absent friend

I see this sort of statement as a wish from the poster and unfortunately reduces the strength of his posts None so blind etc!! Meekings pass back, Brills kick outs,, Billy's one on one misses, Shinnies clearance into the ruck of players instead of out for a corner, a crap pass on the half way line leading to an easy goal loss, etc I accept your point ..... not the players fault, all the managers!! AYE RIGHT!! From a Happy Clapper who is less happy at the moment.

This sounds a wee bit off topic but I remember an analysis of Wright- Philips after he had moved clubs and was performing at a higher level and they did a before and after look at his game and the main difference was ....... He had been taught to be aware of his fellow players by looking up when he was receiving or potentially receiving the ball and this allow him to make a more telling contribution. Now, Brills goal ... if Meekings had been aware that Shinnie was standing, in the clear, immediately behind him his pass back would never have been attempted but he was not aware of his fellow players and this lost us a goal but also stopped an attacking move that would have at least reduced the pressure and allowed us to regroup at the back. Now Brill, ... I feel he is unhappy with the ball at his feet and therefore a period at training where he is played as a outfield player in tight situations, could help. As a keeper I feel he is very good but with the ball at his feet ... just a bomb scare! For older folk on here I offer the two top keepers in Scotland in the early 80s .... Hamish MacAlpine - a goalkeeper who also provided Dundee United with an extra sweeper as he strode around his box and contrast that with Jim Leighton playing in goal for Aberdeen at the same time, who was a Brill, dodgy with the ball at his feet and showed this (row B in the South Stand was a dangerous place to sit!) Both excellent keepers but had different strengths in a pass back situation. Incidentally Leightons understudy Bobby something (senior moment) played centre half for Aberdeen when not required in goals so he was in the McAlpine mould. From the foregoing maybe it is not easy to teach a goalkeeper to be happy with the ball at his feet and if this is the case maybe pass backs should be kept to a minimum when Brill in goals or Brill should be encouraged to do a Jim Leighton and hit it out of the park.

Well Folks, a happy clappy here and hey ho, what absolute rubbish! Watched it on the telly and it did not make good viewing or should I say it made excellent viewing of the bad football played by us! Shinnie, I thought, was not up for this game. He appeared to be hesitant in most of his play and yet he was our best. FORAN I thought was a good captain, yes Brill good a good talking to from him but we saw shortly after the reason why. The defence were tip tapping the ball when a) clear the ball away from your danger area and b) you can only score at the far end from their position should have been the order of the day. In fact this lack of urgency in defence resulted in the second goal and bad passing created the first aided by, I think, Shinnies poor clearance back into the ruck of players when it should have been sent out for a corner. So sad tonight as I felt all day that we could have beat them and I still think that that was an easy chance missed for three points!

Well I suppose the neggie folk on here have handed the BBC, on Saturday afternoon, the opinion that Mr Hughes is now under pressure re his position at ICT. How on earth do so called 'fans' allow other team supporters such ammunition as this will manifest itself as " sacked in the morning" chants each time we come under pressure in a game. I'm sure this will instill lots of confidence in the players with this chant ringing in their ears. Sad indeed!

Well Sir, I wonder if there is not a few contradictions in your above offering? Has he lost the dressing room? Maybe you should ask the players that signed longer term contracts or maybe Mr Foran or maybe the players you state he stands up for - will they, I wonder, share your opinion. Or we could just ask you .... and the answer is .... possibly! And then you ask him to be like our last manager who is under a bit more flak on the HIBS site than Hughes is on here. However I do understand the natural frustration you are experiencing at the moment. One wee question ... Had we won on penalties would you still be writing the above? I guess not, and yet we were a couple of kicks of the ball from winning or maybe a couple of saves. I think you are being harsh but it is understandable.

Maybe if you want to use Aberdeen or ex Aberdeen you should maybe consider Fergies start at Man U. If you lot were on MU's forum at the time, no doubt you would have had him ... 'Lost the dressing room' ... 'lost the fans' .... ' lost the plot' BUT the boy did good! Well sort of good anyway! I however am concerned about our goal drought and our silly mistakes at the back but rather than sack the man, I would prefer to see less teeth at the dugout and more fist waving from him. He does come over as a players pal and that is not always a good management platform.

