absent friend

After the hard feelings engendering, on here, by the '20' - I stated that the club support would never be the same again. Feeling of power and all that! Look out to our new management team:- THE '20's' COMIN' T' GET YA!

DO WE ACTUALLY HAVE THE BOTTLE? Well the reaction, on here, after Saturdays result, would indicate that the fans may not have!!

If he has helped to keep us in the SPL - that's goodski!!

Yes fair point maybe then on a sheet of A4 collected from the club shop At Pittodrie the Ultras put the sheets (I said sheets) on the seats for the sing alongs. At Hibs they go round the local pubs in Easter Road and hand out the song sheets.

In my ignorance I do not know the 4th official's job, apart from subs (could be done by linesman) stopping managers from kicking lumps out of each other, spoilsport (could be done by police) and I therefore think they could watch a telecast of the match, alerting the ref that the ball did go over the line/a dive/bad tackle etc. Unlike rugby where there are 20 bodies in a pile, where the ball is being kept up from being grounded and many camera angles are required to award the try, in football this rarely happens. The camera sees the ball over the line, the dive,the tackle and the ref/ linesman does not, so the 4th official gives a call to the ref and, hey presto, the goal etc, is correctly awarded. The game is already called back for infringements, by the refs, if advantage does not take place, so where is the problem? The sin bin and 10 yard rule, however, is a must. The 10 yard rule to cut out the backchat to the ref. Each outburst resulting in the free kick going another 10 yards nearer the goal area and maybe resulting in a penalty kick. I can see Smith tying a gag round Ferguson's mouth as he crosses the line onto the park, at the start of every match! The sin bin is a great idea and should have a varying time there, dictated by the ref. This action would not then deprive us, the spectators, of enjoyment of the match. A red card for a second yellow can often be harsh and sin bin could be an alternative. Sending off, if you think of it as a fitting punishment, is nonsense! Esson gets sent off in the first minute, we lose 89 minutes of the player, he gets sent off in the 89th minute and we lose nothing! In the latter situation, in the next game an equally good player is on in his place, so what is the penalty of the red card? Esson comes back 2 games later refreshed and raring to go! Big deal. The following match should be played with 10 men for 89 minutes, in my opinion. Whilst I am on my soapbox, I also think it is totally unfair that a bad tackle gets a yellow card and the innocent, injured player, is then off the park for treatment, with the team that has created the damage being rewarded by having an extra man on the park during this time. My solution, to be even handed - the player that caused the problem, the yellow carded player - should stand on the sidelines until the injured player returns. Now ref, argue against my thinking! .

Amazing supporters we have - BBC radio .......''the ball has now broken to Djebi-zadi and - would you believe it - a tense silence has broken out all over the stadium, all that can be heard is the intake of breath by IHE as he prays for a mistake to back up his Forum theory'' Aye, right, we have the message!! You are such a bitter person - I have already been proved rite unfortunately. You just look at the positive attributes that I describe about him. He is unorthodox and nearly everybody I spoke to at the weekend agree with my comments. I can assure you it is not I who is bitter! Just read your own offerings re this guy! You being 'rite' that this player would make a mistake I must concede BUT you could have carried out your vendetta against Grant Munro and been equally correct. Against Esson and been equally correct. For the record, their mistakes could have a bigger impact on our future than DZ's. Our whole team of players are problems waiting to happen, we are a small team, our players reflect this and therefore they make mistakes!! Even the great MU on Saturday made mistakes and they are not a wee team!! To finish on DZ, I obviously have more trust in the management team than you do - I feel that the guy is there on merit as the competitors for his position are all back to full fitness - the pundits, the professional ones, all seem to give the player pass and above marks each time he plays - for Heavens sake , give the guy a break!! .

Rig, just a thought, but is Mega Bus, Aberdeen /Stirling a cheaper possibility - with Stirling/Falkirk bus price unknown but it can't be that expensive.

Amazing supporters we have - BBC radio .......''the ball has now broken to Djebi-zadi and - would you believe it - a tense silence has broken out all over the stadium, all that can be heard is the intake of breath by IHE as he prays for a mistake to back up his Forum theory'' Aye, right, we have the message!!

Not one of your better attempts at stirring up trouble or discontent. The attendance, which was officially declared by ICT early in the second half, was 4005. Charles, I think he is referring to the cup game and not Saturday's.

I don't know how many season's tickets holders ICT have but do they all get counted, as present, in the crowd number, before any cash payers are counted?? If this is the case no wonder I never get my predicted crowd number correct for home games!

gosh here we go , Perm anyone from whatever we have left!!! You have no, repeat strikers, otherwise Saturday with the spirit showed , u would have won repeat NO strikers Come again? Well we have no strikers that are striking! I think we should have a friendly game against Elgin or Inverness Ladies and get our forwards to score a barrowload - feel what hitting the back of the net is like and gain a little bit of confidence. Had we an ounce of confidence up front on Saturday we would at least have had a replay. .

Well now, Mystic Meg's chrystal ball has come good! 'DZ will make a mistake!' He Did! 'All the fans believe the utterings of Mystic Meg' They do?? 'Not fit to play in the SPL' MOM anybody!(Not yesterday) 'Mystic Meg knows the players abilities better than the management team' But of course! I suppose one out of four ain't bad or is the ball due an MOT! Costing us money? Perhaps yesterday has saved us a lot of money now that we can concentrate our energy on remaining in the SPL! .

