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Christ people get over the ICT stalwart scenario. Thats never going to happen again here just as its not happening at St Mirren, St Johnstone etc. Even County will have frequent changes in personell in the years to come. Its the nature of the beast thats Scottish football. If this guy comes here for a season and shines we'll all be devastated if he then leaves. Dont put him down before he's had that chance to shine. Lets get some of the 04 to 08 positivity back into this club.

This thread has got really quite boring now that it's turning into an 'I told you so' slanging match...

I believe Tokelys other half works in Aberdeen and he spends all his spare time there so the "settled in the area" theory doesn't really stack up....hence my slight surprise that the stories of him signing for C*unty, which have been going around since before the season ended, actually came to fruition. My biggest worry for next season is our own support....or a small but vocal section of them who are more present on these forums than they appear to be at games. Some seem unwilling/unable to get beyond Munro having being moved on and are caught in the mindset that the Tokely scenario is exactly the same. No appreciation for the fact that he WAS offered a contract and making assumption that it was a contract designed to make him leave. Those people seem so locked in to that negative mindset that you can be sure they will be practically wishing failure on the team (again) this season so they can deliver a stream of "told you so's"....as if their opinions being vindicated in such a manner is more important than the clubs success. I hope that people can achieve a bit of perspective, snap out of it and get fully behind the team before the start of the season.

I'm not a big fan of Butcher. I think he has a very aggresive nature. Something that held him in good stead as a player but not sure its the right way as a manager. What I will say though is that I believe he has an agenda. An agenda to get that top six place. And I believe we need to support him in trying to achieve that. Butcher knows that his reputation will be based on him making and building a successful team. In my book he has one more season to achieve it. And if I get the 106 million I'll help him.

I'm going to open a can of worms here and state that after the game against Hibs I was told Roscoe was going to County. I hinted at this in my post on page one of this thread, however wished for a resolution from within to keep him at the club. I'm not so naive as to apportion blame for the whole sorry fiasco, there are obviously underlying issues and Ross was covering his options before it hit the press. Say or think what you like about honesty and injured parties, but hey let's face it...........when and where were honesty and integrity last associated with football. I'm truly sorry to see the guy go, no one will ever equal his achievement of one club at all senior levels in Scotland, now all I wish for is Butcher to follow him out the door.

You know, I've gone over and over pages of comments on Rossco today, just as I did after Grant and Russell were released. I couple what I'm reading with the weekly comments throughout this season past and the one before. I then balance all that with the good luck comments afforded to Cowie Blackie and Rankin when they left. Those last three were three of the best players ever to wear an ICT shirt. They chose to move on to teams south of Inverness. They were thanked for their services and wished every success. No problem there. Its what I'd expect. Going back to the first three players mentioned I could search through this site and find hundreds of comments, from many of the same people who are crying foul now, about how crap they were in the last couple of seasons. Russell was one of my favourite players yet no matter how he played, week in week out he was slated as someone with no skill. Someone who couldn;t pass a ball. Grant to me was a very good defender but I can find many comments that say he is crap. He panics. He hoofs and hopes. Rossco was an excellent right back but I didn't think he was as happy one place in. He would go on runs down the right. He could work the overlap and many times he could bring about a goal. More recently he wasn't able to get back so quick and he was chastised and slated because he was out of position. It was said he was too slow. If I was to put all the negative comments made throughout the last couple of seasons in one post it would look like the whole world were unhappy with the contribution those three made in many games. Now, I know from a good friend of Grants that he was let go due to clash of personalities and refusal to take on some additional work for the club. Russell, in my opinion, was deemed to be not up to what was required this last season. Ross was offered a contract that this club felt was all they could offer. He chose to turn it down. Without knowing what his contract entailed I cannot comment on what was right or wrong. Player contracts can be very complicated. Low basic but additional bonuses for games played etc. Now it seem to me that, what riles people most is that these three were players who were long service. But wait a minute, Barry Wilson was long service. Did he get the same accolades when he was let go? Nope. He done the dirty by breaking his service for a spell at Livi. I think what riles people most in this situation is the fact that those three have crossed the bridge. Personally I wish them all well for the few years they have left and if playing for County keeps them in a wage a bit longer then so be it.

Don't understand why everyone is slagging county's defence, they've already got a better pairing than us. We're signing 28 yr old part timer Gary warren to pair up with a centre back who might not even be back to his average self after that injury. I'm glad he's still playing in the spl though and it will make the derbies even better. Yet again county have gained from our stupidity. Tokely had one more good season in him.

The standard of refereeing in Scotland that I have witnessed is consistently higher than I have seen at international level and in other countries, including the english top flight where the money is silly IMO. Not saying they don't get things wrong but...

