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It's not just related to these guys though. I genuinely believe that if we had made Shinnie a (damn good) offer in the summer of 2014 he would have signed it. That's not to say that we would have retained him but at least we would have gotten some cash for the guy had he moved on. Instead we didn't try and offer him a contract until the midway point of the season by which point his head was already being turned by what else was out there. Bottom line, if you want to try and keep your players and avoid other clubs coming in and nicking them for buttons try and start your contract talks a little bit earlier. Something ICT seldom seem to do.

A nice article in the Scotsman about Liam : There was a time when a 
Highland born-and-based player being introduced to a Scotland squad would have felt like a big deal. All that the Scotland under-21 call-up earned by Inverness Caledonian Thistle midfielder Liam 
Polworth feels, though, is right. Polworth may not be handed a first cap as Ricky 
Sbragia’s side face France in Angiers tomorrow night in a game they must win to retain slender hopes of European Championship qualification. 
However, he deserves to be keeping company with the most promising young Scottish players after a season wherein he has been a 
polished performer in the 
Premiership. The 21-year-old, who represented Scotland at under-16 and under-17 levels, can lay claim to being the youngest debutant for Inverness after he made his first senior appearance as a 16-year-old. In the five years since he has witnessed the Highland football landscape change beyond all recognition. The player netted in the 3-0 win for John Hughes’ side over derby rivals Ross County on Sunday. Not only did that goal dampen the post-match victory parade for the Dingwall side following their arrival on the major 
trophy-winners scene with 
the previous week’s League Cup success. It reminded us what last year’s Scottish Cup 
victors are capable of after a struggle of a season which brought the end of the trophy defence against Hibernian last Wednesday. That Scotland’s two cups could reside in a region that previously had never been
temporary home to either has allowed Polworth to take his place with Scotland without feeling inferior. “Maybe there is a bit of a 
balance shift. County have done brilliantly this season to win a cup and are well up the league table,” he said. “Players no longer feel the Highlands is such a bad place to go and play their football. A lot of boys have come up and played their football here and earned really good moves back down south. It’s much more attractive now given that both teams are going.” Yet, where the Highland clubs have appeared lax is in the matter of developing young talent. Polworth admits he is one of the few young 
players to have come through the ranks in the area that is regularly receiving game time. “It’s difficult when you are a youngster as we haven’t got many players to choose from,” he said. “There are far more players in the west of Scotland and there is much more choice. “I haven’t really seen much of the Ross County kids but we have one or two, and we will be looking to bring through more. Sometimes all it takes is the chance to play and then they can show they are good enough. I speak to a lot of the boys at the under-20s as well as some of the coaches and there are a few which are ready to come through and all they need is the chance and a little glimmer of hope.” Polworth doesn’t cite his father’s influence as assisting his development. In fact he joshes that his old man Iain, who now manages Highland club Clachnacuddin, was a football figure he studiously avoided. His father was signed by Alex Ferguson for Aberdeen in 1985. “That’s his only claim to fame,” the 21-year-old said, his dad leaving shortly afterwards without playing a game, eventually playing for the old pre-merger Caledonian Thistle in Inverness. “[Football in the city] has come a long way. The facilities are probably still the same. The level they’ve got to from where they were is a big achievement. I’m sure he tries to tell me stories about Fergie but I just walk out. I’m not really interested in what he has to say. He doesn’t coach me anymore and I wouldn’t take any advice of him anyway He did a little bit of coaching when I was younger, but I had Ryan Christie’s dad [Charlie] as a coach when I was younger.” Polworth’s current coach is also a man to avoid. The player was left with jaw-ache after being punched by Hughes as the Inverness manager celebrated with the subbed midfielder following their team’s equaliser in their Scottish Cup tie at Easter Road earlier this month. “I’m not sure why he punched me in the head. I think he was looking for his mate in the crowd and I happened to be in the way and got one right in the head,” Polworth said. “We had a laugh about it, but I didn’t get much sympathy.”

Raven's contract situation is worrying me.

Seemingly we're attempting to sign (presumably on a pre-contract) Mansfield Town's 6"5 defender Ryan Tafazolli. He was linked with Dundee United a couple of years back and came through the youth system at Southampton.

The team needs good vocal support and I don't think there is anybody who doesn't think the increased vocal support from the youngsters recently is great. But there is a world of difference between supporting your club by making a lot of noise, and harming your club by behaving in a way which might involve the police and which might result in the SFA taking sanctions against the club. You're smart enough to know what the difference is, so please continue to support the team by making a lot of noise - but just leave it at that.

Wed 23 Mar 2016 Highland League Z Sutherland, G Munro (Strathspey 1 - Brora R 6) G Wood (Wick A 0 - Formantine 1)

If away fans did this at our ground, we would be up in arms by jumping on seats and damaging them. Some of our so called younger fans think they can do what they want without consequences, time they either grew up or were punished and bugger off to create mayhem somewhere else. The club don't need them and your attitude only encourages some of these morons. Don't have any issues with fans getting behind the team but not for some of these actions from these "fans".

