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I say thanks to our vocal support! I really believe our 'vocal' fans have come of age this season. All the derby home games were terrific. The derby away games were phenomenal, and yesterday was off the richter scale! I stayed behind with about 200 others for 40mins yesterday, the noise and passion was unreal! But the atmosphere at other home games has been improving also, if not quite at the same level. I absolutely love the european 'ultra' songs that have become popular in recent weeks. I do believe these new, catchy and arguably easier to learn songs have helped the noise increase. In the P&J today,ICT fan David MacIver said "its great to hear so many youngsters singing for Inverness, the merger seems so far away now". Yesterday in the singing section I was one of the oldest there at 24 yrs old. I don't remember the pre-merger days at all. I'm starting to believe the further we get away from the merger, and as the 'new' generation of Invernessian fans get older, our problems with not having a passionate, loyal and vocal support will be a thing of the past!

Highlights of our marvelous season

Just as it says on the tin...................Thank You. I have just witnessed a season that has given me pleasure and hope and I want to say thank you. Despite what some threads and posts seem to suggest, we have just seen the most successful season in our short but eventful history and even though finances were very tight the management team put together a side I was proud to support.... Thank you! The players have grouped and bonded like no other squad we have seen and have given their all for the cause........... Thank you! The Board have run the club in a sensible way and have listened to the fans despite, at times, causing financial detriment to the club.........Thank you! To the general public of Inverness and the highland region.........You do not deserve this club or team and when we are having inquests into the apparent "failure" of not qualifying for Europe it is in this direction the finger should be well and truly pointed..............No thanks in this direction. I look forward to follow our club next season (and many more after that thanks to the way the club is run) which is more than can be said for fans of much bigger clubs than ours who don't know if they will have a club to follow.

Given Terry Butcher's comments immediately after our defeat in Dingwall yesterday, I am assuming we will be concentrating our efforts next season on winning the League Cup which has the 'blessing' of no longer attracting a European place. As, far as the Scottish Cup is concerned, we will be going all out to reach the semi finals but will not want to risk reaching the final as, depending on league placings and who else is in the final, being runner up could run the risk of the curse of European qualification. We certainly don't want to win the thing. With regard to the league, this is our bread and butter and we want to to as well as we safely can. Accordingly, our aim will be to finish fifth. It would be nice to try to emulate this season'e record fourth position or even better but, depending on who reach the Scottish Cup final, fourth place can often carry with it the risk of European qualification. What a blessing for us that it didn't this season ! Come think of it, we could do worse than adopt St Mirren's season as a template for success but strive to do a little better, but not too much better, than them in the league.

Exactly, it's baffling that some people seem so keen to perpetuate the myth that he said it was a blessing, or that he is somehow relieved that we didn't qualify and doesn't was us in Europe. All he said in a "brave face" context is that we aren't really geared up for European football yet. But anyone who thinks he or the club don't share the fans' desire to finish 3rd and qualify for European football needs to think again.

I don't think it's as much as that - it's probably nearer £80,00. I saw the figures once and I think the drop between 2nd and 3rd is over £100,000 but 3rd to 4th is rather less. Certainly what he said to me was that the club isn't geared up for Europe (and I would suggest nor should it be, given the remote chance each year which came a lot closer this time.) What I would be wondering is how the team would get wherever. For instance chartering planes is expensive if scheduled flights don't work out. Then there could well be visas to be acquired, accommodation to be paid for. Is there an entry fee for the Europa League? Are there any implications for hosting the home leg? And to echo the arguments surrounding that Diddy Cup whose name escapes me for the moment but which was given consideration in Charlie's time, what are the implications regarding being fit and ready to play by mid July - and the possible consequences for the next season? How much money is to be made from this stage of the Europa League? I am not saying that ICT qualfying for Europe would necessarily have bee a bad thing. But I would suggest that, alongside the kudos and the novelty, there would also have been a significant down side.

I notice Roy was on the TV tonight as part of Cove Rangers League winning side, well done to him.

Would ICT arrange a wee pre season trip - Ireland, Eire or across the North Sea to whet the appetites of all concerned fer next season ?

SPL also unable to ascertain whether or not the Pope is Catholic.

Sincerely hope we're left with a decent team - a "descent" team is the last thing we need!

