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The Board of Caley Jags Together....and I'm assuming that is who you are having a pop at....can only do so much without the help of others, and it is that which they try to encourage. Ultimately they are there to represent the fans, to take forward and try and execute the ideas they bring forward to improve things for the fans and to try and increase attendance and support as a result. They were responsible for the free tickets for schools and youth groups initiatives the club now have in place....they (the then Supporters Trust) spent several season purchasing season tickets which we made available to these groups and in doing so we proved the merits of such a scheme to the club who have since taken it on board and hugely expanded on it. They have supported Street League level football for as long as I can remember, they provided assistance with travelling for Youth level football at the club during a time or particular hardship...and continue to offer assistance as and when they can and when it is needed. They took up the fans case with the club over the summer over the whole Rangers fiasco (despite many fans letting themselves down by not following through on promises). They went to bat for the guys in (the then) section G when their was problems with over zealous stewarding. They've assisted with two very successful kids kickaround sessions this year which brought a total of near 250 kids on to the park and gave them the chance to meet and play a bit of football with the players. Many of the things the club are being praised for recently have also been driven and supported by Caley Jags Together. Individuals from within the organisation assist on matchdays with a whole host of things from selling programmes and half time draw tickets to stadium announcing, operating the clubs matchday media operations (previews, reports, videos and interviewing), as well as assisting with the website and driving it towards the product the fans want/desire. CJT members were also in there helping the club stuff envelopes at renewal time, allowing the club to get all letters out in a much reduced timescale (the result of other goings on outwith the clubs control). They sat down with the club when season ticket prices and packages were being set and advised where appropriate/relevant. And all of the above does not include the hundreds of hours put in to organising and running fund-raising events which are operated in order to provide the money which allows these things to be achieved. In fact, I could confidently say that there's not a day goes by when someone or other from CJT is not in communication with the club over something. All of the above has been achieved despite our only having maybe 15 or so "active" participants when it comes to doing a little bit more than buying a ticket and turning up at a match.....imagine what could be achieved if we had 100 people willing to do the same? I could (literally) give you a list of 100+ other things that we would love to do....but we can't do it by ourselves. There's some individuals who spend 20, 30, 40 hours (unpaid) a week (sometimes a lot more) doing stuff to help club and fans.....so please don't come on here all mouth and no action, questioning the loyalties of anyone within CJT.

We must have the finest stewards in the SPL. Sat in the family section this afternoon I felt panic coming on when a man with his young son a few rows back produced a bottle of water. Imagine my relief when two stewards marched up the steps and removed the weapon from this pair of thugs and deposited it in the bin. Our stewards deserve great credit for applying SPL ground rules in the spirit they were intended. It might have been a hot day, but if we're to see attendances increasing we must keep our fans safe by making a public example of these hooligans who are killing the game with their dangerous behaviour.

I have to say that I am totally hacked off with soem posters on this topis. Renegade's first post baing a classic example. We did not lose the game yesterday and the football played, especially in the first 20 minutes was really good. It didn't match that after that although there were still some examples throughout the game, Nick Ross's chance at the end being a prime example. As for OTJ's red card, it was a definite red but some of the criticsm of him on kere is unbelievable. I think the red mist descended on him after aa bad tackle, and it was a bad tackle, and he reacted. If you have played football, then you know these things sometimes happen. As i have said he deserved to be sent off but it was out of character and up till then had possibly been our best player. incidentally, his sending off did not cost us the game where i can think of a few of Tokely's that did and cannot remember Tokely getting the same flack as OTJ. As soemone said, this was the first home game of the season and the things are looking better after 2 games than they did last season but some fans/posters are still expecting us to start the season as world beaters. Incidentally, not surprised that Butcher sometimes reacts to fans in the main stand especially when after 5 minutes in, ceratin players are getting huge abuse from some home fans. After hearing this for ages at least one other fan and myself challenged them to get behind the team and they looked bemused that someone should challenge them. I think we must have some of the worst supporters ever and I genuinely mean that. As for the attendance, the people of Inverness should be ashamed of themselves after yesterday. I am tired of hearing that we have been crap at home for so long (which isn't alaways true) that they are not going to attend anymore or will pick and choose their games. A lot of the posters who post vitriolic or constantly negative posts to me are simply not worthy of being called supporters. Given yesterdays poor attendance, I again question if Inverness wants or merits an SPL team. Truly truly dejected after reading some of these posts.

