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The reason crowds are down is because of football on TV, its a global phenomenon of the past 12-15 years. Theres clubs in the far east who struggle because of the EPL ffs. All clubs in the UK suffer from it no matter what their size, there's clubs in the English Prem itself who play in towns and cities where the local fans are outnumbered by fans of the top clubs. In years to come even the Old Firm will suffer because of it, eventually the remote fans of the Old Firm in Scotland will soon be following Arsenal, United, Liverpool etc from the sofa. Satellite TV, the internet, more people being nomadic for work or education; these things have all contributed to people having no identity with the towns or communities they grew up in. A Liverpool fan in Inverness will use a Liverpool FC message board much like this one we use for our club, they will interact with other fans from all over the world. They will watch every game on TV or online, they will feel a stronger connection to that club and those people than any of the local "sh1te" as they'd call it. Lots of us might not call them real football fans, not just because they dont goto many games (if any) but because of the popstar like worship of the millionaires swanning about the park that couldn't give a **** how many people are watching. The fans of these clubs will simply dismiss us lot out of hand, they laugh at us for supporting a team that cant even afford a one million pound player. I've no idea what its like in Scotland now but there used to be a blanket coverage of the Old Firm in the printed national press, every pointless story or photo was talked about, the fans all over Scotland would lap it up. As the printed press thankfully dies a death, you'll find more and more taking their hit of football chat from the internet, where there are no borders and there's a real time feed of all the latest soap-operas each top EPL club churns out. Having said all that, I'm all for people broadening their horizons, even if its just virtually. We shouldn't kid ourselves with talk of reduced ticket prices, access or whatever, theres not a thing we could ever do to make it more appealing or cheaper to watch ICT than it is to watch the best clubs in the world while sat by the fireplace or from a bar stool.

True, sadly. Towns and villages up here are filling up with people who want 'qualily of life' but have no real connection with the place. In my wee village it's the same stalwarts that are always there at whatever happens to be going on and I don't see it's a lot different at the TCS (but I think I'll exclude Butcher from that category). I've lost count of how many 'mates' I've tried (and failed) to get to come to the game this afternoon and you wouldn't believe the blank looks I've got when I showed some of them Derek Adams Team Talk. Well actually you probably would. Most of them (even more sadly) have no conception of football's part in making Saturday (or Boxing Day) what it is. The whole thing about a football game being an occasion is completely lost on them. For the few 'occasionals' who do decide to come today, I desperately hope that the boys put on a show and give Midden a doing, and there's more of the same atmosphere in the North Stand that there was against Dundee. Nothing to do with this post, but I remember supporting Huddersfield Town as a kid and some of my best ever memories were from the terracing at Leeds Road (terracing - note). As 13 year olds we used to get the Subbuteo out, tear up bits of newspaper and recreate the Town V Luton game in the snow with an orange ball in front of 2,000 fans when Dennis Clarke tried a back pass and it stuck in the snow allowing Luton to score and go on to win 2-1. Happy days. For me, Christmas Day 2012 was something to have get out of the way before the real highlight. If I had my way, any males seen out at the Boxing Day sales this afternoon should be named and shamed in Friday's Courier.

I would if I knew how, but I'm not sure its possible with this as I don't have possession of the file. Its created on a website where you just enter your own subtitles and they host the resultant video. Here it is on You Tube! http://youtu.be/cuqEd1Dfuy0

Crowds are dropping all over the UK and Europe and it's pretty obvious to me that the problem is money, not just the cost of the match ticket but the travel and everything else that goes with it. Since things started to bite I haven't been able to make it up to a game for 3 or 4 years now. I imagine there's many like me who'd love to be there every week, whether the team are winning and 2nd in the league or not, but it ain't gonna happen in the current climate. So if we make it to a Hampden final this year and I can make it up the road for just that match, please don't slag me off, or any others in a similar position, as floaters or glory-hunters. Just be happy that there are more there that week to swell the numbers and the coffers of the club, and be grateful if you are in the fortunate position of being able to get to a game every week.

