DoofersDad

Couldn't agree more, particularly with Jonny back. It is clear that teams are scared of Jonny and whenever he has the ball there are 2 or often 3 defenders on him. That means there should be one or two of our team who are being given space. Putting someone up front with Rooney will mean there is either space to exploit or Jonny gets more freedom to terrorise defences.

I take it that this detail has been posted here because the wise words of the contributors to this forum make it obvious that there are numerous members of CTO who would do a much better job than the present incumbant? I'd like to help but you can't afford me.

It is early days yet but it looks as though more people are going to vote on this pointless poll than in Dougal's pointless poll. I eagerly await Dougal's learned interpretation of this.

Hopefully not. There will be time to do that when it is clear whether we will be in the top 6 or not for the last 5 games of the season. There will be a significant difference in revenue for the club between being in the top 6 or the bottom 6. Terry needs to pick his best team just now and do everything to get that top 6 place.

Don Cowie scored a good goal midweek for watford. http://news.bbc.co.u...v_1/9427201.stm

Someone famous once said "there are lies, damned lies and statistics". Far be it from me to give Dougal a lecture on research methodology but I think everyone other than him will recognise that his conclusion is complete and utter nonsense. He refers to only 24 folk voting. Had nobody voted at all then presumably he would have claimed that there were even more refuseniks because they have all stayed away from having anything to do with ITC. Had 240 voted then he would have claimed that the high number of people who thought there were a lot of refuseniks proved that was the case. What ever the result, Dougal claims it proves his point. Get real, Dougal. The fact that only 24 people voted demonstrates that the vast majority of people who have read any of this thread think it is such a non issue that they can't be bothered to vote. The vast majority who watched the 2 former clubs are now fully behind ICT and delighted about the success the merged club has had. Some people have refused to watch the merged team - how many, I neither know nor care. What I do know is that I have greatly enjoyed the rise and exploits of ICT over recent years and those who have not shared the thrills over the years have missed out and only have themselves to blame.

Given Terry's very upbeat assessment of the performance against Celtic I would be interested in why Sutherland was dropped to the bench today. If Jonny has regained fitness then he had to start and for me that would mean either Ross or Sutherland giving way. Whilst Ross has played well above expectations this season he was looking a bit off the game against Celtic and I think it was right to rest him. Sutherland, however, has been playing very well and looking threatening. He was on the bench so was presumably fit to play but he neither started nor came on as a sub despite us needing to chase the game - I don't understand. At least motherwell lost again so we remain well placed for 6th.

We now have freedom of movement in the EU so I guess it would be difficult to stop the european players (and where would we be without the Irish) but what I always find strange with football is that you seem to be able to get a work permit for a non EU player far easier than you are able to renew your passport. In other trades and professions a foreign national will only be allowed in to work if it can be shown that there is a shortage of people wanting the job from within our own shores. Now if Rangers and Celtic were to advertise a vacancy for a striker or a holding midfield player I am sure there would be loads of young scots only too happy to apply for the vacancy. There is no need to go to Japan or Senegal to be able to fill the vacancy. Having said that, it is good that the system allows the talented players from other nations to play on the bigger stage but there needs to be some balance here. I for one would certainly support a limit on foreign players

I'm sure our Irish boys would be inspired by a clear rendition of this by section G http://www.youtube.c...h?v=OM8Uv5RFOyM

Basically the same tactics for me. If Jonny is fit he should start in place of Ross. A bit harsh on young Nick perhaps but for me he has gone off the boil a bit and Sutherland is showing some good form and looking a real threat. I'd play Sutherland up front with Rooney with Foran wide on the left. Ross and Doran available to come on when Jonny tires or for injury, poor performance, tiring of anybody else.

4 Scottish Cup matches against Celtic and we have been ahead at some stage of the match in all of them. We're still ahead on goal difference. That's some acheivement!

2 - 1 to Celtic was a fair enough reflection of the match. Celtic were the better side but we certainly had our chances to win despite being far from our best. I felt we should have pressured more - we gave Celtic too much time on the ball and were probably fortunate that they didn't make better use of their possession. Esson - Solid as usual Duff - Skinned with regularity in the first half but better in the 2nd. Tokely - best defender Hogg & Munro - reasonably solid performances Lee Cox - worked his socks off but lost possession too often Nick Ross - struggled to day. Would have like to see him off earlier and Jonny on earlier. . Russell Duncan my MOTM by a clear margain. Terrific effort for a full 90 minutes. Sutherland - Another encouraging performance and unlucky not to score. Rooney disappointing apart from a well taken spot kick Foran - an enigma. Some great contributions, a terrible miss and spells when he looks as though he couldn't be bothered. Hayes -didn't have much time and whilst he didn't do much he was surrounded by green and white when he got the ball which helped create space for others Doran - Not on longe enough and hardly got a touch Lets hope the team can lift themselves for the Dundee Utd match. Top 6 is still possible but we will probably need to play better than we did tonight.

