DoofersDad

It’s interesting that the stated reason for stopping public events with over 500 people in Scotland is to relieve pressure on the emergency services. It is not a measure designed to reduce virus spread. But given that we don’t have a police presence or standby ambulance at most of our games then this might be regarded as rather arbitrary. As yet, I think this is still just a “suggestion” rather than a Government directive and I am sure the SFA will be seeking some urgent clarification and discussion on the implications of the suggestion. The SFA have confirmed that all of Saturday’s games are going ahead as usual.

I find it hard to believe that Hearts have only won 4 league games all season! Despite that, they are only 2 wins away from 10th place and all the bottom 5 have lost the same number of games. So it's too close to call at the moment. I wonder if Kilmarnock will get sucked into the relegation dog fight. At the end of November they were in 5th place and a comfortable 8 points clear of the bottom 6. Since then, they have got just 11 points from 15 games and are 8th and an uncomfortable 6 points clear of the play-off place. I'd fancy our chances against them.

3 well taken goals but we should have been out of sight before Queens pulled one back and the nerves started jangling. Terrific energy in the middle of the park from Carson, Trafford and Vincent was probably the key, but great energy and movement also from Storey and Keatings upfront. Generally solid at the back so another good all round performance. Having said that, it must be said that QOS were awful but perhaps that was because our energy and movement forced them into mistakes. The fact that with our small squad we can freshen things up by successfully making so many changes has to give us confidence about holding on to 2nd place. Looking forward to seeing video of Keatings goal. At the time it looked as though it was diverted by a force field in mid-air - or maybe I need my eyes tested!

Please see the updated information above.

It's a fast developing situation and it seems inevitable that there will be some level of restriction on social gatherings and sporting events. If that happens then it is bound to have a financial impact on the club along with a wide range of businesses. Any measures taken will be designed to limit the spread of the disease and to protect the most vulnerable in society. All we can do is follow the advice given and then come together as a community afterwards to support individuals and businesses who have been most impacted by this.

Nice little piece about Nick Ross on the BBC website. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51742636

I don't think the decision was a case of protecting the referee. I was interested to note that at the same appeals session, Hamilton's appeal against Jamie Hamilton's red card against Hearts was upheld. In that case I think the panel applied a bit of common sense, but it was a far less straightforward one than Keatings'. In Hamilton's case the ball clearly did hit his arm but it did not appear to be deliberate and the contact resulted in Hamilton having less control of the ball. Nevertheless, you can understand why the referee gave Hamilton a red card. One might argue the panel should not have upheld that appeal because it is perhaps not obvious that the referee made an error. That to me makes that decision to be a sensible common sense one. In the Keatings' case there surely is an obvious error. Dickson clearly makes no attempt to play the ball. He doesn't even have his eyes on the ball; he has his eyes on Keatings. You can see him lean into Keatings and give Keatings a nudge and you can see the impact of that nudge on Keatings. It is a clear and obvious foul. I also think it was clearly an intentional foul both because Dickson made no attempt to go for the ball and because he applauded the referee's decision. Had he realised he had been beaten to the ball and was genuinely trying to avoid the collision, he would not have done that knowing there actually was contact. Not only should the appeal panel have upheld the appeal, they should have referred Dickson to the Compliance Officer. This seems to me a clear case of the SFA punishing a player for the remarks the manager made. Yet again the SFA have demonstrated that their disciplinary processes are not fit for purpose.

Supporters Trust is right behind the club on this one. Well done to the Chairman and CEO for their courageous statement today!

Friday night! Well, there's a surprise! It's annoying, but RiG's analysis suggests there may not have been too many options on this one. With it being shown live on BBC, I can't see many travelling down from the Highlands on a Friday night for this. But I'm sure those that do go will, as usual, make it sound as though there are a lot more ICT fans there than there actually are. At this stage in the competition the team will need all the help they can get.

