DoofersDad

I'm afraid you are going to be disappointed. I'll be sorry to see Liam go but we've lost better players than him before and not missed them as much as we feared. I think that with the youngsters coming on well, and the likes of Walsh, Welch, Trafford and Chalmers all developing, then if we can retain them we will have decent options in midfield next season without needing to bring more players in. I think we may need a bit more cover in defence and options up front. There will be no cash to splash and I imagine that the money available to spend on new signings will be largely dependent on cash freed up from the wages of those who leave. Perhaps a little bit more if we get a fee for someone still on contract.

There was a bit of bemused laughter when that was announced. Poor Carl alone took the best part of a minute to hobble off from one side of the park to the other - my hands were sore from clapping him all the way off! I can't remember a game when there has been as little as just one minute added time. Maybe the BBC needed the extra time for analysis of the 3 given goals and the disallowed goal.

We discussed it at the time and it really is a horrible policy the SFA have. The English system is way better although 40 medals seems a bit OTT. You don't win a final if you haven't won your ties in the previous rounds. and there are likely to several players who featured in previous rounds but not the final. There are also many unsung heroes behind the scenes, for instance, it is not just the manager / head coach does the work in getting the team to play as they do, other members of the coaching staff have a vital role to play as do staff such as the physios who may have worked miracles to get certain players match fit. The team is bigger than just the players on the park.

I've heard we've sold around 3,000 tickets. It's disappointing it's not more, but it would appear to be a good few more than come to watch home games in the league. Hopefully a good performance will persuade a few folk to come along and support the lads in the bread and butter games as well.

Watkins, Shinnie and Christie were all signed up by the club when the budget for signing players was far less than Hughes had at its disposal. What successive managers have been good at is identifying young players with promise or perhaps some not so young who appear to be under-performing at the clubs they are at, and realising that potential. Esson, Warren, Raven, Tremarco, Draper, Tansey, Mckay, Doran are all examples of that and there are many others. But that stopped with Hughes. He had the biggest player budget any manager of this club has ever had, but just who are the signings he made who have gone on to give the type of impact at the club that the players I have listed have done?

I don't expect us to win, but I think we can win. The great thing about the cup is that it is not necessarily the best teams who get to the later stages or even win it. It is the side who gets the breaks and who up their game for the 2 or 3 games which really matter. In 2014-15 we both got the breaks and upped our game for the semi-final against Celtic but otherwise struggled against lower ranked sides - yet we still won the cup! This season we needed a replay to get past Edinburgh City but then upped our game against 2 sides above us in the league. Hearts will be firm favourites to win, and in a season when the Scottish Cup would seem to be their most likely route to European football, there will be huge expectation for them to win. All the pressure will be on them. If they don't have the game comfortable relatively early they will get more and more anxious. The stage is set for an upset! However, let's not get too upset if the reality is that we get blown away. At the start of the season, getting into the semis would have been a distant dream. With the club's financial situation there have had to be significant cuts to the playing budget and Robbo and his team have done brilliantly to both get us into the play off positions in the league and to get to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. Come what may, let's just enjoy an unexpected trip to Hampden and cheer our lads on to the end. They deserve no less.

There sure is. Alloa's 3 wins in a row have certainly made things interesting. Our promotion play off place is far from guaranteed and if Dunfermline make up a bit of ground on Ayr and us we might go into the final round of games with no club definitely staying in the championship next season. The play offs certainly keep the interest going. Mind you, in the English league one relegation battle where there are no play-offs with only 5 games to go only 6 points separate 13th from 23rd with 3 of those sides going down.

I think Ray Stewart hit the ball harder from the spot than anyone I can remember. Keepers didn't try to get in the way of his shots, they tries to get out of the way! It takes an exceptional player to consistently send the keeper the wrong way or to hit it so accurately that even if the keeper goes the right way, he;s not going to reach it. Keepers are always going to get lucky from time to time and the best way to make sure they don't get lucky to often is to hit the ball hard. We did great in the cup game but we really should have a better conversion rate for penalties in regulation time. Of course sometimes it is the penalty takers who get lucky! Saw this on the BBC website today. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/47865731

Some have questioned whether a club of our size actually needs a CEO. My answer to that is that it all depends on whether the club wants to grow and compete at the top level of Scottish football or whether we are content to be an average 2nd tier side with more chance of going down than up. The separation of the day to day management of the club from the strategic oversight of the Board is an important one. It allows those doing the day to day work to be properly accountable to the Board in a way which is not possible if Chairman and other directors are taking the responsibility for managing their own strategy. That works fine for a small, part time enterprise but not for a business where there is work going on on a number of fronts. I feel pretty positive about this appointment. Scot Gardiner brings a wealth of high level football experience to the club and, to me, his appointment demonstrates some considerable ambition on behalf of the Board. Not only does he have high level relevant experience to do the job and help other staff in doing theirs, but that experience should be invaluable to the Board in providing advice and information which will help the Board in formulating the strategic aims of the club. Of course, Mr Gardiner's appointment will not come cheap and we are a club in a difficult financial position. There will, therefore be an expectation that his contribution to the club pays his way and makes a positive contribution to the club's balance sheet. Hopefully ,as a football man, he can earn the trust and respect of those associated with the club in a way in which the previous CEO unfortunately could not. If he can, then this may well be a pivotal moment in the club's development. As we celebrate a successful first 25 years of the club, I sense the club is developing a more business like approach to the business of football. Of course we want to spend more money on the footballing side of things, but without a solid business structure embedded in the community the club simply won't generate the resource to do that.

