MacShimidh

Ah yes, I can see now that is a matter for solemnity and grave shaking of heads.

Foran, with Steve Paterson in the 'Patches O'Houlihan' role?

Charles doesn't do 'light relief'

I'm not as spooked by the idea as I would expect to be, Richie is certainly a leader - and his shouts on the pitch are usually the right ones.

Bang on, he was mighty.

It's an omen. Top Six next year for sure ;-)

Before he got injured, he was playing really well just in front of the defence - positional sense and organisational ability can substitute for pace there. That said, Draper has been excellent playing the same position - not sure you would want to move him.

"" thanks terry for the players that made me look like manager of the year"" Funny, and certainly there is a lot of truth to it, but I'd say Hughes and Latapy got that extra mile out of them. Sometimes, that's the difference.

Och, it's not the way I would have written any of this - but in a sense a lot of this is whip-lash from winning the cup. Shinnie was away before that, of course - but arguably his desire to leave on a high was the catalyst for such great performances. Marley Watkin's cup heroics played a part in him attracting a move - doing it in the big games is always going to earn you attention. I think it's understandable that there is a hangover in terms of performance and motivation after winning almost the biggest prize that the club is likely to be in the running for in the forseeable future - and just winning silverware is more than a lot of the players in that squad would have ever anticipated doing in the game. Russell Latapy might have seen it as a sign that he needed to push out and try management, and for both Nick Ross and Ryan Christie, it was a watershed moment. Hughes has undoubtably played a shorter game in terms of squad management than previously was his style at Falkirk and Hibs - and that's left us in a bit of a mess this season. Would I trade comfortable mid-table anonymity this season for the Cup? Would you?

I think that's pretty harsh. When he got injured, Foran was our most consistent player, having re-trained to play defensive mid and looking like he could play there for years.

I think we should take this offer instead. Nothing personal Charlie, you've been a great servant to the club, but we need the money :-)

There's no point in talking down any of our players - we have a paper - thin squad, like several of the other teams in this league. Last season, we escaped long-term injuries in areas where we lacked depth - this season so far has been the opposite. We've got several new players up front, and it's not surprising they aren't on the same wavelength - too soon to write them off as bad players I'd say. Likewise, the youngsters who come in need time to find their roles in the team. For now, I'm worried - but not surprised, and I'm sure as hell not booing anybody.

Pob lwc Owain!

They've binned most of their extra strikers... but Anthony Stokes is playing for their reserves...?

This season is going to be a bit of a salvage operation, which is going to be deflating after last season's swashbuckling. Thin squad, hasty buys, injury crisis before the new players have time to blend into the team. I honestly don't think there's a lot Hughes can do right now except keep their morale from hitting the floor and try to make us harder to beat.

On this evidence, Celtic are going to stroll the league this season - Armstrong keeps getting better, and they can afford to play luxury players like Mackay-Steven and Allan ahead of him and Brown. I'm not gutted by the way we've played - defence is makeshift and keeper is new, so that's what happens. Up front, we are slowly getting there I think.

Cheers Marley, good luck!

Going down the route of looking up old players... do you think Ian Black can still play football?

What is Lewis Horner's best position? (Assuming he is staying, seems like he just got here.)

Interesting, I did wonder why he hadn't been picked up again - I'm just impressed at the hit rate of our recent signings, but if that is more about the club as a a whole than one man, then I'm delighted! Somebody certainly did very well to look at players like Draper who were in the conference, and see just how much they could improve - I thought he was pretty rough when he arrived, but his mentality and awareness now is excellent. Credit to everyone involved in seeing the potential in this group of players and getting it out of them.

Here's one signing I would love to see us make... find it incredible he hasn't been snapped up by a bigger team - his record for us was pretty incredible: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/580728/EXCLUSIVE-Steve-Marsella-believes-Inverness-can-cure-his-Wembley-woes

Sounds like a flash in the pan if you ask me. Be better bringing back old flame Lionel-Zippo-Zadi

Carl Tremarco has put in a decent shift when called upon - it's not easy to stay at match speed if you aren't getting regular games so he deserves a bit of slack for the odd mis-judgement. Same goes for Devine - it's tough coming in as a defender - if a winger comes on for their first game in a while and blooters it into the stands, it's no big deal - one slip for a defender can be calamity.

Total respect to all the Bairns fans I met before and after, totally sporting. Hard one to take on the day, you took us to the very edge.

To be fair to Falkirk, put yourself in their shoes, and that was an utter sickener of a way to lose a football match. Most of their fans I bumped into afterwards getting on the buses looked like they were in shock.