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Would you stop going because of a name change ? I doubt it. Plenty did stop going because of the MERGER, and the identity crisis many - like yourself - hold onto keeps those wounds well and truly open. I had a colleague, a Thistle fan of over 30yrs, "I aint supporting a team with the word Caledonian in it", he said, and who to this day watches Clach instead. Want more people thru the gates imho you're going to have to eliminate the barriers that restrict that desire, and your identity is one big barrier. Many years ago, John Boyle proposed a merger between Motherwell, Accies and Airdrie. Had he called it MotherwellOniansAcademical and played in claret/amber/red/white no one would have entertained it. Had he called it Buckfast Utd and played in Blue n Yellow for example ...... it just may have stood a chance. How do you know 'plenty did stop going because of the merger' ? By the end of our Highland League days the combined hard core of Thistle and Caley fans was circa 500 and while a number of those shunned the merged club, the vast majority followed ICT. Whatever the reason for our somewhat disappointing crowds it's not the name which has a unique stamp compared to the ubiquitous City or United and reflects over 250 years of combined heritage nor is it the fact that a handful of bitter and vocal anti merger brigade stay away and shout loudly about doing so. For goodness sake that was two decades ago and the initial 150 or so refuseniks are outnumbered ten to one by fans who if the think of Kingsmills or Telford Street at all, think of houses or a retail park,

First game I was going to miss this season due to not being well ,so mixed feelings as I was looking forward to watching it on TV.At least it may give all our injured players a chance to heal as I think we will need them the way Motherwell are playing at the moment. That's two games in hand now we can't get a true position in league till we catch up ,at this rate it could be the end of the season . I feel for the fans who turned up this morning for an early start but that's why we are an Elite Breed !!!!

Its not very good is it?

Butcher won 1 game in 9 last year as CapitalCaley pointed out. The previous year he won 1 game in 10 at one point. He was by no means a saviour and Hibs will find that out too. Hughes won't be as bad as people think, despite our run of bad results. We are 7 points from second with a game in hand and still in all the cups. If we get knocked out of those and drop to the bottom six then bring on the negativity, but truth is we are still in a rosy position and unless it's scuppered folk need to calm the FECK down. Hughes promoted Falkirk and kept them there for four years and got to the Scottish Cup final. He guided Hibs to Europe and fourth in the SPL, it was a hostile fan reaction that finally axed him there following bad results. We tolerated horrendous form under Butcher and look what we got as a reward in the end! I for one would be delighted if he could replicate the results he achieved at either Falkirk or Hibs. BELIEVE!!!

Inverness United, along with Inverness FC, City etc. have all been explored (and in one case voted on 'City' in 2000, as was a suggestion in 1993/94 of 'Inverness Caledonian FC') at different times, but have always either been already in use/used, or voted down. The City name has also since been taken. To be honest, I'd be horrified if the name was to be changed. I think our name's great and unique and I certainly wouldn't want to go to some generic City, United, Rovers type of thing. Anyone petty enough not to come because they don't like the fact that former team X is involved, are not worthy of a huge re-branding, particularly as these people may well longer be with us in the next decade or so. One thing I would like to see more of though, is a more equal representation of Caley and Thistle, instead of this Caley and a little bit of Thistle thing that we seem to have now. This is also one of the reasons I've always supported a change to a constant red and blue striped jersey (and also because I think it looks cool!). I would also like to see some nod to the two 'forgotten teams' in ICT's DNA, Crown FC and Inverness Union FC, who I'm sure some people on here won't even know existed, as well as possibly a nod to Inverness Citadel, who's part of town we play in.

But not as pish as spending £47 on a train, £25 on a ticket, then seeing your team humped 4-0 or such like. Think positive!

Here is an updated psychological perspective - many evidently did not take the time to read or consider my previously posted Aftermath of a Narcissist post. ICT had become Terry Butcher - he was in control of EVERYTHING. He had his co-dependents entrenched and wholly loyal to his cause. He manipulated others and bullied if necessitated. To be fair he was and is an impressive and characteristic individual and has learned a lot from the psychology that he has trained and invested in. I suspect that many of the players - especially many who feel indebted to TB - are still grieving. This was never going to be the case of a new manager coming in all around the club trying to impress and results being positive. Irrespective of who got the job they were in fer a very, very difficult initiation. I am informed that one of TB's main "beefs" was that he recognised that the squad was threadbare and wanted more funds which were never going to be available. He is adept enuff at seeing that the writing was on the wall and fecked off to Embra before he was the one that looked like a failure. The promises of Leith added to the lure. And from my perspective - what has Hughes changed since he arrived - the answer is feckin nothing - becos that would have totally upset the remaining co-dependents and many of the blinded fans on this forum. He is still playing the Butcher system and the TB selection, even down to the subs. He has really kept a back seat as he does not want to make waves. We had INCREDIBLE L.U.C.K in avoiding injuries and suspensions and we were always going to struggle when we did. Well that may well be Yogi's saving grace. I reckon that if we make the league Cup final and a top six finish that will be a success. Lets blood some of the youngsters instead of playing the TB/Vaseline selections from Down Saff. Hughes would not have been my first choice but I can see the logic and this forum is not helping in feeding the negativity and the anger - which again psychologically - is more about the loss of a Judas and a false hope that he had cleverly instilled rather than the arrival of a journeyman, an honest man and somebody who would die for a cause. This is ICfeckinT not Real Madrid.

