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Haha sound advice there my man tho I might be gathering a cult following 153 likes like big White I'm an improving player who splits opinions!

Disappointing but no surprise to anyone. With Polworth gone as well the .midfield will have a very different look to it next season. However, we have lost far better players and still prospered. An opportunity to rebuild and refresh.

But I could have told you Vincent, This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you

I hate all the vilification of players when they move on and especially when they move to our main rivals. These guys are simply making a living best they can in a career with a very short lifespan. Moving to a bigger wage may not always be the best career move in the longer term and staying a bit longer at a club you have developed well at, may result in a far better offer the following year. However, players like Chalmers are not earning much with ICT and it is completely reasonable for them to move on. And to do so with our thanks and good wishes.

Not read the thread and TBH I don't think I can bring myself to. I'm still absolutely gutted about the result. I felt before the game that if we took the lead we'd have a great chance to overturn the deficit but if we lost the first goal we'd struggle to turn it around and so it proved. We really should have bagged a goal or two before that incredibly harsh penalty decision. Excellent spot kick from Clark but as soon as that went in you could see the players heads drop a bit and I don't really blame them. Poor defending for the United second goal really killed off any lingering hope and the third was just cruel but probably deserved for United. By this point you could see which team had benefited from several days of rest prior to the first leg. Most of the ICT players were absolutely burst by this point - Walsh, Trafford and White were all dead on their feet yet kept plugging away (White especially) and put the lamentable effort from folk like Austin to shame. Plenty of effort but not enough clinical finishing / quality over the piece. It's hard to have another contentious decision go against us in a game against United but over the two games we failed to find the net once which speaks volumes. As has been said numerous times this season we can't continue to pass up chances like the ones we missed on Friday.

Powerful stuff, but it basically ignores the quality of our opponents. You'd have a point if we were competing against Fort William in these games, obviously not if we were playing Man City. Why should we have done better against County, Dundee United and Hearts specifically? All three have significantly higher budgets to work with - Robbo has said that County have more than double our budget, Alan Preston said the other night that United had at least treble. Hearts' will be a lot more. Why do you ignore that not only did we put two of those clubs out of cup, but also finished above at least three other clubs in our league with higher budgets than us? For me, the most impressive aspect of our overall performance this season is that it took place at a time when everyone is on such a massive downer. The whole club's being cut to the bone, players leave at the first sniff of interest and we're delighted just to get them off the wage bill, the home crowds have been reduced to a small group of moany old men and some 15 year-old wannabe casuals. I'm just delighted we stayed up under these circumstances - overachievement is putting it mildly.

Starry starry night Paint your parrot blue and grey

Sometimes enjoys winding up the over serious and over positive ?

Alan you have lost it mate but it’s funny ?

Even bad publicitys good for me my man! Tbh tho it doesn't take much to be different from the majority on here pretty much happy clappers who just go along with whatever gash some of the more popular posters write! Iv been watching Caley since school Iv more than earned my spurs to give a bit of a wind up

Fox going evidently requires a capable replacement. If OFW gets the nod I will be in attendance in the Darkside Away End simply to give him feckin belters.

Now here comes my rant for the season ............... Officiating: quite honestly it's been horrendous and some of the worst I have ever seen across a season and that is not just confined to matches we've been involved in or our league, it's right across the board. The level of arrogance that our referees show towards players and staff is appalling and while they have a very difficult job to do, someone should remind them that they get paid for it and it's their job to keep order. Referees in other sports across the world can do it so why can't they. One of my biggest gripes is the speed at which a referee, and they are all guilty, can't wait to get a card out. At times struggling to get a card out of their pocket while they run to an incident! Take some time, sort the situation out, pull players away, discuss the incident then produce a card if necessary. It projects a better form of control and sets the tone for the game but we don't appear to have one official that can do that nor the authorities to make it change. It's no coincidence that this season has saw more managers than ever speaking out about the levels of refereeing in this country but still they are the ones that are punished, it's about time that the beaks in charge started to deal with the situation properly instead of making managers and players the scapegoats.

