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Having read the various comments etc - I thought I'd stick my neck out -LAUDERS will be proud to host as many Caley fans as possible both before, during & after the match! We will be showing the game on all screens in ENGLISH (no dodgy arabic commentaries here) Pints are as little as £2 for Carlsberg, large drams (whisky, vodka, bacardi & gin) only £2.55 each and 2 meals for as little as 8 quid (til 5pm)! I feel i need to ask one question though.... Why is it week in, week out .. I am sold Lottery tickets for every football team in this part of the Highlands (including County!) Yet i have never been offered one for ICT! Why is that? Surely the team needs the money? Dont we want to see better players coming here and attracting bigger crowds? Along with many other local businesses i would be delighted to see more activity where we can help put more cash in OUR local teams coffers! WE SUPPORT ICT = ICT WILL SUPPORT OUR BUSINESSES!

Laurence, I've read some sh*te on this forum in my time, but consider the biscuit taken. Lordy.

Think you have been watching a can of beans, or you are trying to wind people up, or both...........Roberts was impressive by our standards, get your specs changed. The names Caley, at least try and get the name of the team that you claim to support right, or more correctly, Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Caley Thistle will do.

No matter how poor he is, I'm sure Terry is going to say he had a great game.

It was David Winters, although obviously as a pillar of the community I would never shout something like that.

Fair comment. I accept it could go either way. It might actually be a positive encounter, but if the game has had contentious decisions then equally it could be a flashpoint. I do however feel managers have a right to ask for explanations of decisions and the refs should not be allowed to hide behind the option of saying nothing and issuing a card in the refs room, or (if memory serves me right) I remember one manager - but cant recall who - being interviewed on Sportsound last season and when asked about a decision he stated that he would like to ask the ref but he had locked himself away and wouldnt come out ! Another fair comment, but from a fan point of view, I would prefer to see things being transparent and if that includes a ref admitting they made a mistake from time to time i would see that as refreshing. I did enjoy the whistleblower site during its short existence as it showed some refs as being big enough men to admit to making errors ... maybe a little humility from some refs might go a long way. hindsight is a wonderful thing and even if scores cant be reversed or goals chalked off some things can be rectified after the fact (like bookings), and a ref doing it where they thought they may have got it wrong in the heat of the moment or from their angle, which saves clubs the £1000 appeal fee might mend some fences and lead to a better relationship... you then build on that in a collaborative manner and try to improve things for all. It doesnt have to be 'them and us', everyone has a stake in repairing the game and its image.

Quick question for you - are any of you current or past referees, or (heaven help me for even suggesting this) personally know or be related to one? I am just curious, as no-one here (or on other boards) seems to speak much about the definitive referee oversight mechanism or how it works. And it not only applies to the highest grades, it applies to all SFA qualified referees regardless of the level they choose to officiate at. From the commentary on this and other threads where this is discussed, many seem to think there is no background activity regulating the performance of the referee and that they are the ultimate authority, which although correct in terms of the Laws of the Game and the actual match itself at the time it is played, is not the case in the wider scheme. Referees at the top level will always have an observer present, who is responsible for making a report on their performance and where there is cause for concern, this will be dealt with via internal means. They have to meet minimum performance standards on a consistent basis over an average of matches played. Those who are persistently below par will be quietly replaced. Problem with this can be two-fold - 1) there needs to be games that they are poor in before this can trigger the process and 2) who are the thrusting young up-and-comers pushing to take their place? If there is no one stepping up to be counted, you are left with what there is and if that is not good enough, then who can we really blame for that? People are put off being a ref because really, who apart from a masochist or the mentally challenged would want to do it nowadays? So the problem will never resolve itself. There also has to be an understanding here as to why the authorities are so protective of the concept of the referee as the arbiter of the game - just look at the way nearly every decision is challenged by players, often in an aggressive and confrontational manner. If the status of the referee were to be even slightly diminished, this would only get worse and it would lead to even worse performances at times as refs second-guess themselves or allow bias to creep in just in an effort to keep the aggro level down. It should not be allowed to happen and it may go some way to explain why the SFA seems to have such an entrenched position on the matter. Never underestimate the influence of FIFA in these things as well. Certainly there are times that I, as an ex-referee, will watch a game and see a poor performance that sometimes I just shake my head at. But while a player or two can be below par on the day they can hide more easily - the ref cannot. Their faults and foibles will be there in the limelight for all to see. Talk about pressure. But there are just as many times when I listen to or read comments from fans who make comments on performances that are simply unfair and at times totally unrealistic. What I find strange is that the SFA does not do more to explain about the observer process, but it could be much to do with the points I have made above. I realise this may not be a popular post, and I am not defending referees just because I used to be one, but I hope you will appreciate that I am giving an honest view from what may be seen as "the other side". Only by understanding how it works can we decide if it really is failing and from there work together as lovers of the Game to make it better. Constant dripping about how cr4p it is and how standards are falling is not fixing it, just making it worse.

