he could find Black, Vigurs or Mcbain more with short passes and let them build the forward momentum, I'd keep him on. Cowie has been in and ot of the game, as he has been all season, but that's probably just because he's been asked to push forward.

HT 0-0. It's been better than the last three matches, but I also think Rangers are playing in a way that suits us better - they've hardly put any high balls across the box, which is what we've struggled to deal with most recently. Couple of dodgy passes out of defence by Munro and Hastngs though. Classic Russell Duncan performance - breaks up the play superbly in midfield, but his forward passing has been criminal. Vigurs is doing well - hopefully this will convince Brewster to persevere with him now.

Rangers have been pretty poor. TBH this looks like a 0-0 game, except you always get the feeling that either of the old firm will eventually score, especially given the fact we haven't kept a clean sheet since the first game of the season.

Royster on the rite is unbelievable - where exactly is Cowie playing - and why are we playing a high offside trap ?

Even a stopped clock and all that... Royster on the right has just produced the best attacking move we've made for weeks!

I think the TV said:

Cowie playing off Barrowman.

So the inevitable questions: if we must change strikers, why Barrowman rather than Rooney? Why Proctor in the middle again after last week rather than Duff? Imrie dropped rather than McBain? Have we finally found the winning formula?...

Scotty, Don - thanks for such considered replies. Certainly you've both had far more opportunities than me to see how different managers have coped with the more "goldfish bowl" aspects of being Inverness manager, as I've been down in Glasgow for the lifetime of the club. Guess we'll wait and see what happens!

To answer the question .......

1. He is available. [which is what we need - we dont want to be paying compo that we can ill afford]
   
2. He is now local. [which removes the central belt argument]
   
3. He is personable. [as we have seen on open all mics and elsewhere, a personality fans and players alike seem to like]
   
4. He is passionate about ICT. [as can be heard every week on open all mics - As ICT have frequently "punched above their weight" passion is a vital element of motivating the players.]
   
5. He has a far superior managerial record than Brewster at ICT [In 82 games overall he won just under 54% of them. Brewster on the other hand has won 34% overall from 112 games with this season seeing his record drop to 25%]
   
6. He is second only to Steve Paterson in having the best season ever at ICT [This happened in 03/04 when he won 62% of games and took us to the first division title. Paterson eclipses him with the 02/03 season when he won 2/3 of all games played, but it was only half a season as he went off to Aberdeen midway through it - Robbo came in and won more than half of the remaining games. Brewster on the other hand has presided over parts of 4 seasons, all of which have been near the bottom of our performance table, including this season which is the worst ever record a manager has had at ICT].
   

Scotty - or anyone else with an opinion - while I agree with a lot of what you've said about Robbo, do you not worry that his obvous passion for the club has led him to a position where he may have aligned himself too closely with the fans to make a return as manager possible?

I refer mostly to his decision to post on here. His politeness and patience in answering questions and his high regard for the club and its fans impressed many, myself included. However, were he to take over as manager again, would he be able to distance himself from opinions on the website? Would he feel tempted to respond to criticism in person? Would he feel more of sense of betrayal than another manager might if he was aware of criticism from the website?

On the other hand, would some people who might be inclined to used the site to vent their spleens or offer opinions critical of the manager, feel unable to do so because they were worried about Robbo reading the comments and taking them personally? I think this is a very important function of any fans' site and would not like to see that aspect of this site diluted.

I'd take Robbo's passion over Brewster's apparent aloofness any day, but I also feel a manager should retain a certain distance from the fans (and for me, that would include not entering into online debate with supporters). I hope, should Robbo take over, that he is able to do this, otherwise I worry that he, like Charlie Christie, will find the weight of expectations and advice affecting him so that he can no longer do the job effectively.

Thoughts?

This is bad, bad news. Hamilton will be full of confidence going in against us next week. There's a very real chance we could be six points behind them a week from now, and I've not seen anything from our players recently to suggest we can claw back that sort of deficit. At least Falkirk only drew - but I can't help thinking they have a better squad than us.

Falkirk and Hamilton both leading... if it stays this way we will be 3 behind at the bottom going into tomorrow's game.

Also screws up my already poor prediction league standing even further..

On the truly horrible "Inside the SPL", the oracle of Setanta, Mr Scott Booth, has just tipped us for a home win against Rangers...

I'd take a home win.

Yes me 2

I've got money on it....

Decent odds, I take it? 15-2 on the home win last I read.

On the truly horrible "Inside the SPL", the oracle of Setanta, Mr Scott Booth, has just tipped us for a home win against Rangers...

