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The audible sound of contracts being ripped up could be heard from the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium last night after another limp display. We seem to have no urgency, no passion, no quality, and no idea how football should be played. All we have heard all season was we can still make top-six, which turned to we can still make 7th, which will soon be turning to we might just escape relegation. I have to say, regardless of changes/injuries, this has to be our poorest season ever. We had a better team when we were relegated, a better team in the first division and now we are lumbered with this lot. This season is a complete waste of space, let's forget it ever happened, our annus crappus. Butcher has now taken us full circle back to the Brewster era and I don't see it changing overnight. WE certainly have dug a hole for ourselves, a very deep one and it won't be easy to get out of it. Plenty folk are finding it difficult to motivate themselves for Saturdays, and playing football like this will not make them change their minds, it's equivalent to stealing. Highway robbery without a mask on. There will be better games in the welfare league, more entertainment and excitement for there was no skill attached to yesterdays event from either side. To think Aberden were once capable of beating Real Madrid..............

The club (on many fronts) is going through a transitional period. Our reliance on the old guard was always going to have to change at some point, and whilst I can accept there's an argument that Butcher hastened that a bit by releasing certain players, it was going to come last year or this year regardless of who was the manager. In truth, we should have been preparing/positioning replacements for these guys long ago, so the sudden transition cannot be placed entirely at Butchers feet. A fair bit of financial damage was done when the club decided to throw money at a failing Brewster. We signed players to bolster the squad to save a season that was already bust. God only knows what Barrowman cost us in terms of the bottom line and whilst the Niculae deal made a profit on paper it could have been so much more and the damage done to the clubs reputation is, IMO, still hurting us now. One thing ICT have been very good at over the years is alienating guys who could have (financially) been very good for the club. Could you imagine what it would be like if all these people had decided to set personal differences/egos (whatever you want to call it) aside and worked together for the good of the club? Sutherland, Fraser, MCGillvray, Savage, Catto...those are some pretty big hitters. Instead we've had to rely on selling off all the family silver year after year, just to get the books to balance. We are where we are now and hindsight is wonderful thing when seeking to criticise. Was it avoidable, could it have been any different? Open for debate, but it's an argument nobody can win. I do know that we don't have the resources...financially, or otherwise...to support a squad which matches the expectations of some fans. We'd be lucky if we could afford to put a squad together without a good spattering of loan deals....some of which cost us nothing. So, my argument is that the damage has not been done in the last season, the last 2 seasons over even the last 3 seasons. Our position has been worsening pretty much from day 1. Progress on the park was not the result of some genius master plan, it was a series of short term measures and fixes which have finally caught up with us and there's a price to be paid. Is Butcher the man for the job? Unless we know of anyone else with the contacts to bring players in so cheaply or loaned in for free and who can keep us safe and/or deliver more....then yeah, he is. Would he be the man for the job if things were different, if we had a bit of cash in the bank to spend on signing players on 2 or 3 year deals? Who knows!!! That would be pure speculation....and since things aren't different and aren't going to change any time soon then it seems a little pointless dreaming of what ifs. I don't like the situation any more than the next fan...but a new manager (regardless of who it was) is not going to magic up a larger budget, better players, fewer injuries or any of those other things which all seem to have become Butchers fault in some eyes. He may not be getting everything right, but who does!!! I don't believe Butcher is the only person that could be doing the job, but I do wonder how anyone, with the resources available and the luck we've (not) had could be doing much better. In fact, we could be far worse off than we are now and I wonder if some people should be more concious of the saying "Careful what you wish for!!!".

Some of you really do need to get a grip. This season has been a disaster for just about every footballing reason under the sun. Injuries, suspensions, harsh decisions, no penalites bla bla bla. Butcher may be at fault for all but not for everything. He changed the team yes. But most of his signings have all shown how capable Doran, Shinnie, Tade, Tansey, Jones, Golobart have all been very good signings but there has been no continuity because all of the above mentioned plus most players in the squad have been injured. Theres been no continuity and no chance to build an understanding. This is also a really young team so mistakes are going to be made as they may not cope with the pressure as much as others. I'm not saying that Butcher is faultless. His recent tactics have been woeful and one or two purchases have been less than effective e.g former players Gnakpa and Aldred. This also ties in with the idea of continuity and stability and has to stop. If he signs players i sincerely hope that most are with a long term view. Experience is required too and fast, the young lads need more help out there on the pitch. Personally i dont want him to go. You all seem to forget that this is the manager that got us back to the Prem at the first time of asking and also gave us our nearest push to the top 6 we've ever had. He deserved a chance to make his own mark on the team and he cant stop players getting injured or suspended so bog off and give him some space, there is no point in asking him to go at this stage of the season either cause you guys aint gonna get what you want. He deserves another chance to stamp his authority on the team and surely surely we won't have another season as hellish as this one.

