AlexJones

Will be interesting to find out what the average fan pays. PWYW has a pretty solid track record. Pay-What-You-Want: Gimmick or Genius? Surprised Sevco haven't tried this, given the obvious opportunity it creates to stiff the taxman.

I quite enjoy the 'banter' aspect of the show. Especially all the palaver about Aberdeen being title contenders.

I think the novelty factor is the biggest reason. The first derby was 20 years ago, but because the landscape was constantly changing, i.e. both climbing up the divisions and levelling up over time - each season always felt like a whole new ball game. The gaps in between where we had to wait for County to reach the same division as us also helped to keep the fixture fresh. Now that we're both established in the top league and we aren't competing directly with each other (i.e. both challenging for promotion / top 6 / relegation etc) the fixture has lost it's bite. I think if we were more evenly matched fans would be more engaged.

Brill Raven Devine Meekings Shinnie Warren Doran Williams Christie Watkins McKay Would be interesting to see the much-improved Gary Warren play in the Draper role. He's a good enough footballer to play further forward, and an under-utilised attacking asset IMO.

Decent performance, poor result. Profligacy in front of goal is really costing us. Even most Aberdeen fans felt we deserved something out of the game. Tremarco getting scapegoated by some but he only really made one mistake and couldn't play his natural game once yellow carded. If anything it looked like he was trying too hard today. Can't fault his work rate or commitment, just needs to compose himself and pick his spots a bit better. The manager or his teammates should've had a word with him early doors. Was hoping for a resurgent performance from Doran but felt he was well below par today. Don't think he can have any complaints if Williams comes back in for the next game. Watkins is wasted out on the wing. He should be played through the middle with McKay. Goals win games, and he's our biggest threat at the moment. Shinnie and Christie were the best 2 players on the pitch.

If you fined the manager along with the player, it would soon stop!

Sad if he leaves but if the Birmingham story is true then fair play, a truly big club playing in one of the biggest leagues in Europe. Also a good old GIRUY to all those insufferable Aberdeen fans who've had so much to say on this issue. Hopefully he makes the most of the time he still has with us. Have to say though, it's about time me actually received a transfer fee, if you look at all the players we've helped develop in recent years, Barry Robson, Dennis Wyness, Johnny Hayes, Adam Rooney, Don Cowie, Andrew Shinnie etc, and we haven't received a penny for any of them. Pretty scandalous really, especially when you look at the ridiculous money Dundee Utd have received for players of similar quality. Not sure what the answer is in this regard. Longer contracts seem the most obvious solution. Something has to change. We can't keep losing our most valuable players year after year on frees. It's totally inept.

Diving is just part of the game, always has been always will be. It's something you have to put up with almost every time you visit Celtic Park, Ibrox or Tynecastle. (St Johnstone are normally pretty sportsmanlike in this area to be fair). It comes down to the referees doing their job properly. Spotting a dive is no different to spotting any other foul. Yesterdays dive was as blatant as you will ever see. It should've been an easy decision, free kick to ICT and yellow card to Graham for unsporting conduct. I suspect if it'd be a behind closed doors game that's exactly what would've happened. But on this occasion, Mr Colvin decided he wanted to be a crowd pleaser. It's human nature to want to make a decision that results in you getting cheered like a hero by thousands of fans rather than making a decision that results in abuse. I bet he got a real buzz out of it, just like when he flashed the red card to tumultuous applause. Maybe I'm being harsh and Mr Colvin genuinely mis-read both situations, but I doubt it.

Good for an ICT player to be getting some national recognition. He deserves it. But if football has taught us anything (especially Scottish football!), it is that only a small fraction of 'rising stars' actually go on to be stars. Talent only takes you so far. It's a focused lifestyle and fanatical work rate that separate the great players from the mediocre. 2 attributes in incredibly short supply in our national football culture. A word of warning, here is a (in hindsight rather amusing!) list of 'the 50 most exciting rising stars in world football' from 2007. Link And 'where are they now?' Link Let's hope Ryan doesn't end up like the majority of players on the list!

What would happen if they refused promotion? First of all is that even allowed? Secondly, would the Highland League Champions Vs Lowland League Champions playoff at Hampden still take place? Surely the players and fans would want to be part of that showcase game. In which case, would the Lowland League team just get a bye to play Elgin even if they lose or would Elgin just stay up by default? Or alternatively would the second placed Highland League team take Brora's place against the Lowland League Champions?