I think it's great news that the board are backing Brewster by making funds available in January. Too many clubs sack their manager when things start to go wrong and will not let the manager turn it around. Too many clubs don't realise that it may be due to other factors other than the manager/assistant manager that are causing poor results. The management have taken the team on good runs before (beating celtic last season) and soon, with a victory, the team will go on another good run. With a few good signings in January, as well as the managements willingness to give youngsters a chance, this should strengthen the squad short term and long term. With a good run of results, ICT will steer clear of the danger zone. There's 3 teams on 17 points, ICT are far from beaten. Right now ICT are performing at their worst at home. That may be because TCS is very intimidating..... for the home team. The vibe from the supporters is very negative. On Sunday however this can change if the supporters get right behind the team 100%. Positive vocal support for the team from start to finish will boost confidence and morrale. Anti-Brewster banners, fan walkouts, waving sheets of white paper/banners will negatively effect the team. So on Sunday, it's time to get behind ICT 100% and cheer the team on.

Have you watched the team on the park recently? The spirit that's taken us on great runs in the past is completely absent; experienced players are making simple mistakes, looking shorn of confidence and don't seem to want the ball; and several of the players that helped us on those good runs in the past are either already gone or on the way out. Fair play to you for belief and loyalty, but I think the circumstances surrounding the team are different than they were even 15 months ago.

Brian Kerr did well at Motherwell, so would be a good experienced addition. I know the Hibees hated him but I'd say it was really down to him being played out of position.

Kerr's not a bad shout - I don't know what went wrong at Hibs (maybe, as you say, being played out of position) but he's definitely got enough ability to do well in the SPL. Attitude problem, perhaps? A touch of the Michael Stewarts, having played in the EPL? Would he want to come here and could we afford him?

From a playing point of view this makes some sense - even if his legs aren't what they were, Pressley offers the understanding of how a defence should be organised and has always been an excellent man-marker. Anyone who saw the Motherwell and Aberdeen games knows how much we are crying out for this.

As a member of the coaching staff? Excellent, although Brewster may not like if if he has strong ideas of his own...

As manager in his own right? IMO he's not experienced enough and it wouldn't be fair on him or us to expect him to start his managerial career successfully at a club facing relegation. However, I would be very interested in seeing him mentored, with a view to potentially taking over long term, by a more experienced figure - ideally Craig Brown.

I knew the drummer from The Kicks(Kut) for a bit when i was a kid, worked as a taxi driver for a while and gave me some drum lessons when i started playing..

I also knew Moggy who played in the cooks of kindness, he passed away a few years ago now, worked in the Market Bar

RIP Moggs

Christ that was a shock, I knew Moggy for years, I had no idea he passed away it must of been when I was overseas. Any idea on what happened to him

I think it was an asthma attack, Stevie.

Pretty obvious really. injured most of the time and has looked pretty awful according to reports. His contract is up in the summer and it looks like free transfer time. He's started one game for Bristol and was poor. Don't know if he'll ever do a Lee Wilkie and get back to form.

Incidentally, Wilkie for Scotland! Best Scots defender besides Caldwell IMHO.

Shame, IMO. He was a bit of a mercenary, maybe, but also a great prospect had he stayed clear of injury. Mind you, if he was fit enough to do a decent job for a championship club then we'd never get near him.

How about getting Andy Webster (although he's probably injured?) on loan from Rangers. I saw he had returned to them from Bristol City the other day.

That's not unthinkable - Webster was in the ICT end for several away games last season. I think it was because of a friendship with one of our players (Graham Bayne, possibly) but clearly he has shown an interest in the club's fortunes in the past. Any idea how he got on at Bristol?

We'll have new grounds to visit next season

Cheaper prices

A more competitive league

Ermmm....any more??

A pre-match pint in the Norseman in Greenock

Dunfermline steak bridies

The return of the Highland derby

Two games a season within half an hour's walk from my house

A wee carry-out by the River Nith on a spring afternoon

A return to Broadwood, scene of one of our greatest-ever matches

Looking forward to it already!

We need to be heard against Rangers, big game, on Setanta, no better chance for us to start the Brewster GTF chants.

Loud and proud, we need to be for the sake of OUR club.

He must go ASAP.

I agree that this is the best opportunity to make the supporters' feelings clear. However, I noticed again yesterday, as against Aberdeen and St Mirren the previous weeks, that a lot of people seemed uncomfortable about joining in and a few turned round and told some of the younger supporters off about their language. This got me to thinking - I wonder how many people stay silent not because they disapprove of the sentiment, but because they are put off by the aggression implied in "get to f***"? Maybe against Rangers the North Stand could simply try a prolonged chant of "Brewster Out" and see whether it is taken up more widely?

Just a thought. I have no problem with swearing personally - have been gtfing along quite happily the past three weeks.