Smashing game of football today. Disappointed that we dropped two points but by the end of the game a draw was definitely a fair result. Both teams played some great stuff and there was some fantastic performances from the likes of Andrew Shinnie for Inverness and Teale for St Mirren who turned Graeme Shinnie inside, out and inside again throughout the game. ICT lined up with the familiar 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 formation with Matthew Cooper coming in for Josh Meekings. St. Mirren looked like they were set up as a 4 - 5 - 1 with Steven Thompson the lone forward with support from McGowan in behind him. After what seemed to be only a few seconds Imrie got the ball on the ICT and moved towards goal before taking an opportunistic shot that seemed to catch Reguero off guard and found its way into the net to put the Buddies one up. After this goal ICT started to dominate in terms of ball retention without actually threatening Samson in goal. Saint Mirren defended deeply and were easily blocking the ICT route to goal. Tudur Jones, after long range efforts against Hearts and Dundee, found himself with a bit of space at the edge of the box and rifled in a shot which drifted wide of goal. Foran then had a header saved by Samson before McGowan thundered in a free kick which cracked off the cross bar with Reguero beaten. Andrew Shinnie was denied a shot at goal following a last ditch tackle by Mair I think it was and then Samson then pulled off a wonderful save down to his right as he pushed a header from Aaron Doran round the post. Andrew Shinnie grabbed the equaliser for ICT after he gathered the ball on the ICT left and drifted infield. He glided past two men just outside the area and struck his shot fiercely into the top right corner with Samson only able to watch the ball fly past him. Gary Teale was having a fantastic battle with Graeme Shinnie on the ICT left and was regularly beating his marker and it was from one of his crosses that Steven Thompson was picked out but hew fired high over the bar with a very uncomposed effort. McKay, going for a goal in his 8th consecutive game, connected well with a cross from the right but his volleyed effort was just wide of the goal. St. Mirren started the second half quickly and Imrie scurried to the byline before fizzing a cross all the way across the box but no one was on hand to tap it in. After that ICT started to turn the screw and passed up a great chance after some good work from Andrew Shinnie led to a half chance to McKay who opted to shoot instead of play in Foran who had a clear run at goal. McKays shot was weak and trundled wide of goal. Thompson headed St. Mirren back into the lead after more good work from Teale on the right and his cross was bulleted home by Thompson from around 8 yards out. By this point the game had swung back and St. Mirren were dominating proceedings as ICT struggled to get a foothold and resorted to some aimless punts forward as they abandoned some of the nice passing play that had been on show from both ICT and St. Mirren. Foran saw a header droft over the bar and Andrew Shinnie volleyed goalwards but Samson dealt well with his effort. However an equaliser soon came and it was the result of St. Mirren being unable to clear the lines from an ICT corner. Aaron Doran meet a high clearance and volleyed an effort back towards goal. Samson was only able to parry the shot and Foran was first to react and bundled his header into the goal. Suddenly ICT were on top again as the fantastic Andrew Shinnie was thwarted by a one handed Samson save after he had drifted through the St. Mirren defence and Doran also passed up a good chance with a very weak effort that trundled wide. However, going into the final few minutes of the game it was St. Mirren who suddenly looked like they could grab a winner as Lewis Guy met a wonderful cross and cracked an effort off the post with Reguero stranded. Two goals were ruled out for offside for St Mirren and St Mirren also had a penalty claim waved away as Carey (I think) was booked for diving. Quite an incredible match with plenty of chances for both sides. It was great to see two teams, for the most part, try and play some good passing football. St. Mirren were more defensive for most of the game but when they stifled an Inverness attack the strode forward from the back with some great passing and movement which carved open the ICT defence on several occasions. Teale and McGowan had good games and Matthew Cooper struggled against Thompson who gave him all sorts of problems. For ICT Andrew Shinnie was fantastic. His close control and dribbling were top class and he was at the centre of most of our attacks. He came in for some rough treatment from some of the St. Mirren players who found him hard to stop. Crowd announced as 3,506 with around 150 - 200 St. Mirren fans. I didn't realise that there were no trains running today so fair play to those fans that did travel today. Bit poor from the ICT support again but I thought there was a bit more than was announced. There's been some discussion on Collums performance and I have to say I thought he was absolutely rotten. My favourite decision today that he got wrong was when Draper was "tackled" from behind by a St Mirren player who didn't play the ball and caught Drapers leg. For some inexplicable reason Collum gave a free kick to St. Mirren. A very poor performance.

For the third home match in a row the gents toilets in the Main Stand North end h ad no hand towel paper in the dispensers at 2.45pm! That is very poor and reflects the sloppy attitude towards fans. The last two homes games had no bookies in place, this is probably some kind of contractural issue but a notice to fans advising when this well used facility is to be restored would seem a simple thing to do. As far as I know no attendance was announced today and no man of the match. Yet another sloppy, couldn't care about the fans attitude. Each of the above may help fans experience. On another post recently I suggested letting all season ticket holders of other clubs in the SPL or SFA 3 divisions into our games for half price. Even if we managed to get 100 County fans in at £10 then that would have added a grand to the income. Exceptions would be made for games against Celtic for example.

There seemed to be some protective force field around Samsons 6 yard box in the 2nd half, it was only when Foran stuck his head thru it to get his head to the ball for the equaliser was it breached ! Again another game well worth going to see & a good game to introduce new young blood in Cooper who came on to his game & did very well

Have to agree with everything said so far. St Mirren were a joy to watch, as were we. Yes, we had some interesting moments at the back, but that was more through St Mirren's guts, effort and imagination than any great failing on our part. I suppose we could have tried to do something to shore up the left side of defence but hey, what the heck. You've got to give credit to Saints for coming up and having a go despite their (false) league position. Can't understand why they didn't give Celtic more of a game the other week. Even midway through the first half I was thinking to myself that a point might not be a bad result. It would have been a travesty if either team had got nothing. No doubt that Cooper was caught in the headlights a bit early on - looked nervous in posession but grew in to the game. A Shinnie - well what else can you say. Immense throughout, and OTJ looked as if he was going to cause mischief every time he got the ball. Doran kept threatening to do something inspirational but didn't quite get there. I can see the time coming where he completely rips someone apart. If this doesn't bring the crowds in, nothing will. Robertson was saying on BBC Scotland that he couldn't think how they were going to fit all the highlights in to the 5-or-whatever minutes on Scotsport tomorrow night. Bring on Saturday.

