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Quite frankly never seen anything like this in football. Liam Polworth has come through the ranks at Caley, 25 assists last season, clearly the only one with the ability to unlock a defence and yet the abuse he gets from some sections beggars belief. It hardly matters what kind of game he's having either. So many "supporters" seem worryingly ready to rail on him at the slightest thing. This isn't in my head, hear it all around me every home game. Yesterday as an example, Mackay came on and took a touch that would've resulted in an outcry had it been Poli. But because it was Mackay? Total silence. Get behind your players and learn something about the game you're supposedly watching, you know who you are, absolute disgrace. You only need to listen for a while to the people talking ***** about Poli to realise they don't have much of a clue how the majority of the game works, really seems like they're there to vent. I for one really hope he stays unlike that wee lemon Daniel ict or whatever his name is on Twitter who's going about delighted at the prospect of losing our only playmaker to a premier league club. That wee crew are such a stereotype, are more or less only at games for the homoerotic camaraderie, know **** all about football and I hope they see this: nothing wrong with your reasons for being at the football, that's your business, but when you're dishing out that kind of abuse expect it to come back and bite you. Aside from that lengthy rant, we've got a very good side here if they could up the tempo at key moments and were able to add a player who can finish consistently. Still hoping Austin can be that player myself. Roll on Tuesday.

Apologies for my choice of words last night while I was still in a rage after seeing the tweet from Liam. However, this type of harassment of our own players does nobody any good and should be stopped now before action is taken against those responsible. I totally agree that Liam did not have his best game, but the personal abuse is uncalled for, and as already posted very few of our players came out of this game without criticism. Difficult to pick a clear MotM from such a lethargic performance.

Leaving aside the appalling behaviour of some of our so called support, I came away from the game feeling rather despondent. Yes we have 4 points from 2 games, 2 clean sheets and an extension of a lengthy unbeaten run in the league to 13 games, but this was a very poor performance and we were fortunate to escape with a draw against 10 men. We can't expect to play that poorly again and not get beaten. It wasn't as though we didn't create chances - we did, but despite a long unbeaten run, we lacked the class and composure to convert what chances we did create against what was a pretty shaky Ayr defence. As we pressed for a goal in the 2nd half there were occasions when a much more direct Ayr side carved us apart and had good chances themselves. We were lucky that their usual shooting boots had been left down South. They were woeful in front of goal. I thought Donaldson had a generally decent game although he did lose possession carelessly in dangerous positions a couple of times. Walsh looked the man most likely to make things happen and Oakley also put in a good shift. The rest were very ordinary at best. With Ayr down to 10 men on our wide pitch, we should have been able find space for players to run with the ball and for the ball to be played into. Instead, our build up was usually slow, cautious and unimaginative. There was little urgency, little running into space and pulling defenders out of position, little pace to the game and little use of the width of the park. We gave Ayr all the time in the world to get organised at the back. Even when the ball was played wide to Tremarco the usual play was foot on the ball and then pass back inside as the defender came to him. It might then go sidewards once or twice more before a diagonal ball was sent into the box in the hope of finding Oakley or Austin. We rarely used the width to get behind their defence. As a result, chances, when they came were mostly half chances with very few clear cut chances. I hoped that the introduction of Doran would make a difference but he too slipped into the general lethargy of the performance. There was precious little of quality and precious little ambition from anybody. Having had Ayr reduced to 10 men, you would have expected the players to have sensed a real opportunity for a good win. The fact that the team seemed to have no idea how to make the advantage tell is a worry. It's a long time since I left TCS feeling so disappointed.

We all did stupid and I'll considered things as teenagers. It's part of learning, growing and maturing but directing abuse against the entirely innocent members of a player's family just because he might not be having the best of games is utterly appalling conduct whatever your age. It's not the ICT way and needs to stop now. Some acknowledgment that it was wrong and an apology to go with it would demonstrate an element of maturity that was missing from those concerned yesterday afternoon.

...Liam Polworth he's one of our own FFS. Being a highland club I'm ashamed of the vitriol being spouted towards one of our home grown players by a small minority of 'fans'. It's pathetic ! We are not, and don't want to be, OF fans! Ryan Christie didn't receive the same treatment, Daniel Mackay doesn't receive the same treatment, Grant Munro, Jim Calder, Charlie Christie, Mike Noble, et al. So what is your problem with Liam Polworth ya dafties? Haters gonna hate!