It's been a poor start in terms of results and performances under Yogi but no need to panic. RIG, making comparisons to other managers starts is all very well but there are different circumstances every time. Perhaps we should have re-signed Baltacha due to his 13 points from 6 games!? Many folk were unhappy with the appointment. Fair enough. Most folk that were unhappy decided to set aside their disagreement with the appointment to give him the benefit of the doubt. However some of the doubters seem to be taking great satisfaction in the poor start as if to say 'we told you so'. It's 6 games in FFS. Hard fought draws at Midden, and Partick as well as a very good performance at Hearts. Three defeats at home, one of them narrowly defeated by Celtic when I think we deserved something and a narrow defeat to Aberdeen. The only match I was entirely dissatisfied with was the County match. Of course, i'm looking at it from a happy clappy style perspective. The pessismist would point out the disastrous start against Aberdeen and say we should have beaten Midden and Partick. However, we have drawn many times at the Midden. Last January we lost 2-1 (or maybe 2-0) in a midweek game. One of the worst performances of the season. Partick beat us at home this season and should have got something from the Celtic game. Speaking of the Midden game, Yogi had been in the door only a few days. He did not take the team that day. He let Shearer pick the team and Yogi sat in the stand to observe. It wasn't a great performance but it can't be attributed to Yogi. Last January and February was a horrible period for ICT. The performances in most games were similar to the performance against County the other day. Our players seem to take these bizarre dips in confidence / form. I genuinly believe that it is not the fault of Yogi, however it is now his priority to sort it out - asap. I noticed that before Yogi was appointed, although we were still getting results, we were starting to play more sluggish football and not on top form. We were excellent against Hibs in Mo's last game in the dug out. However there were games where we were poor. The 4-0 defeat in Perth, the 2-1 defeat at home to Partick, the half of football against County that was abandoned - wasn't great to watch and was generally poor. First half against Morton was awful for example. The victory against St Johnstone in Inverness - great result but overall not a great performance. Can't complain at the time but you can compare it to recent performances. I don't think it was any worse than say the performance against Celtic or the second half against Aberdeen and Hearts. Also, despite the horrific conditions I thought in the 2nd half the lads showed great confidence and skill when defeating Hearts. Could have and should have been more. Yogi said he was hoping his appointment would be a smooth transition and he would hope that everyone would feel like it was business as usual. If you look at the team line ups, he has kept the same team, only changing the starting XI when injuries dictate. Raven was out injured for quite a while before coming back onto the bench against Hibs. He has continued to be on the bench. The back four has remained unchanged. This was the same back 4 that beat Hibs, St Johnstone, Morton, Killie etc and got us quite a few clean sheets. The team are set up in the same way as Butcher would have set them up. I'm told that training is very similar to the way it was under Mo and Terry. I'm also reliably informed that the players like him and look up to him so it's not like he has lost the dressing room. So what has gone wrong!? Training is similar, the line ups are similar, and he has the dressing room. I would have thought that business as usual would have then reflected on to the park. I do believe cracks were showing before he arrived. We have a small squad and some of the performances of late have looked like some of them are tired. He's kept faith with the same back 4 that had won us many clean sheets. Business as usual for sure, but I do believe this was a mistake. The coaching staff know the team better than he does. He's still learning their strengths and weakness. I really hope that the coaching staff have convinced him / can convince him that we need Raven back at right back. I did hope that after Ravens substitute performance against the Dons he would have seen this as well. Butcher made mistakes. Every manager does and I do believe that Yogi has made a mistake in not starting Raven. Plenty of attack comes from him at RB and Shinnie is better at LB. After the Aberdeen game I believe Raven should have found his place back into the team for the Partick / Celtic / County games. Perhaps with his drive and build up play from the right hand side we would have scored against Partick and Celtic. Perhaps we wouldn't have conceded against County. All speculation on my part of course and Raven is just one player. Some of the players look tired (yet i'm led to believe they are not being overtrained). Therefore, it's time for Yogi to make changes. Starting with Motherwell on Saturday. Raven MUST come in. I hope the coaching staff can see that as well, as they have seen Raven play that position more than Yogi has. Yogi is a big fan of the youth so hopefully we see Polwarth and Christie feature more regularly soon. I stand by my very positive comments at his appointment. I understand why certain folk have reservations, but I do believe it's too early to write him off. Motherwell is one of the toughest places to go to, and we have a poor record there. Not the best game for a manager that is getting flack from fans. However I think some of the flack and comments are far too harsh. Yogis priority now is to stop the rot. I don't believe he is at fault for the rot, but he will need to stop the rot as soon as possible. This is his short term mission. I'm sure we all hope he succeeds.

