hislopsoffsideagain

Saw McPake play for Livi against County in February - he looked pretty nifty. A defender very much in the Dods mould, but is much younger and possibly a little bit faster. At the moment, with Dargo probably offski, I'd take Sutton like a shot - can anyone actually think of a better striker we could realistically sign? I can't.

Here's a report I knocked up if you need it... RANKIN RESCUES A POINT Inverness 1 Falkirk 1 John Rankin struck late on to earn Caley Thistle a draw in their last match before the split. The former Ross County midfielder struck with just four minutes left on the clock to save the home side from defeat after Falkirk substitute Carl Finnegan seemed to have earned the visitors a smash-and-grab win. Caley made two changes from the side that drew at Ibrox last week. Darren Dods’ suspension meant that Grant Munro took the armband for Caley, with Stuart McCaffrey recalled to partner him. Markus Paatelainen also dropped out, with Barry Wilson restored to the lineup. Falkirk kept the same lineup that saw off St. Mirren last time out. Both teams came out of the dressing room looking for an early goal, and both should have got one. First Craig Dargo was denied by the legs of Bairns keeper Kasper Schmeichel, with Barry Wilson screwing the follow-up wide. Then appalling defending at the other hand gifted Dean Holden a chance, but the Falkirk full back inexplicably headed wide from all of two yards out. The rest of the first half settled into a pattern, with Falkirk having much of the possession, but Caley carving out chances. Schmeichel’s acrobatics denied Richie Hart a goal with a dipping volley from the edge of the area, while a 30 yard missile from John Rankin curved just inches past the post with the goalie beaten. Then good work from Wilson created an opportunity for Graham Bayne, but his tame shot was easily saved. Both sides seemed to have run out of ideas after the break, with goalmouth action at a premium. However, with just 10 minutes left, Falkirk sub Finnegan raced behind the Caley defence onto Stephen O’Donnell’s long ball and cracked a superb low strike past Michael Fraser to break the deadlock at last. The lead lasted only six minutes though, before Rankin popped up to flick a Grant Munro cross past Schmeichel to level things once more. Dargo then had a golden opportunity to win it in injury time, but chose to round the goalkeeper and saw his shot cleared off the line. A draw in the end, then, which leaves Caley ninth in the table with just the post-split matches to go. Man Of the Match: Richie Hart (at least according to the tannoys)

I'd certainly be happy to put together a report for today's game if you need it, from my vantage point just behind Charlie's dugout.

If he's fit to play and doesn't want to then he can get stuffed. He's paid by this club to play football - I don't get to choose to take days off work just because I can't be bothered. He's club captain for god's sake! If this is true its completely unprofessional and we shouldn't rest him - we should drop him. Of course, it may not be true...

Still in a daze after coming off nightshifts on Friday morning, I decided to give the rugby a miss (good idea, it turns out :007:) and brave the elements (well, a little bit of drizzle) and take in the travelling folks' match with Livingscum. The visitors won 2-0, the game lit up by an absolute screamer late on by a Livi sub called Liam Fox...I'm sure I remember that name from somewhere... Anyroad, the main focus of my attention was very much Don Cowie, who spent most of his time on the right touchline. Right now he is clearly the only County player capable of stringing a pass together, looking creative and dangerous but never quite able to carve an opening, though County's strikers look about as dangerous as a rubber knife. He looks like he would make a useful squad player, though whether he can be a regular for us is another matter. There were a few other guys on the pitch that we've been linked with recently - notably Sean Webb and James McPake. Both are very much out of the Dods school of defending, and I have to say that I was very impressed with McPake, though he tends to thump the ball into the stands whenever he's within 30 yards of his own goal. One goalsaving challenge in the second half was very impressive. He's young as well - only 22 I think. One guy who is worth keeping an eye on as well is Joe Hamill. Remember him from Hearts? Levein took him to Leicester but that didn't work out so he signed for Livi in the summer. He went off with a knock after an hour but he looks too good for Division 1 and would be a potential replacement for Wilson. Oh, by the way, Golly played for Livi and looks just as uncomfortable as he did at the start of the season. Not sure he'll be challenging Hastings ever again...

To echo those above - absolutely superb effort today. Every single player gave everything from start to finish, they did everything asked of them and more. And McAllister! What a great performance, hopefully this is the making of him. No need for a smileymometer - even despite the soft goals we let in I'd give :003: :003: :003: :003: :003: to everyone today.