The cost of not aspiring to qualify for Europe is enormous. It sucks out one of the few aspects of this league that retains serious competition. It tells fans that they shouldn't hope or dream of anything beyond survival in the SPL.

Fly up to Orkney and play a friendly up there. I think Ross County did something like that. Then we can all have a night out in Fusion.

Can't believe some of the posts on here and elsewhere. At the start of the season what do players and fans look fer. SUCCESS. So we celebrate the fact that we fecked up a League Cup semi final and a place in the Europa Cup - bollicks. Those comments were made in an attempt to avoid talking about the ridiculous tactics and selection and the fact that we were completely outplayed, outfought and outthinked

Why have ICT been at the top table for so long while other more established clubs, with much bigger backings and advantages have finished below us and struggled? Luck with managers? Good scouting? while other clubs have driven themselves into unmanageable debt and their future is bleak, we are surpassing them in every area. RC must be paying some of the players I saw yesterday a lot more than what we are, I could be wrong, but I doubt it. I'd rather miss out on Europe because we were fiscally responsible than drain our resources on January signings, as that is what I saw yesterday.

Sack Butcher, sack the team, sack the board - none of them deserve to be there and associated with ICT. They should all be ashamed of getting us to a cup semi and our highest ever league finish. Perhaps the inquest should be why we have the lowest SPL budget yet people expected us to punch so far above our weight all season with youngsters and journeymen who have never been in that position before. The real inquest should be why when we are playing attractive football, scoring goals and fighting in competitions are we not filling seats to at least give us a budget to keep and build on the quality players that the club are unearthing year after year!!!!

St Johnstone's progress mirrors that of ICT over the past few years, hasn't it? They have done very well indeed but, apart from their sojourn into Europe having been an emotional blast, what did they actually gain financially? Little if anything? And many of their players, like ours, just move on after the season ends--I mean it's not like every player is going to stay with ICT for years to come so the lasting benefits are difficult to assess, except, perhaps in the lives of the individual players. But we are thinking more of the lasting benefits to the club right now aren't we? ICT are not exactly in a commandingly-strong financial position. Just hanging on and trying very hard to get out of debt, more like. So, going into Europe may indeed be a negative thing at this stage. And a big challenge. You don't want this team to come home beaten, you want them to impress and be noted around the football scene. That way we will be more of an attractive target for up--and-coming young talent from all over the place which is what will keep the roster fresh, interesting and very good for our Manager, Terry, to get his teeth into and keep him challenged and here for the foreseeable future. The last thing we need at this stage of our progress is a series of new managers coming in one after the other , confusing the players with their different methods and personalities. Stability and steady progress with a manager who is respected for his achievements and drive is what we need for the next few years. It's a different situation if we get stronger and stronger over the next three years and then are ready for the European stage. The average Canadian lives from pay cheque to pay cheque and feels that going into heavy debt is their right to satisfy their sense of entitlement about getting all the stuff of a modern existence. ..cell phones, cars, large TV,.'s, house, holidays etc. Now the price of houses is falling like a stone and the picture does not look half so rosy economically with all businesses crying the blues because prices are so high for everything and people just don't have the resources to go out and spend now like they used to. So, if they do not have savings to tide them over, then what? Likewise, overspending and ambitiously over-reaching by the management of ICT does not seem to be the correct course for the team at this stage. More like Mission Impossible if the reserves are not there for the rainy day. The correct course for ICT is to continue to make steady, cautious progress and prove that ICT can now continue to compete with the best and continue to finish high in the league. Hopefully crowds will get larger and when we venture to put our tootsies into the hotter water of Europe we can at least afford to buy Welly boots to protect them from burns. Plaudits for everyone in the team , the Management and the fans who have supported this team this fantastic year.

Here's a rather left-field idea; I know he's leaving, but should we have recalled Gavin Morrison and played him in midfield? Surely he'd have been better than Devine in there and is at least more natural in that position.