I have to say, I rather enjoyed the game. The wind was a major factor and it was quite amusing seeing how completely inept Livi were in coping with it. They never seemed to quite understand that a 40mph wind would blow the ball off course. I think it was 3 times their keeper kicked the ball straight out for a throw in. Remarkably, Douglas Ross actually awarded the throw in to us on each occasion! We certainly coped with the conditions better but it was the commitment of the entire team which so impressed. Livi were chased and harried when they got the ball, and as a result were rarely able to impose themselves on the game. Nobody had a poor game but Welsh, Carson and Trafford were all excellent in midfield. Also a mention to Mckay and McHattie who did a great job in central defence following the departure of the established 1st choice pairing. We have these excellent team performances from time to time and one just wishes that this level of commitment was shown on a more regular basis. A very disappointing crowd but great to see some of the young lads back and making a bit of very welcome noise!

Just over 20 years ago the tie against Celtic had to be postponed not long before kick off due to wind damage at Celtic Park. The tie was then re-arranged for Feb 8th. Surely 20 years on we are not going to have a cup game either postponed or abandoned because of high winds!

It's obviously disappointing not to win but I'm not as negative as some. Alloa may be part time but they are certainly no mugs and have now taken 11 points from their last 5 games which is better than any team in the division. It was a game we certainly should have won given the chances we created but as is so often the case we failed to win both because we don't capitalise on the chances we make and we self destruct at the back. The penalty was soft. It looked like a perfectly fair shoulder to shoulder from Rooney but it was also totally unnecessary. He was in position to get to the ball first and shepherd it out of play without using the shoulder. He asked the referee a question and the referee got the answer wrong. From then on, we were chasing the game and for the most part did that reasonably well. Tremarco and Doran were getting balls across from the left and Storey and Rooney were doing the same from the right. What is encouraging is that according to to the BBC we had 23 attempts on goal which was 5 more than any other team in Scotland. Surely that's a positive! It isn't that we aren't creating, it is that we need to be more clinical in front of goal. Despite all our attempts at goal the Alloa keeper was never seriously tested apart from the one goal. Any saves he made were routine. White again had chances where he should have done better, but the worst misses today were probably by Storey who demonstrated why playing him as the main striker would be unlikely to solve our problems. According to BBC stats he has scored just twice from no less than 29 attempts at goal this season. It was good to see Sean Welsh come on in the 2nd half and it was a cute ball from him which played White in for the goal. There were other opportunities for more dinked balls to be played in behind the defence, and whilst White seemed to be alive to the opportunity, some of our midfielders just don't seem to see that kind of ball. It'll be interesting to see what we can create against Livi next week. Motherwell only had one attempt at goal against them today so we are going to need to create a lot more than that if we are going to progress to the next round.

Losing both Donaldson and McCart is a huge blow. Whilst other clubs are strengthening in the transfer window, we are weakening. Combined with our lack of fire power up top, it is very difficult to see how we will be able to maintain the consistency for the rest of the season to stay in the play off positions, let alone to show the extra quality to win the play offs. However, Welsh and Walsh returning to the side will be a real bonus and we have a lot of options in midfield. Both Carson and Vincent have played at the back before so we do have some flexibility to move things around, although it is far from ideal. One positive thing about this is that the departure of our 2 best central defenders to Premier League sides prepared to pay a fee for them shows again the ability of this club to identify players with promise and develop them. Our record in that department will attract players with potential to us, but that alone is clearly not going to get us back into the top flight. We lose our best players when we need them most, but we will only keep them if we can offer them a contract which persuades them to stay for an extra year or two. We need money for that.

With regard to the disallowed goal, I think it is impossible to see from that camera angle. Jordan certainly had his arms up and out a bit but he had his eyes firmly on the ball. It looked as though the keeper ran into him rather than Jordan making contact with the keeper, however, the telling thing for me was lack of reaction from the other ICT players. None of them seemed to be looking to celebrate a goal or to show any dissent at the decision and they were in a good place to see. Sad to say, the footage also shows other efforts Jordan had which were, frankly, woeful.

