DoofersDad

Good post, Sean. I don't think Draper is playing nearly as well as he did a couple of years back and I think maybe that some posters' take on the importance of Draper to the team is based on past performances and not on more recent ones. To me, he doesn't seem to have the drive he once had.. He can be a real handful going forward but he rarely seems to take responsibility for anything creative. With the talk about the need to get Raven off the books my observation would be that Raven played a lot better and showed considerably more commitment against Dundee Utd than Draper did. Despite the fact that in Warren's absence he was given the captain's armband, I saw precious little leadership from him on the park on Saturday. The club have made it quite clear that they are prepared to sell him for something a shade above £100k or thereabouts. If he stays, it will be more a reflection of other clubs' views on his worth rather than our determination to keep him. Getting £100k for him and freeing up his wages may not be a bad move. I certainly think Raven's contract should be extended, and with Seedorf looking good in the Right Back position, I think Raven could do a real job in Draper's current role. He's defensively solid, can tackle well, he's not afraid to run with the ball or have a shot at goal and always gives 100%.

Remember that the official figure is not the number who actually attend but the number of tickets sold. Season ticket holders are deemed to be there even if they are not and a good few will have been away on holiday . If it looked as though there were less people in the stands than the official attendance, that will be because there were. On the other hand, during the first half I noticed a grumpy looking guy sloping off into the main stand and I don't think he had bought a ticket!

Disappointing to lose but I think we can take a good few positives from that. I thought there was real effort and determination in the team. 2 standout performances and sufficient from others to show the potential that exists. Bear in mind that this is largely a new team and we were missing several players from the starting line up who would be first choice. The stand outs were Vigurs (again) and Calder. Vigurs was immense in the first half and kept us in the game at 1-0 when he tracked back and made a perfectly timed tackle when McMullen, I think it was, was through on goal. He faded a bit in the 2nd half but few seeing him today can seriously doubt what an important player he will be for us this season. His corners, though were generally poor - they need more pace rather than being floated in. Calder was also excellent. His control in taking some drilled long passes was terrific and he seemed to mix it up pretty well between running with the ball and crossing it - some of his crosses were pretty decent too. I said earlier that he looked promising but lacked confidence. He seemed to play with more confidence today and I would think this performance will give him the confidence to believe he can do very well at this level. Unfortunately Calder's game ended prematurely following an incident with Toshney. I'll be interested to see if the club says anything about this, but to me it looked as though Toshney put his hand into Calder's face with perhaps a finger in the eye. Toshney then went to ground clutching his head as though it was a clash of heads. What did the referee think? F**k knows! He was well placed to see the incident but despite the two of them lying on the ground, Calder clearly in distress and Toshney holding his head; from 5 yards away he glances down at them, waves play on and runs off after the play. Unbelievable! Had he seen it as I did then he should have blown for a foul and given Toshney a straight red. If he didn't see it like that then it was an accidental clash of heads and he should have stopped the play immediately to get treatment for the potentially concussed players. The referee was late stopping play then but stopped play on a number of occasions when a Dundee Utd player went to ground having been fairly tackled. Throughout the game he let both Toshney and Scobbie constantly foul the players they were marking and engage in blatant holding. Meanwhile he managed to book no less than 5 of our players for rather more trivial offences. He was quite the most inept and one sided referee I have seen for a very long time. We have a small squad and these bookings will be costly when suspensions inevitably kick in. I was also pretty disgusted by Dundee Utd. The amount of gamesmanship, play acting and downright cheating was also as bad as I have seen for a long time. They seemed to have no ambition to play football and having gone into an undeserved lead did anything they could to try and stop us playing. The only good thing about utd today was their fans who came in large numbers to support their team. No doubt they are happy with the win but hopefully not in the manner of achieving it. It could all have been different had we scored. That would have brought Utd out more and created a bit more space to exploit. Despite our superiority in midfield, we could not find the cutting edge to create decent chances or to finish any half chances we had. That is a worry. Today was the first time I have seen Bell and he looked the most likely to be able to nick a goal or two. I'd like to see him get a bit more game time because I can't see Baird scoring many. We really need to find our way to goal or else we will continue to lose games which our general play should see us winning.

