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Hi everyone, I attended my first Caley game last weekend on a complete whim as I was visiting close to the area. My hometown is Blackpool and I support Blackpool (I loved seeing Nathan Shaw score that third goal as a product of our academy) but as life has taken me around a bit I now live in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, not far from Leeds. I also follow Pontefract Collieries home and away because of this. 8th tier of English football. I wanted to join the site to firstly say I really enjoyed the hospitality of your club. We spoke to a few locals around the city before and after the game and they were very welcoming us of foreigners. Secondly, the football was brilliant. Now, I know I may come in to some criticism for this but it was like watching lower league English football but with an immaculate pitch. However that is EXACTLY what I want to see in a football match. Lastly, and my only criticism of your wonderful club would be the home atmosphere. I expected booming when the third goal went in last week but it fell flat. Even at 2-0 up it was very quiet. I’d love you to create more of an atmosphere. Get that drum banging and get singing guys!! It’ll make a massive difference to your results! I’ll be forever keeping my eye out for your results now. Hope you manage to string a few wins together and get up the table. Come on Caley. Cheers

Had we scored three in each half Arbroath could have no complaints, plus the penalty.... I'm not sure why some people bother to say they are fans of a club but prefer to criticise everything about it. Is it a sort of Pie&Bovrilism. It's OK to compliment them from time to time. Trust me, it doesn't hurt. Yes there are glaring issues that need resolved, but constant grind is like listening to a spotty teenage keyboard warrior.

Shocking performance by officials today . I just hope AlexSamuel will be fit for Tuesday after the battering he took it was unbearable to watch he must be pretty sore tonight . Arbroath did everything in their power to injure him ….Penalties denied free kicks denied ,yellow cards wrongly handed out .Disgusting decisions . Come on Caley Thistle it’s not over yet !!!

Why wouldn't County fans have an IV postcode?

Noooooo I remember the same thing being said when Foran was manager! A spell in Championship what we need....well that's turned out just great eh. I have no wish for us to play in Div 1

Some posters on here here need to get their facts right… so I’m correcting you because you are very wrong! In 1995/96 - by which time the merger had been done and dusted several months previously - Inverness District Council voted to award the club £900,000 from the council budget towards the approach road to the stadium - a road which has now paid for itself many times over by opening up the entire Harbour area. However the Council - note the Council - got itself into the most terrible mess because a group of councillors and officials tried to stop payment, hence putting the entire stadium project in danger. With time running out before IDC went out of existence in favour of Highland Council on 1st April 1996, it looked as if the grant couldn’t physically be paid, making court action apparently unavoidable, until HC CEO Arthur McCourt managed to have the money paid from the Inverness Common Good Fund. The reality here is that Inverness District Council were most definitely the “bad guys” back then when they almost secured the demise of the club because a stadium was an SFL membership condition, and when a solution was eventually found, the spin off for the entire city was enormous. Best to check what really happened when you are intent on stirring

Let it go, ICT sounds like a class in high school. What other teams limit their team name to initials? Caley, Thistle, Caley Thistle. All fine in my opinion.

So big Dunc says we were dominant in the first half and created a lot of chances? Reality check here for all the happy clappers that lap this p1sh up, Arbroath are the only part time team in the top two divisions in Scotland so we should be more dominant and create more chances it’s not rocket science. I still believe part time football is on the horizon I would even go as far as saying that some of the so called guardians would welcome it. Im actually really looking forward to the Inverness Amateur League starting down the bught will be far more entertaining than watching a number of jobbers hoofing the ball about. One positive though we already look like a part time outfit on yesterdays performance so the transition from full time to part time should be an easy one. Dougal

Hard to disagree with Dunc actually. More or less dominated the first half and had a few blocked on the line. Always felt it could come back to bite us. Second half was very poor and we relied heavily on the long punt up to Samuel but we had a few near things when the final pass was poor. Looked like 2 stonewall handball claims to me. Arbroath goal was away down the far end but looked scrappy. Not the most memorable trip ever to Arbroath, will miss it although I hope we are in different divisions next season. Half hour delay due to roadworks between Perth and Dundee - should have paid attention to the satnav. Then another 10 mins delay before Arbroath. Steak and black pudding pie 10/10. Plus Mrs Mantis and I have just scoffed two of the biggest smokies ever seen .

Almost like people may have a different opinion regarding two totally different situations 30 years apart. Weird eh?

We're bleeding like a stuck pig, but we're not dead yet and Scot Gardiner is hatching a plan to save us. What's not to be upbeat about?

