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TB has my full support yes some stalwarts of the club are leaving, but they are all the wrong side of 30 and apart from Russell are any of them in a position to improve the team and move it forward? As for others players like Eric & Dani have had a chance, they were in my eyes average D1 players when we were there and have failed to step up the way we needed. Others havent performed consistent enough. I hope with the money saved we can bring in some quality in terms of signings & loans, retain younger players like Rooney, Hayes, Sutherland & Ross on longer deals. The nucleus of a competitive squad is here, now we need TB to bring in a spine & some flair. Its not just ICT who are having big culls or clear outs - Hibs, Hamilton, Dons have already started, D Utd have a good few players out of contract and I expect many otehr clubs to follow - Scottish football is feeling teh financial squeeze so its all about VFM - harsh as it may seem, TB is doing the right thing IMO

Darryl Duffy is a decent player with a good scoring record at various levels, he hasnt produced at Hibs this year due to injuries & falling out of favour, but I think he would deffinately do a job for us if we keep him fit. Colin Nish can score goals but even from his Killie days is too inconsistent and do we need that hen we have Odiambo who is a very similar type of player IMO. John Rankin would be a good addition and provide coverage n the middle of the park, certainly would give more depth & options. Not sure any of the rest are worthwhile going after, if the HIbs players were that good then they wouldnt be in a team below us in the league.

Apologies, wrong side of the Irish border - obviously matters not to me or I'd have been right ;)

What internationals of major countries even play for the OF? AR isnt an international of a major country - he is from NI and good as he is, he isnt the best player in the SPL or near it at the moment - may as well stay in Scotland and improve his game, afterall look at Boyd & MacDonald - 2 prolific scorers in the SPL repeated over numerous seasons went down south cant hit the net. Personally if he decides to leave I hope its to a bigger club where he gets the chance to perform and develop his game whether thats in Scotland or not - always want to see ex-players do well - Robson, Cowie, Black - always get a bit of pride when our team is mentioned as helping them on their way.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13078886.stm Candidates have been named, agree or disagree? For me it looks like Izaguirre and Goodwillie for young player. Not sure if there have been many other players in the SPL who have shown high levels and consistency all year - although Hooper/Naismith could really be subsituted for any other Rangers/Celtic player TBH as neither have really shined from whast I've seen - perhaps MacGregor would have been one to include? Oh and Rory is nominated for D2 - good luck to the boy, his goal haul this year suggests winning would be deserved

If as the press suggest Hearts are interested in Rooney, then he will probably go there - fact is he will leave for a bigger club and more money - if he is ambitious. The only factor in our favour is that since the turn of the year he along with much of the team has gone off the boil and the performances less consistent, which may mean he has less options than perhaps were touted in January? Chances are if he hasnt signed by now its because he is assessing his options - perhaps he hass a mantal list of the clubs & level he wants to be at? Where if no offer is made by a certain point he will stay - but I very much feel that staying will be a secondary choice now.

Not really, GK is a key position and one that cannot be filled and covered up with a lesser player unlike some outfield positions or have the formation or type of play adjusted to compensate. If Esson gets injured or looses form etc we need someone experienced and capable to step in. Simply if we let Tuffey go (for a nominal fee) then Esson picks up an injury early in the season we will not have anyone capable til the Jan window when we will need to get a loan etc. Some may say having 2 quality keepers is a luxury, at this level its got to be a necessity.

Agree with the above but might consider Duff as cover & squad player depending on salary and I'd consider adding Odi & Sanchez to that list of who should go - clearly the step up from D1 has been to big for both of them to make an impact IMO. We need to free up funds/salary to get a creative midfield player as when Hayes is injured we struggle to create and find a striker who can hit the net be it on loan or a free. Defence needs a player or 2 as cover and competition.

