and how would you asess our season? A couple of months ago a lot of people were slating the team and cc for performances etc. To finish 8th on 46 points despite losing our keeper and our 2 strikers who scored over 30 goals between them last season was pretty good going and credit where it's due.

Out of curiosity, anyone have our final standings for previous seasons in spl? Wonder how we compare this time round.

                          W      D      L      F      A      Pts    Pos

04/05                  11    11    16    41    47    44      8th

05/06                  15    13    10    51    38    58      7th

06/07                  11    13    14    42    48    46      8th

Three good consolidation seasons with this season being very similar to the first. Next season has to be the one to really start challenging.

I agree, quite properly our ambition until now has been to merely to avoid relegation.

In my opinion, next seson we should aim to raise the bar with the target, from day one, being a top six finish.

CC has stated next season's target is to survive.

Im not really for teams having targets. All we can do is win every game we can and see where that takes us.

Three good consolidation seasons with this season being very similar to the first. Next season has to be the one to really start challenging.

Agree totally!

CC has stated next season's target is to survive.

Havent seen this quote but if true it shows a lack of ambition IMO. Are we ever going to rise above being a lower end of the table team? I certainly hope so and would like to see the clubs management keen to progress season upon season.

I agree, quite properly our ambition until now has been to merely to avoid relegation.

In my opinion, next seson we should aim to raise the bar with the target, from day one, being a top six finish.

Spot on!

My assessment of this season would be as follows, i think we have done well considering we have lost a key player in Mark Brown and have had two key strikers out for extended periods with injuries. More importantly, i think we've done very well considering the fact CC has just completed his first season as a manager in the SPL and is still on a steep learning curve.

On to next season i think with a couple of decent transfers i believe Charlie can bring the club up to the next level of mid table teams and challenge for a top six place.

He just said ICT'S main aim will always be to survive in the SPL. It was in the Daily Record though so I would take it with a pinch of salt!

I believe the Daily Record. It's not like they would make up something to sell more papers now is it?

target #1 is always to survive in the SPL and next season is no different.

However no-one succeeds with only a single target and survival should be the very minimum we are shooting for, other realistic, and more challenging targets for next season should be to try and qualify for Europe (via UEFA or InterToto routes), and to finish in the top 6. This is 'do-able' and anyone who says differently may be guilty of a lack of ambition. While Charlie may play these targets down publicly, I dont think he has a lack of ambition and these will doubtless be very real targets in the dressing room.

On a personal level, CC (and possibly others at the club) will also have to upgrade coaching qualifications as there are minimum requirements to be eligible for European competitions and I dont believe any of our coaching staff have that .... yet.

Our aim for the last 3 seasons has always been to avid relegation which we have done and, so far, we have been pretty solid in attaining 7th or 8th. If we are to up our aims then finishing around 8th should be it. Trying to break into the Top 6 is an aim that is beyond the club IMO at this moment in time.

Nothing to do with lack of ambition more to do with lack of funds, crowds and simply being realistic given what we have to operate on compared to other teams that regularly feature in the top 6. When our average crowd is 10,000 (Min.) and we can pay players over £2,000 a week then we will be able to push into the top 6.

Until then anything above 11th is a massive bonus.

A nice Cup run would be nice however.

Realistically the target must be to survive at SPL level.

However, I would always expect the team to try to win every game and would be very disappointed if this was not the case. So far I've seen no evidence to suggest otherwise.

Feck me - the season ends and Brosnon feckin wakes up and posts. League survival will always be the first objective. We must get our cup spirit back though.

I can see next season being tougher than this season and there won't be any obvious relegation candidate (and that includes Gretna).  For next season Dundee United will be a far stronger and consistent team and they will be comfortable mid-table.  Falkirk will do similiar to this season.  Motherwell have been or are close to being bought over and may very well have a bigger player budget.  St Mirren wll also have a bigger player budget now that their ground will be sold, they do however face the prospect of loosing influential players.  Gretna will spend big in order to get 5 or 6 good standard SPL players, the question will be how quickly can these players gel.

As for ourselves, if Dargo goes, that will be a very big hole to fill.  As much as I would love to get a top 6 place, I think taking the above into account we will do well to finish 7th or 8th.

