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... and made the third, and missed a couple too. It smacks of a conspiracy - the old fell doesn't score in two years then scores in consecutive games, the second just after he's had a verbal kicking on here. If telling him he's sh!te and that we don't want him inspires him to score goals and/or persuade a team to play well, then I think I'll carry on. If this approach continues to work, 'Brewster, GTF' should become a regular matchday chant :001: Ah well, I can dream...

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He's a good holding midfielder, and with Brew coming back I wouldn't expect to see him shown the door any time soon for precisely that reason. The only one of your targets I agree on is Rory - apart from one performance against Cellic last season I can't see anything I like there and it baffles me how he's got a Scotland U21 place. Then again, Bayne was absolute pants for a long while and now looks the real article, so maybe there's something in the lad.

I thought the tattoo on IHE's erse was McBain?

To be fair to the guy the ball should never have been passed back to him in the first place.

I disagree with the teller. He seems to have toned down the rash tackling a little recently, which may account for it - he doesn't look quite so suicidally committed as of old, which can only be a good thing. I thought he had a pretty good game today.

He went through a spell last season of almost never giving the ball away: I thought aliens had lifted the real RD, the change was that dramatic. I don't know whether it's a communication thing or whether he just reads the game badly, but he can pass. He just doesn't do it often.

It looked like he was limping a little - he'd been clattered a few minutes before. If that's not why he was hooked though, you're spot on.

Cowie and Niculae were two real positives for me. Ross was about the cream of the defence with Caff in second place, although if we were standing them on a podium we'd have to dig a hole for poor Mikey today. Bayne worked hard, and Black and Wilson played well but why, why, why does Zander never get a run out? We played some lovely stuff in the first half and I was looking forward to a few goals in the second; unfortunately they came at the wrong end :007: The first goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the team - if the confidence is that fragile Brew has a major task on his hands. United played a far better game in the second half but I reckon we were worth a draw and, taking the team as a whole, certainly didn't deserve to ship three. The defence is another matter... Anyone who felt that too-little-too-late substitutions were purely down to Charlie needs only look at today's performance. The minute the first penalty went in we should have pushed three up front.

He has to take the blame for the first goal and for conceding the first penalty at all. For the first he should have taken control - it's his box - and told Caff what to do; instead they both just watched the ball into the net. On the second he should have come out for the ball, not expect two defenders to deal with it when the attacker is ahead of both of them; he forced them to tackle the guy from behind which was always going to give the referee something to think about. Some real confidence-building and assertiveness training needed for the young man. Either that or a big, loud centre half who'll command the defence for him.

Can't agree. He covered at least as much ground as Bayne today and was back around the 18-yard mark on several occasions in the second half because the defence had been posted missing. Liked the look of him very much.

Sheep. Baaaa! The board care exactly [] about what you think, I think, anyone thinks. Although nobody really cares what I think, come to think of it :024: Given the way season ticket sales seem to go, there's no real reason to pay attention to the customer because there's no alternative product. Can you find another SPL team within 50 miles? Nah, so we're watching 2nd division or Highland League if we don't go to TCS. Last time I looked at the schedule, Setanta rarely showed ICT games, so there's no TV option to take bums off seats. And with a ground under 8000 capacity and sometimes not even filled for Old Firm games, fan power isn't exactly significant. Anyway, up to you, away ye go and thank the butcher :003:

You're not playing Devil's advocate, you're pointing out reasonable grounds for hope. It's a very good point that we were stuck for forwards for most of Brew's reign and that we're not really now. If the folk who are positive about Brew are right he ought to be able to do so much better this time around, and I hope they're right. Show me some attractive football and I'll recant. For now, I'll live with my doubts.

Don't feel ashamed, you just have to work at it. I was unusual in posting almost 100% pure bollocks from day one on the old board - most people need time to get up to speed. Keep trying, you'll be posting rubbish before you know it

A bit more perspective for the statisticians. If SPL survival is our first aim each season, which I wouldn't imagine raises too many eyebrows, then we have to take the points we ought to get - meaning from the weakest clubs - to put some clear water between us and them. This is how our SPL managers have fared against the bottom four: Robbo Played 6, averaged 1.67 points per game with a 50% win rate Brew Played 13, averaged 1.46 points per game with a 38% win rate Charlie Played 22, averaged 1.82 points per game with a 55% win rate Bear in mind that for much of Brew's tenure Livi were pretty atrocious, yet we shared equal spoils in the head-to-head. I don't know how anyone else reads that, but it doesn't fill me with confidence, especially as we're in prospectively the strongest league we've seen since winning promotion. I, like many, was very hacked off at the loyalty's-important-oops-I'm-off thing, but my real concern - like most - is that we're not welcoming back a savvy manager but an aging striker who gets people fit, says 'um' a lot, doesn't know what a midfielder is for and is devoid of ideas on how to play attractive football, change the tide of a game or correct problems in good time. I hope he proves me wrong. I doubt he will.