You can follow procedures and make a complaint to the SFA through the referee supervisor instead of through the press. And the end result? The SFA will side with the referees 99.999999% of the time, even if they think they are wrong. There seems to be something 'sacred' about referees and their reports. They are seldom held accountable for errors, and if proved to be incompetent - usually based on numerous media reports rather than the referee supervisors - are quietly dropped from the top tier or given lower league games. I know reffing is a hard job, and they are forced to make split second decisions without the benefit of TV replays, and from an angle of view that may be worse than most of the people watching from the sidelines so it is inevitable that they will make mistakes .... but I would just like to see them admit to an 'honest' mistake from time to time which would be much more palatable than their governing body always putting them on a pedestal as bastions of neutrality who never get things wrong. Given that their fees are now so high, I would also like to see them actually sit down with the two managers at the end of a game and have a full and frank discussion behind closed doors about any decisions where either manager wants clarification without the spectre of the manager being red carded in the referee's room. As it stands, the managers cant really speak freely as the ref can issue a card right up until they leave the stadium !!! As I mentioned before, I have experience of this as part of the IDAFA exec, and a member of our disciplinary committee, (as well as being mentioned in referee reports a couple of times!) I can think of more than one occasion where we had a referee's report one one hand, and the 'offending' player's account on the other both of which were completely different. One at least two occasions I can recall independent (or opposition) witnesses backing up the player's account rather than the referee's, and on one of those occasions it was a fellow committee member who sided with the player as he had been watching this game from the sideline, but on every occasion, we had to take the referee report as 'gospel' and sanction the player based on the recommended minimum punishments under SAFA guidelines, which are of course trickled down from the SFA .... One one occasion where we did not do that, and dismissed the case based on eyewitness reports, the decision was returned to us by the SAFA and we were told to find in the other direction and apply the 'recommended' sanction ....... (never quite got my head round how 'recommended' actually morphed into mandatory punishment, but thats another story).

Dont know if this has been brought up but easysearch.org.uk and easyfundraising.org.uk is very good i know a few local schools and clubs close to me that have used them to raise money and have rasied a fairly substantial amount of money. You can raise money by seaching the internet with easysearch (I admit its hard to make that switch from google) and shopping through hundreds of online retailers including Amazon, ebay e.t.c. and the organisation in question recieves a percentage of the purchase price. We wouldnt be able to raise money for the club directly (id imagine) but the supporters trust/supporters club would be prime candidates. (as an organisation)

incompetence or what?

