Inverness CT -V- Falkirk Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, 12:30pm ...discuss it during the game in the CHATROOM LIVE AUDIO COVERAGE Match Commentary (UK / VPN only) Open All Mics (not running) LIVE TEXT COVERAGE SKY BBC P&J SportBox S. Life SUN TEAM LINEUPS AFTER MATCH Match Stats

I tried to post a longish post but an advert sent it to the moon. Nice one Cyril

Briefly, Black was poor, Foran seemed to find too much amusing in this fixture maybe judging by his relaxed smile today instead of scoring when he had the chance. Kerr was great at blasting over the bar but demonstarted nothing else in the way of skill or controlled determination with vision. Tokely should get a rope and crampons since he tried to demonstrate a passionate desire to climb on top of the opposing player. But then again, maybe the guy would have scored anyway had he not been dragged down. Undoubted red card though.

Imrie was almost non-existant. Lionel seemed uneasy but tried hard on the day.Fraser was perfectly adequate considering he had little to do and probably had little chance with the goal. Our defence needs to be strengthened significantly and they simply did not have what it takes today . MacNamara had a field day on the right wing ,with oodles of free territory to play in--did nobody think it would be a good idea to man-mark him closely since all the danger came mostly from him? Fer Freddies's sake!!!!

Odhiambo looked the part with skill and pace but five minutes was not enough to make a difference. The shape was not there at the end and so free-flowing football was not there either. It was a hit and miss effort at best.

As for everybody else Duncan tried when he came on but for the most part I can't even remember now who was on the park....? Need I say more?

ICT were in the ascendancy and had the better chance of winning until the sending off then it was anybody's guess......... Falkirk were there for the taking since they looked slow and pedestrian at best in the last several games I saw in the SPL highlights over the past few weeks. A poor SPL team and both John Hughes and Terry Butcher have a mountain to climb now to build on the lucky escape and the challenge of relegation respectively.

Truthfully, John Hughes got really lucky today !! Good luck to him. Maybe next year he won't be so lucky unless he can inject more spirit and urgency into this team.It's not that difficult to retain possession and play one-twos against ten men. The sending off re-kindled their confidence , not quality and urgency, and ICT got dis-organised after that.

And my final thought is that Craig Brewster should now fade from the scene completely and comments on here should be all about Terry Butcher, rebuilding the team for the future man by man, the clearing out of players and giving Terry the full responsibility and backing to do what he can to salvage the unfortunate situation . Let Brewster get on with his job and concentrate on Butcher who has a challenge ahead of him now. If the Board then can stabilise the finances of the club then they are discharging their reponsibilities and judicious spending on new players with the right attitude and spirit is essential.

This defeat could actually be a good opportunity to start again and hopefully allow ICT to come back up to the SPL in short order , restored in spirit and confidence and determined to learn from the mistakes of the past WITH HUMILITY.

:014:

ICT 0-1 Falkirk RED CARD: Tokely

Falkirk 4-0 ICT RED CARD: Esson

ICT 0-1 Falkirk RED CARD: Lionel

(in cup)

:024:

CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT I AM READING

the players gave everything they had today, and were not helped by refereeing decisions.

for people on here to be blaming foran, dougie or anyone else is pathetic.

foran has been fantastic since he came to us, and was the focal point of our attack today. he was perhaps a little too complacent with his sitter, but he created more than he spurned.

dougie has been a good player for us his season, his running and power always needed, and today he played decently. he can't be blamed for the team going down either.

as for barrowman, he could prove to be a good player in the first division, and has had a bit of bad luck this year.

the negativity of the posts on here is amazing, and considering the way the majority of fans acted at the end of the game (staying and cheering the players off, singing blackie a farewell and generally looking forward rather than aiming abuse at anyone) it makes me wonder whether these posters were one of those fans, and whether they were actually there or not.

Listening to Butcher on the radio and he was almost choking up talking about the club, he is here to stay, and as long as we can keep hold of certain players like morais and kerr, then we will be 1st division champions next year.

I'm as disappointed as anyone, the fans and players gave everything, but we went down simply because of circumstances and a single referees ineptitude.