Well we all know I am a happy clapper but .. I thought our team did us proud, how many of us thought it would come to penalties? We were beaten by the suits upstairs that made us play a game during the week and therefore stole some of our strength towards the end. Anyway thanks to the team for giving me a wonderful three hours with the result going either way right up to the last few minutes.

I find it funny that only CaleyThistle played on this bad pitch, if for instance it was our home ground we would know how to play on it but as we only play there errr... every two weeks, how were we to know how to handle it?

Is this not the way we always played? Absorb pressure, let the opposition hold a high line and then one ball out of defence could create a potential goal. This is why McKay was so successful where he found himself in a forward position with one defender and keeper to beat. Now the whole defence is around him when he receives the ball and scoring is a bit more difficult. At the moment we are the ones holding a high line and we are the ones getting caught. I feel it is rethink time for Sunday.

Kingsmills, on 26 Feb 2014 - 07:57 AM, said: Wasn't going to go last night but so glad I did in the end. Can add little to what's been said already. I am a John Hughes sceptic but that must have been the best we've played under his management. The tactics could not be faulted and each and every player stood up to the plate and it's impossible to single out any individual. We were so dominant that Hughes was able to give Billy a 20 minute rest ahead of what's bound to be a hard shift for him up front on his own on Saturday. Smart thinking.END QUOTE Now Sir, I accept that you even in the above compliment to our manager, expressed the fact you are a Hughes sceptic, but it is a big move, by you, in such a short time -tactics can not be faulted etc. to 'have not changed my mind he is 'rubbish' Now, I am a happy clapper, I think it is after all my happy years up at Kingsmills Park. It is even now difficult to lose that happiness even whilst mingling with the poor souls with a less cultured background from Telford Street. It does however offer me a broader overview into management and accept that given our geographical and financial position, too high expectations are difficult to handle especially when we have enjoyed an excellent start to the season and now face reality.

I feel sure this thread will fill the team or should that be teams, management and footballers with superb confidence ahead of next Sunday's game. The ongoing reaching for ' lost the dressing room' after every downturn in our form has been replaced now by ' lost the fans' ! Exactly what is required at this time ... I don't think! Don't get me wrong I think we were lucky today - it could have been double figures - and next week is viewed with lots of concern by me, however, I think this sort of rubbish should be deferred until later in the season to offer a united backing to our team/s at this crucial time!

Well my observation is .... if we drop Dean we should also drop the others that performed below what we expect, so next week .... I feel Mr Shinnie will be very lonely!

Looking at the results last night ... St J beating Motherwell by three goals .... maybe our Saturday result was even better than we thought and maybe up alongside this one. "Saints not playing well, ICT winning ugly", was maybe because Saints were a better side than we thought at the time... whereas the County were just crap ... I think I want to say that again..... County were just crap Mr Adams! I think we have just witnessed six very big points for us! It helps our league position but it also gives the team a lift at the right time.

Just a wonderful result. Perth is not a happy hunting ground for us so this was a BIG three points. I don't know how the game was won but won it was, so just MAGIC!!

BBC not much better Scotty, frozen in time up in Inverness. Either that or the pies were getting attacked and the typing finger was covered in grease! Well I suppose it was a result but with my prediction being 7-0 I am a wee bit disappointed.

I suppose my overall reaction to the game was ..... bags of spirit/fight This however does not detract from the good football on show, right through the team and the ability to stay calm in possession was superb BUT not good for my health! If this is the managers doing ... all I can say is " what is the name of the English guy who left us and what is the name if his new team?" I do realise that this could be a one-off but let's not be negative tonight.

You may find it 'snide' or not 'enlightening' that I offer the opinion that punting Ross to Elgin is incorrect. You may also find it also snide and lacking any enlightening when I offer that the managers have found Ross to be the best of our bunch and maybe, just maybe, the punting of Ross to Elgin is extreme. This areas of my opinion you may not agree with but they are my views and are not meant to insult. I am able to view the members of the team with a degree of criticism but I'm afraid that Brill to Rothes - Ross to Elgin makes me cringe as an ICT fan. Why? Because they are laddies trying to do a job of work and like you or I, are not always going to please their employers 100% of the time ( they have circa 3000 employers every game) Now for the record at no time did I or would I, take exception to any member on this forum differing over team selection. Do I have an opinion of Ross? Of course, he needs, in my opinion, some of Forans favourite stout or indeed Hughes favourite pies, to bulk him up so that his presence matches his footballing ability. No doubt my offering will again give you some reason to find an insult therein but hey ho that's life, as Ester used to say!