Here's a list of all the derby games since 1994. I've bolded the ones I have attended 2009/2010 Scottish Division 1 Tu 30Mar 2010 Inverness CT 3 - 0 Ross County Scottish Division 1 Sa 20Mar 2010 Ross County 0 - 0 Inverness CT Scottish Division 1 Sa 07Nov 2009 Ross County 2 - 1 Inverness CT Scottish League C Cup Su 04Oct 2009 Inverness CT 1 - 0 Ross County Scottish Division 1 Sa 29Aug 2009 Inverness CT 1 - 3 Ross County 2004/2005 Scottish League Cup Tu 24Aug 2004 Ross County 0 - 1 Inverness CT 2003/2004 Scottish Division 1 Sa 27Mar 2004 Inverness CT 1 - 0 Ross County Scottish Division 1 Sa 03Jan 2004 Ross County 1 - 0 Inverness CT Scottish Division 1 Fr 14Nov 2003 Inverness CT 3 - 3 Ross County Scottish Division 1 Sa 30Aug 2003 Ross County 1 - 1 Inverness CT Scottish League C Cup Tu 26Aug 2003 Inverness CT 1 - 0 Ross County 2002/2003 Scottish Division 1 Sa 08Mar 2003 Ross County 0 - 2 Inverness CT Scottish Division 1 Tu 25Feb 2003 Inverness CT 1 - 5 Ross County Scottish Division 1 Sa 09Nov 2002 Ross County 0 - 2 Inverness CT Scottish Division 1 Sa 24Aug 2002 Inverness CT 2 - 0 Ross County 2001/2002 Scottish Division 1 Sa 23Mar 2002 Inverness CT 1 - 1 Ross County Scottish Division 1 Tu 19Mar 2002 Ross County 0 - 0 Inverness CT Scottish Division 1 Sa 17Nov 2001 Inverness CT 3 - 0 Ross County Scottish Division 1 Sa 15Sep 2001 Ross County 2 - 1 Inverness CT 2000/2001 Scottish Division 1 Sa 31Mar 2001 Ross County 0 - 1 Inverness CT Scottish Division 1 Tu 02Jan 2001 Inverness CT 3 - 3 Ross County Scottish Division 1 Sa 18Nov 2000 Ross County 0 - 3 Inverness CT Scottish Division 1 Sa 16Sep 2000 Inverness CT 0 - 1 Ross County 1996/1997 Scottish Division 3 Sa 15Mar 1997 Inverness CT 3 - 0 Ross County Scottish Division 3 We 12Feb 1997 Ross County 0 - 3 Inverness CT Scottish Division 3 Sa 16Nov 1996 Inverness CT 2 - 0 Ross County Scottish Division 3 Sa 28Sep 1996 Ross County 1 - 3 Inverness CT 1995/1996 Scottish Division 3 Sa 16Mar 1996 Ross County 2 - 1 Inverness CT Scottish Division 3 Tu 23Jan 1996 Inverness CT 1 - 1 Ross County Scottish Division 3 Sa 18Nov 1995 Ross County 2 - 0 Inverness CT Scottish Division 3 Sa 30Sep 1995 Inverness CT 1 - 1 Ross County 1994/1995 Scottish Division 3 Sa 06May 1995 Inverness CT 3 - 0 Ross County Scottish Division 3 Mo 02Jan 1995 Ross County 3 - 1 Inverness CT Scottish Division 3 Sa 29Oct 1994 Inverness CT 0 - 0 Ross County Scottish Division 3 Sa 27Aug 1994 Ross County 1 - 3 Inverness CT My first was a pishy 0-0 draw at Telford Street. I think someone missed a penalty but I can't quite recall. I was 13 years old. The derbies in the first three seasons were tremendous, great characters and rivalries from the Highland League and usually a couple of red cards in every game. I remember the 1-1 draw in January 96, three red cards in a couple of minutes. My favourite from that period was probably the 3-1 win in our title winning season, Stewarty scored early on and then we were battered for an hour, with County completely dominating. Derek Adams equalised and everyone thought it was a repeat of the previous season, where we hadn't won a league derby. Then, amid the celebrations, a beautiful ball was slipped through and Iain Stewart pulled off the most outrageous chip of a keeper that you've ever seen. The ball must've been in the air for at least a minute. Brian Thomson rounded off the win with a late goal.

I think that game single handedly dispels this nonsense of how this team can't and should not attempt to play attacking football. The breaks forward and surges into the box on Saturday looked dangerous on every occasion, and on another day it could well have been more than four. Using last seasons tactics, we'd have seen players like Roberts, Andrew Shinnie, Morrison and Doran rendered useless, but by keeping the ball on the deck, it evidently makes them forces to be reckoned with on the field and even when the ball was played high, there seemed to be a lot more direction and intent in them than before. There was very little of the old "hit and hope" mentality of last season. Many of us have been calling for the binning of the long ball game for a long time and have evidently been proven right. Friday will be a test against a real long ball side, but by playing the way they did on Saturday and taking the game to County, there'll be a few tears before bedtime in Dingwall that night.