Nobody seems to have mentioned that we had six excellent chances to score.... if not more...…... so we are doing something right..... Our trouble is finishing...…….take our chances and we will win most games Win games then abuse will stop...….... Most of it is...…... barring the chants...…….. heat of the moment stuff plus frustration as is eloquently portrayed in the above apology. We could have and should have beaten Ayr easily, the few attempts they had were adequately dealt with by Ridgers who is rapidly becoming the finest Keeper in the Championship.

Liam Polworth is an easy target for our "so called fans". When he was getting abused he still wanted the ball and still tried to make things happen. Fair enough not much came off for him but he was always availabe and never hid. What the hell did Chalmers and Trafford do that was better......bugger all. Yet did they get the same abuse???? Maybe it's time we appreciated Liam and his assists and goals before its to late. Some ICT fans have a habit of going against the good guys!

Just what do these people think they will achieve by dishing out this kind of abuse? The abuse about his family will surely be seen as out of order by anyone with a thread of human decency about them, but more generally, the abuse and the boos directed at Polworth himself affect not just Liam and his family but his team mates too. Why would anyone want to play for ICT when their own "supporters" direct abuse at the team they purport to support? One of the things that gives players a boost is when the fans of the opposing team get on the backs of their own team. What the boo boys and the abusers do is give succour to the opposition and disillusionment to their own team. If you are going to boo and abuse your own team then why don't you do us all a favour and buy tickets for the South Stand

Just watched the goals from our under 18s thrashing Partick Thistle 7-2. After last season's league win at under 17 level, we look to have a great crop coming through. As a small club, that's what we need, so credit to the coaches. Let's hope they continue to develop and be one the backbone of a successful future squad.

For me, it's the pace of the team that is the most worrying thing. Even last season, most teams would break on us with pace and could be threatening our defence in a couple of passes, while we seemed to wait till our opposition regrouped into their shape and then tried to play through them, which we couldn't do on numerous occasions. I agree with some posts on here that said we didn't stretch the Ayr back four enough, especially after they were down to 10 men. We had Walsh set up on the left and it looked like Polworth was on the right, where it is obvious that he doesn't feel comfortable to play, as he drifts into the middle, leaving only Rooney to give us that width on the right. He struggled to get behind their defence and his crosses were not too good. We really need to find someone to hug that right touchline and maybe sacrifice a striker to have an extra man in midfield. In my opinion, maybe we could try Walsh on the right and give Calder or Ebouzedi the left flank and have Doran or Polworth playing in the hole, to support the main striker. We were just too narrow, ponderous and predictable yesterday, let's hope we can sort it out before Dunfermline come calling on Tuesday.

Worrying that we can't beat a team who played the majority of the match with 10 men. One goal in 180 minutes doesn't bode well : it was clear from last week's evidence (match should have been over by half time) that we are not sharp enough up front. Defence seems capable enough so it's pretty clear where most of the attention needs to go.

Jeez.....2 games into the League season and some people are expecting perfection. It will take a handfull of games to settle into things.

May I applaud you on your use of the word homoerotic sir? I think I could confidently state that this is a first. ???????? And for the most part I think you are quite correct. ?

Wow. Some amount of comments. I was in main stand so wasn’t aware of the verbals and wholly agree that chants against family unacceptable. In general I thought we were too narrow and lacked any real bite in the final third. But would we have taken this start last year? Absolutely. I was really disappointed that the team were booed off though - I’m guilty of venting my spleen from time to time but the first home game in the league? That’s no right! We surely need to stop arguing among ourselves and get behind the team even if we think the performance was crap. Notwithstanding this I reserve my right as a season ticket holder to criticise at will......? Mon ICT

I'm quite shocked by some of the comments I've just read. I sit in the main stand, and was oblivious to the chants against Polly's sister: such behaviour is disgraceful. I know he can "blow hot and cold" but I do believe he cares, and such chants will drive him out of the club. Yes, he missed the penalty, and it was a poor one, but he's not the first and won't be the last. I thought he was trying hard in the second half, looking for the ball and trying to pick out passes. Yes, some did not come off, but as others have said before, he has vision that some of our team don't have. He is a confidence player, as someone has said earlier in this thread, and some fans have shattered that today. His tweet is out of frustration, and I don't blame him for making it. To the game, we had a clean sheet, with some squeaky moments, and were by far the better team. We should have been three up by half time, with Austin missing two very good chances. Ridgers did what was asked of him. Rooney tried to push forward, to mixed effect, but could turn into an asset. Tremarco was my pick, as we were most potent down the left. Mckay and Donaldson kept Shankland out, with big Coll nearly sneaking one towards the end. I actually thought Trafford and Chalmers did ok, but need to move the ball quicker and be more positive with forward passes. Walsh had a mixed day, but has potential. I've said enough about Polly above. Austin was out of sorts, whilst Oakley was committed but didn't really get any chances. I think Doran will start on Tuesday in the cup, and I'd give young Mackay a start too. Compared to last season, this is a better start, but work in progress. With better finishing, today it would and should have been a comfortable three points, but at least we didn't concede. I am as disappointed as any, but there has been a lot of over reaction in some posts.