A good, open game of football. Carbon copy of when we played them on the opening day...minus the injury time equalizer. Both teams had some great moments. Woodwork smacked, Gloves tested and both will feel they could have won the game. St Mirren looked excellent. In the likes of McGowan and McLean they have some real industry as well as pace and given the way they looked today i wouldnt be surprised to see them climb the table soon enough. They also have Samson in goals who despite his flapping for Foran's goal looks a decent keeper. In ourselves however we had the likes of Andy Shinnie, Billy McKay and Foran all putting in their usual shift up top. Thought OTJ was colossal in midfield today as well. Worked his socks off and was unlucky not to bag another goal for himself. Cooper gave a solid display as well. Not an easy game for a young lad to jump straight into but he made some good tackles and held his own throughout the 90 minutes. Given we fell behind twice i was happy with a point but we created enough chances to win the game, so too did St Mirren so point is definitely fair and at the end of the day no ground is really lost and our good form remains intact. Only thing that disappointed me about today was Willie Collum. Thought his performance today was dreadful. Some blatant fouls were missed as well as some dirty tackles that went unpunished.

Brilliant game, best of the season for me. Would've been harsh on either side to lose. Both teams looked dangerous going forward and it could easily have ended up 5-5. We certainly had more of the chances, but poor finishing combined with some outstanding saves from Samson kept us at bay. In saying that they could've scored a couple in the space of 2 minutes at the end! A.Shinnie was absolutely immense, really driving forward at pace all game and his goal was a cracker. Unfortunately I've noticed several times this season how his brother, as good as he is going forward, tends to lose his man defensively all to often. Teams seem to be targeting him now as there always seems to be acres of space on his side of the defence. Agree that the young lad Cooper looked a bit lost at the start but he grew into the game as it went on. Not too disappointed at dropping points as it really was end to end stuff all game. That's still only 3 defeats all season and hopefully we'll be back to winning ways in the next two games.

A cracking game for the neutral. Heart attack-inducing stuff for the supporters. Both teams seemed to just give up on the idea of defending, and the last 15 minutes saw each team taking a turn to attack the other. Whilst we had our share of chances, St. Mirren had two goals disallowed for offside and hit the bar and post late on. On the other hand, Craig Samson made some ridiculous saves at the other end, particularly one from a Doran header in the first half. Andrew Shinnie was absolutely awesome today, constantly finding space and driving forward. His goal was the latest in a line of very good goals we've scored at TCS this season, and might even be the best. I thought Draper had a really good game today too. The front players, as ever, looked very dangerous today. At the back, young Cooper looked a bit shellshocked at times. In the first half McGowan was beating him to every loose ball. The youngster got better in the second half and there's no doubt Warren was guiding him through the game. Not for the first time this season, Graeme Shinnie struggled when left isolated against a winger - Gary Teale appeared to be beating him at will. I don't know what was going on for their second goal - Teale given too much time and space to cross, and Stephen Thompson given the freedom of the six yard box to head home. We might not have got the three points, but it's still thrill-a-minute stuff so no arguments from me.

two offside goals for St.Mirren - phew

1-2 s Thomson ouch

Probably Renegade, twice a season two of the former 3 clubs would play each other and you'd have 500 folk there. As I said earlier, I'm sure that if any of the clubs went it alone, they'd be where ICT are now, purely because the vast majority of football fans in Inverness never really supported any of the former clubs despite the fantasists claims based on big cup matches. The 3,000 or so fans we have would be attending games regardless of which club it was. If Clach were the big team in the early 90's, thousands would've turned out to see them in the Scottish Cup against the likes of St Johnstone. Most football fans in Inverness back then had a big team and no real local team, if the alleged fans of Caledonian FC really existed, why did only a couple of hundred vote to save the club from death? That's the hardest question for the brave few in fantasy land to answer, its a question thats usually ignored.

Thanks TinRoofMan. Just watched it again. Still outstanding!

Will there be a singing section for this match?

Bus from bus station at about 2pm

Wrong thread! Are you a staggie in disguise? Merger is past history in case you didn't know!

According to Sky Sports app it's 3pm? Surely it wud have been announced prior to today if it had changed. *shrugs*

Its a cut and paste from a legal eagle site. Currently under the FIFA Transfer Regulations a football player is unable to play for more than three teams in one season. This applies whether the player has been transferred or simply is on loan with that club. This also applies regardless of what country that player has plied his trade in, whether that is in Europe, Africa or South America. As long as a player has represented a club in a league under the adjudication of a FIFA Member Association they will only be able to play for three different clubs. However, this does mean that a football player is free to represent a total of three different clubs in any league in the world over the course of one season. As can be seen the rule is three teams in a season so Russell could play a game or three then join another club. That would make more sense....allowing for a move during each window.

ICT will take 1000 max IMO.

We cant get 4000 home fans to a league game at home. What chance of that many travelling to ER.