Disappointed that they are going? Yes, but but inevitable I fear. Devastated that they are going? No, Vincent will always have a place in our hearts for his winner at Hampden. But he has hardly played since through injury. Williams I think is a 'nearly man'. Decent player but never quite made a position 'his own' so that it became impossible for Yogi to leave him on the bench. Edit Don't know why Rig's blank quote appeared. I didn't intend to quote anybody!

Do we have any pics of our own fans because their behaviour was similarly unacceptable. Principally some of the singing section. There was much abusive chanting against the RC team and fans, Police and Stewards, release of smoke bombs, a small pitch invasion which would have been larger had the stewards not been ready for it. Jumping on seats was also observed. The foul-mouthed hate filled chanting against the opposing side should be replaced by pro ICT songs and chants. I could see some small children 5/6yos and some children who appeared to be about 9 or 10. What kind of football education are they getting in amongst such hate filled abusive supporters who do no good for our club.

Tues 22 Mar 2016 Nat Lge South B Greenhalgh (Oxford City 5 - Concord Rangers 1)

Aye. Let's get rid of someone who, on his day, is one of the best wingers in the league and one of the most reliable and solid full backs we've ever had who also claims to want a new deal. Good thinking.

That is the most ridiculous post on this thread. Say what you like about the Butcher regime but one thing they did do was recruit very well and secure talented players on contracts of reasonable duration usually in pretty good time. We won the cup last season and qualified for Europe with a squad almost entirely recruited and secured under the previous regime. It's a real concern that so many of those players have now left or are not being secured for the future especially as the replacements brought in so far on a very similar budget are much more miss than hit. Concerning times.

Wedderburn's been a bit of a mixed bag so far. There's been games where he's been rather ineffective and others where he's been the best player on the park. The Astra away tie for example he was excellent. I'd offer him another year as I do feel there's something about him.

Yes, well spotted Sneckboy, Adam MacLeod it was apparently. It wasn't recorded on Twitter when I looked just after full time, but it is now on HFl Hub, which I'm sure you know, is a good site for Highland league info.

Outstanding work, CMIB! I wonder if Strathspey's goal was by ICT ex-youth wunderkid, Adam McLeod? It's been credited as 'McLeod', so could be?

My objection is that I don't see any foresight from the club. We all knew at the beginning of the season that we only had 1 or 2 signed for next year. So surely, you get in first and say to the guys you want: Here's the offer, let's start negotiating. Yes, some might turn you down because they want to move on, but at least everybody knows where they stand and the Jan window can be used as the start of planning for the next season. Polworth, Raven and Fon Williams all had to go to the press to get some action, and Raven is still getting the cold shoulder...obviously at the back of that long line of talented right backs that we have! Meanwhile, Dundee nip in and take the negotiating high ground with Williams and Vincent: We might not have been able to compete, but we had the opportunity to try to tie them down before Dundee were in the frame. It all seems a bit disorganised and last minute. Of course financial security is paramount, but there would be nothing more certain to drive austerity in he future than relegation - likely a near miss this season, but much more likely with wholesale changes next year. Refresh, yes, complete overhaul: No thanks.

Football is just not for some folk. Play all the games on a Sunday, that should do it.

Jumping on seats! What's the world coming to? Some right evil people out there. Monsters!

Dunno about £3k/week, but I have heard from good sources that Dundee are paying way more than we can offer, thanks to their American backers. I'd reckon they now have the fifth biggest budget in the division, behind Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee United. If they're offering James 'made of glass' Vincent a three year deal, they clearly have more money than sense.

Hughes looked a lot like a footballer at Dingwall on Saturday....

Have Caledonian AFC got Urquhart registered this time? I'm not sure about rights to names since I'm also not sure whether or not the original clubs were ever wound up in the end. I also wonder what the copyright situation is regarding a name, especially as neither of the originals would have remained registered with the SFA.

Would have been happy had Williams stayed. As for Vincent, he is a quality player but the club just cannot afford to have a player who misses large parts of the each season through injury. It will be interesting to see how often he is injury free for Dundee.

Bizarre stat of the day: The 3 subs we brought-on at Hampden, in the Scottish Cup Final, were James Vincent, Danny Williams and Nick Ross - all of whom will be playing for Dundee next season!

Maybe but imho the calibre of player coming in nowadays is nowhere near the same standard as those departing?

She's maybe Polly's granny but a County fan. He still loves her though and went to celebrate with her.

It's the players choice to leave but Williams was certainly offered a contract, don't know about Vincent so obviously either went for more money or fancied a change. Not sure what the club could do about that. While Lopez was not a great signing, disagree about Wedderburn and way to early to make comments like this about Hughes. Some fans need to take a reality check at times over what the club can and cannot do. Power is in the players hands now.

