Leaderboard

You think that having only 10 teams in the division might help us there?

the way things are going our Highland derby next season will be with Peterhead.

We are really suffering from not having a right back, and the general lack of depth in defence. McKa6 and Donaldson looked pretty good as a pairing.

Hawkeye, I've tried to explain this before on this forum but some just don't see it. The reason for the heavy defeats in the early days was because JH completely changed the style of play ie out from the back. I remember the horror show against Dundee Utd in the SC where we gifted them a 3 goal lead at home all self inflicted but this was the players trying to adapt to the new way of playing. Had we not changed we would never have gotten 3rd in the league and won the cup. In the final season not only had we lost good players we had a horrendous injury list hence the reason for emergency signings and you can only sign what is available at the time according to your budget. The performance against Astra who were no mugs was one of the most mature i have seen from an ICT side and only a goalkeeping error from OFW caused us to lose that match. You may not have liked JH's style but while you have the ball the opposition cannot hurt you which is why we eked out points when we had no right to do so. I don't know why you dismiss winning 4 out of 5 after the split, they all count. As regards the treatment of Raven, JH clearly believed he could free up wages to invest in one or two players to make the team stronger, whilst I liked DR as a player and a person, every player comes to the end and it is the Manager's prerogative to decide who stays and who goes for the good of the club. Football is a business like any other even if the fans don't appreciate it, so I don't think it was shoddy, it was part of the football business. Hughes regarded the original budget plus the emergency signings as the budget for the following year, the board would only agree to the original budget, hence JH claimed his budget had been cut and the board claimed the budget had not changed. The sad part is that the system and style that JH inculcated in the squad could have been a successful template for many years to come but it was thrown over by the new inexperienced manager and the rest as they say is history.

If supporting a team is about winning and glory might I suggest you support one of the top four in the Premier? Real supporters stick with their team through thick and thin and will be at the Cup Final because thats what we do.

Just opened that link and ma computer exploded! Caution is recommended!

How do you figure the spirit was eroded under JH, if it was eroded it was by losing our best players and not replacing them with similar quality. The start of the serious decline was replacing JH with a total rookie supported by many on this forum. Am fed up with the JH bashing, history will show he was our best ever manager who completely changed our style of play in the right way. I also have a lot of respect for what Pele achieved during his tenure, I enjoyed his style of football.

Maybe Robbo said "B McKay", and the person writing down the names said "Nah, boss, he's at County!" ? BTW, if the story that Harper had to feign injury to get McKay on is true, then it's an appallingly cynical treatment of a 16 year old lad making his debut for the senior team. A public explanation is called for, if only to scotch this story.

Did they protest about Caley fielding a weakened team?

I don't mind losing. Losing is a part of life. What I won't accept is player who represent my club as employees, failing to give their all on the pitch. Last night, there were plenty of them. This is unacceptable, surely Robbo can see the players hiding. I would rather see 11 youth players giving their all and snapping into tackles, than mercenaries floating about the pitch, stealing a wage.

Our clean sheet run came when we had Coll, Raven and Tremarco. These three were more pivotal to the defensive resilience than the Brad/Coll parternship. These three protected McKay. If Warren was in for McKay it wouldn't have mattered.

We had been as high as second in the league and reached the league cup semi final in the season that Butcher left. There’s no telling how that could have finished if Butcher had stayed. Whilst you can’t ignore losing quality players, and the injuries that occurred, the fact remains is that Hughes recruitment was generally poor. You can only sign what is available, but maybe it’s better to keep some of the budget rather than sign lots and lots of midfielders, when we were clearly still short in both defence and attack. I understand that. The trouble is we tended to hurt ourselves when we had the ball by trying to retain possession too close to our own goal and then making a mistake. That season, we weren’t generally ekeing out points, we were trying to hold onto a lead and often failing. I don’t dismiss the winning 4 out of 5, I am just saying that it made the season look better than it probably was. Surely an experienced manager would have clarified the budget? The style could have been successful for years to come, but only with the right players. I would question Hughes’ ability to find and recruit those players.

Players don't become rubbish overnight. The margins in this league are small. FWIW I think our recent slump is down to tactical decisions. During our winning run Bell was by far our best attacking player IMO and a reliable goalscorer / defender from the front. He shouldn't be out on the flank, he should be our first choice center forward. Oakley will almost certainly make it (reminiscent of a young Adam Rooney) as a top flight player one day, but he isn't mobile enough to carry a threat as a lone striker. A Bell / Oakley front partnership is our best combination. At the other end of the park, Ravens departure and subsequent back 4 reshuffle (Warren back in as center half, McKay shunted out to full back) also set us back. Donaldson / McKay were a promising partnership, would go as far as to say they looked like 2 of the best young Scottish center halves in the country during our clean sheet marathon - hard to believe now though. Warren is still a useful squad player, and not quite ready for the glue factory just yet (am I alone in thinking he could do a job further up the park? Certainly our most dangerous player from set pieces) but Donaldson / McKay are our best combination. Our back 4 should be built around that foundation. Play your best players in their best positions!

