AlexJones

Scottish football needs a strong Terry Butcher.

Good result against one of the best teams I've seen at TCS this season. Also quite an achievement to keep Clarkson at bay considering he's scored in his last 8 consecutive games. Sounds like we finished strongly, despite having a midweek game. Fitness levels must be high! Positive substitutions also paid off. Good work all round.

I take it Marley is injured? Big opportunity for Nick Ross today. When you're struggling in the league the cup is a luxury. Sounds like Midden are playing better with the pressure off?

McKay and Watkins could both have had hat-tricks. They ran Well ragged. We looked more willing to make the killer pass today than previously. It's been a while since McKay was released one on one with the keeper so often. Looks like the team have found the right balance between patient build up play and direct through balls. The back 4 and midfield were totally solid defensively. In seasons gone by we had a nack of squandering deserved leads late on. Not anymore. Also worth noting that was Nick Ross's best performance from the bench of the season. Can see Motherwell struggling with County and Midden for the bottom 2 slots come the end of the season. County have been improving under McIntyre and Midden will soon have their best attacking players back from injury. Looking bleak for the men in claret and amber.

They shouldn't have been allowed into the SPFL at all. The rules clearly stated that prospective clubs must have had their accounts signed off 3 years in a row (or something like that). When Rangers were liquidated, their place should've been granted to an established club like Spartans or Brora. Sevco should've started at the bottom level of the Juniors like any other new club, then had to compete with other clubs in a free and open vote when a vacancy arose for a new SPFL club.

Laurent Blank won't be signing for us, he's manager of PSG.

Who are Rangers?

It also infuriates me that Roy Hodgson gives Chris Smalling the nod ahead of Gary Warren.

A couple of weeks ago we were all moaning about him giving out too many cards. Now people are complaining that he isn't giving out enough. A tad harsh. I prefer the way he handled things today. Made for a much more fluent, hard fought, high tempo game. Have given Collum pelters in the past, but credit where credit's due. Big improvement.

Brilliant pressing and tackling when we lost the ball. We out-scrapped them all over the park today. Exactly what you need to do to beat Hamilton. Excellent team performance.

Hughes has stated multiple times that every player in the squad should be able to play their way into the first team. A true meritocratic approach. Williams and Watkins have been outstanding this season, that's why Doran is on the bench. It's more a positive response to their performances than a negative response to Doran. Competition for places is a good thing, a bit of squad rotation will help us avoid the usual fatigue and accompanying end of season collapse which always seems to scupper us over the last few years.

Did anyone else enjoy Marley's goading of the United roasters behind the goal after his strike? That boy loves a wind up. Well played son.

I rate Christie, but it wouldn't be fair to drop Vincent after his performance against Utd. If anything I'd me more inclined to drop McKay and play Ryan in his place. A spell on the bench would probably do him good, coming on with 20 minutes to go as an impact substitute.

Story of the week - the old James Vincent is BACK!

Our attendances will be up next season when Rangers and Hearts return.

Willie Collum booked 8 players in the first half. Absolute tube.

First half was our poorest home performance for years. Could've been 5-0 down against the worst team in the league. The tippy tappy stuff in our own half was getting punished again and again, and producing nothing at the other end. In the second half we reverted back to classic Terry Butcher era tactics. Much less intricate, much more direct. County found themselves penned back and clinging on. Some lovely stuff from Christie, Draper and Williams in the final third. Deano and Mark Brown the best 2 players on the pitch. Says it all really. Great game, disappointed not to convert our second half dominance into a win but a draw was probably a fair result.

Fun fact, last time County finished above us Pat Nevin and Craig Levein were still playing for Scotland.

It saddens me that we won't get to sing "Kluivert, what's the score?" this Sunday. It seemed a genuine possibility. Not to be though.

How about we turn this into a 'suggestions to increase matchday attendances' thread. Here are my 2 cents. First of all the marketing is virtually non existent. If you've just recently moved to Inverness you could be forgiven for not even realizing the city has a Premier League football club. Marketing should also include making the public aware of the various buses to and from the ground that are available. Most Invernessians probably have no idea they can get a free bus to the games. The Sports bar also never gets advertised. It isn't even mentioned on the club website. Secondly, match day experience. Other than corporate entertainment (£60 per person, way out of the budget of any normal working class family) you could hardly call a trip to TCS a 'family day out'. You have the match, and nothing else. Third, cross promotion. The club could cross promote with other local businesses for mutual benefit. E.g. A season ticket comes with a 1 day trial at Inverness Leisure, in return a 12 month membership at Inverness Leisure entitles you to attend one home league game. This is just one hypothetical example. All kinds of 'bonus' deals with local businesses could be incorporated into a season ticket, and the 'one free match' tokens that go out in return would bring in new fans who might become regulars. It's a no brainer really.

Still a legend in my eyes. If anything, taking Hibs down makes him even more of a legend.

Very similar to our last home performance. Passing and movement wasn't quite as good as against Kille though. Probably a bit of tiredness creeping in from midweek. Draper bossed the midfield well till the man in black gave him a soft booking, having previously failed to book a Saints player for a much worse challenge. Very poor performance from the ref, he seemed to give Saints any decision they appealed for. Christie deserved his man of the match award. One of his best performances so far. Evaded his marker time and time again, and used the ball well. Felt bad for Billy today, got into lots of good goalscoring positions but the final ball to him was poor. A bit more composure and precision in the final third and we could've had 4 or 5. Wasn't impressed by Saints. Can see them struggling at the wrong end this season.

Look on the bright side. Let Sevco have a shot at the 'wee' cup this year for the first time in their history, we're not greedy. It was fixture congestion and exhaustion that derailed our league campaign last season. Without all those midweek games, we'll be much stronger come the business end of the season this time around. And there's always the 'big' cup to look forward to.