Polworth Ross County fans The woman at the bottom right clapping

Great to see Hughes abandon his non threatening negative tippy tappy philosophy and go right for the jugular again against County. There's nothing wrong with being direct and playing long balls so long as there is some kind of aim in mind when they are played (not like the garbage hoofball under Brewster). I'm not a fan of Meekings at RB but I was pleased to see how often both he and Tremarco on the left were getting forward offering great support down the flanks and giving us a wee bit more width when the centre of the pitch got clogged up. Devine and Warren were solid at the back. I'm still not a fan of Devine but credit where it is due, I felt our defence handled the County attack with ease save for the couple of chances in the first few minutes and when Irvine broke through and should have scored. Tansey and Vigurs stamped their authority on the midfield, Vigurs maybe a little bit too much if you believe the County fans. Apparently he had a shocking challenge on Irvine but from where I was I couldn't see it and it's not been included with any of the highlights. Draper and Polworth were superb at getting forward to support (Liam) Hughes and Storey who caused the County defence all sorts of problems. Incredible to think that Polworth was a bit of a 'meh' player for us until this season. Aside from a wee drop off in form over Dec / Jan I think he's been a revelation this year. There's some great photos of him celebrating his goal in front of some utterly seething Ross County fans Despite what a couple of folk have said I thought Liam Hughes did fine. He was a real nuisance up front and won a lot of the high balls up to him and with excellent support from Storey buzzing around him and the likes of Draper and Polworth charging on from midfield he was getting the support he so sadly lacked at Saint Johnstone. He's a bit of an awkward player no doubt but he's been so isolated recently and it was good to see him get a bit of help from his team mates. The goals were all very well taken. Wonderful counter attack for the first, bit of route one for the second but again a nice finish (with another quality celebration) and as for Storeys strike - what can you say? We don't get handballs given against us so I don't know why the County players even bothered trying to claim for it. A cracking strike. Hopefully Hughes maintains this style of play. Folk slagged off Butcher for his long ball approach but I really don't think it was as bad as that. Sure it was direct but we created so many attacking chances from it and it's clearly a strength for us and we saw that on Saturday. We don't have the players to play the tiki taka stuff that Yogi likes so why force it on the team when they aren't capable of it? Play to our strengths and win more games. I know what I'd rather have and it's those kind of 3 - 0 wins every week going direct rather than toothless attacking displays characterised with boring sideways passing. It's a no brainer.

They don't make the club look a joke but they do make themselves look pathetic, immature and ridiculous. They have had enough warnings and personally, once the CCTV footage is reviewed, I hope that a few of them receive a knock on their doors. Vandalism and offensive behaviour would not be tolerated on the High Street or the Eastgate Centre, It shouldn't be tolerated in a football ground.

Yngwie is this weeks winner with his headline http://caleythistleonline.com/index.html/reports-2015-16/ross-county-v-inverness-ct-report-r1362/ Should do this for every game, saves me having to think of one Video now added from Caley Jags TV

Would you jump on the seats and stand on them at at Eden Court or at the cinema? Try that at other sports venues like Wimbledon or Murrayfield and you'd be ejected - and rightly so. Why should it be 'acceptable' in a football venue?

Jumping on plastic seats tends to break them. Damages someone else's property is vandalism. Vandalism is a crime. How would you like it if a guest in your house deliberately damaged your sofa ? Not funny and not clever.

Mind the days when we could talk about player ability in a civilised manner......ahhh the memories!!!

The team needs a bit of freshening up, so wouldn't be all that sad if more players from the Butcher era vacate our club.

Whilst I can see where people disagree my opinion, I'm not meaning guys who have great value in our team i.e: Meekings, Warren, Draper, Tansey, Tremarco, Foran My opinion is based on players like Dean Brill, Danny Devine, Aaron Doran and David Raven. Just think we as a club needs freshening up rather than relying on the same old faces. There are great gems out there like Miles Storey and Owain Fon Williams. In my opinion the newer guys need time to gel as a squad and again that's down to management to sort that out sooner rather than later.

Seriously? Something has to be done about this clubs shocking contract policy. If we keep on letting our players leave for nothing or next to nothing and signing utter pish like Lopez, Wedderburn and Hughes we're going to end up in the championship in no time.

You disagree about Wedderburn? Have you ever seen him play? Do you also realised that 6 touches is too many for a professional footballer to take to get the ball under control.

Don't criticise any players on here you will have the red dot brigade after you, Wedderburn is easily one of the worst players i have seen play for us and i have no idea what hughes saw in him to sign him

I would also probably be thrown out of the cinema if I started booing the bad guy and cheering the hero. I'd be thrown out of wimbledon for my mobile going off. If you want a quiet day then go to Eden Court.

Maybe they were not seen as good enough. Why make offers if we don't really need them. Players come, players go. New season same ****. It's nothing new.

The club do need them, quite badly actually. How many seats were broken btw? How many people were hurt? I'm sure you can tell us. If their behaviour is so over the top then let the police deal with it. We have a small number of fans who make good noise. If you don't like it then sit elsewhere. There is plenty of space. You can then look down your nose at them and even moan about them on the Internet.

Well it wouldn't have anything to do with you. Let the police deal with it if they want. Were you injured in this horrific incident? If not then quit complaining about others that had no effect on you.