RossP

Yes, normally I would be delighted if Roy has a good game. However I believe we play better without him, and a good performance in a preseason friendly increases his chance of a first team place against Aberdeen. Don't get me wrong, i'll still give him my support when he's on the pitch, but I feel it's time for him to move on.

Summer 2009. Someone had to say it :016: We go to Denmark and play 3 games, then play away to Burnley on 2nd August.

Esson :003: :003: :003: Safe hands, good talker, but absolutely woeful with his feet. Tokely :003: :003: Solid enough, but still needs to improve. Munro :003: :003: :003: Played well I thought. McGuire :003: V. Poor. Needs to be stronger in the air. First game since April though? Hastings :003: :003: Poor game again. Started to hope Lionel would come on, if anything it'd be entertaining. Black :003: :003: :003: :003: Good game, well taken goal. Cowie :003: :003: I thought he was poor by the standards he set last season. Didn't show up in the first half apart from a fantastic goal. First touch was similar to my garden wall Duncan :003: :003: :003: Good game I think. Less wayward passing than usual. McBain :003: :003: :003: Pains me to say it but I thought he had a good game. Barrowman :003: :003: :003: Fairly weak in the air today, but as long as he comes alive in the box and gets the goals i'm happy. We've needed a penalty box striker since Dargoals left, and I think in Barrowman we have him. Imrie :003: :003: :003: Some great play, some poor. Wayward passing and needs to play the simple ball more. Subs Proctor :003: :003: :003: Did nothing wrong, solid shift. Sutherland :003: :003: :003: Great ball for Rory's goal. McAllister :003: :003: :003: Good finish, very pleased for him. Hopefully done his confidence the world of good. Wood :003: :003: Didn't really get much of a chance, but I like the look of him. Handy to have coming off the bench. A Montrose supporting mate really rates him. Vigurs :003: :003: A range of excellent passes but too often he got the ball taken off him from a player coming from behind; something i've noticed happen in previous games as well. Perhaps needs a bit more awareness of where the opposition are. Wilson :003: :003: :003: Looked hungry to do well against his former employers. Great run for the 4th goal. A special mention to Caff, who I didn't realise was playing until Rory's goal! Nice to see him back at TCS but glad he wasn't in a ICT top! I think that's the first 11 that Brewster will put out against Aberdeen and wouldn't be too disappointed if he did. Would like to see more 4-5-1 tactics when we play away from home.

Just got in from the game, good result, decent performance. Disagree with a lot of the comments so far, but i'll post my thoughts later as I need a bath!

I've mentioned it before about being surprised we hadn't made a move for him. Perhaps we are one of the two clubs? We're short of strikers, experienced strikers; Brewster knows him well... what do you think? I've never liked him. Lost all respect for him when he missed 2 one-on-ones against Spain for Scotland saying "He hit the shots too well"; suggesting strikers should be looking to sclaff the ball!? Both efforts were punted straight at the keeper from what i remember. The clubs it won't be: Rangers/Celtic/Aberdeen/Hibs/Hearts (for obvious reasons) Dundee United/St Midden (loads of strikers on the books already). Which leaves us, Hamilton, Killie & Motherwell. It's a real possibility!? Former Dunfermline striker Stevie Crawford has held signing talks with two Scottish Premier League clubs, according to the player's agent. Bill McMurdo says Crawford has turned down a move to an unnamed Championship side and has courted interest from several Scottish Football League clubs. The 34-year-old began his career with Raith Rovers and has had spells with Hibernian, Dundee United and Aberdeen. The forward also played for Scotland, scoring four times in 25 appearances. It is understood that it would be Crawford's preference to remain in Scotland after ending his second spell with Dunfermline this summer. Crawford has previously had two spells in England with Millwall and Plymouth Argyle.

Was hoping that Mikey'd be signed up to a longer deal by now, along with the likes of Cowie and Munro. So perhaps having Esson signed up for 2 years is a good way to safeguard our goalkeeping situation, should (heaven forbid) Mikey decide his future lay elsewhere.

He's not big into football. In fact the only game he's been to see live was when 14 of us went to the France v. Scotland game at Parc de Princes last year. Any game after that would be an anti-climax, especially one at Rothes! I look forward to hearing the match report though and equally look foward to the game on saturday :021:

Had planned on going, but my cousin is back in Scotland for the weekend from Japan; so will catch up with him tonight. Will still make the St Johnstone game hangover permitting :023:

*In reference to Friday's courier story* Interesting... Looking forward to see if we are trying to get Youtube on loan or a permanent deal (with fee?)

Is this guy even CONFIRMED to be on trial??

I've always been extremely impressed with Guy Kerr and Jamie Duff when i've seen them in preseason and reserve games. Excellent distribution and never look panicked... which is something that can't be said about our first choice defence sometimes :tic01: I'd also love to see Vigurs and Sutherland get a game more than the likes of McBain.

Surprised you didn't mention Robbo as well... The website still lists John Docherty as a coach; thought he left?

