DoofersDad

What! A 5-2 home win?

HT 2-0 FT. 3-1 ICT. Walsh Opp Ginnelly

Hmm. I think I'd rather have played Covid Rangers and lost 3-0.

HT. 0-1 FT. 1-2 ICT. McGregor Opp. Vigurs

I wasn't able to see any of the Peterhead match but was greatly encouraged by what others had said. Such a disappointment then to witness this lacklustre performance. When we got the well worked equaliser I thought we would go on to win comfortably. It should have given us a boost but we seemed to drop off the pace, and when we did create chances our efforts on goal were woeful. Fair play to Stirling though. They looked better than some Championship sides I've seen and they moved forward quickly with good movement from players who at times seemed quicker and fitter than us. They looked a real threat on the break and might easily have scored more. We played some tidy football at times with good ball retention and interplay in midfield, but there was a lack of movement up front, we were rarely able to find the defence splitting passes and any crosses into the box were generally poor. As for the defence; being lucky to concede only 2 goals at home against a part time team 2 divisions below us tells its own story. But hey. It was back to watching live football and that is a real positive.

HT. 2-0 FT. 4-0 ICT. Duku Opp. Flanagan

A timely reminder that there is a lot of Covid circulating locally. Everyone at the club has done a tremendous job in trying to keep the club Covid free, so hopefully everyone going to the Stirling game will follow the rules and help to keep it that way.

Definitely need a few more to sign up for this. Only 9 were in it last season and Doofer's Mum came 2nd. That can't be allowed to happen again! Seriously though it is a great little challenge which only takes a couple of minutes to do before each round of league games. It's a bit like betting but without losing any money.

HT. 1-0 FT. 3-1 ICT. Duku Opp. McLean

We signed goalkeeper Ryan Esson from Hereford in 2008. He's still with us as a coach. I doubt many at Hereford remember him though. He only played one game for the Bulls at the end of the season before being released.

Judging from Friday's performance, the person he is most likely to have passed it onto is Mason Mount! But terribly bad luck for the young man who must have been relishing the prospect of playing against Modric and co. Let's hope nobody else tests positive and Scotland can make it through to the last 16.

This announcement just one day after they appoint a new manager! Is this Uncle Roy's way of telling Mackay who makes the decisions about playing personnel?

Terrific achievement from the players and coaches. And what an inspiration for the youngsters coming on behind. It has been such a challenging season in so many ways, so this is wonderfully positive news with which to end the season.

Brechin?

Managed to see most of the 2nd half and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some good play from both sides. One or 2 glitches with the stream but overall a better experience that we've had all season and with the potential for this to be an excellent stream.

If true, that's probably a ploy for the Rangers to give him a substantial pay rise. I've heard it said that their success this year is due more to Beale than Gerrard, and they won't want to lose him. Having said that, he is somebody who may well want to have a managerial career. Taking a head coach role at an ambitious smaller club with the support of someone like Robbo may well be the perfect stepping stone for him, even it it means taking a pay cut. I imagine many of the more established managers would not want to work under a sporting director so I would expect a younger, relatively unknown person to be appointed.

Just because a club is bigger and wealthier does not necessarily give it more negotiating power. In fact, being wealthier means the selling club is well aware that the buying club can afford to pay more if they are really keen on securing the player. There are a range of other factors too, for instance, if a number of clubs are interested in the player then the selling club's negotiating position is strengthened. Obviously a big club won't want to pay a fee when a player leaves on a free, but when they initially buy the player they will have the expectation of selling the player on later and not having the player leave as a free agent. It is a bit of a gamble to pay a little less up front for agreeing to pay up in these circumstances, but more often than not they wouldn't be required to pay and so on balance they are quids in. The benefit to the smaller club is that there is a guarantee of a minimum follow on fee if the players moves on and this can help with financial stability. Accepting a smaller initial fee in return for a clause like that is a bit like paying a slightly higher insurance premium for an increased element of cover.

Ryan's situation is a good example. Obviously I don't know what the contract between ICT and Celtic contained, although we have been told there is a sell on clause. It may be that the sell on clause simply says that we receive a set percentage of any fee Celtic get for selling Ryan on. But there is no reason why the contract between ICT and Celtic couldn't have specified that if Ryan moves on without a fee being payed to Celtic from Club 3, a payment would be made by Celtic to ICT. After all, why should ICT lose out just because Celtic fail to get a fee, particularly as sell on clauses will often mean that the initial fee paid is a bit lower?

I'm talking about the contracts negotiated between the clubs. With a decent sell on clause, the original club will still get a payment from the 2nd club if the 2nd club allow the player to leave as a free agent.

I'll echo those thanks to Gringo for the NPL and also for the less popular but equally enjoyable Prediction League. This year, everybody in the Prediction League had a top 10 finish so it would be great if more joined in next season to make it more competitive.

A sell on clause could stipulate, say, 10% of the transfer fee but with a minimum to be paid when the player moves on. So, if 10% of the new transfer fee was less than the minimum, or if the player leaves for free at the end of their, contract then that minimum fee would be payable to us. That way, we don't lose out as a result of contract negotiations that we have no part in.

A decent sell on clause might be more important in the long run.

I thought that in the first half we showed a lot of good movement up front giving options for Welsh and Allan They won a lot of possession and rarely wasted it. It was Welsh who played a peach of a pass to MacKay for the opener. When MacKay and Sutherland were subbed we were a lot more static up front and we resorted to balls going square and back too often. Young Lyall looked a talent and it is a shame he hasn't had a bit more game time in his spell here. It was a game we should have won but I guess that with nothing particular at stake, it is inevitable there wasn't quite the edge to the motivation. A draw was a fair result at the end of the day. Just a word on Robbie Deas who put in another excellent performance today. Robbie has been ever present in the team this season. He only turned 21 earlier this year but has put in some mature performances alongside the more experienced Danny Devine. They have formed a solid partnership and it is worth noting that the final table shows that only Champions Hearts have conceded less goals than us. Robbie, as a defender, may not get the accolades that the attacking players get, but he has been a real star for us this season. Well done Robbie!

I’d prefer 5-2

Oh for a stream with replays!