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Yuk. We looked very poor indeed again. I am beginning to think we are going to copy Hull and have an excellent start to the season and then go into free fall in the second half of the campaign. Killie were excellent and a lot better than I have seen in the past. Oddly, after bypassing the midfield whilst at Hibs, Mixu has got Kilmarnock playing some lovely football at times and their midfield tonight did everything ours didn't. Pass, tackle, support, score - pretty much everything required of it. A lot of the play for the visitors was going through Eremenko despite looking a bit fat and Esson did well to palm away his free kick which dipped wickedly after it was hit. Bryson got the opener after Sammon had been halted by Tokely. He did well to put away the ball after it broke kindly to him. Wright somehow missed almost an open goal when he bulleted a header past Essons right hand post. Killie definitely on top in the opening period. Second half was frantic with chances for both sides. ICT, as with St. Mirren, on top in terms of possession but the final ball was missing on too many occasions whilst Killie were happy to hit on the break. Perhaps the game changing moment happened when one of the Killie defenders clumsily bundled over Odihambo in the box. As clear cut a penalty as you are likely to see but inexplicably Collum decided against the award. He wasn't helped out by his assistant who also bottled a call on the incident. Really poor officiating and not long after this Killie got a second. An ICT corner fell to Eremenko who turned in his own box to launch a breakout. In a matter of seconds the ball had moved through the middle of the park to the left where a cross was sent in and a Kelly got on the end of it to send the ball past Esson. ICT got a goal back when Foran fired in a low drive from the left which squeezed past Bell at his near post where he should have done better. Killie wrapped it up with a penalty after Bryson went flying over an Esson challenge. Hard to tell if there was contact (I guess the highlights will confirm) and a lot of the ICT players protested vehemently but the award stood. Interestingly Collum decided not too book or send off Esson which was bizarre given he had surely denied an "obvious goal scoring opportunity". Esson saved the initial kick but no one from Inverness followed up the rebound and Hamill mopped things up. After that Bell dropped a couple of crosses but no one in an Inverness shirt was alive to it and one Killie defender tried to score an own goal with a bizarre attempt to header a cross clear but instead thumped it against his own bar. Deserved win for Killie. They are much better than I thought they would be and they have some good players in that team. Can't help but feel the penalty call was a huge turning point at a time when ICT were in the ascendancy. We just can't seem to get it together at home and have next to no creativity unlike Killie. We don't seem to have much of a Plan B when things aren't going our way and we are getting punished for it just now. Despite three good draws against Celtic, Rangers and Hearts it's now no wins in five for Inverness. Get Hayes back for St. Johnstone. Even if it means him playing in crutches. We miss him. Big time.

Get off yer mobile from outside the front of M&S and get yersel a hat-trick tonight, Dalneigh Caley will surely be there to see it.

Yeah, RiG sums it up perfectly. Killie were great. We were rubbish, apart from Esson and Tokely. What worries me most is that many of our experienced heads - Munro, Duncan, Foran - have been the poorest players in these two games. It's amazing what two rubbish performances can do - we look absolutely devoid of confidence suddenly.

Why can't we play at home? We drop to 5th if score stays the same

Hibs have stability that is the envy of many, and get a lot of things right, particularly the production line of talent that puts much bigger clubs to shame. But despite the money, players and facilities at their disposal, they seem to have achieved so little for a club of their size. St Mirren are a different case altogether. Massively in debt, the sale of Love St for a supermarket development was their get out of jail free card (and oh what their fans would give for one of those.) Owning a stadium would be the icing on the cake, but having secure long term access to one is what really matters and we seem to have that sorted.

Correct.... But I gather McGregor's departure is all but a certainty. If you were Walter or Ally who would you have in mind to replace him? Neil Alexander .

Butcher is incapable of managing a team to play attacking footie. In fact, this is the reason he was sacked from his other managerial positions. I know this is why he was sacked from Sydney FC. they had a squad that was accustomed to playing attractive, attacking football and he tried to apply his defensive, play of the break style footy. It lead to Sydney laying well in the bottom half of the table. His managerial philosophy is not suited to "bigger clubs". Butcher's style is well suited to us and clubs like Motherwell - this is why he would never succees at a club like Rangers or promotion chasing clubs in England. As fans we need to recognise his strengths and accept his weaknesses and understand that he and ICT are a perfect match. Rant over

If we think that the views of the few posters on here, relative to the size of the crowds at Tulloch Stadium on match day, has much of an influence on the players and the total crowd dynamic then we small band of posters have delusions of grandeur. I feel certain that they all pay much more attention to Terry than to any of us. However, I feel that attack is the best form of defense --AND leads to a more entertaining brand of football for the paying patron. Honest endeavour going forward will always be a better crowd-pleaser than deliberate,doughty defending. And that's my tuppence worth the noo.

