PerfICT

Good post DD.

If JH is still on our payroll, the sooner he gets another job, the better. If he were to go to a struggling club like Dundee, all the better - nothing worse for a club at risk of relegation than trying to play possession football. P&B makes interesting reading around the former ICT boys - Ross, Williams and Vincent are not fans' favourites....surprising because I thought all 3 would do well for them!

Interesting, IHE. Worth a shot. I'd be tempted to give Tansey another chance instead of Vigurs and drop Draper back in to hold: Fon Williams McKay Meekings Warren Tremarco Draper Tansey Doran Polworth King Fisher Bring on Vigurs and Mulraney as impact subs. Vigurs sure to score a screamer at former club.

Fon Williams: 6 - apart from a poor flap at a cross late on, didn't play badly and very nearly got to the pen. McKay: 4 - worst game yet and gave away a daft penalty when the cross had been dealt with. Meekings: 6 - played OK. Picked up a booking "for the team". Warren: 6 - solid, but his distribution was pretty poor. Tremarco: 8 - easily our best player in defence and attack. Mulraney: 5 - a piece of magic in the first half to get away from 3 defenders, followed by a poor final ball. Caught in possession too often thereafter. You can see why Foran is reluctant to play him all the time. Tansey: 5 - not firing this season and lucky not to be booked. A decent shot in the first half. Vigurs: 5 - I felt he played better than most on CTO thought. There were a couple of heart-in-mouth moments deep in his own half, but he got a few good moves going. Polworth: 5 - can't fault him for effort, but he's not a wide midfielder and certainly not on the left. Was always too narrow. Draper: 5 - strangely quiet, but should not have been subbed. Doumbaya: 5 - got the goal, but only held the ball up on a couple of occasions. Goes down too easily. Doran: 7 - made an impact and a few decent shots at goal. King: 7 - also made a difference. Bowden: 2 - offered nothing. Foran: 4 - got this one all wrong. Midfield was a mess. Players substituted off were strange - Draper wasn't his usual, but was ahead of several others. Polworth on the left didn't work. Tansey and Vigurs holding doesn't work. Doumbaya was lucky to stay on, but I suppose decision vindicated by his goal. I suppose Foran should be credited for going for it after subbing Mackay for a striker. I have no idea what our formation was after that, but it worked out! Ref: 6 - for me, not as bad as some suggest. Penalty was right - clumsy challenge. He missed a few things, but I don't think the challenge on Doumbaya was a pen - there was a stronger case for Warren being clotheslined later.

spoilt for choice.

Very few pass marks today. Tremarco our best by a mile. Polworth is not a wide player and Tanseyvwas poor, except for a decent shot in first half. Vigurs played OK, Doumbaya was generally poor, but scored. The penalty was a stupid one - rightly given - was it Warren? I thought King and Doran made a difference. Boden didn't. Fair play to Foran going with a few risky subs. Must do better.

Kilmarnock are poor, but have created 3 really good chances. Not sure what that makes us. Shape all wrong today...not sure where Polly is playing. Need to shake this up 2nd half!

The pressing game can be very effective, but requires full team effort and enormous concentration: One player switches off and the game is up. The sitting game requires less effort and can be hard to break down - equally, it can lead to a very boring game. The very best can flick between the two systems at will - with pressing spells interspersed with sitting spells to give the players a break. I think Barcelona under Gaurdiola gave themselves 6 seconds to win back the ball with a high press and then settled into a sitting pattern if unsuccessful. So, you pays your money and takes your choice: Very few if any teams can press for the whole 90 min and you do leave gaps, while watching 2 sitting teams can be ditchwater to watch.

Not sure this should be a dilemma any more. Polworth's performance against Dundee, particularly in a more advanced role through the middle solved it. He's done OK in flashes out wide or even as an emergency full back, but looks uncomfortable there. Draper and Polworth switching about in the advanced midfield would keep any defence on their toes.

Yes, the crowd was disappointing for Saturday, particularly given the up-turn in entertainment. However, the truth is that our core support is 2500 ish; an away support of less than 200 and a few non-season ticket holders makes the sub-3000 total. Even for the Celtic game, the casual supporters probably only totalled about 500. It's not about cost or the quality of the product, or indeed a lack of effort by the club. The bottom line is that people would prefer to spend their money on Sky or BT to watch EPL football than to support their local team. It's not a problem for ICT, but for Scottish football and it's not an easy problem to solve.

....liked him in both, but perhaps more so behind the striker. A former youth squad team-mate of his told me a couple of seasons ago that this was his best position, but I didn't believe him. On Saturday, I thought he was a real thorn in Dungdee's backside. The best evidence was when he stole the ball in front of the keeper and played Mulraney in. He's not a wide midfielder, but anywhere through the middle.