So does Alec Cleland just coach the under 19s? Didn't realise Charlie and Iain Polworth were working as coaches currently :024: Where have I been when this was announced :symbol_question: "It's hoped that Duncan will come in and work closely with Danny MacDonald, and other coaches such as Charlie Christie, Iain Polworth and Jim Calder"

You must have a much better job than I did at your age to afford the cost of a return journey to Brora from Aberlour, plus ticket etc :clapping03: Still waiting for you to mentn the final score :tic01:

At 16 I'm guessing you a) didn't drive and b) didn't buy the petrol? :016: I look forward to a report of any kind on score, lineup etc

I had planned on going until I saw the distance it is from Elgin! Petrol prices caused a re-think on that plan :33: Anyways, I'd imagine the likes of Esson, perhaps Duncan if he's not injured, Kerr, McGuire, Vigurs, Sutherland, Duff and McAllister will be playing. Hopefully some of the younger lads have a stormer and Brew is there to see it. Looking forward to any positive news :021:

I've been hearing the "Roy puts in a tireless shift" routine for years... You need a lot more than effort to play in a succesful SPL midfield. Look at Evans last night, he probably ran about twice as much as McBain, chasing down everything that came his way and yet he doesn't get defended by those who've cited Roy's 'tireless workrate'. I don't really agree with that statement either; too many times last night there were Roy shaped holes in the center of the pitch because he'd gone up field and strolled back. When he plays as a left midfielder, he'll very rarely get to the 18 yard line and if he does get there it's obvious where he's going, as after 33 years he still hasn't found the time to strengthen his right foot. He has had his good games for us I'll agree, but to be honest I could probably list them on one hand over the last few seasons. Compare that to the likes of Dougie Imrie who's done more in 6 months I feel, than Roy has done in 24 months. We need creative, attacking players if we want to play the ball through the midfield, rather than over it; Roy doesn't fall into that category. That's just the way I feel.

:blah01:

I'd offer him a 6 month deal, and see how he does...

Fraser :003: :003: :003: One good save, let down by defence badly for goals. Tokely :003: :003: Poor game by his standards. Bad positioning and lax marking. Munro :003: :003: :003: Seemed to do ok, can't remember any mistakes. Proctor :003: Poorest game i've seen him have in a while. Beaten to the first ball in the air and on the ground too many times. Zadi: :003: :003: I can see exactly why the County fans were saying he's inconsistent. Hopefully confidence will improve along with first touch and distribution. Black :003: :003: :003: :003: Decent. Good distribution to the wings, but never seemed to move forward with the ball. Needs to attack if there is another defensive player like Duncan playing with him in center midfield. McBain :003: Never been a fan; and yet again I fail to see what he brings to the team. Awful as a center mid, unproductive as a left midfield, passable as a left back. Really really hope he doesn't start against the Dons. Time for Vigurs to take over from him. Evans: :003: :003: :003: Real hunger to chase down the ball and make an impression. Didn't do too much with it, but showed a glimpse of what he is capable of just before going off, when he took on the right full back. Wilson :003: :003: Started brightly, then faded. I've always thought he should never be let near a penalty. The only one i've ever seen him score confidently was in the BT advert, and I hear he needed a fair few takes!! Niculae :003: :003: :003: First touch was a class above. Unlucky with his chances. Really think we lost our attacking edge when he went off. Wood :003: :003: He must've grown a few inches last season as I thought it was Rory to start with. Could only play with back to goal since we went back to long balls, and felt he was being roughed about by the County defence. Still hope. Subs Cowie :003: :003: Tried to do too much at times. Especially with his run back to his own goal only to lose it and give a County forward a one on one. Could do better. Imrie :003: :003: :003: Terrible corners. But once he was back playing on the left he came into a game. Think he will have a fair few assists for Barrowman this season. Barrowman :003: :003: :003: Needs to out himself about more in the headers. Well taken goal and got into good positions. Looking forward to seeing him in the SPL McAllister :003: Unlucky with post, as it was a difficult chance. He's in the last chance saloon this season I think. Hastings :003: Worst game I've seen in a while from him. Defenitely shouldn't be playing center half. Sutherland :003: :003: :003: Good to see him pushing forward at every opportunity, shame most of those were on the break from his own half. Would like him to get 20 - 30 mins in at least one of the first couple of SPL games. Vigurs :003: :003: :003: Criminal that he's only on a one year contract. Wasted on the right midfield, much more effective on the left or in the middle. Cracking goal to add to a list of many cracking goals in the last 6 months. Would love for him to start against the Dons, but can't see it i'm afraid.

Full story here: Broadcast Deal The Gaelic channel looks like it'll be for free. I take it The BT channel will cost to watch?

Perhaps focus might be on us? And Celtic when it's the Rangers game being shown on Setanta? Would love to be able to watch a 90minute replay of an ICT win over Aberdeen, whilst Sky+'ing it to watch again and again :022:

At today?s SPL AGM, the clubs agreed a deal with MNE Media, one of Scotland?s leading independent television production companies. The deal will mean that fans will be able to see full match coverage of one Clydesdale Bank Premier League match on BBC Gaelic every Saturday night over the next two seasons. BBC Gaelic is a new digital channel which will be launched on 19 September. It will be available, with no subscription required, via satellite and cable platforms. MNE Media will select one game from each round of fixtures as the feature match to be shown on an as-live basis around three hours after the final whistle. Their focus will be on matches which are not covered either live by Setanta Sports or on an on-demand basis by BT Vision. Lex Gold, Executive Chairman of the SPL, said: ?This is an interesting initiative and one that we hope will help make the new BBC digital channel attractive to viewers. TV coverage of this kind helps to sustain and build interest in the SPL and our clubs, not only today, but for the next generation of fans. ?Our broadcasting plans for next season are now almost complete and we?re pleased that we are able to provide enhanced coverage of the league.?