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Scotty, whilst I admire your upbeat outlook and like you I have enjoyed the highs and suffered the big low( relegation at the hands of Falkirk) I really hope KC is hurting at the moment because the ICT board have created this situation all by themselves. The sacking of JH which was needless in my opinion and the appointment of a complete rookie manager at any level of football shows the lack of football knowledge within the board. What made it even worse was the hour plus interview at the start of the season with RF and KC which smacked of unwarranted Hubris in both of them. I am convinced KC played to a large part of the ICT support who wanted JH out and RF in, much of the aforementioned interview referred to the club's current football style and how it would change under RF (for the worse as it turned out).The employment of Malpas is an acknowledgement that RF is just not up to the job. I am in little doubt that if RF remains in place we could be facing relegation next season too, the guy is out of his depth, I'm afraid I do not share your optimistic outlook..

35 seconds into the video sums it up for me ..... 'if we go down, then we go down together !' . I have (purposely) stayed pretty silent on this topic and watched from the sidelines as posts have varied in almost every degree from one extreme to the other. Relegated or not, just like last year, I will be there on the last day of the season showing my support to team and club. Personally, I believe MM is a last throw of the dice as it's too late to replace RF now and have any chance of staying up. If we were going to do that we should have done it months ago, but I think the board - like most of us - really, REALLY wanted to RF to succeed (and still do) and most of us, the board included, were hesitant to pull the plug or ask for him to go. There is possibly also the issue of compensation if he was sacked but none of us know the terms of the contract so that aspect is hard to say. We may still go down with RF/MM combo but if we do then we have to pull together to try and bounce back (again). The gulf in the parachute payment and league money was reduced between divisions when the SPL/SFL became the SPFL but its still significant. If we are all bickering amongst ourselves then the extremely difficult task of trying to bounce back in a year or two might become impossible. If its any consolation, I do see parallels with Toronto FC !!! TFC were absolute s*** under manager Aron Winter and after he was sacked we were just as bad with his former #2 Paul Mariner who also ended up sacked and then Ryan Nelson who got the same treatment .... but then the club gave the job to managerial newbie Greg Vanney. His first season in charge - with high profile signings like Michael Bradley, Jermain Defoe, Julio Cesar (loan), and Gilberto - ended in turmoil after failing to make the playoffs, Defoe basically walking out, and many calling for Vanney's head due to tactical naivety .... but after all that, he quietly got through the off season, swapped Defoe for Altidore at Sunderland, brought in Sebastian Giovinco and a few other decent if unspectacular signings and TFC reached the playoffs for the first time in their short history before going out to Didier Drogba's Montreal. Last year it all clicked for Vanney and TFC reached the MLS Final eventually losing out to Seattle ... this year no-one is questioning Vanney's abilities despite starting the season slowly (1 win, 4 draws, 1 defeat). He has grown from being a 'rookie' manager thrown in at the deep end into the one with the best managerial record for TFC ever !!! I also find it quite strange that last year, on the final day of the season, Kenny was getting plaudits from the fans in the stadium for having a laugh and a joke with David Raven on the park, clearly to Yogi's chagrin ... yet here we are less than a year later and he seems to be the devil incarnate. As Jimmy Greaves used to say ... "Its a funny old game!" . Many believe the appointment of RF to be a mistake, and the length of contract to be silly, and perhaps it is with the benefit of hindsight ... but how many of the folk saying that have ever mentioned RF as a possible manager when going through rough spells under Butcher or Hughes ? Quite a few I would wager ! I know Kenny, I class him as a friend as well as chairman of our club and I know how much work he has done for our club over the 15+ years he has been involved either as a board member or as chairman. He will be hurting just as much as the rest of us, and he will be more than aware of mistakes that have been made, but equally I have no doubt he will look for solutions too whether that is to stop the slide or to have a plan in place to regain our top flight status if we are relegated. We accomplish nothing with all the in-fighting and back-biting .... If ICT do go down then we do it together, and we come back up together ! Following ICT has always been a roller-coaster ride ... and it always will be ... enjoy it !