Yes I know what you're saying 12th man, but the point I'm making is that, whatever the club and its location, I would like to think that for home matches its fans' first priority would be to support their football club directly by patronising its Social Club before other pubs. A Social Club also enhances corporate football club identity. But of course there will be far more pre match drinkers on a big occasion than any Social Club could accommodate and in that respect your suggestion is more than sensible. Other than that, I am not even going to respond to Dougal's latest offering which is as delusional as it is predictable.

Unfortunately it's just another example of how this City fails to support ICT. I still remember when the landlords and restaurant owners etc were crying to the papers the year we got relegated about how it would reduce their income...yet they do nowt to help the club..and in turn themselves.

Very apt for our friends OTB

The nicest story I ever heard about letting officialdom know of your displeasure relates to the great Yorkshire and England fast bowler Fred Truman. A forthright character and full of agression he was an intimidating figure. The story goes that one day he was bowling at his firey best on a helpful wicket when he got one to skip through low and hit the batsmen on the pad - plumb LBW. Truman turned to the umpire and gave him his usual loud, aggressive appeal. The umpire was unmoved and just slowly shook his head. Truman walked back to his mark giving the umpire a hard glare but says nothing. Fired up by the injustice he sends the next ball down short and fast. The batsman tries to fend the rising ball away but gets an edge which the keeper catches. Truman wheels round and appeals louder than ever, staring at the umpire. Again the umpire is unmoved and shakes his head. Again Truman glares at the umpire on his silent walk past. The next ball is faster still and the batsmen is completely beaten by the pace. The ball hits the wicket; the bails fly over the wicketkeeper's head and the middle stump is ripped out of the ground and goes cartwheeling over the grass. Truman turns and trudges back slowly, looking down at the pitch and shaking his head. As he passes the umpire he says "Nearly got t'bugger that time!" If Terry thinks referees make poor decisions then he is right to express his opinion. He just needs to be more careful as to the where and how he expresses those views.

As has been said this is a long time in coming. Whether refs are to blame or not it became a consistent habit that it ALWAYS seem to be their fault and sadly that is not always the case and that kind of attitude will feed onto the players and build up this "everyones out to get us" attitude. While it might be a good motivator sometimes it is no excuse for recklessness on the pitch. Hopefully Butcher will take this ban on the chin and start concentrating on where his own team should be improving.

Many people on here won't agree with me but this is long overdue and is maybe what is needed to reign Butcher in a little bit and make him concentrate more on the important stuff that he can influence rather than referees and their decisions which ultimately he cannot. IMO he is losing focus of the problems that we face and also the good parts about our team and rather than spend his time discussing this in interviews he berates and blasts referees all the time. For months now and including the end of last season the most consistent part of his post match interviews are his rants and raves about the referees and their performances and it's all a little embarressing now, yes it may be good entertainment and gives people and the press something to talk about but it's all negative and it's about time it was nipped in the bud as it is totally deconstructive. When has anyone other than Rangers, Celtic or Alex Ferguson been able to influence a referee?

Maby Butcher should try the Pa Broon approach praising the ref after the game it seemed to work in Andersons favour!

Its stupid .... referees are one of the most inconsistent parts of our game ... not just in Scotland, yet the football authorities treat them like they are beyond reproach. Like players, refs can have a bad day at the office too and (all) managers should be free to criticise. If the criticism is too harsh or slips into libel/slander, then refs have the same protection from defamation that we do ! Whatever happened to that referee feedback site (whistleblower?) where they were allowed to respond to criticism ? That was actually a good idea. It was the same in the amateur leagues as well, maybe even more harsh .... basically, if a referee report says one thing, and players and even independent witnesses say something completely different (as happened when I was on the disciplinary panel for the Inverness league), then we, as that panel were forced to accept the referee report as the truth by the SAFA (who get their rules from SFA). I even got a touchline ban for a month from the same committee I was a part of when I had the audacity to question a referee's eyesight and remonstrated with him on the sidelines ... getting 'sent to the stands' in the open fields of the the Bught Park is quite entertaining ... i just walked away from my team officials to another part of the park and continued shouting encouragement to the team as a member of the public on public land.The ref was livid

What ?