The club has been on a terminal decline since winning the Scottish Cup how you can’t see that is beyond me. Question when you become a site admin or moderator is there a test you take to see if you pass regarding how big a happy clapper he or she is? I admire your stance but I see no positives at present. Dougal

Welcome but it’s ICT not Caley. Caley were killed off in 1994 we are the newco similar to Sevco who are the old Rangers. Both predominantly blue but different entities Dougal

Look on the bright side. We've stretched our unbeaten run to 2 games. Only Morton have got a longer unbeaten run than us at the moment!

Welcome - Leeds supporter! My beloved nephew, sadly deceased, was an avid Leeds supporter (despite living in Nottinghamshire), so I’ve also supported Leeds from afar. You are welcome here any time and I hope you keep in touch with us ICT supporters.

Kevin Clancy is supposed to be a Premier League ref and regularly the VAR expert - well he certainly wasn’t showing any expertise at Arbroath. He allowed thuggish tackles which caused ICT players injuries. He missed a studs up on Alex Samuels ankle which should have been a red card. He missed two hand balls which should have been penalties. If he had had words early in game re heavy tackles, some of the injuries could have been less serious. Once again ICT let down by an incompetent referee, plus the linesmen/assistant referees should have gone to spec savers. Well done Cameron Harper to even out at least some of the anomalies.

No. The idea we spend money on players for a jolly over to Germany on what will undoubtedly be a loss msking trip just to facilitate a fan going on holiday is wild. Anyways, we are so ***** why would a top tier German club want to play us. Probably need to get them agreeing to that before anything else.

Some posters are living in the present not the past!

Hold on til I get my rod...

Afraid many of the lemmings have a very short memory when it comes to the Council. Correct me if I’m wrong but did the local authority not gift us 900k from the Inverness Common Good fund to push the merger through this was deemed ok but now the council are the bad guys because they are rightly hesitant in making any rash decisions regarding this battery debacle. Some posters on here need to think before they post. Dougal

Today was the day that I finally gave up on us getting to the promotion play-offs. At the end of November I was confident we could do it. End of January after the win at Raith I was hopeful. That hope has been fading through February, and now I finally accept it’s all about staying up. Offer me 8th place and I’ll take it. Anyone else still clinging on to hope?

Absolute madness to want to drop to League 1 for 'reboot'. Part time football would be an almost certainty if that happened. That said we can't even beat a PT team with our plucky band of loanees. Fear not though, Gardiner will have a plan. Like the concerts, or the freeport or the battery farm!

By all accounts Welsh wanted to leave last summer, whilst personal reasons were behind Carson wanting to be in the central belt. A big week ahead. Dunfermline at home, then Morton away. I think we need at least four points. Then we have two home games against Airdrie and Ayr, the only teams we’ve beaten at home this season. They are in the pack we are chasing so they are six pointers too. Our away form is decent, our home form is our achilles heal, and three of those four games are at home…. Help!

Agree re Dunc. Not convinced he was right choice but still behind him. I don't think folk really think Dodds should have stayed really but are disappointed in the lack of real change since he went. A lot of dissatisfaction re getting rid of Carson and Welsh too

What the feck is this Doddsmania ? Everybody wanted rid of him. Ferguson has been tasked with sorting out the on field mess created by Dodds and the off field mess created by Gardiner & Co. Save the club financially and improve the Championship position. Mission feckin Impossible. Fraid that he has been hung out to dry and really, really hope that he has not taken - or been duped - on a Gardiner ploy with the promise of short term profit.

Wait..... I have a plan. Tuesday night: Wins for Partick, Dundee United, Inverness and Raith and a draw QP v Arbroath. Friday night: Win for Raith Saturday: Wins for Partick & Inverness, draws in the other two and we are up to fifth 4 points behind Morton.

Never mind. We've got dunfermline at home next and our home form is fantastic !

A lot of games you come away saying we didn’t deserve to lose and today would have been the same but for late equaliser. So hanging in really. Another big game Tuesday. Squeaky bum time

I remember watching Augsburg play over here one summer in the eighties, they weren't top tier side then and we were Highland yokels. They used to fund summer trips every few years if I recall rightly.

I agree with many things you've posted, dougal, but your comments on this thread are nothing but bigoted nonsense, and have no place on here or anywhere.

So having risen as far as you believe the club is capable, you find it acceptable that we now slide back to....where? It's the desire of those running the club who seem to have delusions of grandeur, not the majority of fans. It is they who openly admit that they are running the club in a manner that requires Premier League income. It is those egos that are chasing ill thought out money making schemes to support that (all the while alienating fans and local businesses) while we play in the Championship, and in doing so are threatening the club's very existence.

