Council Juice

Think Tore Andre has retired now Scarlet...

It's been hard for fon Williams as I believe he's been carrying a back injury of late but has had to play. That's going to make his job incredibly difficult, particularly when the defence are so often posted missing. Our defensive organisation at set pieces is excruciatingly laughable at times. Like every player running to the ball, then again and again. Like headless chickens.

I'd agree. If 3 attacking mids aren't creating for the one striker better to utilise 2 strikers supported by wingers

Technically all teams are "made up" at some point. Anyone any idea how long he's signed for?

There's that as well. He might just not be fit enough at the moment/having issues recovering. Ankles can be problematic at times. To write him off after 6 months without a sustained run in the side, particularly when few others are taking up the mantle, might be a bit short sighted. I'd also hate to see the club have to spend money terminating 2 years of a contract.

Well it might have been a tad much to highlight the whole thing

It's probably a little unfair comparing Butchers use of Winnall and Forans use of Boden. Winnall was a kid signed up on loan for 6 months. He obviously had talent but at that stage might not have shown quite enough at SPL level at that point to start every week and score. Obviously he's since developed into a good player. But it's not our job to try loan players out in the hope they'll develop for others unless it's felt he will offer a significant benefit in the immediate term. Boden on the other hand is 26, had a good goal record at a lower level and has not been utilised, whether it's because he hasn't shown enough, doesn't fit into the current system, isn't fit enough, is no better than others. But there's obviously something he's not showing to give Foran the mind he should play more that he had when he signed.

I imagine, coming from the league of Ireland, he'd have been suggested by a contact of Richie (a locally based coach or player for example) and was given a trial. Rather than through the club's scouting system itself.

If the team wasn't sitting bottom of the league I'm positive there wouldn't be the same furore surrounding the performance of the board. It's very easy to argue that over a 4 year period where we managed successive top 6 finishes, two cup finals, one Scottish Cup win and European qualification we were really punching above our weight in terms of club infrastructure, fan base, budget etc etc. Surely this comes down to good work on both management and board sides. Terry Butcher had a very good model for player recruitment and left behind an excellent core for Yogi. Now obviously we consistently suffered from losing players due to contracts running down and therefore not being able to maximise revenue from that. Partly the board has to take responsibility in terms of contract length and structure but often it's down to the players not wanting to talk, or the manager wanting players to earn new contracts, which in itself produces good performances which attracts interest. Over the last 12 months several players have been signed on or rewarded with new longer deals. But now the players aren't really performing, so their value isn't maximised. So the board, have moved to rectify one issue (with what I'm sure would be approved and encouraged by the manager) and in doing so have possibly created a different issue. They can't really win. I'm under no illusions that last season showed that we are very much a team in transition now. I said as much at the time. We've lost a sizeable amount of key players (Shinnie, Mckay, Watkins for starters), others will leave this summer and others are probably needing to move on anyway. Frankly it shows what a good job Terry Butcher and his team were able to do season on season with player recruitment after losing Hayes, Rooney etc. They're boldness in moving players like Munro and Tokely on, both unpopular moves at the time but allowed us to move upwards. I think there does need to be a sense of realism around the club. We will peak and trough. Ebb and flow. Our size and budgetary confinement dictate that. Even big clubs struggle to replace a golden generation of players. The vast majority of match day revenue I'm sure goes towards game running costs and club costs. Wages etc. There will be very little left after day to day expenses. Whether the club are able to maximise merch and sponsorship revenue any more is a different question but one I do not know the answer to. Considering the league body went over a year without a sponsor shows that in general marketing within the Scottish game isn't that easy and I suspect it's hard to get a big deal for a club with a fan base of 3000. That's small fry to most advertisers. They also probably don't really see us as a crowd puller in terms of TV viewing so that has an impact also. Sky used to put out some embarrassing viewing figures for Scottish games when they had the most live coverage, some involving us. Sponsors see that. So are the board perfect, no. But I don't think they've done a terrible job. I'm sure other businessmen could do better. But they're not forming an orderly queue. And it stands to reason they're probably looking at bigger things than ICT. Is the manager doing a great job? No. Let's be honest. We're bottom of the league and his selection is sometimes questionable, however I think he's working hard to turn things around and he's been very unfortunate with injuries in a small squad and questionable decisions haven't helped. He's new to management and needs help. Are the players doing their bit? Some are, some have been poor. But that's not surprising when you're bottom. Confidence will not be high. That too has an impact. It will take a bit of magic or luck to change that along with hard graft. Are all players willing to do that?Remains to be seen. What can the fans do? Continue to attend, buy merch, play lottery etc. Club needs the money more than ever. Get behind the team. For a small community club we can be incredibly hostile at times. Stop looking for people to blame. Unless you have a solution. It doesn't help.

