hislopsoffsideagain

The performance was much better than the result suggests.  We spurned several decent opportunities, and the Pars keeper made three very good saves.  In contrast, Dunfermline only had two good chances, both from defensive mistakes. 

Whilst the crowd were understandably nervous in the last 15 minutes, the players didn't look panicky in the slightest about only having a one goal lead.  Confidence is a wonderful thing.

I think every one of the starting XI can be happy with their performance. It helps that we've hit upon a system that works for us both defensively and in attack.  In that spirit, it's only fair that I point out that Baird and Chalmers, two of my early-season whipping boys, did well.  Using Baird to run the channels and stay on the shoulder of the last defender is far more effective and that was the best I've seen him play for us.  Chalmers has found his niche in midfield, and keeps things ticking over nicely so Vigurs and Polworth can concentrate on creating things.

The three stars were Bell, Vigurs and Donaldson.  Bell must have covered every blade of grass and was out on his feet in the last ten minutes.  His movement off the ball is great and he's clearly a really intelligent player.  Vigurs meanwhile has reinvented himself as a Pirlo-esque playmaker (yes, really!) and I thought the way he controlled our tempo was terrific.

And as for Donaldson...wow.  Just, wow.  The guy looks a class act, which is astounding given his struggles at Dundee United.  Our central defence looks about a million times better for having him, just because his positional sense is so good.  Every time a ball came into our box it seemed magnetically attracted to him.  Clearly he just needed a change of scenery.  We need to sign him on a long contract pronto.

I'm dangerously close to getting optimistic about our season...

Ooh, you've acknowledged Fon Williams' existence at last! Does that mean he's in from the cold, and we'll have a competent goalkeeper this weekend?

A few thoughts:

As I wrote on the Livingston matchday thread, we have a real lack of quality at the back and up front.

Out of the back four and keeper that played on Saturday, only Raven can be trusted.  Tremarco is a huge upgrade, both defensively and going forward, on Chalmers.  In the centre we have a real problem; Warren and McKay are both really struggling - I worry that the former's decline is now irreversible (much like Grant Munro around the time County binned him), while McKay has the physical tools but can't put a solid 90 minutes together without several errors.  However Elsdon doesn't look ready and Donaldson is a bit of an unknown quantity so I don't know what we can do here.  Moving Raven or Tremarco inside would weaken us in the full-back areas.  As for in goal, Robbo needs to make his peace with OFW, and fast.

Up front, part of the issue is players seem to have been brought in without a specific role in mind, as shown by the frequent changes in formation between matches.  The lack of pace is a real weakness - Baird used to have some but, like Warren, he looks to be past his best.  Cooper is neat and tidy but offers very little creativity or threat.  Bell looks a clever customer who could work well with a partner, but I was disappointed by how knackered he looked after an hour on Saturday.  

Oakley?  He had a good hour against Dundee United; I often feel it is harsh to criticize sub strikers for a lack of impact as it can be hard to pick up the pace of a game.  If we were to play him along with a clever creative player and a pacy winger (Bingham-Ritchie-Wilson anyone?) I think that would be a decent combo.

Which brings me to Mulraney - I'm going to go against the grain here and defend him a bit.  Too rarely is he put in a situation where he can make a major impact - 20 minutes against a packed Livingston defence is no good for a player who is all about building up speed and dribbling past players, as there is no space to operate in.  His few good performances have been against teams who have been playing wing backs (Accies in May) or have very adveturous full-backs (Rangers in January) - Livingston fell into the former category and in hindsight he would have been a far more useful option than Cooper from the start.  He's not done a lot to justify my faith but I do feel that he shouldn't be written off until he's actually started a few games in succession, rather than a cameo here and there.  And he's the only quick attacker we have. When Doran is fully fit I'd play him, Oakley and Mulraney as the front three.

(Puts on tin hat, awaits incoming...)

Our midfield trio are pretty swish, but that's no use to us if the defence are hopeless and the attack are impotent.  It's not clear from watching today what Robbo is doing to rectify these problems, as our issues have been pretty much the same since July.  

That back four and keeper have now conceded seven goals in two matches.  Three of the defenders have been at the club for more than a year, so it's not as if they need time to gel.  Raven seemed decent enough defensively today, but the other three were catastrophic.  McKay frequently loses concentration and either gets caught out of position or loses his man; Warren is now frequently bested in physical battles by players who he would have easily dominated 2 years ago, and has become slower than a week in jail; Chalmers is easily beaten by wide players and is so woeful in possession that I might change my username to 'Chalmersgivesitawayagain'.  Ridgers might have been quicker out for the second goal (that may be harsh - I'll need to see TV pictures to check) but was faultless for the first and third goals today which I suppose means improvement.

