alternative maryhill

Tremendous. Will be going to that one, work permitting.

Seems yonks since I've been to Cappielow. Have a horrible feeling the last time might have been that 5-1 defeat. Seem to remember it was on a Friday night, although I've no idea why.

Don - cheers for such a full answer, I'm completely out of touch with this sort of thing having been among the weegies for so long. Sounds like in the long term, if we stay put, we may not feel so isolated as we are currently.

Caley - I'd agree the Bught is ideal for fans coming on foot - it's almost certainly closer to the town centre than TCS, as opposed to the Torvean Quarry option, which would be exchanging like for like. But to limit on-site parking would be to assume that the increase in number of fans prepared to walk would be greater than the fall-off of fans unprepared to travel because they can't get parked. I'm not sure that's what would happen. In order to keep away support and out-of-town support up, I think we'd have to provide greater access and parking around the Bught, and I don't think that would be good for the town as a whole.

Stick with what we've got, I'd say.

Wasn't missed today and Black seemed to be the one getting plaudits from the commentators for controlling the midfield.

He certainly wasn't. I've always felt that Duncan was the only player we had capable of doing a "sitting" role, and believed that Blackie couldn't do it, because he'd be neutering the best part of his game and giving away free kicks by challenging late with his wee legs. However, Black was superb today playing deep, and Roy McBain covered well for him when he was going forward. Craig Brewster, unexpected tactical genius, has made a liar of me.

Although the Bught is the ideal location in terms of getting local (non-driving) fans along to games it would still create the need for some major upgrading to the transport routes around the area or you'd have total gridlock on matchdays - having to wait 20 minutes to half an hour to get out of the car park as is the case at present will seem like a luxury.

I still have strong suspicions that any move will be to the other side of the Canal from the Bught in or near the old Quarry and that it will be in conjunction with the new distributor road that goes in over there. As I've pointed out in the past, Sutherland already owns large swathes of land over there and it would make perfect business sense for him to sell/donate/lease a large portion of that for a new stadium in return for total control of the land we sit on at present....or even selling land to whichever developer wants the current TCS site will turn him a nice profit if he was to be involved no further than that.

Community Stadiums are fine in principle, but very hard to get right IMO. As has been said above, the thought of fans being 20 or 30 meters back from the pitch is not going to help an already failing atmosphere, and to get around that you would need to install some kind of lower tier seating arrangement which could be moved out over the track to bring fans in closer to the game....doable, but very expensive. You then have the logistics involved with sharing with other sports....things like not having the same flexibility when it comes to scheduling matches and re-arranging fixtures, replays etc. If your sharing with other pitch/field sports then you have the condition of the pitch to worry about.

Whilst I think we should be looking to a Stadium setup which can be used for other sports, I don't think it is possible to have one where it's the "home" of several sports. Holding the odd big rugby match, shinty match, hockey match or whatever during the summer might be possible, but having the pitch ravaged constantly throughout the year in such a way is just not conducive with using it for football....not if you want a playable surface.

If we want to increase income from a Stadium then we have to be looking to "off the pitch" facilities for additional income streams. With that in mind my "dream" would be to see us stay where we are but to scrap the current setup and start fresh. Build a scaled down version of something like the Reebok Stadium which incorporates a hotel, offices and conference facilities. It would take one hell of an investment in the site to do that, but where there's a will, there's a way and if you could get a partnership with one of the big hotel chains then you'd have it cracked. I'm sure there's any number of them would kill for the opportunity to get a business in on the site, even if it did mean sharing it with a football stadium.

The Marina Development already has plans to include a hotel down there somewhere, why not get in on that? They also want to build some kind of shopping centre...."Club Shop Anyone?".

The Club* have 2 choices....they can take the easy option and have whoever wants the site build them something elsewhere and perhaps give us a few quid in the bank to see us through a few seasons....or, they can use the fact we're sitting on what will, if it's not already, one of the most sought after bits of land in the City to get a setup, which will not only provide a Stadium the likes of which we could never have hoped for, but will create an infrastructure which provide services and incomes streams to keep the club running very comfortable for the foreseeable future.

* I say club, but as the Stadium and Lease is owned by the Charitable Trust it would ultimately be down to them...all depends on what kind of tenancy agreement the club have with them for the site.