I almost didn't get in. One of the stewards said my companions and I were suspicious because we'd got out of a taxi with a Killie fan and split up. We were asked if we were Killie fans and one of us had to give his Inverness postcode in an effort to prove we weren't from Ayrshire. Thank goodness we have these consummate professionals looking after us. Imagine the death toll we'd have had over the last few years if we didn't have these guys.

What is wrong with a lot of folk on here! I agree that the attendance today was disappointing but to have a go at the very folk who are trying to change things for the fans is ludicrous. Peter Murphy and all the guys at Caley Jags Together work sooo hard behind the scenes all for no financial reward. Today there was free hospitality for fans for instance. Just a few weeks ago there was the kids kick about day with loads of kids having a fab time with the players and free stadium tours. These things don't just organise themselves. If the OP has ideas that can increase attendances then why not contact he club or the guys on the board of Caley Jags Together with ideas instead of having a go at the folk that work hardest to change things!

I find it a tad ironic that those in the crowd are not allowed bottles of water etc for fear that they get thrown on to the pitch....especially on hot days like today when, during every break in play, those in the dugout proceeded to throw bottles of water on to the pitch!!!

There was a lady a few rows in front of me in section C who was not in the first flush of youth and who was drinking from a small plastic bottle. Hardly a threat to anyone. Two stewards approached her and she had to hand over the bottle. She was allowed to finish the water (or gin) but it was like an addict having their dose of methadone being supervised in a pharmacy. It may seem very unnecessary but the problem lies with the rule and not the stewards. It is all very well saying stewards should use their common sense and not enforce these rules, but where do you draw the line? Most people who might have a bottle of water to slake their thirst on a warm day are not going to look as though they may hurl the bottle onto the pitch, and how can a steward reasonably say to somone that they are confiscating their bottle because they look as though they are the sort of person who may throw it. And what happens if they don't enforce the rule and then someone throws a bottle and someone gets injured? The stewards would be pilloried for not doing their job. As with so many things in life the answer should be in dealing severely with those who cause trouble rather than preventing trouble by penalising law abiding decent folk. Not being able to take a bottle in with you to drink is crazy.

I'd probably ask what the hell they were playing that but I wouldn't feel any need to grab someone like Jones did nor display any desire to plant my forehead on theirs. Boggles my mind that people are trying to excuse what happened. There is no defence for what Jones did.

Ok we all know this forum has more than it's fair share of happy clappers but this was SELL OUT SATURDAY FFS The attendance was not dissapointing or a bit low it was an absolute disgrace and downright embarrassing when the emphasis was to fill stadia across the land yesterday 3487 watched Partick v Falkirk in the league below us!!!! 4485 watched the Newco Orcs at Peterhead in div 3!!! Whether we like it or not the vast majority of Invernessians are NOT ICT fans and if it was not for the influx of incomers settling into the city over the last two decades I fear our attendances would have been a lot worse To be honest I think Caleyjagsforever have their work cut out but I wish them well on the journey ahead Dougal

Ctid's post sounds like it's born out of frustration and done in the heat of the moment. Let you off (this time). For all but the die-hards, football's an entertainment business. If we were a cinema and all we showed were 1960s B movies we'd expect empty sets. There's no shotage of alternative outdoor entertainment in the middle of August to compete with, not to mention some televised sport going on down south. The answer, my friend,lies on the pitch. The stewards could do their bit to help too;l

......and we wonder why attendances are reduced.

And me So you could say that this is you Luke when you see TB's tactics and team selection- This is IHE- Just kidding fellas.

