DoofersDad

So what he is in effect saying is that Lopez does not have a physical presence, isn't a quick runner and doesn't want to chase lost causes. It therefore rather begs the question of why he signed him.

Given our difficult current situation, one player I might have expected more of is Greg Tansey. Last season he was one of the lynch pins of the side and was a major, if often under appreciated, contributor to our success. This season he seems to be less effective at a time when we really need him to step up and impose himself on games. He is offering little going forward and seems a shadow of the player he was last year. Despite the fact that we are currently weaker than last year with departures and injuries, his place in the side must be at risk with the way he has been playing. Polworth was significantly more effective against Partick. Lets hope he can rekindle last season's form - and soon.

We've stretched our unbeaten run to 2 games! Agree with Alex.

I also think he could be a good signing and will perhaps offer a little more creativity for that final ball. He may have had an attitude problem in the past but hopefully he has matured a bit. It was encouraging to read the Yogi was surprised by his good fitness level because that suggests he has really applied himself to keeping himself in shape whilst not signed up with anyone. No doubt there will be those who are unhappy with his return but folk at the club know all about Iain and I am sure they will not have taken him back unless they were convinced he will be an asset to the club.

Good on Ms Dugdale. It needs more people to be vocal at showing up the SNP for what it truly is. This thread was started simply as a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from the disruptive and irresponsible behavior of the rabble we have elected to misrepresent us at Westminster. Any attempt to make a rational argument that the Labour party were making a poorer stab at being an opposition party has been stopped in it's tracks by Laurence's excellent post and so the SNP apologists revert to their typical one liners having a pop at someone who holds a different view. Of course, the Holyrood elections are not that far away now and the political focus really should be directed at the record of this dreadful reactionary and regressive Government we have at the moment. The election should be about the Government's record and the parties' plans for progressing within the Union and utilising the increased devolved powers. Instead the SNP will want to deflect attention from that and make the election a referendum on a referendum

HT 1-0 FT 2-1 ICT Christie Partick Pogba Time 41

HT 2 - 0 FT 2 - 0 Ist ICT None Ist Opp Cummins Time 41

It sounds anything but promising to me. Firstly it suggests that the number and likely duration of the injuries is such that the manager feels we cannot cover the problem without getting players in on loan. Secondly, and more importantly, it suggests that he has already asked the Chairman through the usual internal communication route but that the chairman is unwilling to release the funding. If the Highland News reports Yogi as saying that he has permission from the Board to get players in on loan, then fine. But if he is "asking" via an article in the press then that would suggest a significant breakdown in the relationship between chairman and manager. We shall see.

I would rather see the striker we have actually signed score some goals.

The fact that this thread is up to 27 pages illustrates what a concern our lack of a decent striker is. I am loathe to make an opinion on players until they have had time to adapt to their new team's style of play and get themselves to full fitness but whatever Lopez's attributes may be, he does not look to me like a main striker. When Billy was not scoring, he always looked as though he might. Lopez doesn't. Excuses have been made for Lopez that he is not really match fit but if that is the case then it really shouldn't stop him getting into goal scoring positions - it would stop him coming back from those positions! Loy scored a brilliant poacher's goal for Dundee at the weekend and it reminded me that Billy could score goals like that. Unfortunately I just can't see Lopez scoring that sort of goal because he does not appear to be an instinctive striker. It may be that he is playing deeper than he usually would because of the lack of service he is getting, although when we did manage to get the ball in the box, he was often absent. There was one incident late in the 2nd half, when we should have been pressing for an equalizer, when good work from Mutombo down the left led to the ball being played in to the box. The ball hit a defender and ballooned up as it was diverted. The keeper came to collect at the edge of the box and, if I remember correctly, had the luxury of allowing the ball to bounce before collecting it. Someone near to me asked incredulously "how is the keeper being allowed to collect that!" Lopez was nowhere to be seen and there was no other Inverness player close enough to make a challenge for a slow looping ball at the edge of the box. That to me sums up what our problems are And the worse our injuries are at the back, the more important it is that we create and convert chances at the other end. Personally, I would like to see Christie play more forward. Amongst all the players he is the one who has the awareness, anticipation and turn of pace to get in the right place at the right time. He has demonstrated he can shoot but sometimes lacks composure in front of goal. Getting one or two under his belt would help in that regard. If we can't afford or can't find a new striker we have to work with what we've got and in Christie I think we have the potential for an instinctive goals scorer.