I'm not about to do a matter-of-principle boycott, but if the football we get is as dire as it ever was during his first assault on the beautiful game at TCS I'll soon be finding better ways to spend 4 hours of my Saturday afternoon, season tickets or no. And they won't be renewed next season if all we can expect is more of the same.

He did then go on to post 'Killie till I die' and revert to his Ayrshire roots - no blame attached, mind - but Al wasn't necessarily on an even keel back then. Nor was he talking about the return of a manager who made a pretty good team look pedestrian and frankly boring (search for WriteOnCaley's lates if you want to see my feelings and those of most I talk to articulated to perfection) - he was talking about an untried manager being appointed to the post. Brew made us look crap, provided me with some of the worst 'entertainment' I've had outside a dentist's surgery and should not come back unless he's been rebuilt by the same guys who did Steve Austin. If we stay up under Brew I'll feed one of my hats to Spiers at half time while playing mee's Peatbog Faeries mix to a disapproving crowd. Possibly :016:

Sorry - North Star (Highland News for tinks) which maybe gets printed after? Beats me. Hmm... just re-reading the article and I'm maybe reading too much into it. Les reckons fans will be happy if Brew comes back and does the job, but it doesn't explicitly state that was after the meeting. Brew, though... just no... please, tell me it's not so.

The Highland News have the fans at the meeting - especially Les, apparently - positively drooling at the thought of old Grey 'ead back in the dugout, but I've only spoken to one fan (who fancies him) who'd be glad to see him back, rather than the back of him. So what happened last night? Did they load the meeting with Brewfans? What a load of *****. With a tactically inept manager who, by the sound of it, practically killed himself in the effort to get his first goal in two years last week, our derby match will be back to County again within a season. Aye, the players will be fit enough to run rings around their team mates - at their new clubs, after we get relegated. Aaaaargh. So, no, on balance I'd rather not have him back :014:

Suggestion was that Barry was one of the Brewites, wasn't it, extended his career with the fitness etc? So I guess they'd gel well enough, but are you talking about a playing Barry or a non-playing one? The Brew we knew didn't exactly seem decisive at the best of times, and with the assistant tearing down the wing, I'd fear for the future. Besides, I thought Shearer was the preferred number two if Brew were number one?

And the 2007 award for stating the bleedin' obvious goes to... <running> :003:

Aye, I'd forgotten Robbo's, Brew's and Charlie's enviable records when they took over :016:

What about our daft number of midfielders? Under Brew we played two ranks of four defenders, apparently under orders to hoof the ball up to him or Bayne then run like ****. I'm sure Black, Cowie, Hart, Rankin, Sutherland, Wilson and any other attack-minded midfielder (the name Juanjo suddenly springs to mind) would be feckin' delighted to see the ball soaring over their heads under such a boring, stilted, dour, unattractive 'system' and watching the gaffer scratching his chin and looking worried because it HASN'T BLOODY WORKED. If they're bothered about someone improving their fitness they can get a personal trainer, and if they want someone to respect they should call their bloody fathers, who probably don't say 'um' anywhere near as much or bang on about loyalty and then feck off two months later. Grumble grumble grumble. And where is TM4TJ's animated GIF when you really need it? :014:

wat was the feckin point in warnock tellin the press that he would willingly talk to any scottish club about a managerial post if hes only gonna knock it back :024: For so many in England a "Scottish Club" means Rangers or Celtic..... :rolleyes02: But Warnock was quoted as saying "I'm dying to get back into the game and if Inverness or anybody else want to talk to me then I would be more than delighted to do so." So was he having a laugh? Sincere? Or aiming low with a view to attracting a bit of interest from higher up the food chain?

Bump - just in case anyone else sees sense :016: