"The ICT Thread - The Championship Years"

[DA Baracus]

Doesn't really matter who you have on the pitch because in the dugout you have John Robertson

[The Mantis]

8 hours ago, Buddie Holly said:

you say that as if you carry a decent support.hopefully you bring more than a half full bus and 2 cars.

the red and blue pound.

 

As if you bring hundreds to TCS even though you only do the trip twice a season. Plus it costs us extra to replace the hubcaps.

[CityDave]

Has John Baird signed? I've not seen anything official from the club.

Apparently we are keen to hang onto Louis Laing for next season but face competition from some of the clubs above in the Premiership and from English League 1 clubs.

Is it confirmed that both Kevin McNaughton and Cammy McKay have signed for next season?

Not long to go for pre season.

[RiG]

14 hours ago, ICTChris said:

Apparently we want to keep Laing and Robertson is in England after a few players.

 

7 minutes ago, CityDave said:

Apparently we are keen to hang onto Louis Laing for next season but face competition from some of the clubs above in the Premiership and from English League 1 clubs.

*insert "Does anyone know if we are trying to keep Laing?" joke here*

[TheScarf]

I thought Laing was shite last season.

[RiG]

26 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

I thought Laing was shite last season.

He was okay but largely meh. Not sure why we're really bothering TBH. Can't imagine he'd be overly cheap for us in terms of wages.

[caleyjaggi]

Foran's signings, were collectively the worst bunch of duds to arrive in a single season in our history.

Whilst not expecting big names, I do think Robbo will find a few names that turn out to be great signings. Just hope we can take in enough to compliment the quality we have left.

Two more strikers, one centre half, one pacy winger, one creative midfielder, a fit Aaron Doran and a partridge in a pear tree.

[CityDave]

Louis Laing a bit meh?? Us supporters don't have a lot of patience when it comes to new players, they have to impact right away don't they. Very few of our best players and very best players over the years impacted right away some of them even took a couple of years to find form and show what their best can be.

With this in mind out of the squad of players we have currently there are four players to watch this coming season who have not reached their best yet and will have that opportunity to improve and could be stars for us. Brad McKay, Liam Polworth, Scott Boden and Jake Mulraney. These are players who I believe have yet to reach their full potential, the other experienced players in the team have peaked already. If these four become stand outs for us this coming season I will have a lot more confidence in the future of the team. Polworth should be closest to finding his best ever form having been in the team for a few years, its all about consistency with him, the other three have had a season with the club and were fortunate that they were given more than a year to impress so must improve anyway.

All four if they do well will become automatic choices and survive any chopping as the squad is changed over the next two years. I'm say this because I see quite a similarity between this team and the team that went down in 2009 where we had a group of players who had been together for many years but many were past their best. Sadly I believe most of the remainders of our cup winning team will leave over the next two season for that same reason. It has to happen unfortunately and I see the 4 above mentioned as players who can take us forward and be part of the next team and hopefully with us back in the Premiership.

 

[PB1994]

16 minutes ago, CityDave said:

Louis Laing a bit meh?? Us supporters don't have a lot of patience when it comes to new players, they have to impact right away don't they. Very few of our best players and very best players over the years impacted right away some of them even took a couple of years to find form and show what their best can be.

With this in mind out of the squad of players we have currently there are four players to watch this coming season who have not reached their best yet and will have that opportunity to improve and could be stars for us. Brad McKay, Liam Polworth, Scott Boden and Jake Mulraney. These are players who I believe have yet to reach their full potential, the other experienced players in the team have peaked already. If these four become stand outs for us this coming season I will have a lot more confidence in the future of the team. Polworth should be closest to finding his best ever form having been in the team for a few years, its all about consistency with him, the other three have had a season with the club and were fortunate that they were given more than a year to impress so must improve anyway.

All four if they do well will become automatic choices and survive any chopping as the squad is changed over the next two years. I'm say this because I see quite a similarity between this team and the team that went down in 2009 where we had a group of players who had been together for many years but many were past their best. Sadly I believe most of the remainders of our cup winning team will leave over the next two season for that same reason. It has to happen unfortunately and I see the 4 above mentioned as players who can take us forward and be part of the next team and hopefully with us back in the Premiership.