At the other end of the pitch, our complete lack of pace means that defences never have to worry about a ball in behind.  Bell's movement is clever enough to partially compensate for this, though I actually wondered if his goal today was a miscued cross, going by his bodyshape and Alexander's reactions.  Cooper just dribbles sideways till he either passes it backwards or loses the ball, while Baird has the opposite of the Midas Touch - anything he does seems to go wrong.  His linkup play is dreadful and so is his decision-making.  He's a player whose game is based around a lot of hard running, but now he's 32 and lost a yard he is completely toothless against a reasonably organized defence.  I can't remember the last time I heard a cheer for an ICT player being subbed, but he was so awful that even the lovely elderly couple on holiday from Plymouth who sat in front of me were slagging him off.

Meanwhile Trafford does a solid job of breaking up play, while Vigurs and Polworth both put in great shifts today, desperately looking for teammates in front of them to actually make enough space for a killer pass.  I felt desperately sorry for them.

Sadly, I don't think we've hit rock bottom yet.  Yes, we had lots of possession, and Livingston's three goals came from their first three chances...but did we make more than three clear-cut chances in all that time?  I don't think so.  And the three goals we conceded were either from corners or from not properly clearing corners (at least the third involved a quality finish, which makes a nice change).  Teams that can't defend set pieces are badly organized, and badly organized teams are usually badly coached.

The problems at the back will not be completely solved just by installing a competent left-back.  We know Elsdon is out of his depth, so unless Donaldson turns out to be the second coming of Franco Baresi we're screwed at centre-back for the near future.  And up front does anyone really expect Zzsuschchen or Oakley to be the answer?

In conclusion: this is just the pits.

Bottom line is that the club are at risk of getting into trouble because of the behaviour of these supporters.  It doesn't matter if said supporters think that's unfair - its the way the SFA are running things right now.  Is it really worth damaging the club's reputation (and bank balance, potentially) just to set off a smoke bomb in front of a few hundred fans at Brechin?

On a personal level, I groan with dismay whenever I see flares and smoke bombs.  People have been badly injured (or killed in at least one case I read of) because of these devices.  I also know of fans with chest complaints such as asthma or COPD who are made breathless if they are in the vicinity.  Oh, and in a piddly little ground like ours (or Brechin's) they just look naff.

13 hours ago, AlexJones said:

The way some people are carrying on you'd think we'd just lost Lionel Messi. Let's get real folks. Big Drapes was a good stopper, a big lump who put himself about and caused chaos in and around the opposition penalty area - but he could also struggle to string a straight 5 yard pass at times. Technique-wise we're talking North Caledonian Super League level. Don't get me wrong, every team needs a stopper in the middle of the park - however, I doubt very much that Russel Duncan was on £2,000 a week, or anywhere near to being our highest paid player - and there's a very good reason for that. The reality is, County have a wealthy suitor with money to burn, we don't. We have to cut our cloth and get on with it. 

People always moan when stalwarts leave (Munro, Tokely, Duncan etc) but if you want to make an omelette, you have to break a few eggs. You can't rebuild a team unless you clear the decks first. Anyone who sat through the dross of last season could see a rebuilding job was needed. The young lads who are coming through - Calder (21), Seedorf (22), Oakley (21), Mulraney (21), Brad Mackay (24), Polworth (22), Cooper (23), Bell (20) - are only going to get better. I'd much rather get back to the SPL with a fresh generation of players who can keep us there long term and potentially reach new heights than simply bounce back with the same declining team who'd only be clinging on at the bottom of the table as soon as we got there. 

 
 

I couldn't disagree more with the bit I've highlighted.  Technique-wise we're not talking North Caledonian Super League level and to say otherwise is just being ridiculous.  He's a talented enough player that another Scottish club have paid a six figure sum for him - Rangers and Celtic aside, Scottish clubs have paid six figure fees for players only ten times this decade.  No, of course he's not Lionel Messi, but he's a player who would walk into most Premiership midfields.

As for the omelette metaphor, we didn't want to make an omelette, but we've managed to drop all the eggs on the floor.

The young lads who are coming through are not necessarily going to get better - in fact Cooper has already failed at Championship level with Falkirk and didn't impress at League One level with East Fife.  Part of the problem is that we are building a team around youngsters who are not proven at all and who are at least as likely to fail as succeed.

