ymip

Relegation battle ahead with the worst defensive unit I've seen in the club's history.

We ship 5 at Dunfermline, 2 absolute shockers agains Aberdeen kids last week, 4 so far at St. Mirren. A defensive train wreck every week.

Dear Charles, possibly only one thing saddens me more than the farcical club statements and moral outrage vented on here and that's the fact that your crusade to police this forum and the general conduct of our support goes unchallenged when you're very clearly a dispassionate voyeur rather than an actual supporter who has some emotional investment in the club. Your sneering, self aggrandising tone of moral superiority and intellectual snobbery quite frankly gives me the boke. I have absolutely no interest in debating your jaundiced, prejudicial and classist views on ICT matters on this forum but if I ever actually have the misfortune of bumping into you at an away game (simply never going to happen is it Charles?) then please feel free to correct any misconceptions I've picked up on here over the years.

Yngwie - the cordoned off sections were evident at both matches and had no relationship or proximity to the "incidents". Moray Jaggie is absolutely correct that there were damaged seats all over the stand nowhere near where the incidents took place. I personally had to move seats at both games due to the state of the seating. Like Chris a little bit of me dies every time the club issues a statement these days - needless, knee jerk and utterly depressing. However, these statements pale into insignificance when compared with the absolute state of our hand wringing/bed wetting contingent, falling over themselves to berate the youngsters or anyone who tries to add a bit of context to events that have been blown out of all proportion by the club, media et al . The board's time would be better spent investigating how we've found ourselves post-window with a plethora of defenders who can't defend and strikers who couldn't hit a coo's arse with a banjo.

Bah humbug.......will need to be Crusaders away next round

Very much a game of two halves. First half we looked pretty comfortable and had all but put the game to bed against a pretty shaky Dons side. Second half was very disappointing and highlighted how weak we are in defence. We also appear to lack a cutting edge up front. The goals we're scoring are coming from midfield. As far as I can see we have signed some very average players and look particularly fragile at the back. Communication between a very unconvincing keeper and similarly limited defenders looks very suspect and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Good to see Tremarco back and scoring. One player I do like the look of is Trafford but his needless reaction to an appalling tackle from Frank Ross which led to a red card for both players was totally unnecessary and hugely frustrating. I'm praying for an away game in Ireland in next round. Only chance of European football we're likely to experience for the foreseeable future.

Hahahaha.....as I'm well into my 40s I don't think I qualify as "Young Team". Try reading what I wrote without jumping to conclusions. I was in relatively close proximity to the youngsters and could clearly see what was going on - as opposed to the travel rug brigade who were tucking into a fruit scone back in the sneck and have been pontificating on here ever since. MASSIVE over reaction to a nothing event which elicits a modern day media feeding frenzy. Did no one on here actually go to the football in the 1980s/early 1990s when things really did get out of hand on occasion - get some perspective people. Old Team #1

BBC Article on this is an absolute shocker. Mr Rae's OTT and ill considered statement pounced on by media and a non event is portrayed as some sort of breakdown of western civilisation. Great start from our illustrious leader.

Talk about making mountains out of molehills. I was in pretty close proximity to the events on Saturday and the hysteria this has generated (often by folk who weren't even at the game) is frankly beyond belief. The Young Team let off two smoke bombs, one at kick-off and another after our first goal. The first one set the stewards into apoplexy and a complete over reaction which set the tone for the afternoon. The police arrived shortly before the second smoke bomb was released and again their reaction was way over the top, throwing their weight around with some very young lads. I would love to see both the stewards and police employ these tactics with a larger, older, group of boisterous fans. The stewards and police try it on with ICT fans because we're small in number and the general locus of any incidents are very young and not particularly intimidating (no offence boys). Different story when the Old Firm, Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen etc are playing up. This over zealous, bullying behaviour is witnessed at away grounds the length and breadth of the country and winds me up a great deal more than the Young Team's histrionics. As far as I'm concerned the Chairman's comments are unnecessary and are merely drawing attention to an issue that is hardly worthy of mention. I would suggest Mr. Rae's energies would be better focussed on addressing more pressing matters which impact the viability and long term future of our club rather than whipping up hysteria around a few over exuberant teenagers. The hand wringing, bed wetters amongst our support demanding fan intervention, bans and such like really need to give their heads a shake. I've watched football all over Europe and the ultra scene undeniably enhances the match day experience at grounds across the continent. The reaction to pyrotechnics and such like by our European neighbours is a great deal more proportionate to the knee-jerk hysteria spouted on here. Personally I would question if letting off smoke bombs at Glebe Park is entirely necessary but then again it's hardly crime of the century. Some folk on here need to put this incident in perspective - no one was arrested, no one was injured, there were no violent disturbances and the City of Brechin remains largely intact. The demonization of the Young Team on here is unrelenting and way over the top - they are daft laddies trying to generate a bit of much needed noise and atmosphere amongst the pandrop sooking ICT masses. They maybe need to address their negative PR by calming down with the smoke bombs but they are very far from a mob of rampaging hooligans and people need to chill out and cut them a bit of slack.

