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Dougal - Vigurs was a passenger for 95% of his time on the field in the derby. His passing was appalling and when he loses the ball he makes no effort to retrieve it - unforgivable. He made 1 positive contribution when he tracked a run in the second half...so he can do it, just chooses not to. I will continue to single him out until he shows the necessary effort to match our predicament. I don't doubt his talent or his lack of confidence, but right now we need guys willing to run through walls for the cause and Liam Polworth is streets ahead of Vigurs in that department. Richie needs to start showing faith in guys who really want it.

Neither the board nor Foran are to blame. The fault lies - as ever - with funds. The problem is the missing thousands through the gate. Not even a victory in the oldest trophy in football was enough to make the slightest difference to home attendances. Sooner or later, the small income will catch up with us and we will fail to punch above our weight. That time might be now, but I think we have a team capable of getting us out of trouble....Richie just needs to find it, and soon! The board's job is to keep the club financially viable and that does not mean spending beyond our means. In those stark terms, the Board is faultless, with small supluses in the last few seasons.

And 1994

CB has already made some decent points, but let's see: The club has spent half its existence in the top flight. It's had half a dozen visits to the national stadium in the past decade or so, a national cup win, another national final, and has beaten the ugly sisters multiple times even on their own midden. A top 3 finish and a nice wee trip to Bucharest (thank you very much). Not to mention some of the best football I've seen in a lifetime, under Pele in the lower leagues (during that time, a few of us were happy to buy season tickets and travel up from Edinburgh and the Borders, and I'm speaking as somebody who has seen Cruyff, Law, Beckenbauer, Dalglish etc). Give Ayr Utd a 3 goal lead? No problem. Give Hearts a goal lead and 2 man advantage? No problem. The championship is chock full of clubs who have greater resources than we have. Supporters of Falkirk, Dunfermline, St Mirren, Raith, not to mention the big two at the top, would give their right hand to have the success that we have been spoiled with, and yet in the fastest-growing city in Europe or whatever, fewer than 3k are willing to get off their arses/sofas to support a club which isn't much short of a miracle.

A derby defeat is a derby defeat these things happen, admitted we were toothless up front compared to them but the team clearly are on a bad run and confidence is very low but the result won't kill us A few wins and we will be talking about a top six position and we certainly aren't worse than Hamilton What could destroy us is a cup defeat at Borough Briggs that would be killer and doesn't bear thinking about, that's when the board and Foran should start to worry I also don't get this fascination by some of our so called fans to keep singling out Vigurs, just think what that's doing to the lads confidence reading some of the rubbish being spouted on here by the same posters over and over again Yes Vigurs is in poor form but so are a fair number of first team players, it's time to get behind everyone Dougal

Don't agree that the product on the park will make any difference whatsoever to attendances - up and at 'em under Butcher, boring but effective under Hughes and now something in-between from Foran and the core support remains at 2500, with a few extra for big games. Only Hamilton have a smaller support - no surprise that these two teams are at the bottom.

I can't see the Board sacking Foran. Having given him a massive vote of confidence by giving him a four year contract the Board would lose credibility by doing so. Ending his contract so soon would also cost money which would inhibit the potential both for replacing him with someone with a track record and investing in new players. It is not a question of sacking Foran, it is a question of how he can be supported at this early stage of his career so that he can begin to deliver on the potential they clearly see in him. I agree with much of what has been said about the reasons for us struggling this season but at the end of the day, the margins between success and failure are very fine and had we got a bit more of the rub of the green at times this year, we could be sitting in the top six and not at the foot of the table. Had that been the case, we'd all be saying what a good job Richie is doing. But we are where we are. We are not adrift at the bottom - far from it, but achieving safety does require a significant improvement in results. In most seasons, averaging a point a game would see a team above the bottom 2. We have 16 points from 21 games and therefore to get 38 points by the end of the season we need another 22 from just 17 more games. That is 1.3 points per game. St Johnstone in 5th spot are currently averaging 1.4 points per game, so that gives a measure of the standard we need to produce for the rest of season. I'm not going to comment now on what I think is wrong and how it might be improved, but what I would be interested in is what the Board's attitude to relegation is. We are not a club that has the resources to buy our way out of relegation every year and whilst I am sure there will be some resources available, any players available who are better than we have now will cost a lot. Foran's 4 year contract indicates a long term plan which perhaps accepts we may go down this season with time then to rebuild without over-committing financially. A club our size has absolutely no right to expect to be in the top flight year on year. Personally, I don't think relegation in itself would be a disaster. What would be a disaster would be to spend silly money in order to avoid relegation and then get relegated in any case. I do often wonder about the wisdom of saying that we need to strengthen. What it does is to say to the current players that they are not considered good enough. As I said earlier, the margins between success and failure are very fine and with a bit of good luck, a bit of improvement at the back and some improvement in tactical awareness I am convinced that we have a squad good enough to avoid the drop. Despite our lowly position, we have seen some entertaining football this season, and I have seen enough to be convinced that whether or not we go down this year, a future with Richie Foran at the helm for the next few years will be a very exciting one.

