Duncan Offski??

[Harry Chibber]

Courier Article

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[RiG]

That was from last Friday. Don't think it was brought up actually. I wouldn't want him to move as I think he is a good back up player but he clearly won't be happy with that and will want first team football. Wonder if a loan move might be on the cards?

I think he might actually come in for Blackie on Saturday to defend a bit more seeing as that is our style away from home.

[Guest 1MORESEASONBLACK]

I hope he stays. Our midfield does not have the right balance without him - i'd prefer if he was playing rather than being on the bench.

Duncan if played on Saturday will prove that he has more worth on the field.

[Kingsmills]

The squad would be weaker without him.

[Scotty]

Cant really fault the guy - he wants to play and is not getting a game which is frustrating for footballers at any level. I hope he stays, and fights his way into the team as I think he is one of our unsung players, but would understand his reasoning if he chose to go

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

Russell is a very decent hard working player. However, so is Caff, Golly. Liam, Michael, Richie, Zander, Rory, etc etc but unfortunately there are but 11 spaces each game. In this league a suspension, a few poor games or an injury can be the passport to losing one's place. That is true even in the 'big' clubs.

Russell, you need to go away and increase your training or watch more Blackadder films! You should be in the holding role in midfield and only you can get back in by your efforts.

Caff, for instance, has alerted his Uncle at Barnsley FC that Darren  is out of contract in May.

[Guest Get_off_the_park_Wyness!]

RD's best games for the club were when he first arrived. If I remember correctly Pele played him as a right wing-back. He's been pidgeon holed as a negative, defensive player in recent times, but he has alot to offer going forward. In and around the box he's scored some cracking goals, and he almost always manages to pick out a good pass even in the tightest situations, despite what some eedjits say. His opta stats for passing would be as good as any midfielder in the squad. It's just that every mistake he makes is focused on by the gurny old men in the main stand.

[L_G]

Russell is a very decent hard working player. However, so is Caff, Golly. Liam, Michael, Richie, Zander, Rory, etc etc but unfortunately there are but 11 spaces each game. In this league a suspension, a few poor games or an injury can be the passport to losing one's place. That is true even in the 'big' clubs.

Russell, you need to go away and increase your training or watch more Blackadder films! You should be in the holding role in midfield and only you can get back in by your efforts.

Caff, for instance, has alerted his Uncle at Barnsley FC that Darren  is out of contract in May.

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I am a big fan of Russell and I know his team mates appreciate the work he does on the park.  He has a lot to offer.  Charlie says in today's P & J that he is very fortunate to have everyone fit, which he attributes to the tough pre season training in Italy. The down side (if there is one) is that he has 21 fit players and can only pick a squad of 18 so he has to leave some out.  blackie's suspension will give someone a chance to come back in and claim a place.

He also said he might be considering more changes for tomorrow, but I can't see too many.

[Libero]

Its inevitable that when the squad is fully fit that some players will not get a regular game however this will not always be the case as injuries can and will hit you at any time, i hope Russell stays patient as he is an asset to the team which i feel would be greatly missed. As mentioned a bit of an unsung player for ICT who plays a difficult role in the team which doesnt look pretty but is important nonetheless.

[Harry Chibber]

RD's best games for the club were when he first arrived. If I remember correctly Pele played him as a right wing-back. He's been pidgeon holed as a negative, defensive player in recent times, but he has alot to offer going forward. In and around the box he's scored some cracking goals, and he almost always manages to pick out a good pass even in the tightest situations, despite what some eedjits say. His opta stats for passing would be as good as any midfielder in the squad. It's just that every mistake he makes is focused on by the gurny old men in the main stand.

I can't remember Duncan ever playing right back????

[sneckfan]

I agree that Russells best games were under Pele, but never at right back?! It was when he was the holding player in the middle of a 5 man midfield. He used to completely dictate the game, helping the back 3 and spraying the ball about all over the park, thought he was excellent. That's not to say I don't rate him anymore. I thought he finished last season really well and was one of the only players to come out with any credit in the first game against St Mirren, which is why I find it a shame he hasn't played since. At least we have the problem of too many good players.