Not a bad player but one that we can lose from the team without having to worry about too much about how we’ll cope without him. Neat and tidy most of the time, but a player who’s first thought is to go backwards or sideways. When we’re in positive positions I felt that he slowed the game down a lot of the time. So I think he can be replaced comfortably. That said, him and polworth have both left now and they were our set piece takers so perhaps that’s something to think about. I don’t wish him any ill will and just hope that if he does return to play against us that he doesn’t forget who gave him a chance to restart his career and in a new position. Something McKay and Draper have seemed to forget for some reason. No problem with them celebrating goals and wins for their new club but absolutely no reason for them to be thumping the badge on the shirt towards our fans either. I don’t think either of them left our club with any problems from the fans. Hopefully Chalmers doesn’t follow their example.

He scored one good goal. That sums ups his contribution during his time with us. Other than that he was inconsistent, slow and regularly mid placed passes. Easily replaced.

I see our supporters on social media are losing their heads over this and suddenly decrying him as a garbage player and a snake. Chalmers certainly isn't rubbish but he also isn't the best player going. Nice set piece delivery (corners over free kicks), some nice short range passing and, erm, that's about it. He's okay but that's as far as it goes. Certainly not worth getting into a "bidding" war with County over him and offering the guy silly money. I trust Robbo to replace him. Vincent has been released by Dundee...

Confirmation of what we knew/suspected. Joe's been good for us at championship level but I'm not sure he'll add much to County in the Premiership. Can see him getting paid lots more for sitting on a bench than he did for playing football this season. Invest the money wisely, Joe!

Am I wrong in thinking that the main shittt stirring culprits nowadays are shittt stirring, rose coloured spectacled, know it alls - trying to pissss off the more outspoken, albeit understandable members of the forum who have a more negative "view" of proceedings. Perhaps "vultures" of another kind ?? Bet I know who doesn't give me a "greenie" for this post. ?

I see that Danny Williams, who left ICT at the same time as Vincent, has been released by Accrington Stanley, after spending the season on loan at Fylde. They certainly never over achieved after leaving the Highlands.

A half decent player surprised County want him tho any chance they can take Trafford and big White as well?? I would go for Martin Wood if we can afford him big upgrade

Any truth in the rumour that John Hartson is signing for us ?

I know that I referred to him as "The sweet left foot" and I think that he did have BUT he went missing for some games and parts of others. I still feel that he is more suited to be an attacking left sided midfielder. As a holding midfielder he was average and I feel that Trafford surpassed him in that role as the season progressed. I am actually surprised that Tinkerville have chosen him. I would classify him as a good Championship player but I doubt his ability to shine in the Premiership. If he was going anywhere else than over the bridge then I would wish him luck. I hope his luxury residential caravan home leaks.

Another average player leaves ICT. We have lost far better players than him and survived. I wish him well, but can't see him making much of an impression at county, in my opinion they have far better players to fill their midfield than Joe. He has undoubtedly increased his wages, and if he is satisfied to sit on the bench and not play, then it's the right move for him. I heard a few weeks ago that he bought a house in Inverness, and was also told his other half works for Robbo's wife, so it didn't take rocket science to work out he was either staying with us or going to county, and money talks.

I certainly won't vilify him, but he was lightweight with the occasional great cross and a superb goal in the cup. We have replaced better players than Joe before and will continue to do so. Good luck in your career, but I am more concerned about Coll Donaldson.

I think opening up SPFL to promotion from the lower leagues has been a really positive move. It has allowed lower league teams to have some ambition whilst at the same time forcing some of the lower level SPFL teams to pick up their ideas if they want to remain in the system. This arrangement has been a huge success in England. The concern for me is where there is only one promotion place available, particularly in a situation like in the SPFL where that place is not automatic but subject to a play-off. This can result in a log jam where there may be several teams at the lower level who are actually better than several in the tier above. This is a bigger problem in England where the leagues mostly have 20 or more teams, but it might be more appropriate to have the team coming bottom of the SPFL being automatically relegated and the team next to bottom going to a play-off. Good luck to Cove, though. I think they will do well next season.