I think yesterday is one of the lowest points of my watching ICT (and Caley before them) Only surpased by the feeling of being relegated. For us to put out a team without a Scots born player is dreadful and to me is totally against everything that caley jags stands for.When the second goal went in I found myself walking out before the end for the first time ever and turned around to see that nearly everyone was following me. The majority on the field looked like they couldnt give a s##t for our club or fans and should be ashamed to pick up their wages. Going to the testimonial this afternoon boy do I need cheered up!!!!!

Possibly Mr Sorted, but we have to put our season behind us and get down to the stadium to thank two guys who have helped mold ICT into where we are today. £10, that's a fiver each for the effort they put in over 21 years and 720 passionate appearances for our club, that's got to be better value than the current crop of encumbents got for yesterday. Thanks Grant and Russell ps, the colour does not signify any cards you may have received in your time here Russell.

OK - Cards on the table ....I am an ICT fan .. full stop! I feel that the above comments are very harsh and indeed I went onto the historical sites to offer some support to the management team .. I'm afraid there is little facts to back up Terry's ability to get the best out of HIS players this year. We have little money and are remote from the footballing hub and this makes us THE candidate to be relegated every year and we, so far, have nearly always defied the pundits!l. This year is reflective of our expected position, league struggler. We get a new manager and he does what?? Move Inverness into Central Scotland? Pay big wages to super players from a gate of circa 3000 every fortnight? Take on the current squad and improve their playing ability? A big ask for any manager and especially for one willing to come away up here on limited resources. I think this is a bad year for our Tel... his professional pride, I hope, is hurt and already he is making plans for next year with a brilliant start to the new season. Maybe I am dreaming and Terry has limited management skills but taking on board his all round results - I vote ... PLEASE STAY and, like this year, keep my wee team once again in the top league!!

Poor players signed by an equally poor manager .

Stand back everyone, I'll handle this one. Ummm... He signed the absolute dross that aren't fit to pull on the shirt?? He's responsible for the tactics from which he attempts to get the best out of the crap he's signed? He absolutely will not, nor will he ever accept blame for his part in the worst season in recent memory? (To clarify, as harrowing as it was to be relegated, this season is much, much worse than that one.) Quite why you feel the need to defend the guilty party in all of this is bewildering.

Why are you repying? Why are you posting on a Caley Thistle fan site if you have now switched to supporting County? When County get relegated, maybe not next year but whenever it comes, who will you jump ship and start supporting then? Whoever is playing well I guess, worse than a gloryhunting old firm fan. They just stop going to games when they are losing, not pick a new team who is winning.. Dont let the door hit you on the arse when you leave...

Please yourself who you watch next season but do us a favour and don't call youself a supporter. Supporters stick by their team through thick and thin

First half 5 Shinnie 3 Whyte 1 Rossco Second half 5 Rossco 3 Jimmy C 1 everyone else for turning up and making today a fantastic afternoon and reminding us of days gone by when we played with smiles

Grants goal v celtic last season. The look on his face after scoring said it all and it made Lennon mad always a plus point.

Perhaps Terry was Beyonce ?

Dunno about that DD. Personally I feel that as ICT manager he should have been there regardless. It would have made him look like a bigger person.I think probably all should have moved on.

Some of you really need to get a grip. Excuses, excuses.......injuries, suspensions, posts, crossbars, referees, linesmen etc Bottom line........not good enough, not organised enough, not coached well enough, not entertaining enough and not committed enough (absence of many today confirmed that). Suggest that it is those who continually excuse, justify and blindly follow that needs to get a grip eh?

If that is the case it shows very poor taste. Total and utter disregard for two who put in a huge shift for the club that he is supposed to lead. Very shabby indeed and another example of ego over substance.

