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With fans like (some) of ours, what chance have our guys got? Players that have left/been let go from ICT with a far greater tendency for big, lumbering, unnecessary challenges are lauded over like heroes, whilst the guys here and now are getting pelters and told they shouldn't be pulling on the shirt ever again because of a dubious red card. Inverness has the team it deserves....in fact, it has a better team than it deserves. If people spent as much time supporting the team as the did criticising it then we'd have the best support in the world!!!

Crowd announced as 4500, looking at the south stand i would say Dons took 1900-2000, which look like we managed to get 2500 supporters on a nice day against near neighbours Aberdeen. The home crowd -or lack of it shocked me today! Where have all the people gone? cant call them supporters or ICT fans because they would have turned out to support their team, because thats what suppporters do -support their team Never mind the 'teams playing poorly shyte' or dont like the players TB has signed etc etc.. its at times like this that ICT need fans to turn out and help support the club financially and the team on the pitch. No doubt we will have these 'fans' turn up for the county game in october to support their team. .

Neither of the red cards were for foul and abusive language, that's just what they put on Sky and the BBC. As for OTJ, he looks like he could be a good player, the way he moves, his body shape all suggest that he's a good player but he never actually does anything. He uses possession neatly but I think he sometimes slows down play, he always seems to try to play little dinks and flicks when playing things simply is the best option. Ross Draper has shown him up in central midfield, the drive and power that Draper brings to the role far outshines OTJ. Foran also looked very good when he dropped back into midfield following his red card.

Dorans ankle was more than clipped, foot came over the top of his leg and impeded the shot and it also looks like he was leant on at the same time...not to mention the fact that it ended with the player going straight through him....a foul in itself, regardless of whether it stopped him getting a proper shot off or not. A more solid penalty than the one awarded to Sutherland, IMO. The SPL YouTube channel have "Penalty Claims" video (looks like rules on showing controversial issues has been relaxed) which will go live tomorrow evening and the incident is included in that....unfortunately it doesn't include video from the main stand side which we took ourselves and gives a much clearer angle, but I'll check the position on us being allowed to put that up on our own channel.

There isnt as much money on the go these days to spend on football, at least the empty seats are being used to give youngsters the opportunity to come along for free and hopefully Nairn, Aldearn and North Kessock primary schools enjoyed their day out

Davie tries hard not to use the word "absolutely", but Ross didn't let us down!!!

" In speaking to any Dons fans I may, of course, refer to what a diving cheating squirt Fraser is, but the reality is he was on the receiving end of some tackles which should not have been made." I disagree. After the OTJ challenge he reacted as if he had a career ending injury. Red card comes out. Two minutes later he's sprinting up and down the park again, absolutly nothing wrong with him. Scumbag. When a player conducts himself like that he deserves to be dealt with in the harshest manner possible. My only complaint is that Foran didn't kick him hard enough.

What a bizarre comment....your basically saying that he deserved to be fouled, and that is somehow ok that no penalty was awarded because he took a touch instead of just hitting it first time!!! What ever happened to the concept of supporters looking for reasons to support a team and it's players? It seems to have become the norm these days to look for reasons not too!!! What a bizarre couple of comments. Of course I'm not saying he deserved to be fouled and I very clearly stated that the referee made the wrong decision. What I am saying is that had the right decision been made, Doran would be able to count himself lucky as he was fouled after having made a hash of a golden opportunity. As for supporting a team and its players I think that can best be served by providing encouragement on the park and being objective both in crticism and praise off it on this forum. In speaking to any Dons fans I may, of course, refer to what a diving cheating squirt Fraser is, but the reality is he was on the receiving end of some tackles which should not have been made. That kind of indiscipline is not going to help the campaign this season and it serves no purpose in trying to justify it on this forum. Nor does it serve any purpose bleating on about a bad penalty decison when the ball should have been in the back of the net before the defender got anywhere near the ball (or the player). No matter how good at their job people are, they do it better if areas for improvement are identified and worked on. By all means lets have some tongue in cheek banter, but when discussing serious topics let's try to be reasonably objective. It is completely wrong to equate being critical with not providing support - the reality is that objective criticism is often more supportive than saying "well done" when it was anything but. And why should we be "looking for reasons to support" our team. No need to look. We should simply be supporting the team - full stop - and saying things as we see them. What is the point of trying to deceive ourselves and others that things are different - we learn nothing from that. I sincerely hope the manager doesn't resort to looking for reasons to support his players rather than telling them how it is. The changing room discussion on Saturday might have gone something like this. "Christ we were hellish unlucky with the equaliser lads! Never mind, it was just one of those things - don't worry about it. You all did your best. There was no reason to think the referee would actually give the foul when Graeme pulled the lad's shirt. And what a cheating rabble they are to take a free kick before checking that you had all ambled back in to your defensive positions. And as for Jonny actually being able to cross a ball! well, who would have thought that? And what a great effort it was from the five of you marking that new lad, Smith. Or was it 6 of you? My but he's a big lad. Must be all of 8 foot 6! There was nothing anybody could have done to intercept that imperious leap of his. In any case, he looked a couple of yards offside to me. Come on Richie - get that Rioja open!" I have a suspicion that Terry's post match analysis might have gone somewhat differently. I will continue to support ICT by giving praise where praise is due and objective (and hopefully constructive) criticsm where it is not.