So...you have nothing against Richie's appointment. Nothing against Brian Rice's appointment. But the Board need to go?! Wise Up fer fecks sake mun! Is it the board that picks the teams, formations, tactics, training regimes? Is it the board that decides when to run with the ball, or whether to pass? No, it's not! The fact of the matter is, Richie hasn't been great, and the players haven't been great. Although at times, they have been excellent though! And and inch here or there on some passes and shots and we could quite easily be fighting for that 3rd place spot. I just don't see what causing turmoil throughout the club is going to achieve? To me, these seem like reactionary, heat of the moment comments due to where we currently find ourselves....but if you didn't see this hard slog coming then you were living in cuckoo-land! I've been to every game this season, except Well away, and I haven't witnessed a relegation team. At times, they've been amazing and at times, far from it, but I don't think they are deserving of their current position. And to say the players or Richie don't care, or are not trying hard enough, is just tosh. You can see it in their body language, hear it in their voices, and see it in their play, but when you find yourself in this position, you get zero breaks of the ball and none of the 50/50 decisions. Now, when the chips are down, we need to get behind our team. Behind our manager. Behind our Board. Because We Are Caley(thistle), Super Caley, no-one likes us, we don't care!

"Shave when we're winning, he only shaves when we're winning...."

OK, I've recovered sufficiently to make comment. First - tremendous ICT support throughout! Second - we were second best. County carried a threat and we didn't. Third, the first 2 goals were shambolic. Tansey missed the corner for the first and then it went from bad to worse. How the second got past OFW, I have no idea. I'm afraid Richie has ro shoulder much of the blame. Vigurs was utterly awful going forward and in defence. How he got a start ahead of Polworth, I have no idea. Time to ditch those guys who don't fight tooth and nail for the cause. Other than Tremarco, I'm not sure many got pass marks, alrhough I felt that Doran really wanted it and King made a difference when he came on. Cole did OK, but is lightweight in defence. Draper always gives his all, but wasn't at his best. Our biggest problem is up front - Doumbouya does OK with his back to goal, but doesn't look threatening. Fisher is unconvincing, but poached effectively for his goal. Boden is ineffectual. We need a break in the January window, but I don't see what we'll be able to get in with a lack of budget. Tough times ahead, but there is the core of a good team there (Excluding Vigurs). Set them up to be hard to beat and we might just survive.

As far as I know the date, time and prices have been agreed by the clubs and the info sent to the SFA. What we were waiting on was sign off on the match info from the SFA (should be a formality) and information on how many tickets we were getting, where we'd be housed etc....this will determine the need for priority period, how many tickets are sold per person etc. It's possible that info has come in/been squared up over the festive period. If so then I'll hopefully get it to put out as soon as people get back to work in the next couple of days.

With all this calling for manager and board heads it kind of makes our 'new' badge with 'Pride of the Highlands' on it seem rather silly now. To add my thoughts on the issues, I feel there is a factor here behind the scenes involving cash. when isn't there? The issues surrounding the exit of Yogi and the appointment of the 'cheaper option' in appointing Richie get me thinking there is a cost saving issue here. This will have an impact on the club of course. I also believe that things will turn about soon and we could possibly avoid the drop. But, as a poster above mentioned, there is no point in throwing money at players if we still go down as there will be no cash to rebuild. We have been punching above our weight for quite a while now and have managed to hang in there. There are bound to be dodgy periods at any club and its up the club to do everything possible to assist tin overcoming these. All we can do is keep supporting the team in good times and bad (says he who has only be to two games this season!)