The Supporters Trust, in conjunction with the Angel Wings Baby James Legacy, is delighted to announce that it is holding what promises to be an exciting evening event on Saturday 21st March in the P&J lounge at the Stadium. Tickets will cost £26.64 (£25 + booking fee) and are available from Eventbrite. This event is to celebrate the first 25 years of the club's history and to relive some of the fantastic memories those years have provided us with. To help us do that we will watch some video footage from the archive, have a little quiz, listen to a speaker from the club's proud past and have a Q&A session. We are calling it a "legends evening" not just because we will be reliving some of the great moments the legends of our club have provided over the years, but because some of the legends will sharing these memories with us in person. A 2 course buffet meal will be included in the cost of the ticket. Come and join us - it should be great fun! Further details to follow. Ticket numbers will be limited so book early on the link below to avoid disappointment. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/25th-anniversary-legends-evening-tickets-89468106515 ** UPDATE. March 9th. ** The club has kindly agreed to have the Sports Bar open after the Dundee game whilst the P&J lounge is turned around after match day hospitality. Ticket price includes a 2 course buffet which will include a hot main course. The MC for the evening will be Paul Chalk who many of you will know from his "Alive 'N Kicking" show on North Highland Radio between 7-9 on a Friday evening. A number of ICT Legends will be joining us for this fun evening. This will include Mike Noble, Stuart Golabek and Ross Tokely.

Good to get a home draw and it could be a lot worse than Livi. It won't be a tie they fancy but they will be favourites. They are 5th in the Premiership and are there on merit. They are a well organised and extremely hard working side. We will need to match them on those attributes and hope our flair players can unlock their defence. It should be a good game.

You make more money in the transfer market if you can tie players into longer term contracts. But you can only tie them into longer contracts if you can offer them a decent wage over the period. We simply can't do that. I think we should all be well aware now of the problems caused by having players on long term, contracts where the wages being paid are no longer viable when the club's income drops drastically.

That being the case, there must be real concern about the state of the pitch. We have had a quiet couple of days weatherise but prolonged heavy rain is forecast overnight and into tomorrow. The longer range forecast suggests the next 3 or 4 weeks could be wetter than average, so if the pitch is not playable now, it begs the question of when it will be playable. I have some vague recollection of someone saying something about an aquifer?

Robbo's record of finding unheralded players and turning them into players bigger clubs want to sign is way better than his 2 predecessors. I can't be bothered with speculation about who we may or may not be looking at. If Robbo thinks they are good enough, then that's good enough for me.

I am sure the club is offering more money if we get promoted, but with our financial situation, what we can offer in the Premiership is probably less than what County and Dundee can offer in the Championship.

It's just the nature of our club. We have a small budget, we bring players in on low wages, we improve them, they move on to clubs who can afford bigger wages, we bring more players in on low wages to replace them etc, etc. What we need to get better at is moving players on whilst still under contract and getting something for them.

I'd play them for now. If we are to have any hope of getting promotion we need our strongest team in the park. If a player has signed a PCA then you would expect him to want to move in January if possible in order to start picking up the bigger wage sooner and (if moving to a Premiership club) play against the top flight clubs. It is therefore in their interests to give their all in these games to persuade the teams then have a PCA with to do what is necessary to get early release. It will be a different matter if a move is not agreed in January though. In that case, with the PCA in place, there is not the same need to impress, and whilst they may genuinely try to do the best for the club and their team mates, there will be a loss of that fighting edge. If we can get some money now for anyone who has a PCA then it's probably best to get some money for an early release. It's all conjecture at the moment but if Rooney is going to leave us then I would have thought he should be having Premiership ambitions. Rather than go to Dundee, he would be better staying here for the rest of the season and showing people what he is capable of. He shouldn't be short of offers then.

That sounds more believable. I can’t see any benefit to Celtic of making the approach as a low offer would rather give the game away as to what they may be willing to accept for Ryan. Also, my understanding is that 14% is not the figure agreed. Having said that, regardless of who is taking the initiative I would say both clubs should be happy to agree £2million at this point. That would make it clear to other clubs that they needn’t bother making offers under £20m. Whilst higher transfers could give us more, £2m is more than we could have expected when Ryan moved to Celtic so if Celtic get more than £20m then good luck to them.

Harper's impressed me when I've seen him play, but at the moment there are others just ahead of him in the pecking order. If he's going to develop then he needs game time. It will be good for him to go to Elgin and therefore good for the club in the longer term. In the short term it is a bit of a risk if we pick up injuries or suspensions in the back four, but there are midfielders who get drop back into defence if need be.

I don't think that is what he was saying last week. It wasn't that they are not good enough, it was that their performance last week was not acceptable. In fact, he made a point of praising them for the good home performances of recent weeks and said that is what makes last weeks poor performance so disappointing. In other words, we need the players to perform consistently at the levels they have demonstrated they can perform at.