AlexJones

Rickie Foster signs for County He certainly wouldn't have come cheap! Thought he looked decent playing for the real Rangers in the Champions League. Still only 29. Didn't have the best of times last season, but that could easily be attributed to the toxic environment he was working in and the dross he was playing alongside. A solid top 6 player IMO. Looks like County should be challenging at the top end this season, on paper at least.

Feel bad for Greenhalgh, always thought he looked a decent player. Could definitely do a job for a bottom 6 SPL team IMO.

Interesting that Yogi seems to be looking to add some physicality to the squad. All 3 are over 6 feet. Wedderburn looks more like a rugby prop than a footballer. Think we could be onto something. We were bullied at times last season. The SPL is still a very physical league. Sounds like the plan is to bring in guys with good athletic attributes and coach them into well rounded footballers. It won't always work, but we have an exceptional coaching team so I'm optimistic.

Interesting mixture of metaphors. So it IS possible to get blood from a stone.

Would anyone doubt that Stuart Armstrong, Ian Vigurs, Graeme Shinnie, Nick Ross, and Ryan Christie are 5 of the best young players in the Scottish Premiership? Don't forget all the ICT youth products who are currently playing in the lower divisions of the Senior leagues. (Shane Sutherland, Michael Fraser, Gary Wood etc etc) It's a very odd criticism. Surely ICT, the most successful 'pound for pound' club in Scottish football, are a model of a how a small professional football club should be run. Mr Gray might have preferred that we signed a bunch of young Scottish duds and struggled to survive in the SPL. ICT's fortunes are of no interest to him. It makes no odds to the SFA what division we're playing in. I hope we continue to sign as many Warrens, Meekings, Drapers, Vincents, Tanseys, Dorans, McKays and Ravens as we can and challenge for honours.

Tune!

He's a good footballer for sure, but for an attacking midfielder he contributed very few goals and assists so he was never quite the finished article, despite some good spells. We've been waiting for him to 'bulk up' for about 4 years. Perhaps he wasn't pushing hard enough in the gym, perhaps he's just a hard gainer. I always rated him as a decent, honest player with good vision for a pass, but who never quite fulfilled his potential for whatever reason. When he first broke into the team under Butcher as a winger he looked fantastic. The archetypal 'nippy' youngster who took men on and dribbled past them. Laterally I can't even remember the last time he dribbled round an opponent. Maybe it's been coached out of him, maybe just a lack of confidence. A change of scene and a bit of new stimulation might be what he needs. Dundee is a good move for him IMO, Hartley teams play the same way as us so it should be an easy transition.

Phil Roberts had some excellent games for us when he was first introduced into the team and contributed some cracking goals and assists. IIRC Butcher dropped him harshly then started bringing him on as a striker late on in games (rather than his natural midfield position) and his confidence was completely shot. He was never the same again. It's also worth re-iterating that he was only 18 at the time.

Some goal this. Oddly, it's only the second most entertaining moment of this clip after noticing that Corby Town have a player called 'Viera'.

Our clubs success is built on signing under-appreciated players from the lower echelons and giving them the coaching and platform to develop. Just because we've finished third and won a Cup doesn't mean we should start acting like the 'big' clubs. A classic mistake. Rather than competing for players who are the finished article (a competitive, inflated market), there's much more value in searching for players with work ethic and potential. We have a great coaching team, have faith in them!

I wonder how Shinnie will react when McInnes informs him of his masterplan to play him in midfield so as to accommodate Considine at left back. Won't do his international credentials any good.

Haven't seen enough of Kink to form a strong opinion. When he came on against Raith he looked absolutely class. Hughes said as much in the post match interview, lauding his 'dip of the shoulder' technique to Jim Spence. I think he's worth taking a chance on.

Could it also be the case that English lower league players are harder working and more professional than Scottish lower league players?

Think he'd struggle to break into the Brora first team, can't see him displacing Brittain, Kettlewell or Morrison. Nairn County might be a good shout though.

Can see us going with a starting lineup along the lines of... Esson Meekings Warren Devine Williams Draper Tansey Vincent Christie Ross Doran Think we could get a lot of goals with a fluid Barcelona style 'trident' front 3 of false 9s all drifting and dropping into pockets of space, then pressing back when we lose the ball. SPL defenders aren't used to coping with that kind of movement. Christie and Doran have shown how much damage they can do cutting in from the flanks. Surging runs from Meekings, Williams and Vincent will create overloads. Draper and Tansey sitting deep will keep the back door closed.

Winning the Europa League will secure us automatic qualification into the 2016 Champions League group stages. Not that bothered about the European Super Cup to be honest, but would be a nice bonus, a bit like the North of Scotland Cup.

No matter what you think of the SNP, booing Drew Hendry at the northern meeting park is a piece of nonsense. You won't meet a nicer man in local politics.

I loved his "I can't lie..." comment during his post match interview. Of course you can't Marley. You're one of Yogi's 'guid, honest laddies."

Bingham

Not the first time big Drapes has gone for the old Nayim from the halfway line. The old man who sits behind me at TCS normally loses his rag whenever he does it.

There was a time when even the likes of Livi and Ayr United were poaching our best players, and we still managed to keep moving forward. As long as we recruit well, and get the best out of players, we'll continue to prosper.

Funny to hear English pundits calling for all Uefa teams to boycott the World Cup. Easy for England, considering they probably wouldn't even get through the group stage. This could actually turn out pretty well for Scotland. If all the major countries boycott big tournaments, we might even manage to qualify!

Nobody has mentioned one of the unsung heroes from Saturday. Just after Falkirk scored a pitchside photographer wearing an ICT jumper (quite far away, could be wrong) stood up, turned around towards the crowd with a big smile on his face, and started rallying the fans in front of him to stand up and cheer, starting a chain reaction that lead to the whole ICT support getting on their feet to rally the players. A small contribution, but perhaps a telling one. Well done that man. A wave of positive energy when it was badly needed!

I concur with the OP. Perhaps a bit early to write-off Tremarco, players can often grow into a role when given the opportunity. But I would prefer to go with Williams. Recall him playing there against Dundee United late on last season and having a great game. A back 4 of... Meekings Warren Devine Williams ...would probably be our strongest, both offensively and defensively. Raven has been class for us and will no doubt reclaim the position at some point, but I would be inclined to give Meekings a run based upon how well he's done there recently. Our form turned around at roughly the same time he was switched to right back, and Devine introduced at centre half.

Brittain is still highly rated by County fans, his release could be a case of McIntyre wanting to mould his own team rather than a reflection of his footballing capabilities. Would be surprised if he isn't picked up by another SPL team. He'd be a typical Paul Hartley signing IMO. County have now poached a St Johnstone player and a Partick Thistle player through offering higher wages. It's always an unedifying spectacle seeing a club simply try to buy success, particularly a wee club. They should be trying to develop young talent, or scouting players from the lower levels, i.e. emulating the successful models of clubs like ICT or Hamilton. Unfortunately, it looks like they're on course to emulate Gretna or Livi.