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Serves them right for being shyte at fitba if you ask me.

Who cares about any other sports, how they train and what they are paid? How is that relevant to Inverness Caledonian Thistle performing in the championship.

Here's hoping we get a good crowdie on Sunday.

With our current budget it is more likely to be a bottle of milk laid down by Stratton's dairy 25 years ago.

Do you have any suggestions as to how this could be resolved?

You are doubtless absolutely correct there IBM but it's difficult to have much reasonable issue with that, possibly for a number of reasons. Those who go over the bridge from Inverness will comprise both Invernessians and non-Invernessians (aka "incomers"). The latter category very possibly don't distinguish between ICT and Ross County in terms of local loyalty because, as "incomers", they have little or none; nor should they be expected to. They probably choose to go over there rather than here on the basis of other factors such as the match day experience - which now also includes County playing in a higher league. There is no particular motivation for them to go to ICT based on any affinity with Inverness, and some will actually be of Ross and Cromarty origin. On the other hand the reasons for Invernessians going over the bridge are possibly more complex and are probably a bigger concern. However they may well include ICT's historic failure to project itself to the local population. My own belief is that the Inner Moray Firth doesn't have sufficient population or economic weight to support two Premiership football teams in the longer term - even when one is heavily supported by a benefactor. However when the other comes up with one or two bad decisions, appointments and financial strategies, errors which it's not in a position to buy itself out of, then that's the one that will be squeezed - especially in this marginal inner Moray Firth economic environment. From the early 2000s Caley Thistle, saved from possible extinction by substantial Tulloch intervention and with a lot of largely good administration, more or less hung in there in the top tier and at times punched well above its weight. Eventually, Ross County's assistance from an ongoing benefactor got them into the SPL/Premiership as well, and on a number of occasions they have had to sign their way out of danger. The "perfect storm" has been a combination of County's financial muscle alongside strategic errors of governance creeping in at ICT, and we now have a situation which includes more and more likely going over the bridge on a Saturday. Roy MacGregor put the Hotel on Mayfair and in times of difficulty produced a "Get Out Of Jail(end) Free" card. Meanwhile Caley Thistle paid far too much for Old Kent Road, only maintained it by selling various other properties and got no return. "Always In Our Shadow" and "Pride Of The Highlands" certainly have something of a hollow ring about them now.

All things considered, I think this just goes to show what the Inverness public feel about the club. A shame to say the least.

So Alex McLeish it is. I don't necessarily think he's that bad, but it's such an uninspiring, dull appointment.

Exactly. It's so tedious hearing 'where did all the Ryan C/Scottish Cup/Europe etc money go?' It's keeping the fecking lights on. PS: Europe cost us money.

I'd love to see us mark it with a special edition jersey or perhaps a Caley Thistle Tomatin Whisky available in the club shop.

Whether ICT's crowds are falling is neither here nor there. The crowds watching ICT are still significantly higher than those watching any other sport and there is a correspondingly greater number who don't regularly attend but have an interest in reading about the team. Of course, when athletes in other sports have success at a high level then it is good to read about it, but what these athletes get up to when not in these major competitions is of little interest to all but a pretty small number of folk. Using your argument in another context, you might argue that the film review section should use more space reviewing some foreign "art" movie with a single showing at Eden Court and which just happens to have won a prize at the Cannes film festival, than the latest Bond movie with multiple screen showings at Vue. As for County. If anyone wants to read about them they can buy the "Ross-shire" (or Caravanning Monthly).

We need neither a sugar daddy or more surporters although, especially with regard to the latter, that would be a welcome bonus. We survived in the top tier for over a decade, with one minor blip, without a sugar daddy or a large fan base. We did so with generally sound management both on and off the pitch sometimes combined with a measure of good fortune. While we have no divine right to be in the Premiership, there is no reason whatsoever why we can't enjoy a similar run again.

If for no other reason than we don't want to emulate Sevco in any shape or fashion.