Leaderboard

It's disappointing not to make top six, especially after coming so close, but it's not the first time - I'm sure we've missed out on top six on goal difference before now. Personally I think that provided we can finish these last few games strongly then the team have done No Bad considering all the injuries this season. Some people say you can't use that as an excuse, but I don't see why not as it has affected team selection all season. I wonder if the board could do with being a little more transparent with the clubs finances. It's great to support a club who are not in debt and not to be worrying about the threat of administration all the time, but it's also galling to watch other clubs come in and pick off our players. They don't all have big turn outs at games so why can they afford what we can't. Maybe if we could understand a bit more about what comes in and what goes out, we would understand the decision making better. At Christmas time I was diagnosed with a potentially life threatening illness and have been receiving various forms of treatment since then. I'm doing well and hope that things will turn out alright in the end but I have found that the only time that I forget completely about my ill health is on a Saturday afternoon (or Sunday lunchtime or Tuesday evening depending on TV schedules) when I'm watching Caley Thistle play. It doesn't seem to matter if the game is good, bad or just plain ugly, it has the ability to take my mind off every thing else for a couple of hours and I have been grateful for that. At the end of the day, it is just a game and I would hate for the pressure on our players to affect their lives with their families away from the football pitch. I like to think they enjoy being in Inverness for all the things that life has to offer them away from football up here as well as at the club. Life is too short and none of us know what's waiting around the corner. In the worst case scenario, where the team would end up relegated, upsetting as it would be, it wouldn't be the end of the world. They'd still be our team and we'd still support them and to tell the truth I quite enjoyed the season we spent after we were relegated - no ugly sisters, refs seemed fairer and less likely to cave under pressure from fans and the league was tight and competitive, where each week seemed to involve lots of reshuffling of the table - football was fun again (although I'd still rather avoid it if possible this season). Onward and upward Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club on your amazing journey. I can't ever imagine supporting anyone else.

I'm not sure it's really a question that needs to be asked as all football teams should strive to better themselves and move forward regardless of any pitfalls or obstacles that are put in their way. I do however agree with the content of the thread and most peoples thoughts and it's good to see a thread that isn't painting everything in a dark light like it's the end of the world. We all knew deep down that after last season there would be changes, players would move on, that it would be hugely difficult to emulate anywhere near what we did acheive but the extent was unknown and I think that's what's caught people on the hop. It's not like the club has died or gone into administration or been chucked into the bottom league or anything, still so much to be thankful for and to build on. It's imperative that we try and secure our more talented players on contracts past the summer that we haven't already and surely we should be looking already at targets to bring in and even be working on some as we speak. As well as this I firmly believe that we need to bring in another coach, where possible, that has good attacking coaching attributes as the exit of Russell Latapy is evident for all to see and an area that we really need to improve on. His influence where maybe not noticed last season is massively noticable now in my opinion. With regards the board and being more transparent with the fans, that's a difficult one to be honest and not something that can be answered directly I don't think. Yes in an ideal world they could come out and make everyone involved aware of the direction of the club and what they are trying to achieve and budgets and how the finances are but then they run the risk of opening this up to the wider football community. Suddenly everyone knows you have a bit of money to spend or you want to recruit the following way or want the club to play a certian way etc, there must be areas that are kept at board/management level and this goes for all businesses.

Not a chance we should be considering dropping Tremarco. He's been excellent the last few games.

1. Abandon possession football - we don't have the players to carry it off, it's boring for the fans and is risky at the back. Be quicker in transition and deploy pace and width. Only Barcelona have the players to go as narrow as we are. 2. As indicated in previous post: Be more pro-active with regard to contracts. By January it is too late to start offering contracts to players you want to keep - their minds will have started to wander. Make the necessary offers early and start looking to replace those not wanting to stay immediately. Return to offering longer contracts to give valuable players security and ensure a fee if they move. 3. Have 3 or 4 genuine strikers on the books. Stop recruiting midfielders and then trying to squeeze them into defensive or striking roles. 4. Assuming he doesn't have a terminal injury, sign David Raven and get Meekings back into central defence. 5. Stop sucking up to Celtic and Hibs in the media - it's unsavoury. Stop giving these mediocre teams too much respect: They're remarkably poor this season. I think that just about covers it.