Following ICT from near or far is, always has been, and always will be a rollercoaster ride .... Sack the Board ? Really ? There's a couple of decent posts earlier in here that tell you far more eloquently than I would why that solution would be a crock of horse**** . In 23 years you can count the times they really messed up on the fingers of one hand. They have been a steady hand at the tiller and each and every person who sat on that board over the years has contributed to our success one way or another. For those that say sack the board ... please enlighten me as to who exactly you envisage taking on a task of balancing the books of what is a provincial club with a small (but fervent and passionate) fanbase that without some creative thinking, behind the scenes machinations, or some form of windfall makes a six figure loss every year ? Sack the Media Team ? Are you serious ? The media team are for the most part volunteers who give up their time because they want to. Methinks there are some who would say that because they have a personal beef with one or more members of that media team. As someone who has been involved in trying to increase the club's media presence in the past, and tried to get them to use social media more or to broadcast video or audio from games either live or in highlight form I think the current team are doing a fantastic job with the meagre resources at hand. Sack Richie ? I dont think so either. BUT I do agree he needs help from someone with experience. I dont know who that would be but he does need some help and some inspirational signings in a couple of key positions. Perhaps some of the armchair 'football manager' stars on here could do the job ? Following ICT reminds me of following TFC for the last 10 years (including a 9 game losing streak at the start of 2012) .... theres a song that seems appropriate for both if you change the lyrics a bit ! (to the tune of Sloop John B) Forever we love you (Sloop TFC) Forever we love you so (Clap Clap) Through all of the highs and lows This is our crest and this, this is our home We want you to knowwwwwww We want you to knowww_ooooo_ooooo Forever we love you We love you T-O....

Doofer's Dad's thoughtful summing up says it all. That's a great post. The Board will not sack Richie for a variety of reasons. e.g. promises, pride, low Bank account, high-priced but unpredictable other Managers who could in any event just turn out to be a real liability anyway.. But I would not be surprised if he resigns at a future date just to allow everyone else to save face if things get worse and worse. If the team is relegated the crowds will surely still come if they continue to get better and keep on working hard? He's a decent lad is Richie and he's had very bad luck as well including character-less referees who don't feel the necessity to award penalties to ICT when blatant hand balls in the box occur with some regularity. If these penalties (as per the rules) had been given with alacrity where would we be now? That tells me that the High Head Yins don't particularly care for the unpredictable and sometimes very hard working and brilliant ICT taking trophies and high league positions away from the Terrible Twins and other teams. Sorry, but the deck does appear to be stacked against the very dangerous and exciting ICT. Particularly after the Scottish Cup win so that now people are always looking over their shoulder wondering what the fabled ICT will do next? The wee team frae the Hielans are now so unpredictable with their dogged persistence and often great football that the pundits don't know what to expect and keep looking over their shoulder expecting anything to happen these days. I have accessed the SPL site daily for years and I sense this strongly. We have earned their respect AND a degree of surprised affection that we should capitalise on too. We now have to explode out of the rut of near despair and get on with it and fight for redemption without a backward glance. But, if the underdog falters and falls down at any point then he will also be kicked! Time for Richie to harangue the troops, excite them and inspire them. The team has to grit their teeth and work harder. The Manager must forget relegation and work harder in the face of adversity. The Board must show faith in them and remind them of it repeatedly. And, last but by no means least, the fans musty continue to show faith in them and show up as well to put their money in the till.