Stand back everyone, I'll handle this one. Ummm... He signed the absolute dross that aren't fit to pull on the shirt?? He's responsible for the tactics from which he attempts to get the best out of the crap he's signed? He absolutely will not, nor will he ever accept blame for his part in the worst season in recent memory? (To clarify, as harrowing as it was to be relegated, this season is much, much worse than that one.) Quite why you feel the need to defend the guilty party in all of this is bewildering. I was listening to TB's post match interview just now and was actually suprised by how often he said that he must take the blame. It was almost a season's worth of accepting the responsibility. He was also saying that whilst he takes responsibility he is pretty bewildered by the lack of cutting edge in the final third because he sees day in and day out in training what the players are capable of but they don't produce it on a match day. He made the point that in a lot of games we have had good possession but have lost games because we have not been able to create and take enough clear cut chances and because of errors at the back which have been punished. That is probably true but it is his responsibility to sort it. There appears to be the first public recognition of that but perhaps a lack of knowing how to. Personally I feel that many on here are being harsh on the players. In general they may be playing poorly but I don't think that means they are poor players. I would be more worried if we simply weren't getting the possession. To me the big thing that is lacking is confidence. At the moment all the players seem to be on edge and as a result they either snatch at opportunities or lack the confidence to shoot. And they are on edge at the back because they know if they make a mistake the lack of goals up front means it is likely to be an expensive one. Things seem dire at the moment but If we could just find that spark to bring back the confidence then the goals will come players would be less on edge and we would find the football flowed a bit more. The key questions for me are whether it is TB's management style and tactics that are contributing to the lack of confidence in the first place and is he capable of finding the spark that is needed?

Dougal makes many valid points which are hard to disagree with unless you are one of the 'see no evil, hear no evil' brigade. Only points you miss Dougal are: Tell us the truth about MacKay Steven. Did you really offer him a contract and he refused (despite agreeing to play for Airdrie for pennies weeks later) or are you that poor a judge of a player that you didn't fancy him? Ian Vigurs, remember him? He's coming back to haunt us. What were you thinking when you let him go?

Here's my view on it again realy can't be bothered putting any effort into posting on this thread again it's so tedious hearing the same old sh*t from the same old people Much of what you say is true enough re: refs, injuries etc however that isn't really the whole picture, some of the damage was done before the season even began! Butcher took us from playing poorly/relegation and turned the team around and helped us to promotion and then to a good 7th place finish. But now he seems have gone backward and even taking into account our unusually large injury list we have still been very poor. He is somewhat responsible for players missing easy chances, poor defending within the team as the players that are failing are the players that he has brought in and deemed them good enough for the team. The players have to take some resposibility too of course as they have been poor also, some of the players today (and in other games recently) looked like they couldn't make a 10 yard pass accurately! I was also sad to see that the starting line up did not include one Scot, too many journeymen brought in going through the motions perhaps who don't play for the badge? I think people are angry not only with results but possibly more so with the manner of our defeats, which has happened quite often this season. In a good number of games we have created heaps of chances without scoring any, then the other team goes up and scores with their one shot on target. That sort of failures are not about injuries that's a lack of concentration, organisation, ability and desire (and utterly stupid individual errors) IMO for which both players and manager must take responsibility. I personally don't really want butcher out (at least not yet) but that's probably more to do with the fact that I can't think of anyone better offhand TBH. You may be tired of hearing the same old sh*t, but by the sounds of it (and the look of the stands before the end today) a great deal of people, not just a few are tired of paying their hard earned to watch the same old sh*t. Hope this makes sense I've had a few drams lol!

no he signed for airdie in january 2011. and renegade in regards to training im pretty sure malpas takes it for the most part. this season is the only season under butcher when weve had severe injury problems. id say coincidence.

good to see the youth out aswell i was impressed with kyle white down the left. anyone else notice county feilded mcmenimen, britain, and gardyne in the first half and still offered no threat? best granty moment? the equaliser vs celtic at parkhead earning us 1 year away from home undefeated best russell moment? had to be his stunning volley against dundee utd

We barely picked up any injuries when we were in the 1st Division. And that was as small a squad as i remember us having.

