bdu98196

Exactly my point, if its not ideally where someone believes or wants to be they will work hard to prove that and elevate to their percieved level (whether we agree thats where they should be or not) If it means we can get a higher quality of player then we would normally be able to afford because they have had to downsize expectations - then yes. Isnt this the exact same approach we take when we have signed risks who have failed to make the grade elsewhere or had a history of injuries - we are the highest level offering an option?

Window is open while yet so no panic, I always believe there are good players out there who will currently be pricing themselves out of ICT's budget, wait another few weeks til they have the choice of no club or dropping demands and expectations - that way we may get someone who is better value and desperate to prove themselves to get a move to a bigger club/salary.

As per post one, although whether Foran is ready to start a game I'm not sure - maybe have to keep with Lopez, or given his size Wedderburn, could he win in the air and hold the ball up for Christie, Roberts and Doran to run in onto knock downs? Astra could go at us and have us pinned back so a big strong player to hold the ball and allow us to break would be an option - much like Ofere did for us last season at times

Sometimes I'm disppointed as a group we dont stand more, last years league cup final was great to all be standing as are Scotland games, on occasions like last night standing would have been apt.

Other than Dortmund this is the tie I was hoping for. This has to be great motivation for the boys and a chance for ICT to be put on the stage in the UK.

Astra are no mugs and I think could easily hold their own in the SPFL, they came with a game plan of not to loose and sat in well - I do think that they have more to offer and can up their game. That said I think last years ICT team would have won that by a few goals. Overall impressions Williams - surprising inclusion, but I do wonder being an 'international' keeper if he is looking for game time heading towards the Euros, in which case has he accepted a lower wage to fit our structure in the basis he will play? Wasnt impressed overly with him, perfer we'd played Esson and got a younger loan keeper as back up. Meekings on the right doesnt work, he doesnt press on enough down the wings Danny Williams - he is our LB I'm sure but doesnt want to use his pace and skill to take on and pass the man, he will get better from that position though Tansey - first half was totally ineffective, 2nd started to influence the game a bit more Wedderburn - huge unit of a guy, but very immobile and clumsy, I'd have rather seen Polworth play or Tansey back in his natural position. This level is too high for this guy I think, or its too soon he isnt ready. Lopez - poor service didnt help but he doesnt run deep or move a lot like Watkins or Mackay did and isnt strong like Ofere - he will need time but not sure where his strengths lie yet I thought both Doran and Christie had a good game and tried to move it forward and take Astra on, Draper however had a bit of a howler last night with a few errors. Next wk will be tough, I think that Astra will be much better but we can be too, its not over or anywhere near it - I think we can score but its if we can remain solid at the back is my concern

Have we got a thread discussing line ups etc for the game? If so then apologies for this post How does everyone think we will line up? Esson Raven Meekings Warren Tremarco Tansey Draper Doran Christie Williams Roberts? Subs - Mackay, Vincent, Devine, Lopez, Horner, Polworth, Wedderburn I'm assuming Lopez isnt fit enough to start and last 90 mins, but is he does then could we play Roberts in behind with Williams in LB and Tremarco benched?

^ Saving their money for the Challenge Cup competition featuring the big clubs no doubt

I'd be keen to mount a serious League Cup campaign - if we won that we would (for a short time minimum) hold both domestic cups. Other than the OF I dont know or cant think of another club in recent times to hold both trophies simultaneously. I'm sure though someone will know who the last team was and when?

Clubs have played in European games for decades we all know through TV, radio or other media that the games generally are on are on at 7.45pm (1945) regardless of CL or EL, unless away from home and time differences. This is a ticket time printing error and either a quick call to the club or search on the net (official ICT site http://ictfc.com/matches/fixture-list) will tell the time for anyone unsure - calling for the club to reissue tickets is extreme and a cost tahts un-necessary. Nobody expects a 12.00am (not 12.08am) KO time and certainly not for Romanian (not Rumanian) TV as they are +2 hours from us, why would they want a 2am game for local TV?

Its not just about being able to hit a penalty its about dealing with the pressure at the crucial stage of a game. Tansey proved this, the gamesmanship from Celtic taking as long as possible to change keepers in the semi, packed Hampden with Celtic fans - yet he was totally unfazed and never looked like bottling it, other than Draper or Foran I'm not sure who else in our squad mentally could have done that.