I’ve tallied up the totals for 2016. By my reckoning, we had 67 exICT scorers, compiling 416 goals as follows :- 26 goals S Sutherland (Peterhead,9/Elgin,17) 25 goals S Winnall (Barnsley) 21 goals R Mcallister (Peterhead) 19 goals G Wood (Formantine) 18goals Z Sutherland (Brora R) 17 goals A Rooney (Aberdeen), C Allen (Glentoran) 14 goals D Gillespie (Brora R), J Oswell (Newtown AFC) 13 goals S Soane (Forres) 12 goals T Agdestein (Haugesund) 10 goals S Armstrong (Celtic) 09 goals M Watkins (Barnsley), D Sanchez (FC Jazz) 08 goals M Laing (Inverurie), D Wyness (Huntly), J Hayes (Aberdeen), B Mckay (Dun U,4/Oldham,4), B Greenhalgh (Maidstone,4/Concord R,4) 07 goals D Imrie (Hamilton), M Finnis (Clach) 06 goals A McDonald (Oxford U), A MacLeod (Strathspey), D Lopez (Arenas de Getxo), L MacKinnon (Buckie), T Sho-Silva (Bromley), G Tade (Steaua Buch,2/Qatar SC,4) 05 goals T Aldred (Blackpool), R Eagle (AFC Sudbury), A Grieg (Brora R), M Bavidge (Inverurie) I Sekajja (Hemel H,2/Dulwich H,3), T Kink (SJK,2/Mezokovesd,3) 04 goals D Davis (Birmingham), C Dingwall (Formantine), C MacMillan (Rothes), R Williams (Ottawa) 03 goals J Roberts (Crawley), N Bulvitis (Plymouth), L Hughes (Barrow), D Park (Cove R) E Ofere (Dun U),G Munro (Brora R),I Black (Shrewsbury), A Chippendale (Stalybridge) 02 goals D Khutsishvili (Forres), A Evans (Shelbourne), P Roberts (Sligo), D Dods (Brechin), F Morais (Bradford),S Williams (AFC Fylde), D Cowie (Hearts),S Leslie (Clach) C Ferguson (Albion), R Christie (Celtic) 01 goal M Storey (Aberdeen), N Ross (Dundee), J Rankin (Dun U), A Shinnie (Hibs), A Barrowman (Albion), R Babtie (Peterhead), B Gilfillan (Annan), J Duff (Elgin), G Morrison (Brora R), S Duff (Cove R), A Skinner (Nairn),G Shinnie (Aberdeen)

"So called fans" Not cool, Dougal ... people who pay good money to support the team they love at home/away and who really care about its well-being are entitled to an opinion politely made ... otherwise what is the point of a forum? Let's all be happy clappers rain or shine, premiership or league 2 right?

I think maybe a few folk are jumping the gun. Like a lot of our players I suspect he's just happy to be home for a wee bit of a break.

Disappointing if true especially if Storey doesn't materialise. Don't think he's had a fair go given his early season goals and the fact that our current one-up top system clearly isn't working. Would have liked to see him start much more games alongside either Fisher/Doumbouya.

String together a few wins and we could be hovering just about top 6 spot.

The first quoted passage pretty well summarises the case for what ICT has done, both for itself and for Inverness as well. As such, this also largely represents any case FOR any suggestion that whether or not Inverness "deserves" the club IS a relevant consideration. There's no doubt that ICT has played a major role in highlighting this city and that's before you take into account questions of direct economic impact, including the road opening up the Harbour. In the second passage, is there perhaps a hint here of the proposition that football should be exempt from the usual laws of economics, marketing, supply and demand? The club is there, it's difficult to conceive of anyone who doesn't know that, its many achievements and its ongoing life are well publicly documented. This has resulted, over the last dozen years, in crowds which started at an average ballpark of 4000 but which are now descending towards 3000. That clearly demonstrates the current demand for the product on the basis of how it is marketed and the huge number of factors which will determine whether people feel it is worth the time and expense to attend. I do think that one significant factor is that our quite sparsely populated and remote area may be finding it difficult to sustain two Premiership clubs in the longer term. I don't quite buy into the scenario that Ross County are doing better than ICT by drawing similar crowds from a less well populated area. (They may or may not be marketing their product better but that's a different issue.) I think Inverness is a big factor here in what are two largely overlapping catchment areas. To a lot of people who live in Inverness, including some Invernessians (if you see the distinction) there's not the same partisan divide as many perceive. I therefore look on this as two rival clubs competing for what is significantly a common market - which isn't big enough to sustain them both. However Ross County are to some extent insulated from some of the economic realities by a benefactor, although that statement shouldn't evoke any outbursts of self-righteousness from ICT fans. After all, ICT was more or less bust in 1999 and six years later was playing SPL football in an SPL compliant stadium, largely thanks to various interventions from Tulloch. For me the emerging picture, in a market place where TV and other factors are a significant deterrent to attendance, is that the Inner Moray Firth is struggling to sustain two Premiership clubs in the longer term. Unfortunately, the first historical analogy which comes to mind is that of the USA winning the Cold War because its much greater spending power helped it to strangle the Soviet Union.