Out of contract at the end of the season Owain Fon Williams Kevin McHattie Liam Polworth - Motherwell Joe Chalmers Nathan Austin - Kelty Hearts Out of contact in 2020 Cammy McKay Brad McKay Coll Donaldson Carl Tremarco Jamie McCart Charlie Trafford Aaron Doran Tom Walsh Jordan White Out of contact in 2021 Darren Macaulay Out of contract in 2022 Daniel Mckay Sean Welsh Mark Ridgers (stolen from another thread - but updated) Still can't find any info on Shaun Rooney contract. Think we should offer McHattie a one year deal. He has done well coming in to cover the Left side on the pitch

There was loads of fans there. It was a great night.

Eh? How is nearly collapsing against Edinburgh City right at the start and turning it around to go all the way to the Semis not overachieving? I understand what you mean about the league cup, and I hate to bring it up again, but we were effectively cheated out of it after Hearts were handed a 2 point deduction. Our season went pretty well if I'm honest, fair placing, despite all the draws. This season has been far from achieving the norm...it's definitely been an overachieving season, and let's hope it continues in following ones (minus the several dozen draws at the start...and nearly bottling it to a League Two side...)

Correct Jaggernaut. BUT...…….. Alan..why don't you exaggerate the positive and avoid the negative completely. It's how to win friends and influence people . Yessssssssss! I promise that your feelings about ICT will change for the better and you will garner soooooo many "likes" that your life will change. And you will become the top banana on here.

When he joined, I asked Alan Simpson did he actually believe what he was posting or was he just being controversial to collect the red dots. He just laughed it off. There does seem to be a theme that he is out of sync with the majority of posters, but it takes all sorts, and we are all entitled to our own opinion.

Perhaps Kelty Hearts sing sectarian Rangers songs ?

Time for you and Gregor to step up and lead the ICTFC red and blue brigade, show us all how real fanatics do it both home and away.

The Board has told us how skint we are. CaleyD posted the following section from the annual report at the time of the last AGM. I think most posters on here understand the seriousness of this. It means we simply do not have the money to attract players who are proven to be quality at the level we are playing. Slowly but surely, the club is freeing up money from some of the irresponsible contracts of the past but that serves mainly to minimise the debt rather than free up money for more lucrative contracts. And don't be too dismissive of Robbo going into the English non league in search of talent . Remember, England has 10 times the population of Scotland and teams like Morpeth will be Scottish league 2 standard at the very least. Given that David Carson was not only their player of the season but also the division's player of the season, I expect he will be a very able addition to our squad. Finally, Dean Brill was playing at Wembley today for Orient in the final of the non league FA Trophy. The crowd was just short of 43,000 which was nearly 6,000 more than watched ICT when we won the Scottish Cup. The standard of non league football is way, way higher than non league football in Scotland and it will remain an important hunting ground for us. Our club has a fantastic record of identifying players with the potential to play at a higher level and we need to continue to do that if we are to continue to operate in the top two tiers of the Scottish leagues.

Just watched the first half of the BT highlights - I only sat through that painful second half to applaud the players for their season so certainly wasn't going to watch it again. Funny how differently you see things at the time - as I experienced the Doran chance, about 10 seconds seemed to pass between the sublime first touch and the failed attempt to lift it over the keeper. Turns out it all happened in a split second and there was someone on the line to deal with it anyway. Siegriest's save from Walsh's deflected volley was probably the closest we came in retrospect. Overall, and bearing in mind injuries, fatigue, the financial chasm, the size of the crowd and club we were up against etc., that was a great effort in the first half. If we'd got the first goal then something magical might've happened. We didn't, but i'm left with nothing but massive respect for everyone involved in the effort.

What do folks on here expect of ICT We have come third in the league with probably the sixth top budget in the league We have reached the semi finals of the Scottish Cup We reached the semi finals of the playoffs and decisions from the officials have cost us. I think we have massively overachieved and the management and players deserve a lot of thanks for this. Also the away fans deserve a lot of credit. The neagative posters on here need to have a reality check and if they are not happy with what we have achieved this season, have a look at where Falkirk who are a bigger club and have a far bigger fan base than ourselves are this evening . We certainly have a lot of moaners in our support. Have a good summer folks hopefully the sun will lighten some perspectives on here?