Don (if I may, not knowing you) - I'll address this to you, as you've obviously considered this in depth, but would be interested to hear opinions of any home-based supporters - is there any indication that the land between the stadium and the city centre is likely to be developed for retail and housing in the near future?

I ask because I feel a move to the old quarry site, which is probably farther from the Longman from the city centre on foot and farther from the A9 & A96 by road, would probably see our crowds drop even lower than they are already. As you've pointed out, the road system around the Bught would have to be redeveloped to allow for football traffic, and I think that would spoil an attractive and peaceful part of the town. So I reckon the best option is probably to stick with what we've got, but it would be good to know whether, in 10 or 20 years time, that long stretch from around Shore St to the ground might have shops and flats and pubs to stop off in on it instead of the wasteland that's there at the moment.

On the basis of today's performance, yes. Unless it was some sort of fluke, Duff is clearly already a more rounded and imposing centre half than either Proctor or McGuire. As for Vigurs, he looks like a real prospect - more subtle than Imrie but still able to take on and beat players, good passing and decent pace. He played effectively and with real confidence today, and it's clear that he has developed a great deal since the last time I saw him start (at Killie last March). Given how young both still are, there is really exciting potential there.

I love duff!

clydesdale bank young player of the month?

After today's performance, Mentalist, you may be right.

No point in posting a full match report because Chris has already done that and got it pretty much spot on.

The most important and encouraging thing that has to be said is that Brewster got it spot on with tactics and (if this is down to him) motivation from the start. The ball was played on the deck from start to finish, and it was patient, controlled football with the midfielders apparently really in tune with each other. Just as we had at Aberdeen, we looked the hungrier team and closed the ball down well when we didn't have it.

As for individuals... Black was outstanding, seeing passes and making space for himself excellently, Vigurs was always prepared to try to take on and beat players and usually succeeded - didn't look like a player who has only had a handful of starts for us - and I also thought Garry Wood was very effective: decent with the ball at his feet, made a few good lay-offs and passes around the box and got into some good positions, although both he and Rooney were doing an awful lot of the foraging back that Niculae used to do, meaning we didn't always have an outlet up front. Interesting how people see the game, though - Mantis was directly behind me and has said he thought Wood had a mare, so maybe I didn't pick up on some weaknesses or mistakes.

Cowie and Mcbain were both very quiet in the first half, but I don't think there were any failures in the team today. For me, though, the absolute stand-out was Jamie Duff. Every aspect of his game looked solid: he won almost every header he challenged for, intimidated and stuck to his opponents without giving away daft fouls, made several great interventions with his feet and also used the ball well out of defence. Although McGuire didn't do anything wrong today, it was Duff who looked the calmer, more accomplished and more experienced defender, and at the risk of being hyperbolic, I thought it was one of the best performances I've seen by any ICT centre half.

Concerns? Perhaps only that Falkirk looked very lightweight and that made it hard to judge how effective this sort of performance would be against a stronger, uglier team; also that Rooney and Wood, while both hardworking and good users of the ball, don't yet look like instinctive goalscorers. However, I'd be delighted if Brewster stuck by this team for the next match, and even more delighted if he stuck by this style of football, regardless of the line-up, for the rest of the season. Haven't come away from a match feeling this positive for a long time.

I was speaking to someone at the weekend on this subject who said there was a relatively short-lived record shop in Inglis Street in the 1980s. She couldn't remember the name but it was above street level and had a window at the back of the shop. Could have been roughly where the coffee shop is now.

Any thoughts ?

Yes I remember it too, but cannot remember it's name where The Lemon Tree is. There was also another short lived one in the market behind the model shop in the left had corner.

Graham

These were one and the same, I think - called "The Album Shop" when it was in Inglis St & simply "Albums" when it moved into the market. Run by a guy called Paul, I think.

Re the AGS photo, the guy 3rd from left was called Colin, I think - nice guy, have seen him around DJing in Glasgow over the past few years. He was a year above me in Millburn, which means R&BC and I must be near-contemporaries.

A couple of people made the point on the Arbroath match thread that we missed Duncan's presence in the middle of the park last night. Although I get frustrated by his distribution, he would still make my first choice ICT line-up, but I know not everyone has felt this way in the past. I was Aberdeen and thought he had an excellent game, but I didn't see either of the two subsequent league games. So my question is: has the apparent deterioration in performance much to do with Russell's absence, or is it mostly CB's tactics? And has anyone re-evaluated their opinion of Russell having seen the team without him recently? Your thoughts.