It always amazes me, but anyway couldn't agree with a post more, I have just heard the dressing room was terrible and that TB was very cut up, emotional, feels as bad as the boys, if a man like TB can show this type of emotion, for me he is worth his salt, if our useless board ever does anything right they will sign TB up for the nest 5 years and give him the money to lure the likes of Blackie back to ICT

I really would like to keep Blackie here but even with the SPL money it would be difficult to offer him enough money to keep him here now we are in the 1st Division the club has to be even more financially safe so would be unable to keep him. This is a real shame as he has been our best player for a long time and he will be missed only hope we can find someone to fill the void he has left.

Why wasnt Hastings and Duff on the bench???

Edited May 23, 200916 yr by WYNESS101

I have just heard the dressing room was terrible and that TB was very cut up, emotional, feels as bad as the boys, if a man like TB can show this type of emotion, for me he is worth his salt, if our useless board ever does anything right they will sign TB up for the nest 5 years and give him the money to lure the likes of Blackie back to ICT

Terry and Maurice have done a great job in trying to keep us up and I salute them for their tremendous effort. Some of our players lack passion for the club while others clearly play for the jersey. But this is not the time to name names. Some of our more recent signings have clearly lacked quality. Today - when it mattered - they were found lacking. Hate to admit it but we were the poorest team in the SPL.

The real culprits in my book are the Board. It was plain to see back in November/December that Brewster had to go but they were too gutless to make that tough decision. While they prevaricated we lost vital points, giving the new management a really tough uphill climb. The ineptitude of the Board has cost ICT dearly.

While on the subject of The Board - I was disgusted to see the way a number of our young diehards were treated by the stewards at the end of the match, after most folk had left the ground. They sang their hearts out and demonstrated their passion for the club in the empty North Stand. In usual fashion the thuggish stewards did their best to antagonise them by throwing them out in a disgraceful manner. Zero sensitivity was shown at a time when passions were running high. Rather than encourage passion for our club - our Board seems happy to support heavy-handed stewarding with anyone who sings or cheers too loudly for ICT. Hopefully one day they wake up and realise that the ordinary fan matters. But I doubt it.

I'm as disappointed as anyone, the fans and players gave everything, but we went down simply because of circumstances and a single referees ineptitude.

We went down because we were awful when it counted.

I have to say at the end I was yet again disappointed in the attitudes of the players towards the fans. Yes, they may have been gutted (at least some of them), but I had driven three hours, got a speeding ticket on the way from some goddammed Staggie cops, sung and shouted my heart out for 90 minutes, stayed to applaude after the game, and then some of the players just walk down the tunnel without a second glance. Thanks for that.

Who the hell were all these "fans" walking out with 10 minutes to go? Baffling.

Anyway, time to be optimistic for next season. We've been up before, we will do it again.

Agree. I know the players were disappointed but it was only a few who even looked in our direction. They should have acknowledged the fans who had done their job when they did not mange to do theirs.

In the 2nd half i thought we were sitting far to back and Falkirk were just going for it. They were all in our half for most on the 2nd half

Agree. I know the players were disappointed but it was only a few who even looked in our direction. They should have acknowledged the fans who had done their job when they did not mange to do theirs.

The ones that just walked off the pitch. What was going through there minds???

IM gutted - and left wondering why did'nt Butcher put Rooney on - the top goal scorer at least give him a change to see if he could get a goal back - no he puts Eric on who before he came to Inverness never scored a goal Im not saying Eric is a bad player but for a vital match point that is needed why not Rooney? Why did he not put him on at Motherwell and Kilmarnock - i think maybe he just does'nt like him - but hey he knows best. At the end of the day the Manager is to blame he cannot let his feelings about a player interfer with the best outcome for the club. I think he gave Imrie to many chance's - anyway all the ranting does not change the result. Doctors differ and patienc's die Managers don't like certain players and teams get relegated. I wish Inverness and the boys all the best and hope they come back up next season.

