SURVIVAL ?

[Glen Mhor]

I am convinced that we will survive in the SPL - we have the players to do it but not the manager. Hamilton are certainly no Gretna there's no doubt about that. We're no Gretna either. The next few months are going to be very tough for our team and the supporters alike. I could be accused of looking on the bright side when there isn't one at the moment but I just can't see us going down. We've the fighters in our team to keep us up.

[Fanoffooty]

I am convinced that we will survive in the SPL - we have the players to do it but not the manager. Hamilton are certainly no Gretna there's no doubt about that. We're no Gretna either. The next few months are going to be very tough for our team and the supporters alike. I could be accused of looking on the bright side when there isn't one at the moment but I just can't see us going down. We've the fighters in our team to keep us up.

I wish i could share your optimism Glen & i do hope you're right

Just as well someone still carries hope

[TSTtiger]

I am convinced that we will survive in the SPL - we have the players to do it but not the manager. Hamilton are certainly no Gretna there's no doubt about that. We're no Gretna either. The next few months are going to be very tough for our team and the supporters alike. I could be accused of looking on the bright side when there isn't one at the moment but I just can't see us going down. We've the fighters in our team to keep us up.

how many points do you think we'll be behind after say the next four fixtures? i would say 7 wouldn't be far off the mark and that would be pretty difficult to claw back, with brewster in charge.

the time is now to change the management, we will see an immediate improvement but even if it was to late and we went down fighting under a new boss i could at least give my all in support of the whole team and we can stop the infighting and knuckle down all the way to the last fixture. brewster has blown it, he will never regain the supporters backing

[Agent N]

I'm really starting to worry about our future in the spl. At the moment I think we have to try and stay in touch with the second bottom team (falkirk) and hopefully pull it out of the fire after the split.

Beginning to think a new manager may be the answer, teams sometimes pick up a couple of wins when a manager changes...clutching at straws I guess

[Iain]

I am now 100% concerned about our future in the SPL, something HAS to be done. Once we're down thats it financially, the board need to realise that keeping Brewster will prove to be a much more substantial loss to us financially than it would be to sack him this minute.

[Wilsononourwing]

I am convinced that we will survive in the SPL - we have the players to do it but not the manager. Hamilton are certainly no Gretna there's no doubt about that. We're no Gretna either. The next few months are going to be very tough for our team and the supporters alike. I could be accused of looking on the bright side when there isn't one at the moment but I just can't see us going down. We've the fighters in our team to keep us up.

I agree to a certain extent and as you imply we need a change in management to reignite the passion that these fighters in in our team require.

However I think we've reached the point of no return....

[rollwithit]

I'm really starting to worry about our future in the spl. At the moment I think we have to try and stay in touch with the second bottom team (falkirk) and hopefully pull it out of the fire after the split.

Beginning to think a new manager may be the answer, teams sometimes pick up a couple of wins when a manager changes...clutching at straws I guess

I know you say your clutching at straws but do you suggest we punt a manager in the hope a new one gets that new lift you talk about? Maybe two wins on the bounce! What happens after that? Another losing streak of seven games? We just dont know thats the thing!

If the captain says(y'dy evening) the team are behind the manager what else can we ask? As other posters have said we have fighters in the team and if we're all being honest we have more fighters than footballers. Surely the fighters ware fighting for the club and not the manager so should we maybe question their commitment to the club if they fight for someone else and not Brew?

Until there is a standout candidate for the managers job what can we or the board do? I know as a new poster i'll get slagged but what can the board do? There is nobody out there that we can all agree on that will get us out of this mess!

Maybe the likes of Rowan Alexander, Davie Irons and at a push Alex Rae may be interested in the post but would you really want them to come in as a new manager half way through the season? Could you trust them anymore than Brew with a budget for players?

None have been successful at the standards we need but we as a team and fans need to realise this is the top end of management that we can attract. We're not an attractive team for players or managers. The only reason Dundee UTD got out of the mess Brew left them in is because of Levein - a manger who we could never hope of attracting! We asked him when Brew left originally and he said no and this is while Leicester were quite willing to get rid of him and he was doing a crap job! I have this from a good source. (Take it with a pinch of salt if you want)

I think some fans need a reality check as to where we rank in the minds of professionals in the game!