And me

Someone said some local rangers fans who usually give us support have boycotted us. Sod them, we don't need them. Also some of the 'neautrals' are now going to see 'that lot' over the bridge. Sod them and their half hearted loyalty. We don't need these groups and need to forget about them. Our focus and priorities should be the community and youth of Inverness! We should be making sure that the youngsters of inverness are growing up supporting ICT and not the OF or 'that lot'. The club and. CJT need too work very closely on this! £16 for a concession is shocking! It was £3 for me when I was a kid only 10 years ago. I also remember when I was younger my PS used to give out 3 free tickets per year for each home game. This allowed kids who normally wouldn't go to games come more often. The club did under 12 free ST not so long ago, why not now? Lastly, I'm a part time youth worker in hilton and of the 40-50 kids who come to indoor footy on a friday night only 5 go to ICT games. FIVE!!! That's shocking, we are failing the youth of inverness and we need to encourage them along! It might mean losing money for a while giving out free tickets or charging £3 for kids BUT it will repay in the FUTURE when they keep coming back and bring THEIR kids!

Wikipedia, on the subject of the offside rule, states: "Offside position" is a matter of fact, whereas committing an "offside offence" occurs when a player is "actively involved" and is subject to the interpretation of the referee. Anyone see a parallel? The women steward won't understand this though. I appologise to all women posters on here, I do value your input, its often better than some men on here anyway. Saved?

I agree with the first bit but why should Butcher make him suffer? He is potentially one of our most influential players for the coming season and Butcher's job is to make sure OTJ understands that he cannot afford to react like that again. He also needs to understand that every other team in the SPL will now be primed to press OTJ's buttons. Butcher will understand from his own personal experience the dangers of misplaced aggression and far from making OTJ suffer he needs to support him and work with him to channel his aggression constructively to the benefit of the team.

Personally I have nothing but respect for the ICT stewards who have gave me a helping hand and direction on many occasions.

Then you let the referee deal with that. You don't react by grabbing an opponent by the shirt and then go head to head with him. No matter how pissed off you may be. yes but if someone kicked you on your bad leg would you not react

i enjoyed the game - the first 20 minutes is the most entertainment i have seen at caley stadium in a while. I really like the look of the two centre backs - Warren and King. Both look very solid. two centre midfielders - draper and jones - were really good until jones did the most stupid yet understandable thing a passionate footballer can do. A few questions for Butcher. WHY ON EARTH DO YOU START THAT DONKEY THAT IS SHANE SUTHERLAND? He is horrendous and i seriously dont understand why he doesnt start nick ross. also when you take nick ross on why do you take billy mckay off ? Generally quite optimistic for this season but first Butcher needs to stop drinking wine before and during the match.

Here's our home record in recent SPL seasons 2007/08 - P19 W9 D2 L8 F32 A28 2008/09 - P19 W4 D5 L10 F18 A27 2010/11 - P19 W7 D4 L8 F25 A24 2011/12 - P19 W5 D5 L9 F19 A27 We are poor at home. One season in the last four with a winning record? If we won games and scored goals then more people would show up. Also, and I don't want to go on about pricing, but it's expensive. I paid £26 for a walk up Main Stnd ticket yesterday. Our 'hardcore' fans will always go no matter what but to increase attendances you need to attract more of the casual, walk up fans who go to big games to attend regularly. The best way to do that is to be good. As it stands we are asking people to pay a lot of money for something that's likely not be that good.

