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Did Charlie Bannerman have to pay for his seat ?

Not one to live long in the memory - instantly forgettable. But to be honest, tonight's result is largely unimportant when we take into consideration the bigger picture on this historic day. Exactly 20 years ago (13th Aug 1994) the club played it's first ever league game - a fixture with Arbroath that we won 5-2. Look at us now! Forget tonight - it's of no consequence in the grand scheme of the ICT journey - remember how far we've come in a short time! Happy Birthday ICT. In 5 minutes (from posting) the club moves proudly into its third decade!

Quick thoughts before I completely nod off after that dull fest of a match. First half was incredibly boring. Lots of sideways passing from ICT which made Dundee work hard trying to close us down but we barely got forward when we had the ball and didn't seem to have much interest in trying to do anything positive with it other than retain possession. Best chance came when Draper attempted an audacious 40 yard lob but it sailed just over. In the second half the ineffective Vincent was replaced by Watkins which allowed us to try and stretch the Dundee defence except we, erm, didn't and in fact managed to somehow play even more narrow at times. At one point Watkins, Christie and Doran were all hovering around the edge of the D. We did have some good chances to score with Shinnie perhaps having the best chance when he rifled a low effort at the Dee keeper but after the initial shot was spilled he blazed over. Warren also had a good chance from a header and Watkins led a four man break on three or four Dundee defenders but dallied on the ball too long and gave the ball away. Dundee also had some good chances. Peter MacDonald twice managed to lose his marker from a free kick / corner but wasn't able to convert. His best chance came when he sped away from Meekings but thumped the ball over from about 6 yards out. Dundee also had a penalty claim turned down as well. Hard to see what happened from the other end of the pitch but it looked like we might have gotten away with one there. Overall a draw was a fair result I think. From an ICT perspective I am somewhat concerned at our slow approach to the game. We seldom looked interested to try and do anything attacking wise with the ball often turning back and sending the ball back from midfield to defence to start over again. Good attacking positions were lost as we seemed to prefer the safer option of keep the ball at all costs. Vincent was all over the place playing out on the right hand side. He was out of position and left Raven exposed on a good few occasions and didn't really stretch the Dundee defence when he got forward drifting into the middle of the park with alarming regularity. Once Watkins came on, and later Doran, I hoped we would stretch Dundee more and work some space for Ryan Christie to exploit. Instead, as mentioned previously, the three were often found in close proximity in the middle of the pitch and when the ball was played back to the full backs they had no wide men offering support on the left or right. To be honest, I thought we looked very disjointed for a fair chunk of the game with the players seemingly unsure where they should be or what to do. Improvements needed for us ahead of Motherwell especially going forward. We capitalised on two daft errors at Hamilton but Dundee were much more resolute at the back and look a tough side to break down. They should have enough quality to avoid relegation.

In the post-match interview on the BBC, Hughes acknowledged a lack of creativity and imagination in the final third. It's good that he acknowledges this, but isn't it unrealistic to expect that all our opportunities should come from a 'piece of magic' (which is how he put it), based on a patient build-up from the back? Surely there's a place for playing a higher line at some points in the game, pressing the ball more and trying to force opponents into mistakes, as well, of course, as switching the ball out to the wings and trying to get in behind them. We do have the players to mix it up like this, I think.

I have created a new video showing Billy McKay's best and most important goals for ICT throughout the last couple of seasons! Feedback would be appreciated, thanks :)

That's just stupid. How could anybody with any sense post something like this.

When paying £3M for a player you should hopefully expect him to be there or there abouts. Taking nothing away from him Portugals second tier is still a good standard. Main point I was making was really if Billy went abroad that it isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. Technically he is already abroad !!! He's British and still in Britiain For now...

I've said this before but you have to consider the benefit to us in the long term of allowing players to move on to bigger clubs or better leagues in attracting promising young players from elsewhere. A selling club that develops talent has to actually sell players or the masterplan doesnt work, especially given the perceived downsides of asking a young player to move a million miles away into the frozen wilderness to get a game. You have to be able to tell prospects over a contract signing that players X, Y and McZ all signed similar low income deals but we provided a proven platform that eventually leads to big money elsewhere. If you hang onto guys until they become totally irrelevant or we try to nickel and dime buying clubs in transfer negotiations then the rest of the current squad will be more reluctant to sign extended deals and new recruits will be more reluctant to take the gamble on us.

Stevie MAy is better than Billy. If we were offered 300k I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.