I've said it before tonight and i'll say it again - name me a suitable replacement and then we can lobby for Brew to get the sack but until then we need to realise we shop for bargain placement players and that has to go the same for managers.

Edited January 18, 2009 by rollwithit

[ICT_Away]

rollwithit: I've said it before tonight and i'll say it again - name me a suitable replacement and then we can lobby for Brew to get the sack but until then we need to realise we shop for bargain placement players and that has to go the same for managers.

Colin Calderwood would be my choice at the moment. He is available and has decent experience and is looking to rebuild his career. He also has some tactical knowledge and ability to manage which our current incumbent doesn't.

There are many decent managers who we could attract. I don't subscribe to the "we won't get anyone better" camp as to be honest at the moment anyone who has a managerial track record of winning a few games will be better than our current incumbent. Brew as a football manager makes Steve McClaren look like competant. He has failed at DUFC and he has failed at ICT.

Don't get me started on the board - we should never have let the situation get as bad as it has. We have 13 days of the transfer window left, we have given money to a tactically naive manager who has alreday lost the dressing room (despite what Munro and Imrie have been paraded out to say) andf expected that he would turn it round. Unfortunately life isn't as easty as that. The board need to act now and remove this cancer from our club, we may just then survive in the SPL... what I know is that every passing game our survival chances look slimmer and slimmer. ACT decisively and ACT NOW! Remove BREW.

[starchief]

I know you say your clutching at straws but do you suggest we punt a manager in the hope a new one gets that new lift you talk about? Maybe two wins on the bounce! What happens after that? Another losing streak of seven games? We just dont know thats the thing!

But we know what will happen if we don't change the manager.

If the captain says(y'dy evening) the team are behind the manager what else can we ask? As other posters have said we have fighters in the team and if we're all being honest we have more fighters than footballers. Surely the fighters ware fighting for the club and not the manager so should we maybe question their commitment to the club if they fight for someone else and not Brew?

Or maybe it's poor tactics by the manager and falling outs with our best players.

Until there is a standout candidate for the managers job what can we or the board do? I know as a new poster i'll get slagged but what can the board do? There is nobody out there that we can all agree on that will get us out of this mess!

But we know who WON'T get us out of this mess, so keeping that man shouldn't be an option.

Maybe the likes of Rowan Alexander, Davie Irons and at a push Alex Rae may be interested in the post but would you really want them to come in as a new manager half way through the season? Could you trust them anymore than Brew with a budget for players?

Again, I know who we don't trust with the budget. Look at Brew's record with Dundee Utd. He doesn't have the skills to get us out of this mess.

None have been successful at the standards we need but we as a team and fans need to realise this is the top end of management that we can attract. We're not an attractive team for players or managers. The only reason Dundee UTD got out of the mess Brew left them in is because of Levein - a manger who we could never hope of attracting! We asked him when Brew left originally and he said no and this is while Leicester were quite willing to get rid of him and he was doing a crap job! I have this from a good source. (Take it with a pinch of salt if you want)

It does prove that Brew was completely unable to get us out of this mess. There are however managers that have been successful and are far more deserving of a chance than Brew, who never did anything except when he played.

I think some fans need a reality check as to where we rank in the minds of professionals in the game!

An established SPL team, whose work is being completely undone by a manager who failed before and should never have been taken back.

I've said it before tonight and i'll say it again - name me a suitable replacement and then we can lobby for Brew to get the sack but until then we need to realise we shop for bargain placement players and that has to go the same for managers.

There's loads of threads where this has happened. Favourites appear to Robbo (possibly in the short-term), Bobby Williamson, Gordon Chisholm and John McCormack.

Now, tell me why Brew should stay? And when should he be sacked - just when does it become too much? Two questions. Please answer each.

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

Its too late to do anything now ICT are playing 1st division football next season , get used to it people . Our gutless board have sold us down the relegation river as predicted by a few of us on here months back , but what would we know we're only football fans

[EWS]

I resigned myself to being relegated this season a long time ago. It hasn't changed.