Having been signed by Burton Albion from County, Liam Boyce has sustained a cruciate ligament injury in a pre-season friendly and is likely to mist most if not all the coming season. He will also not now feature in the remaining World Cup qualifiers for Northern Ireland. It's a real shame for the lad. Having made this move to further his career he now risks the distinct possibility of never returning to the same form that he found last season. He will have moved to Burton with high hopes of impressing in the championship and moving on to a bigger club. He now faces a very uncertain future. This a the kind of harsh reality faced by so many players in the game while the elite in the game earn enough in a year (or less) for a lifetime's financial security. But the really annoying thing about this is that if Boyce had to have this type of injury, why could he not have had it before he scored all those goals against us?

Just to put it into perspective, what Neymar will be paid every two weeks at PSG will be more that the vast majority of people in this country earn in a 45 year working life. Obscene does not begin to describe it!

The Neymar transfer probably has more to do with the Qataris making a political statement than the general financing of football. But, yes, it is disgusting. Of course, the more general trend in football financing is driven in a large part by the consumers. If consumers didn't pay Sky and BT large amounts of money to watch these players and if the consumers weren't sucked into buying the vastly over-priced and over hyped "must have" branded products which are advertised by these broadcasters then there wouldn't be that sort of money around to pay the top players such obscene amounts. If instead, people supported their local sides, they may not see as much quality play but they would get something far more worthwhile with the emotional engagement with the club and the community around it. With money distributed more evenly, then far more hard working professional players would be able to make a living from the game. By our own consumer choice we create the very inequalities we so deplore.

Maybe Hearts will appoint Foran then. Seriously though, Cathro was always going to get booted early this season unless he got off to a really good start. If Robbo nurtured any hopes of replacing him, I can't see he would have taken the ICT job when we came calling. Nor can I see him not honouring the commitment he has made to ICT. In any case, given the Cathro debacle I am sure Hearts will be looking for somebody with more recent managerial experience either in the Premiership or at a decent level down South. There are several plausible candidates around and the Hearts job will create a lot of interest.

I would have thought Scottishhighland's original post was a perfectly reasonable question. What would be the point of asking the club if somebody on this forum knows the answer and by giving a quick answer can inform not just the OP but the rest of us as well? Secondly, it is reasonable to ask the question here first given that others on here are always saying how difficult it is to get any information out of the club.

He probably will be now.

And I've got him to be first scorer on Gringo's NPL!

This isn't about playing our best available side, it is about trying to determine what our best side will be against Dundee Utd. Last week Robbo was hugely displeased with the attitude of some of the players who he sees as the better players. This could be a match in which they are challenged to perform in if they want to start in the league match. It was good to hear his comments about the attitude of the youngsters who played in the Clach game and I guess he will be far more inclined to give the youngsters a chance than either Hughes or Foran were. He might give a couple of youngsters some game time. The chances of us progressing to the knock out stage is remote and so it doesn't really matter whether we win this game or not. I would therefore not be surprised if two or three of Robbos first picks started on the bench with others being given the chance to impress.

Very interesting article on Billy in the Inverness Courier today. Billy has had a recurring groin strain which clearly was a concern for County if they were going to sign him. Billy is quoted as saying "It's been ongoing for 18 months and I've been at a few clubs - no-one picked up on what it was." "I've come up here and within an hour of my medical they knew what the problem was, had me booked in and got it sorted." Well done County! But given the number of injuries at ICT and the sheer length of time that some of the players seem to be out for, one wonders if there is an issue here. Getting top medical support for the players may be expensive but it can be much more expensive for the club if players are out for any length of time or playing through injury. It is expensive in terms of bringing in players to cover and also in terms of the consequences of poorer results due to key players being absent. Had Billy's problem been sorted out earlier and he had been firing on all cylinders last season, we may not have been relegated.

The season ticket fiasco and now this. That's a couple of enormous boobs from the Board.

