http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26307282?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

At this moment we sit seven points behind Aberdeen and have two games in hand over them. Aberdeen have shown today that they will drop points so I believe catching them is a strong possibility.

I agree with Hughes completely. It's a very realistic statement, considering our fixture pileup.

I remember Craig Levein saying that every game in the Scotland qualifiers recently is winnable. That went well...

I would be delighted if we got anywhere near Aberdeen by the end of the season but if we can cement our top six placement in the next few weeks and take a further step forward in either/both cup games it'll be a brilliant season

Very good mind games.

Takes pressure off the players.

All mind games, very clever ones at that.

We have a great chance.

It's all a game. Look at Jose: Man City playing worst Barcelona team in years; Liverpool to win the league; Wenger specialist in failure. JH may not be JM, but there is no way he'll be saying the same to the lads behind the scenes....

Mind games? John Hughes? Aye all right then

Negative no !

 

 We have a higher mountain to climb than last season with this pile up of games but this time we have a leader who is shrewd, supportive and a lot more clever than some people have given him credit for. Underneath his modest façade he is easily as good as any other manager in the SPFL if not the best. Given time he will be the best.

 

 The wonderful thing about the ICT set up is the fact that we have a very enlightened Chairman, excellent board, a football wise Manager, great backroom staff, a highly talented squad of footballers all gelling and working together. to say nothing of the loyal core support assistance and CJT..........all on a very tight budget..............It is no wonder that we are the envy of the Lowlands and why the pundits are very cagey about us. They cannot understand our story. 

I think if we were 1 point behind he would still be saying the same and quite rightly so.

Let the Gothenburg greats take the flack, a lot is expected of them this year, including catching Celtic

The teams above us have shown they are capable of dropping points in any game so if we can hold our nerve then the European places are a realistic target. I have to say that I very much doubted Hughes credentials to begin with but I'm definitely warming to him and I think he handles the media surprisingly well.

Bughtmaster

 

Best and most insightful post you have made yet since exploding onto this site like a starburst from heaven.....

Love your sense of humour Scarlet.....inspiration

"...exploding onto this site like a starburst from heaven..."       !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Scarlet, have you been at that 50 Shades book again!

A working class man from a working class background who has acquired a load of psychobabble on his footballing voyage. He probably is just saying it as it is but he is a team player and not an egotistical ersehole.

to take Jose at Chelsea at his best, we are a good horse, but they are a thoroughbred, the thoroughbred normally wins, it is too early for our team of good improving horses.

 

I would say that Aberdeen are the Hamp sheep, or similar, but it would be very unfair to call our players after a breed of sheep

A working class man from a working class background who has acquired a load of psychobabble on his footballing voyage.

Is this you talking about yourself again IHE?

Very clever comments from Yogi IMO. He puts the pressure on Aberdeen and Motherwell by not going overboard with public expectations, whilst at the same time casually referring to being in one cup final, still in the other cup and being in "the mix" for 2nd place in the league.  He is saying in a beautifully understated way that we have ( in Yogi speak) a right good team.

IHE-- who were you referring to , Bughtmaster, Scarlet  or , now , maybe Charles...   All worthy recipients of the praise.

Jose Mourinho has been saying the same about Chelsea over the past few weeks, now look where they are. Yogi and Mourinho are cut from the same cloth.

Edited February 23, 201411 yr by Iain

Just read this and it just seems like a throwaway comment rather than mindgames but my fear is that we are in danger of abandoning our league campaign altogether as we all appear to be focussing on one game next month. Strongest squad for years and the best and maybe last opportunity to get in the top 3. Our form is bottom 6 of late and I think we have a better chance of winning the final if we have some momentum going into it. Winning is a good habit to get in to especially at this stage of the season.

Pile up of games with a small squad of players...its not negative its realism. 

Here, here

Just read this and it just seems like a throwaway comment rather than mindgames but my fear is that we are in danger of abandoning our league campaign altogether as we all appear to be focussing on one game next month. Strongest squad for years and the best and maybe last opportunity to get in the top 3. Our form is bottom 6 of late and I think we have a better chance of winning the final if we have some momentum going into it. Winning is a good habit to get in to especially at this stage of the season.

 

Interesting to look at the recent league form (see tables under "team info" above).

 

Yes, we may be bottom 6 on this basis with 8 points from the last 6 games but we are only 2 points behind the team in 2nd.  Actually there is not much to choose between all the teams other than Celtic and clearly every team is perfectly capable of beating any other team on the day.  It's all to play for IMO.

 

Interesting to see the recent form of the big club in Edinburgh  (5 points from last 6 games) since the new management team went in to sort them out

Edited February 23, 201411 yr by DoofersDad

And we complain when the media don't take us seriously? I think we have the fourth best squad in the league this year and we are good enough to be top 4 and still can be. The second place teams run of form proves my point. As for hibs, why would i care what their form is like, we are way better than them? With hearts and rangers coming back strong in a couple of seasons this could be our best chance to be top 3. I'm not slagging anyone off and won't castigate anyone If we don't finish top 4, I just think we can do it this year and an upturn in form, especially getting a few goals can only be good for the final.

Small squad? Don't think so!

Come along on Thursday night at around 7.45pm at the stadium and folk can ask him exactly what he means.