Was listening to the news headlines on Radio 4 earlier and was astonished to hear that our injury woes had made the UK national news! But then I realised they were reporting the latest on the Calais crisis.

Yogi was saying during the week and in the program notes that it would be wrong for fans to have unrealistic expectations about matching last season's achievements. Perhaps this was a deliberately poor performance just to make sure nobody is expecting too much?

Excellent summary by RiG, Of course the injury crisis is a concern but it will pass, What is of more concern to me is the lack of creativity, 3 attempts at goal when you are behind for most of the game at home against the team that finished 11th last year is woeful. We could have carried on all night and still not had a shot on target. There seems to be an obsession of playing balls to feet all the time. Nobody seems to want to play balls into the spaces, nobody seems to want to take the responsibility to take players on or to look to shoot from distance. The one positive I would take from the game was that at least Mutombo looked promising. He at least seemed to understand that we actually needed to score a goal.

Probably just gone down the road to take in the game at Celtic Park tomorrow. Expect them back by Sunday.

I might be wrong but I think the scheme in Highland which Fraz refers to is a sort of long term pilot and the legislation in the Children's and Young People (Scotland) act is aimed to build on this type of experience. The problem is that it appears to extend beyond what any pilot schemes do and the legislation is written in a very loose way and is open to considerable interpretation. There is therefore a lack of clarity of what the named person should do and what they can do. The Highland leaflet is aimed at families and states that the Named Person's job is "to maintain the child's development record and to look into any concerns about the child's well-being". It goes on to state "If you have any concerns about your child's well-being or development then the named person is the person to speak to." This clearly gives the impression that the named person's role is to work with the parents and children when they feel they need support. The new legislation states that the role is "doing such of the following where the named person considers it to be appropriate in order to promote, support or safeguard the well-being of the child or young person." Amongst "the following" is "discussing or raising a matter about the child or young person with a service provider or relevant authority, and such other functions as are specified by this act or any enactment as being functions of a named person in relation to a child or young person." The act would appear to open the door to the named person "interfering" when concerns are raised by other people rather than when the family seeks support. As I said before, all sorts of agencies have made representations regarding the lack of clarity and the implications of different interpretations. By giving a named person a legal responsibility for a child's welfare, the legislation opens a can of worms about liability where the child's welfare is not being addressed. For instance, how can the named person be assured that the child's well-being is fine unless there is some proactive assessment of the child's situation? This would be quite different from the situation Fraz describes and would be time consuming for the Named Person. It would also be seen as state intervention in family life with the need for specific justification which is currently required. This is why it is essential that roles and responsibilities are more clearly defined. In addition the police have also raised serious concerns that where named persons already exist, serious issues of abuse are not being picked up on and the involvement of the named person in the affairs of the family is hampering prompter action by police and social workers. I am sure most people would support the general principle of having an identified person that children and parents can go to for support and information and who can coordinate an action plan with other agencies if required. That appears to be what has happened in Highland and it would seem the scheme has worked well without too many problems. However, despite the experience of the Highland scheme (and others) agencies who are involved in these schemes are very unhappy with the legislation and is is clear that a major examination of these concerns needs to be carried out if the legislation if it is to properly meet the needs of children.