I compare the IcT board since 2015 to the Celtic board of the 1980s once success was achieved they let it all slide away due to neglect and mismanagement. if it wasn’t for Fergus McCann coming in Celtic would have done a Rangers and died. Do we have a bunnet in the background to save us ? Dougal

Thats inevitable though, we were never going to exceed that anyntime soon although another national cup final last year is pretty exceptional. Not sure what fans expected - challenging for the Premiershiptitle, a European trophy? In context there are plenty professional clubs in Scotland who have had less success in the last 100 years than we have in 30. The more I see the glaring sense of entitlement on here and whinging about refs and 'deserving better' the more I see how SG thought an orange strip might be popular in certain sections!!!

I'm from North Kessock. Am I an 'incomer' or 'non local'?

Ironically, Big Dunc's last club often refers to itself as FGR. https://www.fgr.co.uk/ And of course there are plenty with just initials and city name - AC Milan, PSC Eindhoven, AEK Athens, etc etc....

I can understand incomers or non locals calling the team Caley, however invernessians who do so are complete and utter halfwits. Dougal

Nope, carry on with Caley if you want.

A spell in League One will only be good if you enjoy the thought of us going part time.

Fair to say they are dead, but with only 3 points between 5th and 9th everyone excluding top 4 is in a relegation battle. Not suggesting all is rosy at all, however if anyone wants to revisit the expectation when Dunc came in, the majority was mid table 5th to 8th range. Not sure why so many are disappointed and expecting more. Its apparent with the clear out of experienced or higher earning players in exchange for loans that we will either be paying little or nothing there is an agenda to cut playing costs too. Would we be in this position with Dodds and his team, who knows but doubt we'd be much better off if at all.

Nope, gave up today too. I'm actually thinking a spell in Div 1 may be a good reset for the team - get rid of all the baggage, loanees, mercenaries, hangers-on, etc. Put out a team made up of our own players - local lads with a passion for the team and for Inverness. And let them grow with the team. Promotion to Championship eventually, in their own time. Might be the only affordable option at the end of the day. Still hoping we can survive in the Championship though, although on current form I wouldn't fancy our chances against a fired-up Falkirk in the play-offs! And the Fergie thing - our saviour etc. It's just a myth! He's no better than Dodds.

I'd bite your hand off for 8th! Then bin this season and regroup in the summer. Need a home win on Tuesday though for starters

He has no Plan B. Plan A ain't much cope as it is.

So not good enough if we cannot pick up a win playing a part time bottom of the league team it says it all . Where are the points going to come from unless Ferguson changes tact.

1-1 isn’t good enough.

There will be a few more thinking you are right

For a long time I'd always said we'd be just as bad if not worse under Dodds. His recruitment in the summer was honking. However, the last couple of months and some truly bizarre recruitment in January makes it very, very hard to stick with the same opinion I had before.

I'd like to see us come out flying, run Arbroath ragged and then bring in Mckay, Doran and Samuels to exploit tired opposition. We're almost at the nothing to lose stage, and I'd rather see us going down fighting than whimpering.

Rather than complain about the officials, we need to learn lessons from last night. The 2nd disallowed goal was obviously a shocker, but the 1st was marginal (if it actually was off), while the officials did well to allow the Pars' goal which was actually onside although at first glance it looked well off. A lesson here is that you play to the whistle. The Partick defender looked like an absolute plonker standing there with his arm raised when he should have been putting pressure on Todd who was give plenty of time to sweetly chip the ball over the keeper. Partick may not have had the rub of the green last night, but they weren't robbed. In the 2nd half, Dunfermline were much the better side and deserved to win. Dunfermline have under-performed this season but it looks as though they might be coming into a bit of form. On that performance, we will do well to take anything out of the game on Tuesday. It puts even more pressure on us to get a win today and, of course, it makes it even more important for Arbroath to do the same. There is no easy game in this league and we need 100% commitment till the final whistle in every game. What with all the off field distractions it is more important than ever that the fans get behind the team, especially when things are not going well in the game.

I think Doran would do well for us in a number 10 role. He has shown time and again his ability to score from distance, and he and Billy have enough time together to inject a bit of much needed creativity in the final third.

Start Aaron to give us a few goals as he knows where the net is then rest him .He needs time to do what he’s good at . Well done Aaron !! Cracking goal !!