Leaderboard

No it's not. It's living in cloud cuckoo land. How often does it need to be explained that the money simply isn't there - and if it was, it would indeed be prudently spent on the playing squad? You can't spend money you don't have and if you try to do so, you will soon go the way of Dundee, Motherwell, Rangers, Livingston etc. For the last 16 years the directors of Caley Thistle have - mercifully - been very aware of The Micawber Principle (as stated in Dickens' David Copperfield) and have at least ALMOST been able to put it into practice. "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery." But for the board's long term efforts to live by that principle, Caley Thistle would have long since gone the way it very nearly did in 1999-2000. I just don't understand how some fail to grasp the concept that you just can't go into the player market with closed eyes and open cheque book. You need to live within your means and if you don't you will soon head for the lower leagues or worse. It's a minor miracle that, with the income streams that have been available, Caley Thistle has been able to field a team which has done what it has. To have maintained an almost unbroken SPL/Premiership presence since 2004 on the kind of resources we are talking about is an incredible feat and you just have to laugh at these suggestions that they should just go and spend their way out of any problem. Look at it an alternative way - if you want to be entertained by better players than the club's finances can currently afford, how much more would you be prepared to pay for tickets in order to obtain the improved product? I've already said elsewhere that the cost of running the club under its present, prudent regime is around £44 per bum on seat. Tuesday night the worst result ever? I don't think so. Off the top of my head I could think of a League Cup defeat - at home - by Queens Park, a 5-1 defeat - at home - by Ross County, a 4-0 humiliation - at home - by Forfar at the end of D3 championship season and a complete stinker off the back of the Ballistic night, the details of which I forget. There are doubtless more. Finally... those who have swung from the "Foran is Messiah" euphoria of the Dundee United and Arbroath outcomes and performances to the "Foran is the Devil Incarnate" doom and despair of Partick Thistle and Alloa should either acquire a sense of balance and proportion or a source of lithium!

13 years since my last visit to the Recs. Previous record with ICT : P7, W5, D2, L0, F23, A5. After about 20 minutes it was clear that record was never going to improve. They should be paying us, the fans, £25 on Saturday after watching that.

Apart from possibly Queen's at home, or Partick in the Cup, last night was the worst ever. Ask anyone who was there last night amongst the noisy away support and who weren't even acknowledged at the end by the players. A competition in which we had hopes of doing well, and a game against a part-time, relegated team in one of the scruffiest wee stadiums in the SPFL. As tm4tj says you can't compare league games to that. Especially meaningless end of season games v Forfar. Or a 6-0 thumping at Airdrie or a 5-1 on a Friday night at Morton. As I'm a good bit younger and more compos mentis than Bannerman I can point out from memory that the game after we beat Celtic in 2000 was a fairly routine 2-0 defeat away at St Mirren.

I've just Googled that one. 1-0 Ayr August 2011. It's the last time Caley Thistle played Ayr. The time before that was in April 2010 when nothing at all was going wrong and it was 7-0 ICT.

You are surely not comparing losing to teams in the same league as us as being worse? The Queens Park defeat came when we were on our way to winning the first division and Queens Park were in the bottom division, two leagues below us, that is almost as bad, at least we scored in that one and missed a penalty. County scored five breakaway goals but we were both in the same league. Hard to take, but not as bad as Alloa defeat.

Ooooh - cheeky, Mr Bannerman. I'm not actually having a pop at Richie - he's a rookie and will make mistakes as he learns the ropes, as we all do in our chosen careers. The point of the comment was to highlight the necessity for him to not compound the error in the next game by sticking to the same philosophy. I really think he's got a decent team together, barring perhaps a finisher, now it's up to him to shape the team into a winning formula. Nobody is suggesting it's easy and I'd no doubt make a horlicks of the job, but I'm entitled to my opinion.

Cheers - it was good to see you too. To be fair to that steward, he did wish us a safe trip home on our way out, although he did look like he was suppressing a grin as he did so...