Well done on all the reports and previews I for one appreciate the effort and enjoy reading them

You obviously don't understand what I mean by structure. I will try to explain. ■ Totally revamp our youth "academy" to include only kids with potential - numbers mean nothing if none are good enough ■ Have a defined path for youth to progress to full-time football with education integrated with training and coaching ■ All full-time players should be playing regularly at either first team or reserve team level ■ If you are employed full-time you should work full-time. Employees (players/coaches etc) should be promoting the club to encourage local support. I could go on and on but I would no doubt bore the drawers off you. Structure is about the whole business from grass roots up - not just the first team

Sounds like we were rather hard done by, but also a match too far for a slim squad...I think the players can hold their heads up high, and us fans can be rightly proud of a season where we got to the Cup Semi final and came third to the two best financed teams in the league....many pluses I think, McCart, Welsh, Walsh, Jordan (unfancied but plenty of goals) Doran, Donaldson, Trafford (coming good in the end) ...I have hopes for McCauley annd Daniel Mackay will be stronger next season. Would be great to get McDonald back (I think he's done well), and we've signed two already. I have high hopes for next season.

Great effort by the team and fantastic backing from the away fans. Unfortunately effort alone will not win us anything. It's the age olde saying: You can only p15h with the cork you've got. We know our shortcomings and I'm sure we all know who we should be keeping, but I can't fault the effort of the players, they gave all they had. Today/last night is not really the time for us to be slagging off the squad, but it should be a time to savour the microscopic shreds of success in a challenging season. I'll come back to this in a few days as we learn to cope with another season in the Championship. I don't think we should be getting ahead of ourselves and expecting success next season either. Unless a miracle happens, we will still be in the Championship, still have no money and still have sh1te referees. Plenty of passion shown on the matchday thread, but try and keep it civil. No one died and we are all different with the same aim. ps Thank Christ the season has ended. No more match reports for a couple of months

Given our budget, resources and player turnover recently and most people's expectations at the start of the season, had you given us 3rd place and Scottish Cup semi final at the start of the season, I reckon most would have said fair enough. Yes we always want more but you reap what you sow. Sluggish start to the season, too many draws, toothless at times and a smaller squad have ultimately cost us. I really can't fault the players effort and endeavour all season, we were just beaten by superior players and clubs with bigger budgets. Hopefully Utd go up as I can't do with another season of them in the Championship, they can take their big budget with them and level the playing field. When Utd got their penalty and scored it's the most disappointed I've felt at a game for as long as I can remember. All hope drained as it did the players from what was a very good first half display. That's the positives we need to take forward into next season. Onwards and upwards and promotion next season

Tremarco too - left back was definitely a weak spot over the two legs against Utd.

These players have sweated blood this season. You could see some of them weren’t fit last night, Walsh for one, and Coll and Doran probably. Everybody knows the squad was down to the bare bones. But if anything they were the better side in the first half and could have been a couple of goals up with better finishing. They deserved to take a bow for their efforts. And yet at the 3rd goal we have people streaming out of the ground?‍♂️

I agree with a lot of the sentiments on here. We gave it our all, but diabolical refereeing decisions coupled with poor finishing will not win us games. On the whole, in my opinion, it's been a good season, it could have been a better one, but if you had told me at the beginning of the season that we would make the semi finals of the playoffs and the Scottish Cup, I would have scoffed at you. To finish third, behind the leagues two best funded teams, says a lot for Robbo's recruitment and drive, and if we can keep the majority of the squad together for next season and add a few quality new faces, I think we can do some damage next term. It looks like Robbo will be missing for the start of next season after his comments about the standard of refereeing in this country, but I wholeheartedly agree with him. No collective of officials should be immune to criticism, they have been over protected for far too long. If players or managers step out of line they get hammered by the Association, where as referees can make blunder after blunder and they just get another game to officiate at. Kevin Clancy being a good example, he doesn't send off the sevco player for elbowing Scott Brown during the sevco v Celtic game, but gives a penalty and booking against Brad Mckay in our match, absolutely atrocious. So, that's the season done and dusted, my new season ticket bought, and I'm looking forward to next term already, a glutton for punishment or diehard supporter?

Well done everyone............you tried your best. Man of the match was the very impressive Utd keeper. With the rub of the green it could have been different but after that game I doubt we could have mustered an 11 for the next game. Have a rest boys.......you deserve it. Robbo........well you are in trouble but I think you spoke well. Great support for both sides ( over 8500) and a special mention to those who go to extraordinary lengths and travel huge distances to support their team.....you know who you are.

