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I dont buy the location BS. If people want to go to watch ICT they will go wherever we play .... ask the 500 or so who were in Romania ... or the diaspora who live all over the UK and elsewhere who schedule their travels to try and ensure they take in a game when they can, or even those in Inverness who for whatever reason (eg. personal, work or family reasons) can only go occasionally but do go .... If people in Inverness who dont already go really want to watch ICT then the stadium location may not be perfect, but it is something they will overlook. Yes its baltic in winter due to its open-ness, and yes the infrastructure around it is far from ideal .... but please ... if its Baltic at the TCS, then its not going to be tropical elsewhere in Inverness !! and whilst you could perhaps make a case for better location in Bught or perhaps Holm Mills now that we in effect almost have a ring road round the town (or will do when the next bit is done), its like comparing apples and oranges because we didnt have it when the stadium was built and if we cant afford a few grand for an additional striker after our best ever season we certainly cant afford to up sticks and move to some fantasy stadium that will bring an anecdotal attendance nirvana to the club.

I'm not suggesting the concerns aren't reasonable, it's clear we need huge improvements, however I feel that it's being blown way out of proportion. Celtic would struggle with the amount of first team injuries we have! I feel last years 'history' is very relevant. All but Watkins, Ofere and Shinnie that started that game are still at the club and surely past success should teach you to have faith in our quality having seen what our players are capable of?

Things might be a bit more sustainable if we got more than 3000 odd coming along after an incredible season. I trust the board know best to do what's right as they know the big picture. I doubt they're out blowing the cash on strippers and Dom Perignon

We should consider this: The club's fan backing has not been great over the years and the revenue stream has matched it. This last year was outstanding in comparison and maybe the Board are reluctant to spend a substantial portion of the income since they feel that last year's income was rather exceptional and maybe a lot of it should remain stashed in the bank in case of the inevitable return of what they have previously had to contend with i.e break-even finances and little in the way of spare cash. To find a replacement for Billy to perform by scoring all the time is a tall order it seems so--how will spending a large sum of money on a transfer fee change thst situation if it doesn't work out? Also, Richie has not been playing and yet his salary has had to be paid.. The team has been decimated by transfers-out of several quality performers and the rhythm of the unit completely disrupted accordingly; meaning the real possibility of poorer results and, possibly, poorer crowds and lower revenue streams. With the excellent year we have just had, won't the Manager's salary have also been reviewed? The loss of Russell must mean some kind of other adjustment is being considered which, inevitably, will mean a further financial outlay or at least a review to see what can be done to replace him? If I were in management I would be reluctant to spill the beans to the public at this exact moment in time until some light was shining at the end of the tunnel, some stability was achieved and some playing personnel, such as new signings or new youngsters needing to be blooded , had proved that they are for real and have the right stuff to support the challenge of this season alone. Spending MORE big money at this juncture in the season in ways that may not actually turn out to be beneficial would not probably occur to me as being a very useful strategy. Sitting tight and reviewing things with a very critical eye on a day-to-day basis would seem more rational. And how many people might wonder ..."Well, if John the Man were to think of leaving for pastures new because for him (after last year) the time is really ripe, or receive a very good offer, what would we do if he were to suddenly leave?" If these thoughts don't turn you on then why not just ask the Board in the appropriate way to clarify your issues a bit more by using the Ask the Club Forum or thread approach? The challenge is that unless ICT were a public company owned by shareholders then management may not actually feel the need to divulge anything since plans for the full season, in view of recent developments (injuries etc.), may not have yet crystallized and are currently the subject of urgent and earnest discussion in the boardroom that still needs further sober and second thought. So, why not give the management another month to bed in the new parts and see which way the wind may be blowing. This is a difficult scenario and needs time to sort itself out doesn't it?

Was listening to the news headlines on Radio 4 earlier and was astonished to hear that our injury woes had made the UK national news! But then I realised they were reporting the latest on the Calais crisis.

No one in our team has hair as shite as Wes Fletcher. We don't come from Motherwell.

The main positives are that we have fared well in a history making experience in top class European football against a relatively established European team. The whole adventure was relished. And in case anyone has not noticed we are only ONE game in to the current league season. It looks like expectations have gone through the roof. Let's face it - life will go back to normal for ICT supporters - given the current situation it may even go into a wee bit of a dive. It is at times like this that we need to cherish the good times but support rather than chastise. I would hope that our signing / loan situation has not come to a halt. If it does I also think that questions should be asked about the financial management and status of the club. Every time that we have gone into a slump in the last few seasons - usually in December - the doom merchant vultures circle the Longman. Me - I may well join the criticism if things are not turned round but that is 4-6 games away and is doable - and if it ain't fixed then I will get out the ceremonial knives.

Christie's 'footballing brain' (horrible phrase but aye) would be wasted playing him up top imo. He's far too creative to be chucked upfront.

