CELTIC1CALEY3

The Club actually have a credit crunch deal on at present - you get a free Craig Brewster if you are first at the cash gate.

Draft Grassa Bennett statement (to be released if we lose to St Mirren) 'Craig was given a golden second chance and in his own words he had unfinished business to complete. We have to thank him that just before he retired as a player last January 2008 he was instrumental in securing our place in the SPL with a few wins albeit with our lowest points total and worse position ever. We had hoped he would move upwards from that position but our concern right now is that he will take us back down the leagues and undo the work that people like Barry Wilson did to put this Club on the map. We wish Craig well for the future. We have asked Charlie and Alex to take temporary control of the First Team for the difficult game against Aberdeen whilst the search for a new Manager is completed. We have advised Malkie that he is free to apply for the post if he so wishes. On behalf of the staff, players, sponsers and I must not forget our fans, please now support this Club through this difficult time. I believe we have outstanding players at this Club and with the right guidance, tactics and motivation they can produce positive results.'

Looks potentially scary at Hearts too! 'Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo may be facing a New Year fire sale of Tynecastle's prize assets with skipper Christophe Berra, playmaker Laryea Kingston, striker David Obua and wing ace Andy Driver all set to be sold to keep the prospect of administration from Gorgie.'

The Conway quote shows he is in denial. He knows he was a disaster at Dundee United as a player but is trying to justify the good bits of his reign 'of the terrors' there. Realistically he should be saying great things about his own team but presumably his own team remains Dundee United. I also believe he is in denial about giving up playing and genuinely believes nobody is capable of being as good as him. 'If you step out of line I will put you in your place.' This is where we need an analysis from IHE as to the psyche that is beneath the person, and I have to say I like the 'nodding dog' analogy earlier about Malky.

He who lives by the sword......by the sword. If we sink so does Grassa, the Chief Executive, the plethora of coaches, the tea lady and the receptionists. They hold the true key to Brew and Malky's future. My guess is that Denzil will place the final nail in Brew's unfinished business and as Wolstenholme did say, 'they think it is all over, Brew and Malky are on the pitch (for the last time), Denzil has scored, it is now.' On Saturday Grant mentioned the capitulation when we conceded a goal. That is not the message to give to the enemy. We need experience and we need passion for this club. Barry had passion for the club. He had significant experience and the ability to make people believe they could win. Grant needs support as indeed do the rest of the players. Cutting away Latapy was not the chosen route of Falkirk.

If I recall Blackie played two fantastic balls through to Barrowman in the second half and although closer than the keeper each time he wasted them by failing to chase. Even when the Kenneth header fell kindly to him from the bar he gently passed the ball to the keeper.

http://www.ictfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Squa...~885275,00.html Brew curriously still presents as a Player but one person currently getting off lightly at present is Malky Thomson. Surely he should be more pro-active like Donald Park? Malky has to take some blame if he is Assistant?

"Not too many people are lucky enough to be given a second chance in this business and I'm hoping I can be successful here again." Craig Brewster says he has "unfinished business" at Inverness Caledonian Thistle after being appointed the club's player-boss for the second time. "He is the man we wanted and, importantly, he wanted to come here and prove a point.' The fans should now be given the chance to ask Brew if the hope he had has been realised. We need to know if the business is finished and what was the point he was trying to prove - was it the same home record he set for Dundee United? We need to know whether a defeat in Paisley followed by points for Hamilton against neighbours Motherwell and then maybe a draw between St Mirren and Hamilton will wake everyone up to stop talking about a top 6 finish when Brew has the worse home record of any manager in Britain completing the unfinished business. Being bottom of the league on new year's day is a real possibility unless things change and in that respect I do not blame the players. It was obvious yesterday as he played his heart out why Ian Black has reservations about a new contract.

Well December is the season to be jolly and already there is plenty of jolly about. Is it not great when everyone pulls in the same direction? However, it's time to send someone connected with the club, supporter, player, ex player or management or support staff a suitable Christmas card. So let me kick off with my personal Christmas card Thank you Granty for showing total loyalty to this Club. We really appreciate that and wish you and the lads a very merry Christmas. Hopefully you don't underestimate Partick and it's a happy new year too.