I am sure Richie has broader shoulders than to take anything said on an internet forum to heart. He is clearly very passionate about what he wants to achieve at ICT but he is a new manager, learning his trade as it were, and taking the flak for a sh***y result is as much a part of the learning process as taking the plaudits for a 7-0 mauling of another team .... HarryChibber makes some very good points, and I would agree that our start has been less than acceptable, and that none of us want to see RF fail, but I would take issue with a few things Dont think this is our worst result ever. Bad? absolutely, but worst? no. There's a couple of references to the club being unable to afford sports specialists or refusing to put money into the team. I have a simple question. Where is the money coming from ? As a club we make a six figure loss every single season unless we have a cup run or windfall of some description. This is not bad management of our finances, it is simple math based on our incomings and outgoings and low crowds. There are certain levels and standards we have to meet to play in the top league and the club have also been careful when it comes to other things that we might like (eg a streaming audio/video service) where costs may take away from the playing budget. The board run a very tight financial ship. It constantly winds me up that people only see one side of the story ... be that the so-called happy clappers, or indeed the doom and gloom merchants. There's a fine line between top and bottom six every season and although it is true to say we were in the bottom six last year we were not really in any danger of relegation. Also, when we lose players every year sometimes its because we just cant keep them either because they want more money than our finances can afford, because they themselves (or their agents) want to move, or yes, in some cases because the manager deems them surplus to requirements. its not always one-sided. John Hughes wasnt sacked. He engineered his own way out after his working relationship with the chairman broke down. Not sure anyone but the chairman and JH and maybe a few others know the exact ins and outs of this but Craig Brewster remains the only manager we have sacked.

Team lines something like this, taken from a tweet. #ICTFC XI - MacKay, Horner, Brown, Gilchrist, Wilson, Robertson, MacLennan, Draper, Sutherland, Doran, Mr X 5-0 at the break Trialist, Sutherland, Draper, Trialist, Brown

Alex .. sorry but that's a load of rubbish. If our players went out last night with that attitude its of little wonder we got beat ... by Alloa .... a team from 2 divisions lower than us ... in what is possibly our worst result since we were formed as a club. It isn't acceptable for an SPFL team to lose to Alloa, as it wasn't acceptable to scrape past Stenhousemuir. The fact our fans are defending that result or accepting failure just shows we are going backwards.. if it was Yogi we would be asking for his head right now.. that doesn't mean the same rules apply to Foran but he shouldn't escape criticism because he loves the city. I am fully behind Foran as manager and want him to do well for ICT, what ICT fan wouldn't, but the writing is on the wall for this season already. That wasn't a second team out on the pitch last night that was our best 11 as picked by Foran. On occasions teams can get caught cold by underdogs but we had just lost the first game of the season against a comparable rival, we knew Alloa had quality because they beat County but there was absolutely no reaction from the team. Either that is lack of quality, motivation or interest. The club can't even afford sports analysts so who do you believe is creating the individual programme for Draper's "physiological requirements"? He had the same time off as everyone else and started pre-season with the team, if he was injured fair enough but I saw no sign of that when he came on the park last night. That was a decision made by Foran and he got it wrong. No point in dressing it up as something else We have consistently lost quality players year after year and the club's refusal to put money into the team is going to back fire big time this year.. that isn't panicking, that is being realistic. Last year we finished bottom six after being a regular in the top 6, if you are going to sack the most successful manager in our history and replace him with a novice you need to back him financially and give the guy a chance. Vincent, Brill, Devine, Williams, Storey, Mutombo aren't players of enormous quality but they were all capable of challenging for a jersey.... that's after losing the load of players from the previous year... Shinnie, Watkins, Mckay, Christie... and whoever else. Everyone was quick to jump on Yogi's back about his outbursts in the paper but who can blame him when you are rebuilding every season. Sorry Alex that's not all aimed at you but we are in bad shape this season and now Foran is going to his first derby with massive pressure when you look at the next few fixtures - Hearts at home, St Johnstone away, Celtic, Aberdeen ...

For games like this a "None of the above" option should be considered!

Excellent, balanced analysis, alternative maryhill. Much better than my frustrated, late night rant. It was good to catch up with you at the game. By the way, that steward who encouraged you towards your seat became even more of an annoyance later on with his biased "commentary" on the game lol! I felt like telling him that a good steward is like a good ref ... they perform well when the focus of the game is not on them lol!

