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It's perfectly possible to sustain a Premiership team on our budget, in our location and with our crowds. We've been in the top flight for more than half of our history, us being in the division isn't some sort of outlier. We don't have a much lower budget than the teams we are competing against, we aren't playing in Fair Isle, we are a couple of hours drive up the road from the central belt. There isn't any reason for the factors that you list to explain the season we've had - I look at two clubs in Partick Thistle and St Johnstone who get similar crowds, have a similar budget and aren't exactly glamour locations, it hasn't held them back from both having excellent seasons and building the kind of team we used to have. Finally, you can't say that we've had the "rub of the green" - as a club we've made good decisions in how we've spent our resources in terms of managers, players and staff. That's why we succeeded not luck. We've failed this season because we've made poor decisions about how we spend our resources on those things and that's lead to the disaster that we've had.

At the risk of the ban hammer. What a pedantic k**b the top half of your answer makes you look

Perhaps the issue with Foran is not the lack or quality of advice from those around him, but rather his lacking of heeding advice when it is given.

I'd rather gouge my own eyes out than discuss Scottish politics online and it's completely unrelated to anything being discussed so I'll leave your opening sentence to one side. We have had an absolute abomination of a season. Four wins is abysmal, unacceptable. There is no other team in Scottish football who have a record as bad as us. It's one of the worst seasons in recent SPL history, it's certainly the worst team we've had in the top flight. The idea that booing after a 3-0 home defeat represents fans being very quick to turn in the club is bizarre. I think our fans have been too slow to express how bad things are, mainly because of who the manager is. Listing comeback wins from the past is all well and good but we aren't talking about those games. We are talking about this team, this season and, based in the evidence we've got, relegation is overwhelmingly likely. We need to win about as many games in our final six matches as we've done in it's 32. I can't see anything in our recent performances to suggest that we are in the verge of a step change in how we play. I hope we do and the split can throw up unexpected outcomes but I'd say that we are odds on to go down.

The NHS in Scotland is better than the NHS in England.

It isn't the fans who have won four games all season or assembled the assortment of dross we have a first team squad. The idea that we have an ultra demanding fan base is laughable, plenty of other teams supports would've been baying for blood months ago. Fans should hold the team to the highest standards possible, not just happy clap along as the fat lady sings.

The problem with the youth set up is that its all jobs for the boys Danny Macdonald, Charlie Christie & Duncan Sherear What do these 3 so called coaches bring to the club?by all accounts they couldnt run a bath let alone a training session they have bin in that job for years and the return they give the club is nothing short of scandalous in terms of young players coming through the line of "no players in the Highlands" is a complete cop out, look at County there set up is second to none with qaulity coaches who have a huge understanding of youth football not to mention facilities that put ICT to shame & as said there youth team is flying with lads from all over the north & a few southern lads. To make matters worse ICT dont even have the best youth coaching team in Inverness let alone the Highlands,Clach who have always been a great example of how to nurture & bring through lads the amount of kids who rather go to grant Street for coaching is frightening yes a completely different level but the principles remain the same. No doubt friends of the trio I've named or maybe there ex teacher may disagree with me but until we rid the club of the jobs for the boys attitude & bring in coaches who actually no what there doing then ICT will always be miles behind not only Ross County but every other youth setup in Scotland .

The biggest game is the pre-split fixture at Motherwell ?!!

This is about as good as we could have hoped for imo. County game out the way early doors and both Motherwell & Hamilton at home. It's a disaster for Hamilton fans too; away to us is an early kick-off and away to county midweek. Also no home 3pm Saturday kick-offs for county This gives us as good a chance as we're going to get, ******* mon

Andrew Davies suspended for our first split game as is Garry.

The poster concerned never lets mere facts and statistics get in the way of a dig at the democratically elected Scottish Government even when entirely irrelevant to the topic of the thread.