I think Kingsmills in post 19 and Yngwie in post 21 have hit the nail on the head. Of course we should all be delighted that we have ended as high as fourth, reached a semi final, scored loads of goals and had players called up for international duty but if we are going to build on what has been acheived we have to look beyond that general picture and look a bit more at the detail. It has been a season not so much of 2 halves, but of three phases. We started playing a more attractive style but not getting results. In the first 7 games we only got 5 points and failed to win a single game. We then went on a terrific run both in the league and the cups, success which led to Terry being courted by Barnsley. There was joy unreserved when he turned Barnsley down and the response was to thump Aberdeen. During that great run we took a massive 32 points from just 15 league games. Then reality set in. Since then we have lost both cup matches and have got just 17 points from 16 matches. In that time, we have only won 4 games and all of those by a single goal margin. We did not just "bottle" it today or last week, we have missed out on a European place because of a marked loss of form over a prolonged period. The reality is that since the turn of the year when Terry announced he was staying, our record has been very mediocre at best, In fact, during that period our form has been that of a team struggling to avoid relegation. If we want to have any hope next season of emulating or even surpassing the overall success of this season, we need to face the reality of what our recent record has been and try to understand the reasons for it. My own view, for what it is worth, is that having the manager heading down to Barnsley for talks really knocked the confidence out of the players. I argued at the time that he had won nothing yet, but if the season produced as much as it promised then he would suddenly be a far more marketable commodity. By making it clear that he wanted a move away sooner rather than later, he gave the message to the players that he did not have the belief in them that they would achieve. Once the euphoria of his "I'm staying " announcement was out of the way, the reality set in and all of a sudden, the players lost their belief and stopped playing with the kind of confidence they had been before. We need to be clear that if we pick up next season from where we have left off this season, we will not be 4th next season - we will be relegation candidates. That sounds depressing I know, but the positives of the situation are that we have a lot of our better players already signed up for next season and the brilliant period up to the defeat by St Mirren proves that the team is capable of winning whilst playing great attacking football. Because of the overall success of this season there will be an expectation that we are top 6 next season. But we will not achieve that unless we can get that spark of confidence reinstalled at the beginning of the season so that we can get off to winning ways from the outset. Yes, it has been our best season ever overall and it is right to celebrate that, but there is some serious thinking to be done behind the scenes if we are to match or better it next season.

James succesfully completed his walk today and was in great spirits when we met him pre match. Well done Sir!

I thought we improved in the second half but overall County probably deserved the win. Doran put in a great shift as did Raven. Dissapointed but still happy with the season in general. We fell short at the last hurdle but thank you Terry, the rest of the management team and all the players for our best ever season! Roll on the next one!!! I must say thank you to County for allowing the Highland Marchers on to the pitch. We were in the Jail End pre match. Surreal experience but great banter. Thanks to the County fans who made us welcome and the great reception we got from the ICT fans. I cannot wait for the next Highland Derby. The greatest derby in Scotland!

Here's a crazy thought for you. If we had made it to Europe and had,say, 500 fans willing to spend £500 each following us on our travels....that's £250,000 that those people could now donate to the player budget instead!

Overall delighted with the season. Some great performances and some we will want to forget. Considering we had lots of a new faces at the start of the season, 4th is amazing. Anyone who can't acknowledge this needs to wake up and smell the coffee!! For the size of the club it's Been great and we need to remember that we will get carried away when we do anything better than expected, but If we don't get to that next post (e.g. Europe today) it's amazing that we were even close! Looking forward to the pre season and see who we will sign and can't wait for the return of butchers boys in August!

This makes my blood boil. This ICT team has improved immeasurably this year and has eclipsed teams like Aberdeen and dundee United and It's because the other teams are poor? really? We have improved because we brought in better players, played better football and beat teams that were previously able to match us simply because we had got better in a league where the football has been of a better standard than many previous years. And if you could tell me what this "souness revolution" was, I'd be happy.

