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A lot of sense has been spoken on this thread. It begins with the overwhelming outcome of the poll (just take a look), it moves on to yngwie's robust questioning of the validity of the original question and continues with MUCH of what has been said in the last eight or so posts - of which I quote, as highlights, the above and this from yngwie... But did you have the foresight to see that the merger would never have been approved by members if the club names were killed off? (Sorry, I don't know how to do these multiple quote thingies.) It is absolutely correct to say that the merger would have suffered instant death had the original club names disappeared. Those who were present at the First Battle of Rose Street (for the benefit of the younger generation this was one of three highly contentious Caley merger meetings at the Rose Street Hall and took place on 1.12.93.) may remember that the Caley Rebels, even before they left the hall, were adopting a fallback position of what eventually became the name. Although there was still a further year of grief, the adoption of "Caledonian Thistle" played a major, major part in securing the agreement which eventually was made. Similarly on the Thistle side, the name gave them at least something which they felt they had held on to in what had to be an unequal merger, given the disparity between its two components. (Another feature of that is the frequency with which the club is referred to simply as "Caley" which - despite my Dalneigh roots - I regret, but this is to some extent inevitable.) In "Against all Odds", I quote the average combined attendance at Kingsmills and Telford Street at around 600 and have seen no evidence in the intervening years to contradict that. There were, for instance, 4800 at Saturday's St Johnstone game. Almost two decades on, it's therefore difficult to conceive of how thin Jags and Caley attendances were back in the early-mid 90s. Perhaps think "Clach - plus" (but not TOO big a "plus") I could even be generous and concede that the "stayaways" ran to a bit more than 12th Man's 5% estimate, but even then they are still a drop in the ocean compared with even the modest attendances of the day - never mind current attendance levels. And that's before you start questioning how many of these guys who keep materialising in pubs to tell you how much they are missed were frequent visitors to games in any case. Buenos Hornell.... are you still out there? :biggrin: Here's another way of looking at it. At none of the Battles of Rose Street did the Rebels - despite scouring the highways and byways just as thoroughly as the Establishment did - ever muster more than about 250 votes against the merger. We also know quite well that a great number of them subsequently came on board and have been supporting the club for years. So how many refuseniks does that leave? And 16 years on, how many of even these are still in Inverness, still alive and still refusing to go to games? You can also ask the same question of the Thistle fans where the numbers of dissidents were even smaller both in percentage and absolute terms. The crucial, central feature of the 1994 merger was the inequality of its two components and a solution had to be found which reflected that, whilst still convincing the Caley and Thistle support that it was neither respectively selling them short nor constituting a takeover. That was eventually achieved - by the skin of the club's teeth - and an integral part of that was the club name which then had the "Inverness" extension added in 1995 partly at the Council's request to reflect the Stadium land deal. "Inverness Caledonian Thistle" therefore not only reflects 125 years of football history in this city but also the fact that so many odds were overcome to put together a club which, within a decade of its formation, brought SPL status and a great deal more to this city. I make the final statement of this post with a degree of mixed feelings since I am reluctant even to dignify the original question with an answer but.... if it ain't broke - don't suggest trying to fix it.

Sometimes it's better to just keep quiet and accept your good fortune instead of drawing attention to it.

It's very difficult to judge Foran so far this season: he's only been back, what, 4 games, and in the last two of those he's been asked to play in an unfamiliar deep-lying role. I think he can be very influential for us this season once he's established back in his favoured position. Hayes could struggle to make an impact at times this season: if opponents get their tactics right against us then he is a player who can be contained, as we saw at times towards the end of last season. Dundee Utd didn't take his threat seriously enough and he tore them apart, but by the sounds of things St Johnstone marked him much more tightly on Saturday and apart from the goal he made little impact on the game. I think Rooney has done well this season considering he's been asked to play the lone striker's role and hasn't had a great deal of service. He works his backside off and he's at least proved that he can take chances when he's been given them this season: in his previous spell in the SPL a lot of people were suggesting that he was the sort of player who would need 4 or 5 chances to score once in a game, and this hasn't turned to be the case. TBH, Odhiambo has probably been our most influential attacker this season, with superb performances against Utd and St Mirren, but I just wish he was a bit more consistent: he's proved he has the ability at this level, but he's still too prone to go missing in games.

Perhaps if the club had a different name at the very beginning, e.g Highland, it may have attracted a wider support - who knows? Changing it now certainly would not improve the support - it may even be detrimental if the new name is silly enough. Having said that though, I'd be quite keen on changing the name to Inverness Caledonian!

Invernes Caledonian Thistle is a great name! In our short history this name is in the history books as winners of Div 3, Div 1 (twice), 8th Feb 2000 night, and SPL seasons. We shouldnt change it to appease folk that don't even support the club. I also like how we have kept the identities of Caley and Thistle and that is very much part of our history. I was 8 when the club formed and i'll never forget going wth my dad to the games at Telford Street aged 7+ ............ lets be positive about our past... forget about the stay aways.... their no longer fans!

In short NO!

In answer to the OP's question NO. Rooney - 4 goals in 8 games. Keeps this kind of average up and he will be on target to score 19 league goals which would be a fantastic achievement. Foran - Missed half the season and has been lpaying in central midfield due to injuries. The great pass to Hayes is hopefully an example of his return towards form. Hayes - 2 goals in his last 2 games after a slow start due to injuries. I would say considering they've stepped up a division they're doing pretty well this season. I think you need to look at the bigger picture - apart from Kenny Miller no one has set the SPL alight this season.

exact same managment situation as dundee shouldnt of sacked there last manager they were sitting nicely in the play-offs when he was in charge

When a defender passes back it is normally to buy them some time so they can push forward. So you have Rooney chasing back and the opposition defence running in the other direction. They are only going to go so far up the pitch and the first sign of losing possession and they'll be chasing back. Most of the time, no extra effort is required to bring him (Rooney) back into an onside position, and getting caught off side doesn't seem to be that regular an occurrence, IMO. Suggestions that he lacks effort in any aspect of his game are pretty ridiculous. He's one of the hardest working players on the pitch and probably covers more distance/area than any other single player. I'm often surprised he has the energy to see out a game at times, so looking for him to be sprinting back when, in the majority of instances it is not required, would only prove detrimental in the grand scheme of things.