The Trolls are coming thick and fast.............OH, oh am I allowed to say thick, that being the operative word?

As you say, it's just the name they've taken. For one, they play in light blue I believe, while the real Citadel played in maroon.

Inverness Citadel still exist in the amateur leagues. Although not a continuation of the original club. Think, a bit like Rangers now. Same name, completely and utterly different identity!

No. 2. I think if Clach had been involved in the creation of the club, it's likely that 'Inverness City' or 'Inverness United' would have been the chosen moniker. Inverness City now exist as a Junior outfit. Inverness United is often used for youth teams from the city when involved in youth tournaments like the Aberdeen football festival or indeed abroad. I think Charlie Christie's been involved with the latter. I can't remember, now, how the name was chosen. I think it was likely a compromise between the two clubs involved in the merger. Inverness was still officially (and considered by outsiders) a town back in 1994. I don't think a name-change is ever likely. We've established ourselves on the ICT name and changing it would make us look very unsure of our identity and fuel the fire of the central belters who see us as some sort of artificial franchise. Although this should be confined to the hackneyed 'merge' thread, I can't help but feel vexed that the Highlands were ignored so long. It resulted in us 'having' to merge to have any recognition in Scottish football. The recent (20 years) change in attitude has resulted in North clubs finally being accepted into Scottish football's National leagues. The impetus has continued with the introduction of a pyramid system that allows teams like Clach, for example, or Huntly, Cove, Brora et al. into the formerly exclusive system. It's a shame that the previously closed-minds of the blazers running the Scottish League didn't sooner implement the fairer system of cream-rising-to-the-top on merit. Who knows, all 3 Inverness clubs could have been in the now SPFL eventually! I would have loved to witness Inverness Thistle, (yes, my former club of choice) competing in the SPFL, even against 'the likes' of Montrose. But, I doubt either Thistle or Caley, on their own, would have achieved the level we currently enjoy!

I fail to see what good changing our name would do? Can't see how this would have ant effect on attendances other than alienating loyal fans who do turn up?

Never mind penalties! what about someone who can take a free kick from the edge of the box and actually hit the target, cant mind how many free kicks we get that end in complete and utter failure.

Richie Foran X X Y Graeme Shinnie Y Y Y X Aoran Doran YY Ross Draper Y Billy McKay Y Y Y Y Y Y Y X X X James Vincent Y Nick Ross YY

You mentioned you were unwell, I hope you feel better soon. x

At least British Transport Police will have an easier day Dougal

And then the gypsy troll has done his duty ?!

OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK This thread will be closed if it continues down the route of personal abuse and playground name calling.

4 minutes and 32 seconds I am never going to get back. What's become of the confident flowing version of the song we were playing under Butcher ?

The ICT trolls on OTB are just as cringey as this muppet. Flock off Eagle

Even our Official website has Warren on 'only' 5 yellows from league games. Similarly, Soccerbase has him on 5. However, on closer inspection, Soccerbase haven't counted the booking in the abandoned game. And the official website has completely missed a booking on the opening day vs. St Mirren. So, a combination of the two sites does give the total as 6! As noted, he'll miss the Aberdeen game, which is when Draper's allowed back after his ban. They won't be missing at the same time.

Especially when you are watching from the Gypo end or a stolen TV in an electricity stolen caravan.

It's not like Motherwell can do much else. They think the game will go ahead but rather than have ICT fans get all the way to Glasgow and find the game is off they are going to check things out as early as they can tomorrow. Fair play to them I reckon.

You don't want to know what i refer to him as

Perhaps we could ask for an inspection of the eagles antlers ?? :lol: :lol:

Plenty fans stayed away under Butcher when we were `slipping` UP the league !!

lol If hughes had recently won the second tier european trophy with Aberdeen, I think we'd be prepared to give him a decade to get it right. Man United were not Second when Ferguson took over. What exactly is this John Hughes stamp youre waiting for? Stop trotting utter garbbage, the people will soon be voting with thier feet and Cameron is the one who should pay the price, not Hughes. Cameron has to take full responsibility for this .He had the chance to take on Telfor or Hartley but both carried baggage ie assistants that would need paid and compo . Unfortunately Cameron's decision in appointing John Hughes has been an absolute car crash : you can take cally out of inverness but you can't take inverness out of cally !!! IMHO IIRC one of the newspapers during the managerial saga said essentially that. Hartley was all ready to go, but Cameron changed his mind and switched to Hughes at the eleventh hour. Cheaper option with Cameron telling yogi to appoint an assistant from within the club . Now that he's bombed they might let him bring in an experienced number 2 to try and keep the fans happy . How has he "bombed"?

:crazy:Dougal, gotta watch your step. You might become the resident sage now that you area attracting "likes" . Gosh, golly , you are almost w8ise at times.....