Superb season or not for ICT I am absolutely gutted at missing out on Europe. We can have no complaints from today (aside from the glebe who told every one that Motherwell had scored) as County absolutely dominated us in the middle of the pitch both when they had the ball and when we got it. Our players were swamped by blue shirts and the intensity of the pressing from County was incredible. They were clearly up for it. Taylor and Devine in the middle just didn't work and Pepper was being completely torn apart on the County left before he went off in the first half for Nick Ross. Pepper later appeared on crutches but I'm not sure what's happened to him. As you might expect it was a incredibly tight game with the sides separated by a wonder strike by Hainault who got a loose ball ever so sweetly and lashed it back across goal and into the roof of the net. County probably had the better of the first half with ICT seldom threatening. Meekings, I think, turned a cross beyond the post but that seemed to be as close as I can remember us coming to scoring. We seemed a bit more up for it in the second half and had a fair bit of early pressure. McKay nearly scored an audacious equaliser when he turned a wayward Raven effort back towards goal but it spun wide of the post and Raven sent in a good cross that just eluded Andrew Shinnie but in truth we never really worked Gallacher to the extent we could justifiably claim we deserved a goal. From our end of the ground I couldn't see just how close County came to getting another goal but Reguero appeared to pull off a fine save with one hand to deny what looked a certain goal and Vigurs cracked a wicked free kick off the post later in the game. All in all a pretty disastrous day. If you had offered me all of what ICT have achieved this season back in July / August I would obviously have taken it with both hands but it's still a huge wrench to miss out on Europe on the last day of the league campaign especially losing to your Derby rivals in the process. I'm not sure if we'll ever get as good a chance to challenge for Europe again any time soon as you would have to imagine the likes of Aberdeen, Dundee United, Hibs etc can't be as hopeless as they have been this season but we'll see. Not really sure what to do with myself on a Saturday (or Sunday as the case may be) afternoon now...

What we have achieved this season is nothing short of magic. We are a small town, City, team and this season has been our best ever in our short history, we have come a long way in a short time. We don't have the finances of any of the teams we have finished above but we still finished above them. We have comprehensively stuck it to our closest rivals for years and again this season have lost only one game in six to them. That one on a midden of a pitch with a much reduced player pool. I have a hard time understanding the negative comments. i understand that we are a little disappointed with today's result but nothing can, in my mind, take away from our best season ever. Can we not just thank the team for how well they have done and stop the negative comments. Well done the team and thanks to you all for all your efforts.

I Remember how much we have improved and don't think an inquest is required, it was good season by Terry and his team. I was unhappy with today's result but not with our season. Finishing in the top six for the first time is a huge plus, remember how often we have just missed that. Most importantly we still have 'them' in our shadow. It also leaves us with the core of a descent team and a realistic goal of a European place next time up. Knowing our management team as we do I am full of confidence for the future. Overall then our best season yet and something left to aim for next season.

Whilst there will be a lot of disappointment and criticism about the performance and result today, it was always going to be a "big ask" to get an away win against a good team, on a dodgy pitch, without 3 of our key midfielders. The damage was really done in previous games - Raven getting sent off after 10 minutes in Perth to gift them a win, and then us throwing it away against Dundee Utd last weekend. We were 1-0 up at the start of the 2nd half, at home against the worst team in the top 6, who had nothing to play for, and were fielding a load of youngsters, and their top scorer in defence. That was the real chance that we blew. If you go into the split in 3rd place then lose 4 of your 5 post-split games, you can't expect to retain 3rd place. Ultimately we didn't deserve Europe. Close but not quite enough. Still a great season though, onwards and upwards. And we'll get to do a proper pre-season without the distraction of European fixtures!

A tireless worker who made the very most of his talent.

This is not true. I've talked about Europe with Kenny Cameron (and other members of the Board) and at no time did anyone hint that that they didn't want Europe, never mind say it. They were making tentative plans to sort out the logistics of fulfilling any fixture we might have qualified for, including transport arrangements and how to fund them. There was no point that I witnessed Terry say it was "a blessing" that we did not qualify in any of the media interviews that I lugged into after the game on Saturday. He did say that the Club wasn't really geared up for Europe but if you asked St Johnstone, they would say exactly the same thing. They still wouldn't swop it for anything and neither would we if we qualified. The stuff about "the chairman only cares about the money" is the kind of quote that you can get from any manager across the Leagues at any time. Its a bit sad that one day one from the best display from our fans that I or most others can remember, this unfounded conspiracy theory stuff comes out.

And finish on a downer? These players and the management team have just finished the best season in the club's history. I'm sure the easiest, most obvious, and most honest answer for TB was to criticise the performance, but was that how he or the club wanted to round off their best ever season? No. All he did was put on a brave face, and save face for the players, who, for 90% of the season, have exceeded expectations. It was one game, maybe two, where they fell short. That doesn't mean you discredit a year's work and leave your staff with a negative. you applaud the positives. As for the chairman being relieved etc. it's all a bit tongue in cheek. Don't do a disservice to the main body of work, however disappointing it was to every single person.

