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I wonder if the players are now starting to come more used to Hughes' tactics. We all know that Yogi likes players to keep the ball and all that, and in the last few weeks, this amounted to the players, particularly the defenders passing the ball to each other for what seemed like days, before inviting pressure onto the themselves and knocking it back to the goalkeeper to hoof it up the park. Yesterday, there seemed to be a bit more understanding between the players about what they were doing and seemed keener to work the ball forward, as opposed to keeping it for the sake of keeping it. History shows that Caley Thistle, under a number of different managers and with different groups of players, have always been a better team when playing the ball on the deck. If things carry on and improve as they are, the Yogi and Latapy regime might turn-out alright after all.

Davie, I understand what he is trying to do, but I see players in other teams with more strength. There is nothing wrong with his technical ability and vision. There was an audible gasp when he stood up to take the penalty and unfortunately he dollied into the keepers hands. More than just me that was cheesed off I can assure you. Is there something wrong on these forums when anyone dare say something out of the normal, against protocol if you like. It might not be obvious, but I like Nick and constantly remind a few that sit roundabout me about some of his more attractive traits, but most if not all agree that he needs to man up, toughen up get stuck in whatever. I like your analogy, but my criticism is measured, measured over a couple of seasons of watching Nick. I think Paul McStay might have gone from prospect to talented player quicker...............now there's sarcasm for you. It seems OK to slag Danny Williams on here, or Theeagle or Dougal etc, but look out if our local hero gets mentioned. My bad, how dare me, it's a football forum for football fans ffs, I'm afraid we take the rough with the smooth, or we are in danger of becoming a closed shop/clique and anyone stepping out of line will be horsewhipped. Aye Johndo, our midfield has disappeared just now and we do lack height, with Draper and Foran out and Vincent missing. Next week we will be without Warren, meh.

Nick Ross failed to score a penalty so now he gets slated. Lets all forget the fact that he's scored twice this season. Has assisted in a few and generally has played well. Lets just blame him for us not winning yesterday in a game that we apparently dominated but couldnt beat their keeper in. In fact lets drop him and stop trying to bring through local talent. Why the hell would we put a first team regular out on loan to a lower league? Get real people.

Should be told to go away. We have spent good money getting him back to fitness. He should say go away too. When Butcher cut his head the big baby put a bandage on. Yogi just got on with things Sunday. Vincent should do the same.

Whilst in the happy clapper camp and having only seen the game on TV, I am unable to comment, with any degree of knowledge, on the overall play of Ross today. I do however feel that Butcher and now Hughes are/ were in a better position to judge him via training and match day than someone who wishes him punted to Elgin on the strength of their tremendous in depth knowledge of the player whilst only watching a game. Is it possible when playing that he, Ross, may be following instructions from the bench that this pundit is unaware of? Is it possible on the other hand that this pundit is correct and both the managers are so crap that they can be replaced by a keyboard warrior at little expense to our club?

Huge improvement today, great fighting spirit and a good team selection, even the subs showed promise, the boys are back in town. On that performance Aberdeen are catchable.

I cant believe someone is slating Nick Ross for not getting to the Dundee United goal..bullet header, no time to react, whats he supposed to do short of throwing a hand up and making a diving save? Seems a bit of a witch hunt some of these comments in my opinion are well wide of the mark. Would we be having this conversation if the penalty had gone in...doubt it!

My niece works in it (and she's an ICT fan!) and it does very well apparently. It's also I believe the only place locally that does the 'proper' shirt numbers and names. Not much of an ICT fan if you ask me, I'd rather be signing on than being on the pay roll for one of the old firm With your fondness for the other side of darkness that must hurt though lol Dougal From the ICT "supporter" that goes to Ross County home games

I would just leave it. Dougal is just being Dougal. Everyone else appreciates the efforts made.

I am firmly in the Nick Ross camp and thinks he gets better every season but he certainly seems to divide opinion.

TM4TJ, Nick Ross is a tidy, efficient and reasonably talented midfielder. His main contribution in that team is to creating space, linking with others and creating opportunities for the likes of Billy Mckay. Doran, although mildly more attacking is in the same boat. Slagging (and your irresistable pull towards sarcasm puts a few of your posts into this category) him is ok, but what you're doing is effectively slagging a plumber for being a sh*te electrician. Devalues it really. As Hughes said yesterday, he slotted in Shinie to win the penalty and created a lot in midfield - and that's his job. The missed penalty was a poor strike, but anyone can do that. A bit of measured criticism would go a long way here.

