PerfICT

Sorry guys, much as I want our rivals to fail, what the Govan cheats have done to Scottish football is unforgiveable and I can't support them against anybody...not even County

It's amazing how consistent the needs for various targets are across leagues and seasons. 2pts/game average is challenging for honours, 1.5/game is challenging for play-offs and 1/game is relegation material. So after 8 games, we need to be at the 12 point mark to be towards top 4: Less than 8 and there are warning signs, if early in the season. My guess is 9.

Fair point...almost forgot that in the misery of the gubbing.

The criticism of Polworth is misplaced. That's not to say that he is playing to his potential, but his "attitude" issues are nothing to do with a lack of effort or passion. Instead, it is an intense self-criticism that is his problem, so he lingers over the mistakes he makes instead of rectifying them. He might need a spell on the bench, but he certainly does not deserve abuse because it looks like he cares!

Positive: off the mark. negatives: still bottom no clean sheet centre half top (only) scorer Seedorf suspended Not sure how I feel about all that. Disappointing.

Agree that 4-4-2 is not working and is very inflexible. I also think you have to play to the strengths of what you have got. Take Vigurs, for example: I maintain that he was really poor for most of last season when played on the left or centre of a 4 in midfield. By contrast, he was excellent when Foran moved him to just in front of the back 4. For me, that is his best position and we should start with that. Polworth is not great on the right of a 4 - his best performances last season were in the centre...although it sounds like he's not been great there either this season...! I would be tempted to put Raven in his usual full back position and push Seedorf forward. Calder likewise, with Tremarco in at left back (once fit). Warren back in the centre will help the defence too. That leaves Baird or Bell and Oakley up front. When Doran comes back, there might be an option to go 4-1-3-1-1, with Doran in the hole. Whatever way you try to put this together, it doesn't hang together particularly well. It makes it reall difficult when so many are not performing (Mckay, Mulraney, Polworth for starters). And who to go in goal? OFW was hardly Neuer last season and this one seems no better. You can't help but think that Tremarco, Warren and Doran will have a big impact, but the baseline is so low, you wonder if it will be enough.

Embarrassing. Now lost to Falkirk, United and Pars in 3 successive games. Those are the promotion rivals. United just gone ahead too, so that's 6 points behind already. Mid-table seems a dream at the moment, never mind top 4.

The concern has to be the falling gate - fuelled by the lack of info and enthusiasm by those in charge. If we can only muster less than 1500 home fans for a match against the favourites in the first match of the league season, it puts us in the lower half of the table in terms of income. There is a real risk that attendances might drop below 1000 on a cold Tuesday night in January. That is part-time football, I'm afraid.

Sorry, Caman - can't endorse the traitor label. If ICT had really wanted him to stay, he'd be with us. Bottom line is that the board really wanted the cash (possibly to stay afloat) and engineered this with an underhand ploy to deflect blame. If they had been honest from the start, and told the supporters that relegation would mean selling off assets or face administration, I would have accepted it. This, however, is unacceptable from the club.

After some of the lackbof loyalty shown to Drapes last year, he had every right to withdraw his loyalty - I refer to him being dropped from the crucial match against County. My guess is that, as a senior player who cared for the club, he had suggested to Foran that he needed to get a grip....and paid the price. [speculation]. However, I don't get the impression that Draper instigated any of this. County were being predatory: If the Board didn't want this to happen and nor did Draper or Robbo, it wouldn't have gone through. So, at least one of the parties must have broken ranks. Robbo surely recognised the worth of Draper, so that seems unlikely: The Board seem to have pointed the finger at Draper, which doesn't seem likely and appears to be disputed by the player. The most likely scenario seems ro be that the Board have gone against the wishes of player, manager and fans and (worse) tried to subsequently deflect blame onto the player. The motive is clearly financial and I would potentially accept it if we were made aware of what challenges we face. However, if it turns out that they have deliberately tried to blame Draper to deflect criticism from themselves is cowardly and indefensible.