I would say we have kind of got to where we want to be. Which is consistently playing in the top tier, we have won the big cup,finalists in the wee Cup, finished 3rd and played in Europe. The support/ interest in ICT has grown considerably √ The skill levels of local youngsters had improved √ ICT tv √ Children are growing up supporting ICT√ The next step would be to increase the numbers actually coming to the matches as well as maintaining the standards that we have set on the pitch.

Would be absolutely gutted if we never get to see Raven in an ICT shirt again, he is totally deserving of some sort of extension. Unless he is after megabucks I think it will be a joke if he is not with us next season and an unnecessary risk.

Agreed we need him back and put Meekings back to the CB position, however sadly I think Yogi may argue now that with it so close to end of season and Raven clearly not in his plans, he may want to continue with the defence as is giving more time in preparation for next year. Odds are we may never see Raven in an ICT shirt again, except for some kind of cameo prior to season end as a farewell - but I really hope that I'm very wrong on this as he is better than both Meekings and Horner at RB.

Realism, is what we need now - we were lucky to have built up a great team on a small budget with the gamble of signing unproven players working and everything aligned and clicked with limited injuries, bits of luck like Meekings handball and our fans pulling down the Celtic players in the cup final, even the season before to come back and beat Hearts in the LC semi against the odds. Like many other smaller clubs who do well, we may look back and think - what if we'd kept that team together how far would they have gone, I bet hibs say the same about their early 2000's team before the OF picked off all the talent, or DUtd now they are staring relegation in the face compared to 18 months ago. As said we are a mid to lower SPFL team, where top league survival is the aim each season, but foremost we want to be entertained. If the team looses that should be accepted providing they show desire, work-rate, fight and at least try to entertain the fans - unfortunately this season there have been spells lacking in some of these areas. We now need to make the transition to Yogi's team, let him bring in who he can or wants and let those who want to move on do so. But it has to be remembered that we can only attract those who are in our budget and want to come to Inverness. Biggest disappointment this season is meekly loosing to Hibs in the SC QF, a team with poor form who cant pick up a win recently yet beating us on our own patch, this season ICT should have been back at hampden and with the draw we could have been looking at a final place. Sadly these occasions cannot be taken for granted, much like our SPFL status or the calibre of players at our club. Bigger, more well supported, higher budget and some may argue better clubs than us have been relegated recently and will be in the future, therefore we are not immune and its probably inevitable that unless our crowds grow and therefore budgets we will eventually stagnate or start to fall back with relegation at some point.

As the Title says. Where now? Last year was undoubtedly the most successful in our history , to win the Scottish cup, finish 3rd in the league and play in Europe against Astra Giurgiu who are currently winning the Romanian league above Steau and Dinamo Bucharest is what dreams are made of. I think we will be safe this year but who knows what lies ahead. I personally am not bothered about County finishing above us as it's such a rare thing. For many years they weren't even in the same league as us and any Derby was pre season or a cup game Mid table for a club like ours is an achievement to be proud of and anything better is fantastc i enjoy trips to Dundee Perth Edinburgh etc and look at as a great day out with drinks football etc and hope they continue for a few years yet but if they don't there are trips to other towns which are just as enjoyable Hopefully we can maintain the top league for a while yet but I can't help but think next year is going to be pivotal in the story of ICT I'm always pretty optimistic and hopeful that things will work out ok. Ironically one of my favourite seasons was in the 1st when we came back up again and though we heard stories of losing £1million I really enjoyed it . Even losing the cup against Dundee after being 2 up As fans do we think the next few years can be as good. Have we reached a pinnacle. Are we going to be Like hibs/st mirren etc and flirt with the championship I can't help but think the story of ICT has got lots of twists and turns and exciting tales to come yet.

