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Not sure Hughes encourages crossing, tbh. From what I've seen this season, he's much keener to play narrow and for the wider players to cut-in and retain possession rather than go on the outside and hit a cross (presumably becuase that gifts away possession more often than not). I don't subscribe to that philosophy because good crosses can creat goals (Tremarco against Motherwell, Roberts against Aberdeen, Williams against DU, as stated above). you need a bit of both to keep the opposition guessing. Vincent is a really importnat player for the style of football that Hughes plays - you need loads of movement to always have an out-ball and Vincent does that fantastically. His workrate is the highest in the team and it creates space for others. This has been missed when he is absent. That said, he has spent a lot of time on the treatment table, which is never attractive to managers. I still think (no evidence) that Hughes' comment about playing through knocks was aimed at Vincent; if the player thinks the same, a parting of the ways was inevitable.

I have heard tales that Dundee have far greater resources at their disposal, courtesy of their American backers (a good source tells me that Rory Loy is on £3k/week, for example!) and so I'm not surprised that they could offer higher wages to both. I like both Vincent and Williams, and I'd be disappointed if either left. However, part of my anxiety is that, whilst it's possible we could replace them with superior players (maybe, in Ryan Williams/Liam Hughes, we already have) they are proven commodities - we know what we are getting from both. Vincent, it must be remembered, was signed by Butcher for a particular role - to play in an advanced midfield position and bust a gut, doing the running so that the likes of Doran didn't have to. And he did that very well until that injury. When he came back, Hughes had come in and Vincent certainly took some time to adapt to the new style - but he has managed it and was playing well this season until he got injured again. He has a great engine and has a wonderful knack for being in the right place to pick up the second ball. The downside is very much the injuries - he's only played 67 games in 2 and a half years, which isn't great, and he has had too many periods where he has been unavailable for 2-3 months at a time. Williams is actually quite a limited player, but one who works so hard that he is a far greater asset than many naturally gifted contemporaries. And players with his sort of pace don't grow on trees. He does feel to me like a jack of all trades and master of none though - not quite good enough at beating a full-back or crossing to be an out and out winger, not quite robust enough for central midfield, not defensively savvy enough for left-back (though I thought he might grow into that role given time). But you can trust him to put in a shift and do the job he has been given. To lose either would be a shame. But neither are anywhere near irreplaceable.

I'm starting to get a bit tired of this attitude that the merger is something to forget, something to cover up and something to feel embarrassed by. The merger is an interesting historical event that took place here and that's something to be remembered. Mergers are nothing new on football, but ours is one of the few that's happened (probably worldwide) in the last few decades and it's undoubtedly been a big success. That's something to be celebrated......as are the achievements of the two clubs that came before.

Kingsmills and CB - how many posts on this thread ?

Fair enough you could argue it is but it is one establishment I've not had the misfortune to enter in years Even in highland league days it seemed to attract some of the biggest roasters in Inverness Suppose it's a good place to store the cake ingredients though what with its catering facilities Dougal

On balance I would take a risk on Brill. In my view, while Fon Williams is a decent 'keeper, Brill is a better one.

I really like Brill, but his injuries are a worry. If I remember correctly, it was the opposite knee that went the second time, which is either really bad luck or a fundamental issue. On balance, I'd suggest that Brill would be more of a risk.

As you wish. The merger's history. Two fine clubs with a proud history merged and we now have a bigger and far more successful club. It's called progress and is something we should celebrate.

Feck me all we need now is fer Doofers Dad to quote and reply.

