PerfICT

Fon Williams: 6. Apart from a tip over the bar in the second half, I can't remember him having a save to make. Raven: 8. Had Gardyne in his pocket for most of the game. Excellent. Warren: 6. Not so exposed for pace in the 5 at the back formation, but was skinned by Gardyne a couple of times. McCart: 7. Really starting to show his potential. One absolute crunching tackle in the first half was a joy watch. Laing: 7. Solid all game. Tremarco: 8. Another excellent game from our player of the season. Unlucky not to score in 2nd half. Tansey: 9. Without doubt his best game of the season. Deserved his goal. Draper: 8. Always plays well against County and didn't disappoint. Vigurs: 7. Easily his best performance of the season. Excellent right foot shot that clipped the bar early on and good distribution. Anier: 6. Better from him, but first touch let him down quite often. Mckay: 7. Worked his socks off with fairly poor service. Really unlucky with the shot off the bar that would have killed the game. Polworth: 6. Certainly not his best game, but picked out Tansey for the goal. Also wound Gardyne up, which always deserves credit! Foran: 5. Clearly does not like playing with width up front. Did he miss a trick by not playing Cole and King, or was the formation right to nullify County's attack? Personally, I prefer the 4-2-3-1 formation, with pace out wide, but the players almost made the 3 centre halves formation work. His half time talk certainly did the trick. Referee: 6. Did well to keep his cards in his pocket for most of the game. A couple of penalty appeals for County...think he got those right too.

With repect to the lack of substitutions - that is another symptom of playing a back 5 IMO. To bring on King and Cole would require taking off Warren, Laing or McCart as well as Anier, and an entire reorganisation from back to front. It is a fairly inflexible system if you need to bring on width. I can see why RF didn't change it when we were winning and it was too late once we conceded. Ebbe for Anier didn't require any change to the system.

Really didn't like the look of the team before kick off, but to be fair it nearly worked out. Vigurs was having his best game all season before his injury and, although we looked predictably narrow, the work rate and desire of every single player almost pulled off the win. It certainly wasn't pretty, but it's what we need to do in every single game from now on. Clean sheets will keep us up and the defence was pretty sound today.

A few weeks ago, I would have agreed with you, ictchris. However, their form has dipped and they have something of an injury crisis (Fox, Davies, Woods, Schalke, McShane, Dingwall all out or carrying injuries). That's not to say that we have anything like a full squad to pick from either, but the team suggested by RiG (for example) still looks pretty handy. We just have to hope that Tremarco is back and I'd like to see Mulraney have a run at their defence too. Billy always scores against County...just with Doran was playing too!

Yes, all of this shows the nonsense of the "must win" concept early in the season. RF indicated that the Dundee home game and, IIRC, the Hamilton game were "must win". The truth is, had we drawn the Hamilton game, we would not be bottom now. I still think we're not yet in "must win" territory, but we're close to "dare not lose". In fairness to RF, when he made those comments, he still had the deluded view that top 6 was possible...

With you on this one, IHE...except maybe Warren. It's a tough one - he's certainly had a poor season, but there is no doubting his desire - witness far post header for a point on Saturday! Whose more likely to get a handle on Boyce? He's not massively pacey, so it's about positioning. Not sure....good luck with that one RF! What we must have is pace and width - that means 2 from Mulraney, King and Cole. Polworth in the hole for me.

I can only judge on the highlights, but it looks like PT had the better chances, so a draw seems to have been somewhat undeserved. However, there have been plenty of times this season when we should have taken something and missed out, so it's our turn. I ask the question: would you prefer to be Hamilton, Motherwell, RC or us right now? We have the fewest points, but have taken 5 from the last 4 quite tricky games and have 2 home games against RC and Killie to come; Hamilton have shipped 10 goals in the last 2 and play The Rangers with a new manager next; Motherwell are also in a reasonably poor run of form, but looked better on Saturday; County are also on a poor run, but were probably unlucky on Saturday.....It's a tough one, but despite a poor performance yesterday, I think I'd prefer to be in RF's shoes than Canning's right now. When you're at the wrong end of the table, 5 points are a lot to pick up on your rivals, but it's in your own hands when you still have to play some of them (RC and Mot). The pressure is ramping up, but we have it in the team to salvage this - c'mon Inverness, let's do this!