I agree completely with everything RiG has said on the subject.

Hugely frustrating.  We were good value for a draw, mainly because Dundee United offered little going forward too.  But for all our possession we were relatively toothless in the final third.

Our best passages of play came in the early stages, when Baird lined up wide right and Polworth tucked in to give us an extra man in the middle of the pitch.  Polworth, Draper and Oakley were linking up really well and the overload in the middle dragged United players infield, giving Calder loads of space.

Curiously, we drifted into more of an orthodox 4-4-2, maybe in an attempt to get Baird into the game...but the veteran striker remained anonymous and Polworth was wasted out on the flank.  We ultimately offered little other than high hopeful punts into the box, which United's excellent keeper and centre-backs dealt with fine.

The loss of Calder made things even harder; Mulraney had a great initial impact but United dropped so deep that he had no space to operate in.  I'd have liked to see him on the right flank, cutting inside and having a go at goal.

Some good performances - Calder, Vigurs (some misplaced passes in the second half but his attitude was light-and-day from last season), Oakley (who looks like he could be a flat-track bully against weaker defences than this).  And some stinkers - aside from Baird, Chalmers and Elsdon were awful on the left hand side of our defence.  If Chalmers can pass himself off as a professional footballer, there's hope for me yet.  McKay grew into the game, but I believe it was his panicky tackle that gave away the penalty?

As for Ridgers, I get grumpy with keepers who are poor with their feet;' for a professional goalie to be incapable of kicking the ball properly from hand is unacceptable.  Fon Williams was in the stand today, he must have had a good laugh.

A few reasons for optimism, but a few for concern too.  The defence will be fine with Warren and Tremarco in it.  But I'm not convinced this team is going to score too many goals.

A few thoughts on the guys we've signed/been linked with:

Baird - the sort of hardworking striker that fans generally love to have in their team. The Championship is his level - brief steps up to the top flight with Dundee and Partick didn't go well for him.  Only scored 8 league goals last year though (and none since February) despite being a regular in a good Falkirk side. In my view he's a decent squad player to have but he won't get anywhere near Adam Rooney's goals total from 2009/10.

Ridgers - seems to have spent his entire career as a backup, aside from one season at Airdrie.  Didn't impress when given his chance at St. Mirren a few years back. I'd have been happy with him on the bench but not convinced about him as first choice at all.

Chalmers - was a decent prospect at Celtic and initially did ok at Motherwell before struggling badly last season. His confidence looked shot - if Robbo could build it back up then he could give us decent cover.

Ferguson - Still young but didn't impress when Motherwell gave him his chance.

McAllister - I saw him play for Peterhead in March and wasn't impressed - not as mobile as he used to be.  I'd be amazed if we wanted him, or if he wanted to come to us.

Nick Ross - we haven't been linked with him yet but hopefully we will be! I'd take him back like a shot.  My mum saw him in the Retail Park Tesco on Monday...

5 hours ago, old caley girl said:

I believe DSs story is accurate. Decent sources. 

My sources say the same. As alluded to in my post yesterday, I heard about the story in The Sun yesterday lunchtime. The club's statement smacks of a desperate attempt at damage limitation. 

I bet the new chairman may have been told where to stick his 'Duncan Shearer Cup!

4 hours ago, RiG said:

That's ******* pathetic if that's true.

The P & J are also running a story that Danny MacDonald is the new GM.

I'm told it's true.

I'm also told that it may be expanded on in another newspaper tomorrow...

9 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

There may be legitimate concerns but, rather than focussing on those, why don't we just give the man a chance ? 

Hey, if Robbo is a success again, then great.  And I'll be rooting for him in the same way I would have done for any new manager (unless Brewster had been brought back for a third go!!!)

But how many 'political' appointments as manager tend to be successes?  Not many.  I would rather our manager was an outstanding candidate, rather than somebody's mate.  And there is nothing on Robbo's recent (or not-so-recent) managerial CV to suggest he was an outstanding candidate.

The whole process raises concerns about the way Inverness Caledonian Thistle is run.  And I think that it's pretty reasonable for supporters to focus on those, as they are likely to have a big impact on the future of the club.

3 minutes ago, RednBlackComeback said:

Really don't know what to make of this appointment! I hope it turns out well and wish JB all the very best.

He did say that he didn't apply for the job but instead received a call from ICT inviting him for a chat! Bearing in mind the Board had previously stated that there had been a 'good response of candidates expressing interest' in the job and 'interviews have gone very well', they obviously weren't convinced by those who did apply?

