Robert

And we could face Alloa and Hamilton who we’ve struggled against in recent seasons.

It’s another weekend where many of those we are trying to catch will pick up points given the other fixtures. We could do with Airdrie winning at Ayr tonight, but that would put them out of sight for us. Similarly if Dunfermline beat Arbroath we are unlikely to catch them either. We then have out of form Morton hosting Queens Park so at least one of them will be amongst the points. If we lose and both Ayr and Queens Park win (or Ayr win and Morton draw with Queens Park) we will be 5 points off 8th with 5 games left. All iffs and buts, but we really do need a win tomorrow.

Scott has attended the Fans Meetings organised by the Supporters Trust and it is good he is the new SLO and looks to want to make a positive impact in the role.

Nikolay Todorov scored the winning goal for Airdrie in the Challenge Cup final today.

Cillian Sheridan for Queens Park and both Garry Wood and Ethan Cairns for Banks O’Dee today.

The assist was good play by Pepple I’m told.

I’m really not sure about that starting line up. Hopefully I’m proved wrong but it’s making me very nervous. Congratulations to Harper being captain for the day though.

Pepple starting with Mckay on the bench. Devine also on bench with Boyes starting. BBC has this formation: Ridgers Carragher Boyes Savage Duffy Shaw Kerr Anderson Harper Pepple Samuel Subs: MacKay, Devine, Mckay, Doran, Samuels, Brooks, Lawal, Ujdur.

The club has confirmed what they intimated at the last Supporters Trust Fans Meeting that Scott Young is now the Supporters Liaison Officer: https://ictfc.com/scott-young-becomes-slo/ The Supporters Trust had been pushing the club hard to clarify the position surrounding the SLO, to assist in fans getting improved service from the club when raising concerns or questions.

Given when Welsh put his house up for sale and Carson’s circumstances we need to agree to disagree. I’ve no idea what view Gardiner had of either, but I don’t see how Ferguson can be held accountable for them moving on.

They didn’t leave because of Ferguson. Welsh wanted to move last summer whilst Carson had very understandable family reasons for needing to be close to Edinburgh. Ferguson needs to keep us in the Championship this season and, assuming he is still here, next season is the time to judge him. In my opinion, in the January window, it looks to me that the club’s leaders were trying to reduce the wage bill by moving players on or out on loan where they could, and bringing players in on loan who we are probably just paying a fraction of their wages depending on appearances. It is clear that was a high risk strategy but we will know in early May whether it has paid off or not.

On Saturday, Marley Watkins scored for Kilmarnock, whilst both Ethan Cairns and Garry Wood scored for Banks O’Dee.

Four of them are away from home so maybe, just maybe, we can get up to 8th. However, it will be a struggle and I’m not confident unless we can sort our home form out. That said, we have Dundee United and Partick Thistle away in our next two games which is a bit daunting. We also have to visit Dunfermline and Queens Park. However, we did not lose any of those away games first time round. My worry is that if we don’t take anything from the next two games, we will be seriously detached in 9th and not have any realistic chance of making up the ground. If we replicate our previous results in the 7 remaining games, we will only get 7 points, which won’t be enough.

This was the first home game I’ve missed (league, cups and the Elgin friendly) due to a family commitment. It sounds like we’ve reached another low point. I’ve seen reports of heavy handed stewarding in the North Stand if anyone criticised the Board or CEO. If true, that is shocking and a lower point than the result and our league position. Fans pay to attend are entitled to voice their opinions. Now, more than ever, the club and players need our support. Whoever (Gardiner?) instructed the stewards got it woefully wrong today and drove another nail in to the coffin that is surely being made for the club we know and love. A sad day.

Interesting discussion about the impact of Ferguson on A View From The Terrace tonight. In brief, they felt we are existing in the Championship, playing defensively and not matching his personality. Can’t argue with that.

I don’t think anyone thinks promotion is an option for us. We all just want to finish no worse than 8th.

We will need to move quickly. Loch Ness are in talks with Strathspey Thistle about a merger….

Why not go to the game? Maybe your presence will turn our fortunes around.

It makes sense that his parent club handles his recovery given we won’t see him again in his loan spell.

Thanks as always for the preview. You can add Chilokoa-Mullen to the long term list. Tomorrow is the first home game (league, cups and even the Elgin friendly) that I am missing this season due to a family birthday. I will be listening for goal alerts in the BBC Sport app, and am hoping every alert is a home goal. With the off field issues, the players and Manager need our support more than ever. Let’s get behind them from the outset and help them win three points.

I asked the question about who we had under contract as I was thinking about our cash flow and financial position for when today’s decision was made. We only have 8 players signed up, 1 of whom (Davidson) clearly doesn’t figure in the plans. Other than Billy Mckay, I doubt any of the 8 are amongst our higher earners. That means our wage bill will plummet at the end of the season but we’ve a massive job to bring players in. I suspect that very few, if any, established players will be offered new deals that they are happy to accept. I hope we sign our youngsters up and are prepared to give them game time. That apart, as bdu has said above, we will be relying on a large number of loan players and be making some form of contribution to their wages. That is unless one of the Directors or shareholders pumps a significant amount of money in. We must stay in the Championship, or income will reduce further, exacerbating the issue.

Andrew MacAskill for Buckie and Ethan Cairns for Banks O’Dee tonight.

Which of us are long term injured? No subs?

Who do we have signed up for next season? The loans will all depart and I know we had a lot of players out of contract this summer, but some of the new signings got two year contracts, as did Billy Mckay when he signed on again. Anyone know who we have got signed for next season?

We must do no worse than 8th. 5th, 6th or 7th bring a few more pounds in. We should be aiming for 4th until it is impossible to get there.