 

I would say Brad McKay has reached his potential, he just isn't a very good footballer. Polworth was shoved out of position that many times last season it would be unfair to judge him. If you play him behind the striker I think he will be a star in this league. I think he is already a Premiership quality player and we would do very well to hold onto him before the end of the window. Scott Boden is 27 that is generally a peak for strikers, he was clearly not good enough for the Premiership. The only hope he has is that the drop down a level is about the level he should be playing at. Agree on Mulraney though he only ever seemed to put a shift in when a live TV camera was pointed at him.

I think we have the base of a very solid team which should be challenging up the top of the division. 3-4 new additions will be needed (Centre Back, Centre Midfield, 1 or 2 wingers and another striker on top of Baird)

[Reggie Perrin]

Please hurry up and sign Baird!

[SandyCromarty]

44 minutes ago, Tarmo Kink said:

Laing and McCart were okay when they came in I thought. Okay they were no Josh Meekings but nothing nearly as bad as Danny Devine

Laing did Ok, not outstanding but worth another season where he could improve, McCart in defense was tackle shy which is the norm for loan players from bigger clubs.

[CityDave]

32 minutes ago, PB1994 said:

I would say Brad McKay has reached his potential, he just isn't a very good footballer. Polworth was shoved out of position that many times last season it would be unfair to judge him. If you play him behind the striker I think he will be a star in this league. I think he is already a Premiership quality player and we would do very well to hold onto him before the end of the window. Scott Boden is 27 that is generally a peak for strikers, he was clearly not good enough for the Premiership. The only hope he has is that the drop down a level is about the level he should be playing at. Agree on Mulraney though he only ever seemed to put a shift in when a live TV camera was pointed at him.

I think we have the base of a very solid team which should be challenging up the top of the division. 3-4 new additions will be needed (Centre Back, Centre Midfield, 1 or 2 wingers and another striker on top of Baird)

All these players played under Richie Foran last season who it was quite obvious did not get the best out of any of his players for various reasons. Carl Tremarco signed for us at the age of 27 and many thought of him after a year with us exactly what you say about Brad McKay. I seriously think that we haven't seen what Scott Boden can do for us, as a striker I would think his confidence would have suffered badly through last season having been left out, but the drop down might be the best thing for him to find his feet again. Its going to be a make or break season for Boden where he could either do well for us and earn a new contract or end up out and disappearing into the depths of English non league football.

Both Mulraney and McKay both still rough diamonds should mature under John Robertson as manager and they will learn a lot from him. I think both have bright futures with the club if they can learn and use their heads. I've heard that Brad McKay has the makings of a future captain, whether its with us its up to him to step up.

Remember this is a different league and we have a different and more experienced manager and there are going to be new players who will affect the blend of the squad and the way we play.

I would say we are not to bad at the back, midfield could do with some attacking midfielders and we could do with a couple more striking options probably younger players. I would say priority would be on bringing a couple of attacking midfielders to frighten the beejeeze out of opposition defenders as we are going to be taking the game to the opposition a lot lot more than we have been used to over the last few years. Key to this league is scoring goals rather than solid defending.

[ICTChris]

I don't think Brad McKay is going to get any better.  He is a poor player, tries hard but just doesn't have it.  He doesn't have the pace or engine to play full-back (although he did have some success getting crosses into the box) and he's not reliable enough to play centre half.  He might do better at a lower level but I'm not confident in that.  

Jake Mulreany has potential, he has some pretty obvious strengths, mainly his pace, which is absolutely rapid.  His use of the ball wasn't great for a lot of last season but he was pretty inexperienced then and he did improve when he was came back into the side later in the season - his performance when we beat Ranger was full of promise and is exactly the sort of showing we need on a regular basis.  His positional and defensive play and decision making also improved during the season but he is still raw.  

