The General Ross County Chat Thread

[bunglebonce]

So the squad looks a bit like this just now (the 'senior' u20s still at the club in italics):

Goalkeepers

Scott Fox - 2 years
Aaron McCarey - 1 year

Mark Foden - 1 year

Defenders

Jason Naismith - 3 years
Andrew Davies - 2 years
Marcus Fraser - 1 year
Jay McEveley - 1 year

Kenny VdW - out of contract
Paul Quinn - out of contract

Reghan Tumilty - 1 year

Midfielders

Ryan Dow - 2 years
Chris Routis - 1 year
Tim Chow - 1 year
Ian McShane - 1 year
Michael Gardyne - 1 year

Jim O'Brien - loan ended
Martin Woods - out of contract (he had an option for an extra year, nothing has been said about that)
Chris Burke - out of contract
Tony Dingwall - out of contract
Jonathan Franks - out of contract

Blair Malcolm - 1 year
Russell Dingwall - 1 year
Dylan Dykes - 1year

Forwards

Liam Boyce - 1 year
Craig Curran - 1 year
Alex Schalk - 1 year
Greg Morrison - 2 years

 

 

[bunglebonce]

A reasonable team can still be made out of the existing squad:

Fox

Naismith Fraser Davies McEveley

Gardyne Routis Chow Dow

Boyce Curran

 

(With McCarey, Tumilty, McShane, Dykes, Malcolm, Schalk and Morrison in reserve)

Getting O'Brien back would be fine.  Signing Burke and having him fit for a season would be huge.  I just don't see Boyce staying put, he will have plenty suitors this summer.

Keeping Kenny wouldn't be the worst thing but I'd like to see a more technical left-back brought in and a bit presence in central midfield.  

[bunglebonce]

Fine is understated there, I'm a fan of O'Brien.  Does he have a place in midfield if McIntyre goes 4-4-2 though?  I like him on the right flank then if there is an out-and-out winger on the other side and Naismith with the legs to bomb on past him, like in the home win vs Dundee, which was reminiscent of Brittain and Miller from the First Division days.  I have a niggling doubt about him in a midfield two in the same way I have reservations about Woods: when a player beats him he lashes out and if that doesn't work the opponent has a free run while he trots back.  He's great in a midfield three with a holding midfielder behind him - I really appreciate the ambition in his passing without passing the buck to defenders and the way he turns the ball around corners that gets the forwards involved early.

 

Edited May 21, 2017 by bunglebonce

[Replays]

On 20/05/2017 at 19:30, StuartTaylor said:

I see we finished the game today with 3 of the Development league winning team, Dykes, Malcolm and Dingwall jnr. 

This makes me happy.

Blair's a friend of mine (he's from Cumbernauld originally and is a fellow Clyde fan) so I'm delighted to see him get some minutes for you guys.

He played in the Clyde fans vs fans game a few years back, just before he signed for Partick Thistle, and he absolutely humiliated everyone else. He's a really nice guy into the bargain as well.

Best of luck to you guys for next season.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Scott-Replay

[Savage Henry]

Billy Dodds talking semi-literate nonsense on the BBC regarding Boyce, but at leas putting to bed the £500,000 trigger nonsense.

[forkboy]

3 hours ago, Savage Henry said:

Billy Dodds talking semi-literate nonsense on the BBC regarding Boyce, but at leas putting to bed the £500,000 trigger nonsense.

So I know what he means but still, there's something special about "It was probably because he wasn't educated. He was coming from Irish football."

[Savage Henry]

15 minutes ago, forkboy said:

So I know what he means but still, there's something special about "It was probably because he wasn't educated. He was coming from Irish football."

I wish he'd stop talking.  I've heard the fitness guy say something very similar, but not in quite such patronising terms.  

That said, Billy Dodds has been coaching the strikers, and Boyce has definitely improved.    Causality or correlation?  Guess we'll never know.

[Staggie52]

8 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

I wish he'd stop talking.  I've heard the fitness guy say something very similar, but not in quite such patronising terms.  

That said, Billy Dodds has been coaching the strikers, and Boyce has definitely improved.    Causality or correlation?  Guess we'll never know.