HT 0-1 FT 1-1 ICT Warren Motherwell McDonald Time 41 mins

Astra will be disappointed to only draw against a side who were taken to penalties by the no-hopers from Malta Seriously though, it is dreadful that the side that qualified through the fair play rule have had a player sent off in each of the last 3 Europa league qualifiers. If big Sam was still there they would have sailed through no problem.

It goes a lot further than that. It gives the named person responsibility for the well-being of the child rather than being someone who is simply identified as a contact the child or parent may wish to turn to for help and advice. Whilst the intention may be honorable and the concept may or may not have merit, the problem here is that the draft legislation is just unbelievably incompetent. There is serious lack of clarity around what is expected of the named person, what powers they would have and where accountability lies when things go wrong etc. It is envisaged that typically the named person might be a teacher or a health visitor but organisations representing both the staff and managers of these professional groups have major concerns as to how staff would find time to add these responsibilities into their already stretched workloads. Even bodies supportive of the concept in principle are appalled at the ineptness of the draft proposals. The Scottish Government is currently considering the responses to the consultation and hopefully will recognise that it needs to go back to square one in identifying better ways of protecting the well-being of vulnerable children. It is unfortunate that the media tends to focus on the self righteous utterances of the SNP MPs in opposition at Westminster, when rather more attention should be given to the increasingly incompetent performance of the SNP in Government at Holyrood.

Maybe there are secret merger talks going on!

I have no anti-Hughes agenda. Of course he had a significant contribution to the success of last season, but what I am saying is that there were a range of factors in his favour which should be taken account of in forming expectations for this year. We all have our opinions but in debating points can we please base our arguments on what others actually said and not on what you may have liked them to said. I'll just respond to a few points. I say he inherited a great squad of players and you say "His signings are no more or less successful than his predecessors". Could you please tell me who all these players are that he signed and who were such an integral part of our success last year? You state "you are willing to categorise recent signings as a "mixed bag". I'll wait." What I said was "Signings made to date look a bit of a mixed bag on first impressions, but time will tell." So I'm doing what you are doing - and waiting. "Time will tell". Then you ask "You quote 52% possession averages as being "hardly what you would expect" Can you tell me where that figure lies in relation to all other clubs in the league?" Well the average for the league is obviously 50%! A meager 2% above that does not really sound like a top 3 team basing its game on possession of the football does it? You continue with "but I'm sure that you will agree that the difference that you identify between 1.36 and 1.67 goals per game, averaged over a season, is statistically insignificant." Well, no! I won't agree. That's nearly 20% fewer goals! Fans come to see goals so I hope it is not 20% fewer fans also. That would be very significant indeed. You then say "And please, Rangers making the league stronger? Did you see them last year? They were nothing more than a tired old orthodoxy struggling vainly for any kind of relevance in a game that has passed them by." But The Rangers are not going to be in the top flight this season! What I am saying is that the league last year was weaker than previously when Rangers, Hibs and Hearts were all there. I am also saying that I believe the league will be a little stronger this season than last. But yes, Rangers were rubbish last year although you will recall they still managed to knock us out of the League cup because of our negative approach to the game. Finally you say "I'll await this season in expectation, hope and a genuine belief that we can replicate the league achievements of last year. And I'll give Hughes the credit he deserves if it happens." Whilst I don't share your belief that we can replicate last season's top 3 finish, I agree with the rest. If we do have a top 3 finish the humble pie will be taken out of the freezer. I trust that if we don't make top six you will be humble enough to revise your opinion of just how far forward Hughes has taken the club.

