PerfICT

Wow, never thought we'd attract Drogba up here!

Exactly, Hawkeye! As I said on a previous thread "just smile and wave, boys!" How sweet if we were to sneak in for one of the big prizes ahead of the Darling Dons.

From the Alba highlghts, I took the following: 1. We won heaps of key challenges in our own half - Draper, Tansey, Warren and Meekings were immense. Importantly, when the ball was won, it wasn't just thumped, but was played constructively - transition was excellent. 2. The one touch triangles in tight spaces in the first half were outstanding. Ross and Williams looked like they were key to this part of our game today - I thought Ross looked like he had an excellent game, particularly tracking back. 3. Shinnie and Raven were tremendous on the overlap - setting up both goals. 4. The chances we're creating now are clear-cut ones - we had 5 or 6 one-on-ones or clear shots from inside the box. Watkins, Christie, Ross, Warren all narrowly missed, or the final pass was inches off being perfect. 5. The Midden were restricted to 4 set-piece opportunities - always a good sign that they couldn't get through us in open play. That said, we didn't defend set pieces particularly well yesterday. 6. Yogi is right - we're not great with 2-0 scorelines and haven't yet got that confidence to put teams to the sword when we're up a couple - taking the foot off the gas and not being brave. Hopefully, that will come. Looking back over the above, I think every player (except Esson) gets a mention - which says it all!

Show me a team that doesn't time waste. He'd have been gushing about "professional attitude to see out the game" if roles had been reversed. Chick Young is a tw@t.

Well done again lads - seeing out a deserved win by all accounts. DU dropping points was a bonus, now let's hope Aberdeen do too. Bring on Killie!

Wish you'd all stop beating around the bush

Love it! Chuckled away to myself. Banter at football is what makes it. Childish humour, but I remember as a 16 year old watching Ipswich v Oldham (don't ask) and the Oldham fans struck up the "give me a teeee...eee"...since when did Oldham start with "t"? The next letters were I, t and s. The next line was "and what do you do with t!ts?" "Oldham, Oldham". Maybe you had to be there and be an adolescent boy, but it's rare to see 20,000 home supporters fall about laughing and applaud an opponent's song

A superb result and glad it's for more than a year! Next year is starting to shape-up nicely. Now get the other boys on board for a couple more seasons and some new faces in the summer (don't know if it's been said before, but a striker, perhaps?)

Good point, well made! Delighted for JH and very well-deserved, but the hoodoo around these awards is unnerving!

Fingers crossed for Meekings or Watkins. But I'd also be happy with Ross or Raven... My guess would be Meekings - think Watkins will be away in the summer

I thank you kind sir, although I started to doubt my own logic for a second! Obviously spent too much time in the bookies!

....BBC will be delighted - another opportunity to kick coverage of our game into the long grass and concentrate on the DUFC/Celtic and Hibs/spartans (or Berwick) games

Cannot complain about a home draw, but this'll not be a cake-walk! what an opportunity, though!

Home draw...............please! If I understand the changed rules for European qualification correctly, we might actually want Celtic and dundee United to be kept apart because, in the unlikely event that we don't win the cup(!) those 2 meeting in the final would mean a certain European spot for 4th place in the league (to allow Aberdeen to qualify, given that we'll already have qualified through winning the league!)

I'd not go near this bet with those odds! Much as Rasczak's calculation makes sense, 56-1 still feels way too low to me.... So I'm out! Good luck to anybody who takes those odds!

Getting first home team right is 4 in 8 (1 in 2) Getting opponent right is 1 in 7 (accumulator =1 in 14) Next home team right is 3 in 6 Next opponent right 1 in 5 Next home team 2 in 4 Opponent right 1 in 3 Next home 1 in 2 Opponent is last ball Multiply odds = 1 in 1680

Smile and wave boys, smile and wave! Maybe they'll pixelate ICT players out in the final to make sure we don't get too much exposure....

I make the chances of getting the draw exactly right (including correct h/a teams) = 1 in 1680, so good luck Caley Mad in Berks!

..fair cop - just trying to put a more optimistic spin on it!

...would prefer to win it!

We'll be drawn away - always are. Home to Berwick or Spartans?

Well done lads. Sounds like a battle in 2nd half, but who cares? We're through thanks to Esson's cracking save!

I'm afraid Januarys will always be shitey if we're doing well! Were a small "selling" club, so will lose good players to wealthier teams. We might be p!ssed off with our lot, but Hamilton have done even worse. Not many fans of Scot Prem teams are very happy - Celtic and Aberdeen were the only winners.

You can't ignore the player in all this - while they are a commodity that is traded, they have a common failing....they're human! So, if a player does/doesn't want to leave, it will have a bearing on the correct decision a club will make. Had Mckay insisted that he wanted to stay at ICT for the rest of his days, he would still be here. We know that wasn't the case because he didn't sign a contract extension. so, had he been denied what he probably saw as a good move, his heart would no longer have been with us and his form would have slipped. We would still have played him, but he would have been a shadow of his former self. The same is true of players coming in: it sounded like the guy at Southend was the one who put the kibosh on his move here (well before personal terms were discussed). Even if we'd offered the world and Southend had accepted, he wouldn't have come. So, both clubs and the player have to be happy with the deal on offer and that is why it is so difficult to attract the right person at the right time fro the right money. I still wouldn't be surprised if we weren't to see one or more of the guys papped during the window up here for the rest of the season (MAC, Jordon Slew both mentioned, for example). It's amazing how sudden unemployment can focus the mind!

...if Antoine-Curier is still available, I'd be pulling out the stops on that one.