So, going back to this point, I now reckon we are deep in debt and can't afford to gamble on a promotion push, so we've sold the family silver. Robbo's assertion that he'd not sell after the end of July is dust. I doubt we'll get anyone else in - the best have been snapped up and the income has gone to the bottom line. So, we'll go with what we've got and a club with poor morale and a disillusioned support. The result of a catalogue of errors since the day Dundee United knocked on the door for Hughes. Those of you who think our youth might be our salvation - the SFA's project Brave is likely to wipe that out for us too. Tough decisions about to be made on how to deal with that little gem too.

I echo all of the above. The Club is a train wreck from top to bottom and all after the biggest result in our history. Where to from here? Without a huge shake-up, I reckon we'll be part-time in 3 years and unable to attract 1000: That's if administration (or worse) doesn't get us first. Sad times.

Oh to have Meekings back - we really missed him last year. However, the chances are nil IMO. Not only has he turned down a contract extension with us, but he's too costly and too much of a risk, given his recurrent injury. Robbo had surely moved on from that forlorn hope. Really sad because Josh has been outstanding for us, but the ship has sailed.

The next 3 weeks will tell us a huge amount about where we are and where we are likely to go. If Drapes were to be sold for £100k, that will give us a clue as to the depth of the financial predicament and how the Club feel it should be resolved. What happens with Fon Williams and Raven will also give indications regarding both ambitions for the season and skill in the off-pitch aspects of football. As with all these issues, we are totally in the dark, so nobody can make informed comment. Draper has been a brilliant servant to the club, but we'd be raging in 10 months' time and we lost him to County on a free (e.g. Ross, Shinnie, Tansey). Equally, if his sale made the difference between solvency or not, we'd tear the Board to shreds if they didn't do the right thing to save the club. We need to offload some big earners, so OFW needs to go ASAP. The decision might then be between Raven and Draper. For me, Draper would be a bigger loss, but would bring in more cash. Tricky. On the pitch, performances have to improve - Robbo hasn't found the formula yet and there are tough fixtures ahead. We need ro get the outstanding issues around the squad sorted so that we can shut up shop and get on with the football.

I think DD nailed this. Polworth' s 'attitude problem' is not a lack of desire to win or a lack of effort, but is more the result of self-criticism and (perhaps unrealistic) expectations of himself. His response to losing the ball is usually dropped shoulders, shaking head and, as a result, a momentary loss of concentration. This is easily sortable with a decent manager: just turn the frustration into desire to win the ball back! I also think that Polly might end up suffering from the Nick Ross "what's his position?" Dilemma. Holding, wide, centre or CAM? Don't know the answer - I prefer to see him central and advanced, but I' m happy to be proved wrong. The problem is that he needs to depose somebody to really nail down a position as his own. Draper, Tansey and Vigurs have central midfield tied down, so where to play Polworth?

Yup, can I change my selection, please?? Just a couple of very minor adjustments: Falkirk Dunfermline United QoS ICT St Mirren Livingston Morton .....I know it's early days and we need time for [insert cliche], but I saw very little on Tuesday and heard even less today to inspire confidence. Seedorf might be a find, but we need more than that to make a real challenge. I'm not sure we have the players for 4-4-2, particularly in midfield. If we're going with attacking full backs, surely go with 3 centre halves....except we don't have 3 fit centre halves. No pace on show today, which must have contributed to a lack of chances: Falkirk stood off and picked us off. I don't know what the answer is, but we're nowhere near the answer with the teams over the last week.

PS - ICT to make play-off final v County. Late Susan goal at Victoria Park to win it!

Love your optimism, DitD! St Mirren United Dunfermline ICT Falkirk

El Bouzedi

From what I saw on Tuesday, the above with "Susan" in for Oakley. That leaves the Polwoeth enigma - wide right is not his position. You either play him at the front centre of the midfield or not at all IMO. 4-4-2 doesn't suit him if Vigurs and Draper are firing. So, either go to a 4-2-3-1 or stick with 4-4-2 and go with our new midfielder/winger.

Result!

Would love to see it - I hate seeing our town centre represented by Ugly Sister shops when there is a fully professional local team! However, I would imagine, like others, that the revenue would not cover the additional costs, so we're stuck with the shipping container and playing second fiddle to Glasgow-centric outlets on our turf. Grim!

Vigurs was our best player last night. Hopefully Robbo will continue to coax the best out of him!

couple of late scares. Looks like pens

another disallowed goal. Not our day