Pardon me if I nitpick benevolently and only slightly about this and Kingsmills' post which has just gone up. The original name was indeed Caledonian Thistle, first publicly mooted in December 1993 and agreed soon after as the only politically acceptable solution to one of several problems which threatened to sink the m****r deal, and with it SFL football for Inverness. The "Inverness" was added in the summer of 1996, not as a quid pro quo for the £900,000 Common Good Fund grant but for the earlier Highland Regional Council agreement of 1994 to grant a 99 year lease of the current stadium site. That agreement had included a "best endeavours" clause about the name - in effect once any addition at all became politically possible, which happened to be in 1996. The £900,000 CGF grant wasn't actually given by the District Council but by the new Highland Council as one of its earlier acts after it was formed in 1996. There had been a very belated IDC agreement late in 1995 to award that money from their own funds, but opponents within the council fought a temporarily successful wrecking campaign on this, based on QC's opinion of what the word "payable" meant in an IDC motion to pay the money put down by David Stewart. This delayed payment past IDC going defunct on the formation of HC which, in the face of earlier threats of possible legal action, very quickly - and indeed willingly - agreed to pay this from the CGF, control over which also transferred to them in April 1996. As for what this money was for, let's start with HRC's planning committee's requirement that the club also paid for an access road for the stadium. This resulted in a severe curtailment of the stadium itself and road + stadium being classified as a single entity - the "stadium project", with a budget of £5.4M, and defined as such by then Chairman Dougie McGilvray. Hence, when the £900,000 application came along it was in practice for the global project, but was presented as being specifically for the road to make the request politically more acceptable. But one way or another the road from roundabout to stadium, which was put there at ICT's expense to allow access to the stadium and which was then "adopted" by the Council, has indeed been of massive economic benefit to the area by way of it being linked by an extension to the Harbour which opened up the entire seafront. Councillor Clive Goodman was, I think as Chairman of the Harbour Trust, the first publicly to moot this extension and illustrate its potential benefits, and that was certainly one "Eureka moment" during what was a very tortured process.

On 21st Jan he tweeted: 2 injections in the knee tomorrow, another step in the right direction hopefully! Nothing since

I agree with the poster above. I don't think Vincent has shown anything like the same amount of bite that he showed when he first arrived. Now the cup win was a brilliant moment but I do wonder if it's blurred some people's opinion somewhat. Vincent's not a bad player and I would be pleased if he was retained, but if he was to go, it wouldn't be the end of the world. In all honesty, I would aim to keep Williams out of the two every day of the week. Fast, direct, versatile - he's a great and very underrated player for us. It'd be a blow if he was to leave.

I don't think Vincent has ever fully recovered from fracturing his leg against Hibs. Those first few games I thought we had the ideal replacement for Andrew Shinnie, playing in the hole behind Makay but he has never really done it. Can't fault his work rate and he is immortalised in Caley lore forever more with that goal but if he goes, good luck to him. Williams is a more versatile player and would be a big loss to the squad but he can't cross a ball which is a bit of a draw back for a winger.

Well, If you're playing that 'Look at me!' card, then I'll refer you to my post 2 days prior to yours!

Happy to see the Gellions running a bus - there's enough demand out there. Would be happy to get together when we run low: say this Tuesday to Hearts - we have less than 20, but with your numbers, we would have enough to run a bus. I may bump into you, Ross, at Dundee on Saturday.

Just for you Deano ......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phhs3DjI7Kc

JV will forever be a legend for his cup final goal. I'd love both to stay

Quality. My first cup final. How times have changed. Great memories but how far we've come. Back then this was the pride of Inverness football while Aberdeen were recent double European trophy winners ... the gap has narrowed somewhat between the cities.

I sometimes wish the Directors had chosen a simpler name for the club, trying to write a song to include Inverness Caledonian Thistle aint easy.not sure why Inverness Utd wouldn't have fitted the bill. Perhaps someone can enlighten me. i'm sure our name must pop up in football quizzes from time to time off the top of my head i can't think of a longer one.

We'll all wish we listened to Renegade when we are faced with the barren, Mad Max style post-apocalytic wasteland that the Gellions Bus v CJT Bus war will reduce our planet to.

Almost thirty hours to post in a thread with the word 'merger' in the title. You're slipping.....

I'm sure you would, but you can always hope that your reading age may, one day, progress to higher things.

Only if you were on the poor side of town !!