....and folks wonder why grass roots football is dieing on it's arse and kids find other things to do in Scotland.Still, as long as we can know what the Northern Meeting Park is called in Gaelic, all will be fine

What bothers me is....why would a player be so quick to run to the press and basically burn bridges if they didn't already have an alternative in place? The other thing that's not sitting right is that a month ago it was all about "I want to fight for my place and if I don't get the chance to do that then I am off". Now it's "The contract isn't good enough". Sounds to me like Tokely was expecting some kind of guarantee that he was going to get games....he never got that (and no player should) and the "Contract isn't good enough" is a way out without admitting to himself/others that he's not sure if he has what it takes to fight for and secure a regular place in the starting line-up. I don't like the way he and the club are parting company...but the club deserves just as much respect from a player they have supported for 16 years as he does from them. So far I've seen nothing, other than speculation, which shows that the club has treated him unfairly or without respect in regards to the contract offer and HIS decision to leave.

We have now lost Hayes, Tansey, Tade, Tokely etc, which in my mind are 4 of our best or most experience players. Before the end of last season when TB got rid of Munro and Duncan, he said he wanted to rebuild the squad with younger players to push on towards the top 6. Now at the end of this season, we are losing all our players again so yet again we are going to have a mismash team that have not fluidity, unity, dont know how to play together and wont have enought time to get used to each other before the start of the season. I really hope TB can prove everyone on here wrong and pull of some gems of signings but i have serious doubts. This season is make or break

Oh, great... yet another boring and negative thread.

To quote Thomas Jefferson, "dissension is the greatest form of patriotism" or in this case supporting you're football team! Please get the impression, I and others go to games and don't get behind the team. I just can't at this time though say I like where the club is heading and the road being taken by the current management team is what's to blame. I think the fans are almost as low than during the Brewster second term. I dont think that is all down to the player departures but also the atrocious football that was served up last term. I am sure that if there is a repeat of this early in the season the unrest will get much stronger. A lot have lost faith in Butcher, and I include myself in that , hopefully I am wrong. And of course you are right Caley D it's time to get fully behind the team for next season

I would guess that even the most happy of clappers are secretly panicking at the moment, there is time though, next few weeks are crucial and we need some quality in sharpish

its not a matter of i dont know how to counter you its a matter of i cant be ersed anymore, conspiracy theroies/agendas are all bullshit youre trying to shove down everyones throats, you dont take anyones views into account. and youre signature 'i told you so' sums you up. stuck up.

Nah, Fraser had signed a pre-contract with Motherwell before Butcher came. Apparently he couldn't stand the thought of working with Brewster for any longer! Oh please! Do you really believe Butcher wanted to keep him? I banged on for months that Butcher's wanted him gone and lo and behold at the seasons end, Tokely's away, in much the same fashion as Grant Munro. It must have been a pretty poor deal for someone like Tokely to turn it down, far less to go and sign for County! If anything, this gives more fuel to the fire in his stance that he was badly treated by the boss - and he's not the first to come out with such a scathing remark. I've said it before and I'll say it again - there's people on this site who, if Butcher said the sky was green, would argue that it was so. Butcher is the master of spin, but some minds will be turning soon. oh watch out renegade the right comes in. remember folks he told us so. hes perfect. get in touch with cameron, if anyone other than you is named next ict manager, i might just stop supporting them. its all an agenda. give us a fecking break rene.

hell be here for life then. the only reason players dont stay is cos we dont have a nandos obviously. he has a great range of passing ,good for set pieces, can get stuck in. next season is make or break for him so i hope it works out.

He doesn't like Nandos, as exclusively revealed on Twitter. Must be the only footballer who doesn't.

I despair. I really do. I see a player who has been playing part time football until the age of 27 as a signing that might be for squad depth. I certainly won't be expecting him to walk into the team and i'd like a couple more players with a better CV at the club looking for a starting place but i will give him his chance to show what he can do. If he performs exceptionally well and earns a regular place then great, if not he'll be the back up player that we need and what we have all expected from him in the first place. Do you? Why doesn't that surprise me? I have never read any football forum so packed with glass half full with a crack in the bottom fans that it is positively depressing. It certainly isn't particularly positive in any other way.

Happy for Morrison to get some extra matches in before pre season and he somewhat feels like a new signing for us. I have a good feeling about him for the season ahead.

Sad day, but if he has been offerred a better deal across the bridge or feels more appreciated by the club there, then good luck to him. He's got a living to make I for one don't blame him. I feel strongly that Butcher made a big mistake to let Munro go and another one now to let Tokely go, but I'll not rant on any more about it. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say and it will be fascinating to see what next season brings. I think they are both good enough for the SPL, Terry doesn't. He's the manager and I'm not so I sincerely hope I am wrong and he's right. As I've said before, next season will be the one on which Butcher can really be properly judged. Obviously he will be judged by how well ICT do but he will also be judged by how well those players he judged to be not good enough do. One little word of advice for Terry though. If you're going to play wee Billy up front against Grant and Ross, can we please keep the ball on the deck?