I would like to think Dodds is a footballing genius, if so, he has absolutely no influence on McIntyre's tactics or substitutions...

[forkboy]

http://www.rosscountyfootballclub.co.uk/news/archive/senior-and-development-players-released/

So Paul Quinn, Jonathan Franks, Oscar Gobern, David Brownlie, Chris McLaughlin, & Matt Hall have all been let go. They will also let Ian McShane walk if anyone comes in for him, and despite Martin Woods taking up his 1 year option the club also are willing to let him go for free.

Meanwhile they are in contract talks with Kenny van der Weg, Tony Dingwall &...Chris Burke?

[Savage Henry]

12 minutes ago, forkboy said:

http://www.rosscountyfootballclub.co.uk/news/archive/senior-and-development-players-released/

So Paul Quinn, Jonathan Franks, Oscar Gobern, David Brownlie, Chris McLaughlin, & Matt Hall have all been let go. They will also let Ian McShane walk if anyone comes in for him, and despite Martin Woods taking up his 1 year option the club also are willing to let him go for free.

Meanwhile they are in contract talks with Kenny van der Weg, Tony Dingwall &...Chris Burke?

Surprised about Matt Hall.  The rest are as predicted.  Van Der Weg I can take or leave, but he's pretty consistent.  

Edit: it sounds like Dingwall and Burke are basically being given contracts so they can rehabilitate with a view to a move.  

Edited May 22, 2017 by Savage Henry

[forkboy]

I'd hope Burke is going to be on a pay-per-play deal. Otherwise he's a total waste of a contract. He was impressive when he played but that seems so long ago. October or November?

Totally OK with VdW returning.

Just impressed the club got it up on their website so quickly for a change.

[Staggie_93]

Would keep Van Der Weg. Granted he's pretty slow and doesn't offer too much going forward, but he's a reliable defender and a good tackler.

Not bothered about the rest.

Edit: What was the point in signing Gobern? Absolute waste of time.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Staggie_93

[Savage Henry]

Rightly or wrongly, Woods is a pretty important cog in that midfield.  I can see some seriously radical overhauling being made in that department, with either Routis or Chow being the next McShane.

[bunglebonce]

40 minutes ago, forkboy said:

Martin Woods taking up his 1 year option

My reckoning is it isn't him taking up the option, rather it automatically vests after so many appearances.

He might well be looking to move on and there have been rumours to that effect for a couple of months, but there could be a nuclear holocaust and he would still be getting picked by Jim McIntyre - I'll believe it when I see it.  

[Savage Henry]

My reckoning is it isn't him taking up the option, rather it automatically vests after so many appearances.
He might well be looking to move on and there have been rumours to that effect for a couple of months, but there could be a nuclear holocaust and he would still be getting picked by Jim McIntyre - I'll believe it when I see it.  

I've always wondered about this. In US sports, baseball mainly, there are four kinds of option; player, club, mutual and vesting. I was under the impression most football options are player options, but it does sound as if Woods' option was on the basis of a set number of starts.

[Les Westander of County]

No point in losing Woods unless we can get a better controlling, ball-winning type midfielder. Routis offers a lot but not a replacement for Woods IMO.

Would Chow grow into it? Or do we need a big strong "bully" as several folk are suggesting? Or would a quick-thinking technical and creative player be better?

[humbleheart]

My reckoning is it isn't him taking up the option, rather it automatically vests after so many appearances.
He might well be looking to move on and there have been rumours to that effect for a couple of months, but there could be a nuclear holocaust and he would still be getting picked by Jim McIntyre - I'll believe it when I see it.  

Due to Woods being the best midfielder that we have

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

I thought Franks was maybe worth another year, no real surprises with any of that news though. I remember we offered Darren McCormack a new short term contract after he was mauled by some random Dundee thug.

[Ludo*1]

4 minutes ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said:

I thought Franks was maybe worth another year, no real surprises with any of that news though. I remember we offered Darren McCormack a new short term contract after he was mauled by some random Dundee thug.

[Insert Willie McStay brutality rant here.]

[stag317]

Ross Draper and Vigurs coming in....watch this space!