Winning and glory is one thing which can never be guaranteed. However, I don't think it's unreasonable even for loyal fans to expect some degree of organisation and planning in the boardroom and a degree of commitment on the pitch. I am unhappy with the state of affairs at our club at the moment. Am I too a glory hunter who should go and 'support one of the top four in the premier' ?

The decline started as soon as we won the cup pretty much. That heralded the breaking up of a squad largely put together by Butcher. Yes, we didn’t replace quality players, but Hughes has to share part of that blame as he was the one recruiting players. Even if funds was the issue, why sign loads of midfielders when other positions needed attention too? The treatment of Raven was pretty shoddy too. As for Hughes style of play - yes it was pleasing to the eye at times in the cup winning season, but in the season he took over we tended to either bore teams to death for a 0-0, or get walloped. In his final season the football was eye-bleedingly bad at times - Dundee at Dens in Feb nearly put me off football for life - and only winning 4 out of 5 after the split put a gloss on the season. Since Hughes left, the decision making at the club has ranged from the questionable to the outright laughable. While I agree that our current situation cannot be laid solely at Hughes’ door, is is at least partially culpable.

The urgent task between now and the end of the season is to remain ahead of Dumbarton and thus in the division at any costs. A successive relegation will , without doubt, mean part time football at the very best. Assuming we do that, we need to have a root and branch review of what's being going on at the club from top to bottom. We have been drifting downwards for the best part of your years. Somehow or other that drift needs to be arrested before it results in years of mediocrity and derby matches against Elgin rather than County. The spirit that was developed under Pele and maintained under Robertson, first time around and under Butcher began to be eroded under Hughes and has now all but disappeared. Very concerning. A properly functioning fans association properly representative with a presence on the board would be a big help in getting things back on track.

A truly shambolic performance from ICT that should really be leaving fans very worried at the prospect of a second successive relegation. With Dumbarton playing Brechin again on Saturday there's a real chance they will be just 3 points behind us. Forget about possible Highland Derbies next season and focus on staying in this league. Harper last about 3 minutes before going off injured as he collided with Vigurs and a Dunfermline player which led to the free kick which saw the home side open the scoring. Nice curling effort from the right hand side into the net. That was all there was between the teams in the first half with both sides giving the few fans in attendance absolutely nothing to get excited about. Second half was a bit more lively although we didn't really threaten apart from the odd cross or a timid burst into the box before we fluffed a chance. Dunfermline had the best chances and should have ended up winning by more than just the one goal. Thankfully the post and Ridgers denied them. A thunderous Higginbotham effort was the pick of the chances for the Pars but Ridgers made a fine save. Even though the score line makes it look like a close game I'd say we were as bad as when we were thumped 5-1 there earlier in the season. At the back we floated between competent and clueless. Most of the time we coped easily with the Pars attacks. Other times we flapped at crosses and passed the ball out of defence straight to the home side. Polworth and Vigurs certainly tried but mainly succeeded in giving the ball away. Chalmers was anonymous, Mulraney kept running the ball out of play instead of crossing it and Oakley spent most of the game falling over after wrestling with his opponent. We were an utter shambles. Aimless punts up the park and truly woeful attacking play in the final third. There were very few plus points. Ridgers made some good saves and it was great to see Tremarco and Bell back in the side. But apart from that it was a night to forget for ICT.

Must be horrible for boys like Trafford to sit on the bench when Chalmers faffs about on the pitch. Bell must be furious, he was unfairly dropped in my opinion and hasn't been reinstated even though his replacements have offered nothing. McKay must be choking for a chance.

Pathetic............................My patience is wearing very thin. Of course I'll stick with my team but the enjoyment levels are zero at the moment. Robbo keeps telling us that our under 17's are a very talented bunch, well now's the time to give them a chance, they can't do any worse.

Disgraceful. No desire or belief. Embarrassing that these so called players represent the club bar a few. Ridgers, nothing to do in the first half except pick it out the net. Couple of missed crossed which should have been punished but a good save towards the end. Seedorf. Did okay defensively. Has no left foot so always goes outside when attacking. Easy to dispossess. Warren. Did okay. McKay. He is woefully bad. Just saunters about thinking he is a player. Tremarco. Mom for me. Showed desire and fight unlike most others. Chalmers. Rotten, always passes sideways or back, any forward pass is to the opposition. Powderpuff in the tackle. Polworth. Started brightly but seemed to give up. Vigurs. Classic Vigurs, nice touches, too relaxed sometimes giving ball away. Gets frustrated, gives away needless fouls, Huffs, gives up. Jake. Hid all game, couldn't be arsed today. No runs in behind, didn't take the winger on once. One decent cross. Doran. Usual. Can only last a half. Poor game by his standards. Oakley. Bullied. Little service or support. Put in decent effort. Zac. No football brain or touch. Bell. Hardly got on the ball. So so bad. If we play like that again then relegation is a serious concern. Forget the challenge cup. We have much more important issues at the moment. Survival.

All kicked off by the restoration of the monarchy. Yes I know that they were Catholic vs Protestant, but they were mainly about power and dynasty, not religion. We're way off-topic - I'll stop now

A wise and measured response to a comment straight out of the "Pride of the Highlands" and "Always in our shadow" stable.

15 sold so far that I know of ?