What?! :010: I will support Celtic against Milan because I support all Scottish teams in Europe, but there is no way we will give Celtic a greeting like that. I'm saving myself for booing their fans every time they sing "Fields Of Athenry". The home fans should cheer only one team at TCS, and as loud as we can - remember the way the full house inspired the players against Rangers?

A smiley count for today (out of 5): FRASER :003: :003: :003: Dealt with crosses well, otherwise had nothing to do. The closest you'll get to being paid for nothing without being an MSP. TOKELY :003: :003: :003: :003: Is he coming back to form at last? Some great drives forward and finally looks like he has some stamina back. Assist for McBain's goal I think. DODS :003: :003: :003: :003: Ref wasn't happy with his grappling, but was his usual self on high balls and managed Hibs' pacy forwards well. MUNRO :003: :003: :003: :003: :003: Outstanding. Again. It seems to be a recurring theme this season. If only we ever scored from his long throws... HASTINGS :003: :003: :003: :003: Remains the only SPL left back to be able to deal with Sproule. Continues to be consistently solid, though he did look vulnerable in the first 15 minutes. WILSON :003: :003: :003: :003: Wonderful, wonderful goal. Gives us a real threat with his constant wandering, though I wish Rossco was left less exposed. DUNCAN :003: :003: :003: :003: Still unable to pass the ball, but protects the defence much better than most of the crowd notices. Good to see the crowd's evation for him when he was subbed. MCBAIN :003: :003: :003: :003: :003: Not convinced he meant to chip the goalie, but he won't care. All action, all running, harassed Hibs midfielders constantly and looked like he could run for another 90 minutes if we asked him to. RANKIN :003: :003: :003: Didn't look like adding to his recent goals, but worked extremely hard and is the best passer of the ball we've got. WYNESS :003: :003: :003: I guess he gets the assist for Dargo's goal! Held the ball up well, still seems shot-shy though he had a goalbound volley brilliantly blocked in the second half. DARGO :003: :003: :003: :003: :003: Gutted he's injured, he looked really up for this and was an absolute menace with his movement and touches. We'll miss him against Celtic. Subs: Black, Bayne and Paatelainen - not really enough time to make an impact, though Black deserves a couple of smileys for not getting booked. Any disagreements?

Just back, what a fantastic result. Luck went our way in the first half, first Murphy's clearance hits Wyness and rebounds straight to Dargs with the goalie out of position, the McBain flicks out a boot as the ball goes flying across the box and ends up lobbing the keeper. (Did he mean it? Probably not). No luck about Barry's goal though - an absolute cracker that will push Rankin's strike against the Huns for our goal of the season, bending in a scorcher from 25 yards. That's also the first time we've closed out a game well in a long time too - though its easier when you're 3 up! Fraser was never tested, he'll have a harder time next week. Full marks to Charlie who had us set out perfectly to stop Hibs playing their fast flowing game, and for playing Dargo rather than Bayne from the start. Man of the match? The PA gave it to Dargo (since he's knackered his shoulder maybe) but for me our outstanding players were RossCo (believe it or not), Hastings and McBain. Who says we can't make top six?

Oh my God, I haven't enjoyed myself so much in ages! What a finish by Rankin, when was the last time we scored a goal like that? Absolutely stunning. We were fantastic, Rangers created very little despite their possession, and McGregor made three stunning saves. Brilliant. Totally brilliant.

Oh dear God, we at least got some entertainment, but it was mainly from comedy defending... First, the positives. For the first time in weeks our midfield looked balakced and threatening. Black anchored it impressively, and Rankin was a constant menace, finally starting on the left hand side. Wyness missed a couple of great chances, but his use of the ball when it came to him more than made up for that - his spins and flicks were causing havoc. On the other hand, I think EVERY GOAL WE CONCEDED WAS A DEFENSIVE DISASTER. A bunch of wheelie-bins would have been more useful at the first goal - at least they might have got in the way. As for the next two, how on earth could we let Kilmarnock have a man over at the halfway line so early in the game, not once but twice. Both moves started on our right hand side, and both times Rossco had wandered up the park and was hopelessly out of position, leaving Dods one on one, first with Naismith, then Di Giacomo, which was inevitably going to hurt us. And for their penalty, should Zander really be the one having to chase down their left winger? Shouldn't that be a full back's job? I don't remember Mark Brown making a save, yet he let 4 in and was probably without fault at all of them. As far as I'm concerned, that's awful. As for the ref, everyone was giving him dog's abuse, but he gave us a soft penalty, and other than letting Invincibile and Naismith roll about a lot I thought he did ok to be honest...

