CELTIC1CALEY3

RossP Aberdeen surely cannot afford Cowie?

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.a...10521?UserKey=0 Caley Thistle target McCracken

Crowd of 95 currently watching on line ..once again we underestimate the opposition in a cup game under Brew. Bring back Pele as a special guest manager for all future cup games.

Didn't see him Saturday at the game so assumed the worst. Good news for Zander. A pity for Dan who looked quite competent but culturally the long Highland winter might have affected his appetite a little.

...and we then turned him into a Scotland B International.

CaleyD - Courtesy of BBC Scotland just to set the record straight: Dundee United have completed the signing of Inverness defender Darren Dods on a free transfer. The 32-year-old will join up with the rest of the squad for pre-season training at the end of next week. Dods signed a pre-contract agreement to join United from fellow SPL club Inverness in January. Dundee United manager Craig Levein said: "His leadership qualities are well known and will benefit the team as a whole." Levein continued: "Darren will bring further experience and solidity to the defence. "Looking to the future, we have a number of very young players in the team and experience is not only required to help them develop, but is vital to the success of any side. "Darren will bring exactly the type of experience we require." Dods had previously played for Hibs and St Johnstone, and joined Inverness in July 2004. He was made captain of the club at the start of the following season and has been a consistent performer at the heart of the Inverness defence, making 39 appearances last season. Curiously his height appears to be 6'1'' with Jamie at 6'2''!

Money is a critical factor for both sides ie club and supporters. However, something that should override the divide is the pride we all have that we have an SPL place. Take it away and it would be all down hill I suspect for a long time. This year's crisis is potentially different from last year's crisis. As a starter, hopefully the players are better equipped this year to make some money from some cup games to keep the ship afloat. The Marius money may help cut losses if that is what some are predicting. Hopefully, new packages might be creted for supporters e.g. Season ticket reductions after each game with existing season ticket holders happy to see more than pro rata discounts to generate income.

"Naturally I would be delighted to carry on if I can, but if someone else does come in then they will have my full backing.''

Lionel : 'Le coup de CIS est tres tricki dans le Stade de Kipper'

Quite a difficult decision. Jamie is beginning to develop and one more good game against Falkirk next week and he might become a regular. McGuire still needs a bit of time to settle after his operation. I am not sure if he is still subject to injury - he looked a bit uncomfortable today. Grant will surely return shortly. Dods is big and powerful and relatively calming so a loan would be useful to rotate and establish the best mixture. We may just have bid for Bamba but as time goes on Jamie may just prove to be a top class player. Fletcher did not enjoy the crunching tackle today and in general Jamie's confidence grew at a time we seemed to completely lose the game. Let's hope Jamie plays a blinder against Arbroath and we take a good result forward to Falkirk.

Dougie did have a very poor game. Remember this was Lionel's debut so he has now experienced the SPL. He looked a competent ball player against Liverpool Reserves so there was some logic that he might have produced a winning cross or maybe sneaked a goal at a set piece. Vigurs, Duff and Lionel now have more experience at SPL level.

Rossco will demonstrate how to treat him. McGuire will treat him the way he treats anything that moves past him. Black will want to outplay him. Brewster will want to shake him by the troat.

Dodds has just been dropped by Dundee United. Could he return? Will Bobby Mann lose 3 stone? Will Brew pull a big rabbit at the last minute, or will Jamie Duff play a blinder and develop into a top class defender. My money is on the latter.

That is indeed where Liam works. Fundamentally it was motivation, not injury, that took him away from the game. Does anyone know what Vettle Anderson does nowadays?

After talking to Liam Keogh at the Liverpool game and hearing that he no longer plays football, I find this about David Bagan courtesy of the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald. KILWINNING RANGERS 3 KILBIRNIE LADESIDE 3 TENACIOUS 10-man Ladeside fought back with two last gasp goals to deny Buffs their first victory of the season in this high-scoring clash at Abbey Park on Saturday. Kilbirnie were awarded a penalty in 22 minutes when Keith Ross was adjudged to have brought down Robbie Cochrane although it looked as if the foul should have gone the other way. Alain Kinney netted from the spot to put them ahead. In 25 minutes Buffs levelled when David Bagan picked the ball up 25 yards out and played a one-two with fellow Trialist Paul Deeney before the former Kilmarnock and Inverness Caley Thistle man shot home from 22 yards.

My point is not that this was some mega match but that last night gave players not in the losing team on Saturday a chance to show a bit of class. Friendlies are easier to produce better performances but last night our young lads did play very well against Liverpool's young lads. Providing we get the blend right we really want to see performance rewarded and not reputation. Ike did not look too chuffed with Esson's show so knows he has to work that bit harded. Bannerman and Rooney have a slight start on Woody and Rory but if these guys get a chance and take it the other guys would have to work to get out of the comfort zone. Another performance like Hamilton will necessitate changes and there are some hungry players at the club I hope.

Even in a short spell last night he worked his socks off. Brew will like that.

Wood looks very promising. He probably forced Rory to score last night to remind him he is the competition, not Elliot. In fact Woody sent a powerful message to Bannerman and Rooney last night that he's not too fussed about reputations.

Dan was at yesterday's game.

I remember guys like Gary Kenneth, Christophe Berra and Darren Barr making mistakes such as Duff's yesterday. The critical thing for him is that he moves forward because his overall play was pretty good considering his previous experience. I suspect that Grant will return shortly but Jamie should learn from a range of experiences and when he plays again build on it. Fair play to Brew for blooding him and even though Jamie was gutted at his error, other players had a chance to correct it before Offiong scored - this is a team game. Jamie knew he had misjudged the ball. Current first team players have all done the same. If Jamie needs inspiration he should look no further than the Hamilton centre half although hopefully the final sentence does not come to pass.. '... in March 1995, the new Ipswich Town manager George Burley paid ?150,000[5] for Swailes to return to his former club.[3] Unfortunately, in his first Premier League game for them at home to Aston Villa on April 1, 1995,[6] he scored an own goal in stoppage time at the end of the match, to confirm a 1–0 defeat.[3] Ipswich were relegated to the First Division at the end of that season.' I though Swailes played very well yesterday as a sprightly 38 year old.

We over celebrated our win at Aberdeen. We underestimated Hamilton. We made one big mistake and lost. We need to forget our home record against Hibs and work our butts off in training this week or we will have turned full circle in 12 months and be less prepared for grafting than we were 12 months ago when a major crisis erupted. Let us not kid ourselves - the SPL is about graft with skill occasionally on top of that. We were flat yesterday after what appeared a good start.

He actually looks more like an Accountant. If you saw him tonight playing keepy uppie whilst using his mobile phone this takes a player's first presentation to the fans to a new level. His body language was suggesting the phone call home was 'Guess what? Rangers missed out on Lovens so desperate to appease their fans they signed me on a fantastic package.Who cares about not being in Europe on this money?'

Long may the diddy team do well but beware last season's long runs without points. This was on the face of it confidence boosters for quite a few of our players.

Last year's game was far from easy. Rangers showed how to lose after getting cocky. Aberdeen fans were predicting a top of the league position at the end of September. Brew used to underestimate teams from lower divisions so with the current euphoria after 1 game lets hope we show total respect for Arbroath.

Roy's run was even more magic because after the 80 yard sprint he managed to lift his right standing foot and score with that.