Strikers need providers and yet again it is Liam Polworth who heads the list by some margin with 11 in the league so far. Probably in the top 2 or 3 in the division I would guess.

I didn't go to the first away game against Ayr back in January but I have just noticed that the referee on that occasion was none other than Nick Walsh. Just 5 people filled in the match day poll on that occasion with 2 rating his performance as "moderate, 1 as "p*ss poor" and 2 as "terrible". And these were ratings on the back of a spirit lifting 3-2 win! Tuesday was therefore not the first time that he has failed to satisfy the ICT fans' objective judging panel.

It may be a reflection of the ethos of the 2 clubs. I may be biased of course, but I think successive managers have wanted to put honest teams out on the pitch. Of course, there has always been an element of the street wise but there has never been a nasty element. The same, unfortunately can't be said of County this season. There is a nasty streak there and the way Draper played last night made it look as though he had been tasked to intimidate our midfield by fair means or foul. Ably assisted by an abysmal referee, his job was well and truly done by half time with one of our players sent off and others having taken knocks. Trafford's bookings may have been fair enough but I'm sure he only went in to the tackle as he did because he was incensed that the referee had not blown for the foul on Polworth. We are a young side and a lot of these bookings are the result of a bit of inexperience. Draper showed his experience and Trafford showed his inexperience. These games require cool heads and discipline and I don't think it helps when these young lads see fans on social media saying they aren't trying hard enough. They were trying alright! I heard a lot of angry shouting last night imploring players to get stuck in and challenge, take players on or shouting that they should have made an effort to cut out the pass, but more often than not, the player would have simply left space for the opposition to play the ball into if they had followed the fans' advice. Just because you are not running around like headless chickens does not mean you are not trying. The problem is they sometimes try too hard and end up getting out of position or losing possession by taking an unnecessarily risky option. There is a need to maintain discipline both in how the players react to the opposition winding them up and how they go about the game plan. Trafford will learn from last night but I thought it was a really gutsy 2nd half performance from the lads. For me, it underlined that regardless of what position we and County end up in the league, we will have more reason to feel proud of our team that the County fans will of theirs.

The 2nd half was always going to be difficult with 10 against 12, but I'm really proud of the way the players responded. The unfairness of the decisions must have made it desperately frustrating for them and having picked up yellow cards they had to be very careful not to give that disgrace of a referee the opportunity to have us down to 9 men. Yes, there were times when the frustration of nothing going our way made heads drop a bit, but in general we kept pressing and looking for the equaliser and were definitely the better side. I don't suppose County fans will be caring how they win but they demonstrated precious little for their fans to take any pride in. They set out to stop us playing and to kick us off the park. No doubt Draper will get their MOTM for his 1st half hatchet job. In the 2nd half with the lead and a numerical advantage they never tried to play proper football. They simply kept to their nasty, disrupting, fouling game and added in a considerable amount of time wasting. It wasn't pretty but it was perhaps a reflection of the fact that they know we are a better footballing side than them. Ably assisted by the referee, they were able to hold out - but not without a scare or two. As for Tom Walsh being subbed, I imagine that he is not yet considered fit enough for a full game following his injury. I thought he played very well.

The wrong Walsh was substituted.

The chair, secretary and myself as vice-chair of the Supporters Trust had a meeting on Friday with the Graham Rae and Gordon Fyfe. It was the first time that representatives of the new Supporters Trust Board had formally met with the Chairman and we had a very useful meeting. There was no specific agenda but we spent the time chatting around a variety of issues and developing an understanding of how the Trust and supporters generally can link in and help with the work of the club. They certainly seem keen to have our active input. The Chairman felt that meetings every 4 to 6 weeks seemed appropriate and for these to have specific outcomes identified so that it becomes a channel for getting things done and not just a talking shop. That is a very welcome response from our perspective. On a wider supporter basis, Gordon Fyfe will be trying to arrange a second "SLO" meeting with fans to which anybody would be welcome to come along and discuss any issues of concern. Hopefully that will happen before the end of the season. The Trust has a been doing a bit of work behind the scenes on a few issues. This includes working on providing better match day facilities for our disabled supporters, developing a survey for fans to feedback about the matchday experience and organising an end of season party at the ground as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations. More detail on these will follow soon.

I think some folk are being rather unduly negative. Sure, we weren't at our best but let's give a bit of credit to Falkirk who are a much better side now than the team that beat us here earlier in the season to end our unbeaten run. They strengthened considerably in January and have lost only once in 2019 - a 2-1 loss away to league leaders County. In that game they may have conceded 2 goals but they restricted County to just 4 attempts on goal over the 90 minutes. Today was also the first time Falkirk have failed to score in 2019, a fact for which our defence deserve a bit of credit.