ESSON 7/10 - Thought that was a bit more like the aggresive, eager Ryan of yore. RAVEN 6/10 - His confidence is clearly fragile and I suspect the he was told to get rid as soon as possible but he more than held hisl own against two lively wingers - and Grandpa Broon had clearly targeted him. He even really got forward in the second half. But my gawd has be been "proctorised" as every minor error that he makes is jumped upon - and there were a few others who were not ostracised for even more dismeanours. MEEKINGS 6/10 - Full of commitment and enthusiasm but it really needs to be harnessed. He could/should have seen a red at Well and again yesterday. He is surely just a stand in at centre back as I do not feel that he has the requisites to play there and needs to concentrate on being a full back. WARREN 8/10 - I am really taking to this guy. He has equal endearing qualities to Meekings but he is far more composed and thoughtful AND disciplined. Keeping this lad fit may actually be the key to our season - I will even go as far as stating that he has more potential than Munro and Tokely ever had, My MOM. BLACKMAN 8/10 - Simply the best Blackman we have ever fielded at left back. He simply has the pace to recover and covers the back four line like a traditional left back did - better than Mispass at least. Reckon he will be even better when he haste chance to be more offensive. Hope that he is fit fer next week as he toiled in the last quarter. DORAN. 6/10 - Is he frustrating or feckin wot - reckon he had too much feckin pasta in midweek and left his shooting boots at the Vatican. If only he could find consistency. Will have to wait fer the highlights but I felt that he had lost control of the ball and had scarfed it but he was deffo clipped in the execution and the ref clearly avoided a third red card scenario. OTJ 4/10 if he didn't gob off - feck all if he did - said it all on another thread. DRAPER 8/10 - Now this is the type of player who was born to play in the SPL !! G.SHINNIE 6/10 - Got a fair deal of stick yesterday but it is difficult to move positions BUT he did interchange well with Blackman and that be one muvverfecker of a combination in a few games time. FORAN 8/10 - Captain Marvel and looking after his boys like a true Mrs Brown. Will have to start off a he's here, he,s there, he's every feckin where chant soon. A.SHINNIE 5/10 - Sorry but his body language says it all. I suspect that he doesn't like how he is being played and/or where heis being played. I simply feel that he has to be given a more influential role. I can also detect some real tension between him and Butcher and fear that he will be the next casualty of war. Most of the rest is covered in a variety of positive but clear posts but here are my criticisms !! OTJ should not have been started and we have to give the playmaker role to Andy Shinnie - We should have utilised Pepper sooner when they were there foR the taking - Shane looked really strong in the middle and got us the goal with his pace and strength -so why ship him out wide left ?? And that is really that APART from the one aspect that totally pushed me off - in the last 10-15 minutes Aberdire totally looked as I If they wanted the points more and we played for a point - that is a big difference and shows that we need to get the no win monkey off our backs ASAP.

O would some power the giftie gie us......

It was "your not famous anymore" When people avoid the singing section because they want peace how are w supposed to make any noise? There are rows and rows of empty seats in section e and they arnt getting filled, I just hope it's full for the c*unty game.