I imagine Robbo will have learnt a lot from this. It wasn't a great performance and it is disappointing to lose, but I think the game demonstrated that we are capable of competing with the best in the division and that if we can up our game in crucial areas we could do reasonably well. We are still a team where the guys are just getting to know each other. Misunderstandings are therefore inevitable and there were certainly a few of those. I felt Elsdon looked rather unsure of his positioning at times and was a bit hesitant as a result. He showed promise in other respects though. He should grow into the role as he gets to know his team mates. The same goes for Calder who I thought was unlucky to be subbed while Chalmers stayed on. Chalmers showed little in the 90 minutes to suggest he has much to offer the team. It was my first sight of Zschusschen and let's just say that he is is going to have to play a lot better than that if he is going to feature again. Ridgers also had a nightmare of a game in goal. Hopefully he can avoid repeating those moments of madness and perhaps getting a few decent saves under his belt will result in him becoming a rather more reassuring figure between the sticks. Of last season's crop of players, Polworth again had a very poor game, lacking in confidence. On the plus side, we had another composed performance from Seedorf who looks to be the pick of the new crop. Oakley has a good physical presence and showed a willingness to fight for the ball which seemed so totally lacking in Zschusschen, A few defences will find him a real handful and I think Baird may play off him quite effectively. The newest of the new lads, Cooper, also looked lively and showed good touch, awareness and attitude. Vigurs was again a class apart in midfield and it was good to see Draper coming onto his game a bit more as the game progressed. Mackay, I thought, had a good game in central defence. To be honest, I think the chances of us getting back into the premiership first time of asking are very slim. Competing for the play off places would be a decent outcome for the season and it looks to me as though Robbo is building a side that should be able to do that.

... or the season before. It is really important that local lads can come through the system and succeed. I certainly think Liam has the potential to succeed but he is a little bit away from the level of consistency which would make him into a decent premier division player. IMHO his issue is one of attitude - and I don't mean it in a bad way. I don't agree with those who say he is lazy at times, in fact, at times he maybe tries too hard. It may sound odd, but my take is that he tends to see the game from a fan's perspective rather than a player's. For instance, he has a tendency push the ball too far ahead of him and he gets it nicked away from him. When he does that, we fans tend to make some gesture of exasperation. We do it instantly as a natural reaction without thinking. But Liam does it too. You can see him cursing himself . He maybe looks to the skies before his shoulders slump as he thinks about getting the ball back. The player's mindset bypasses any visible frustration and focusses on instantly trying to retrieve the situation. There are occasions where he loses the ball and by the time he regroups and gives chases, his opponent is long gone. There are also times when he hasn't got the ball that he seems to be watching the game rather than constantly thinking about where he needs to be. As a result he may not be in a good position to receive the ball from a team mate or he fails to pick up the movement of an opposition player. It's not laziness, it's just a loss of focus.

Our attendances will fall significantly this season for the fact that we will have far less away support coming here. Celtic and The Rangers always filled the South Stand (and more) and Aberdeen, Hearts and County brought significant numbers. This will account for at least a 500 drop in the average attendance. If we can have an average gate of 3000 this year I would be astounded. Anything above 2500 will be excellent.

Look on the bright side. We've still to concede a goal despite having been involved in a penalty shoot out. Keep that up and all 3 cups and the Championship will be ours at the end of the season.

Compared with the Fife derby at Methil where the first 17 were converted before an East Fife player hit the post!

Interesting thread. I agree it is frustrating that he does not always deliver a performance in line with his ability but it's good to see so many people acknowledging his overall positive contribution to the side. I was also heartened to see him get such a good reception from the crowd when he was substituted on Saturday after a commanding performance. Clearly the bulk of the fans appreciate him but I guess there will always be a small minority who will always find fault with him no matter how well he plays. But just to pick up on the disciplinary record. His record for yellow cards is not much different from Warren and Draper but he seems to avoid the red cards. All 3 are combative players and this is probably more a reflection of that rather than ill discipline as such. If one or two of his cards are for needless petulance or retaliation then he is certainly not alone in that and his lack of red cards might indicate an ability to keep his cool in situations where the red mist may descend on others. If Robbo can get the best out of him, then Iain will be a huge player for us this season.

