There will be load cheers in the Highland Council after they receive news that we have reached the playoffs this year after narrowly missing out last year.

Video credit Iain Latto on X

Forget he ifs, buts and maybes. We're where we deserve to be and the table doesn't lie. There is no fight in the team, no discernible tactical style of play, players are picked to avoid paying their wages, decent players sit on the bench irrespective of what's happening on the pitch. Ferguson signed five centre halfs and we still ship ludicrously soft goals against teams who're already on holiday and last night aside we seem completely unable to score nearly enough goals. From my perspective Ferguson's appointment has been an unmitigated disaster and whether we sink or survive he needs to go along with the clown who pushed for his appointment. How the board can sit through the barage of anti-Gardiner chants at every home game and not address the issue is beyond me. To be facing relegation to the third tier is an utter embarrassment for the club and those responsible should be held accountable. Onwards to Montrose on Tuesday I guess.

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Montrose here we come... 1. Dundee Utd 36 22 9 5 73 23 75 2. Raith Rovers 36 20 9 7 58 42 69 3. Partick Thistle 36 14 13 9 63 54 55 4. Airdrieonians 36 15 7 14 44 44 52 5. Morton 36 12 9 15 43 46 45 6. Dunfermline 36 11 12 13 43 48 45 7. Ayr United 36 12 8 16 53 61 44 8. Queens Park 36 11 10 15 50 56 43 9. Inverness CT 36 10 12 14 41 40 42 10. Arbroath 36 6 5 25 35 89 23 Tuesday May 7th Championship play-off semi-finals, 1st leg Montrose v Inverness CT Alloa Ath v Hamilton Saturday May 11th Championship play-off semi-finals, 2nd leg Inverness CT v Montrose Hamilton v Alloa Ath Wednesday May 15th Championship play-off final, 1st leg Lowest-ranked team at home in 1st leg Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 8.05pm Saturday May 18 Championship play-off final, 2nd leg Highest-ranked team at home in 2nd leg Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 5.30pm

Anyone notice Dunc going straight up the tunnel again? I don’t really like that from our manager.

Two flaws there though: 2 years ago we had 6 finals in the promotion play offs and came up short, last year we lost the final. This year……? It may only be 2 finals. If it’s 4, we need to not fall short again.

Yes, Harper did very well to keep his composure and slot the penalty into the bottom corner.

I hope a recording of the game will show the antics of Morton’s goalie before the penalty was taken (what a bellend) and also Broadfoot’s assault on Alex Samuel. Imrie seems to have coached his team tactics on thuggery.

Brilliant game brilliant atmosphere on a lovely night ,just a pity a bit too late but not over yet. So glad Dougie Imrie is not our manager ,if that is his style his team were a disgrace .They had nothing at stake and the treatment to our players was disgusting .As for Muirhead he has to receive some punishment for his conduct on the sending off .He was right in the face of the ref with very abusive disgusting language ,kicked the wall in anger (possibly a broken toe or two ) then on way into tunnel looks to Caley bench giving rude hand signal .Absolutely shocking behaviour from any player .He must be dealt with accordingly. Dougie Imrie has nothing to be proud of .. C.mon Caley Thistle we can do this albeit the hard way and with discipline..

We're in the play-offs aren't we...

Do you not think that most of the loanees from England were positive but injuries played a part. I still think that getting shot of Carson and Welsh was a big mistake and add in the "losses" from last season like Allardyce - all money saving exercises. I do think that Dunc's lack of knowledge of our level of football and his naivety in playing "modern" football was admirable but you can't instill that quickly when the players don't know each other, are unknown quantities and there was nobody up front to utilise until Samuel arrived.

IMO we were not adventurous enough going forward. We were clearly better than most teams but were happy to knock the ball about, until ultimately the game just fizzled out to nothing. No standout player either who could raise the game or the supporters, we kinda just plodded on regardless.

Agree that the service has been very poor all season, although Wetherspoon was able to get a good strike rate for us by being a good, creative forward. I noticed that since Sheridan joined QP in February, the 4 goals he scored is the same as our strikers combined. (Mckay, Samuel, Pepple and Brooks - how must he feel about not getting a sniff).

He has had 30 games and a transfer window to keep us up…….. he hasn’t managed to do that even with his loan signings from big clubs in England. What makes you so sure he can do better with less budget in a lower league( if we end up there).

Not sure about the strikers firing blanks. Don’t think Harry Kane would score many goals with the service on offer. longstaff to me is always facing our goal when he receives the ball and his first touch takes him further back. Can’t slip a ball between full Back and centre half as he hasn’t got the pace to go for it. I have seen him get to the byline twice this year, both in same game, and his crosses sailed over everyone’s heads and went out for a throw in at far side. Strikers can’t do anything about that.

Richest club in League One allez allez

Don't worry, Gardiner's just trying to pick up missing silverware. Never got our mitts on the 3rd Tier title. Trust the process

There are so many factors at play. We started this season with a weaker squad than we had last year. (This can be said every year, sadly) Financial constraints impacting the playing budget further, most notably around January. The manager(s) Lack of leadership on the pitch Strikers firing blanks Injuries Not getting our fair share of luck across the season? Certainly feels that way to me.

I’ve split this out from the matchday thread as it is an interesting question and a separate discussion from a match in which not a lot actually went wrong!

This time last year - a cup final ahead of us. Now - 4 cup finals ahead of us. Progress!

Now we get to renew pleasantries with Gardyne in the playoffs

Priced out of attending every other week and took advantage of the £5 ticket offer?

It will be interesting to see how many Season Ticket holders will shell out for tickets for the play offs.

They bought £250k of shares in 2012 but were pretty much dormant until 2015 when they then started making moves to take control of the club once it was apparent that something special was afoot that season. The remainder of their 'investments' came in the form of covering the substantial losses they oversaw between 2017 and 2019. So I stand by my view that their appearance/involvement marked the beginning of our decline.

I think what we deserve is to stay in the Championship. When big Dunc arrived at the club, we had played 6 games in the league and had only 1 point. If the league table had started when he arrived, then we would have finished 5th. Given the number of injuries we have had over the season, that's not too bad a record overall. I've said before that Ferguson's style of play has often been a pretty hard watch, but if we can just find a bit of spark up front, then there is no reason why we can't be competitive and entertaining in the Championship next year. If we do go down, then I think we have the potential to bounce straight back under Ferguson. I do think we have enough to get through the play-offs though and hopefully we will do so with a good support at the home games.