I dont think Rooney would have changed the game that much. He seems to be a lazy kind of striker(boyd)

IM gutted - and left wondering why did'nt Butcher put Rooney on - the top goal scorer at least give him a change to see if he could get a goal back - no he puts Eric on who before he came to Inverness never scored a goal Im not saying Eric is a bad player but for a vital match point that is needed why not Rooney? Why did he not put him on at Motherwell and Kilmarnock - i think maybe he just does'nt like him - but hey he knows best. At the end of the day the Manager is to blame he cannot let his feelings about a player interfer with the best outcome for the club. I think he gave Imrie to many chance's - anyway all the ranting does not change the result. Doctors differ and patienc's die Managers don't like certain players and teams get relegated. I wish Inverness and the boys all the best and hope they come back up next season.

I thought Odhiambo looked good when he came on. The time he had was just too short. Did he not provide the cross for Duncan's tame shot? If that had gone in it would have been a fantastic piece of play.

gentleman,

i know its a killer to take & we unlike you have been relegated many times but surely the most blind ICT supporter could see bairns deserved to win today at the end of the day it was 2 poor teams but although we dont have the pace you have we have far more skill surely?

What a shocker out there today. Especially considering this was our 'cup final'. Dougie Imrie GTF. Seriously, what a shockingly terrible player. His howler in the last minute sums him up, free at the edge of the box, time and space to pick his spot, men over waiting for a tap in, he tries to swerve the ball into the top corner and puts it in the stand, what a clown. He contributed sweet FA to our cause today.

Richie Foran misses 2 sitters in the opening minutes that would have seen us all but safe, and spends the majority of the second half strolling around without a care in the world, he didn't chase anything, lost every challenge he went in for and proceeded to gift possession back to Falkirk every time he got the ball. Kerr was little better, the game just passed him by. They can b*gger off to Dundee as far as I'm concerned.

WTF was Butcher thinking with his subsitutions? How on earth did Imrie and Foran stay on the park for 90 minutes? Why were Morais and Black, arguably our 2 best players hooked?

We were awful today and got what we deserved. When we went down to 10 men we were content to camp deep in our own half and allow falkirk to work the ball down the wings under no pressure whatsoever and float balls into the danger zone. Was anyone in the stadium suprised when they scored? We were never going to hold out for an hour playing like that, it would have taken a miracle for the ball not to end up in our net, especially as we had Fraser between the sticks (why????) and no Tokely.

Brewster cannot be scapegoated for all our shortcomings this season. We had plenty of chances to secure our place in the SPL after the split, and we absolutly blew it.

Utter crap all season. We were relegated long before the split.

First of all I've never been so gutted in my life.

I went to Inverness today quietly confident we could have done enough to stay up. It was the most tense game of my life, as like you all have never experienced relegation. We controlled the start of the game and the sending of was crucial, I only saw it from behind the goals but it looked a bit harsh as I've heard he wasn't last man - don't know if thats true or not.

Also I'm not going to make any excuses as we see it time and time again with us, wheather we've been playing against Hamilton, Falkirk (especially the 2 cups) and St.Mirren we never benefit from refereeing decisions put it that way. But thats fair enough I suppose seeing as Inverness is about 600 miles from the central belt and how can we expect opposition fans to make that trip 2-3 times a season when we have to make it every 2 weeks :D But we blew 3 chances to avoid relegation against Motherwell, Hamilton and Falkirk and we have ourselves to blame for being in this situation.

I was encouraged by Butcher's words after the game that they have a plans to get back up and I'm pleased thats what the board is looking for but that won't be easy as St.Johnstone have been down for 6 years or so and have only just gained promotion again. The encouraging thing is that we are in great shape financially and won't have the problems Dunfermline and Dundee had when they were relegated.

Anyway I'm looking forward to 12 points against our ugly neighbours. Bring on County!

We'll be back playing you all in 2 seasons (apart from Hamilton of course).

What a shocker out there today. Especially considering this was our 'cup final'. Dougie Imrie GTF. Seriously, what a shockingly terrible player. His howler in the last minute sums him up, free at the edge of the box, time and space to pick his spot, men over waiting for a tap in, he tries to swerve the ball into the top corner and puts it in the stand, what a clown. He contributed sweet FA to our cause today.