Very unusual for McCoist to use the word 'tender' without chicken attached to the end of it.

It appears that our old time rivals are about to return to their roots as a mediocre Highland League club with delusions of grandeur. Their 13 years of dismal failure in the lower reaches of the bottom tier have been an embarrassment to northern football. How could such a fate have befallen this 'sleeping giant' of the game? One could be tempted to ponder 'how the mighty have fallen', but in truth they never even managed to take off. How does everyone feel about this? Personally I wanted to see them progress into the higher divisions and raise the profile of the northern game. A few more derbies other than our solitary Scottish Cup meeting would've been a bonus. At least we can take consolation in the fact that they're likely to be replaced by another Highland league club who'll hopefully fly the flag much better than they did.

After a terrible performance is it better to freshen things up straight away or to give your players a chance to redeem themselves? It could go either way, the incomers might give us a shot in the arm, or we could go down the 'backlash / reaction' school of thinking and expect the guys who underperformed yesterday to come out of the blocks like the clappers next time out. I would be more inclined to choose option A. Doran, Christie, Tremarco and Ross have all bided their time, done well when used from the bench, and are due a chance to win back their place at some point. At least 2 of those 4 should start against Saints. Not sure about Esson, haven't seen him at all this season so can't comment!

What do you think will happen to the price of commodities like oil when the first major economy inevitably defaults on it's debts?

I think Jim Calder (day job - brickie) and Martin Bavidge (day job - oil industry) were both on £15 a week at that time. To be fair, I think the distinction between part-time and full-time is less stark than it once was. Alloa outclassing Rangers exemplifies how things have changed. Modern high intensity training methods mean you can reach a high level of physical fitness and conditioning with just a few hours training a week, no need to run around all day - although most so called 'full time' players in Scotland certainly don't do a full days shift (9 to 5) by any manner of means.

One of those days when everyone was p1sh. We've always had our fair quota of those in a season. Everyone does. As Terry Butcher says - you just have to scrunch it up and throw it in the bin. I don't buy the 'bogey team' view. Partick aren't that good a side. They've had more than their fair share of luck and contentious refereeing decisions against us in recent times. Today was no different. Not saying they didn't deserve to win the game, but taking the lead against the run of play from a move where their man was about 3 yards offside, and having a perfectly good Inverness goal against them ruled out (how many times has that happened?) - we're due a bit of luck against them. What is evident though is that you can't play the same 11 / system every week. Next time we play Partick and their entire system is set up to disrupt our passing game and force errors by pressing high up the pitch, it leaves space in other areas that we can exploit. For every move there's a counter move. Unfortunately we didn't make any adjustments in our style at all today, even when it was clear it wasn't working. County played exactly the same way against us and we were lucky not to be 4-0 down at half time. We weren't so lucky today. The way we adapted our tactics in the second half against County was the textbook example of how to counter the high pressing game, and exactly how we should play against Partick next time out. If some of our players were starting to get complacent and over-confident, today was a good reality check. There are no easy games in this league.

Deano needs to start chipping in more.

Aberdeen would be a bad move for GS. I don't mind losing players to the Championship (it is afterall, the fourth biggest league in Europe!) where you'd be playing the likes of Norwich, Derby, Nottingham Forrest, Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers etc every week. Heck, if a few of our boys go down there I might even stay up late to watch the football league show. But a move to Aberdeen? Development-wise, it's a side step at best. You'd still be playing the same SPL teams week in week out. Comparing their philosophy and style of play to ours, you could even argue that it'd be a backward step. Why leave a structure / environment which is facilitating your development so successfully? The money would be better, but if it offsets or delays your big move down south, you might even be at a net loss in the long term.

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?

It'd be foolish for the Dons to increase their wage bill, it's already one of the highest in the country. Their debt wasn't cleared by an increase in income, but by a large one-off donation from a wealthy benefactor. They'd be much better served investing their money finally building their new stadium. They've been talking about it for years. Surely Milne has no excuse for prevaricating any longer. Pittodrie is a dump. Once they have their fancy new stadium and facilities, attendances and income should increase. THEN you raise the wage bill.

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.