according to BBC its a done deal , talking wages with him now , AT LAST !!

 

Inverness Caledonian Thistle should complete the signing of John Rankin from Ross County by Friday.

Caley Thistle have had a bid for the midfielder accepted and will discuss terms with the player on Thursday.

Inverness director of football Graeme Bennett said: "We first moved for John in January so we're delighted to have agreed a fee."

The 23-year-old was a trainee with Manchester United before joining Ross County in 2003.

Great news but I want it signed and sealed before I get too exited

Wilson--Hart--Keogh--Rankin

or

Hart--Black--Rankin--Morgan

I could see McBain being sold now his position has been filled with Rankin who is likely to be a younger and more creative player!

Fox & McBain are certainly well down the pecking order

black, wilson, hart, morgan and rankin!!! thats a pretty decent midfield in my book. if dargo can continue his good form into the new season and wyness can benefit from improved service that rankin will hopefully offer then we are looking very formidable for next season. 

thats providing none of the ICT playing staff decide to jump on the mega bus to scumdee..

plus keogh, who was coming into form a wee bit towards the end of last season

If this is true, I am worried. We have spent, according to various websites who I have no reason to doubt, around £70,000 on a player who is untried at SPL level. He has played three seasons in the First Division for County and, from what I can gather, was the real stand-out for the first for the first half of last season.

We have signed players in the past like Alan Morgan and Ian Black for no transfer fee and I don't think there's any real reason to suspect that Rankin is significantly better than either of them, although obviously I hope if JR signs he will be a huge success for us.

One worrying thing about this is that it perhaps suggests taht Charlie doesn't have the breadth of contacts in the game that Brewster had. Brewster obviously knew people in England to get in Alan Morgan, Tom Parratt and Ben Jackson and had links with Rangers to bring in fetai. Charlie's first move is to break our record transfer fee for a relatively high profile player like Rankin.

here's hoping I am proved wrong.

chris, you worry too much, everyone is untried at SPL level until they get a game in the SPL.  Rankin will be as good as what we already have. Most of our present players were only 'first division' players before we got promoted. There is no gap between the decent first division players and players who play for teams like us. Remember Celtic and Rangers pay millions for some of their players and they are not always worth that extra five million pounds.

Poor Charlie, he can't do anything right for doing something wrong in some eyes.  I don't think we have done anything wrong in bringing Rankin to iCT, he will not disappoint, trust me, but don't expect him to bring instant success.  And this is the year for Charlie to be appraised, given a whole season in charge and playing the way he wants the team to.

TM4TJ, it's true that everyone is untested but we have paid a very large transfer fee for an untested player, it's a big risk.  Dundee Utd and Aberdeen bought a number of highly regarded First Division players for similar fee's a few years ago and got their fingers burned.

I think he'll do well for us like, but it's a big fee for a player who is essentially untested at the highest level.

Yeah well , apart from Morgan who came good at the end of the season, I wouldn't say Brewster was that great at signing. Fetai, where is he now? Jacksonn's also gone and Parratt remains a dark horse in SPL terms.  I have great faith in our team, on field and off.  Bring it on!!

Highest level  :015:

The SPL ain't Serie A you know. There is pretty much no difference between the top 6 teams in the first division and the bottom 6 in the SPL so you are fretting over nothing.

I'm pretty sure the fee is closer to 60K in any case

Was Rankin not a Brewster target during the Xmas transfer window ?

I seem to remember talk of us going for Rankin at the start of the transfer window when I was over in December. At that time CB was still the manager. Charlie officially took over on 27th January and had no control over some of the stuff that happened before then such as Juanjo moving to Hamilton on loan.

I have faith in both Charlie and Grassa that they will get the signings right ..... especially now that Charlie is officially a member of the 'Largs Mafia'  :016:

Yeah well , apart from Morgan who came good at the end of the season, I wouldn't say Brewster was that great at signing. Fetai, where is he now? Jacksonn's also gone and Parratt remains a dark horse in SPL terms.  I have great faith in our team, on field and off.  Bring it on!!

*cough* Dargo *cough*

Jackson was never really what you would consider a signing, he was given a 6 month trial.

Also if memory serves, this was given to him by CC and not Brewster.

Highest level  :015:

The SPL ain't Serie A you know. There is pretty much no difference between the top 6 teams in the first division and the bottom 6 in the SPL so you are fretting over nothing.

I'm pretty sure the fee is closer to 60K in any case

The highest level in Scotland. 

I think Rankin could make the step up but there is a long line of players who were stand outs in the First Division who haven't done well in the SPL - Mark Kerr, Lee Miller, Collin Samual, Barry Robson even Dennis Wyness.

I suppose I am putting across the converse point of view.  It could be a fantastic signing, he could be the best young player going and revel at ICT, I hope he does.

Mark Kerr, Lee Miller, Collin Samual, Barry Robson even Dennis Wyness.