No complaints from me about that game yesterday (other than the performance of ICT obviously). County thoroughly deserved that win and probably should have been out of sight by half time. I felt they did to us what we had done to them on so many occasions in the past - sit in and hit on the counter. Interesting to see Boyce played almost like a right winger for most of the game. I've not often been impressed with Boyce in games between the sides in Dingwall but I thought he was excellent yesterday. A real menace and he took his goals well although I think he'd be chancing it to say his second was meant as anything other than a cross which seemed to go straight through Fon Williams. The first County goal was everything about ICT at the back this season in the space of a few seconds. Disorganised, chasing shadows and just simply all over the place. Tremarco grabbed a scarcely deserved equaliser before the slightly fortuitous second from Boyce. Third was a classic case of County 'wanting it more' and completely out muscling ICT to win the ball back and then take advantage of our non existent defending to wrap the game up. Whilst Fisher got a goal back after a good positive run by King who saw his effort spilled by Fox and tucked away by Fisher it made the game look at a lot closer than it was. 3 - 2 might look like a close game but it was a pretty straight forward win for the Staggies. They passed up other good chances to add to their lead whereas I can't really recall many clear cut opportunities for ICT to get back into the game. Really can't grumble with the result. Big questions now for ICT. The team looks seriously short on confidence. With players like Tansey and Meekings reluctant to commit their futures to the club they could well be away before we pick up on league business towards the end of January. I still feel we are in desperate need of a Mckay or Storey type attacker. Someone with a bit of pace who can play off the shoulder of the defence. Right now we seem to start most games with a tall forward, playing with his back to goal trying to win countless lumps up the park with little or no support and instead of playing with 'proper' wingers to try and attack down the flanks and send in some crosses for the likes of Doumbouya to attack. Instead we play central midfielders there most of the time. Dropping Polworth yesterday was an odd one and the continuing presence of Vigurs in the starting XI continues to baffle. A lot of players are seriously under performing right now and Forans tactics seem somewhat limited with only one game plan seemingly evident most matches. NareysToepoker on Twitter noted that this is the lowest points total accumulated by any ICT side after this many games in any division. That we have fewer points now than at the same stage of the relegation season of 08/09 is extremely concerning however the only saving grace is that we haven't become completely detached. Yet.

The town doesn't deserve this club, never has. In the meantime Richie has to get a striker and a centre back in on loan, if he has any network at all. Thin margins yesterday against County, the difference between a team that's going well and a team sapped of all confidence.

Tbh Id rather we forgot about top 6 for now and concentrate on safety!

There are no missing thousands we have a core support of around 3500 k which is diminishing rapidly due to the product on the park, getting that product right will get them back through the gates, football fans are very fickle and that relates to all fans of every club not just ICT What really hurts the club is when sections of the support get vilified by the local press, a few weeks ago I read a most unpleasant article attacking our very own young team A deliberate attempt to create division among the support and to make these young lads feel unwelcome, after all the only way this club is to gain support is to encourage youth not discourage them I actually feel very sorry for Foran he was the boards cheap option and he has been thrown in at the deep end with little to no funds available, you only have to look at his physical appearance to see the stress he's been put under, he looks gaunt to me in some of his interviews of late and the fact that he hasn't shaved for months is evidence Dougal

Seriously min, less of the moaners and groaners! Pretty obvious from yesterday's tactics that a continued use of failed formations or lack of them are giving us no points. You're living on cloud 9 if you think some tightening of the defence will make much difference. Hello championship, I'm out of here.

Delighted you were annoyed Dougal, and that you rise to the bait as beautifully as the most rabid of Rangers fans do when it's their turn!