I am not a big poster on forums but as a life long fan I feel the time has come to express my concerns. As a club what we have achieved over the years has been fantastic with many happy and good memories especially winning the Scottish cup last season. I am now going to reverse back to Terry Butchers reign a the club and this was when my concern started. Going back to 2010 approx that is where I see the change starting to happen. Esson Proctor Tokely Golabek Duncan Foran Munro McBain Ross Sutherland Shinnie and that is just to name a few of players you could say had Caley Thistle blood in them. I put Esson and Foran in as i feel now the same applies to them. From then to now the club has lost all its local players or players who would be committed to Inverness. The club has completely lost its identity over the years. Looking at the current squad we have hardly a local player left in it. What this does is make it harder to keep players at the club as most players now at the club have no association or ties to Inverness. We are basically a club paying their wages to play football and in my opinion the players will give their all but ultimately will be looking to move on to other clubs. What has happened now is just about each season we are loosing players left right and centre and have to rebuild every season. John Hughes Inherited quite a good team and I thought had had taken the club even further forwards but this season I feel we are in free fall. Again going back to players we have lost a lot of good players over the last season or 2 but the players brought in have been poor well not just poor very poor. I will give exception to Miles Storey as i think he has done well but again it looks like he will not be around next season well not at this club anyway. It does really worry me for the season ahead. Firstly I do believe we will be an Spl team next season and we should make enough points to avoid the play off position. With players leaving in a few weeks I am terrified at the quality of players we might see at this club next season. We for some reason have a very unbalanced squad in regards to positions both in Butchers and Hughes reign. We always seem to have to rely on 1 striker. A team should have approx 2 gks, 8 Defenders, 8 midfielders, 4 strikers. Take away some defenders and strikers and add midfielders and you have Caley Thistle WHY ???. We used to play wonderful attacking football that was a join to watch but again since Butchers days and now Hughes we seem to be set up so defensive. Our tried and trusted 442 was replaced with 4231 and since then i have found it hard to watch at times. Our strikers sorry our striker is running around like a headless chicken getting zero support from anyone. You could put Messi, Lewandowski, Vardy any top striker in this team and they would not get many goals. There is just no support. More often than not when we do manage to go forward the ball seems to end back at our own gk. To sum up my whole rant ditch the 4231 formation once and for all and go back to 442. 4231 might be a good formation for some away games but at home 442 should return. The big question is can Hughes bring in the quality that this club is starting to desperately need and sort the way the team is playing and get players up the park. Or do we start a fresh page some people are saying Foran but i dont think he is the answer but 100% he should be in the management set up ie assistant or coach if we did replace Hughes. One thing for sure is we need to find some local players or bring on our own youths so we have some Caley Thistle blood back on the park. I fear we may never hear hes one of our own sung at the stadium much longer if not.

Dean Brill also got another 90 mins under his belt. He's played quite a few U20s games now with most of them being clean sheets.

It's already been done in this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006PVZ3LE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 previously called "Why England Fail" this expanded book is now called "Soccernomics" and if Sneckboy doesn't already have it I'll be mighty surprised

What a refreshing change from the posts of the last few weeks blaming just about everybody bar the 'supporters' put me off posting altogether!! Where to next ?----- well how about top four place next season ? Not impossible, surely there cannot be another season of injuries and bad luck like this season. Should the core of favourites stay together showing the same appetite for advancement as shown against D. U. coupled with the wider experience of the John Hughes style of play, which when executed properly as it was on several occasions this season tore other sides apart. As it was, it was good enough to create goal scoring chances during each game, which is the aim of that style of play, WE could have and should have taken those opportunities which would have had us win many that we drew or lost. Brought in players are still in the learning process of the style, some will not grasp it and haven't done so but those are the ones that were brought in with a wing and a prayer to stand in for the injured in the hope that they would make the grade, unfortunately it hasn't worked out for them. they will be replaced by the big man in good time. It matters not if we have a glut of mid fielders if they can score goals Tansey, Polly and Vigurs fit in exactly as scorers. You don't always need Strikers as such though they are so very useful opportunists if you get really good ones and who are really goal hungry---hard to find. So that is where I want to see us go next Footnote, Hedgie----------- get well soon, I'm sure that is a chorus from all of us here at CT on line.com.---------enjoy your football