Think you need to use some better examples all the players you have listed are still first team regulars at SPL clubs, even though they might not be setting the pitch on fire they still all have a lot to offer their respective clubs

I can understand your point of view that it is a lot of money to be forking out on a player from the division below but how many decent creative left sided players are there in the scottish football at the moment..... thompson from hibs.... brian kerr at motherwell... and they would cost us alot more money than 65k

Even if Rankin doesn't become a first team regular he still offers another option on the bench and with the amount of goals he bagged last season he obviously knows where the net is

Mark Kerr is routinely booed off the park by Yinted fans.  Collin Samuel is absolute garbage, £100,000 he cost  :010:  Barry Robson is being 'found out' and Lee Miller was poor for most of last season.  For the money paid for them they have been poor signings.

To be honest, that might be down to playing for Yinted  :015:

On the other side of the coin, Tim Cahill came from a lower league to Everton and has been an amazing signing for the Toffees.  Here's hoping he takes after him and not the pish above. :003:

If and when the deal is done then that will put the Hoolahan situation to bed...and with regards to Rankin, I have seen him play a few times, and  on occasion he can be very good but  when things aren't going for his team he can be a bit anonymous, but then would you expect anything else at County??

At his age he needs to make the step up before it's too late and I think if he wants to make it at SPL level then he couldn't find a better place to hone his skills...probably a good signing, possibly a great one, lets look forward to seeing the boy wear the red & blue stripes!

there is a long line of players who were stand outs in the First Division who haven't done well in the SPL - Mark Kerr, Lee Miller, Collin Samual, Barry Robson even Dennis Wyness.

lets look at just a few of our team .....

Mark Brown was great in Div 1 for us and is still great

Darren Dods didnt set the SPL on fire elsewhere and wasnt a superstar in Div1 but has been great for us

Grant Munro has got better each year and stepped up with no problem

Denzil wasnt a success at Hearts but seems to revel in his role at ICT

Tokely has routinely stepped up a level with each of our promotions all the way from the 3rd to the SPL

ICT is a teamwork team so any new face will soon understand that it's one for all and all for one. i.e. he has support and therefore , if he is in the first team as a regular, is there any doubt that he will improve continually? Rhetorical question!

The fee is not THAT much taking into account that CC needs to spend to strengthen and I agree that the Hart, Morgan, Rankin, Black array looks awfully attractive on paper.

CC deserves all the support we can give him--- for a somewhat reluctant Manager at the outset he is actually doing great so far. Brewster?--huh! Fetai was a prima donna bust and his performance was cheesy in the short jaunts on the park that he was allowed--feta cheese no less and it grated on me.  :003:

Today's Metro reports that there has been a hitch in the deal, involving Ross County and John Rankin.  It's nothing to do with us and Rankin's agent is apparently speaking to County to get it resolved.

If this is true, I am worried. We have spent, according to various websites who I have no reason to doubt, around £70,000 on a player who is untried at SPL level. He has played three seasons in the First Division for County and, from what I can gather, was the real stand-out for the first for the first half of last season.

We have signed players in the past like Alan Morgan and Ian Black for no transfer fee and I don't think there's any real reason to suspect that Rankin is significantly better than either of them, although obviously I hope if JR signs he will be a huge success for us.

One worrying thing about this is that it perhaps suggests taht Charlie doesn't have the breadth of contacts in the game that Brewster had. Brewster obviously knew people in England to get in Alan Morgan, Tom Parratt and Ben Jackson and had links with Rangers to bring in fetai. Charlie's first move is to break our record transfer fee for a relatively high profile player like Rankin.

here's hoping I am proved wrong.

I agree with most of your post ICT Chris.

If the rumoured fee of £65 - £70,000 is true, then this is far too much for a largely untested player, nearing the end of his contract, who faded dramatically in the second half of last season.

I, too, worry that this may indicate our inability to attract new talent to the Highlands.

However, I don't think Brewster had any success in doing this either.

Morgan came on a recommendation, and through contacts of, Blackie. Jackson was pish. Parratt had strong links with Inverness before he moved. Fetai was a complete ar$e.

LIke you, I desperately hope I am proved wrong - and will give Rankin my full backing

The deal could well be off now so you don't have to worry about the fee  :007:

he must be asking for a massive wage if ict  wont match it? cant see county taking him back now,leitch only wants players who are 100% committed to the club,rankin to dundee utd anyone?what do we do now? go back for hoolohan or is that to late also?

If he wants a huge ammount of cash then we can't beheld to ransom.  From reading postings on other sites it seems that there could have been an issue relating to a percentage of the transfer fee going to County.  If it is off then perhaps we can move back fro Hoolahan.  However, these transfer 'sagas' often sort themselves out in the end.

he,ll be hoping its sorted out as he wont want to go back to county now