So the manager never makes an error of judgement or he wouldn't be the manager of this club. And therefore those of us who watch the matches shouldn't have the audacity to make any critical comment as we clearly have no idea what we are talking about. What complete and utter nonsense! Whilst accepting that the manager usually does know better than anyone on this forum, managers certainly don't get it right all the time. Interestingly you mention how the manager sees the players on the training ground as well as at the game, but actually that is often part of the problem. Often players demonstrate attributes on the training ground that simply do not get translated into the match situation. Managers then persist in them in the hope that they will come good on match day or simply keep picking them because their overall impression is that the player who shines on the training ground is the better player - others don't get a look in. Butcher's insistence on playing Barrowman rather than Rooney when he first came here was a case in point. I also remember more recently when many of us were questioning Butcher persisting playing Shane Sutherland on the wing, Caley D defended the manager by saying we should see the things he was doing on the training ground. Well, he might have been great on the wing on the training ground but he wasn't on a match day - and now he's at Elgin. You don't win points by playing well on the training ground - it's the performance on match days that matter and the paying customer has every right to comment on it. I will, once more, bow to your undoubted deeper understanding on this subject than me! I was once told that faultless is lifeless so I am sure we will all agree that Mr Butcher and Hughes are indeed so full of life that they must make mistakes. The point being overlooked is .... it is not a mistake - it is, in the view of the Ross 'punt him' brigade ... an ongoing mismanagement by two managers who between them, have seen professional football up close and ... would you believe, have learnt less than the keyboard warriors on here! Is Ross a target for EPL clubs? I don't think so! Is he the best we have in that position? Possibly. Can he improve? Of course. Is he going to improve by suggesting we punt him into a team two leagues below us? I would have thought that a keyboard warrior with delusions of Fergusion football knowledge, would even see a fault in that.

Whilst in the happy clapper camp and having only seen the game on TV, I am unable to comment, with any degree of knowledge, on the overall play of Ross today. I do however feel that Butcher and now Hughes are/ were in a better position to judge him via training and match day than someone who wishes him punted to Elgin on the strength of their tremendous in depth knowledge of the player whilst only watching a game. Is it possible when playing that he, Ross, may be following instructions from the bench that this pundit is unaware of? Is it possible on the other hand that this pundit is correct and both the managers are so crap that they can be replaced by a keyboard warrior at little expense to our club?

Elocution lessons required, in Inverness? Yur choking min, ya no yercell, we are sooper speekers! Maybe we should get the great Sir Alex or maybe Mr Lambert to use their elocution skills to help Mr Hughes as he is somewhat lacking in this department and this therefore impacts on his managerial ability, by your inference.

I am sure Man Utd fans are happy you were not rustling up this sort of rubbish about Alex Ferguson 25 years ago. His attempt to stamp his management ideas took longer than you are offering John Hughes. Maybe Hughes is not a good fit for us but at least we should offer him a fair crack of the whip before condemning him. Have a wee look at Rig's footers and see the nonsense fans offer on here. ( Butcher go home/Butcher is wonderful) - by the same poster!! A couple of wins and we will be goodness and light and we will be ready to take on Europe.

Following the televised game against Celtic, the manager made very positive remarks about the young fellow - father Christie was standing next to him however - and I feel it is impossible now for Yogi NOT to include him at some point v RC.

Why does Brill hit high shots into their half for the ball to come right back up field? At the start he was rolling the ball out and helping to build up play. We are just not at the races!

OAM !! Tuned in 3.55 first mention of ICT ? 4.31 However I knew Rangers score, Elgins score, where each of the guys were going for their night out, what they were wearing etc. My second from table top team with a new manager - not worth a mention! They are so biased to Central Scotland .