[stevico1]

I resigned myself to being relegated this season a long time ago. It hasn't changed.

The problem is it is getting to late for a new manager to change it, a new manager should have been come in and made his own signings. Afraid to say it but I also think we are going down

[L_G]

The talk on our bus yesterday was not if, but when we go down. Grounds we used to go to and the good craic we had in the first division.

Not so much worried about relegation now, but resigned to the fact that's where we will be.

I think I have said somewhere before that we could accept our league position if we were playing well and just not getting the breaks, because eventually things start to go your way. I don't think our current performances are good enough to save us. Lots of possible excuses yesterday, weather, officials etc. On this occasion they can't blame the fans, who travelled in large numbers and sung for 90 mins. (even if some of it wasn't what they wanted to hear)

[starchief]

I'm also of the opinion we're going down. Our biggest games have been and gone. The board, the manager and the DoF are all to blame. I'll never forgive their arrogance. Maybe a new manager could help by identifying players to get us out of Division 1 but I've an awful feeling Brew will still be in charge then too.

[Ronaldo]

Like everyone else the thought of R........ make me sick but until mathematically impossible I believe we must all stay as positive as possible and remain 110% behind the team.

As for the management and the board, they're all in the third division for sure!

[gordyfromsneck]

I'm also of the opinion we're going down. Our biggest games have been and gone. The board, the manager and the DoF are all to blame. I'll never forgive their arrogance. Maybe a new manager could help by identifying players to get us out of Division 1 but I've an awful feeling Brew will still be in charge then too.

I will be delighted to support the club in Div 1, if I have to, but I will not be buying a season ticket if that eejit is still at the helm.

There is still bags of time to turn this around, but our trajectory would suggest otherwise.

[Queen Beastie]

We're down if Brewster stays simple as.

We're 6 points off our rivals, I'm not counting Falkirk because I don't think they'll be involved in the battle when the time comes, 6 points is too much for our team in its current state to make up.

[alternative maryhill]

I'm also pretty sure we're going down. Glen Mhor mentioned the fighters in the team, but the last few league games have suggested that morale under Brewster is so bad that most of the fight has gone out of the team. I'm not sure a new manager would keep us up, but Gordy makes a point that illustrates exactly why we can't keep faith with Brewster: if he is still in charge when we are in the first division, then the effect on home crowds will be catastrophic - probably below the numbers we were getting in the third division.

As someone who goes to away games rather than home games, I will quite enjoy the change of scene and going to grounds I haven't visited for a few years, but it's also sad accepting that the momentum and growth that we enjoyed during the club's first 12-13 years is finally over.

[starchief]

And the players fighting the most are McBain and Duncan. Shows how poor we are when they've become our greatest strengths.

[Kieran]

And the players fighting the most are McBain and Duncan. Shows how poor we are when they've become our greatest strengths.

They really have been the unsung heroes recently.

[Kingsmills]

We still have a squad of players capable of surviving. The problem is that we have a manager with next to no tactical or motovational ability. I contiue to believe that if he was repaced now by someone with even a modicum of ability we are lokely to survive but every week that passes with Brewster still in charge makes that prospect less likely.

How many managers presiding over 7 consecutive losses after no more than mediocre reults prior to that keep their jobs ? Frankly, I can't understand what the agenda is at the club.

[tokelyisvictorious]

the worrying thing is our run of fixtures coming up that include celtic, dundee utd, hearts and aberdeen. Anyone see any points coming from those games cos i know i can't.

personally surprised at the lack of fighters in the squad, i thought we had plenty in the shape of tokely, munro, hastings, black and cowie, but only a couple of those appear to be putting up a fight. Yet, very players comes out and states that "we are all behind brewster, morale is great, the boys come into training with a smile on their faces etc etc etc". if thats true then the gap in quality between us and falkirk, hamilton and motherwell is scary indeed.

right now i'd take a player with little or no skill but one who is committed to the cause and who knows what is at stake. If we do drop down, there will be a mass exodus of players, and we will be left with a small support, sh@te manager and a depleted squad. Doesn't make good reading.