A very encouraging performance although it needs to be seen in the context of an absolutely woeful performance from Brechin. Having just been promoted to the Championship I was expecting them to offer much more of a test. On that form they will be lucky to end the season with more than single figure points. However, part of Brechin's problem was that we played far better than they might have expected and for a team with so many new players, we played well as a team.. For what it's worth, this is my take on performances. Ridgers. Had far too little to do for me to make any comment. Seedorf. Looks like a real find. Good ball skills, good composure and tenacious in trying to win the ball back. Has the skill to thrill but knows when to play it simple. Mulraney might learn a lot from him. Mckay. Solid enough Warren. Two well taken goals and defensively solid. Calder. Appeared to be lacking in confidence but demonstrated decent skills. The small club environment may help bring the best out in him but he will need to be more assured and assertive if he is going to challenge a fit again Tremarco for a place in the team. Draper. An OK performance, but not one which will get other clubs rushing for the cheque book. Polworth. Probably the weakest performance within the team. Gets through a lot of work but loses possession too often and is careless at times with his passing. Had a period of excellent performances early in the 2015/6 season but has never got back to that level for some reason. Hopefully Robbo will have the key to bring the best out in him. Vigurs. Controlled the midfield. Reads the game well and is good at nicking the ball off the opposition and moving it on simply and accurately. Has the vision to play the occasional more telling through ball. Mulraney, Terrorised the Brechin defence and received some harsh treatment in return. Needs to develop a bit more composure and an awareness of other options. His runs can pull defenders out of position which in turn allows his team mates to get in great positions themselves. He needs to see this and off load more often. A really exciting talent who seemed to go backwards under Foran. If Robbo can help him develop his play, then we could have a bit of excitement on offer this year. He and Seedorf could be quite a double act! Oakley. Took his goal well and that will have done his confidence no harm at all. Looks a decent squad player but doesn't look a striker who would score more than 10 in a season. Baird. The opportunities didn't come his way, but he worked hard and made a lot of good runs off the ball. I think we should see a decent return from him. A Hat trick against Falkirk would do nicely! Chalmers and Elsdon both had a brief run out and looked fine in a period when the game was no longer competitive. All in all then, a very encouraging start. Games against far tougher opponents than Brechin will give a better pointer as to what the season will bring. Given Brechin's showing, at least we shouldn't be bottom of the league!

Lets hope we can sign another 4 before Saturday so we can have 11 players starting! It is astonishing that the club's official website does not list the existing contracted players in the squad list. What is even worse is that in the "team news" section, the only bit of news listed since the new manager came in is that the Krankies paid a visit to the stadium. Robbo is quoted as saying "unfortunately we won't be signing them". Words fail me.

The EGM motions allow for a maximum of an extra £1.1m in share revenue to be generated. This does not necessarily mean that there is someone waiting in the wings willing to put all of that amount into the club.

Like Charles, I am surprised there has been so little said about this development. I know nothing about company law but my take on this is that it is a mechanism to allow someone to put some significant (by ICT standards) amount of money into the club. If so, then that would tie in with what my sources tell me about money being made available. Incidentally, my shareholder's letter was postmarked 7th of July so I don't know why some other shareholders seem to be unaware of this. But before anyone gets too carried away with the thought of a few 100K coming into the club, this will not allow us to buy our way out of the Championship. It might, however, help to ensure we don't leave by the back door and it will allow us to buy some more stationery.

Agreed. Although I am more than happy to pass judgement now on The Rangers revamped side .

I'd hate to see him go OTB but I think there is an inevitability about this. If Draper is offered better personal terms and the opportunity of playing in the top flight then who could blame him for taking that at this stage in his career. Any comment by the two clubs is just posturing and in reality their valuations won't be too far apart. Draper would be a good fit in the County side and if Robbo is talking about "an offer we can't refuse" then I think it's highly likely such an offer will be coming. Bear in mind that Draper is likely to be away for free at the end of his contract