Compensation for what? Having the most successful season in the clubs history? Keep the pre-season to whatever the club can afford and for those who want the club to provide a holiday iternary for them........ why not come to the Highlands of Scotland and tour towns like Brora, Wick and Inverness and then travel to exotic Morayshire and visit Buckie, Banff and Elgin all of which have bars in which you can embarass yourselves.

It was worth going just to be part of a fabulous support. I love being part of caleyaway but yesterday we the fans were exceptional.

Putting a brave face on, that's all IMO. TB's as gutted about it as anyone else. Onwards and upwards now...

Ross played for most of the match. Didn't see him make much difference. Sutherland? When has he ever played there?

I am somewhat bemused at how one or two threads on here seem to be expressing the view that part of ICT's core business and obligation should include providing the opportunity for some kind of summer continental beano for the fans and that the competitive and pre season training policy should be amended to accommodate that!

Why would the good people of Inverness go to a game where the club want to be second best ?

Two good pre season friendlies against European opponents will suit us fine. This season is in the history books and we finished 4th, got to a Semi and 5th Round of the SC. Some achievement on our budget, squad and crowds!!

In part I agree with your somewhat sarcastic post, I would happily see us maintain SPL status next (and every year) with good cup runs to at least one semi or better a season and if the option was there see us win a cup (either) at the expense of finishing in the top 6. League is over before it starts every year, we have the lowest or 2nd/3rd lowest budget every year - and will probably do so forever until the folks of Inverness get off their arses and head to Caley stadium (attractive football, scoring goals, cup runs & fighting for europe never did it this year so, we will just stick with the loyal few we have and budget on that), so should always be setting targets that are sensible & realistic targets - of which winning cups is the only silverware we can realistically achieve.

Short story- Not great really, we had virtually no midfield for much of the game and it wasn't easy to watch due to County controlling much of it. Not a totally unsurprising result but ho hum. We didn't create much of anything in the final third and can't complain about the result. Cracking atmosphere aside from being offered a fight from a young fan who thought I was slighting him when in fact I was shouting at our midfield (this was resolved at half time after a chat and hands were shook no probs). Great voice for about 45 mins after the game, also good to see where some former players hearts remain lol ..

Firstly i would like to start by saying what a tremendous season we have had. The club has exceeded all expectations i think. If we had been offer 4th spot, to be above county and a cup semi final at the start of the season we would all have taken that there and then no questions asked. To miss out on Europe on the last day is gutting but the season as a whole has been a resounding success and the team and the fans should be very proud. As for the game itself today, where do i begin? As i was watching the game on the tv (in a pub with no sound) i cant comment on the atmosphere but heard it was pretty special, especially at the end of the match. The game itself was an absalute shocker from an ICT POV. Second to everything, no creativity, dodgy defending, playing hoof ball to a short striker, very inexperienced midfield (why did TB not start with ross and/or sutherland?) the list goes on. One of the poorest perfomances i have seen for ICT if i'm honest. It looked as if they didnt want to win the match and you would be forgiven to thinking that it was county going for europe and not us. In the latter stages of the game i was laughing to myself because it was comical to watch how bad we were. All in all it was a bad day at the office for us but a successful season so overall, i am a happy ICT fan

Can we get away from the "you're being negative if you're disappointed" line? It's not wrong to be feeling we could have done better in the latter part of the season. There are some valid points in the posts above regarding performances in some key games. We have found some good players who can on their day be very good but there is room for improvement on basic aspects and without spending money: we must work on improving corners and especially freekicks (the last four have all gone straight into the wall) we must stop lobbing high balls to wee forwards (obvious I know but we still do it) a striker like Billy needs the ball coming in from wide and to his feet and when we do that he gets goals we must have a plan B when games aren't going our way - in some of the games mentioned above, we haven't I don't think it's choking that's a problem as the guys can battle as we've seen in several come from behind games, but we are very vulnerable when teams play us close in midfield (Hearts semi-final) like County did today (admittedly much easier for them today as we had such a makeshift group). Any team needs a decent amount of possession in the middle of the park to have a chance, therefore I think a priority should be a strong combative midfield tackler to get in opponents faces and dig the ball out - Fergie's (and Pele's) teams always had one. Ross Draper can put in a good shift but we don't get the best out of Richie in that role. None of the above is negative just personal observations from a viewpoint of improving. For me a good season. I agree some of the leagues 'bigger' teams have been pretty poor of late and there's been some disappointing results after the turn of the year, but a good season that can be built on (2013/14 season ticket tucked away and ready)

