Eagle4Caley

I know ..some were worried that we might get caught by Dumbarton! (I wasn't ) Now we've added Livingston to our list of scalps (yes I know they rested a few) and sent a message for next season...just Morton to go. Just got to keep the majority of this team.

Re; the first goal against ...it was struck from very close range, but it almost looks like it took a touch off our defender who was trying to block it. As for Daniel Mackay's miss, the damn ball bounced up just as he goes to hit it

You poor fellow! We're linked in our love of Caley and our mutual hate of Man U ......Just keep your hands off Zaha over the summer (Palace are as much a one man team as yours is)

St Mirren 3 losses (1 with 10 men) and 2-2 Draw from 0-2 down Livingston 2 Draws and 1 Loss (play next Tuesday) Dundee Utd 2 Wins 1 Draw 1 Loss (1st match of the season which people who were there said we should have won) Dunfermline 1 Win 1 Draws, 2 Losses (inc our biggest defeat) Morton 1 Draw 2 Losses (play on Saturday) Q0S 2 Wins 2 Draws Hopefully we can end the season with 2 wins to leave St Mirren as the only top team to not incur a defeat

Got back early this morning from my trip up.....enjoyed the whole thing (except the 95th minute). It was a strange type of game from two evenly matched teams, I have to say the pitch wasn't doing us any favours, and even the ball seemed to be un-inflated, with many kicks sounding very flat (just me obviously). Dunfermline shaded the first half I felt, they certainly looked dangerous going forward, then we had a 20-25min period in th second half where we were on a different (higher) level to Dunfermline, particularly Austin, his goal was ...what can I say , 'Wow!'. Once he had to come off though I felt there was a subtle change in the balance of the game. Even then we had good opportunities to put the game to bed, and Dunfermline only really looked like scoring from a dead ball, but we started to sit back and give free-kicks away....just when I thought we had seen the game out, then cames the killer blow (it really is like watching my other team sometimes!). In the first half Tremarco seemed to be having a tough battle with their wide player, but got to grips in the second half, likewise Seedorf was poor first half but much improved 2nd. OK perfomances in midfield, great free kick by Chalmers, Trafford fairly solid, Polworth probably put in the bigger shift, Doran a bit slow at times, but a real threat. Not sure whether Mackay was the right substituion, earlier in the season Bell would have had been a sure thing, he may have gone off the boil a bit, but I still hope we keep him, as he and Mackay offer something different to Oakley (who put in a real shift) and Austin (who looks a really decent player, why did Fallkirk let him go??). I don't think Ridgers did much wrong (though not a convincing attaempt to stop the first goal...was there a deflection?), but he's gone from being very much written off as a goalkeeper at the start of the season to almost a cult hero....that's good work in my book! In theory we still have a very small chance of getting into the play-offs, but it needs something special from the Dumbo's and us to win our last two...even then the play-offs are a real long-haul, and would we be ready for the SPL?. In reality after the chaos and dismay of relegation and the close season, we have come out of this season, with a decent looking squad, with some really promising prospects, that given another season should push on to better more consistent performancesand a rekindled team spirit...I'm sure there'll be a couple of twists over the close season, keeping Vigurs would be great, but who knows. Anyway I'm already looking forward to next season, with a bit more expectation.

This time tomorrow I'll be waiting to board my plane at Luton Airport, It's great that I have managed to arrange a trip up for such an important match C'mon U Caley!

Step forward Charlie Trafford, and Liam Polworth, and Aaron Doran, and Connor Bell!

Wow....this is great! Saturday is massive!

I was thinking just that....but we probably need to strike early

Sounds like Dumbarton (and perhaps ICT) could do with a 'water hog' the type of thing they use at major cricket grounds to remove surface water off the outfield

Not a fan then?

Fair point...but only up to a point, good players usually remain good players, but the mental side of things is harder to understand. I would imagine however that after the trauma (in footballing terms) of last season and the upheaval of the close season, with new players and management coming in, that it can be quite easy to lose your mojo, in particularly for Polworth, who after all is still only 23, and hasn't been a first choice pick in previous seasons and does get constant criticism from certain sections of our fan base, who look for the negatives first in a display. As for Vigurs, sometimes being to 'go to guy' who is supposed to direct and create something every match, can become a bit much, but if Austin turns out to be the goal poacher we have been looking for all season, then the effort/passion used in previous games will get a more effective return. Let's face it if football was that easy, guys like Raheem Sterling wouldn't miss the chances he gets, nor would Man Utd lose to the bottom team at home when the week before they had beaten the Champions-Elect away.

What a win! Loved the highlights (and the crowd came across really animated, in a good way!).... and thanks for your marks IHE. Polworth could have scored a least two GOTS there, and what a goal by Doran. It was probably a good move to sub Austin (who is starting to look like a proper goal poacher), to give others a chance and save him for Tuesday, I thought Bell looked lively when we came on. Gosh, if we could only afford to keep Doran, Bell and Vigurs (and Trafford) for next season, because I feel we are on the cusp of something good. It's been a perfect weekend football-wise for me with my local team beating our big rival Brighton (yes really, rivals!) to stay ahead of the relegation battle, I am super-excited for next Saturday's trip up (the weather is looking good too), we just need to get the win, in whatever way in the return against the Dumbo's, to set up a really big match for Saturday. Not wanting to get ahead of myself but with Livingston now securing their play-off place, it could work in our favour when we play them (if we are still in contention)

Too bloody right, I haven't enjoyed their season at all, watching players being paid £120k a week performing soooo badly (Benteke/Sakho for instance) really makes me appreciate the young Caley lads...some of them can pass the ball!