The only singing I heard from our end yesterday was a brief rendition of "you're not singing anymore" immediately after we took the lead. I couldn't help but have a wee smile to myself about the irony of that. On the plus side it was great to be surrounded by folk who, whilst not singing, were actually shouting encouragement and were clapping anything remotely deserving of applause. No moaning minnies around me today - perhaps they didn't bother turning up which was why the crowd was so poor. If so, it was all the more enjoyable for their absence.

I don't make most games due to work commitments but made todays game and i no longer enjoy the experience. Used to kick every ball with them but no longer feel that way about the whole thing.

The thing about the Doran "penalty" is that the ball should have been in the back of the net before the defender got anywhere near him. However, the decision was inconsistent. If the defender got the ball first and not the man then it should have been a corner and not a goal kick.

Hayes - how many games did he have for us when he was totally anonymous? Glad he repeated that trick today. Agree with everyone else that the 1st half was scrappy in the extreme, but the 2nd made up for it. Blackman had a really promising debut, and I don't think that Raven was as bad as some on here insist - his distribution was generally good, and he was pacy enough to keep up with Hayes. OTJ's tackle didn't look like a straight red (on first viewing anyway) He was late, but it didn't look malicious. I think that was why Raven & Foran both went for the boy Fraser, the old revenge thing. Still we could have ended up with nine on the park after Richie's tackle and it's a relief that we didn't. Penalty was correct, but if was a penalty so was the one where Doran was taken out as he was about to shoot. However, we are never going to get two penalties in one game in the SPL. The goal we lost looked as if the defence had gone to sleep, it should never have happened. Still, it's a point and I would have taken that if offered before the game.

Should we just start every game with ten men? It seems like we play better after we have a man sent off... I'd have taken a draw at half-time, and bitten your hand off if you'd offered it to me after Jones was sent off. Amazingly, I ended up feeling disappointed that we hadn't won. The first half might have been the most banal 45 minutes ever. The fans might as well have been sunbathing. Nothing actually happened on the pitch. The second half more than made up for it. My first instinct was that Jones should have seen yellow rather than red - but he leapt in, his leg was off the deck and it was reckless. The ref was well positioned to make the call. I felt sorry for Ryan Fraser, who was the victim of two rather bad tackles from Raven and Foran as well, and looked like he could barely walk by the time he was substituted. The other sending off, on the other hand, was a no brainer. Sutherland got through, and showed real presence of mind to cut across Anderson, meaning that the defender couldn't win the ball without bringing him down...and Anderson fell for it. If only we hadn't @rsed up that four-on-one break - how on earth did Doran squander that? - we would have taken all three points. Unfortunately, a pretty good defensive performance was ruined by a collective loss of concentration when Aberdeen took a quick free kick, and Cammy Smith was unmarked to head home from six yards out. Still, at least we're off the bottom. Some very good performances today. I thought Ross Draper was immense in midfield. Blackman slotted in well at left back, and until the goal I thought Warren and Meekings were solid. Foran had a rank first half but, after dropping into midfield when we went down to ten men, he was a changed man and must have covered every blade of grass in the second half. Sutherland had his best performance for aeons after he came on - it was gutting to see him stretchered off at the death. It wasn't really a day for either Doran or Andy Shinnie, who couldn't get on the ball enough to make an impact. I'll cut Ryan Esson some slack because of the wind, but he flapped at a lot of crosses. And I'm sorry, but David Raven was terrible yet again. As soon as Hogg, King, Cooper and Brislen-Hall are fully fit, I don't think he'll be anywhere near the team. And as for the manager - he is lucky the fourth official was in sympathetic mood, considering some of the abuse Butcher was giving the ref - turning around to the crowd and screaming "He's the worst referee I've ever seen" is usually enough to get you sent to the stands. It's the first case I've ever seen of a middle-aged man developing an acute case of Tourette's. At least this is a bit more positive than my last few after-match posts! Still think it's going to be a struggle against the drop, but I wonder whether the Dons might be one of the teams we're fighting with...

Ross County are riding high, on their best run of form in their history. They are unbeaten in 40 odd league matches, are in the top half of the SPL and, most likely, have the best side in their history. What are their fans talking about on their forum? How many tables ICT have sold for hospitality for a game not involving Ross County. Dear oh dear.

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