Agree on many points IHE. I think today, RF's hands were tied by injuries and suspensions, but his faith in Vigurs throughout the season has not been repaid by effort or quality, with one or two exceptions. Assuming Draper and Tremarco are available next week, Vigurs and Anier should be on the bench. I don't object to both coming on late in a game to change things up, but they shouldn't be starting. If RF doesn't learn this lesson in particular, I think we will go down and Foran will be responsible because he's failed to rectify the fault. Right team next week and we've got a great chance of beating County.

Yup, I'd take that, all things considered. Now, we absolutely need to stick it up County next week!

Crucial goal at Hearts: Hamilton losing 1-0

back 3 apparently...

With you on all of that, DD! Please prove us wrong, lads.

Really don't like the look of that line up: 4-4-2 with Vigurs in a midfield 4 hasn't worked before. I know we're stretched for this one because of suspensions, but that midfield has zero pace. Cole should be playing.

Surprised by some of the comments above. We need every bit of help we can get at the moment and a fully fit Doran is a definite asset. Not having him for the rest of the season is a loss and - at a personal level - could have a massive impact on a promising career here or elsewhere.

Lies, damn lies, statisics....and Charles Bannerman!

Ouch - that hurt! It seems we've upset the footballing Gods, with a full set of results not going our way this week. So, we can't rely on other results working for us. It's up to us - and us alone - to get out of this, starting on Saturday. Ther's less and less room for error....

Thanks, tm4tj. Tough choice - no standouts.

Scotty - it looks to me like the 1 point options aren't accurate? McCart wasn't playing and no Polworth?

Right, I'm going to chip in to the Vigurs debate: First, booing any of your own team is entirely counter-productive: We need everybody to be totally committed and what more of a disincentive is there than booing by your own fans? I didn't hear any booing of Vigurs where I was sitting in North Stand, but if there was, it's certainly not going to help our plight. His move to County is irrelevent - not his choice. On Vigurs' selection or otherwise, I don't think he's the type of player that we need in this predicament. I much prefer the Draper/Tansey/Polworth combination to give us energy for 90 min in front of a leaky back 4. Sure, Vigurs tracks back on occasion, but there have been plenty of examples in previous matches when TV evidence pointed to his inability to track runners throughout a match that led to goals against. Polworth has a bit of an attitude problem when he makes a mistake, but I feel he really wants it. Vigurs off the bench for last 15 min seems a sensible option, and he does have a sweet left foot.

Started to vote, then bottled it....not unlike our team today! Garbage and mediocrity with nobody keeping the ball.

Not sure what to make of all of that. How would we have felt if OFW hadn't gift-wrapped 2 goals and we'd lost 2-0? First 40 min we were really solid and only undone by a peach. Agreed, we looked hesitant going forward, but Celtic's pressing was exceptional and forces the mindset. Warren had done OK first 45, but was skinned for the 4th. The crucial thing is putting it behind us. If we can't and it affects us in the next 3, we're doomed. Equally, RF needs to avoid the temptation of changing the formation or personnel, unless Mulraney and/or Tremarco is fit. Cole was the last player who should have been subbed today - at least he had a couple of decent runs and he did his share of defending too. Concentrate on Partick and get a bounce game next week.

All the hard work thrown away with 2 shockers. Make that 3....

Looks like Raven at left back, Laing and Warren in the middle and Mackay on right. Not many other options tbh.

The problem in the cup game at Celtic was going 4-4-2. This played into Celtic's hands, with space between the lines for their playmakers to exploit. I agree with top six - play narrow in defence and let them have it out wide: Physically narrowing the pitch is also not a bad idea. Play Draper and Tansey in front of presumably Laing/Mackay and Warren (McCart not available). Keep some pace out wide and Mckay up front. In short, no need to change anything other than enforced replacement of McCart. Any news on Tremarco and Mulraney - could do with both of them to be fit, although Raven and King are ready replacements. What's up with Doran these days? Mesaage to RF - not 4-4-2 against these guys!

How right you were, NJ, how right you were!