After the euphoria of a top 3 finsh, qualification for Europe and winning the cup, I'm glad to see some some sensible expectations here. PerfICT and RiG sum things up pretty well but I think we are more likely to feature at the bottom end of the table than the top. With the success last season many people confessed to eating humble pie regarding Yogi. I have to confess that my humble pie is still firmly in place at the back of the freezer and I remain unconvinced. Of course last year's success was brilliant but I think it is unfortunate that so much of the credit is directed at Hughes. I think our success last year flattered us in relation the general level of performance but nevertheless was rich reward for the club as a whole - to the Board who have managed the finances of the club responsibly over the years and to the backroom staff and volunteers who have done so much to make the steady rise of the club possible. Hughes just happened to be in the right place at the right time and was lucky. He was lucky for a number of reasons. He inherited the best squad of players this club has ever had. It is this squad he has used during his more than one and half seasons here and it afforded him huge stability for his first full season. We were remarkably injury free last season. True Foran was absent throughout, but with the rest of the squad fit he would have been struggling to feature in the starting line up. The season saw the emergence of Ryan Christie from the youth ranks. He became increasingly influential and his value to the team is reflected in the number of bigger clubs keeping tabs on him. The league was the weakest for years. There was no Rangers, Hibs or Hearts. Motherwell and Kilmarnock were significantly poorer than usual and Dundee Utd hit the self destruct button half way through the season. And if truth be told, apart from the semifinal all our ties in the cup were against struggling clubs and we generally struggled to beat them. I'll come back to Celtic later. The record books will show that Hughes has taken us to our highest ever league position and won the cup, but some of the stats behind that paint a bit of a different picture. Looking back over the last 3 seasons and splitting them into the pre-Hughes era and the Hughes era the facts for the 3 league campaigns are these. Points per game: Pre-Hughes 1.61 : 1.49 Hughes Goals scored per game 1.67 : 1.19 Goals conceded per game 1.39 : 1.19 Goal Difference +14 : 0 Given all the positive factors going for us last season, I struggle to see how these figures demonstrate the significant progression of the team that some would have us believe. What is particularly worrying for me is the dramatic drop in the number of goals scored per game (and that was when we actually had a decent striker!) I know we were awful in the 2nd half of the 2013/14 season but last season we only managed 1.36 goals per game compared to 1.67 in the final year and a bit of the Butcher era.. Hughes has radically changed the style of play with an oft repeated emphasis on possession, but are we actually keeping possession? The fact is, our record on that is no too good either. Over the course of the league season last year we averaged only 52%. Hardly the sort of figure you would expect of a team which focuses on possession football and which finishes 3rd in the league. This is why I worry about the coming season. We are focusing on possession even though we are not actually that successful at it and as a result we create very little in the final third and score very few goals. I worry even more following Latapy's departure because I do sense that he was trying to advocate a more positive approach. It is worth saying a quick word about playing Celtic. We do pretty well against them and I think the reason is that they expect to dominate teams and simply try to play through any team at Scottish level. This leaves space behind them which suits a counter attacking style of play. It probably particularly suited Shinnie, Watkins and Mckay who, alas are all gone. We manage to do well against Celtic because when we win possession we are in a position to get behind them. Other teams sit back against us and we try to patiently play a tight passing game through them. Occasionally it works and it can be great to watch but for long periods we get tedious sparring in the middle of the park interspersed by a panicky back pass or two. What I'm saying is that we are at risk of being found out this season. We have lost some key players, the league will be stronger and we may not have the same luck with avoiding injuries this season. This season we will really see what Yogi is made of. Does he have the ability in the transfer market to adequately replace those who have left? Signings made to date look a bit of a mixed bag on first impressions, but time will tell. Will he be able to persuade those he wants to stay to extend their contracts beyond the end of the season? Will he find a way of introducing a bit more creativity into his style of play both to create both more chances and better entertainment value? Unless the answers to those questions are "Yes", then we will struggle this season and gates will fall.