Possibly the most disgraceful result I can recall. Wasn't at game so can't slate individual performances but we recruited a number of players who are simply not good enough. I was at Stirling league cup game and picked out two or three player who are simply never going to cut the mustard. Recruitment policy is an absolute shambles. Wouldn't be surprised if a few more established players bailed before transfer deadline day. Shameful.

For me this is a pretty clear hoisting of the white flag by the current regime. I would accept selling Draper to any club in the UK except County. I have no rabid hatred for our neighbours but this is an absolutely seismic shift in the dynamics between our respective clubs which cannot be allowed to happen. A very clear capitulation to our neighbours for an absolute pittance. Over the past 23 years I've been gutted by various departures but have reluctantly accepted this is par for the course when one follows a club of our stature. However, from my perspective, this move is totally and utterly unacceptable and Draper should not be sold to County at any price. The fact is that he's not only our biggest asset but, in my opinion, pretty much our only marketable asset and we appear to be being taken for mugs. If this transaction goes through, as I suspect it will, then earlier proclamations by our new Chairman and Manager constitute pretty clear misrepresentations to the fan base and season ticket holders which need to be addressed. Shameful and clearly time for meaningful regime change before we're forever in their shadow.....

Clearly no player at the club is, "not for sale", but selling Draper to County would be a massively negative move and would paint a very bleak picture in terms of emphasising the power shift in the Highlands. I very much hope we can keep hold of Ross but pray that he goes anywhere but over the bridge if he is departing. With regard to OFW by my reckoning we currently have six (6) goalkeepers on professional contracts; OFW, Ryan Esson, Mark Ridgers, Cammy Mackay, Daniel Hoban & Martin MacKinnon. Unless I'm misinformed and one or more of the younger lads have moved on? Seems like rather a sizeable number of keepers to have on the books at one time.....

Whether you run a professional club, a pub team or even a P1 school team you should have the common courtesy and courage of your convictions to clarify your intentions as to whether or not you require the services of a player who has previously represented your club/team. When it comes down to professional players with mortgages and dependents it becomes altogether more critically important that you are frank, open and professional in your dealings with players who, for whatever reason, are no longer part of your plans. I'm sure we're not the first club to withdraw a contractual offer to a player following a change of manager but what sets you apart is how you handle any such difficult conversation. It appears that we have entirely lost any semblance of what is and isn't acceptable conduct in this regard. Most worryingly the damage that the incumbent regime has done to the club's reputation in the last few weeks is quite frankly staggering. We seem to lurch from one public relations disaster to the next and someone needs to take this situation in hand as a matter of urgency. If you were a player or agent operating in this environment would you be particularly receptive to dealing with a club who are repeatedly shown to operate in this manner?

Surely if messrs; Warren, Raven, Boden, Fon-Williams, Mulraney and McNaughton are not back training today we can assume they are not part of Robertson's plans. I don't buy any suggestion that they were "still on holiday" - they had a full month to have their holiday and senior players should not be missing the first week of pre-season training given the season we've just experienced. Looking at the 17 players in the training pic which was circulating last week we have a very limited group to choose from and need reinforcements urgently.

A fee for OFW?!? The only fee likely to be payable is the the one we'll need to pay to get him off the books. Zero market value. Seems like a nice bloke but apart from his worldy in the Celtic game a regular bombscare. That being said County fan Ridgers could be worse. Anyone got Deano's number?

Notwithstanding the Shearer question it's rather hard to believe that the club think that ditching the U20s is a smart move at the same time County have just lifted the development league title. If you're the ICT supporting parent of a promising 12 year old and both clubs come in for you which club would appear to be offering a clearer pathway to first team football and what would be the point of sticking with ICT if you're currently a stand out for the ICT under 15s? You'd have thought we might have learned our lesson from the Stuart Armstrong situation when we last were demoted. I would very much appreciate if the club could make a clear statement as to how they see the youth set up functioning given the absence of an outlet for U20s. As a youth football coach myself I truly am all ears on this one.

