MrCaleyjag

Not for me and I'm glad that he has finally come out and stated that he won't play for Scotland again. A guy that has to think about playing for his country shouldn't even be welcomed back in my opinion. He should have been big enough to accept that he made a mistake and working in the business he does it would be the centre of attention for the whole of the press fraternity for months to come, by not giving a proper answer he just kept it dragging out. I also believe that the persistence in asking him if he would play for Scotland again would have made his already over inflated ego even bigger. Furthermore had he come back it was almost backing Levein into a corner in the fact that he would have to play him, why persue him for that long to potentially not play him. For at least his last two years at Rangers he was very poor and continually made back and sidewards passes with no forward invention and his most notable trait was to stick his chest out and blame and berate anybody else who made a mistake especially the younger players. I for one do not want a player like that in my team, encouragement is what is needed not what Barry Ferguson does. Yes down in England with Birmingham he is playing well but he has better players round him and the spotlight isn't on him. If he had of decided to come back all everyone would have heard was what Barry Ferguson would do for Scotland and over shadow Scotland as a whole. I for one am very glad he has decided that he won't be back and hopefully now we can all move on for the good of the Scotland team and hope that the press now drop it.

It's still gonna be freezing whatever night it is :irritated: but thanks for the info, I'll need to change my early finish request now

Excellent result and great to bounce back from mid weeks disappointment like that. Today wasn't about how we played, it was all about the result and getting the three points.

LMFAO

It has to be SPL Survival, in the grand scheme of things it would be part two of the rebuilding plan with promotion last season being part one. When we came up to the Premier the first time for everyone survival was paramount, what makes this time any different?

.... and I think we all know who that is

I've not been on since before the Hearts game purely because I was so angry with that display that I decided I would keep my thoughts to myself and not upset anyone but thought now was as good a time as any to post. I wasn't surprised with last nights result and had already resigned myself to the fact that we were going to get beat, and by a potential cricket score, not because I thought we would be bad but because Celtic would be out to prove a point on the back of Rangers thumping 7-2 win against Dunfermline. They were clearly out to prove a point and the players they brought in were stacking their place for a regular first team slot. Lennon was out at 3 and 4 nil pushing his players up baying for more goals for gods sake. I 100% agree with TB's reasons and logic behind the team he played last night but the only thing I didn't agree with was the formation, having been very poor defensively since the start of the season it seemed foolish to change to a rigid 3 at the back but on the other hand I don't think we need to worry about seeing that again this season, lessons will have been learned. For me we need to start protecting the back line and drop the AMC that we play, more often than not Odhiambo, and replace it with a DM who can then sit in front of the defence and protect them as well as starting the play. If it is good enough for Rangers its' good enough for us. We are also struggling to pick up the ball in the middle and our two midfielder's aren't getting in the game, with this hopefully they would and can push up a bit without fear of exposing the defence. Before the start of the season there were people on here calling for a top 6 finish after the glories of last season and I kept quiet not wanting to steal people's thunder but now I would hope we all agree that survival is the only priority and that trumps any cup run we potentially could go on. Yes it's good when it lasts but long term has no real benefits for a club like ICT apart from the money it brings in and while this is good it doesn't really do anything for the team on the park when there is only one opportunity to bring players in (January window) which could already be too late if we don't start properly and we all saw two seasons ago how difficult it was try to recover in January from a terrible start. Last season we didn't start well but look what happened - Mahonio all I am going to say is have some faith and see what has happened when we are in November/December. There is nothing wrong with wanting us to win every game, which ultimately everyone on here wants, but we have to be realistic and look at the bigger picture.

i didnt say he wouldnt improve im saying right now he is terrible You've just proved the very point I was making! If by saying right now he is terrible isn't berating him or jumping on his back then what is?

I wasn't at the game today so can't comment on his performance today but the mistake a lot of us make is by jumping on the back of young guys and berating them too early on. He is only 18 so still has bags of time to learn, from what I have seen of him so for I reckon he has great potential and will be an excellent talent so don't be so harsh so early on. We all go on about the lack of talent available to Scottish clubs then when a manager spots one and tries to bring it on we expect big things so early on, all I'm saying is give him a chance. Clubs with the finances like ICT have to. Once Richie is fit and hopefully stays fit I think you'll find he'll be on the bench and when played will be in the centre where he is more comfortable.

Now that we have to endure the obligatory international break just as the season gets going how well have we really started compared to how we all thought we would after three league games? Trying to be impartial I would say fair to decent, at the start of the season I would have been happy with 4 points from the first three games. I don't think really any one of us would have realistically thought we could take anything from the first game v Celtic when the fixtures were announced however probably a draw at Tannadice would have been most peoples thought with today being a win against a poor Hamilton side. So having 3 points maybe insn't that bad if you look at it from that perspective. Obviously we would have wanted it to be 6 after last weeks triumph but it hasn't transpired so I hope it doesn't get the team down too much, not that I think TB will allow the players to dwell on it too much.