Clearly not popular with some people. However, let's stand back and zoom on one year assuming we avoid relegation. Even assuming a churn of some players we are likely to pick up some good players. The most positive aspect has to be that we have forwards who at some stage will click and score goals. It is impossible for players like Bannerman, Rooney and Wood to gain further experience and not score goals. Wood has yet to be tied down on a new contract but if he is we'd have three goog strikers and inevitably a new player will emerge possibly again from the Resrves e.g. Shane Sutherland. The relegation fight this year is real for about 8 clubs. That still remains the driver to improve performances. Brewster must be improving as a Manager given the pressure from a less than supportive home crowd. Who's to say he will accept an extension but if he earns it surely more people should try and get behind the club at a very difficult time.

We should congratulate not denigrate him for this. On the theme of competence, Hearts are run by a bank, but still cannot transfer wages on time. Craig has never had a liquidity problem with players wages to contend with.

Dear Mr Barrowman, A lot of the Inverness supporters share your frustration although pre-season we do recall you waiting and waiting to make up your mind whilst playing little games on your social networking site. We were pleased when you scored against Aberdeen. We thought a bee had stung you after you scored against Kilmarnock. A lot of us thought we could have done better than you against Hearts given the fact you had a football and an enormous net in front of you with less than 7% of its area impeded by a non goal keeping player. However, you are a professional and we just watch so I guess we would have bodged it too. Against Kilmarnock it did seem unfair that Dougie's goal went in like a magic bullet and Woodie jumped like a spectator at a Runrig concert and somehow the friggin ball hit his head and bounced over the line. You then scored our best goal of the game and later discover Brewster used his mobile to alert the linesman it was offside. It's so unfair. Anyway, all players who have joined us from Ross County have been successes so knuckle down and start scoring. That will get rid of your frustrations, Yours I M Jolly

Just a thought not on sympathy but based on the fact he has skill, is determined, is experienced and always plays better after Christmas. In a young team I agree with Barry that experience is vital. The supporters still like him and who cares if he is used sparingly. A few months more from him is the least we can expect the club to provide for. Then next year he can go and manage Elgin.

Did Neil Lennon teach you that when you were at Celtic? Yer Spanish compatriot Juanjo would not be impressed.

The 'home' fans are not always the most supportive of their team. Indeed they are quite fickle. I have just noticed this on the BBC site about the economic down turn. 'As with so much in the economy, that has several local knock-on effects, not just for construction industry jobs but to Falkirk football club. Keir Homes had to withdraw its sponsorship of the club's north stand and the team's shorts. And the club has had to introduce three-for-two ticket offers to combat falling gates - yet another sign that the downturn affects every part of the life. ' With half season tickets on offer I just wondered whether ICT could now take a big gamble by reducing prices for these perhaps to 3:2. I know some season ticket holders might winge at having paid full price but realistically we all should put something into the club especially if we (collective) perhaps reduce the confidence of the players on match days.

What's this about 'Killie and Inverness CT are kicking lumps out of each other' on the BBC site?

Rory will get some action today. Barrowman is highly motivated to prove a point against Killie - if ever he pulls the finger out it will be today so expect him to feature.

Berra gifted us an easy goal at Tynecastle a few years back - last Saturday he was immense. Jamie is a lad who has come a long way this season. Mistakes make or break you and I suspect he will be much stronger as a result. Great achievement to get a cap.

Having reflected, 'What has Brew achieved as a Manager?' He starts fairly well, then moves. He wins nothing and does not achieve much of note in Cups - ICT's roots. For one reason, or another, he is an absolute disaster at United taking them on an amazing run of home (and away) defeats. He re-starts 'unfinished' business at ICT. After pulling us out of a big hole he has a good run of results then down hill we go but with Gretna in freefall our safety is not an issue. Our results are very poor, we fail in Cups, we end up in our worst league position in the SPL. Brew is perhaps in denial that he has to retire as a player. He starts 2008/09 on a high. We beat Aberdeen on the first day then start losing to virtually all other teams. We seem to underestimate Arbroath and Morton before 'back luck and adverse refeeing decisions' see us lose against Falkirk. We seem to be playing 'good' football but there appears to be a major motivational issue with quite a few players. Even Brewster seems very rattled against Falkirk. Our role as SPL charity continues unabated as we provide three points to virtually every team that travels north under Brew's stewardship. Supporters remain critical although this is a feature of all teams in the SPL.

