This is the first time since our elevation to the SPL that I personally have not had some lingering fear of relegation at the turn of the year.

 

Congratulations and many thanks to Terry, Mo and all the boys. If the second half of the season is anything like as successful and entertaining as the first I will be a very contented Jaggie indeed.

Celtic may only be a few points clear at the minute, and yes, Motherwell maybe should have taken something from the game but Celtic done what they often do. They hang in and get the winner near the end of a game. I dont believe they'll have anything like a twenty point + lead this season but I do think they'll win the league. I want us to start pulling away from the rest though. Had we taken our chances and made a few of our draws into wins we'd be in that position now.

And what if we had made those draws into defeats, or wins into draws?

To the pessimists, Go and buy the biggest fan you can find and try and blow away that big dark cloud that follows you around.

 

Your a fan of ICT,  its your job to believe in the club, its players and support them even more when theyre up against it.

 

Think of Andy Murrays gold medal at Wimbledon, think of the echoing chants around the court.  Now transfer that belief and goodwill to your local football team.

 

Belief and goodwill for the team beholds no pressure, so let the other clubs suffer the burden of expectation.

Just because I'm not going mental about us being second place it doesnt mean I'm being negative.

 

I think we probably are the second best team in the league this year but its not as if we're 15 points clear of the bottom 6 is it?  We're 13 points ahead of Ross County and they've a game in hand at home to Hearts to come, theyre second bottom ffs.

 

The leagues too tight to take any real pride in being next behind Celtic for me, its too tight for some of the talk on this website.  I hope theres not too many voices in the ears of the current squad reminding them how wonderful they all are whenever the season comes up, they'll all be expecting 10k a week each and an open top bus whenever they draw at home to St Mirren.

 

The jobs nowhere near done yet.

We should definitely be above Celtic with all these draws that we've come back and then taken the draw without trying to get a winner.

Just because I'm not going mental about us being second place it doesnt mean I'm being negative.

 

I think we probably are the second best team in the league this year but its not as if we're 15 points clear of the bottom 6 is it?  We're 13 points ahead of Ross County and they've a game in hand at home to Hearts to come, theyre second bottom ffs.

 

The leagues too tight to take any real pride in being next behind Celtic for me, its too tight for some of the talk on this website.  I hope theres not too many voices in the ears of the current squad reminding them how wonderful they all are whenever the season comes up, they'll all be expecting 10k a week each and an open top bus whenever they draw at home to St Mirren.

 

The jobs nowhere near done yet.

Maybe's no but 22 points off relegation is good enough for me.

I think they are more realist than that but the current position is motivation. When all done come season end and three trophies in the cabinet I'll buy them an open top bus each. ( so long as its small and plastic)

Just enjoy the ride folks!! Enjoying my football this season. The comment about the draws is not entirely fair IMO for instance at Tynecastle we scored in the last minute to get a draw. At Easter Rd we came back from 2 down to get a draw and at Tannadice we were 3 down to earn a draw.

Can't believe that folk are still critical at the moment. I for one am proud at being second! Given where we live and our budget it's great we are doing so well.

OCG you choose three of the ten draws we've had. Of the remainder we were leading and gave the equaliser away in the last few minutes on at least five occassions. Thats not being critical but stating how it was. had we been able to hold out in those five games we'd now be the sixteen points clear of bottom six that Clacher mentions in another thread.

....and if my Auntie had balls she'd be my Uncle!!!

I am just enjoying the ride. We are second, we deserve it and hopefully we can have a nice wee run in the Scottish Cup as well as perhaps getting to the League Cup final .... that would be a truly remarkable season for ICT.

I am under no illusions that we will maintain that year-on-year, although it would be nice, but with our setup and size we will always lose our best players to bigger clubs and the manager - whoever it is at the time - will always have to try and pull some economical rabbits out of the hat on an almost constant basis. Terry has done that for the current season and is to be applauded. I am hoping he will be around for a while yet and continue to do it !

After last season, where TB was getting slated by many, and we flirted with the wrong end of the table for most of the season, and then - in my case at least - I had to endure a North American season watching Toronto FC finish dead last in MLS, this is a refreshing experience ... hell even TFC are looking up now by poaching the man that built DC United to head the rebuild here ..... good times ... enjoy them !! the dip in the rollercoaster that is being a supporter of almost any team will eventually come ....... so make the most of this peak !

Why do people think I'm critisising the team?

 

I'm criticising the bloody fans!

 

Heres a rundown of last minute goals for and against us this season... i know this should be on another thread

 

St Mirren 2-2 Inverness CT

D.McGregor     Goal    90+2'      

-2 points

 

Hearts 2-2 Inverness CT   

90+4'    Goal    C.Pepper

+1 point

 

Inverness CT 1-1 St Johnstone

90+2'    Goal    D.Robertson

-2 points

 

Inverness CT 1-1 Hearts

90'    Penalty Goal    M.Zaliukas (pen)

-2 Points

 

Dundee Utd 4-4 Inverness CT

J.Daly (pen)    Penalty Goal    90+3'

-2 Points

 

4 points dropped at home through poor tactics and tired legs, 8 points overall, both are problems that should've been fixed.  There's other games where we have won points and lost them in the final 10 minutes of matches but you can excuse that.

 

Looking on the BBC, we've been in front in 8 of our 11 home games (Motherwell, Celtic and St Mirren) and only won 4 of them, do you think maybe the 11 men behind the ball to hang on tactic doesn't work?

Thats us been in the lead in 11/14 home games, won 5.

 

Add Celtic Reserves and Kilmarnock to the list of sides we couldnt see out.

 

No doubt there will be somebody calling it "bad luck"

Can't help agreeing. Holding on to second place is going to be impossible with this run of form. Frankly, beginning to doubt top six at this rate.

1 win in our last 8 games is relegation form, and we'll need to do better than that to hold onto a top 6 place.

 

It is notable that Billy Mackay has scored from open play in just 1 of his last 8 games. Bubble burst?

At least we've got a 6 point gap to County again.

 

9 points between us and 11th, looking at the fixtures the run in to the split looks difficult, next three are Motherwell and Hearts away, then United at home.

 

We really should be about 7 points clear of Motherwell at this stage but then every side in the league can say that this year, so many missed opportunities.

As for the team, it's Terry's job to make sure they keep their feet on the ground and keep going out and doing what they have been for the majority of the season so far.  Nothing I have seen from the team suggests they are doing anything other than remaining totally professional about the situation, and Terry is the first to remind us that nothing has been achieved yet.

 

I think after reading Butchers comments re attendances he very much does think we've achieved something in being 2nd.  In his interview he even said ""We cannot do any more".

 

It seems the complacency I warned about at Christmas firmly rooted itself in the ICT camp during the winter break.  I know your post was made way before this but looking back at his return from Barnsley comments, he seemed to be sure the team were destined to do something spectacular, if he was quietly professional with his feet planted on the ground then he wouldn't have said anything of the sort.

 

Worryingly our current slump may not even hit home to the boss and players that more needs to be done, as bizarrely we're still 2nd.  Hopefully it doesn't happen but if we do lose a couple of our next three difficult matches, then it wont just be to third we slide to.

 

I honestly think that's what it'll take for us to regroup and then make a strong push for the European places.

 

We need a huge reaction tomorrow, I'd love to see us go there and score 3 times, win with 10 men, score a last minute winner.. just anything that shows there's still life and a bit of intensity in this side.  The best motivation Terry needs to give this lot is financial, if you want the big offers at the end f the season then you need to finish second, same goes for him, end up a few points behind where we are in 10th and its business s usual.