Would anyone like to set up a player of the 2nd half poll. 5. points to Rosco for making every run down the wing into a goal scoring opportunity 3. points Jimbo for turning up in the box to try and score, dribbling past the county players and pulling off a good save 1. Bazza for his mazy runs and crosses into the box and special mentions to Robo for his speed and grace infront of goal,lol. Bobby man living up to his chant, 'hes fat and round hes worth a million pounds', our testimonial players, Christie making Adams look inept and a special mention to the County players who havent changed their hair styles since the last time they played in the 70s.

Not at all. Terry Butcher is the face of this club and should have been there. Even if someone had asked him why he was there all he would have had to say was "I'm here to represent this club, to watch some of the young boys for next season and to see some of next season's opposition as well". But of course, no-one would've batted an eyelid. Heck, even Brewster turned out for the legends team in Roy McBain's game!

Lets change the feckin drift on here - what are YOUR fave Russeldhino and Granty moments. For me it was Russel's goal against Dungdee at Tannadice plus his style of chastising team mates that made Foran look like a feckin choir boy. And Granty's goal and celebration against Queen of the South in the season we got promoted plus he ALWAYS came and acknowledged the away fans, irrespective if there was 20 or 1000 of us. Thanks fer the memories lads.

Feck me - we are making excuses for TB now !!! Like I said his personality would not allow it and there is undoubtedly a refined excuse coming up in Tuesday's Courier.

Good games in both first and second half. Shane up front caused no ends of problems with Tansey, Ross and Gavin 'bossing' the midfield even when County changed to pretty much their first team. Rossco was a man mountain and showed how much the game meant to him even if only a friendly. The day has unfortuantely been tarnished by the failure of Butcher and Malpas to make an appearance. In the past I have tried to stick up for these guys, however they have disgraced the club, shown a lack of respect for loyal servants to the club and embarassed themselves in front of many of the fans. After the joke that his second half tactics were yesterday, perhaps we should ask out goalkeeping coach to take over for the next game

What a great day, we get to see our up and coming players have a go at County, get entertained by a beyonce lookalike at half time, see a good turn out of well respected footballers from days gone by playing again and get a chance to say goodbye to 2 of them. What a great way to celebrate my birthday, So thanks to all those who put in the time and effort to make it such a good day out for Grant and Russell.

4-0 FT, best home performance I've seen in a good while.

For me, the reason that many are playing poorly is that many are poor players.

Without doubt Butcher has taken the club back the way ,whether some of us like it or not we are getting very close to the days when Brewster got his marching orders Think it's very unfair on some fans to label all the blame on Terry though what about Malpas? What does this guy actually do or bring to the club? It won't happen but Terry should issue a public apology to the fans via the press or on here 1 Apologise for the amount of mediocre or pish journeymen that he persists in taking to ICT, ok there has been a couple of exceptions but the majority are and were complete rubbish 2 Apologise for the style of play or the lack of tactics deployed this season, root one football pumping the ball high up the pitch is getting us no-where ok he made a career out of it but football has changed a lot since the 1980's 3 Apologise to Grant Munro, to treat one of our own so despicably was a disgrace, think what this has done to the number of Invernessian youngsters growing up dreaming to play full time football, if anything it pushes them more towards the County radar 4 Apologise for not dropping Foran when this should have happened before Xmas Even the happy clappers are deafening in their silence, whether we like it or not we are favourite for the drop next season as there wont be a Dunfermline to take the heat of us One things for certain Hibs will be much improved anyway but even more so if they win the Scottish cup,it could be argued County already have a better side than us but they will also improve so that probably leaves us fighting it out in a relegation dogfight with St Mirren Should Terry and Mo get another season like I think they will they have one hell of a job to get us out of this rut thet got themselves into Dougal

Very disheartening performance and tbh its getting one too many for me this season. Time and time again we huffed and puffed and fail to blow the Aberdeen defence down and also yet again our own defensive lapses come back to haunt us. I didnt have a good view for Golobarts OG but he seemed to be under little pressure and yet again we fell behind after being the dominant side. Aberdeen did little to test us throughout the entire game and the only clear cut chance they had was when Magennis took advantage of some unique defending from Proctor who was barely on the pitch before getting owned. Dont care what Butcher has to say and dont care what the team has to say. You werent good enough but its past the point where words mean anything. Start putting your words into perspective and get your act together. Half of you have futures to play for and quite frankly based on today if thats your idea of earning your stay you can feck off.