Rangers did it under Sounness. Legally under SPL Rules we need a compliant pitch. We could change the dimensions for each game. If we do, we should install an undersoil sprocket for the Standside linesman to overcome their inability to work out the offside rule.

There are currently 12 Managers in the SPL all getting some form of dogs abuse. We know one team will get relegated this year. Somebody will cop it. Injuries or other circumstances will pershap conspire to take a team down. Once again we expect ICT to punch above its weight with players being rewarded less well we believe than most other SPL teams. Partly this is our fault for not supporting the club - money does not grow on trees and if more loyalty were shown to support the club beyond a few wealthy chairmen and loyal sponsers we might be slightly better off. Hibs are such a club but currently sit just above us. So is Brew the deciding factor? Regardless of his ability as a player, this is man management. Do we blame him for the slow start against Falkirk? Do we blame him for the defence failing to close down Higdon the other night? Do we blame him for blooding youth this season? There are clear aspects of his personality that will demotivate players. However, as a manager he is learning and I think there are positives in this area. On Wednesday he went for it at half time. ICT are generally far better attacking teams because backing off leads to regular disasters. I am not a great fan of Brew but there is good and bad in all managers and currently there are just about enough good bitds to show he is cutting his teeth. I recall the abuse Calderwood was getting at Dunfermline in the year we webnt there in the CIS Cup and beat them on penalties. Levein was unpopular at Leicester. Strachan has his critics at Celtic despite phenomenal success. Jim Jefferies has had periods of deep unpopularity in the business. Recently we heard Paatelainen was on his way out of Hibs. Yogi was allegedly close to the chop at Falkirk. Reid is fine because he is new. Rangers season is now over. McGee is currently safe. Laszlo will drop his guard at some stage and be stabbed in the back without ceremony. As for Gus, three more straight defeats and he will not be the man to take the Buddies into the new stadium. So has anyone other than IHE extracted an SPL Manager's brain to discover what genes they have to absorb such persistent abuse? What is their cracking point? Is it just a nervy Director of Football who puts them out of their misery? Think on the bright side, we could have taken Malpas.

Ross County's famous goalie, I M Knackered, formerly a night club bouncer and aspirational male model in Inverness, has been rested. Ross County have made it clear that he has not been dropped. This is perhaps understandable given his weight. His Manager has played down suggestions that Charlie Christie on a secret spying mission to a Ross County Training Session at the Fluke Inn had tentatively suggested that consuming 6 steak and kidney pies in one training session was beyond even Bobby Mann. The said keeper had taken offence at this but was unable to move fast enough before Charlie had legged it. Nevertheless, I M Knackered had tumbled and we believe caused some damage to property, players and officials as he fell. Following a number of calls to the BBC concerning a possible earthquake in Inverness, people have been advised that no such geological event took place. Mr Roy Mee, who lives adjacent to the Fluke, reported damage to his chimney stack. Today Ross County have decided to rest their regular keeper for the trip to Perth. Coach Driver Mr Sandy Heid from Dingwall was quoted as saying 'This would relieve the aging Ross County Team Bus from considerable stress, particularly going up hills, as Mr Souter was half the size of I M Knackered or That Big Bullock as he is known to the fans.'

November looks like a long hard month. It would be easy to panic tonight but we must recognise the fact that Rangers were on the face of it pretty stunning in the first half. Charlie certainly knew when to throw in the towel. Brew went on and on into a deep depression of defeats at Dundee United. This time he does not need to seek a massive compensation package. Rumour has it that he has already offered to resign in the last month so as a fair club we should give him until 5.00 pm after the Hearts game to demonstrate that he can get good results out of a team when the chips are down. If not we should accept his offer. If we make progress we should get behind him and the team because Inverness without SPL football will be much poorer for years to come. On an annual basis this Club responds to a crisis. Hopefully all those connected with it see that we are at least slipping into one and the only way out is not to look for sympathy, criticise referees even though they have clearly made mistakes, but to quietly get some positive results.

Where is Marius when we need him?

I spoke to him at the Barry Wilson testimonial and he seemed happy working offshore. If he can regain a hunger for the game and avoid injury he has the talent. An interesting move which needs an understanding supportive Manager to help him rebuild.