[RiG]

I can't remember Duncan ever playing right back????

Neither can I. Almost 100% certain he never played there. Whenever we played 5-3-2 (or 3-5-2 if you want to look at it that way) Tokley was the right full back/wing back. I am trying to mind who deputised for him but certainly not Duncan.

[ictchris]

Russell's best period was in the last days of Pele, in 2002.  He was magnificent then and our title challange faltered that season after he was suspended and then injured.

[kencar]

Duncan has played at right back, albeit only a few times & usually for last 10-15 minutes of a game

[tm4tj]

Duncanoffski

Blimey, I thought we had got someone from the revolution at Tynecastle :010:

[Harry Chibber]

Duncanoffski

Blimey, I thought we had got someone from the revolution at Tynecastle :010:

BOOOOOOOOO!!! :016:

[Yngwie]

Duncan actually came on for Tokely at Tynecastle a few weeks ago and played at right back. He was awful.

[RiG]

Quite right though I am more thinking of when he has actually started in that position?

[kaiser]

I think when we signed him he was billed as a right sided forward/attacking midfielder, so I suppose he has done well in the middle over the last few  years.

[chris123]

I think its players like dunc that some up caley. hard work loyalty and team spirit

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

He's also an unsung hero and Russeldinho as a nickname has real meaning:

Selected for the Brazilian Under-15 side when aged just 14, Ronaldinho lined up in midfield against a Scotland side which featured Paul Gallacher of Norwich City in goal, and Hearts' defender Robbie Neilson. At right-back was Russell Duncan, the Inverness Caledonian Thistle player who might trade some banter with Neilson later today when the pair line up against each other in the Highlands. Duncan later played for a Scotland Under-16 team that defeated an English side boasting the likes of Alan Smith and Scott Parker 5-1.

But he saw little in the kid from the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre to convince him he was sharing the park with a future winner of the World Player of the Year award. Ronaldinho wasn't even the best player in Glasgow's southside that evening, with Jim Paterson, now at Motherwell, scoring Scotland's winner in a 1-0 victory.

"I remember Andy Porteous put in the cross and it came skidding past a few defenders," says Paterson, who was thrilled yesterday to hear Ronaldinho had played that night.

"The ball came to me, and because I hit it with my right foot everyone thought it was a mis-kick! It went through a defender's legs and squeezed in past the keeper."

Coincidentally, former Motherwell player Willie Pettiegrew handed in a programme from the game to Fir Park a fortnight ago. Paterson remembers skipper Keith Brown as being the star at the time rather than Ronaldinho. Signed up by Kenny Dalglish for Blackburn Rovers, Brown's career didn't hit the heights expected and he is currently playing in Australia after a spell at Berwick Rangers.

John Paul Dow went on to become top scorer in the Victory Shield that year, out-gunning even Michael Owen. On the books of Celtic at the time, he is now playing junior football in Greenock. By contrast, Ronaldinho's whereabouts are tracked constantly by photographers, with a Maria Chuteira (Maria Boots, as football groupies are known in Brazil) likely to be on his arm.

Of the Scottish players who played that night, three appear to have slipped out of the game. A further two, John McClelland and Alex Notman were later forced to retire through injury, although the latter is in the throes of a comeback with King's Lynn in the BGB Premier Division.

"I just remember them all as being very small and skinny, although with good technique," says Duncan. "No-one really stood out. Certainly not like Ronaldinho does now. I can't wait to tell my team-mates that I played against him, though. Graham Bayne [inverness striker] is with me just now, and he's pretty impressed. 'No-way', he said, when I told him earlier. I think I still have the programme that was produced that day somewhere in the loft. I will have to dig it out and check out his name next to mine."

[tm4tj]

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Great story, you just couldn't make it up.

Aye, well done Russel, keep up the dirty work.