Has this been our worst ever result? I'm struggling to think of any others that come close. And before anyone throws in the old don't panic crap, I'm not panicking, but I am fekkin raging about the result.

Leaving Draper on the bench against Partick was a big surprise but as mentioned already we had just come off two very good performances in recent games. Saturday wasn't great but perhaps Foran thought that playing the same team last night would give them a chance to redeem themselves? Seems reasonable enough. That said, I would really hope to see Draper start on Saturday.

Wasn't really surprised at the selection, probably saw this as an 'easier' fixture giving the players a chance to make amends for Saturday, always expected he would be starting Draper against County.

Very poor tonight. Going forward, Mulraney looked lightweight and on the rare occasion where he managed to get space to cross, his final ball was poor. King was slightly better, but the potential impact of both players seemed to be limited by the fact that they were played on the wrong wings - Mulraney, as a pacey left footer, should surely be allowed to use his pace to get to the bye-line and swing balls in with his left foot, while King contributed little from the left in the first half but looked a bit more effective when he was eventually switched to the right in the second. Where we really lost the game, though, was in the centre of the park: Polworth looked OK driving forward but both his and Tansey's distribution was poor, and neither seemed able to anticipate passes played into their opponents' feet or impose themselves physically; we at least had more of the play when Draper came on in the second half. We also allowed Alloa to push us back too deep in the first half in particular, and while they didn't create too many chances, there was too much scrappy, last ditch defending. McNaughton reads the game well, but his distribution was poor tonight, and he doesn't dominate opposing attackers the way Meekings can. As soon as Meekings is fit, he needs to come back into the team, and after tonight, Foran will hopefully also accept that we are a stronger team when Draper starts, whether it is Vigurs, Polworth or Mulraney who gives way. It was good to see Doran back as a second-half sub, although he didn't do a great deal, and Fisher had a few good touches and might be worth a start in place of Boden, who had a poor evening. Some changes definitely needed for Saturday, starting with Draper being restored to the starting line-up; also, the players should remember to acknowledge the fans who travel to support them in these games; not one of them bothered to acknowledge a fairly healthy away support at the end of the game.

Just back home now ... well that is an afternoon/evening of my life that I'll never get back. So glad I paid good money to take me and my kids down to the back of Stirlingshire beyond to watch that utterly toothless mince! By any measure that is a dreadful result and an opportunity missed. The team with much less resources but much more desire got what they deserved ... a place in the last 8 of the cup. Well done Wasps, hang your heads in shame ICT. Goodnight.

Terrible result. As a premier side we should always have enough to see off a part-time outfit. Let's hope our new manager can sort this out.

Doug Imrie for Hamilton is only ex ICT scorer I spotted in tonight's matches. Hamilton lost 2-1 at home to Morton. So we were not the only Premiership side to lose to a side from a lower league! (Filipe Morais for Bradford did score in the penalty shoot out which Bradford lost 11-10 to Accrington, but I don't count penalty shoot outs in my stats)

Excellent point ,time for the board to step up and show Richie some support

Well, it wouldn't have been 1-0 to Alloa, that's for sure.

I think folk need to get a grip. We're still going through a transitioning period. This could be a blessing in disguise and allow us to settle and focus on the league. No need to start playing the blame game. No one said it was going to be easy. We need to be showing our support on Saturday, no negativity.

Remember how bad we were when Yogi first took over and he turned out to be alright! Early days.

Says Rural Aberdeenshire!! It's surely relevant information to the club so they can target the correct people for future season ticket sales I'm back living in Inverness now but you are correct I will freely admit I don't have a season ticket, I'm working class with all sorts of expenses, remember not all folk fit in the middle class to upper class bracket and can easily afford season tickets or hand out £30 quid Never said it did matter or it made you a better/worse fan, I agree the more supporters the better however it's obvious when attending home games that there are fewer Invernessian accents in the stands. It's merely an observation from personal experience Lastly let's hope the track and field in Rio starts soon, you never know we might get a break from having to read the drivel that spews oot the gob of the self acclaimed athletics expert, sadly I doubt it though Dougal