When paying £3M for a player you should hopefully expect him to be there or there abouts. Taking nothing away from him Portugals second tier is still a good standard. Main point I was making was really if Billy went abroad that it isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. Technically he is already abroad !!! He's British and still in Britiain

By the time we get the ball into the final third the other team have everyone behind the ball and in position - there's no space to attack. I don't have a problem with building moves from the back, but the current style is just too slow , rigid and predictable. There's no variation. No free flowing moves. No getting in behind. No overloads. Anyone get the impression that Hughes is over-coaching the team? The crazy tippy tappy stuff under pressure in our own third almost cost us the game towards the end. Can't fault the players tonight, bar Vincent who kept giving the ball away. Watkins made a huge difference when introduced. Horner also impressive.

Well it's going to be long season if that performance is to go by. Pretty passing yes I agree but I'm sure the idea is to go forward and not sideways or backwards most of the time and ultimately put the wee round thing in the back o the net. There was an improvement when we got Watkins on and yes we did have a few chances, but tippy tappy nae for me.

I don't think anyone wants Hughes to fail. I have met Yogi on numerous occasions , before and since he became the manager, and I like him a lot finding him knowledgeable, funny and interesting. I'm just not convinced by the tactics he wants to play but hope above hope that he's right and I'm totally wrong and I think a lot of people feel the same.

Well thats was unusual...our manager's usually leave round about October!

Can't be bothered starting a new thread but lawl at this...

Im in the same boat with the 3-5-2 just a few subtle changes for me. Brill Meekings Warren Tremarco Watkins Draper Polworth Shinnie Tansey Christie Mckay Subs: Esson, Raven, Williams, Vincent, Horner, Doran, Ross,

Think a lot of folk were cheesed off at the announcer for announcing the other games scores whilst we were still trying to find a winning goal. Off topic I know!

I think there is a need , how can the poster give the opinion if he doesn't see the team play ?

It is early season so don't judge too soon, or should we? I am sure the players realise they have to work on the final ball. We seem to be working on a wing back principle without the 3rd centre back If a fullback is in attacking mode he has to get in a more challenging position and get goal side of his marker To make myself clear not much point in passing to an unmarked fullback who is on the wrong side of the defence. Surely the inside forward ( showing my age)_ has to draw the marker then pass inside to the winger or wing back. There was booing last night from sections of the home crowd , I didn't hear a single song not even the mandatory cat calling of the referee ;something I don't like but it shows we were all but going to sleep. I thought after the Hamilton game Hughes had got his message across , he may have, but I now think the players are afraid to express themselves, I feel they feel hidebound to follow instructions to the letter. Professional footballers should be given licence to adjust to the situation and do what they feel good at, without fear of a rollicking from the head coach. This is most apparent with the goalkeeper, who seems to be under duress to feed a short ball out every time. Surely an element of surprise would be an occasional thump up the field. Often opposition centre backs miss head the ball and .attackers can latch on to it. I have been watching football matches since 1949 and I can't believe what I am seeing, it is neither fish nor fowl as they say. No wonder Hartlepool were relegated under Hughes's tenure. We have played two promoted sides - what will good sides in the division make of our style ? I am sure the coaches of Motherwell and Celtic will see the videos of the game and will work on a pressing game to cut down the room for short passing . .

It's this ^^^. Why is there a need to put "does he even go to games?" after a perfectly justified "don't rise to him". If we all took a step back and cut out the jibes there would be no negatives or happy clappers. just ICT fans.

I see Ben Greenhalgh has re-joined Maidstone United. They also have Steven Watt apparently.