Personally I can't think that any of the players give a toss what I say. But I disagree with your basic point which I take to be that what might be perceived as negative vibes on this forum will have a negative impact on the players. The whole point of the forum is to give folk the opportunity to voice their opinions and it is inevitable that we get some well informed, inteligent comment and some comment that is simply barking mad. Every one has their view and should be able to voice it. And so we will get some overly critical comments which you are free either to debate or ignore. How the players react to what we say is not really our concern. It's a fans' forum and not a players' one. In my view players should be told to ignore it. To be fair, I think there is very little negativity at the moment but let's not kid ourselves that things couldn't be better. I think nearly everyone feels that sitting 4th at this stage of the season is way beyond our expectatons but I think it is absolutely fair to express some concern about our home form and to debate that. The vast majority of teams do a lot better at home than away - teams in the SPL and ICT in particular seem to buck that trend. Our away form shows that we are a very good side indeed and if only we could translate that into home form then a top 6 finish would be a dead cert and a European spot would be a very realistic target. It isn't the rantings of ill informed amateurs like me on this forum that will play on the minds of the players, it is theconstant mood of discontent amongst the crowd and the shouts of frustration when there are misplaced passes etc. That simply must add to the pressure the players feel. This is a very valid thread led off well with a good post from IHE. So let's voice any concerns here and not at the stadium.

Esson Duff, Tokely, Munro, Shinnie Duncan, Cox Ross, Sanchez, Foran Rooney Subs: Tuffey, Innes, Gillet, McBain, Blumenshtein, Odhiambo, Sutherland

Cringe .

Kiss ma swingers. If i've ever read a pointles thread, this is it.

I can't believe the arrogance of this statement. Inverness, Hamilton, St. Johnstone and St. Mirren are all teams of equal size. Why can't any of these teams regularly take points off of each other? What makes a team who have only just been promoted remember, seem to think they have the divine right to turn up and claim points before a ball is kicked? Caley are on an enviable run of form just now. That can't be called into question but in reality are just a small team as are these other sides mentioned. Howden needs to drop the Old Firm attitude and live in the real world.

Right, I'm thinking that the midweek game may be a bit quiet. Who's keen on moving on section G to get them to siiiiiiiiing for the game?

" Sing when we're winning , we only sing when we're winning , sing when we're winning , we only sing when we're winning " . Which is why the away atmosphere is better .

Hmm, can't agree with Tokely escaping the "rubbish" tag to be honest. It was very much an off day for pretty much everyone really with Esson redeeming himself with saves from the free kick and the penalty. Not only do we look devoid of belief we look devoid of general ability. The seemingly simple task of finding a team mate with a pass appeared to be beyond a lot of the guys tonight and it's hard to figure out why that is. We had a good chance in the first half if I mind right, it involved a few passes including one sweeping pass from Munro (?) out to the right and the attack built up there. Might have been Foran or Rooney attacking a cross but the point is that when we take the time to find a team mate we seem to enjoy a wee bit of success. Unfortunately we seemed to be far too keen to welly it into the channels for Rooney to chase and we turn over possession. The first Killie goal came from a long punt down the left hand side, completely aimless and Kilmarnock mopped it up, recycled possession and started their attack. They hit a few passes about and eventually got a goal from it. Why can't we do that? Do we not have the players to do it? Certainly the middle of the park is an area where we don't have any creative drive but we have players who can pass a ball so why do we give it up so easily to the other team? Why do we persist in aimless punts down the other end of the park? Keep the ball. if the other team don't have it then they aren't going to score. I'm not expecting Barcelona style passing from ICT but we can do better than what we've seen in the last couple of home games.

I am picking this team after watching the St Mirren and Killy matches. The plan. use the full width of the pitch, numerous attacking options, diagonal balls up the wings and to forwards from Grant/Esson overlapping runs on both wings ---------Esson Tokely--Innes--Munro--Shinnie Ross--Duncan---Foran--Blumenshtein Sutherland----Rooney Esson superb picks himself. Tokely- would play well anywhere and is outstanding next to Grant but the ball trickles between Duff and Ross, so I would move him to right back for overlapping runs with Ross on the wing. Innes- as a stand in for Tokely. Munro-solid in defense, can kick a really accurate long ball always a threat in the box Shinnie-turning in to a great defender, can quickly shift up the wing in attack with an eye for goal too. Ross- a fast clever winger can pass well and would be more involved with Tokely on the wing. Duncan--strong defensive midfielder and drops back to protect right wing when Tokely goes forward Foran--pulled in to midfield for more close range passing options and will find himself in better goal scoring positions there Blumenshtein- looks determined on the ball and worthy of a start on the wing. Sutherland and Rooney big solid players with enough skill and strength to put the ball in the net.