Representing your constituents does not mean blindly voting in the way you think your constituents want. Those in the labour party who have resisted the simplistic rhetoric of the left wing should be applauded for having the courage to act responsibly in relation to welfare spending. It must be clear to everyone that the whole welfare system is a mess and needs reform. It has grown arms and legs and the reason why so many on the political left are up in arms about this is that so many of them have their noses in the trough. It is all about self interest rather than directing welfare funding where it is most needed. Whilst there is much I would disagree with the Tories about, the need to reduce welfare costs by getting people out of welfare and into jobs is surely something every one should support. The exception will presumably be those who are currently on welfare and getting more money than others who are in full time work. The Tories are absolutely right to seek to put an end to the utterly absurd measure of poverty we currently have in this country. Getting rid of that meaningless statistic will allow a focus to be put on those with greatest need. Predictably the SNP are attacking the Tories for wanting rid of the measure. Bear in mind that in a growing economy, if the wealth is shared out pro-rata to current wealth distribution, the measure would still report the same levels of poverty even if everyone had twice as much disposable income. It would do this because it is not a measure of poverty, it is a measure of relative wealth. Knowing the economy is growing, the SNP see the opportunity to bleat to the electorate that despite the UK economy growing, poverty levels in Scotland have not fallen. It is complete nonsense of course, but it is nonsense which can be backed up by an official statistic and which will resonate amongst the electorate. There are people on the right of the Labour party who have come to the understanding that the level of public spending in this country is not sustainable and that therefore welfare budgets need restructuring in order to adequately provide for those with greatest need. Unless those on the left can also accept that basic fact, the Tories will be in power for a long, long time (which is why Salmond is openly supporting Corbyn in the labour leadership contest - not that it should be any of his business, of course!) Meanwhile we can expect the SNP to continue to stir up the left and oppose much needed reform of the welfare system (and they dare to brand themselves as a progressive party!). I'll finish on a prediction. If Scotland becomes independent and if the SNP are the first Government of an independent Scotland, one of the first things they will do is to introduce loads of policy which they are currently opposing. They would have to do that or else the country would go bankrupt (although I'm not sure in which currency it would go bankrupt!)

I don't see a problem. If a player has not received a "better" offer it will be because clubs feel he is not worth the kind of money he is looking for. If a player aspires to play at a level warranting that kind of money then he needs to prove himself. He will only be able to prove himself if he gives 100% to the cause and develops as a player. He might even like it here and decide to stay (if offered an extension)!

I think my gripe would be about the Parliamentary question about contingency plans for a second referendum followed up by Salmond's assertion that a 2nd referendum is inevitable. There should of course be no need for contingency plans because both the then First Minister and the present First Minister stated that the referendum was a once in a generation if not once in a lifetime. No doubt the SNP MP who raised the question raised it because she is well aware that her leaders are completely untrustworthy. Interestingly, one of Salmond's reasons for arguing for a 2nd referendum was the difference in Welfare policy North and South of the border and the impact of the austerity agenda. This really is a bit rich coming from a man who has contributed so much to squeezing public services by freezing the Council Tax - a tax for which increased charges could be afforded by the better off in society and which would benefit the poor and disadvantaged most. All this nonsense from the SNP is designed to distract us from their increasingly poor performance as the party of Government in Scotland. As a result, further criticism at the weekend from GPs about the Government's mismanagement of the Health Service did not get the level of scrutiny it deserved.. The SNP leadership know they have to get a 2nd referendum before their bubble bursts. Unfortunately the bubble seems unlikely to burst whilst Labour are in such turmoil. Expect more SNP nonsense at Westminster and a Holyrood manifesto which opens the door to a second referendum.

One of the worrying aspects of this is the lack of faith being shown in our two young strikers Sutherland and Ferguson. Despite our lack of replacements for Mckay and Watkins, neither of the youngsters was even on the bench for either of the Astra games and we seemed to be one short on the bench in Romania. Maybe they are both out injured but surely this would have given options. I've heard it said that Yogi is reluctant to play youngsters before they are ready . I certainly agree that unrealistic expectations can put a lot of pressure on youngsters but if they are good enough they are good enough. If either or both of them was fit or available I can't think of anything that would dent their confidence more than seeing that empty space on the bench whilst the manager allows a new signing to play the full 90 minutes in stifling heat when, by his own admission, Lopez is not match fit.