Brill Raven Devine Meekings Tremarco Polworth Shinnie Doran Watkins Greenhalgh Mckay Subs - Esson, Christie, Ross, Pepper, Cooper*, Evans, Williams * If Cooper's injured, put Gorman on the bench.

Not half as dreadful as Jason Puncheon's for my other team this weekend! Watched all but the first 15mins on TV, thought the best match I have seen on TV this season. We were lucky with the penatly not given against us, but overall considering the midield we could put out, we played some good stuff....Doran had the best game I have seen him play, Shinnie did a good job in midfield, Tremaco doing well at left back and useful games from Polworth and Williams, Greenhalgh had a tidy cameo as sub. Overall given recent results very heartening. Crowd looked very sparse on TV and no atmosphere at all. bar last 5-10mins

£20 for the League Cup Semi Final is not too bad. SPFL Premiership games are more expensive. It's one of the cheapest prices i'll pay all season to get into a game. All SPFL away games this season have been > £20. I'll be travelling from Glasgow but as others have said, if travelling from Inverness, £30 for travel and ticket is a great deal for the most important game of our season so far!

Someone seems to have mistaken knowledge, understanding and appreciation for "Blind and unquestioning loyalty".

I'm not happy with the cheeky 25% ticket price increase, venue or time either. Although everyone's circumstances are different most pensioners I meet seem to have more disposable income than many other people. As OCG says, £30 to hopefully see us make our first major final isn't that bad. The players have once again done well to reach this stage and by not attending as some kind of 'up ye SPFL' stance they are the one's who are let down the most.

So Doncaster has gone through the rule book and found that Hearts can sign a player during a transfer embargo in administration if a player has left, i.e. one in one out. Chatter down Gorgie way is that because 5 have left during administration they are hoping to sign 5. Rudi Skacel was training with them today and apparently they are talking to Andy Driver. I have read somewhere, although not sure if it is 100% accurate that the SPFL will hear their appeal on 1st February. You know what's gonna happen eh! Like last year, they lifted the embargo just before the Semi Final, and they got Ngoo and Wilson (who was in fact ineligible to play but played anyway). They'll rubber stamp the 5 signings on the 1st and Skacel, Driver and 3 others will be in their starting XI the next day against us in the Semi Final.

Nick is never going to turn into a bull from a gazelle. Not in the short term, anyway, so why not quit whilst you are ahead and start focussing on his good, positive points and play ,instead of the boring negative criticisms. I have seen him go into good tackles, hit a fantastic goal from outside the box, score two great penalties with quite venomous shots from such a slightly built player(!), run like a gazelle last Sunday and keep up with the opposition player without flinching or quitting and, frankly, why the heck don't some of you say something nice and upbeat about Nick who seems like a really decent young man and player who tries his best. Both Williams and Polworth are newbies but no one criticises them. I liked what I saw of them too. Dean made a few nervous jumps in the last couple of matches and seemed a bit shaky for goodness sake but no one is criticising him in the same way. Williams and Polworth have talent and worked hard and no doubt will come good but why pick on Nick Ross for goodness sake? I think he could be tried with advantage on the wing where he can run like fun, draw out the defence and may do very well on the right side. If we only have Billy up front how are we going to score goals since he is marked closely now.