Richie Foran misses 2 sitters in the opening minutes that would have seen us all but safe, and spends the majority of the second half strolling around without a care in the world, he didn't chase anything, lost every challenge he went in for and proceeded to gift possession back to Falkirk every time he got the ball. Kerr was little better, the game just passed him by. They can b*gger off to Dundee as far as I'm concerned.

WTF was Butcher thinking with his subsitutions? How on earth did Imrie and Foran stay on the park for 90 minutes? Why were Morais and Black, arguably our 2 best players hooked?

We were awful today and got what we deserved. When we went down to 10 men we were content to camp deep in our own half and allow falkirk to work the ball down the wings under no pressure whatsoever and float balls into the danger zone. Was anyone in the stadium suprised when they scored? We were never going to hold out for an hour playing like that, it would have taken a miracle for the ball not to end up in our net, especially as we had Fraser between the sticks (why????) and no Tokely.

Brewster cannot be scapegoated for all our shortcomings this season. We had plenty of chances to secure our place in the SPL after the split, and we absolutly blew it.

Utter crap all season. We were relegated long before the split.

"we were relegated long before the spilt" Did you even think that when TB took over???

What a shocker out there today. Especially considering this was our 'cup final'. Dougie Imrie GTF. Seriously, what a shockingly terrible player. His howler in the last minute sums him up, free at the edge of the box, time and space to pick his spot, men over waiting for a tap in, he tries to swerve the ball into the top corner and puts it in the stand, what a clown. He contributed sweet FA to our cause today.

Richie Foran misses 2 sitters in the opening minutes that would have seen us all but safe, and spends the majority of the second half strolling around without a care in the world, he didn't chase anything, lost every challenge he went in for and proceeded to gift possession back to Falkirk every time he got the ball. Kerr was little better, the game just passed him by. They can b*gger off to Dundee as far as I'm concerned.

WTF was Butcher thinking with his subsitutions? How on earth did Imrie and Foran stay on the park for 90 minutes? Why were Morais and Black, arguably our 2 best players hooked?

We were awful today and got what we deserved. When we went down to 10 men we were content to camp deep in our own half and allow falkirk to work the ball down the wings under no pressure whatsoever and float balls into the danger zone. Was anyone in the stadium suprised when they scored? We were never going to hold out for an hour playing like that, it would have taken a miracle for the ball not to end up in our net, especially as we had Fraser between the sticks (why????) and no Tokely.

Brewster cannot be scapegoated for all our shortcomings this season. We had plenty of chances to secure our place in the SPL after the split, and we absolutly blew it.

Utter crap all season. We were relegated long before the split.

"we were relegated long before the spilt" Did you even think that when TB took over???

Yes. If TB had taken over in early December I'm convinced he would have kept us up. The Board f****d up.

What a shocker out there today. Especially considering this was our 'cup final'. Dougie Imrie GTF. Seriously, what a shockingly terrible player. His howler in the last minute sums him up, free at the edge of the box, time and space to pick his spot, men over waiting for a tap in, he tries to swerve the ball into the top corner and puts it in the stand, what a clown. He contributed sweet FA to our cause today.

Richie Foran misses 2 sitters in the opening minutes that would have seen us all but safe, and spends the majority of the second half strolling around without a care in the world, he didn't chase anything, lost every challenge he went in for and proceeded to gift possession back to Falkirk every time he got the ball. Kerr was little better, the game just passed him by. They can b*gger off to Dundee as far as I'm concerned.

WTF was Butcher thinking with his subsitutions? How on earth did Imrie and Foran stay on the park for 90 minutes? Why were Morais and Black, arguably our 2 best players hooked?

We were awful today and got what we deserved. When we went down to 10 men we were content to camp deep in our own half and allow falkirk to work the ball down the wings under no pressure whatsoever and float balls into the danger zone. Was anyone in the stadium suprised when they scored? We were never going to hold out for an hour playing like that, it would have taken a miracle for the ball not to end up in our net, especially as we had Fraser between the sticks (why????) and no Tokely.

Brewster cannot be scapegoated for all our shortcomings this season. We had plenty of chances to secure our place in the SPL after the split, and we absolutly blew it.

Utter crap all season. We were relegated long before the split.

"we were relegated long before the spilt" Did you even think that when TB took over???