From the last time I made some enquiries, the club were considering running busses if the numbers added up, the only trouble is that the revenue from new fans would subsidise the bus so nothing would be gained. (Q&As) A family of 4 getting on the bus would cost too much if it is privately run and would be just as cheap to take the car. From making enquiries, I believe public transport is subsidised by the council at around 70% and I would rather the bus was publicly funded, they seem quite happy to run empty buses all day round the town why not run some that would be packed. I like the idea of youngsters, families or pensioners jumping on a bus locally and going straight to the match and home again. If its publicly funded a 7 day bus ticket could be used to take you to matches for free, kids would be free and pensioners would be free. It certainly reduces the carbon footprint. Its not an overnight thing though, as notice has to be given, it may have been 1-2 months notice to seek permission to add a new public bus route and also the same notice to cancel it. Would have to trawl through old emails to find the exact time scale. I also made a suggestion a good while ago to a local bus company that it could ease city centre congestion by alternating bus routes from the Culloden, Moray and beyond etc, by entering the city via Longman road. Not only would this have opened up access from the East to the stadium by getting off at the Clydesdale bank and back on at MFM for matches but would have also open up access to the industrial estate, which would have meant easy access to B&Q, Halfords, Tisos a multitude of Garages and any other business you care to mention in the area. The bus company wasn't interested, they would rather stick to the same routes ( Millburn Road ) as its far easier to keep to a time table when your bus is empty and you don't have any passengers to pick up and drop off. Even bus drivers could get a bus direct to their work with a change of route and anyone who works down the longman ! Back to Duncos question no I don't know of any. As far as the bus company is concerned you could get a bus in to town then get a multitude of busses that are available that go over the Kessock bridge and get off at Moray Firth Maltings/ Clydesdale bank and walk. I also made the suggestion of using the huge laybys on the A9 as a bus stop but that is covered by Transport Scotland.

After the first two minutes, where we passed the ball around at lightning speed, I turned to my friend and said "If we can keep this tempo up then we'll do well." We didn't. Not even close. Not a minute went past in the main stand without the phrase "too slow" being used by somebody. For all our possession, we managed to create one glaring chance in open play all night, for Graeme Shinnie. That's woeful for a home team playing against anyone. At the back, Warren and Meekings look a whole lot more comfortable than they did in this system last season, and until the late flurry of Dundee chances we didn't look like conceding. But often we got so many people behind the ball defensively that Mckay was left terribly isolated even when holding the ball up. If we're going to score goals in this system, we have to either be capable of 'pieces of magic' in the final third or we have to be able to simply tire out the opposition and pick them off in the later stages. Unfortunately, Scottish Premiership players are not capable of 'pieces of magic' unless they have time and space, which ours don't have. Worryingly, I thought Dundee looked fitted and stronger in the last 15 minutes, which means we weren't tiring them out. Quite the opposite in fact. We even managed to screw up a 4 on 3 break late on. If we can't manage to open up defences in these situations, what hope does Yogi have of us doing so against two banks of four?! Some great performances tonight, mind - Shinnie and Draper in particular stood out for me. Drapes must have won about 10 tackles, and the moment in the second half when a Dundee player tried to obstruct him and got run over was the highlight of the game for me!

I wasn't at the game but spoke to a "neutral" who was there and said it was a rotten game, his word "lots of foreplay but no action" . Seems that the majority of those that were there feel the same. Davie, I think almost everyone that goes to the game "likes football" however they also like to see goals, if you gave me the choice, 20 passes in the middle of the park and no end product or a hoof and a goal, I would take the hoof every time.

Mostly agree with what's being said about tonight's match. I just feel Billy Mckay is being wasted in this system. He'll still score goals but won't be quite as prolific as he previously was. In my opinion, he is one of the best 'off the shoulder' strikers in the league. He is brilliant at running in behind and into the channels. Under Hughes, he is forced to constantly play with his back to goal. We're not playing to his strengths and are simply not going to get the best out of him.

Really frustrating stuff at times tonight. Too many times we take the easy option and pass back or sideways in promising positions. Some nice play at times between 18 yard boxes but no ideas in the final third. I'm all for keeping possession and fighting to get it back (which I admit we did quite well tonight) but there is a real lack of threat in the final third of the park. A better team would have taken the 2/3 chances that Dundee had and made us pay for some very slow and predictable play.

The cost of losing a key player, in terms of prize / gate money from league position and cup runs, needs to be factored in. Even for a bid of £300,000 we could find ourselves at zero net gain, or perhaps even at a net loss. It also sends out the wrong message to other clubs, i.e. Caley players are available on the cheap.

I don't want Yogi to fail. I have never met him but he comes over as an amiable decent character. It doesn't stop me having concerns about his track record and ongoing shortcomings as a manager. I still can't understand why there are those to continue to equate expressing doubts about his ability with an eagerness for him to fail.

Icarus

I've heard Oscar Pistorious has sacked his legal team and hired Celtiic. This way you can lose both legs and still win. (I'll get my coat)

Ryan Christie is just one option to support Billy. If more Inverness people supported the club we might be in a better position to find a new striker to join the club. Billy and Ryan and the other options we have actually give us a strong starting position. Let us be very positive going to Hamilton.

IMO, I think there was a point in time when we would have received some interesting money for Billy but until he starts scoring regularlyagain that time has gone.