The day started on a strange note for me as a steward tried to prevent me entering the ground, saying that I and my two companions were Killie fans and then that we were drunk Only after speaking to the steward in question and giving him our Inverness postcodes were we permitted to enter. Caley lined up with the same XI who started against St Mirren and we began the game very well. We dominated possession in the middle of the park and played some good stuff going forward. Billy McKay looked good, he made some clever runs and picked the ball up well. Doran also looked lively out wide and it was from his corner that we scored. Doran looped it in, then Draper headed it down (I thought it was JOnes who knocked it on at the time but subsequently read that it was Draper) and ANdy Shinnie slid in low to knock the ball home. We looked flying at this point and Doran nearly set up McKay to double our advantage, but McKay couldn't turn it in. Doran then burst through and was denied by a good save from Cammy Bell and our attacking players couldn't put the ball home. So far, so good. However, after the first 20 minutes Kilmarnock started to get hold of the ball more and put pressure on us, especially in wide areas. Raven, who looked patchy throughout, gave away a penalty for a rather innocuous looking foul but Ryan Esson saved Rachi's penalty, which was low but close to the keeper. More impressive was Esson's follow up save from james Drayton, whose powerful effort he blocked. That didn't give us a boost though and Kilmarnock really dominated the closing stages of the half. Most of our fans would've been happy for the half-time whistle to come and give us time to regroup but in the five minutes of injury time (Harkins and Dayton both going off injured following meaty tackles from our centre halves) Killie equalised, Pascali looped a header in from a cross on the left. It was no more than Killie deserved and meant that we went in on a downer. The second half probably had less incident than the first and again, Caley were wasteful in possession. Too often we hit speculative balls rather than a meaningful pass. We were also very deep and balls up to McKay weren't 'sticking'. Our creative players, Shinnie and Doran, weren't getting as much of the ball as in the opening stages which really blunted our attacks. Shane Sutherland had a couple of shots but he really didn't impress - a big willing worker but he didn't show either guile or power. I was surprised when it was McKay who came off for Nick Ross. With around ten minutes left Jones was sent off. Fowler slid in late and brought him down and Jones reacted aggressively. From my seat I couldn't pick out exactly what he did but from what I've read he went to headbutt Fowler, I certainly saw him waving his hands around. Really stupid behaviour from an experienced player and it meant that we were hanging on at the end. We don't have a big squad and that's one player missing for a few tough games. Down to ten men, Butcher barked at us to stick it long into the corners, drawing the ire of a couple of fans who he exchanged words with. Right at the death Nick Ross forced Cammy bell into a good save when he directed a header on target but couldn't beat Bell and our final chance to take three points was gone. A disappointing first home game of the season then. We showed our potential in the first twenty minute but the fact that we didn't build on that and lost a lead for the second game in a row is worrying. I can see what Butcher is trying to do - solid back four, two big guys in midfield and then four attacking players but we were eased out in midfield. You need Draper and Jones to dominate the middle of the park and they were often posted missing, I thought. Often Killie were first to loose balls in our half and Doran and Shinnie had to drop in to win the ball. That's not their forte and not what they should be doing. It'll be interesting to see how we perform with Foran coming in, we need a bit more dynamism in the middle of hte park and hopefully he can provide it. Final point about the crowd, it was poor but untypical for us. The fact is, we've been pish at home for years and it's not going to draw people into an expensive trip to the stadium.

Had some banter with new recruit VonSchiellion during the games. Montrose went 2-0 and he was saying how easy this competition was...until Clyde went on a bit of a comeback that is.

I would have thought by now people would have given up on this debacle. Its about time people accept as a club we don't appeal to a massive market. The attendances this season have dropped and will continue to do so. The appeal of playing in SPL has long disappeared as we play the same teams over and over again. Standard of SPL football is nowhere near level for value of money and the standard is getting worse. We don't play attractive football with a home record to test the most optimistic of fans i find it staggering that people think that they can appeal for fans to come in. Regardless of how hard these groups try to boost attendances it wont work that is the truth the sooner people realize that the better we have nothing going for ourselves. I say that with no happiness but its the sad truth.

Straight red, case closed.

To the OP, I find if you take your head out of your a**e, the view dramatically improves.

Some fair points there, and there's no question it was a woeful (and quite embarrassing) attendance. However if you are going to have a go at others (groups or individuals) for not being pro-active enough and doing more to bolster support you really should be presenting ideas yourself no? Why not join CJT (only a quid for life) or contact the club and tell them what they should be doing better.

im gonna do my bit here. on the bright side at least we know where forans gonna fit in next week.

Don, no question from what I saw that it looked like he went to nut the guy. No idea about how much actual contact was made but the intention was there. If tv proves me wrong so be it.

You would think with the time he has spent on the sidelines already he'd not want to end up straight back there by his own doing.

Hooooooo-boy. Terrific goal by Rory - who, incidentally, looks head and shoulders above all the other attackers on the pitch. Looks as though he might finally be ready for the step up. I wonder if McCoist might think the same thing?

I wish Danny would quit as well.