Here are the post split fixtures Fixture Day Date Home Away Kick Off TV 34 Friday 28-Apr-17 Ross County v Inverness CT 19:45 Live on BT Sport Saturday 29-Apr-17 Hamilton Accies v Kilmarnock 15:00 Saturday 29-Apr-17 Motherwell v Dundee 15:00 Saturday 29-Apr-17 Rangers v Celtic 12:00 Live on Sky Sports Saturday 29-Apr-17 Aberdeen v St Johnstone 15:00 Saturday 29-Apr-17 Hearts v Partick Thistle 15:00 35 Saturday 06-May-17 Inverness CT v Hamilton Accies 12:15 Live on Sky Sports Saturday 06-May-17 Kilmarnock v Dundee 15:00 Saturday 06-May-17 Motherwell v Ross County 15:00 Saturday 06-May-17 Celtic v St Johnstone 15:00 Sunday 07-May-17 Partick Thistle v Rangers 12:15 Live on BT Sport Sunday 07-May-17 Hearts v Aberdeen 15:00 36 Saturday 13-May-17 Dundee v Ross County 15:00 Saturday 13-May-17 Hamilton Accies v Motherwell 15:00 Saturday 13-May-17 Kilmarnock v Inverness CT 15:00 Friday 12-May-17 Aberdeen v Celtic 19:45 Live on BT Sport Saturday 13-May-17 Rangers v Hearts 12:15 Live on Sky Sports Saturday 13-May-17 St Johnstone v Partick Thistle 15:00 37 Tuesday 16-May-17 Dundee v Inverness CT 19:45 Tuesday 16-May-17 Motherwell v Kilmarnock 19:45 Tuesday 16-May-17 Ross County v Hamilton Accies 19:45 Wednesday 17-May-17 Rangers v Aberdeen 19:45 Wednesday 17-May-17 St Johnstone v Hearts 19:45 Thursday 18-May-17 Partick Thistle v Celtic 19:45 Live on Sky Sports 38 Saturday 20-May-17 Hamilton Accies v Dundee 15:00 Saturday 20-May-17 Inverness CT v Motherwell 15:00 Saturday 20-May-17 Kilmarnock v Ross County 15:00 Sunday 21-May-17 Celtic v Hearts 12:30 Live on Sky Sports Sunday 21-May-17 Partick Thistle v Aberdeen 12:30 Sunday 21-May-17 St Johnstone v Rangers 12:30 Ladbrokes Premiership post-split fixtures 2016-17 (final) 13-Apr-17.docx

Oops

How many players have County brought through to first team? Not many. I do know someone whose son has been at both clubs and states ICT coaches far superior.

I've been coaching local kids for over 10 years. Even at under 12 level you can spot the kids who've got 'it'. There is no shortage of talent in the Inverness area, I can assure you. I've seen kids from all over town who you just know have the ability to go a long way. The majority of those that are picked up by Caley are dropped by the time they get to under 17 level. I've know idea why, as they can't all suddenly be not good enough. In truth though, the majority are never spotted and the relationship between ICT and local Inverness youth football organisations are pretty much non existent.

The fact that the County development squad are 4 points clear at the top of the Scottish Development league table with 3 games to go suggests there is plenty of talent in the Highlands.

Much as expected. If we are going to have any chance of survival it is essential that we win our remaining two home games. To do that we need every edge and advantage we can including a large and supportive home crowd. In order to encourage that backing, I believe that the club should charge £5 for adults and £2 for concessions for both matches and advertise that fact as widely as possible in the local media. I appreciate that that will lose income in the region of forty thousand pounds or so but that is very small beer compared to the reduction in income in excess of a million pounds for every season we might have to spend in the lower leagues. Every effort must be made to encourage as many people away from the Retail Park and down to East Longman.

It's been that long since we'd been bottom 6 I'd forgotten that

Can't see Richie improving anything : he seems to be in denial mode.

Sustaining a Premiership team long term in a remote location with a turnover of £3-4M, crowds often struggling to reach 3000, relying on windfalls and asset sales, and with no current benefactor is a highly marginal activity. Rather like walking a tightrope (there you go - non-political analogy this time!) it doesn't take much of an error somewhere for things to go badly wrong and that's what may very well have happened this time. The nature of any errors can certainly be speculated about, but any inquest is best left until a final conclusion has been reached. Efforts are meanwhile best focused on maximising such chances of survival that remain. Getting angry about the situation isn't going to make it any better. If anything is remarkable, it's that errors capable of upsetting the tightrope walker which is ICT have been as infrequent as they have. Indeed the largely error free transition (one major exception) from the Highland League to the Premiership in 10 years and remaining there for 13 with just one instantly redeemed hiccup is what has been truly remarkable, and not that the odds this time appear increasingly likely to catch up with the club. I wouldn't perhaps go as far as saying that Premiership status has become taken for granted. However I do think there needs to be a greater awareness each relegation time of the "there but for the Grace of God go I" principle (religious analogy now ) which has often given Inverness Caledonian Thistle a hefty rub of the green in very marginal circumstances.

Interestingly, STV made no reference at all to the club's statement on their 6pm sport bulletin.

That sounds a wee bit like the claim that the NHS in Scotland is OK because it is allegedly better than the NHS in England. What I am saying is that there are SOME Inverness fans, including those booing loudly at full time on Saturday, who have been very quick and early to turn on various parts of the club. One concern I have is that, notwithstanding the fact that the team's situation is indeed very bad, some fans are already assuming that relegation is inevitable so are demanding a reckoning now rather than at the end of the season. It's just as well James Vincent didn't come to that conclusion in the 2015 Scottish Cup Final, or the scorers of the four goals after Ayr United went 3-0 up or the team and management after Dundee built up a huge lead in 2010.

Hope you don't get banned...lacking a sense of humour is not a crime.

He retired from the game about 30 years ago, so I very much doubt he'll be fit for Saturday. Billy Mckay, however, is carrying a niggle and may/may not be fit (confirmed to the press by the manager this afternoon).