If I am honest I am quite worried about the future of the team as a few things have come to a head this season it seems, for instance how threadbare the squad is and how little budget we have to build and maintain a competitive squad. It seems we will be ok this year but we are relying on a loanee striker and it's only understandable that players would move team for longer contracts and a bit of stability, any of us would...as for the next few seasons to me there are worrying signs. I have a lot of other worries regarding the club off the field too, it just seems business wise there doesn't seem to be much forward thinking.

This. He still has a tendency to produce a yellow card tackle a bit too often, but his attacking play down the left flank has been a definite bonus lately.

To answer your question in the title, in one word no for two reasons: firstly it would be very foolish in my opinion to make our next appointment an unknown commodity with no experience at managing a club and secondly I think at this stage it would be a mistake to get rid of John Hughes with all that he has had to deal with this year. I'm prepared to give him one more season then judge a little more critically and that's saying something as Caleyjag will profess as I have been a big critic this season but I also understand the reasons for our 'slump' if you want to label it anything. I've heard little to suggest or seen little to install confidence that RF would make any difference at all, it's not the type appointment that I would welcome. Maybe given a few years experience at coaching level or assistant manager level but not just now. I also think it's extremely disrespectful to talk about the next manager when we have one in place and to be honest we could be in a far worse position than we are just now, read my thread titled 'You're the manager, what do you do' as I'm not going to repeat myself again, you'll all be sick of it.

1) Appoint Pele Paterson as talent scout. 2) Appoint Craig Brewster as fitness coach. 3) ??? 4) Profit.

The long term benefit of playing Williams is that we are still a little way short of being sure of avoiding the play off place and it is to our long term benefit not to be playing in the Championship next season which is also the reason Raven should start if fit.

Good posts above, we just start of with a win on Tuesday night that will take us up to 7th place and on from there!

All good posts but would suggest the people we really need to hear from now are the board. It would be good to hear their vision for the club going forward.

Let's be positive. Within the UK we have a modest budget, a hard core of supporters, and despite all the set backs this year, we have nearly survived in the top league in Scotland once again. We reached the Quarter Final of the Scottish Cup. We actually have some very talented players at our disposal and this year have at times played some great football. After the highs of last season that is not a bad season providing we avoid the play offs and do not fall into the Butcher trap - exercised here and in Hibernian - we are nearly there. Realistically we do not know why we do not have more players signed up for next year. Balancing the budgets must be an issue especially after paying out for a range of operations, treatments and rehabilitation for players this year. That was a cost we would not have budgetted for at the start of the season. Going forward, next year will be an almighty challenge. We have done very well against top six sides this year and may not be so lucky next year if Rangers and Hibernian both come up. Dundee United has been a source of points in the last two seasons - 10 last year - with Killie and Hamilton difficult opponents and sometimes underestimated. These are the challenges our Board and management have certainly had to contend with amongst other key issues.

Vigurs must have one of the best goal / assist ratios per game of any midfielder in the SPL. This from a guy who joined us out of the blue with no pre-season under his belt. Get him signed up.