Wasn't there today thank funk. Have been picking and choosing my games this season. Seriously considering getting my football kicks at Grant Street next season. If Rangers do the newco thing and get straight back in to the SPL it will make the decision a lot easier.

That wasn't just bad - it was terrible. Started off okay and got gradually worse and worse as time went on. Nobody out there had a good game today - nobody. How Foran continually gets a game I don't know. Jones did nothing, Hayes and Doran had poor games by their standards and McKay offers zero. Tade had one good chance and then continued the headless chicken routine till he was taken off. Another point no-ones mentioned is there was no Scottish players in today's starting eleven - I find that quite a sad state of affairs. No-one can doubt there's a problem here. There is, and it's name is Terry Butcher. Same old kick and rush tactics and the "blaming everyone but himself" routine is getting so bad, he's starting to sound like a broken record. There's no fight in this team anymore and what was left of the team spirit that was once so prevalent about this club left when Munro was shown the door. To quote BB King, the thrill is gone. If this trend continues to next season, ICT are in big trouble.

I'm often worried about some peoples sanity on here. What we have seen over the past season is worse than woeful, yet some always try and use tired excuses ie. injuries, team gelling in time etc. etc. There is no excuse for it at all and it is down to Butcher. Why support him? Is it because he is charismatic? Even if he is that doesn't transfer onto the pitch and time after time after time we all come on here and say how bad it is, yet still try and justify things! What will another season do? The players HE has brought in have been awful at the best of times (with a few exceptions but any manager can uncover a diamond from time to time) and another summer and season will just prove he has had more time to screw up the ethos of the team. I hate seeing my team lose week in week out without any whimper of a fight and obviously everyone else does as well. Why always say 'we're a small team'? There's smaller teams out there proving the tag wrong and punching above their weight...and we were once one of them! Butcher should not be given more time, he has had enough and proved that all he has is a good quip or two. His excuses today were poor to say the least about the performance and said that the crowd were right to boo at the end. Glad to know he pays attention to not just himself.

What a stupid poll. What if he merges a decent team together for next season then all the people on his back will be loving him again. I don't remember people caliing for him to go when we were 4th around Christmas last season. What do you expect from the team anyway. It is probably a certainty in a 12 team league that we will get relegated within the next 5 years I'd say. At the moment Butcher is doing fine. Freshen things up for next season on the field is needed though.

Haven't voted, but I think there's a fair chance it will be. He's bound to be in charge going into the season unless he chooses to leave for some reason, but if we're really struggling, say, three months in, then the board will have a decision to make. At the moment I can't see any team that is going to be weaker than us next season. Of course he could add a few new faces, find a settled system that works, get lucky with fitness and have us safe by Christmas, but there have been far more negatives than positives this season.

We could still get relegated this season but I somehow can't see Dunfermline winning all their remaining games. I think Butcher did a great job a couple of seasons ago when we went on that run to win the SFL and then we had a pretty decent season last year on our return to the SPL equaling our best ever finish. That is a decent track record. This season has been very disappointing. There have been flashes of real potential and hope but these have quickly fizzled out and he does not seem to have any realistic plan to address the problems. We had real hope of a top 6 finish not so long ago and are probably safe now only because other teams have also been poor. Much of the blame for this poor performance must rest with Butcher. I can accept one poor season on the back of 2 good ones but next season must be better. The Board also has a responsibility here. I don't advocate interference by the Board but it is reasonable to expect them to see there are a few things that need addressing and to expect Butcher to explain to their satisfaction what he proposes to do about them. If we are clear at the bottom come mid November (and current form suggests that is very likely) then he should go. I appreciate that it will cost us to cut his contract short but a drop to the SFL will cost even more.

Good, we don't want 'fans' like that. CHEERIO! W@NK

A better man than most of us then.

Worth trying for Tade ??

Setting aside his questionable work rate...he seems to have been a victim if circumstance (in much the same way as Sanchez was, IMO) in that he was never really given the opportunity he maybe should have been, or would have benefited from in order to earn a new deal. That's not a go at anyone, just the way the cards fall sometimes.

He's on loan.....to try and even things up a bit