Robert

The summary of the accounts further down the page, whilst nothing we didn’t know, highlights the gravity of the financial situation. February will be interesting if the next accounts are lodged on time.

What a boring draw. One of the few times we can get a club we don’t normally play and we get our biggest relegation challengers (as at the time of writing)!

Jordan Roberts for Stevenage and Miles Storey for Curzon Ashton last night. Belatedly in the Highland League at the weekend, Andrew MacAskill got two for Buckie. Calum Ferguson scored for Clach. He started his career with us as a youngster (back when we were good!) and made a few appearances off the bench.

What’s the normal set up at Clach for tickets: pay at the gate?

Wonder where it has been all these years. Forres were the last winners in 2005/6 I understand, as there used to be guest teams invited to participate. That followed 10 years when it was won by us (7) or County. I may take the game in.

I thought he declined the opportunity to stay on when his time as Interim Manager ended due to his commitments in the central belt. My understanding is that the club had wanted to keep him and only tried to find a Manager after McCann confirmed his intentions. Dodds and others applied with Dodds being selected. I’ve no idea who else was interested at that time but agree with the comments above about the difficulty of attracting an experienced Manager who is based in the central belt.

I hope we do turn things round quickly, but if a change is made, I’d like to see Gary Warren and Carl Tremarco involved as Manager and Assistant. Both are in coaching roles so are not total rookies. I’d retain Ryan Esson as goalkeeping coach and look to bring in a forwards coach.

Is that due to his role at County?

Notwithstanding our concerns with the CEO, Sporting Director, Manager and coaches, I’ve been considering how we could turn things round on the park if there was the appetite to change our approach. We have some decent players at Championship level but are not getting the best out of them. Despite our defensive frailties which have cost us in several games already, we’ve stuck with four at the back despite wanting our full backs to get forward. That’s leaving us short of numbers at the back whenever we (frequently) lose possession. Davidson and Harper are both capable going forward, so to tighten things up I suggest we go 3 5 2 with two wing backs in the 5. We’d need Duffy or Ram back to be able to do it, and it also gives us the added benefit of 3 in central midfield where we have been getting outnumbered. The only downside I can see is how we fit Shaw in, given he’s been our best performer in several of the games but his pace with Mckay in the front 2 could work well. Looking at the line ups in today’s top flight matches, 5 teams have gone with 3 at the back, with only Celtic starting with 4. Any other thoughts?

Fair enough.

With Arbroath - Queens Park being pulled forward from Halloween to next Saturday, will it be opened up for predictions?

Watched the highlights. Slack marking at the Ayr goal cost us.

I’m not a mod, The CEO is fair game for criticism. Ultimately the buck stops with the Board and him. I’ve never seen or heard him referred to as Scotty.

The club’s report: https://ictfc.com/match-report-ayr-united-v-ictfc-12-08-2023/

Not being obtuse. On this site in my opinion there is only one Scotty. I suggest you change Scotty to Gardiner. I read the title in disbelief then only understood the target when I read the post, same as Mantis.

I’d change the title….. When I saw it I thought you were referring to the owner of this site……

He’s got a groin injury (from Tm4tj’s excellent preview).

At least I’ve given some light relief!

Corrected! I did mention Covid brain fog earlier in this thread! That’s my only excuse!! I look forward to hearing from those at the game how we played and what our tactics were.

Full time 1-0. Two games, two defeats, joint bottom of the league, six points off the pace.

Doran on for Longstaff. Last throw of the dice.

Lodovica on for Bray. Hoofball time presumably (if we’ve not being doing that all game). Shaw has hit the post.

Half time 1-0. Delaney and Longstaff booked. Six attempts, three on target but no idea how our performance has been. We need to turn this round after the break!

Gilmour, Bray and Carson have all had efforts saved.

Ayr 1 up. Back on the squad, we could have put the three Academy graduates signed this week on the bench to give them match day experience.