What formation and style of play do you implement and why? Would it work with our current squad? Would you mould your style of play to what your squad can perform to or do make your squad mould to fit your style of play? : Formation that I would use is a very attacking 4-3-3 and the style of play would be most possession based however would ensure that the ball was in the opposition's half rather than our own. I would suggest that early stages given Yogi's style of play the transition shouldn't be to difficult to adapt. If I was installed as manager then I would keep current style of play until end of the season and then build a squad to fit around a squad of players. How big a squad do you have and what is the breakdown of this squad in numbers for each position? Not very large squad but equally not a slim squad too. The focus should always be to bring in quality over quantity to have a good squad of players. Breakdown on our budget: 2 GKs, 2 RB, 3 CB, 2 LB, 4 CM, 4 Attackers = Squad of 17. Do you build the team around one player? No, no team should be built around one player. Do you promote from within and bring youth through? Are you in a position to do so or is it forced upon you for a number of reasons? For obvious reasons promoting youths should be the way forward in such cases as Ryan Christie and Liam Polworth. The other side of the coin is that younger players aren't ready for the bigger stage. If Youth Coaches highly recommend a youth player and I watched him and thought would make a difference, certainly would have no qualms in using. Where do you recruit from? Who are your contacts? Can you afford who you are looking for? Do you build around a necleus of players and supplement with loan signings then recruit slowly to bolster already recruited talent that you can keep? Mostly British based players through the english leagues but one thing at Caley Thistle I would suggest is to try and invest in a scouting network, since Terry Butchers' departure, the lack of preparation when it comes to signing has stuck out like a sore thumb. My contacts, well like I say, would rely on a scouting team should the board got one in place. The type of players that I would be looking for would be promising players that are possibly peaked their level in that league and looking for the next step of their careers. In recent seasons, players have definitely been able to showcase their talent and secure some decent moves. For me it would be all about signing the right player whether that be from the out of contract market to the loan market. Loan players then have the opportunity to then develop their own game for their parent club or help their chances with a permanent contract with us. I noticed Liam Henderson of Hibs bossed our game at the TCS a few weeks back and he's only an 18 year old boy, definitely worth taking an example of that. Who do you bring in on the playing staff? Specifically of all those players who you would be able to attract name some you would bring in? It's difficult to pinpoint exactly who would join the club. My first port of call would be to sort out the squad, streamline it and rid of players who wouldn't fit in my plans - Build from scratch and get the right replacements in. The area I would start at would be the out of contract players as they will always be first in demand given the fact there's no transfer fee. Me personally, would look at Faissal El Bahktaoui of Dunfermline as an example would sign him up pronto. I would also look at the loan market from various youth academies wether that may be Celtic, Aberdeen, Rangers - there would be some gems in there! What training techniques do you install? Who do you bring in as your backroom team or do you stick with who we have? Do you run the training yourself and have your coaches oversee it or do you let them have free-rein to work within your perameters? Or do you have a mix of both? Ideally I would firstly like to start the pre season with most of the squad I want signed up however I would start fitness based. Given the break of 4 weeks is a long time for a football player, fitness levels need to be top especially using possession and high tempo football. My backroom staff would include: Me as manager, Assistant: Scott Kellacher, First Team Coach: Richie Foran, Under 20: Duncan Shearer. I would have a mix of both myself and also other coaches to be involved. Their input in training would be just as important as the manager because an egotistical manager won't get very far. What do you concentrate most on, cups or the league? Why? Do you have a preference or can you afford to concentrate on all? Taking into account of our finances and also our capabilities. I would say the we should always aim for Top 6 however would settle for 7th/8th. Positions like 10th/11th/ and obviously 12th would make my job untenable. The minimum requirement for the Caley Thistle job is to ensure that we remain in the premier division each season. How do you juggle your budget? Do you focus on signing free transfers and use any money you have on wages or do you try and buy with the little money you have one or two players on a smaller wage? Depending on the budget allocated for transfers, ideally yes I would utilise both free transfers and loans. Should a player become available within the budget who would greatly improve our team then I wouldn't hesitate in signing. Need to keep in our morals of 'live within our means' Do you insist on having the running of everything football related or do you ask for help in the form of a Director of Football? Depends on two facts how my experience in the game is and wether the club could afford it. If I can manage solo, I would but wouldn't begrudge getting help if needed. Do you ask for more input on less football related matters? Do you insist on being involved in deciding the budgets and what would be the main focus on your budgets? As Football Manager, I would expect to have input in what money should be available to the playing staff and transfer, however I would be fully accommodating the fact that finances will be what it is unless we achieve success on a consistent basis to get the higher revenue into the coffers. Youth teams/development league level, do you oversee this yourself or bring in a team to focus on this and have them coach their way with their tactics/formations or do you insist they stick to your style of play and tactics in the hope it helps younger players step up quicker/easier and integrate better? I would put my trust in the coaching team to help nourish the younger guys to get them ready for the step up with regards to training and matches.I would be watching the games and would give coaches input should they need them during games. Ideally the tactics and formations used in the first team should be used at the development league to make the transition between the teams much easier. Do you rotate your youth between first team and youth training to help development? Do you have first team players mentor youth players on football and/or non-football related matters? Definitely, should a youth player be recommended and impresses me in the development league then they would then be training with the first team with a view to be playing in the first team. Its imperative that a youth player is welcomed in the team so that he's not alienated and prone to not playing to his potential. At what point do you decide who you want to keep at the club and when do you initiate contract talks? Do you decide early and set out your stall with very little scope to diverse and change or do you let things progress and see what happens? I would do it in two stages, if a player is out of contract for the following season and I wanted him to be in the squad for the following season then I would give him a deadline of signing with the club by the 31st of December. Should the player reject the offer, the offer would then be withdrawn and then would seek for the replacement early doors, so that we as a club are not being left with a gaping hole in the team (Graeme Shinnie and Marley Watkins this season)