Unfortunately I am a season ticket holder... Let's see, what problems were there today? Our passing was poor, we were second to every 50-50 (and in one or two cases, pulled put of it), we couldn't hold the ball up top, we had no width, the final ball was constantly wasted, and when Charlie did change things it made zero difference. We have no heart, no drive, no imagination. Apart from that, we were fine... Only Dods looked like he gave a **** about the result, and then he ruined his performance with a reckless tackle for the penalty. People moaned about the ref, but I thought he should have shown Dods a straight red (tackle from behind and the last man) which would have earned him a longer suspension. To cap it all, Motherwell were awful as well, and it's sickening that we lost to a side as bad as that. Not only that, but we were BORING. AGAIN. 14 goals scored at Caley stadium in the league in 9 games - compared to the other teams, that makes our ground the dullest in terms of goals scored in the league. Isn't that depressing?

Just back, here's my take on things... Mediocre first half, but open and entertaining second 45. It was all us in the last 25 minutes but we just couldn't find the spark to score. Dods was magnificent, one goal-saving tackle in the first half, then throwing himself in front of a shot from the same player later on. Munro was great as usual, while Dargo and Wyness did well with the scraps available. How Gordon managed to save Black's header I have no idea - looking forward to seeing that again. Hearts looked nothing like contenders for Europe, and Hartley only really had an influence when he came deeper, bringing a super stop out of Brown with a dipping volley. Kudos to Charlie today as I thought he got his tactics spot on. Black covered every inch of the pitch and harried Aguiar and Brellier well. The introduction of Hart gave us an extra edge late on, and bringing on Bayne for a tiring Wyness unsettled the Hearts defence further. It's a pity we didn't win this in the end, but we'll play worse than this on occasions this season and get three points.

Just back from the game, have to say RiG's report is pretty much spot on. Callum Murray is a total muppet. That equalizer was so sweet, the Aberdeen fans went mental, thinking it was a foul (BBC report suggests it was just a goalkeeping blunder). I totally agree about Foster's challenge on Dargo, it's a complete travesty that he wasn't sent off. On the other hand, I thought Dargs was lucky only to get a yellow for flattening Anderson - less a nibble and more a bite! Anyway, we didn't do a lot wrong today and deserved the point. One man who deserves a lot of credit today is Grant Munro, who I thought was absolutely outstanding.

RiG is absolutely spot on about the lack of protection Golly got. The number of times, particularly in the first half, that Rankin wandered into centre mid, leaving Golly with neither cover nor support was impossible to count! On the other hand, Golly's failure to complete the most simple of passes, and his poor defending for the first goal, means that his problems were not entirely due to Rankin.

Just back from the game. Some post-match questions for Charlie... 1) Why wasn't Hastings playing instead of Golly? Alternatively, why wasn't Morgan playing instead of Golly? In fact, why wasn't Michael Fraser playing instead of Golly? 2) What is the point of wellying high balls up to your two strikers when they're midgets and the St. Mirren defenders are the sort of people usually found at the top of beanstalks? 3) Is John Rankin actually a left-sided midfielder? 4) Why, oh why did we sub Duncan, who was my personal man of the match and anchoring the midfield, for Keogh, who along with Black kept going forward and never getting any passes? 5) Did the players actually get any instructions from the dugout during the game? (Apart from Donald Park kicking the wall in anger once) 6) Since when have we been good enough to take our foot off the gas when we go one up? Oh jings, our performance was awful, bar the first 15 minutes of the second half. Great finish from Dargo, though Rankin's contribution to the goal was practically the only thing he did of note. My dad correctly described the St. Mirren strikes as "numpty" goals - Golly made a complete hash of things at the first, and Dods and Munro just seemed to want to wait under the high ball until Sutton caught up with them for the second. St. Mirren played just like we did away from home last year, and thoroughly deserved the win. Only Black, Dargo, Duncan, Brown plus maybe Caff and Wilson get any sort of pass marks today. In conclusion, ladies and gentleman, prepare for a long, hard season.

I'm with CaleyD on this. I think its really unlikely that Black and Proctor would be left out tomorrow with such little fanfare about it beforehand, other than a subtle nod in a teletext article.