Yes. If TB had taken over in early December I'm convinced he would have kept us up. The Board f****d up.

You never wrote back DAM........?????????

gentleman,

i know its a killer to take & we unlike you have been relegated many times but surely the most blind ICT supporter could see bairns deserved to win today at the end of the day it was 2 poor teams but although we dont have the pace you have we have far more skill surely?

If we'd still had Tokely on you possibly wouldn't have scored. Who knows? As you say, not much quality on show. Hope you kick out Hamilton next season anyway.

BIG TEL SAID ON THE RADIO " I FEEL AS IF I HAVE BEEN KICKED IN THE NUTS" I WAS LISTENING TO RADIO ON WAY BACK FROM THE GAME, HE WAS CHOKED UP, HE WAS SUFFERING, LISTENING TO HIM YOU WOULDNT THINK HE WAS JUST IN THE POST FOR SUCH A SHORT TIME

gentleman,

i know its a killer to take & we unlike you have been relegated many times but surely the most blind ICT supporter could see bairns deserved to win today at the end of the day it was 2 poor teams but although we dont have the pace you have we have far more skill surely?

True. Your lot wanted to win the game more than we did.

Mind you it's four matches ago since Falkirk last played 90 minutes against an ICT team with 11 players!!

I dont think Rooney would have changed the game that much. He seems to be a lazy kind of striker(boyd)

I would never have said Rooney was lazy he always seemed to give 100% and yep if he got half of many chance's as Boyd well he may have ended up 2nd top scorer in the SPL, ( nothing wrong with that )

What a shocker out there today. Especially considering this was our 'cup final'. Dougie Imrie GTF. Seriously, what a shockingly terrible player. His howler in the last minute sums him up, free at the edge of the box, time and space to pick his spot, men over waiting for a tap in, he tries to swerve the ball into the top corner and puts it in the stand, what a clown. He contributed sweet FA to our cause today.

Richie Foran misses 2 sitters in the opening minutes that would have seen us all but safe, and spends the majority of the second half strolling around without a care in the world, he didn't chase anything, lost every challenge he went in for and proceeded to gift possession back to Falkirk every time he got the ball. Kerr was little better, the game just passed him by. They can b*gger off to Dundee as far as I'm concerned.

WTF was Butcher thinking with his subsitutions? How on earth did Imrie and Foran stay on the park for 90 minutes? Why were Morais and Black, arguably our 2 best players hooked?

We were awful today and got what we deserved. When we went down to 10 men we were content to camp deep in our own half and allow falkirk to work the ball down the wings under no pressure whatsoever and float balls into the danger zone. Was anyone in the stadium suprised when they scored? We were never going to hold out for an hour playing like that, it would have taken a miracle for the ball not to end up in our net, especially as we had Fraser between the sticks (why????) and no Tokely.

Brewster cannot be scapegoated for all our shortcomings this season. We had plenty of chances to secure our place in the SPL after the split, and we absolutly blew it.

Utter crap all season. We were relegated long before the split.

"we were relegated long before the spilt" Did you even think that when TB took over???

Yes. If TB had taken over in early December I'm convinced he would have kept us up. The Board f****d up.

You never wrote back DAM........?????????

I did write back Wyness - read it again, it's immediately above your last comment.

On another day, Rossco doesn't panic, and manages to usher Lovell and the bouncing ball away from goal instead of having a rush of blood.

Why Fraser didn't come out to help him or why he simply just let Lovell go through on goal is beyond me. He could well have missed. He could have scored. Either way, we were easily the better team and at that stage there was only going to be one winner. I don't blame him for our relegation but it was a ludicrous challenge and one that changed the whole complexion of the game.

Dougie Imrie GTF. Seriously, what a shockingly terrible player. His howler in the last minute sums him up, free at the edge of the box, time and space to pick his spot, men over waiting for a tap in, he tries to swerve the ball into the top corner and puts it in the stand, what a clown. He contributed sweet FA to our cause today.

Agree.

...and spends the majority of the second half strolling around without a care in the world, he didn't chase anything...

Foran had to play as a lone striker with long balls thumped up to him in a team playing with 10 men. He was never going to chase down everything as that would have been a colossal waste of energy.