Fon-Williams: 8. Deserved a clean sheet, but beaten by an excellent free kick. McKay: 8. Inspired signing, especially at right back. Excellent going forward today - 2 assists! Warren: 7. Solid as ever, but gave away a couple of silly free kicks. Meekings. 8. Strolled it today. So solid. Tremarco. 8. An excellent match defensively and going forward. Tansey: 7. Good game and took the pen well. Draper: 7. Solid performance as ever. Mulraney: 7. Exciting to watch. Polworth: 9. Finally found his position. Worked incredibly hard and forced numerous errors in defence. Took his goal well and put one on a plate for Mulraney. King: 7. Good in flashes and drew the foul for a pen. Doumbouya: 8. Took his goal really well and worked the defence all day. Doran: 7. Still not quite at his best, but showed some decent touches. Fisher: 7. Worked hard and had a decent shot. Cole: 6. Not much of an opportunity, but looks like he has something (pace!) Manager: 9. Got this one spot on. Right team, right positions, right subs. Ref: 8. Got most decisions right. Not sure about the pen, but happy to take it.

Great performances all over the park today: Back 5 were excellent and Polworth in particular was a live-wire in midfield - he worked his socks off. Doumbaya was a handful and Mulraney and King also had decent spells. The penalty looked outside the box to me, but I'll take it! Polworth man of the match for me, with Meekings and Mckay very close behind. Well done Richie and the boys - the season is back on track!

There's no question of a dive here - there was a tangle of legs, which tripped Draper, so not a booking for simulation. To my mind, it is trherefore a foul and it looked like the contact continued into the box, so a penalty and yellow card is my verdict. If Drapes deliberately induced the foul, he has an incredible talent - to be able to run at full tilt, control a football and "throw his right leg out" at just the right moment to collide with the defender - without looking to see where he was - is magical!

Only got to 2nd half and watched most of it through my fingers as Celtic shots crashed off the woodwork, were blocked by desperate defending or parried away by the outstanding Fon Williams! As the half went on, you just sensed that Celtic were not going to score and that we might just get a chance or 2 to snatch a point. Subs were inspired and spot-on, although the free kick at the death would have been perfect for Vigurs! Still, Tansey nearly buried it and his cross for the leveller was excellent. Much to be proud of! The important thing is to capitalise next week against Dundee. Still not quite sure who best to play up front, but the rest of the team just about picks itself.

Great point! Unbeaten in last 2 matches. Only Celtic next week...

Phew. It makes a change for us not to have lost any of our key players at the end of the window.....and to have got a couple more in to strengthen the squad! I had a horrible feeling that Tansey or Meekings would suddenly be whisked away, but not this time! Right, now let's get on with the job and start getting the points that the quality of the squad deserves!

Not in Scotland?

Can this be merged with the "It tttttttttttt's...... Johnny " thread on the same topic?

Just graceless. He could have just said "I wish Richie Foran all the best" and left it, but no: he has to put the boot in and say he doesn't see him as a coach and that he doesn't have any ideas! Forgive me for saying, but JH was hardly mastermind - his solution to every situation was to "keep possession". Who knows whether he's right about RF, but (a) give the guy a chance and (b) get off your high horse!

Draper is our heartbeat. The test of a quality player is the one who comes to the fore when the team isn't playing well - Big Drapes has been the standout in all our defeats this season...and again today. It's brilliant to see that he's added goals to his combative midfield style. Tansey has started this season slowly - like last. We really need him to start firing quicker. Is there still an offer from The Sheep distracting him? The annoying thing now is the International break - Abdn off the back of a hidibg from Celtic + our victory today would have been a good build up to the game, had it been next Saturday.

Oh yeah! Love a last minute winner after a stramash! So needed...and well deserved! Well done Richie and the boys. More passion today than in previous four. It'll be a battle this season, but any posirion between 4 and 12 is possible!

Gunnning....a terrifying prospect! A very good chance that he could be a bad apple. I suppose it could work, but there is a significant risk. Let's see what happens. Sounds like the other trialist might have scored for U20s - hope?

I would love to see us spend more to strengthen the squad, but the reality is that there is no cash. Foran clearly has the choice of El Alagui OR a defender - we need both and more besides! Hughes wasn't a scapegoat - he boxed the board into a corner and got what he wanted (out with a pay-off). That cost more valuable cash and forced the only decision possible, which was for Foran to be manager. The 4 year contract seemed generous, but I suspect RF had the upper hand in those negotiations. So, we are where we are financially and the reason for it is small attendances. The players we have are good enough to stay up, but a couple more injuries and we are truly stuffed. RF needs to get the motivation and organisation right and do it quickly. The last thing he needed was a poor start, but he needs to get these guys really playing for him and get them better organised. If the choice is premiership security or financial security, I vote for financial.

I don't get it. OFW + back 4 + Draper and Tansey holding reads pretty well on paper....and yet they collectively ship 5!!! What's up with Raven? Is Meekings match sharp yet? What's happened to Warren and Tremarco? Is Tansey's head elsewhere? Even elsewhere on the park, things are not so different from the past 2 seasons: Polworth, Vigurs, Mulraney and now Doran should offer something, but aren't yet. Granted, Boden isn't a patch on Storey, Billy or Watkins, but that doesn't explain 5 goals conceded! It has to be down to poor organisation and motivation. Richie is going to have to learn very quickly!