Mixu did a good job and certainly changed the playing style, brough in a few good players with quality too. Killie have somewhat punched above their weight this season with him at the helm, must be a big loss as I'm sure they would have liked to consolidate on Top 6 and build the team stronger again next season - now they will probably go back to fighting relegation. Not sure if there are a big number of quality candidates about, so as said they may just wait til teh summer, but wouldl expect names such as John Hughes & Gus MacPherson to get mentioned lol.

Some good stuff on here, although I'm too young to remember much more than visiting Fine Fare and La Scala lol. Should start another thread where folks can post pics of places & old sneck - would be good to see what the place looked like before it became full of franchised pubs and mundane national organisations. Certainly sounds like a lot of character is gone :(

You make that sound like a good thing. It's not. Nobody expects us to beat Brazil, but our natural place in football has got to be higher than those small nations who have incredibly weak leagues. Of course its not, but then again we have a 'self contained' League system, unlike Wales who somehow have Cardiff & Swansea in the English set-up, perhaps if we had gone down that route our players may be better at the detriment of the National league set-up? As for ROI they have exploited the rules of eligability for the last 15 years, yet we as a nation have always thought we were too 'proud' to do that - maybe we need to wake up and start doing the same as many European teams are doing - France (african players), Germany (polish) etc Fact is we were well beaten by a far better team, its something we shouldn't be happy about, but then again we have never been world beaters who have fallen from a pedastal - only an average quality national side that got to a few WC finals before places like Africa, Asia and Eastern Eurpoe really started to develop as football nations.

Obviously the perception is that we should be winning this game? People need to take a look at what Levien is trying to do - inject youth and build a team for the future - this is a gradual process and overall against Brazil areas are shown to be lacking. Judging the progress of the team against some rose tinted era from the 70's or by how well shaven the magager is - well thats nonsense. Overall with the players coming into the team and the increasing number of (young) players from the EPL there may be a brighter future - I would suggest the depth of talent Scotland has is on a par with Wales & ROI and not far off England once the 'golden era' of failures move on. Patience is the key and progress can only be assessed at the end of the qualifying campaign and Nations Cup.

The photo's in the paper of his ex Hayley Macnamara are worth a look though ;)

The OF - Celtic for the constant whining about refs and Rangers for just being a dirty/nasty team. Also dont see what either Hamilton or St Mirren bring to the SPL - poor crowds, poor quality football, low entertainment value - would be happy to see a couple of D1 teams get the chance to replace them!! Outside of that, any team that goes out and tries to buy a title such as Man C & Chelsea, always get satisfaction seeing them fail miserably. At least teams around them such as Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs try to develop young talent and buy players looking to build a team, the aforementioned 2 just seem to buy - then if they fail to win clear out for huge losses and start again, its where football is going mad with money wasted.

Unfortunately when he was here and got a chance it was too soon and he wasnt ready, going out on long term loans would have been the ideal scenario, but he was allowed to leave. He's done well progressing through the lower ranks, but going from D2 into the SPL and in Aberdeen a team that should be challenging for Europe it might be a step too much, anyone remember Barrowman - goal machine in the lower level (D2) but couldnt find his feet in the SPL. At 23, any move he gets will be his chance at the 'big time' - fail again and he will probably end up a lower league journey man like many other youngsters that showed potential.

Looks like the Scottish government wil sponser the League Cup next season using cash from proceeds of crime http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/9431726.stm Is this a damning inditement of the state of Scottish football that no commercial sponsor wants to be involves, is the quality & standard of product so poor nobody wants to associate? If thats the case, then if we go to 10 teams and the product reduces further in quality as expected are we going to be in a situation where all of Scottish football is government funded - because thats got to be the 'beginning of the end'?

Gordon Hutton Berra D.Wilson Wallace Fletcher Brown Commons Adam Driver S.Fletcher (srongest stiker we have regardless whether he will play for Levien or not!!!) MacGregor, Bardsley, Mcmanus, G.Caldwell, Dorrans, Morrison, Bannan, Naismith, MacFadden, K.Miller, C.Maguire, D.Goodwillie - all players who could slot into that team, especially as we look to lower the average age and move forward with the team

Think he would make a strong addition to the midfield area, given our limited budget players on a free of this quality have to be worth consideration.