Two weeks since Foran departed, two and a half weeks until our first friendly, a little over four weeks until our first Bet Fred Cup match. Numerous Championship sides are shuffling the pack with players being signed up all over the place. Meanwhile we seem to be twiddling our thumbs, as per usual. Whilst I appreciate that we need to make the right decision here, prolonged prevarication and a failure to bring a solitary player into a severely depleted squad is a recipe for disaster. The lack of activity and general malaise within the club eluded to across the media is going to have a significantly negative impact on the quality of manager/players we can attract. Finger oot gents.....

New Chairman, new board members - same breathtakingly poorly constructed board statements, seemingly etched on the back of a cornflakes packet with crayons borrowed from sevco's press department. Does no one on the board actually proof read these statements before they're issued? I was under the impression that the board was littered with Fortune 500 captains of industry. Given they all seem to be retired/semi-retired heavy hitters surely they could wheel one of them into the stadium, between rounds of golf and afternoon G&Ts, to cast an eye over this opus before it's fired into the cyber world to echo through eternity. Suffice to say if someone put a statement of that quality in front of me at work they'd drown in a sea of red ink. If we move on to the actual content of said statement we quickly get to the following molten bronze pearl of wisdom..... "It is important that we select the right person for this key position.". Wow!, just wow! Although factually correct this could possibly be the greatest understatement since Captain Oates advised that he was going outside and might be some time. Given how poor their last selection was I would have thought the importance of not picking another clanger was abundantly clear to all and a more impassioned statement would have been appropriate at this juncture. Moving quickly to the retained playing staff, assuming we're successful in agreeing deals with Cammy MacKay and Kevin McNaughton that would leave us with 14 signed players, including three (3) goalkeepers. Perhaps a slight over provision in the goalkeeping region given the paucity of outfield players...just a thought. Least said about the ex Newport County retainee, soonest mended. I'm also intrigued by the "others targets" statement. Targeted by whom precisely? Rice? Kellacher? Tommy Cumming? a long serving G4S steward? It simply beggars belief that these guys think they're capable of identifying players who the new manager will ultimately have to work with. Retaining contracted players is one thing, bringing in square pegs to fit into a new manager's round holes seems to be a rather foolish enterprise, but hey, we're good at that these days. Enough already, I'm away for a lie down in a darkened room....

The drivel spouted on this thread is more depressing than the entire Foran era.

A truly inspirational call to arms from the board. Bravo chaps - you must have been up all night drafting this monosyllabic masterpiece. Pitiful.

Time for Sutherland, Cameron and their cronies to come out of the shadows and tell us what the plan is moving forward. I can't believe the easy ride they got yesterday. A few choruses of "sack the board" and that was it. These clowns are asleep at the wheel and have to be held to account. Absolutely shameful that a board can lead us over the precipice in this manner and then give no indication as to their intentions. It's clear that they need to step aside and let new blood, with new ideas, move the club forward.

Foran was a great player for us but has been a lousy manager. He's taken a top six squad and relegated us at the first time of asking. Has lost all credibility with this "three bad apple" garbage. Funny how we waits until we're down to air his dirty laundry. Classic diversionary tactics from a guy who's clearly out of his depth in this role. Instead of slating players he'd be better looking at coaching colleagues who've slated him all season to anyone who'll listen. Despite the above the blame for today's relegation lies at the door of messrs Sutherland, Cameron and the Sutherland installed puppets on the board. Shameful mismanagement from parties who are entirely detached and uninterested in the footballing side of the Sutherland vanity project. Time for radical change from top to bottom.

Never made the game tonght due to prior engagement. Feared the worst but even my abject pessimism failed to predict the utter shambles which transpired. Enough is enough. Time for a change of direction at all levels. The incumbents have nothing to offer. We need a radical overhaul of all levels from kids to first team. On current form we will be fighting relegation from Championship next season. Unbelievable to contrast with where we were a mere two years ago. A massive missed opportunity from our non-existent board. Sad.

Absolute garbage. Just because you like going on the pish in Ayr, Dumfries, etc.doesn't make this good for the club I'm any way. Relegation would be an absolute disaster, even more so if our neighbours stay up. The real blame here needs to reside at the door of the clueless, faceless board who are utterly invisible and show no direction, vision or aptitude to manage a Premiership club.

Absolute garbage from start to finish. Possibly the worst performance from a team fighting relegation you could ever imagine. The team that drowned at sea with their hands in their pockets. Too late now but Foran has got to go or we'll be heading for League 1 this time next season.