So the manager never makes an error of judgement or he wouldn't be the manager of this club. And therefore those of us who watch the matches shouldn't have the audacity to make any critical comment as we clearly have no idea what we are talking about. What complete and utter nonsense! Whilst accepting that the manager usually does know better than anyone on this forum, managers certainly don't get it right all the time. Interestingly you mention how the manager sees the players on the training ground as well as at the game, but actually that is often part of the problem. Often players demonstrate attributes on the training ground that simply do not get translated into the match situation. Managers then persist in them in the hope that they will come good on match day or simply keep picking them because their overall impression is that the player who shines on the training ground is the better player - others don't get a look in. Butcher's insistence on playing Barrowman rather than Rooney when he first came here was a case in point. I also remember more recently when many of us were questioning Butcher persisting playing Shane Sutherland on the wing, Caley D defended the manager by saying we should see the things he was doing on the training ground. Well, he might have been great on the wing on the training ground but he wasn't on a match day - and now he's at Elgin. You don't win points by playing well on the training ground - it's the performance on match days that matter and the paying customer has every right to comment on it. I will, once more, bow to your undoubted deeper understanding on this subject than me! I was once told that faultless is lifeless so I am sure we will all agree that Mr Butcher and Hughes are indeed so full of life that they must make mistakes. The point being overlooked is .... it is not a mistake - it is, in the view of the Ross 'punt him' brigade ... an ongoing mismanagement by two managers who between them, have seen professional football up close and ... would you believe, have learnt less than the keyboard warriors on here! Is Ross a target for EPL clubs? I don't think so! Is he the best we have in that position? Possibly. Can he improve? Of course. Is he going to improve by suggesting we punt him into a team two leagues below us? I would have thought that a keyboard warrior with delusions of Fergusion football knowledge, would even see a fault in that.

Anyone remember when we used to play Livi? Bit of a "derby" style match for us so I thought I would check out some of the old pictures on CaleyJags.com and came across this beaut of Richard Brittain

I'd be more bothered about losing Draper to Hibs rather than Vincent. Nothing against the guy but I just haven't seen enough of him to say how much of a loss he'd really be.

So the manager never makes an error of judgement or he wouldn't be the manager of this club. And therefore those of us who watch the matches shouldn't have the audacity to make any critical comment as we clearly have no idea what we are talking about. What complete and utter nonsense! Whilst accepting that the manager usually does know better than anyone on this forum, managers certainly don't get it right all the time. Interestingly you mention how the manager sees the players on the training ground as well as at the game, but actually that is often part of the problem. Often players demonstrate attributes on the training ground that simply do not get translated into the match situation. Managers then persist in them in the hope that they will come good on match day or simply keep picking them because their overall impression is that the player who shines on the training ground is the better player - others don't get a look in. Butcher's insistence on playing Barrowman rather than Rooney when he first came here was a case in point. I also remember more recently when many of us were questioning Butcher persisting playing Shane Sutherland on the wing, Caley D defended the manager by saying we should see the things he was doing on the training ground. Well, he might have been great on the wing on the training ground but he wasn't on a match day - and now he's at Elgin. You don't win points by playing well on the training ground - it's the performance on match days that matter and the paying customer has every right to comment on it.

Well said !!!

There's only one James Vincent ;-)

Butcher GTF bad enough he left us the way he did and now hoping to pick off our players. How often did he preach about loyalty. Why not show some respect for Ict and those who supported him through good and bad times

The tone of this thread is more positive than it has been in sometime. The bottom line is that there was a general improvement.

Brill Raven Meekings Tremarco Shinnie Ross Polworth Watkins Doran Greenhalgh Mckay

Not to pick on Ross, but he has hardly any shot power, as his goalscoring record, or lack of, attests. You want somebody who can generate power effortlessly without much backswing, otherwise the goalie can read the run up. Do we have anyone like that in our squad now? We used to have the likes of Thommo, Gollie, Hart, Wilson, Mann, Rankin etc who could score long distance piledrivers, but now we hardly ever see it. Did we used to do more shooting practice in the old days? The last time I can remember us scoring from a direct free kick was Gavin Morrison away to Ayr in the first division. It's a shortcoming we definitely need to do something about.

If we dont beat the current Hearts team in 90 mins then we dont deserve to be in a final. Penalties or no.

Nick has not been slated because he missed a penalty but because there is no end product at the end of his neat and tidy play. All too often he has shot towards goal and every time they lack power and conviction. He has scored twice..........whoop dee doo, get him knighted. Both were penalties and one of them should have been saved. Get back to me when he starts contributing regularly in open play instead of shirking tackles and aerial presence and lacking power. Stop throwing yer toys out of the pram, someone had to say it sooner or later. Your rose tinted specs are starting to grate. His link play is generally good, he does not often waste balls, but for me he needs to man up big style. If that hurts, then so be it, but it is the opinion that I will stick by at the moment until he shows me otherwise.

interestingly Hughes says in his post match interview that Nick Ross played the best hes seen him yesterday.