How many times have we seen in Scottish football that a club does develop a talent and then they leave, which is part of life so accepted. In some (few) cases clubs might get a decent transfer fee - recently DUtd have done ok with this, but other times they get picked up by the OF who refuse to pay the parent clubs valuation, goes to a tribunal and in almost every case the board decide that the development fee paid is insultingly low almost matching the OF valuation. Again keeping the strength and wealth of Scottish football within the duopoloy. I'm not suggesting teams dont develop their own but like any business if you develop a product and invest you should be able to sell that comodity for a fair price, sadly football isnt structured like that and even when systems are in place so it should be then it can be exploited and manipulated at the expense of the small clubs.

Given the position of Gray, I feel its picking on an easy target. We are a small club with 21 years existance, small fanbase and limited funds to invest in youth but easy to slate as we are provincial and the central belt biased media will always back this along with the majority of narrow minded fans. Where is the mention of Celtic & Rangers both clubs who have invested in multi million pound facilities for training and yoth development yet produce nothing in terms of proportion of success V's investment - preferring to fill their teams with overpaid journeymen or European imports of varying levels of quality. Even County for their facilities produce little first team youth players, so its not just ICT, although even compared to Killie, Hearts, Hibs, D Utd we are lagging behind. Perhaps the likes of Gray and the SFA should do more to help clubs invest and gather talent, put caps or limits stopping bigger clubs poaching local talent at the expense of the smaller teams, take the disproportionate wealth distribution and even it up so all clubs can have the same basis for youth investment. Instead they use clubs like ourselves as a platform to gain some publicity and become a talking point - as cup winners we become an easy target and he knew publicity would follow.

We can ignore Kink as a loss since he never played but we shouldnt overlook Billy leaving in Jan at a time when I think all agreed we were already a striker short in squad size. But reality is thats 5 off established first team players who have gone and none of these young lads got a look in last year but we are expecting them to step up and fill the places vacant, thats a huge ask. With the players we have its going to be a huge season for guys like Doran & Vincent to prove they are a mainstay player for the full season and not someone who drops in and out.

Organised trialist game meant to be on Sat at Broadwood. Hopefully Yogi will be there to watch............

With Watkins away and Ofere too, I thought we'd have pulled out the stops to secure Nick. Starting to worry about our squad now with Eurpoa games only 3 wks away - we look very weak.

I expect the times and even the days will be confirmed based on TV and obviously the SPFL will ensure we will have a good few Sunday games to accomodate our Europa League group games.

Perhaps another problem we always have is that people in Scotland (central belt) don't want to move up north to Inverness and see it as the back of beyond, yet English players may see it differently and be keen to move away from their cities etc for a different lifestyle. It seems that all the guys who take the chance to move up always enjoy their time and so do their families - perhaps we are just seeing a narrow minded view of location from our lowland countrymen?

​So we know that wont be a problem for us cos the Dons will be knocked out by then..... ​

Looking at who is still under contract next year, is this what we have and cover for positons? We look a bit light in midfield and definately need a striker or 2. Hopefully Nick Ross stays, can any of the young lads step up? Esson / Brill Raven / Meekings Meekings / Devine Warren Tremarco / Williams Draper Tansey Doran Christie / Vincent Williams Foran?

Any idea whats happening with Nick Ross, anyone know if he has had other offers or if he may yet stay?

With the signings Hibs have made so far and the state of that Rangers team, it may well be another playoff next season for them

With money as it is and timescales this tight, then playing local HL teams seems logical. A bounce game against the dons or even St J would benefit both - where else will any team get decent quality opposition before the Europa games, but think it would be a better idea to have fans - even if its just a few quid in and money to charity. It would be good if we can get one big pre-season game though before the SPFL season starts against an English team - I'd like to see a friendly against Arsenal as we are both national cup winners but sadly that would never happen.

I was surprised by the number of ICT fans who left at final whistle too, quite a few I could see from where I was walking out, if this was a home game the number would have been noticeable but feel those who stayed did more than enough to so the players appreciation.

Should this not be no more sleeps.......I mean is everyone not too excited now to be sleeping tonight? Dont want to sleep in tomorrow and arrive late or even miss it!!!!