Robert

We’ve been drawn against Strathspey in the first round and, if we win that, Rothes or Nairn in the second round. In theory both are at home, but we’ve tended to cede home advantage in this cup (apart from when we played Strathspey last season). Provisional dates are 2 and 30 September.

Hard to tell from the camera angle if the East Fife goal was offside. I and those around me were convinced it was in real time, but it all stemmed from sloppiness.

Not our finest 90 minutes. We made a fast start but without troubling East Fife, then the game settled down with not much happening. A slack pass by Sole led to the East Fife goal, although from my view I’m convinced there was a clear offside in the build up. We had plenty possession but struggled to break East Fife down and needed a good finish by MacKinnon to get us a draw in stoppage time. Then the plus point: 5 out of 5 in the penalties with good efforts by Shinnie, Wotherspoon, Kargbo, Bates and Longstaff, along with a great save by Munro. We need to improve before the league campaign starts, and too often we played it slowly which played into East Fife’s hands. We did look better after Longstaff, Wotherspoon and MacKinnon came on. No cause for alarm but work to do.

We are playing Strathspey in Grantown on Tuesday with a 1930 kick off. The Friday game there for the Development Squad is cancelled.

We’ll face Liam Polworth this season as he’s joined Livingston.

We won 4-1. Duncan, Bates and Kargbo added to Mackay’s first half goal.

Nice to wake up to that result!

A shocking decision, just showing how corrupt certain people really are.

A disappointing afternoon, and a lot of work to do before the competitive games start. County deserved their win, particularly as they bossed the second half with the wind advantage after a first half that was quite even. For me, Chin was the difference. We just couldn’t handle him whilst we’d no one who could trouble County. Too often, we were sloppy in possession or lost the duels for 50/50 balls, and County seemed hungrier. A lot to do before 1 August (and ideally before next Saturday as we could do with confidence boosting results in the cup).

Trialist 14 is Dan Mackay again. From where I am for the warm up, I think Trialist 15 is a different player to the one who played at Nairn and Clach.

Not seen any reports but we were playing them on Tuesday: https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/caley-thistle-to-help-opposition-prepare-for-champions-leagu-438723/

Sorry, didn’t spot that you’d included the kick off time 😂😂

The kick off time is now 1300.

I feel sorry for Steve Clarke. He seems a decent guy who was doing the best he could with the hand he was dealt, and I’m not sure that we can come up with a replacement who will be able to achieve more. His task was to get us to major tournaments, and he did that. Sadly, we failed at them, in part due to being too cautious and in part because in some positions we are just not good enough. I believe he has handled himself with dignity, including in his decision to step down, which I think is the right decision for him given the last few weeks. As others have said, our structure doesn’t seem to help the national team and young talent is stifled as a result. An example is Finlay Curtis, who is seen by many as integral to our national team’s future, but he’d to go out on loan from a poor Rangers team to get regular action. How many of our squad of 26 were first pick starters at their club sides? Not as many as we needed, and it showed. A disappointing campaign, but our fans were magnificent.

Ben Gardiner has also joined Brora.

What, with the third? I was distracted at the time but thought it was Mackay again but happy to be corrected. I don’t think we played as well as at Nairn on Tuesday, although we picked up after Mackay, Bavidge and the big no 20 came on, and probably deserved to win, although I wouldn’t have grudged Clach a draw. We defended poorly for their goal, and nearly gifted them a second at 1-1. Minutes in legs and no injuries, so mission accomplished, and still a few weeks to get sharpness up for when the main business starts.

Mackay again so we lead 3-1. Edit: ok, it was Shae Keogh.

Dan Mackay puts us in front. A very even game.

1 up. Think Paul Allan’s free kick went in without anyone getting a touch.

Strong line up. Presumably the trialists will get the second half.

Calum Ferrie has moved from Queens Park to Kilmarnock.

It’s always hard to tell before the season starts, so my ambition is more based on us consolidating ourselves as a Championship team than on who I think we will finish above. That said, I think Stenny will struggle without Naismith, whilst Morton and Queens Park are those I’d expect to also be towards the foot.

That’s excellent news. We are slowly building the squad and hopefully we can be competitive in the Championship, although my target is 8th or better! For me, the priority is now the defence as we need back up for Macleod, Devine, Savage and Boutin. On paper, we have options in midfield and out wide, whilst I hope we bring another striker in. I’d happily see us sign Joe Walters based on what I saw of him on Tuesday and he seemed versatile, playing at both centre half and right back. I enjoy the pre season friendlies but roll on competitive games!

Sadly outclassed tonight, and how the BBC commentator thinks we still have a chance of qualifying, goodness knows. We can’t gift rap goals like we did on Friday and tonight.

I’m not convinced there was any interest in bringing Jordan White back. He was strongly rumoured to be joining Aaron Doran at Strathspey when someone said they’d heard we were looking at two County players, then the Cove story started several weeks ago. I liked the 30 minutes that Bates was on the pitch last night. I know it was only a pre-season friendly, but he could be a handful for defenders and an asset to us, as he looked to be good at bringing other players into play. We also had the tall striker on trial last night so we are clearly working on getting strikers in.