I've been kinda resigned to going down since about February. Poor management decisions, an obvious lack of confidence from the players, lack of leadership on the park, and a complete loss of form from previously top performing players has only served to highlight the reckless board decision with regards the length of Forans contract, given its likely we can't afford to be relegated or pay compo to terminate his contract. From a previously prudent club, I find it an extraordinarily naive bit of business, assuming there isn't some kind of escape clause off course, and if there is, it's an extraordinary show of loyalty to Ritchie Foran that he's still here. That said, I've got a sudden strange feeling of optimism now we are going to get off the bottom and give ourselves a sniff of a chance in a playoff. Not because Mo is back, although I'm glad he is. It's because we are Caley Thistle, and if there's one thing we have consistently proven through the years is that we can defy the odds. I've seen almost nothing this season to merit this optimism, we deserve to go down as things stand, but I also know we still have enough quality individuals here to shi*fest our way into the playoffs if the players stop hiding, feeling sorry for themselves and give us some performances that are long overdue. We will beat County. Dundee are going to drop more points and give us a six pointer against them that we are going to win. Sitting here bitching about our demise before it's sealed is pointless. I'll be getting behind the team for the remainder. We may have had a nightmare of a season, but it can still end on a high, and then action be taken to improve for next season.

Doesn't look like this season will have a happy ending. A hugely disappointing campaign and one which leaves lots of unanswered questions and finger pointing. However it is also got me to thinking that maybe it's just our time. We are real football fans who experience the highs and the lows. Apart from Celtic, every team in the split have either been relegated or flirted with it. The cup win and Romania tasted so sweet as we had already tasted the bitterness of relegation and look likely to again. I have enjoyed our journey and will continue to regardless of what division we end up in. Apart from Romania and the cup final, all my favourite away days have been in the lower leagues. Regardless of whether we go down or not I look forward to the next chapter.

What does this say about Foran and Rice? Is Malpas taking over the coaching or the Management role, he has a pretty poor record in both. I see it as an admission by the board that the current management team isn't up to the job but they have to be seen by the supporters as doing something as cheaply as possible. Perhaps they are trying to embarrass Foran and Rice into resigning, fat chance. If I were a player I would be totally bewildered, who am I going to listen to? I cannot recall such a situation at any other club and as a previous poster suggests it looks like the club are locked into the 4 year deal irrespective of results.

nothing deleted. perhaps the batteries just ran out !

I'd imagine we're talking a few thousand pounds for a month's work, plus a well deserved bonus if we stay up. A worthwhile last throw of the dice when faced with the prospect of losing millions and sliding into footballing oblivion.

Agree, we have nothing to lose. Desperate times require desperate measures. Bit late in the day, but it can't get much worse. The only way is up. Or down.

Who knows the reasons, perhaps with Rice being out of contract in the summer he may be offski and perhaps MM has always been earmarked by RF as his assistant so was going to be coming in anyway. I'm not exactly a fan of RF as manager, the rest of the management team and their contribution or even the board and their handling of this - my posts indicate as much but being pragmatic we need to improve and clearly the management we have cant get our defence organised so perhaps bringing in a 3rd party with experience and knowledge of the players may work - at this stage we have little to loose, not like we can fall any further.

The tombola strategy has spread to the management!

Foran will do as he's told , that's why he got the job in the first place imho .

Yes, I was thinking similar, DD. I'm not totally opposed to this appointment on the face of it, but the dynamics are going to be a mare. The Sun is allegedly indicating that this was an SOS from RF, which is interesting, but what role is he to have and how much of a kick in the teeth is this for Rice? Under TB, Malpas took all the coaching sessions, while Butcher chose the team and tactics. What we desperately need now is somebody to advise on team and tactics....Malpas might well have the knowledge to do that, but will Foran really take the advice? Who knows, it might work, but it does seem to be a sticking plaster for a leg break!