Firstly, paragraphs are underrated. Secondly, the SPL no longer exists. Thirdly, we had a very attacking side under Butcher, scoring more goals in 2012-13 than any other top flight season in our history. Our average of two league goals per game when he got us promoted was pretty impressive too. Fourthly, "local players" - only Ross, Munro and Shinnie from that list weren't signed from other clubs. The others simply stayed here for a long time, which makes them no different from Draper, Warren and others currently at the club. We've never had a squad mainly built of local players - in fact we've barely had any local players. It's never harmed us before. I'd rather have a guy from down south who can play a bit than a local boy who can't. Fifthly. "442" - the only thing that bothers me more than Mike Bassett "Four-four-f******-two" types are those who insists we need a big man up front. Anyone who watches football with even half a brain knows that formations and systems are largely overrated these days - one team's 4-2-3-1 involves four forwards and is very attacking, and another team's 4-2-3-1 involves five midfielders and is very defensive. If the poster can name one elite team who play an orthodox 4-4-2, I'd be surprised. As for our "tried and tested 4-4-2", I'm not sure we've played such a system regularly since Wyness and Dargo were up front. Even then, Wyness used to drop deeper so it was more of a 4-4-1-1. I suppose we went with Rooney and Foran up top in the last few weeks of the promotion campaign. Sixthly (is that a word?), why people think Foran would be a good coach is not clear - there is more to coaching than loyalty to a club and a willingness to shout a lot.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35979886 The man is an arse, he has no place at the top in the game in this country - lauding how great the return is and will be of such benefit, yet no acknowledgement of his error on 'armageddon' or praise for how the entertainment and fans have increased over the 4 years. Talking up the OF game in the cup next wknd and how the smaller clubs that have had the 'pleasure' of the Rangers 'fans' visiting should be grateful - no mention of the numerous sectarian crowd behaviour issues and general vile that's continued to follow them around. Rather than citing this as a return, Doncaster should be using this as an opportunity to define it as a new dawn - laying down the rules regarding sectarianism, bigotry and what is acceptable behaviour for both the OF, making it clear that extreme sanctions are in place with a no nonsense approach, instead its welcome back and as you are. Putting all political, financial and footballing indiscretions of the club aside as if in awe of them. If the return is so great we should be looking at bumper TV deals, new ways to promote the SPFL product and innovations to increase attendance, instead we have crap long terms TV deals and the product inevitably will suffer as fans get bored of the duopoly and politics that follow.

Sign a massive target man. Sign several pacey wingers, play alongside target man. Hit constant long balls, diagonals, crosses to target man. Get pacey wingers to hoover up all the loose takings. Win title. Accept universal acclaim, leave Caley to manage Real Madrid. Steal Cristiano Ronaldo's bird.