So whats the problem with letting Nick continue. Penalty taking is an art that requires a lot of courage. I admire Nick for stepping to the plate and dont see any reason why he shouldnt continue. His penalty yesterday was saved. He's taken three, had three on target and scored two. During yesterdays game the team had 12 shot with 8 on target and scored 1. That makes Nicks penalty taking record better than the teams goal scoring record. Dont break his confidence. Encourage him and maybe he'll become the best penalty taker we've ever seen.

EAGLE4CALEY Something positive is happening which may or may not be good for our respective personalities --you and I are almost in total agreement on this one. I fell asleep about fifteen minutes BEFORE the end of the game so I missed the Christie sub but from the game that I did see I feel this way:- These cameras for Setanta or whatever are fabulous. Either that or it was the HD I was viewing. Also plaudits to the camerapersons, a bunch of toilers who often go unsung--in all weathers. It was an evenly-matched contest by two fit teams who worked hard, By the end of the first half ICT were dominant. D. U. are a hard-enough working team but their possession ratio,on the day, was not as high as ours. Our team was dominant in the second but did not use the wings enough i.m.h.o. They should do that and then cross the ball hard across the goalmouth for any touch that would deflect it in. And how often did we see wingers running down to the byline? Polworth, on the left side in the second half, played a neat pass forward to another Caley player but failed to keep running down the wing going forward on the outside as an overlap which could have allowed him to cut inside in a very dangerous position.and so left the other guy without someone to pass to. I think he could be a very useful player if he was instructed to drive forward and Williams also seemed to make a decent contribution. But they both need to be encouraged and to be given the ball so they can gain in confidence! With encouragement they both could come good and Williams does loft in a very nice set piece. Doran worked hard on the right but he could also have cut to the byline with great advantage. Either way he is going to get the opportunity to flight in a ball to the goalmouth or at least get a corner out of it. He seemed to me to be more prominent and dominant ,however, than in former games. On what I saw, Nick Ross was not that bad. He worked hard and stuck to it. He has pace but seems perhaps a bit too light in the frame. I felt sorry for him when he missed the penalty. He should have belted it as hard as he could and low. Of course that's with hindsight! Perhaps penalty -taking is not as easy as it seems--in ice hockey in Canada most players miss one-on-ones with the goalie rather than scoring. Why did some players not stand out? -Well, maybe the poster was right who said they are playing to orders. Often though, when Doran was going up the right wing, he had no one beside him to pass to and so was invariably forced to loft a high ball into the box where the taller Dundee United players were able to see it coming and cope before Billy got a touch. Billy's goal was a wonder strike in a very tough cramped area though, calm, controlled and deadly. Dean did his job but maybe it would be a good thing if Ryan got a spell in the goal too to keep both sharp. Meekings is a bit of a tough character and had better watch some of his interventions, or the team will be short of a man. That ref , Mr Beaton, seemed to be on good enough terms with the players and seemed to use common sense in tricky situations, The penalty was a no-brainer and was fair. On balance I think he did a good job. Sorry about the Dundee United player who got injured . The ankle ligament injury is a very painful one but, if he is lucky it will heal fairly quickly.