Charlie Christie of course

Those of us who have lived in Glasgow for any extended period of time will be aware of the link between Ranger/Celtic matches and violence throught the city and the mentality of people who get involved. Statistically I have no reasons to doubt there is a possible increased occurance of domestic violence in the aftermath of OF games, afterall people have been known to get physically attacked or even cars etc damaged for being or wearing the worng colour in the aftermath of a game. The reason decent ordinary people spend OF match days out of the pubs/clubs/returaunts and stay at home - sad times, but its the way that its become.

Exactly behaviour like that wouldnt be tollerated by the SFA if it was any other clubs, if this happened in an Edinburger derby both managers would get bans and the clubs big fines, but I expect nothing will happen to either half of the OF over this. Ban the managers & assistants (as both McCoist & Thompson were involved) for the rest of the season to the stand. if the managers cant keep conrtol of themselves then how can we expect the players to, essentially many have the mentatlity of children so feel its appropriate to copy the actions of the 'adults'.

Since last season we havent revolutionised the squad, TB took us from D1 back into the SPL and now has us in the QF of a national cup and with a 'fighting' although fading chance of the fabled Top 6. If thats not moving us forward from when he took over and we bottom of the SPL, what is peoples expactations? As for is it as far as he can go, if we get top 6 and win the cup - then realistically I'd say yes in tems of achievements, but there is still scope to develop the squad and younger players, improve our football style and move forward in teh future. Fact is we will never win the SPL, we will be lucky to ever get top 4 and into Europe so focus has to be cup wins and consolodation into a solid financially stable club who can nurture talent and play attractive football. TB needs some funds to invest in the summer, strengthen then see how we progress next season - if we perform better then he is still good for the club, if we are worse then this time next year people can consider calling for change?

With the ugly sisters playing tonight we will finally know who we are up against and I believe on our day we can beat either of them. With the terrible dip in league form and the fact we are pretty well garunteed SPL football, do we need to stop talking about top 6 and putting pressure on the team - yes we are only 6 pts of Killie in 4th, bth within 3 pts of us are another 3 teams (Hibs, Aberdeen, St J), so realisticly top 6 isnt looking too hopefully. Should we now be focusing in on the cup game and hoping the distraction from the league form and even though its a home game get firmly behind the team and try and drive forward to a domestic cup final. If we miss top 6 and go out of the cup to the OF (providing its a good performance and we play well) then is it really a bad season? SPL survival, glimpses of good play and consistency - just highlights the areas of the squad to develope for next year. I'd suggest that even just a cup semi would be a tremendous achivement, anything further or top 6 would be punching well above our weight. Not negativity, realsism I think?

???? Who would you propose in the squad? Considering we dont have a huge pool of Scottish players, apart from Esson is there even a contender - cant see Rossco getting a call up? If the FA were picking the team, we wouldnt be seeing younger players like Maguire, Conway, MacArthur getting a shout.

The squad is starting to take a good shape, 2 high quality keepers, Huton looks good these days although some of the otehr defence choices such as the 2 wilsons are odd, hopefully Webster will get fit and games at Hearts then him & Wallace can come in for the next matches. Midfield looks strong, has to be built around Adam, Fletcher, Bannan & Brown just need Driver fit. Up front looks light (think Goodwillie would have been there had it not been for the issues he has and Fletcher - what a silly boy, Faddy to return as well) but overall its looking like a decent squad Levien is starting to create. ---------------------Gordon----------------------- ---Hutton----Berra--------Caldwell-----Bardsley---- -------------Fletcher------Brown------------------- -------Naismith-------Adam-------Commons------ ------------------Miller---------------------------