Bit of a stange day and rather mixed emotions. I am not as down as last week and I suppose, at the end of the day, that means a place in Europe would have been the icing on the cake but finishing above County was what really mattered to me. OK. I know, that's a pretty negative attidude - but I'm a fan of my team and the bragging rights over the local rivals are the number one priority. I was baffled by the team selection. It was a real blow to lose OTJ to injury on top of Foran and Draper to suspension and I was astonished that in the circumstances neither Ross or Sutherland started. County were always going to close us down quickly and Pepper in particular really struggled. I have been feeling a bit sorry for him as he made some promising contributions as a sub early in the season but has hardly had a look in since. To then throw him in the deep end in such a high pressure match without the support of the more experienced players was a big ask and I'm afraid he was not up to it today. For me, the match was set up for Sutherland. Because of the size and state of the pitch and County's pressing game, often the only option was the old hoof up the park which gave poor Billy no chance again. We needed Sutherland's bigger physical prescence up front. He was, as usual, played wide when he came on but neverthesless, we certainly looked a bit more of a threat when he belatedly came on. Also, it looked as though G Shinnie had been told to stay back - surely it would have been better to have him in midfield with Taylor dropping to left back. But credit to County. They were far the better side on the day and they will feel they deserved to win by a bigger margin. Biggest plus point today (not that there were many) was the crowd. A really good atmosphere and just great to see so many stay for so long and make so much noise after the game. It was a great send off for the team and competely overshadowed the appreciation the County players got (and make no mistake, they have had a superb season). I left the ground some 15 to 20 minutes after the final whistle and could still hear the Inverness supporters in the ground as I crossed the Railway Bridge. Well done, lads, brilliant stuff!

Maybe so, but how much more have we gained by finishing 4th rather than 11th!?

Thank you! Thanks for the great reception we got on the pitch pre match as well. Was absolutely buzzing!

I think it is fair to say that our pursuit of European glory was more Bonnie Tyler than Bucks Fizz.

The bright side for me is that I don't need to shell out on getting my expired passport renewed, for another year at least.

We never rise to the occasion and haven't done so for years. The relegation game in 2010; one goal would have kept us up and we blew it. The Challenge Cup Final; 2-0 up and cruising at half time and end up getting beat 3-2. The League Cup Semi-Final earlier in the season; 1-0 up against ten man Hearts, miss an open goal and end up going out. Last week was the hammer blow I think. We really should have had Dundee United with all those chances and going into Dingwall, I thought the best chance we had of getting it, was a Motherwell win. When Saints scored I knew we'd had it. On the plus side, apart from A.Shinnie and Reguero going, we have the bulk of the squad signed up for next season (unlike County!) and a few new players should see us through. On today's performance we never deserved Europe, and our form in 2013 is rather when you compare it to the end of 2012. I hope we haven't blown it for good, but I still can't wait for next season to get started.

As far as my last post goes, yeah, we have done well this season. We can only beat what is put in front of us. BUT.....i would say....this seasons SPL standard has been pretty unremarkable. As poor a stanrd in the whole league as i can remember there having been, since pre "Souness Revolution" yrs I think we will be doing amazing to emulate this seasons feat in the future

Gutted Just wasn't us the day. Long balls going out of play. Cant make a good pass to save ourselfs. Missed 4 key players but surely we should have cover for something like this happening. Pepper just seemed lost in the squad. Taylor and Danny did there best in midfield but i think they can stick in defence. Even looking at the bench the day it wasn't strong. Top six finish, 4th place, Only lost once to the gypos, Great games 4-4 Dundee United, 4-3 Motherwell, 3-3 gypos Bring on season 2013/14