Leaderboard

because Parkhead will, of course, be bursting at the seams and neither Celtic or Glasgow's finest could possibly cope with a couple of dozen ICT fans making last minute decisions to attend.Sometimes Scottish football does itself no favours. Can you imagine a cinema or theatre more than half empty refusing to sell seats unless they are purchased at least a day in advance 150 miles away ?

I could say ask me again after Saturday but he is still tinkering with systems and, on the whole IMHO, has learned from mistakes, at times has even had the guts to admit to that and now appears to be putting systems and selections to suit the opposition. I have been one of the more positive onlookers but I fel that he has actually surpassed my expectations. Many felt that the departure of the Grand Narcissist would lead to a mass player exodus. The fact that it clearly has not is the most positive feedback that could be afforded to the manager of a wee team in an isolated situation, an outfit well short of finances and with an unpredictable fan base.

DD, your post is most disappointing all things considered. If not completely depressing it is not exactly uplifting and inspiring coming from a supposed true follower. Why even bother to mention the negative thoughts you may have when the club is joint top of the division and when you can seek out and highlight the positives? Are you still not happy with the progress recently made since the change of management? When will you ever just come out and just say that J.H is doing a great job, the squad has gelled and the players on the bench are highly trained, probably fit as fiddles and just raring to participate. What on earth more do you expect with such poor crowds and a club with such limited resources? The club seems to have got finances under good control, the team and the Management are all on the same page and the Manager, according to the views of many whiners on here still expressing their reservations , has actually surpassed their expectations. Yet the latter comments are grudgingly given and instead of being definitive and robust they are faint praise indeed. As for J Hughes ---when I listen to him I relish the fact that he rarely ever says anything negative about his players and his comments are more often constructive than anything else and should be an example to all of us. I do think that some of you should adopt a more positive approach to the efforts of all employed by and at the club. He gets along well with others and FITS IN for goodness sake. The club are doing all sorts of things behind the scenes to drum up interest that I never knew about, and maybe some of you guys don't either. But they came to my notice recently and I was both surprised and delighted at the several efforts being made to encourage youngsters to participate in activities that will reflect well on ICT in Inverness and several other dynamic initiatives have also been started and implemented on different levels that are bound to bear fruit as time goes along. What this club and our new Manager needs at this point is absolute support and encouragement from positive actions and comments on all aspects of management. Post # 43, above, by Caley Dawson highlights this exactly. When people work hard, try hard and perform to the best of their ability they deserve praise and encouragement to buoy them up and to allow their internal plans, schemes and initiatives and positive juices to flow unimpeded by worry.

There are exceptions to the stereotypical fleece wearing, middle class, middle aged folk who are drunk and do not give a crap what anyone else thinks about them

Game with the Killie just kicked off and the team is: Hoban, Horner, Howarth, Baptie, Brown, Polworth, Devine, Wilson, Ferguson, Sekajja, Sutherland

Billy looked like a man who had no faith in his ability on Saturday but it is possible that the constant use of him since the turn of the year has maybe worn him out. He's only human after all. With all the time and trialling that went into acquiring Sekajja maybe it would be in Yogi's best interests to give him a run in the team and see how he gets on. Like Roughi says I would see it more as resting Billy as opposed to dropping him. Oh and Doran was rubbish against County which is why he was hooked, he then threw a tantrum which is why we probably havent seen him since the derby. Not that it matters. Marley, Williams and Vincent have all done well since coming back into the fold.

SP, you ask, "are you still not happy with the progress recently made since the change of management?" I ask, what progress are you referring to? As I said in my post, I am very encouraged by the improved performance at the start of this season compared with the end of last season - but since the change of management? Since Yogi took over we have played 42 competitive games, winning 15, drawing 13 and losing 14. In the year and a bit before Butcher left we played 58 competitive games winning 25, drawing 19 and losing 14. Can you please explain how a significantly inferior record over a prolonged period represents progress? These are the facts. There is no point accusing me of being negative just because I base my comments on the facts. If you read my posts you will see I am actually being very positive about the team. I state "I am absolutely delighted that we are where we are". I refer to our "wonderful squad" which I believe can "do something really special". And in talking about whether we can finish in the top 3 this season, I state "I firmly believe this squad is capable of doing so." Just how much more positive can one get! You also ask "when will you ever just come out and just say that J.H is doing a great job?" The answer is simple. When the results and performances on the park demonstrate that he is! Yes, I know we are second in the league and that is great, but we are only just over a quarter through the season. We have a great squad who should be able to stay close to the top throughout the season. If we can achieve that then I will be absolutely delighted to say that Yogi has done a great job. In truth, there is still some way to go before we can say the team has progressed under Yogi's management but he certainly has my full support and best wishes for the task ahead.