As alluded to above I'd like to have a look at 3 at the back. Mckay, Warren and Meekings most likely with Tremarco left wing back and either convert a winger or when Raven/Horner are available on the right. Polworth and Draper in the middle of the park with Cole behind Fisher/Doumbouya alongside either Boden or King. Or perhaps Fisher with King and Doran in a front 3. Either way we need to shore up defensively to get anywhere in terms of results. Feared the worst going into the game but had we won it would have been a huge 3 points and massive confidence boost. Our next 2 become vital. A cup victory could shore up confidence. But then beating Partick is probably a must as well. Though I've felt that we've needed a result of some sort since the Well game and have nothing to show for it.

I'm still wondering how sacking a media team, largely comprised of volunteers, will do anything to alleviate problems on the pitch. Or indeed spark new ideas and investment. It's all very easy to call for change when you're not the one who is willing to implement it. It's not too dissimilar to folk who never vote but complain about the government. We don't have a large fan base, and quite frankly never have. It ebbs up and down the 3000 mark but even when we were finishing high in the top 6 a few years running there were hardly significant increases. The fans just aren't there. They cannot be magically produced and put in the stands every Saturday. So we have to deal with the fact that with a low fan base we will always have little to work with in a budgetary sense. As for investment, I really can't see where that's going to come from. How many clubs would be desperate for a rich benefactor to come in and take them to new heights. Some have got lucky, Man City and Chelsea, neither team would have come close to league titles otherwise. Most others have not, Blackburn, Leeds, and in Scotland, Hearts, Dundee and Rangers have all come unstuck when seemingly rich owners have come in with promise galore and then seen all fall apart around them. I'd rather a board who run a steady ship with a limited budget who try their best to encourage a community atmosphere even if it doesn't always work perfectly. The main mistake I see them having made this season is an influx of overly long contracts, the manager included. I don't think it's necessarily productive in terms of on field performance. As has been mentioned we are, in reality, a feeder club, and do best when giving players a platform to showcase themselves. Some will stay, others will move on, leaving with them good memories in many cases. In the short term we need a few new faces in January, over the medium term we'll need to rebuild. Many stars have left, Tansey and Meekings will do also, whilst Warren and Raven are probably nearing the end of their ict careers. Off the field more could be done to attract further sponsorship but short of an as of yet mystery benefactor there will be no influx to the coffers.

Ok

Well King and Cole are on loan so past the end of the season it really won't be up to us as to whether we retain them. I'm not sure why retaining Doran is so conclusive, he's shown little since returning from injury. Even before his injury he wasn't at his best. True he's earned cult status at the club but I fear his best is history. I wouldn't bother with McNaughton after the season. He was beset with injuries prior to joining and I think it's an expensive luxury we can little afford. A touch early to judge Mulraney. He's come from reserve football and hasn't yet adjusted. Not everyone settles straight away. He's young and deserves more time. Doumbouya is our top scorer at the moment. Whilst he's not brilliant until a better option comes along I wouldn't be so hasty to release.

The same board that helped build cup finalists in 2 consecutive years? Cup winners and European qualification and a highest ever league finish. True they took a gamble appointing Foran and at present things are not going well. But things change quickly in football. 2 wins and we'll be competing for the top 6 again, even if at the moment it's hard to see where those wins will come from.

Yeah I did worry about his lack of... physicality.

It did strike me as odd that any new player would be given a 3 year deal but I figured that the management knew what they were getting beforehand. ie they felt he was a bit of a cut above. It's unusual for anyone to get more than 1 year. It's like we've jumped to the other end of the spectrum from the lack of security of 12 month contracts to giving out long term contracts that potentially limit options. He might just need time to adjust though. Look at Billy Mckay. Was hardly prolific to start with.

Long-term absentees Lewis Horner (knee), David Raven (knee) and Kevin McNaughton (Achilles) are unavailable as is goalie Esson.

Lionel Messi would be nice. Need someone we can bring off the bench to see out games.

Got a bit of a must win feel about it this one. Though with it being so tight the 3 points would see us jump a few places. I'd go with the back 4 of Mckay, Meekings, Warren and Tremarco. Partly because that's all that's available and because it's close to the best. Play the 3 in midfield of Polworth, Draper and Tansey. Cole in behind a front 2 of Doumbouya and Fisher. No natural wingers but would rely on full backs pushing up, and midfielders roaming wide to cross. Though being at home I'd see no reason why not to go with 2 strikers. We'll likely need more than 1 goal anyway. Alternatively play King over one of the strikers and have him play off the right. Encourage Tremarco to get forward and Cole tucked behind the striker.

A great gesture by Tulloch

Worrying result but having played Celtic Aberdeen and Hearts all recently we have to look to kick on for the rest of December. Poor results against St J and Dundee granted but we're no worse than many teams around us. A little change of tactics and personnel might be worth a cracking. 4-3-3 with Draper sitting in front of the defence. Ideally Polworth and Vigurs would be in front. Let them play. Tansey hasn't really justified a spot of late. Obviously with Polworth being injured we have to look elsewhere. perhaps give Cole a run there. Think we have to stick with Doumbouya flanked by King and Doran. Key is stopping the leaking defence and another defensive midfielder in January would be great to put it there. Keep the chins up.

Completely lost track of our signings. We've signed Cole, Doumbouya and Brad Mckay since as far as I'm aware. Anyone else?

Oooooh Ahhhh Doumbouya!