To be serious, the key is total commitment. This match is the last thing Celtic want. We've humbled them before and they have a very important match against Rangers at the weekend. They are on a hiding to nothing so we need to be right into them and pressurising them all the time. We need to keep it tight at the back as the worst thing will be to lose and early goal. I've got a good feeling about this one. :ictscarf:

Not Lennon. He'll think he's looking in a mirror.

I don't think it would make much difference. Lennon's first picks for the old firm match will have that on their minds to some extent and will not be wanting to get injured. They will also be nervous about another humbling from us in the cup. Fringe players coming in will have a point to prove and what they may lack in basic talent they will more than make up for with enthusiasm. Whoever Lennon picks it is going to be a very tough match but one in which we have a real chance.

Same in Scotland. Could have semis with Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, Brechin or St J and ICT with both games in Glasgow. Don't think anyone complains about a trip to the national stadium.

Before we get too carried away with thoughts that the Gods of fate are on our side, can I just point out that the away team won last time!

This is clearly a shameless attempt by Dougal to reach 200 red dots before CaleyD or IHE reach 200 green dots. Don't give him the satisfaction. A green dot to you CalyD!

It is not surprising that he left. Knowing that you are behind Andy Barrowman in the pecking order is hardly likely to instill confidence in a young striker. His strike rate was not good (nearly as bad as Marrowman) but as Johnboy says, many of his appearences were as a late sub. My recollection is that he was also pretty unlucky in front of goal and I always felt there was real potential. It is good to see him doing well and getting a couple against SPL opponents today. Whether he could make it in the SPL is another matter but I would like to see him get the chance at a bigger club than Brechin.

Yes - but only if I can get there. Looking out of the window there is 3 inches here and no sign of the snow letting up.

What will be more interesting than the poll results will be to see how many thought it would be worth voting. I am personally surprised that as many as 4 have done so. I'm with the "yawn" and "don't really care" faction.

One of the joys of football is that the game flows for the most part and is not constantly interupted. I would not want to see anything which led to extended pauses whilst the TV ref came to a decision. We have to accept that the ref will get some things wrong and that in general, these things even up over time. If a referee is favouring one side and the other side wants to take issue with that then there is the TV evidence to allow them to do that. The fact is that a lot of the big decisions regarding off side, fouls and diving can actually be very difficult to come to a conclusion on even when we see them after the game in slow motion from various angles. In general, therefore, I say, just let the refs get on with it. Having said that there are exceptions to that where I think intervention from a video official would be justified and that is where significant and clear errors have been made. I'll give 2 examples. One is where the ball has clearly crossed the line and failure to spot that has a clear influence on the game. In the game against Dundee Utd the ball was well over a foot out of play when a Utd player backheeled it into play and the officials had not spotted it. That could have led to a goal or, had it crossed the line between the posts with a defender clearing it, a legitimate goal would have been denied. If a video referee can see there is a clear error like that, then in the sake of fairness, that information should be given to the man in the middle and the original decision reversed. Obviously some judgement would be needed as to whether any incident was clearly wrong and I am sure some reasonable guidance could be developed. The 2nd example relates to another thread on here this evening - Lennon's cheating which got Juanjo sent off. Video evidence is absolutely clear what happened. I would not favour stopping the flow of play to have such incidents reviewed as the ref could ask for several incidents to be reviewed. In this example the ref may well have sent Juanjo off and play continued but the Video ref could have a good look at the incident and when he is clear that there is no doubt as to what happened he could alert the ref at the next stoppage. The ref would then send the cheat off and recall the wrongly accused player from out the shower. This could equally apply to off the ball incidents which the ref will naturally miss. This could cause some confusion in the crowd so the information could be conveyed to the stadium announcer who could them announce the reason to the crowd. For instance "Lennon has been sent of because he is a cheating sh*te". I appreciate that such an arrangement is far from perfect but if we have the technology, I think we should make use of it to correct the most signicant wrong decisions whilst minimising the disruption to the flow of the game.

It would be interesting to know what the referee would have done had it not been a streaker, but a lout attacking the referee. Presumably the referee would expect the players to stand back and watch him get a good kicking because if they went to help they would be in danger of a red card by way of thanks!

Surely this is celebrated in the name of our team !