Why should top six be beyond us ? Our resourses are broadly similar now to Kilmarnock's. We might not make top six but it is certainly not beyond us to do so and is, in my opinion, a very realistic ambition.

Why should top six be beyond us ? Our resourses are broadly similar now to Kilmarnock's.

I have to disagree there. Kilmarnock have a bigger fanbase, bigger stadium and better training facillities. Add that to the 1.5 million they may get for Naismith and theres no way we could match up to them.

                           W      D      L      F      A       Pts     Pos

04/05                  11     11    16    41    47     44      8th

05/06                  15     13    10    51    38     58      7th

06/07                  11     13    14    42    48     46      8th

Three good consolidation seasons with this season being very similar to the first. Next season has to be the one to really start challenging.

Last seasons pts total would have given us 5th place this time around, as Alex's statistics show we scored 9 more goals 05/06 and conceded 12 more than this season.

Wonder what caused this? CD & DW long term injury up front or the defence not performing as well this time around(including losing MB) or just the general over all team performance. Obviously if we would have scored those extra 9 goals or not conceded the extra 12 goals than last season our position could have been alot better.

Kilmarnock also have to service a huge debt approaching eight figures. Our net resourses are on a par with theirs.

Hope for the best (top 6) and prepare for the worst (relegation dogfight) - I think that would be a realistic summary of ICT's position in the SPL for now.

Why should top six be beyond us ? Our resourses are broadly similar now to Kilmarnock's.

I have to disagree there. Kilmarnock have a bigger fanbase, bigger stadium and better training facillities. Add that to the 1.5 million they may get for Naismith and theres no way we could match up to them.

SPL really is split into 4 groups

[li]Group 1: Celtic & Rangers[/li]
[li]Group 2: Aberdeen & Hearts[/li]
[li]Group 3: Hibs, Kilmarnock & Dundee Utd[/li]
[li]Group 4: ICT, Falkirk, Motherwell, St Mirren, Dunfermline/Gretna[/li]

and the explanation .....

[li]Group 1 - huge fanbase, huge contracts, huge stadia, huge debts, nothing seems to faze them though[/li]
[li]Group 2 - traditionally large fanbase and stadia, consistently finishing near the top and getting into Europe but not big enough for group 1. Hearts could drop out of here if Vlad continues the 'strangeness' of the last couple of years[/li]
[li]Group 3 - the 'potential' clubs - Killie always seem to finish mid table or in top 6 but have debt, Hibs can be good or gash as can the Arabs but all three have been in the top flight for a reasonably long time, have a reasonable fanbase, have 'achieved' in the past and have the potential to do so again with the right man at the helm. They have the potential to get to group 2 but equally also have potential to drop to 4[/li]
[li]Group 4 - smaller clubs. The clubs in this group arent necessarily the worst but do have smaller stadia, smaller fanbases, lower wage bills and in some cases, much lower debts. In the case of ICT we are striving to reach the next level and I would say we are almost there - we regularly compete with those clubs in 'higher' groups on the park but cannot do this off the park yet in terms of wages, fanbase, stadia etc...... but that will come in time[/li]

I would have Hibs in group 2, but I pretty much agree with that.

And the arabs in 4 of course  :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015:

I would have put the Hibees in group 2 but they did have a few ropey seasons in the recent past and like it or not, the Arabs have to be in at least group 3 because of their past achievements, stadium size and the potential that is now there with Levein .... if Chisholm, McCall or Brewster had still been at the club then maybe group 4 but I think Levein has already started a process that will see them move back up the table and maybe even re-join the likes of Aberdeen and Hearts as perpetual top half finishers. As we have said before (even if our Arab visitors dont believe us) we dont doubt their potential, just their recent capabilities !!!

We can look at the end of season standings and be happy with where we finished but i will still always remember it for its disappointments - 3 in particular.

1. Cup Quarter-Final.

2. Losing 3-2 away to Killie and missing out on top 6.

3. Lovell's last-minute equaliser on the Monday night in November - we could've gone equal second with a win.

 

Some people might consider it boring to hover around mid-table for most of a season, but we were at least allowed to dream this year - of top 6 and of winning the cup, and if we keep this team together (and keep it fit), then we can do those things next year.