My impression is that some of these 'Roasters' are just miserable gits period, always looking for the downside, never giving credit for anything and in most cases haven't played football at any level. They also tend to forget that if these players were perfect specimens of footballing performance they wouldn't be playing for us. It's annoying, but the rest of us need to be more vocal in our support and encouragement. I know it's easy for me to say from down here, but I've actually enjoyed watching a new team come together and gel, and young inexperienced players start to find their feet., I'm sure some of the football hasn't been the prettiest, but in the long term I have hope

Super win....it helps that we actually have a plan B (and I guess Connor Bell gives us a plan C). Another clean sheet, and just the one booking! And now completely safe from any relegation play-off anxiety. Now comes the two leg battle with Dumbarton, I'll take two narrow 1-0 wins to set up a helluva game against Dunfermline. Whatever happens now we need to keep going with a great run in to emulate what St Mirren did last season and set us up for next.

It's all about the 'Big Mo' ... momentum.... and the squad. People say we have a small squad (which I don't buy), but you can look at virtually every member of the squad who've played, and say that everyone of them has been capable of putting in eye-catching performances.

Some guys need a bit more man-management and guidance to stay focussed and do the right stuff consistently......perhaps Robbo is the man for that?

Yes...I was thinking only the other day, watching the latest highlights, how important to us Polworths' efforts are, and how clever he is. Being in the centre of midfield he is bound to get caught up in the odd mistake/loss of the ball. May be not quite as eye-catching as Ryan Christie was but becoming as much or more influential. (I guess RC has a 'special' status, because of his dad) We tend to rave over Daniel Mackay, but also forget that Polworth is also 'one of our own', and really starting to develop. Overall we absolutely must ensure we keep one or both of Polworth/Vigurs next year, preferably both as they make a great pairing in the middle.

It's still very much possible, especially as Dundee Utd still have to play Livingston and St Mirren (and will almost certainly be the only team Brechin beat this season!) The two Dumbarton matches could be key for us and then we play Dunfermline (which I am up for) A great win today and, including the cup, that's 6 games unbeaten..... Lets make that 7 against Falkirk this Tuesday

Yes a great result...and it could count for more. A play-off place is maybe an outside possibility, but it's better to look up than down, and remember St Mirren's almost certain promotion is very much off the back of a brilliant run in the Spring last year taking them from bottom to clear of the relegation play-offs. A good finish to the season has positives all round.

My wife and I were up in Inverness over the weekend, but because she hasn't been very well recently we opted not to go to the match , so watched from our hotel room instead. We missed the first 20mins though, which appears to have been Dumbarton's brightest spell, because other than the occasional foray forward and the scare of a mistake or our defence switching off, I didn't feel we were under much threat....according to the BBC they only had 4 shots and only one on target. They sat back very deep, and made it very difficult for us, effectively neutering any threat from Mulraney (who had no space to play with) and to a lesser extent Bell. Oakley had an OK game, but funnily enough I felt Baird might have done a better job (I'm sure I am in the minority there!) It was a pretty scrappy game and many passes went astray, but in my view we were much the better side, I know from watching my other team, that playing a side that defends that deep, will effectively bring you down to their level!. I thought we were patient and tried to build from the back, Polworth and Vigurs trying to prompt along with Donaldson, Tremarco and to a lesser extent Seedorf. One thing that did impress me was the number of forward slide rule passes that were attempted and many completed. Now you might pooh-pooh that observation, but I often complain about how poor the passing of my other team is (sorry to mention them again) ...so that was something I noticed. We got progressively better in the second half (as did Seedorf!) and it was great work by Robbo to bring Doran on for Mulraney and then Mackay when he did, I felt both would change the game. Vigurs penalty was poor (for some reason I think left footers are more likely to miss a penalty anyway...just from observing many penalty shoot-outs), but I wasn't totally convinced it was one anyway, and if we had won the game from that, it would have been somewhat flat as a victory. Our winning goal was great, and probably only the second time in the match that we properly carved their defence up. As someone else said Cup finals are for winning and we did, the players looked elated, and hopefully will give them a lift for the running in, so that we can lift any thoughts of a relegation play-off, off our backs and maybe inch towards those play-offs. Given that Donaldson only came back from injury for this game, it'll be interesting to see if Robbo starts him on Tuesday. I'm up for the Dunfermline game on the 21st April (straight after a Dumbarton double-header ) which I am looking forward to, and a lot of games will have been played by then. I know many people have been disappointed with this season, but maybe because I don't see us play every week, I am encouraged by the green shoots that I see in some of the new players that have come in (and Doran's slow but steady return).

Imagine how I feel about my other club...with Christian Benteke basically treading water until he sod's off to somewhere like China at the end of the season....he gets £120K per week! By comparison some of Caley's player would merely be doing a bit of shoplifting....at a sweetie store! It's one of the mysteries of football that the same bunch of players can be both inspired and up for it, in one match and insipid, half-arsed and disjointed in another

Yes, things do seem to have unravelled at the back with the shunting of Mckay over to RB due to Raven's departure, accommodating Warren. I guess Seedorf isn't quite the finished article yet. Not surprising really. Never really been convinced by Mckay at RB either...it'll be interesting to see whether Robbo will be tempted to drop Warren and return to the our most effective pairing once Donaldson is back fit ( I suspect Robbo is like many managers who tend to err on the side of experience regardless of real form, so it may take til the end of the season to see this one out). Tremarco is clearly one of the better LB's in the division so we should really have a pretty strong backline. I agree with the Bell/Oakley front pairing, we should be able to rotate one of Doran/Mulraney?Elbouzedi to attack down a wing...the only question then is should Trafford be playing more?

Oops...thats what happens when you typing whilst pretending to be working!