Not a great spectacle. We lacked the sharpness we have shown recently but we were generally pretty solid. It was a better performance than a spectacle because it was a game where defences dominated. When we were a bit bolder going forward at the end we nearly nicked and would have done so but for some back to the wall defending. A bolder approach earlier on might well have paid dividends. For the most part our defence looked very solid and the highly thought of Zak Rudden barely got a touch. It might turn into a valuable point for us.

It’s a really important game for us today. Given the league table it is a game we should win but Falkirk are fighting for survival and will bring a sizeable and vocal support with them. If we are in any way distracted by the prospect of the County game on Tuesday or the forthcoming semi final then we will likely get beat. We really need the fans to get behind the team today and help keep the momentum going.

That's really bad news. Let's hope for his sake and that of the team that it is not as bad as feared. He's been playing pretty well recently. At least having Walsh back is a plus. We have a pretty small squad and we need key players staying injury and suspension free.

I guess they are expecting it will be either Inverness or Aberdeen for the show for the final.

BBC Radio Scotland have contacted the Supporters Trust today regarding a special edition of Sportsound which will be broadcast live from the hospitality suite at Tyncastle on Thursday 11th April between 6,30 and 7.30pm. Panellists will include John Hughes and Gary Locke together with Rangers and Celtic "legends" yet to be confirmed. The BBC is looking for fans of the 4 clubs to be in the audience either to ask questions or simply just to enjoy the show. Anyone attending will need to arrive at the main reception area for 5.30. There is a pay bar available. This is ideal for ICT fans in the Edinburgh area to get to an event but obviously anyone is welcome to apply for tickets. If you are interested, please contact the Supporters Trust Secretary, Jennifer Aitchison at [email protected]. A great opportunity to remind the Hearts fans of how we beat them with 9 men the last time we played them in a semi-final, and to remind the Celtic fans of the last occasion we played them at Hampden (and other cup triumphs as well!).

What pleased me about the performance last night was the way we played as a team. For the bulk of the game there was good movement and passing when we had the ball and good pressing of the opposition when we didn't. We were dominant and had our shooting been a bit better we would have had 3 or 4 by half time. But we were not as sharp after the break and allowed Alloa some hope. The third goal should have snuffed that hope out and seen us comfortably see the game out. We had been in complete control in midfield with Chalmers, Welsh and Doran all having excellent games. but their departure completely changed the midfield dynamic allowing Alloa back in. Accepting that Welsh's substitution was enforced, it is still a bit of a worry that we didn't adapt better, didn't show a bit more composure and that some players didn't up their work rate in order to see the game out safely without conceding. Goal difference may well be important at the end of the season, yet at the end of the game we were all mightily relieved to hear the final whistle. Let's hope Welsh's injury is not serious because he is growing into his role well and is becoming increasingly important to the team. Just a word on Alloa. They may be bottom but at least they try to play good attacking football. None of the hoof and hope for them. They tried to get the ball down and play a passing game and often did that very effectively.

That is simply not true. The Annual Report stated that 58% of total expenditure was spent on first team footballing resources. That compares pretty favourably with other clubs. It will be the case that some of the expenditure relates to previously negotiated contracts on which the current regime has little control, but nevertheless, with such a large drop in turnover, it seems to me that the Board is protecting the playing budget as much as it reasonably can. Running a football club has a variety of unavoidable costs which inevitably represent a higher proportion of total costs for smaller clubs. We would all like to see more money being spent on the team but this will only happen if costs can be further reduced and/or income increased. Reducing income by not attending matches will not help.

Sorry not to have been able to post anything before now. I attended along with Jen Aitchison on behalf of the Supporters Trust. There were around 50 people attending . I am sure you will understand that the AGM is not a public meeting and therefore I am not in a position to give as much information as people might like. The Chairman (Graham Rae) spoke to the Annual Report and Financial Statements and then fielded questions from the floor on a number of topics including the less than healthy accounts and recent staff departures. It is no secret that the reduced level of income which can be expected in the Championship is simply not enough to maintain desired levels of expenditure. The Board has to balance expenditure with it's ability to generate a steady and reliable income stream, together with occasional windfall payments (cup runs, transfers etc) and cash injections from Directors and others. There are inevitably differences of opinion as to how best to go about achieving this balance, but nobody spoke specifically against any of the resolutions and all were passed overwhelmingly by a show of hands. As for recent departures, the Chairman quite rightly said that the reasons for any individual's departure must remain confidential. The two new Directors, Liam Dalgarno and Ross Morrison both spoke passionately about why they have agreed to join the Board and I am sure they will be a real asset to the Club as we move forward. John Robertson was present and answered a couple of questions at the end. He said he feels we are a better footballing side than Hearts and is confident we can beat them. He also spoke about artificial pitches and again spoke highly about the one they use for training at the Rugby club. From a Supporter's Trust perspective, I had a brief chat with Graham Rae prior to the meeting and he expressed a wish to establish a regular programme of scheduled meetings with the Trust. It is good that the Board now seems keen to engage with the Supporter's Trust and we'll keep you updated on how that goes.

I believe the club were expecting to receive the tickets today.