Full time 0v1 :angry:

The draw will be on Tuesday 31st August @ 14:30hrs at Hampden

Couple of chances there according to OAM, sounds like we're coming back into it a bit more

On the basis that this post was to ask who everyone wanted to get in the next round I suppose I should turn the topic back to that as it has kind of got off topic a bit. Purely from a selfish point of view I want an away game against Aberdeen so I can go with it being midweek and sooner or later their bubble will burst For money it has to be one of the old firm.

Not a good sounding start to the second half, nearly 2 nil down but thankfully not

As soon as I saw this thread it was inevitable what was going to happen today, just didn't think it would be after 1min :angry:

We're listening to OAM and there has been very little from the TCS apart from the goal, always a bad thing. Here's hoping it changes and we can start to claw the game back in the second half.

Only as good as your last game- no need for specifics and past glories- Caley may get there - i don't deny it ,but presently they are also -rans. Build a team and take your chances- there is only room for one big fish in this wee pond up here and it's not Caley T. I am so glad that you have set such high standards for your team and your only aim seems to be set around becoming the biggest team up here!! Surely a club of the size and stature (or so we keep getting told) should be setting their sights so much higher than being better than 'Caley T' as you put it. We don't claim to be what we are not but we do have realistic expectations of what we can achieve and are building a team the last time I looked. You are the very reason why I go to Pigtodrie and shout my lungs out and support my team whether we are getting beat or not. Congratulations though, I am sure you got the response from everyone here that you were looking for so how bout going away and leaving us enjoy our forum without reading your crap!!!!!! One question though before you go ............. where were you last season when your team was utter pish, it's amazing what two league games does for the confidence and mind.

Get in!!!!! 2v0, Munro in 38mins

We (Me and Caleyjag) can't be there unfortunately, we would love to be but are down in Blackpool for the weekend :_thumbdown:

As a footballer match fitness only comes with playing games from the start and playing for as long as you can, this brings the sharpness that you expect to see as well. Playing a player for 15-20 minutes will not get him match fit nor will it get him sharp so for me Hayes has to start next week, he gave enough today that shows he is naturally fit after his injury and will be 'match fit' very soon. As for changing things for next week, why? Yes the second half was poor but remember we were playing Celtic and they are always going to get chances and be on top for a period of time, lets focus on the positives and move on from there. Changing a backline after 1 game won't help either and the understanding will come over time, give them a chance to gell. I would have been more inclined to change things if we had been playing St Mirren or Hamilton and gave them the number of chances Celtic had and let them play the way Celtic did in the second half.

Personally I don't mind how many players are picked from the same team as long as they are playing well and are the best players that we can pick to pull on a Scottish jersey and they play for it. MacGregor made amistake and was big enough to apologise and admit he made a mistake, I think he was massively influenced by Barry 'Pigeon Chest' Ferguson who is one player I am glad is out of the international scene. I'm sure there are many that will disagree with me on this but we reliedon him far too much and he gave very little in a large number of games. The only criticism of this squad I have is the choice of Iwelumo!! Please can someone tell me what he offers the squad and if you look at the other strikers he is the 5th choice meaning he really is just making up the numbers. Surely if this is the case we should be including a younger player who would learn from being part of an international squad event though he may not play.

The one that always sticks out in my mind was the 1991 Scottish Cup Final between Dundee Utd and Motherwell finishing 4v3 to Motherwell after extra time. I was 10 and remeber being completely overawed by Ally Maxwell who had a complete stormer not to mention the fact he continued to play on with a burst spleen and could visably been seen holding his stomach after every save he made. Thats not to mention the late Phil O'Donnell and the great Davie Cooper. I am sure there have been better finals than this but this ones sticks out in my mind also because it was back in the days when the build up to the game started at 11:00am ish on BBC1 and it was the first final programme I sat and watched from start to finish.

This just shows that the gulf between the SPL and 1st Division is far to much for any team to cope with unless they bounce straight back up to the SPL after relegation, just look at Dundee who have been stuck there for the last 5 years. It furthermore heightens the need for the SPL to wind their neck in and start working with and speaking with the SFL to drastically change the way the Scottish game is run and funded as it's not all about them. Maybe the kind of funding that is available to relegated English Premiership teams is needed in Scotland but obviously this would be proportional to the finances available. Just look at how the Championship has flourished with the 'parachute' payments and there is no way this couldn't work in the Scottish league. In our case I think we can count ourselves lucky that the board got their act together and appointed TB and MM and manage to keep them, yes we went down for a season and the decision to change things, when in the SPL, was made too late but everyone makes a mistake usually upsetting a few people in the process. It is whether lessons are learned from that mistake and I believe they have been, it was a harsh lesson for those running the club that the SPL should not be taken for granted and hopefully we won't see the same management mistakes flare up again. We have a solid basis now to help us stay in the league and I believe we will but there are other SPL clubs that should be worrying about the drop and the financial pitfalls that it throws up

Pretty audacious Must have taken some practice and a few times falling over the ball to get it right!!!