Fair enough to have a go at folk who shout abuse at players at a game but I fail to see what is wrong with making objective criticism of players on this forum. If this forum is not for expressing opinions then what is it for? I don't think it is supportive to the team simply to praise the praiseworthy and keep quiet about aspects which are not so good. If folk feel particular players are not making quite the contribution to the team as they should be and feel there are better options, then it is surely supportive to the team to voice those views. Nick Ross has been a "promising" player for a number of years but IMHO has not lived up to that promise. He has some nice little touches but rarely makes a particularly telling contribution to the game. He has now had a long run in the team and in my view the team needs someone rather more creative and incisive and with an eye for goal. I can't see that we would be any worse off by giving Christie or Pepper a decent run in the side. If all our players were available then I would put Shinnie back to left back and play Vincent, Draper, Foran, Doran, Watkins, and Mckay. With the option of Tremarco at left back releasing Shinnie into midfield as well as the availability of Greenhalgh, Christie, Pepper, Williams and Polworth then Ross would struggle to even get on the bench. TM4J's suggestion of putting him out on loan is a sensible one in my view. Personally I feel Ross is not quite up to the standard required, but if he does have the ability to justify him being selected ahead of these other players, it is not being translated into performances on the park. A period on loan at a lower level may just give him the opportunity to shine and gain a bit of confidence. In my view that would be supportive of both him and the team. No doubt others will leap to Nick's defence and that would be good. That is what the forum is all about. Support the players on the park however bad they play, but please let's not stifle honest opinions about the players on this forum. I largely agree. It is good to be positive and supportive of the team and club as a whole when there is justification but, in some ways, it's even more important to be able to be critical when that is justified. There is a body of posters on this site who seem to feel it's their duty to be protective of the club and blind to, or as least ignoring, faults whether obvious or not. Often posts that are not syncophantically supportive are berated for being 'negative' with no discussion about whether that negativity is justified the suggestion that being off message at all is a bad thing per se. The likes of Caley D and the likes of Dougal may be at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the extremes of blind and unquestioning loyalty and constant, often unjustified carping and negativity with the vast majority of us somewhere in between but, as long as we are all respectful of other's differing view that's what makes this site worth visiting. Speaking of different opinions, I don't agree with you about Nick Ross. He is, like a number of others, not in the best form at the moment but, in my view, is now a mainstay of team and has the potential to continue to be for many years to come. We both can't be right on that but we are both entitled to voice that opinion without jumping down each other's throats for holding contrasting views.

Fair enough to have a go at folk who shout abuse at players at a game but I fail to see what is wrong with making objective criticism of players on this forum. If this forum is not for expressing opinions then what is it for? I don't think it is supportive to the team simply to praise the praiseworthy and keep quiet about aspects which are not so good. If folk feel particular players are not making quite the contribution to the team as they should be and feel there are better options, then it is surely supportive to the team to voice those views. Nick Ross has been a "promising" player for a number of years but IMHO has not lived up to that promise. He has some nice little touches but rarely makes a particularly telling contribution to the game. He has now had a long run in the team and in my view the team needs someone rather more creative and incisive and with an eye for goal. I can't see that we would be any worse off by giving Christie or Pepper a decent run in the side. If all our players were available then I would put Shinnie back to left back and play Vincent, Draper, Foran, Doran, Watkins, and Mckay. With the option of Tremarco at left back releasing Shinnie into midfield as well as the availability of Greenhalgh, Christie, Pepper, Williams and Polworth then Ross would struggle to even get on the bench. TM4J's suggestion of putting him out on loan is a sensible one in my view. Personally I feel Ross is not quite up to the standard required, but if he does have the ability to justify him being selected ahead of these other players, it is not being translated into performances on the park. A period on loan at a lower level may just give him the opportunity to shine and gain a bit of confidence. In my view that would be supportive of both him and the team. No doubt others will leap to Nick's defence and that would be good. That is what the forum is all about. Support the players on the park however bad they play, but please let's not stifle honest opinions about the players on this forum.

Your choice of course but I happen to think our players deserve better! I also happen to think travel and a ticket for £30 to a national semi final is good value even for pensioners.

On the other hand, the League Cup semi final is the ideal time to break that cycle.

Tactically Yogi got it spot on today. With what he had at his disposal he picked the best possible 11 and he wasnt shy in giving Christie and Polworth their chances, both of whom are giving an account of themselves. There have been a number of circumstances that have seen us have the dismal winter spell that we have had, a lot of which were outwith his control but today certainly saw the positives outshine the negatives. I really want him to do well just so we can get over the unease of will he/wont he and so some that are struggling to get to grips with it can get back to simply supporting the team. Would like to see him bring in a couple over the window so we can at least get some sort of look at how he does business and so he can put some sort of spin on the team that is his, it could be the sort of thing that could kick start the season. There needs to be a great deal of patience and while things may get worse before they get better but we will all still be there showing support with today hopefully being a step in the right direction.