Liam Polworth can be a good player in this league and I think he'd be good to play in a central role alongside Draper, the role Tansey has played the past few seasons.  Polworth can use the ball well and is hard-working when he wants to be.  I think he needs to grow into such a central role, central being both literal and figurative.

Scott Boden is awful.  I'd be stunned if he starts the season with us, from the minute he's played for us he's looked completely lost and incapable of making an impact.  He was like that in matches against Alloa and Elgin City as well.  

Reading on here and CTO I don't think some of our fans appreciate just how bad we were last season - we were dreadful.  If people think we are in for a free-scoring title challenging ride then they have a surprise coming, I'm sad to say.

 

 

[Shandon Par]

Jesus Christ. Is Brad McKay still making a living as a footballer? He was like the Gavin Reilly of centre backs. A touch of the John Terry school of trophy celebrations too. Here he is winning the league after a few games, with some minor assistance from a wee French Moroccan lad.

[RiG]

2 hours ago, CityDave said:

Louis Laing a bit meh?? Us supporters don't have a lot of patience when it comes to new players, they have to impact right away don't they. Very few of our best players and very best players over the years impacted right away some of them even took a couple of years to find form and show what their best can be.

What did you see in Laing last season that was anything other than average?

[RiG]

Just now, Shandon Par said:

Jesus Christ. Is Brad McKay still making a living as a footballer? He was like the Gavin Reilly of centre backs. A touch of the John Terry school of trophy celebrations too. Here he is winning the league after a few games, with some minor assistance from a wee French Moroccan lad.

Before the Motherwell match at the end of the season a local sports journalist tweeted the following. Say what you want about Brad but he's always first on the scene to celebrate a goal.

 

[CityDave]

2 minutes ago, RiG said:

What did you see in Laing last season that was anything other than average?

I didn't see much better than what we already had, but this was only 14 games rather than a whole season. Very soon our entire back four is going to need replacing and we could do with a decent option in the middle of our defence right now.

[PB1994]

1 hour ago, ICTChris said:

I don't think Brad McKay is going to get any better.  He is a poor player, tries hard but just doesn't have it.  He doesn't have the pace or engine to play full-back (although he did have some success getting crosses into the box) and he's not reliable enough to play centre half.  He might do better at a lower level but I'm not confident in that.  

Jake Mulreany has potential, he has some pretty obvious strengths, mainly his pace, which is absolutely rapid.  His use of the ball wasn't great for a lot of last season but he was pretty inexperienced then and he did improve when he was came back into the side later in the season - his performance when we beat Ranger was full of promise and is exactly the sort of showing we need on a regular basis.  His positional and defensive play and decision making also improved during the season but he is still raw.  

Liam Polworth can be a good player in this league and I think he'd be good to play in a central role alongside Draper, the role Tansey has played the past few seasons.  Polworth can use the ball well and is hard-working when he wants to be.  I think he needs to grow into such a central role, central being both literal and figurative.

Scott Boden is awful.  I'd be stunned if he starts the season with us, from the minute he's played for us he's looked completely lost and incapable of making an impact.  He was like that in matches against Alloa and Elgin City as well.  

Reading on here and CTO I don't think some of our fans appreciate just how bad we were last season - we were dreadful.  If people think we are in for a free-scoring title challenging ride then they have a surprise coming, I'm sad to say.

 

 

I fully aware of how bad we were last season, However I believe that a lot of that was down to Richie Foran being completely useless and that he "lost the dressing room" so to speak.

Half of that team won the Scottish Cup and helped us to multiple top 6 finishes. Get them organised and playing to their strengths again, certainly the midfield, and I reckon you will see a massive improvement in performances. The Championship is a horrific level of football too. I couldn't believe how bad some of the games were last season and that is after watching us play every week.

I'm not expecting us to stroll to the title and score for fun every week but we are more than capable of comfortably finishing in the promotion play-off places.

[Stellaboz]

McKay was Shite in League one in a title winning team, I was astounded anyone deemed him capable of Premiership football.

[DAFC.]

That goal he gave away against Albion Rovers was something else.