Leaderboard

Sorry Dougalbut your statistics dont hold firm. Indeed they are very much the sort offigures that the NO campaigners would churn out. I not you have conveniantly omitted a large proportion of the so called refuseniks. You've omitted the 2000 odd who help make up the home crowd whenwe face Aberdeen, Celtic and Rangers. The ones who could never get to games to watch their real team but, instead, joined in the fun and frolics of a Highland League game. Some of them use the merger as an excuse but in reality have no intention of following another team in the same league as their true idols.

Greg's 40 yard strike included in the video interview....

It is for some and there are evidently the usual media and management myths and mistruths to dispel. The future is important and I think that you forget that most of the participants in this debate are loyal supporters who have spent a lot of time supporting ICT and encouraging their families to follow in their footsteps. Supporting a team from afar means you can't help as much as you can so little so called words of wisdom become annoying patronising phrases - probably from someone who has swallowed the myths. Thanks for the response Ferben - that is very reassuring - keep up the good work but learn from the past and keep an open mind unlike some of the bitter old fossils.

How about channeling you energy into the future and thinking about how you can help galvanise the club, fans and community. After all one half of your club is you child, the other half is your stepchild. How about looking after both of them. With the same interest. They are growing up fast, so what can you do to help them on their way.

I thought the whole point of this forum or any forum for that matter was to stimulate debate and that means the debate should be from both sides however that is obviously not the case and that happy clapping is the only side that is tolerated No wonder so many ICT supporters have left CTO for P&B over the years and not returned Pathetic!!!! Dougal

No point continually retreading old ground, as the fact is that Caley and Thistle will never split because

I'm not sure whether I've commented on this sad and negative thread before, but as it is now over 600 posts long I think i'll say my bit. Not having been born and bred in Inverness I never developed a particular alleigence to any of the inverness teams. When I moved to Inverness in 1975 I would watch any of the three teams to fit in with when I was free or if there was a game that had a particular attraction. For me, supporting the merger with the prospect of entry in the Scottish league and progress within it was an exciting prospect. From a purely footballing perspective supporting the merger was a no brainer. On the face of it, it seems absurd that over 20 years later this is still something people feel compelled to talk about. I can well understand that at the time many people were very unhappy with the prospect of a merger and about the way things were handled. But whatever issues may have caused hurt then are over and done with. What we now have is a new team which is far more successful than either of the merged teams ever were and which deserves the support of all local football fans. I am not going to speculate on how many refusniks there are because I neither know nor care. Whilst I can understand the passion these folk may have had for preserving the identify of the team they had supported over the years, I fail to understand why, if they are genuine lovers of football, they don't give their support to ICT. OK, so they were deeply upset about the merger but ffs, get over it. Just what is the point of denying yourself the pleasure of supporting the local team as it progresses over the years? These are the sort of people who, if a Marathon bar had been their favourite chocolate bar would refuse to eat a Snickers because they didn't think the name should have been changed. But I suspect that many of the so called refuseniks were actually never particularly keen on the football. For them it was an identity thing and supporting either Caley or Thistle was like being in a big gang. When the gangs disappeared there was nothing for them but to mourn the loss of their gang and they are mourning still. Asking them to come along and watch ICT was a bit like expecting gang members to trot along to the boys' brigade (if it still exists). Refuseniks. Either stupid or not interested in football. Yes, they may influence their offspring (if they're allowed access) but youngsters are also influenced by peer pressure and increasingly this pressure and the good promotional work done by the club will reduce the impact of any refuseniks on the youngsters to an insignificant level. Of course, this continual obsession with the merger merely keeps the poison flowing. The refuseniks have cut off their noses to spite their faces and they aren't going to start supporting ICT now. There is nothing productive to be gained by continuing to speculate on their numbers and the potential loss of support they represent. We will progress better as a club if we ignore them - just as they have ignored us for the last 20 years. Hopefully I'll do my bit by not posting on this thread again but it would be much more productive if Dougal stopped posting his nonsense on the subject.

I am being totally serious in my statement that the merger has been responsible for a lot of potential ICT supporters. It is not a few it is considerable. The delusion that it is minimal is my frustration and it is being shown on the Facebook page as these are not the voiciferous refuseniks but are Joe Soaps - and they influence their offspring. I clearly do not give a feck but get feckin pisssed when some peeple are blind to the facts.

What on earth happened in the early sixties 'cause before my National service in 1958 the concensus of opinion at Telford ST. Grant Street and Kingsmills was to amalgamate and have one strong Inverness Team to challenge the big headed Southern teams that thought we still lived in black houses up here. I for one who was a staunch Caley man am delighted that the name lives on in the Inverness team and proud of the progress the merger has brought. Long may ICT reign in the top division as the pride of the Highlands and if the native Invernessions can't grasp that we have something really good going here then it is their loss. The up and coming generation will surely have a bit more savvy and they too will share my belief that one day Inverness will be the top Scottish Club and turn out in their thousands to urge them on to that peak in Highland history. Never forget Caley....never forget Thistle but rejoice in the Inverness Team that has been made by uniting. Edited to say you too I H E

Have a look for yerself - very interesting thread - and it would appear that there as many derisory Jeggies as there are Caley. Wish you would take yer biased, misinformed, manipulated head out of yer erse and understand the feelings of the "real" pre merger support. You are beginning to be a bit like Brazil in terms of embarrassment.

Should be Greg Tansey taking the pens if you ask me.

I'd sooner wear that horrific commonwealth games outfit than the begging rags the no voters lining the streets and underground in London covet lol

It's what we'll all have to wear if the yes vote wins the referendum !

Whatever happens, let's just think ourselves lucky we haven't used the same designer as the Scotland Commonwealth Games team.

An article in todays P&J reporting that Hughes is looking to strengthen the following areas - right back, centre half and up front dependant on who is available. Good to see he has identified up front as an area needing strengthened. Will be interesting to see if he can get new faces in quickly. The sooner the better IMO in order to let them settle into the squad before the season starts

John Hughes should be sacked over this shambles.