As alluded to earlier in this thread, I really hope that the approach to Robbo did not come about as a result of political machinations within the Boardroom, that would be quite wrong IMO? I guess we'll find out the answer to this if fresh funding from a particular source comes into the club in due course!

I'm concerned about this as well.

I find it extraordinary that the quality of applicant was so poor that we instead headhunted a guy who hasn't managed a club in 5 years, hasn't managed a Full Time club in 10 years, and who hasn't had any sort of managerial success in 13 years.

The whole process stinks of 'politics' as stated here, or sheer laziness; do the board not realize that there are other options beyond reappointing former employees?

I'm going to cling to the positives:

- Robbo got us promoted before

- Ex-players such as Bobby Mann (in a Tell Him He's Pele interview) and Michael Fraser (in the Courier today) speak very highly of him

- He must have plenty of decent contacts, which hopefully will result in some good signings; my own feeling is that being a good recruiter is more important at this level than being a good tactician.

On the other hand, he's only managed one club in ten years - East Fife for 16 months - and none in 5 years.  That raises concerns.

The names that have been linked with this post have been hugely unimpressive - the focus on old boys such as Robbo and Sheerin suggest, frankly, laziness on the board's part.  I find it hard to believe that there weren't any candidates outside our own 'old boys' circle or indeed beyond the usual names in Scottish football (Danny Lennon?!).  It doesn't seem likely that outside applications were welcomed at all, and not just because Ossie Ardiles hasn't been linked.

It's all dreadfully underwhelming.

We will have one fewer home game next season too - so the cost per game will actually be higher even though we've been relegated.

In contrast, we dropped season ticket prices by £100 following relegation in 2009!!!

Basically,  this is a thinly disguised attempt at fleecing loyal fans, or 'mugs' as the rest of the world would call us.

2 hours ago, RiG said:

Good blog by @hislopsoffsideagain on why it was the right thing to remove Foran from the managers post.

http://nareystoepoker.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/richie-foran-leaves-inverness-horse.html

Why, thank you very much sir.

Well, that was a kick in the teeth.

We were well on top for the whole of the first half, and certainly looked the more likely to score (though that wasn't saying much) until Cole's moment of lunacy.  And then the team went completely to pieces; St. Johnstone could have scored two more in injury time as we basically lay down and let them walk through us.  It was humiliating.

McCart, McNaughton, Mckay and Polworth (after he was brought on) can hold their heads high.  The rest of them should be embarrassed by their poor performances and complete lack of fight.  The three goals we conceded were all embarrassing - Fon Williams blundered for the first, a stupid penalty given away for the second and a third goal that St. Johnstone literally walked in to the net because all of our players had given up.  Bad teams concede bad goals...and every week we seem to concede really bad goals.

It's hard to fault Foran for his lineup because the first half display was very decent - though it was typical that the day we finally started with a target man was the day that we decided to pass the ball instead of hoof it - but he takes a decent amount of blame for the way we fell apart.  We finished the game with three strikers and no right back in some sort of 3-3-3 formation because he decided to bring on Boden even though Cole had been sent off.

I know other results mean we aren't completely doomed, but it sure feels that way.  We need to start thinking about next season's Championship.  If we can afford to, we need to change manager now - not to save us, not even Jock Stein could keep this lot up - but so the new guy has time to get us prepared properly for next season.  There is no reason left to stick with Foran - 1 WIN IN 21!!! - apart from the cost of paying off the remaining years of his contract.

If Raven is struggling with injury, then we can just slot McNaughton in at right back.

I'd drop Warren, to be honest.  Our best defensive performance in recent weeks, when we beat Rangers, came with McCart and Laing as our CBs.  Warren's had a poor season and his clumsy o.g. at Pittodrie is just his latest mishap.

If we play 4-2-3-1. Polworth must play in the advanced midfield role.  In turn, Draper must start in a more defensive role than he has done in recent home games - it in turn frees up Tansey to concentrate on starting attacks.

However, if our intention is to just punt the ball long, we may as well go 4-4-2 and start Fisher alongside Mckay. However, Fisher's Courier interview today, where he complains about having been left out for months despite being fit, may not go down well with the manager.

A few weeks back I saw St. Johnstone win in Dingwall.  They pressed high up the pitch, and comfortably dealt with County's hoofball.  In turn, they counter-attacked quickly and effectively, and deserved to win by a far more convincing scoreline than 2-1.  I expect more of the same tomorrow, sadly.

