Kingsmills

120 minutus hard graft on a heavy pitch. Just what the ICT club doctor ordered !

Probably the only club in Scottish football I wouldn't be sad to go under but that stems from still simmering bitterness about Ferranti Thistle being voted into the league ahead of the mighty Jags over three decades ago !

He's been blighted by injuries but, if fit, would fit the bill as an experienced SPL standard forward.

Unless Watford are prapared topay ?200,000 to secure him now we should hold onto him until the end of the season even if he does sign a pre contract with them His contributiuon could well make the difference between staying up or not. Same goes for Ian Black.

Cowie is a classy midfielder, although he does have his off days. He'll easily hold his own in the Championship and would be a stand out in League 1 should you be unfortunaste enough to land there next season.

Ah you have heard ,Listed by Dinamo as in dire straights and cant afford his 500k Euro salary, Spartak Moscow preparing a 900k Euro bid Don't suppose we had a "sell on" clause in the deal ?

Seems it is true, Brewster is indeed training with Ross County.

Killie seem to be one team we're capable of beating this season.

He's bound to be a bit ring rusty if nothing else.

I agree it's a massive gamble and if it pays off it will have been worth it especially with the increased Setanta money on the horizon. On the other hand if it fails it's surely going to severely hamper our ability to buy our way out of the first division next season.

Butcher pictured with his combined Brentford/Sydney FC fan Club !

Maybe so but he might be a decent assistant.

Hi Batfink... thank you for your comments on this club's managerial appointments. How many managers have Swindon gone through in the past ten years? If that club wasn't riddled with corruption from top to bottom and obsessed with fiddling HM Customs and Excise - they might just get somewhere.... Malpas will do just fine here.... thank you for your concern. To be fair to Batfink, I'm mighty glad that Malpas isn't here as manager in his own right.

Someone will moan on Sunday evening that our victory over Celtic wasn't as emphatic as at should have been !

I can see a dramatic turnaround in our home form now.

Sunshine had their own series on BBC 1 Scotland in the 70's as I recall.

I'm not saying that it's wrong to take the financial risk, especially with the new Setanta deal on the horizon, what I am curious about is the source of that funding.

It's a new chapter in the story of ICT and time for all true fans of the club to get behind the new manager and the players.

It strikes me that the club has committed a great deal of money and had pledged to commit even more in our fight to escape relegation. Firstly, without first significantly reducing the wage bill, we brought in four new players at the start of the transfer window all of whom are likely to be at the higher end of our wage scale. Then we have the funding of Brewster's and Malky's compromise packages whether thats done in a lump sum or by way of instalments. Thereafter we bring in a new management team who's combined salary is likely to be higher than that of their predecessors by quite a margin and finally, we have a pledge to provide funding for yet more new faces who, if they are to be any good, are again likely to be at the top end of our salary structure. All in all that must be several hundred thousand pounds of expenditure which wasn't in our budget at the begining of the season. I know that the last set of accounts disclosed money in the bank but the club were already running at a large loss and with gate receipts well down on last season and no transfer income this year I suspect any capital we had would have been exhausted by thr end of December. I can't see that banks wanting to extend the club's overdraft in the current economic climate so I suspect that someone has at least guaranteed the borrowings if not put their hand in their own pocket. Who could that be I wonder ?

Stranger things have happened.

Barcelona, Manchester. I wonder which city will have the "honour" of hosting Rangers next European final. Thank god it's unlikely to be for several decades !

Now is not the time for negativity. The most hopeless (mis)manager in our history is gone and we have a real chance of survival. Whether Butcher was your personal favourite or no it's time to unite behind the new man and the team starting on Sunday.

He's the future of the club. I'd try to get him tied up on a 3 or even 4 year deal right now.

I suspect he'll wait until the season's over before making a decision. I believe that if we're still in the SPL and he gets on well with the new manager he may well stay.

I can still see Robbo managing ICT at some time in the future particularly if we're relegated.