History should never hold the club back and stop it moving forward, but the heritage of Caley & Thistle is an important part of the football story of Inverness and is certainly important enough to remain as the official club (trading!) name. Similarily, #ICTFC is just the result of changes socially and may well go out of fashion in a few years. The club shirt, letterheads, official communication, etc. should always bear the full club crest, IMO. It's the old first impressions argument. The badge looks great, is unique both in name (full) and design and as such is instantly recognisable. Social media, web content, etc. are all suitable for the ICTFC abbreviation and 'Pride of the Highlands' (However cringey, amateurish or generally rubbish it may be!). I don't see why it has to be either or, both have their place, but there should be a separation because, as said before, having 'ICTFC Pride of the Highlands' as the official crest is, to my mind, unprofessional and needlessly cheapens the overall identity of the club.

Perhaps it is becos he was part of a "pride" that ravaged Inverness in 1993 - 1994 ?

Oh the irony Bannerman trying to rubbish a story because he thinks it's fabricated to suit the authors agenda LOLZ Dougal

Whoever made the changes should have done what you suggest BEFORE going ahead with something as important as this.

Dont be knocking Highland League football folks, that's where we`ve `come from! I`ve been to a fair few games last few years and its good enough value for money, even more so than most Caley games(especially last year)

^this.

Oh Dougal you're such a wag I wouldn't be surprised if you had some sort of influence on the scriptwriters in The Magic Roundabout as they were rumoured to be on LSD and sometimes I wonder if you are too

In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the mods or admin on CTO had some sort of influence on the club regarding the offending slogan seeing they readily use it as a sub title on this web site CTO should start the ball rolling and remove it from this site first in myopinion Dougal

The Pride of the Highlands logo sounds like some sort of slogan that was initially spewed out by an incomer and not an Invernessian hopefully Its cringeworthy and doesn't do our club any favours, if any online poll is started by you caleyboy I will happily sign Regards Dougal

We need a bit of perspective. Without doubt, the last two results have been disappointing and some aspects of play have been concerning. However, we have a young manager learning his trade and what's more a man who is committed to the city, with his family based in Inverness, and also fully committed to the club unlike his predecessor towards the end of his increasingly divisive tenure. Our competitive record so far this season, albeit largely against lower league opposition, is P7 W3L2D1 with 15 goals for and 7 against. Our opponents on Saturday have had a far worse start to the season than us so the opportunity is there for a large and vocal derby support to get fully behind the team and the manager and get our league campaign up and running. What I would say is that if we are struggling by mid November there may be some merit in rejigging the coaching set up and bringing in a shrewdly experienced assistant in the mould of Donald Park. However, by then these teething problems may be behind us and such a move will hopefully be unnecessary.

It's only £10.56 a month dearer than that for the North Stand adult ST book. Paying in 10 monthly installments. Even cheaper paying it up in one go. Once the season ticket book is paid for then you don't give the cost of the match a second thought what ever time of year

The concern there, as reflected in 12th Man's observation half a dozen posts ago, is that some club brandings are ultimately subject to that fancy dress pantomime which is the Lord Lyon King Of Arms. I don't know how ICT would fare here but Ayr United and Airdrie have certainly suffered and Ross County's shield looks alarmingly heraldic as well. It's a complete nonsense that public money and legal authority should be afforded to this 400 year old farce which goes back to "In days of old when knights were bold...." I mean to say, in this modern day and age what you can and can't have on your football club badge is still subject to a bunch of old buffers straight out of a comic opera chuntering away with stuff like "per Fess Azure and Or over all a Bar Gules in the Chief a demi-Eagle Sable displayed addextré of the Sun-in-splendour and senestré of a Crescent Argent in the Base seven Towers three and four Gules." This bunch of comedians even have their own Procurator Fiscal to enforce this nonsense! Give me strength!

Such irrelevant information would be of little interest to anyone other than the odd obsessive.

Mmm........ Josh's mystery injury and lack of detailed information from the Club is a concern. Methinks there is still more to it.

A conclusion you are presumably able to arrive at as a result of being less naïve than the manager?