BTW - when is he due to return?

Through 4-2 on pens. At least that spares a few blushes at work. Not terribly encouraging for the future though.

Jambos out to Airdrie Utd, also pens...

1-2 Wood. Good to see another young player on the scoresheet. Can we hold on?....

2-2. Djebi-Zadi giving away the penalty.

1-2 Wood. Good to see another young player on the scoresheet. Can we hold on?....

FFS. 1-1. Wonder how much defensive clowning was to blame?

0-1 Vigurs. Good show.

From memory - heard the team lines on BBC about 5 mins ago -

esson

Tokely McGuire Duff Djebi-Zadi

Cowie Vigurs Black (?) Wilson

Wood McAllister

Lots of changes - great if it works and glad to see Vigurs and Wood get the chance.

Hopefully because Hibs have suffered the requisite giant-killing ignominy of this round, we will be spared

For those in the uk it can be viewed here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7582359.stm

BBC 2 Scotland are actually showing it live, Scotty.

QoS have been fantastic in the 2nd half but just lost a really unlucky goal on the counter-attack. Hope they can score and take it to ET.

Also brings home the importance of a good cup run - on this evidence, and with a bit of luck in the qualifying draw, it wouldn't be beyond a club like ICT to make the group stages.

I see a player by the name of Smart scored for Eastbourne Borough in the Conference on Monday. Would that be Alan Smart by any chance ?

Think it was a guy called Matt Smart. Isn't Allan Smart at MK Dons now?

He also fits the profile of player we desperately need at the back - commanding, powerful in the air and a better judge of balls in the air than McGuire. Wilkie probably performs this role for Utd and Levein would want Kenneth to play the Munro / Kerr role. He never had much pace to begin with, which would be the most likely thing to deteriorate with age, whereas there's no reason his tactical awareness and judgement should have deteriorated.

If true, this a good move IMO.

The only time I've seen him was that horrible 4-1 defeat away to Killie last season, so it was hard to judge. He had some nice touches in the first half and the impression he gave was of an elegant midfielder who shields the ball well and sees and makes good passes. However, the whole team capitulated so badly that he looked lost in the second half.

I may be wrong, but he didn't look like a wide player, or a particularly hard tackler, which suggests that his main competition in the first team is Blackie. If that's the case, he may struggle to break into the first team in the near future, although Blackie didn't sound that great on Saturday.

Wagaluka is SO skinny and small!!! Looked decent enough though, but didn't really get a chance to do much. I imagine that'll be the last we see of him - hopefully not though!

Everyone played well tonight - Bobby Mann was disgustingly good! No joke, I'd rather have him at the back than McGuire. Nice to see that pretty much everyone got on and that we tried 3 different pairs of strikers up front, the best obviously being Bingo and Paul Ritchie. :thumb04:

Transfer window's still open...

Good God. Probably does mean they sent their entire third team though, which, if true, is a wee bit of a shame for the fans and Barry.

Still, sounds like a good run out for the likes of Wood & McAllister, as whatever the team, these must still be players that Liverpool hope can make the grade.

Probably reading something into nothing here, but I wondered whether there is any connection between the final sentence about Czaba being keen to bring in more Ugandan talent and the suggestion we are going to take Wagaluka on a three-month deal. Three months seems a pretty short period to take such a far-travelled player for, but would take us quite close to the opening of the next tranfer window. Any possibility that Hearts want to see how he settles into Scottish football before snapping him up for themselves on a longer deal?

Also, apparently the world is ruled by giant lizards...

FT 0-1

Brewster's tactics seemed good to me - start with last week's line-up then make changes early if it isn't working - but it sounded like we didn't really start playing until we went a goal behind and Hamilton packed the area, defended well and we didn't have the quality to break them down. Will be interested to read the reactions of those who got to the match.

Always really disappointing when your early season optimism takes its first knock, though.

Rory for Duff :o

Can't criticise Brew for being too cautious

Wilson for Cowie. Suppose that makes sense given that Rooney is now playing Cowie's starting role, but I always like to see Don on the field. Haven't really heard Mcbain mentioned at all this half.

Att. 3595. Thought we might get more than that for a first game of the season (says he, sitting at home). Wonder how many Hamilton took up?

Sounding more encouraging this half, Rooney's contribution in particular.