A decent point that stops the rot but I can't see us catching either Aberdeen or Motherwell so European qualification through the league is now unlikely. All the more reason to compensate by going all out to win the League Cup or to try to qualify for Europe through the Scottish Cup. I still think we will have just about enough to stay in the top six, Can't fault today's team selection or, for the most part the tacticts, Polworth will be a player but is probably not quite first team quality yet. We are lucky to have the exremely versatile Graeme Shinnie who looks comfortable in every roll he's given. I actually thought Ross had a decent game and is being unfairly criticised but it was a poor penalty although I understand why he took it as he had slotted home the last two. However, in the absence of Vincent, maybe we should revert back to Billy. I know that he missed a couple in a row before he was relieved of the duties but he's the natural goal scorer and should maybe be given another chance. Finally, Brill is a great shot stopper but today he was lucky and not for the first time. He cost us at least a point with his howler against Partick and possibly all three and has got away with a few since. Maybe time to give our new goalkeeping coach a run. In the continuing absence of Draper and Foran, we are light in midfield, if we are going to bring in Tansey on loan it would be good if we could do so this week. He has been playing fairly regularly so will be match fit so I would slot him in straight away against the Dons. All in all, we were far from our flowing best today but we could and should have taken all three points and it was probably our most encouraging performance under the new manager.

I find it hilarious that we are still sticking with a player that offers very little, great support or not, the guy needs to man up or get out. Neat and tidy granted, match winner not. Doing my head in. Let's all be loyal to home bred players, whether they are good enough or not, makes no sense.

We miss Vincent and watkins to support billy and create. Wonder if Birmingham would give us shinniesta back on loan, his brother is still here plus since leaving he doesn't look likely to get another Scotland cap any time soon.

I think that Yogi put out the best team possible (given injuries & suspensions) and played players in most suitable positions. Hopefully he'll now grasp the nettle & make this his team - as opposed to trying to continue "as you were" with the team inherited from TB. A decent enough performance and result - and nearly a bit better. Onwards to the next game now.

A glass is always half empty and needs regular replenishment.

But that's only 1 point out of 12 in last 4 home games.. Not good enough! Would be relegation form but for our great start to the season. We'll do well to stay in top 6 I fear.

Scored 2 goals on his debut today.

Rangers were not relegated! It's extraordinary that this perception persists for some. It should be remembered that, like Hearts, Rangers 'punishment' for going into administration was a points penalty. However, unlike Hearts, Rangers failed to come out of administration and were subsequently liquidated. This resulted in Dundee taking-up the vacant spot in the (then) SPL. That left the (then) Scottish Football league with 29 member clubs with the (then) 3rd Division requiring an additional team. Ordinarily, this would have led to a vote to elect a new member, be it Spartans, Cove Rangers or whoever, assuming they could provide 3 years of audited accounts to verify their suitability as a solvent club. As history shows, the goalposts were conveniently moved to allow the newly-formed 'The Rangers' their place in the bottom tier. A different entity but certainly not a relegated 'Rangers' team.

I bow to your local knowledge. I worked beside 20 or so lads from in and around Inverness, down in Edinburgh from 1982-2002. That was their words/opinion, and from one of your Suits when I enjoyed Corp Hosp. at Longman, I used. One only need to look at some of the Monikers on here, and comments from my old pal Johndo for example, to see that 20yrs down the line ...... resentment still exists. Quick question. Is there really a Celtic shop in Inverness ? That'll help.

Would you stop going because of a name change ? I doubt it. Plenty did stop going because of the MERGER, and the identity crisis many - like yourself - hold onto keeps those wounds well and truly open. I had a colleague, a Thistle fan of over 30yrs, "I aint supporting a team with the word Caledonian in it", he said, and who to this day watches Clach instead. Want more people thru the gates imho you're going to have to eliminate the barriers that restrict that desire, and your identity is one big barrier. Many years ago, John Boyle proposed a merger between Motherwell, Accies and Airdrie. Had he called it MotherwellOniansAcademical and played in claret/amber/red/white no one would have entertained it. Had he called it Buckfast Utd and played in Blue n Yellow for example ...... it just may have stood a chance.

Never mind penalties! what about someone who can take a free kick from the edge of the box and actually hit the target, cant mind how many free kicks we get that end in complete and utter failure.

Liam Keogh was released in 2007 and signed for Peterhead and then Elgin City. He packed it in at that point and went to work offshore. I remember when we got promoted in 2004 people thought he could push on into Scotland contention! Didn't quite work out like that. I was there when Keogh scored his first goal btw. Paul Bradshaw ended up playing for Forres again. I'm sure I heard that during one season he stopped showing up for matches and training when the Can-Cans were out of contention for the title He really was a waste of talent. If Steve Paterson releases you from your contract for being unprofessional, it's time to re-evaluate your life.