Can we all not just enjoy what is happening at a club we all love, i mean at the end of the day a wins a win whoever our manager is everyone likes to win so lets just enjoy it cause who knows what could happen in football, we could become better or we could slip down either way just get behind the club

And that is also a load of tosh as well. They should take note of Birmingham City and their ALL ticket but pay at the gate policy.

5-1 Ryan Baptie scored from a free kick

Resting and restoring of confidence with a few goals away from the limelight. Who wouldn't have bet their shirt on him burying that chance he effectively ended up passing to the United 'keeper on Saturday this time last year ?

I am hugely encouraged by his start this season. I don't quite get how some are still trying to find negatives, the team with one of the lower budgets in the division sitting 2nd, the players appear to have bought into his style of play, chances are now being created for Billy and once he takes one he will start banging them in again. Negatives? nah not for me I will just enjoy it.

ICTRoughi....I can't comment on the Rangers game, but I felt we did pretty well in the Cup Final, first absorbing Aberdeen pressure, then nullifying their threat...for 20-25mins of the 2nd half we were in complete control, but couldn't get the goal, and blew ourselves out. I think we relied too much on Billy to get the goals. I think the team now would win that game...yes I know you have to take the chance when presented, maybe we weren't quite good enough, but there are several players who have come on a fair bit since that game.... helped I in my view by Yogi's stewardship

I feel that John Hughes has done a good job with us on the basis that we are still maintaining our status as a top six side. In truth Yogi's reign at ICT could have gone horribly wrong for the reasons already stated (Mass exodus, drop in form etc) In the first few months of his tenure, I wasn't overly keen on the style of play because at times the players seemed quite alienated to the idea of playing in our own half because under Butcher it was attack, attack. I kept saying to myself to wait and see what happens with a proper pre season under his belt and the style of play and absolutely we are seeing the nice, slick football and yes it's very easy on the eye. I personally thought that last Saturday's match was easy on the eyes and quite an enthralling match between two good football teams. I do also share the thoughts of Renegade regarding the Rangers and Cup Final games. I felt that both Rangers and Aberdeen were there for the taking and if we pressed them more, we could be sitting here as Cup Winners 2014 and still in the cup etc. Absolutely Yogi deserves all the credit, joint top of the table in October is something to be proud of but for me the most important time period for ICT is the winter period, when we have our annual 'slump', when the weather starts affecting the pitches and of course we don't have a two week break in January so it's going to be intense. As Yogi says let's roll the sleeves up and have a go at it!

I think the all-seating ruling has negatively impacted on singing at football - apart from the huge clubs where like-minded individuals are grouped together. In the Inverness Thistle days, I'd be standing with a group of guys and we'd chant occasionally, but nowadays, in seats, the group-bond has been neutralised. you're spread out along a row of seats. My mate, Dave, for example, who 20 minutes ago was sitting next to me in the pub, is now 6 seats along in the stadium - the banter goes stone-dead. (it usually does with me, but you get my point!) There's often a woman on my left who is more interested in getting some of her son's mate's cousin's photos transferred to her bloody I-phone than even showing a passing interest in the game! And that's me being polite and politically correct! if I stood up and put my arm around her and bounced - only two things would happen! Arrested or a bondage game in South Kessock! There are many and varied reasons why football has changed, SKY, more saturation, stadium regulations, disparity in wages between the working man and the players etc. even the fact it's become more 'family' oriented - certainly, in my Highland League days, a woman at football was something peculiar! Not standing anymore, is a huge obstacle to singing. One normally stands in churches and for national anthems. It's physically easier!

Well well I am glad you are all so generous with your comments on our manager's and our Team's performance. Remind me please is this Inverness C T the richest club and the highest paid squad in Europe? United Kingdom ? Scotland? I would ask you to reassess your thoughts and opinions with a little more reality in mind. Yogi has surpassed your expectations already, the Squad, which has been held together, is playing their most attractive football ever, obviously enjoying the camaraderie which has been built up and yet still learning and building successfully on the tactical side. Perfection ( which you appear to expect ) is difficult to achieve and takes a very long hard struggle and cannot be rushed, we may not even reach it, has any team ever done so? What has been done up 'till now has been excellent and deserves a bit more than some reserved comments. Fortunately our manager and players are savvy enough to know themselves about errors of judgement, taking hold of every game etc.etc. they don't have to be told by us. Come on lads given our resources, admit it, we are doing extremely well. Yogi has set his pace for progression, accept it and enjoy our Club's achievements and how they are getting there.

Flag Pictures.