DoofersDad

I believe it was for the former Chairman of Inverness Thistle at the time of the merger. Who ever it was for it was great to see the silence impecably observed by both sets of fans.

Couldn't agree more. There is potentially a huge banana skin waiting for us here if we take it lightly. I'd field our strongest team possible. No fiddling about! Likewise. A good cup run would be good but what is important just now is to get a good win under our belts. We need Rooney and one or two others regaining a bit of confidence by hitting the back of the net. We need the feelgood factor back.

Ah, a great memory - and I wasn't even there!

BBC report summed it up as a very good game but with the difference being how the Killie midfield supported a lot better and were more creative. That seemed to sum up the St Mirren match too. It seems we are missing Jonny more than we should and I would certainly like to see Blumenshtein and Sanchez given a chance to freshen things up. But let's not get carried away here and have talk of a risk of going into free fall. We've lost 2 matches against teams who played very well and who perhaps got the rub of the green. There are maybe things which could and should improve but we'll win again soon and the fact is that we remain on course for the highest ever finish in the clubs history. Sounds good to me.

Personally I can't think that any of the players give a toss what I say. But I disagree with your basic point which I take to be that what might be perceived as negative vibes on this forum will have a negative impact on the players. The whole point of the forum is to give folk the opportunity to voice their opinions and it is inevitable that we get some well informed, inteligent comment and some comment that is simply barking mad. Every one has their view and should be able to voice it. And so we will get some overly critical comments which you are free either to debate or ignore. How the players react to what we say is not really our concern. It's a fans' forum and not a players' one. In my view players should be told to ignore it. To be fair, I think there is very little negativity at the moment but let's not kid ourselves that things couldn't be better. I think nearly everyone feels that sitting 4th at this stage of the season is way beyond our expectatons but I think it is absolutely fair to express some concern about our home form and to debate that. The vast majority of teams do a lot better at home than away - teams in the SPL and ICT in particular seem to buck that trend. Our away form shows that we are a very good side indeed and if only we could translate that into home form then a top 6 finish would be a dead cert and a European spot would be a very realistic target. It isn't the rantings of ill informed amateurs like me on this forum that will play on the minds of the players, it is theconstant mood of discontent amongst the crowd and the shouts of frustration when there are misplaced passes etc. That simply must add to the pressure the players feel. This is a very valid thread led off well with a good post from IHE. So let's voice any concerns here and not at the stadium.

I would start with the same team. Some of them will know they let themselves down on Sunday and wil be out to redeem themselves. There may have been a bit of complacency after an early goal and they would not have expected St Mirren to play so well. There will be no complaceny tomorrow. But tactically we have to be more positive. Against St Mirren we were usually outnumbered going forward and Rooney in particular never found any space. We have players who can pass - so lets pass it. Far too often it was the old hoof ball tactic on Sunday and with us outnumbered by a big defence, that was never going to work. If it ain't working then the changes need to come sooner. Clearly TB has done a great job since he's been here but he's prone to making wrong decisions around substitutions. We have options available, so let's use them. It was too little too late and on Sunday we need to give the likes of Sanchez and Blumenshtein the opportunity to show what they can do.

I thought the ref had a poor one as well with far too much holding and shirt pulling on Rooney going unpunished. I don't know if Rooney got a new fragrenced body spray for Christmas but the defenders couldn't keep their hands off him. Perhaps Adam should refrain from showering again till after Wednesday night - that might keep the Killie defenders at arms length. As for the penalty, it was a clear handball but the ref was unsighted and couldn't have given it.

We didn't particularly miss Hayes yesterday - we were poor because too many of the more senior players were poor and the tactics were poor. Sutherland, who came in instead was probably our best outfield player. We played better against Hearts when Hayes was playing but he had a very poor game and contributed little. We have enough good players in the squad - we just need enough of them to be on their game at the same time.

Pass marks to Esson and the youngsters Shinnie, Ross and Sutherland. Particular criticism to Foran who did very little and seemed to provide no leadership at all. The quickest he moved all afternoon was when he was taken off. Criticism to Butcher as well. The team played far too deep and the the substitions were too little too late. A top 6 finish seems unlikely on this showing. We have got to start winning this type of match.

There was just the one lad who had clearly been a tad heavy on the heavy or whatever his tipple was and he let himself, his mates and his team down. I commented on another thread about how good it was to see folk who are new to ICT taking their youngsters to the game and it is precisely this sort of behaviour that will stop people like that coming back. I understand top six's point that there are more uplifting things to talk about but there are plenty other threads on that. Ironically, it is his very point that makes this thread so valid. On a day when the team completed the quite stunning acheivement of going through 2010 unbeaten away from home in the league, we have someone in our midst who decides to spend his time shouting foul mouthed abuse at Hearts fans and slagging off our highly respected captain, but who doesn't join in the fantastic, almost constant supportive and good humoured chanting that others close by were. I think that is worthy of a thread. If you can't give support to your team on such a historic day then when can you! Those sitting a little further away would have been excused for thinking it was Neil Lennon sitting there on his day off

Sorry, Son. I promise I'll behave better next time.