We are a 3000 fan club struggling to compete in this league. How the hell are we supposed to finance a scouting network?

Never joke about Ian Black with me!

leaving the date open for the new spl highland derby, as sky are demanding a 3 hour build up to the ultimate revenge/grudge match

Ross has beem a tremendous servant to ICT for more than a decade and a half but, when all said and done, football is his career and his source of income. Whatsmore, it's a career that is coming to it's end. In these circumstances, if he can squeeze a wee bit of additional income out of his final couple of seasons by making the only move that doesn't upset his domestic arrangements then who can blame him. Good luck to Mr ICT overthebridge....

Some cheer at last...

Well over the bridge they're really impressed by Del's new signing :lol:

I will now be calling our neighbours Ross and the county.

I'm laughing.Why do these ex-players all "have a point to prove against us?" They have simply moved on to another employer in what is, after all, a job. It's us that have the emotional investment by and large. I know what my emotions are after Tokely signing for the one club he said he'd never go to. If he is to be deployed against us next year as Mr. Angry, I look forward to his utter lack of pace (which was increasingly exposed last season) being shown up by Doran etc and resulting in the inevitable red card. Teamed with Boyd and Munro, they will have the most pedestrian back line in history and if Tokely has done this in answer to the personality disordered behaviour of ICT's management, I wonder how he'll deal with the truly deluded at the caravan park. I'd say bring it on Ross. Really.

Aye but for every one of those, TB signs 3 Aldreds or Stratfords or Eagles. Even Tansey came from league 1 and IMO wasn't really good enough for the SPL. Meekings is another who struggled although granted he's only a youngster. I know he has financial restraints and has to scramble around to get players to come, but how does this guy get to 28 without making it at some point? I think it shows the trouble we are in that Gary is probably good enough to get a game for us at the arse end of the SPL. That's not the same as being good enough to cope in the SPL. Sorry but the SPL is just not as bad as some people make out and I include TB in that. It works the other way too. People like Cowie and Rooney have left us for far bigger clubs. As ever, happy to eat my words at the end of the season.......

So how many players do County have that have points to prove against us? Munro, Vigurs, Duncan, and now Tokely

OK, let's not name a stand after him

Ah, not a proper teacher then.

We are losing (have lost) our footballing tradition to the power of commercial enterprise. Sad times.

I've been saying for some time that I find it astounding that Northern Counties Cricket Club should continue to have such clout with the Northern Meeting Park. Fair enough, they have been there since Johndo was a boy, but Inverness has changed hugely and there are many other demands for this valuable area, use of which becomes even more restricted when you take into account the cricketers' extremely pernickety requirements about people even breathing on their grass. NCCC should have been told long since that they now need to groundshare at Fraser Park with Highland, hence creating far more felxibility for Inverness City and other users. Inverness can't afford to have two precious green spaces devoted so exclusively to a sport which has virtually no following in the place. Secondly, the Jobsworth mentality of the Aberdeen based North Region of the SJFA needs to be looked at very critically - especially their demeanour towards clubs a long way from Aberdeen. Thirdly, I'm going to act as Devil's Advocate and ask why there is so much complaint about Highland Council's provision for football on a website run for fans of a club which received £900,000 no less of Council Common Good cash without which its stadium could not have been built? Once that had been paid over along with £280,000 to buy the Clach Park, maybe the Council felt that football had actually done quite well out of them. I would also add - apparently in empathy with Caley D - that Inverness City had indeed known for years about the problem and no, the Council doesn't automatically owe a living to any football club that wants a home. (Apologies here to Highland News readers who may have noticed a certain similarity between what I have said here and in the paper - most recently and extensively just two weeks ago.)

Good Luck to Gary Warren from all of us at Newport County. The skipper has been an absolute legend for us over the past 3 seasons and he will be a big miss. You have got one hell of a good player and please take care of him because eventually we would like him back. A top top bloke!!!! Oh by the way, Gary has probably the biggest nose in football....lol!!!!!

Of course you have your concerns, we all do but go on get yersel down to the stadium and help the team out! Like a marriage there are good and bad times, sometimes you're in bed with a smile on your face, sometimes your on the sofa and sometimes the other half really p*sses you off but deep down you know you still love them :love02:. So go get that ticket!!! After all in either case there's always the bar.... :drinking04:

Agreed, its that one step closer to France he's been looking for. Of course it does - nothing to do with him feeling that he has been constantly played out of position, often made a scapegoat, dropped and started again on a regular basis and not played to his strengths.

I want to go back to Aldershot!! and Bath, and Fleetwood. But ideally, Bradford, Halifax and Doncaster would be handy!