He initially joined Motherwell as assistant manager to former coaching colleague Terry Butcher. Malpas became Motherwell manager in May 2006, following Butcher's departure to coach Sydney FC.[4] He left the club in June 2007 after one season in charge, having taken the team from a comfortable mid-table position to one that narrowly avoided relegation.[5] Malpas became caretaker manager of the Scotland under-21 team in August 2007, but missed out on the permanent position to Billy Stark. In January 2008, Malpas became manager of Swindon Town after the takeover of the club by local businessman Andrew Fitton,[6] replacing former Dundee United team-mate Paul Sturrock. Malpas was sacked by chairman Andrew Fitton on 14 November 2008 after a poor run of results and shock exits in the FA Cup to Histon and in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy within a week. He joined Terry Butcher again as assistant, this time at SPL club Inverness Caledonian Thistle [In May 2009, Inverness were relegated from the Scottish Premier League]. In 2013, Malpas moved with Butcher to Hibernian, rejecting the chance to manage Inverness.[7] Butcher and Malpas both left Hibernian in June 2014, after the club had been relegated from the Scottish Premiership.[8] HE IS NOT THE MAN TO SAVE US!!

The next match is in Dingwall at 19:45 on Friday 28th. That's why it mentions "away fans".

Has everybody lost their Feckin marbles ? This is a Feckin boardroom Con. If this was the answer it would have been introduced months ago. I am actually dreading County away now as we have given them extra ammo. To me Mispass is a total waste of money and a total slap in the face. Another Old Boy action by Old Boys without a Feckin clue. That is my last post of the season.

Quote "I am astonished that anyone is contemplating having John Hughes back as a manager. His signings were even poorer than Foran's and our style of play had become so predictable that teams soon sussed out how to play against us and we had no plan B. Would we have changed our style this season under John Hughes and been more exciting to watch, would he have signed better players than previously, the evidence suggests otherwise. There are in fact many similarities between JH and RF's style of management in that they are both stubborn and will not change their approach even when everyone can see that change is needed. Is that the one bit of experience RF picked up from JH?" We were so predictable that we won our first piece of silverware and had our best ever league position are you enjoying what you are watching now? JH completely changed our style of play and had to get the players and fans to buy into it despite the howlers committed in the early days by trying to play out from the back, he then lost his two best players in Shinnie and Watkins. ICT was still a work in progress when JH left, yes possession was overplayed at times but it takes good players to be able to mix it up and make the runs necessary to play a longer ball. Playing the way we did meant we were never going to be hammered by anyone in this league even when key players were missing because of the system we played. I am astonished that anyone wouldn't have him back especially after the dross served up this season.

There was a lot more spirit in the upper echelons.

Richie says we just need to kick it and chase it.

Even a single year out of the top division will cost us over twice as much as we made from the cup win so logically you would swap that for Premiership survival. However, football has very little to do with logic and personally I wouldn't swap that wonderful euphoric afternoon in Glasgow for anything.

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

Certainly a defined and effective statement or indeed rallying call aimed at focusing minds in the face of desperate danger would be beneficial and very probably overdue. The main problem is that in terms of delivering it, Winston Churchill has been dead for over 50 years! To continue that analogy, this is like when the Germans were continually bombing the airfields during the Battle of Britain. One can only hope that Hamilton and/or Motherwell do Inverness a favour and make mistakes such as bombing London instead. One or two Churchillian exhortations wouldn't go wrong either though. Quite frankly, there aren't too many options left now and you can analyse what did, or didn't, happen in the past until you're blue in the face but it won't make one iota of difference. The ONLY options that remain are those which will maximise the points take between now and the end of the season - especially in the three games against Hamilton and Motherwell. I also believe that a certain sector of the Inverness fans need to take a look at themselves in all this. Constant undermining of players and management in various ways, including booing at matches, will have done nothing to boost confidence and morale. This is without doubt a "perfect storm" scenario where a number of adverse factors have conspired together but the reaction and to be blunt, the Holier Than Thou self-righteousness of SOME fans has most definitely contributed.

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.

Now this surely has to be a wind up, good fishing attempt though Can you imagine how cringeworthy this would be and how embarrassing it would be if attempted Having said that it sounds like something the Green Brigade would do so I wouldn't be surprised to see IHE turn up with his old school Motorola using the screen light Dougal

No questions however about his honesty and reliability though. Can we afford his bar bill ?

I don't think mobile phones existed in IHEs school days. The people using their phones will be the ones making the most noise at the match so can hardly lecture them, best of luck using the phone lights at 20 past 4 ish.