The success seems to be bringing in folk who maybe haven't taken a great interest in in ICT up till now. Yesterday after a stirring 10 minute rendition of "Caleyaway with Terry and Mo" had ended, a young lad behind me asked his Dad who Terry and Mo were. Dad replied that "Terry" was Terry Butcher the manager and "Mo" was Mo Johnston, his assistant. A wee bit to learn, perhaps but fair play to him, he was there and joining in some of the singing too. Continued success can only encourage more folk to come to matches and hopefully the enthusiasm and good humour of (most of) the fans will encourgage them to keep coming. I have to confess that it is a long time since I have been to an away league match (apart from County) and I thoroughly enjoyed the day out. I must do it more often!

Whilst this is a great acheivement and is getting some media attention, it really is not getting enough. It is actually a quite STUNNING achievement. As the year has progressed and there was talk first of going 12 months unbeaten and then a full calender year this must have placed tremendous pressure on the players. Yet in the last few weeks they have drawn away against the top 3 teams in the country. With apologies if this has been asked and communicated before but does anyone know when any team acheived this before and in particular when any team outside of the old firm has acheived that? It must be a very rare acheivement indeed. Of course, the run will have to end soon and will probably end against one of the poorer terams in a match we dominate. But end it will, so enjoy the moment! Well done Terry and Mo, and everybody else involved. We're all so proud of you!

We certainly rode our luck against a very good Hearts side. Wow, the young lad Templeton is some player! It was a shame Hayes was so out of sorts because there was space for him with Hearts pressing all the time. However, for all Hearts effort (and Jeffries was very pleased with their performance) the stats showed we had more shots on target. This demonstrates how defensively we are solid whilst creating chances up front. We will play worse than that and win against poorer sides than Hearts.

Ryan Esson saved his bacon by saving the penalty. What if Miller had scored? Would Murray then have said : Sorry boys - I cost you a couple of points there. Nothing we can do about it now, I'm afraid. No idea. Fact is that Miller didn't score and Murray did apologise. We can only pass comment on that and not what he might or might not have said if something different had happened.

The refs just get a quick look in the heat of the moment whilst trying to keep an awareness of other things going on around them. Inevitably they get some things wrong and miss other things. We have to accept that. What we don't have to accept is the response of the managers of the clubs. They will analyse footage of the games in some detail and Walter Smith will be well aware that Beatie cheated last week. So what is he doing about it? Patting the lad on the back, probably. Whilst referees should take tough action when they are sure players have dived, if this kind of cheating is to be stamped out it requires action from the clubs. Managers should be big enough to publicly state they will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and impose bans themselves. Some may argue that managers won't do that because it may jeopardise the teams chances - but teams will ban players for breaches of internal discipline. So apparently it's OK to cheat but not to break a club rule. In fact, a public stance condemning cheating and banning players who do, may work out in their favour in the long run. If the refs know that diving is not tolerated by the clubs then they just may be more inclined to give players from those clubs the benefit of the doubt. Oh, and fair play to Murray for being big enough to apologise.

Maybe Brown's move to Aberdeen was a smart move after all!

Read in the P&J that TB is the 4th longest serving manager in the SPL - and he's not been here 2 years. Reid is the longest serving. This manager merry-go-round is not good for the game.

Go for it. You know it makes sense. Even if the match is off there will be plenty of entertainment options in the city which, to be honest, you would probably enjoy more than watching a Rooney hatrick.

Another strange one. Blackburn are a team who have consistently performed at a higher level than you would expect for a town of that size. Blackburn had a good season last year and are mid table this year so I wonder just what the new owners expect. I thought Allardyce was the right man for the job and just like Pardew at Newcastle, the new manager is going to have to do a very good job indeed to convince the fans that he is the right man for the job.

I think they are all stars, but now that Barrowman has gone I don't really have a favourite.

I'll bet the Irish guys who shook hands with him after the match were pleased to hear about this!

Terry has been known not to be honest with refs himself in the past. For example "Honest ref, I'm fine. It's just a little nick!"

Craigy, you have used the term "honest mistakes" in your thread title and then in your post imply that the referee yesterday gave the penalty to Rangers because he's a Rangers fan and wants to see then in the Champion's league! How on earth do you expect anybody to take you seriously? How about using your own forum to suggest your obnoxious manager treats referees with a bit more respect instead of coming on here to have a dig at Rangers.

:laugh: Nice one. A green dot for being able to laugh at your own situation - which, actually, is not as bad as it ought to be