There were a few signs of life early in the second half, but ultimately we were hanging on at the end - three great saves from OFW kept us level.  That's now 1 win from the last 18 league games, which is almost half a season's worth.

Our tactics left us up against it from the word go.  What manager thinks it is a good idea to play five of his starting eleven out of position - Raven, Brad Mckay, Laing, Draper and Cole (who is not an inverted winger, for the love of goodness).  I'm sorry, but that's just idiocy.

Laing was redundant as a defensive midfielder - Killie simply kept going wide and bypassing him, whilst he offered nothing in possession.  We've been so much better in recent weeks with Draper playing deeper and offering a physical presence and proper protection, allowing Tansey to concentrate on getting on the ball and making things happen.  Inexplicably, Foran played Draper further forward so we had no control in midfield at all.  Thus the ball was just punted over Tansey's head again and again and again.  That's even though Killie rarely pressed our centre-backs.

Draper as a second striker just doesn't work.  He's not that good in the air, nor is he particularly good at holding up the ball.  Just because the guy is big doesn't mean he can play as a target man.  

Mckay is so isolated it's unreal.  Either concentate on trying to dominate possession (which we would have done today with Polworth/Draper/Tansey as our midfield three) so he gets decent service, or play a proper target man alongside him.  Ostracizing Alex Fisher at this point is a remarkable piece of self-harm on Foran's part.

I refuse to believe that we couldn't compensate for Tremarco's absence more effectively than using three different players at left-back.  Brad Mckay probably isn't good enough for this level in his best position (centre-back) but at right-back he's proven himself to be dreadful.  Subbing him was an act of mercy.  Foran showed his 'tactical genius' by switching the full-backs in the first half after Jones had roasted Mckay for the umpteenth time...only for Killie to immediately switch Jones to the other flank so he could skin him a few times more.  Well, duh.  It's incredible that Foran couldn't see that coming a mile off.  We were lucky no more damage was done before Mckay was hooked.

It's hard to know if its lack of confidence, or lack of faith in the plan (or both) but most of the players really didn't want to be on the ball today.  I lost count of the number of times that our players chose to head or punt a ball away even with no opponent within 10 yards of them.

We look like a team that has already been relegated, not one who still has a fighting chance of staying up.

This is our record after 23 games in our last seven seasons since we were last promoted.  That's how grim this season's record is!

For the record, we have the same number of points (and a marginally better goal difference) than at this point in 2008-09, when we went down.

Agree with RiG's lineup, as long as he can still charge up and down the flanks like in our schooldays (only 16 years ago...)

I can at least guarantee that my wrists will be stronger than OFW's.  And I can't be any less commanding on crosses...

ARGUMENTS FOR KEEPING HIM

He's a Caley Thistle man through and through

Paying off his contract could cost us a fortune

He's only been in charge 8 months and he's still learning the ropes

He hasn't had a chance to gel Billy Mckay into the team

Sacking a man with a young family is a pretty grim thing to do

ARGUMENTS FOR BINNING HIM

12 league games without a win - the worst run in our entire history (before this the record was 9!)

Beaten by every other Premiership team this season except Kilmarnock (who should have beaten us twice)

Knocked out of the League Cup by League One opposition

Seems to be tactically outwitted most weeks - teams have known for months that pressing high stops us keeping possession and pinning our full-backs deep denies us width, but nothing is ever done to counteract this

Lack of defensive organization/shape - back four frequently sit far too deep, players get dragged out of position, midfield offers little/zero protection.  What do they actually do in training?

Vulnerability at set pieces - a problem all season, and no sign of improvement.  Again, what do they actually do in training?

Team selection often makes little sense and is rarely done with the opponent in mind.

Several senior players walk into the team every week regardless of form.  Tremarco excepted, they all seem to be playing well below their best, with Foran seemingly unable to get a good performance level out of them

Frequently playing players out of position - Polworth/Cole on the wings, Vigurs in front of the back four being examples

No sign whatsoever that things are going to improve in time to save us from the drop

The next few fixtures - if you write off the Celtic cup tie, there is effectively a two week window after Saturday in which to get a new boss in.  If we wait till after that Foran is on a hiding to nothing as the next 3 games are Hearts (A), Rangers (H) and Celtic (H). Can we afford to wait until winnable fixtures in mid-March before taking the plunge?

Anything else I've missed?

Positives:

we didn't collapse after conceding the early goal - we got deservedly level whilst well on top.

the second goal came after our best bit of build-up play all day (which only came because King wandered infield into space) - and even then we only scored because their keeper made an error.