I honestly can't believe that some fans are actually defending the club if there are no further signings! We have gone without paying a transfer fee since 2008? It is amazing that Butcher & now Yogi have managed to achieve any sort of success with no financial support Last year was without doubt our most successful season and we also received our highest ever financial fee for a player (even if it was a pitiful £150,000) We are no longer paying the contracts for our club captain and 4 other first team players (inc. Mckay) Our attendances have always been what they are ... we have the unfortunate situation that Inverness doesn't keep a high number of young adults between 17 - 30 and I suspect this is the normal demographic for regular attendees for other clubs round the SPFL. The players signed this season haven't been playing at a high enough standard to demand wages that would even hit the sides of the players wages that left. IHE's spot on ... the club needs to explain to the fans why they are not backing Yogi if no more players come in to help him out While I agree with much of what you say, the club does need to be financially prudent and remember that without windfalls such as cup finals and transfer fees we tend to have an annual trading loss in the region of £300,000 which is not sustainable year after year. The first responsibility of the board is to ensure that we have a viable business going forward. That said, we have had two extraordinary years in succession from a financial point of view with a cup final in each year, compensation for our management team last year and a substantial transfer fee this even if it wasn't, as you wrongly say a record for the club, that was the fee of over twice as much we received for Marius Niculae. We also pocketed more in the way of place money than budgeted for and shown a profit on our European adventure albeit a very modest one. Taking all that into account, I am sure the board can loosen the purse strings just a bit and, in my view they should. **** aye! Forgot about Niculae but that was tainted by the time taken to get the cash and legal fees I am not expecting a million pound player just a competitive goalscorer either a free transfer or a minimal fee

I honestly can't believe that some fans are actually defending the club if there are no further signings! We have gone without paying a transfer fee since 2008? It is amazing that Butcher & now Yogi have managed to achieve any sort of success with no financial support Last year was without doubt our most successful season and we also received our highest ever financial fee for a player (even if it was a pitiful £150,000) We are no longer paying the contracts for our club captain and 4 other first team players (inc. Mckay) Our attendances have always been what they are ... we have the unfortunate situation that Inverness doesn't keep a high number of young adults between 17 - 30 and I suspect this is the normal demographic for regular attendees for other clubs round the SPFL. The players signed this season haven't been playing at a high enough standard to demand wages that would even hit the sides of the players wages that left. IHE's spot on ... the club needs to explain to the fans why they are not backing Yogi if no more players come in to help him out While I agree with much of what you say, the club does need to be financially prudent and remember that without windfalls such as cup finals and transfer fees we tend to have an annual trading loss in the region of £300,000 which is not sustainable year after year. The first responsibility of the board is to ensure that we have a viable business going forward. That said, we have had two extraordinary years in succession from a financial point of view with a cup final in each year, compensation for our management team last year and a substantial transfer fee this even if it wasn't, as you wrongly say a record for the club, that was the fee of over twice as much we received for Marius Niculae. We also pocketed more in the way of place money than budgeted for and shown a profit on our European adventure albeit a very modest one. Taking all that into account, I am sure the board can loosen the purse strings just a bit and, in my view they should.

There could be another positive, With all our injuries the other lads are going to be learning the ropes of Yogi's strategies in a more concentrated fashion and improving their play. The less favoured players also have an opportunity to push themselves harder in an effort to get themselves established in the Team. I am sure J H will be drumming this into them. It certainly isn't going to be easy but as I have said before we are going to have to be patient and a lot more understanding of our circumstances over the next few games

Lots of moot points - Alex is quite right about so many unrealistic expectations this season. We punched way above our weight last time out, this year was always likely to be a disappointment and patience is required. On the other hand, the Immortal one is also right. It's very strange that currently we seem to be the architects of our own downfall. Financially, last year's success has not generated a large wad of dosh we can spray about but surely we must be in a far better position than we have been at the start of previous campaigns. What I can't understand is the failure to secure the services of a half-decent striker since the departure of Billy. It was fairly obvious even when Billy was still with us that we needed additional cover up front and the situation has gradually deteriorated with pressures now becoming more acute in other areas. So yes, my expectations for this season are realistic but I'd really like to know why we seem to be shooting ourselves in the foot.

I see no melt down just concerned fans expressing legitimate concerns in generally moderate terms.

I could accept the "cutbacks" if the financial situation was made clearer. I appreciate that there are mega financial pressures in running a club BUT last season must have brought in more money than ever before. So why the struggle. I also accept to a degree the reluctance to open the books to the public eye but WE really need an explanation.

There have been a few posts on various threads regarding 'if Dundee this, Dundee that..', but the reality is, they had double our average attendance last season. 3,733 v 6,966 rounded to 3700 v 7000 Our gate on Sat of 3.3k is equivalent to how many more fans go to Dens every (second) week. It's hugely significant over a season - effectively, with 19 home matches, it's around 62,500 more 'bums-on-seats' than we currently get. Even at (say a conservative average) of £20 match day spend = 20 x 62,500 = £1,250,000. Over a million quid - a lot of money, and far outstrips our cup win profits. Aside from the outrageous TV revenue the clubs in England receive, at our level, gate receipts are a pretty good indicator of where clubs will be in the pecking-order. Regardless of managerial prowess, it's 'all about the money' and clubs will eventually 'default' to their natural level. Rich benefactors can sometimes temporarily distort a club's standing but occasionally, when everything comes together, clubs can punch-above-their-weight, and achieve great things. I find it outrageous that some folk think we can 'go to the next level'. Last season was the ultimate. It simply won't ever get any better than that! We are fortunate to have witnessed it!

We also need a hellava lot more people to attend matches to pay for some of the dreams supporters have after last seasons amazing success on a very tight budget. Austerity - look at the crowds Celtic, Dundee United and Hearts had over the weekend!1

We are quite fortunate in that we have our own local "development league". It's called the SHFL and there are 6 teams in it that are an hour or less from Inverness. A good young player playing a season long loan in the SHFL will learn a hell of a lot more than a few games against central belt yoofs. From what I saw against Lossie there are probably 3 of our development squad that could be loaned out right now and do well in the SHFL. For me this is the way to go to develop our best young players.