I think its been a decent season given our small squad. 3rd and the semi final of a national cup. Still kinda feel that it is a case of what could have been though. Too many draws earlier in season the reason.

Well I sat in a motorway queue for four feckin hours, made me hit the Forth Road Bridge at rush hour and got to Dungdee 45 minutes before the kick off. Feckin stone cold sober !! Up until that ridiculous penalty decision we were the better team, playing some nice football and looking the team to score by a country mile. But our lack of power and flair up front and the age old inability to take chances let us down again. We really should have been 2 or 3 up and there were scoreable chances for Walsh, White and Doran. The penalty, it's conversion and the timing appeared to simply break our hearts. But we put so much into that first half that it would have been a miracle if we had maintained that level after the second. Only a sniff of a comeback would have possibly riled us up. But the Arabs went for the throat from the start of the second half, pressed higher up the pitch and the second was the beginning of the end. It could well have been 5 or 6 in the end and we never looked like scoring. You would have to say that everybody gave their all but I thiught that some showed their flaws. There weren't many who didn't look absolutely flecked 10-15 minutes before the end. Again that is the cruelty of our play off system. i will leave the Smileymometer alone but Ridgers did nothing wrong, Rooney ran and ran and did well before being flecked. McCart was superb and my MOM. Should Coll have been playing when clearly 50 to 60% fit - I would say not. McHattie was caught out for the second goal and struggled defensively. Our midfield ran their socks off but we went for the long, high ball [often diagonal] too often and did not utilise the width and especially Walsh snuffed. Doran played like he did against Hearts and did not come up with the goods. White had littl support but did not hold things up enuff and lost too much in the air. Not sure either where Brad McKay was playing but it did look like he was employed to provide cover for the ailing Coll which was a waste of a player. May sound critical but we played well until half time and missing chances killed us again. Some of the officials decisions, other than the penalty, were shocking and there were some ridiculous offsides called. BUT what an away support and not a bad home one either. Glad I was there to the seasons death. Bring on the anguish of 2019-20. Caleytillidie

Very decent first half for us, but the game turned on one incident and it ceased to be much of a contest, the stuffing had been knocked out of us and we had little left to offer. Fair play to Utd who played very well in the 2nd and went for the jugular rather than just keeping it tight. Best moment of the night for me was getting home to a very, very large whisky waiting for me. It’s been a long season but I couldn’t have realistically hoped for much more with the resources we have. Cheers!

Robbo will be in trouble for his radio interview. Called the 4th official a liar and said he was no longer going to stand for the the attitude and incompetence of officials. Earlier on the commentators were saying he was a class act by the way that despite the disappointment, he took the time to congratulate all the Utd players and applauded their supporters. Well done Robbo! Needs to be said.

The tie turned on two poor refereeing decisions. In the first leg, we were in control and certainly not heading for defeat until a very harsh straight red left us with ten players for virtually half of that match and without one of our most influential players for tonight. Tonight we were again more than holding our own until the harshest hand ball penalty I've seen in years. I do not generally believe in conspiracies but the football authorities have got the play off finalist from the Championship they wanted. Neither of those decisions would have gone our way had the boot been on the other foot. That said, it was never a level playing field and it's no coincidence that the two teams who have bettered us in the division both have wealthy backers which enabled them to make wholesale improvements to their squads in January. Our position off the field is not good from a financial perspective but there is scope for optimism on it. We improved on last season with a smaller budget and, assuming Robbo gets a budget that is not further trimmed too much next season I believe we have a very good chance of going one better. We finished best of the teams in the Championship playing on a financially level playing field and should be proud of the manager, coaches and players. Our under eighteens have had a great season and hopefully two or three can step up. Great disappointment tonight but tempered with pride in the team and our loyal fans and genuine optimism for the future.

Think that 'penalty' just sucked the life out of them - all that effort undone yet again by a crap ref decision. Put it down to experience, we'll be in a far better position at the start of next season than we were at the last. We have made progress and next season we'll make more.

You could be correct in which case I'll retract my previous statement