And that's about it.

Same old, same old for the most part.  Conceding soft goals because of bad organization and individual errors.  Doumbouya completely isolated whilst he was on the pitch (though Davies had him in his pocket anyway).  Zero penetration due to the lack of pace in attack - mostly just sideways passes until we lose it or someone hoofs it.  And panic stations at 2-1/3-1 down, where we start playing like 1980s Wimbledon, except without the charisma and the ability.

County had done their homework.  They were particularly keen for us to get Mckay on the ball, in the knowledge that he can't cross, whilst shutting down Tremarco on the other side.  Boyce drifted in off the flank into the space behind Tremarco and caused us all sorts of trouble.  In contrast we played exactly the same way we do every week, with no regard for the opposition's strengths or weaknesses.

That's ten league games without a win for the first time since...er, ever in fact.  It's the worst league run we've ever had in our entire history.

Foran's post-match interview was just crazy.  He heavily criticized the players both individually (he didn't name names, but made it quite clear he blamed Tansey for the first goal for not clearing at the near post and Meekings for the second for not showing Boyce wide) and collectively (no confidence, no fight, no grit, no energy).  Then he decreed that a few weeks off for the winter break would fix everything, along with three new players.  Firstly, he's damn lucky we have a winter break for the first time in years, and secondly, where does he think the money for three new players is coming from?  He insists we're still going to finish top six.  

County fans in contrast think we're "going down, going down".  I know which argument is evidence-based, and it's not our manager's.

It's been a bad season, and that might be the lowest point so far.  Motherwell were hopeless, and yet we managed to be even more hopeless.

We actually had the better of the first half, but Clay's wind-assisted goal changed the game completely.  Suddenly we stopped trying to create chances by skill and instead spent the last 35 minutes punting high balls up the pitch.  I've never seen so many long throws attempted in a game...even though they never work!  It was like watching Sunday League football.  

Apart from Doran hitting the bar, the other efforts we had looked more impressive than they were because Samson, spooked out by OFW's blunder for their goal (and it was a blunder, he clearly misjudged it and thought it was going over), started punching balls he would have normally caught easily.

Hard to pick out a decent performer - Tansey and Tremarco maybe?  Vigurs' MOTM award was booed by the crowd, and was surely someone taking the mick.

So here's where we're at

- bottom of the table

- nine games without a win - our longest run without a win in ten years

- just one win in thirteen

- more goals conceded than anyone else in the Premiership (only Stenhousemuir have conceded more in the SPFL)

- one clean sheet in twenty league games

- the lowest points total we've ever had in any division after this many games IN OUR ENTIRE HISTORY!

- still conceding soft goals

- still no decent shape when we don't have the ball (the midfield do an awful job of protecting the defence)

- still playing players out of position (POLWORTH ON THE WING?!)

When one puts it like that, perhaps it's time to panic?  And am I the only one questioning whether our manager is up to the task?  And how much it costs to pay off a four year contract?

Raven's definitely out.  As are Horner and McNaughton of course.

The back four picks itself, since McKay, Meekings, Warren and Tremarco are about the only defenders we have.

I wonder if Foran will be tempted to start Fisher instead of Doumbouya, given he did well as a sub at Ibrox?

I'd like to see Polworth in a central role too, probably alongside Tansey with Draper further forward.

Not sure who should play wide in midfield.  Cole has been the least bad of our attacking midfielders recently, but isn't really a wide player.  Doran, King and Mulraney have been pretty poor recently.

As tempting as it is to pick Vigurs, in the hope that he's up for it against a former club, I think he's been out of form for far too long.  Bench please!

Playing Vigurs in that deep midfield role is suicidal and if Richie does it again I might cry.  Ali Crawford will cause havoc if Vigurs is the one keeping an eye on him.

The Courier says McKay and Raven might be available so fingers crossed.  McKay has to come in at CB to free Draper up for midfield.  If fit I'd rather have Raven at RB than Horner anyday.

I'm not averse to Vigurs playing a more advanced midfield role like he did in our League Cup games, but it is critical that we get bodies forward to support Doumbouya.

King has done next to nothing for weeks other than lose the ball and fall over, so surely Mulraney should get a shot?  He has the pace to get up to Doumbouya quickly too.

So my ideal lineup would be OFW - Raven, Meekings, McKay, Tremarco - Draper, Tansey - Doran, Vigurs, Mulraney - Doumbouya