I was just going to say all that.... basically the rebels are in a complete minority and getting less, there is a whole new generation of fans going to games who never saw Caley or Thistle and probably dont give a monkee's :******:

I would suggest not wasting energy chasing down pass backs.

Oh I agree he is slowly winning me over...... I'm such a flirt.

If the original poster (Dougal) is suggesting that the name be changed to placate the girners from the past then just forget it. Inverness Caledonian Thistle sounds great and it will be shortened anyway by almost everybody so what's the fuss? For those who have such a negative and unproductive attitude towards the present team and club and the present name, they do not deserve any consideration. Either they get with the programme or they can lag behind it in the wilderness of Scottish Football. And if they are still harbouring grudges and whatever from the merger period then what hope of them ever wising up enough to put their shoulder behind the Caley Thistle wheel? Probably it will be negligible so why waste time worrying about what they think. We should look for a practical solution first e.g. reduce the prices by five pounds a ticket and ensure that the product on the park is of a continually high standard and encourage the team to attack first and formost. Customers want entertainment and thrills and spills not negative, defensive football. ICT have the players now to attack so we should encourage their drive, enthusiasm, energy and flair. Adopting Craig Levein's tactic of putting up the fortress walls will never succeed in attracting anyone. It's an open and shut case almost. Why pay good money to be bored? At least it is worth a try is it not?

You have a point there, I was chatting to about 9000 people in the pub the other night and they all said if the name changed they would be chomping at the bit to watch Inverness Highland Scotland UK united play football. Regarding all the so called stay aways from the merger, what was the average highland league attendance at the 2 clubs and what would be a realistic percentage of people staying away 5% ? IMO the majority of so called abstainers are people who didn't actually go to any matches, have no interest in football but instead have invented a reason to talk about why they don't go to watch footy.

Duncan is a bit like the spread in a sandwich. You never really notice it is there, but leave it out and the sandwich falls apart and doesn't taste right.

I have to agree with you DoofersDad and it pains me to do so as I am a big Foran fan. I don't know what was wrong with him yesterday...

Why not? Inverness has a population of 70k + yet we average about 3500-5000?? i think the attendances are poor and at times not very accurately reported

esson mccann - rosscoe - munro - gillet/golly DUNCAN---duff hayes-odi-foran rooney subs: tuffey, shinnie, innes, mcbain, blumanshtein, sanchez, sutherland

spot on, was glad of a point, our first half performance was very sloppy, hopefully it was only down to our two week break from football Forans natural position is striker and secondly a left sided midfielder. not a holding midfielder, he should be played in an attacking role and not a defensive one. completely wasted in a defensive role.

Our great run last season included some excellent performances, but crucially included several games where we learnt the art of not losing when playing poorly. In that sense, a point yesterday was a great outcome because far too many players were lacklustre with St Johnstone looking the best side - they put far more pressure on us when we had possession and where more inventive when they had possession. It really is important that we pick up points even when playing poorly. We are also up to 4th which is fantastic - 7 places higher than I would be happy with at the end of the season. But a big downside for me was Foran. He was generally lacklustre and only showed a bit of passion later in the game when he was pushed forward. As a captain, I saw nothing from him in encouraging the team - quite the reverse in fact. When the ball didn't break the way he might have wished he just seemed to curse his luck and give up rather than getting back into position. And later in the game a long crossfield ball was played to the excellent Shinnie who, under pressure, kept the ball in and put a firm pass to Foran who was unable to control it. Foran's reaction was to shout "what the f*ck was that" at Shinnie. He kept abusing the youngster as Shinnie shrugged and then ran back into position, meanwhile Foran was paying no attention to where the ball was. As a captain he should be encouraging the youngsters and Shinnie was actually showing a lot more enterprise and passion than Foran. Shinnie's pass was no worse than most of what Foran had contributed in the match. Foran was well out of order. I hope Terry will be letting him know in no uncertain terms what is expected of him both as a player and a captain because IMHO he fell well short on both counts yesterday.

Joke of a Thread? in what way has their "bubble burst"? Rooney has done exactly as he did last season , picking at defenders, holding up the ball , scoring, Hayes and Foran have not put a foot wrong either, Forans ball through to Hayes on saturday was class

I think to be Honest Duff is a great RB am not saying drop Foran but Ross gave more to yesterdays match than most, Foran included, have Ross with your idle in the middle. Duff right sided anyway.

Unfortunate, but as long as these old dinosaurs didn't manage to persuade you that their view was ever a significant problem after the legalities got sorted out in 1995, no harm will have been done, so just continue to enjoy supporting SPL football in Inverness. (And hopefully we can avoid yet another round of discussion here on the old myth which keeps resurfacing on this forum.)

where is he off to?

wonder if he'll buy dundee

it wasnt jimmy they apointed it was colin

I see that all three of our Irish lads have come in for some stick, from different posters, since the Saints game. So what has gone wrong since their dominance at the end of last season? Is it just the pre season injuries to Foran and Hayes delaying their return to full fitness? And, in Rooney's case is it just that SPL defences are harder to score against that SFL? Certainly 4 goals (including a penalty) is not a prolific return so far. I remain optimistic that they will come good again, and I suppose it is encouraging that we are holding down a top 6 place without them being at their best. Thoughts?