Scotty, I see you had a good young keeper at Toronto that has just been signed in the SPL. (I can't remember the team that signed him) It would be difficult for our club to know of him being so far away unless they were alerted to this or he was being 'introduced' by his agent, with the inherent fees. I would also imagine that our wages, to a Latvian, would be acceptable and we can also showcase him in the SPL, offering a step up into the EPL, if he is good enough. All good selling points for coming to us, with little fees involved. Alerting that club can do no harm, if they ignore it, so be it but you have tried your best for them.

Harry, I take on board that we should not get carried away but we only lost to Motherwell due to two, very out of character, mistakes by two very experienced players. I feel we were unlucky to lose that game but I suppose luck has a way of coming back round as we found out last night! We must already be improving our home record, not difficultv that's for sure, and our goals against appears to be at last showing some improvement - so our defence is better. We need some goals - who cares who scores them - but they are badly needed - then we can all buy into the Hype! .

The BBC reporters, last night, were very impressed with him and were recounting the story about him that TB told them. TB was so impressed wih him that he asked his history and it transpired that he is from the Ivory Coast and TB, winding him up, told him he would contact the Ivory Coast and see if he could recommend him for a cap. He is now walking on air waiting for the call!

Well now Mystic Meg, some of us can get it correct without your magic ball!

It would be interesting to see whether any of those who thought it was a good idea to give Craig Brewster even more time are still of that opinion. I am on the board somewhere, after Butch's first two weeks in place, congratulating the forces that managed to urge the move. However I don't see the sense, at a time like this, to fragment the support by opening past differences. We already have one poster who wants the Board to come on here and admit they were wrong - now this thread wants fans on here to admit they were wrong. Accept that the pressure from the fans, if it was that, created a NEW way forward for ICT and lets enjoy it, collectively, as fans. .

Aye, right! Zadi is not doing better than expected - when he was reintroduced into the team we all felt it was a mistake but the management team were obviously aware and had worked on an area with him that has made a big difference - he has been turned into the best left back we have! The posters on here, in varying degrees, accept that he has ably earned MOM title in the majority of games under Butch!! Maybe I am tedious and a tosher BUT I accept Zadi for what he is at this time and have no 'Mystic Meg' predictions to offer re his future footballing behaviour, as you claim to have.

I am just pleased that you are all giving Esson another chance after Saturday's blunder. Speaks volumes for your maturity - if that was an OF keeper their 'fans' would be baying for his transfer! I bet Esson will play out of his skin, just to prove us all correct!

Even the BBC remarked on his 'jogging back, without urgency' to help Rossco- but I am sure Butch will have had a wee word in the ear by now!

I agree 100%. It seems to me that certain posters on here can't wait for Zadi to mess up so that they can be first in with the 'I told you so' comments What a load of tosh - I have been critical cos I simply do not think that he is a full back and I am concerned that he is in a position where he will make a mistake that could really cost us. Long may he continue to flourish but history suggests that his playing well spells are short lived. Castle Greyskull may well tell us if he really has the bottle for the fite. No, what is tosh - the long standing defender made a howler that you would like to see attributed to Zadi, our experienced keeper made a novice mistake that you would like to see attributed to Zadi and all we hear is wait, Zadi will make a howler that could really cost us - what in the heck did the two howlers on Saturday do but cost us and cost us dearly!!! Be sure Zadi will make a mistake, we all do, but for me he has saved us in the past few games when others around him are making howlers and costing us points! But he is the one to be attacked - relentlessly. We have our hate 'Rossco posters' - normally young laddies who are expecting 'Neville' like defending from a player in our wee team but this campaign, which may turn out to be correct if Zadi loses his confidence, is somewhat tedious. .

Is this not Imrie?? Is this not Grantie Is this not Esson Four times MOM!! You have to wonder at critics that fail to see this players ability and continually wait for failure a la Imrie, Munro and Esson! If he had carried out any of the above I wonder if we would have had a reaction? You bet, something like ''I told you this would happen, I warned Terry, I warned you on here'' We don't have a player that is faultless and therefore every player, if you wish, is a target and our big left back is no exception. What a real critic does, of course, is balance the good against the bad and our big boy, right now, is building up a lot of 'good' so is entitled to a little 'bad' at some time. .

I think the days of 'hardmen' have gone from the game, the fact that the playing days of the players mentioned are all memories to us oldies, tells a tale. Modern teams can have an Ian amongst their rank, an annoyance, but as we appreciate there is more of a skilled player than a hardman inside the wee man. I think it is the way the modern game has gone, I enjoyed the old days with heavier challenges being accepted, but the referees are very quick on the cards now and your 'hardman' would miss a lot of the playing season and teams cannot afford this luxury.

If they are under pressure, which cannot be diffused by blame laid at their managers door, as was the case, perhaps this highlights some of the historic ICT problem. The players did not accepted responsibility under Brew, all the play on the park was his fault, a simple miss kick - his training not good enough, his over training knackering up the players so they can't even kick a ball, etc. They have no excuse now and are therefore unable to duck the critics on here. Of course, they will be bad at times, how else are we at the bottom of the league? Of course, the difference between players, ie who to play, is a talking point, there are no outstanding players and the difference is therefore slight, how else are we at the bottom of the league? Butch has to make do with what he has and hope they play at their best and if they do we can put one over EVERY team in the league but Saturday's result perhaps just showed up our frailties. Don't despair, we will stay up and one reason being that Butch will make each and every member of the team be responsible, individually and collectively, even if it does create hiccups along the way. A big difference from the Brew days when NO or little, responsibility was directed at the playing staff because the critics had a scape goat! They must now be feeling pressure. .

Not the first reaction to that particular experience which would actually have occurred to me. Now Charles, me thinks thou dost protest too much!