CALEY: Craig Dargo is fit after a thigh problem caused him to miss the end of preseason. :003: Ross Tokely is also available after injury problems to challenge Stuart McCaffrey for the right-back squad, so Charlie Christie has a full squad to choose from. John Rankin may make his debut. ITV teletext doesn't name Ian Black or David Proctor in the matchday squad but there's been nothing from the club to suggest they won't be available. ST. MIRREN: Gus MacPherson has doubts over veteran defender Andy Millen, midfielder Ryan McCay and striker Brian McGinty. Summer signings Richard Brittain and Garry Brady could start in midfield. St. Mirren are likely to go with a 3-5-2 (at least from what they say on their forums): Bullock - Potter, McGowne, Broadfoot - Van Zanten, Brittain, Brady, Murray, Lappin - Kean, Sutton. Any idea how we'll lineup? I guess the big mystery is who plays in midfield.

Can't wait - my first proper season ticket! I had one for the 4 months at Pittodrie but got a refund after we went back as commuting from Aberdeen was too much hassle. Now I'm back and I'm no longer a poor student, BRING IT ON!!!

I suggest that Dundee United should insert their statement (and their bids for these players) into Craig Brewster's oversized rear end.

many apo-loag-ies for the inconwenience.

I went looking for stats on previous encounters with the Saints, and if soccerbase is right we have played them 19 times, with Caley winning 11 and drawing 5 of these. We haven't lost the last 11 matches against St. Mirren, making us unbeaten against them for almost 5 years! Were Tom Hendrie and John Coughlin not sacked as a result of hammerings by us? HEAD TO HEAD 1999/2000 10th August 1999: Inverness CT 1 (Teasdale 88) St. Mirren 0 (Challenge Cup 1st round) 17th August 1999: Inverness CT 2 (Sheerin 104pen, Byers 118) St. Mirren 0 (League Cup 2nd round) 21st August 1999: St. Mirren 3 (Yardley 34, Walker 37, McGarry 40) Inverness CT 2 (Sheerin 29pen, Teasdale 86) 11th December 1999: Inverness CT 1 (Wilson 51) St. Mirren 1 (Yardley 43) 12th February 2000: St. Mirren 2 (Yardley 22, Bowman 67) Inverness CT 0 6th May 2000: Inverness CT 5 (Xausa 25, McCulloch 35, Wilson 36, Bavidge 84, McCulloch 89) St. Mirren 0 2001/2002 25th August 2001: St. Mirren 1 (McGarry 50) Inverness CT 1 (Mann 88) 3rd November 2001: Inverness CT 1 (Wyness 31) St. Mirren 2 (Ross 14, Walker 50) 29th December 2001: St. Mirren 0 Inverness CT 0 2nd March 2002: Inverness CT 4 (Bagan 38, Ritchie 55, 57, 80) St. Mirren 2 (Gillies 10pen, Ross 72) 2002/2003 31st August 2002: St. Mirren 0 Inverness CT 4 (Robson 9, 21, Hart 24, Christie 72) 24th September 2002: Inverness CT 3 (Hart 13, Wyness 73, 86) St. Mirren 1 (Cameron 24) (League Cup 2nd round) 2nd November 2002: Inverness CT 4 (Wyness 7, 25, Hart 58, Robson 84pen) St. Mirren 1 (Gillies 82) 28th December 2002: St. Mirren 1 (Cameron 86) Inverness CT 4 (Wyness 14, Tokely 22, Stewart 29, Ritchie 51) 1st March 2003: Inverness CT 3 (Ritchie 25, 49, 55) St. Mirren 1 (McHale 13) 2003/2004 27th September 2003: Inverness CT 2 (Ritchie 21, McCaffrey 36) St. Mirren 0 22nd November 2003: St. Mirren 0 Inverness CT 4 (Bingham 30, 65, McBain 34, 57) 31st January 2004: Inverness CT 1 (Bingham 88) St. Mirren 1 (Lappin 17) 3rd April 2004: St. Mirren 0 Inverness CT 0 Mark Brown, Ross Tokely, Stuart McCaffrey, Barry Wilson, Richie Hart, Russell Duncan, Grant Munro and Liam Keogh all played in that last game, while David Proctor was an unused sub.

(wails in anguish)

A decent enough performance, just like last night we created a lot of chances but our strikers weren't firing on all cylinders. Wyness's goal was superb, but for the rest of the game he looked quite disinterested. I thought the midfield were excellent, with Morgan my personal Man Of The Match, while the defence didn't look too worried apart from one slightly hairy moment from Dodsy. On the other hand, County were somewhat lacking in quality...