Remember the Howden End going ballistic when he scored this late winner. The good old days!

An honour to play with Herchie and proud to call him a pal, played with his heart on his sleeve, a real winner and leader, I'll never forget you! RIP Big Herch.

Excellent first post Ruairidh.

I think manfers apology for his language was magnanimous. what it doesn't need is a moderator to keep fuelling the fire. according to twitter, the club are looking at this, so action will hopefully be taken. let's leave it at that

From what I’ve been told some young fans started singing “Liam Polworth, your sisters a slag”. To sing stuff like that is ******* idiotic, it doesn’t need saying. I do wonder about how we decide which players are fans favourites or not though. Some players seem to attract criticism - people hated Vigurs and were desperate to jump on him. Going back further there were fans who constantly criticised Paul Ritchie, despite him being a deadly goal scorer. At the same time, Liam Keogh became a cult hero!depite only really playing well for a few months. Fans sang that Keogh song years after he left but we don’t seem to commemorate a guy like Ritchie, who did far more than Keogh during the same rough time period. its been discussed to death on here by me and others but Polworth is one of the best players in the division and in our squad. In terms of assists and goals he’s unparalleled among our midfielders. If you are going to try and create things then you are going to make mistakes, it’s the nature of the game. Most of the objections to Polworth seem to come down to his “body language”, which is meaningless. Its well established that scouts in many sports go for players who look like the perceived ideal player. I think a lot of fans do similar.

Seriously ? Someone has the humility and good grace to apologise and gets a red dot for their troubles.

I don't think anybody is looking for perfection but we are looking for signs that we will be competitive this season. 9 of yesterday's starting 11 were in the team that performed so well at the back of last season and with the league cup games there have now been 6 competitive games this season. In those circumstances it is reasonable to expect a more cohesive, urgent and confident performance than we saw yesterday.

Some of our 'support' stooped to a new low yesterday directing abuse at a member of a player's family. One of the best players to have come through our youth system and an Inverness lad will likely be away in January or the end of the season and who can blame him.

Surely, that was never in doubt.

The automatic season ticket gates are to replace staffing (eventually). The online ticketing and printing will replace walk ups and lead to zero hours catering and stewarding (as clubs can pin exact attendance to ratio needed). Catering will soon be from vending machines. It’s the same as is being seen in supermarkets, cinemas, airports, and such like. Sadly programmes are the price to be paid: progress for the sake of progress.

I would have taken 4 points from 6 and 2 clean sheets from the opening 2 games.

35-50% of what happens on the pitch is completely random according to analysts. Good coaching can possibly make that closer to the 35%. It’s one thing to be absolutely livid at the opposition or ref, often irrationally so, and generally accepted - but it is another thing entirely to be livid at the player(s) of your own team, never mind beyond that. Following a team in Japan, where Torres now plays, I observed fans who would chuckle or say ‘awww’ when their team’s player messed up royally. In British football we obviously have a different culture but even at Stamford Bridge last season I was pleasantly surprised by the individual praise put on a struggling team by individual songs and chants, and included their now departed manager. Football is conducted at a frenetic pace, and the pinball variety we have makes it even harder. Not to mention that good players can really struggle in teams where they may not have the same calibre around them. Polworth is our only star player, what with being the runaway assist player of the entire league last year. Disclaimer: I wasn’t at the game, granted, but perhaps remembering that 35-50% of the time players are simply dealing with chaos and chance, and that will be frustrating to a player who perhaps feels more pressure being the sole or minority Invernessian, would temper things a little.

Tragic, but very pleasing that all fans observed an impeccable minutes silence today.

What an obscene overreaction to a light hearted post trying to bring some levity to the thread. You're the one being miserable and abusive. If you find Kevin the teenager offensive I don't know what to else to say.

I had a good watch of our back four today and some of these tackles and blocks that went in put a smile on my face. I have to mention our center backs Coll Donaldson and Brad McKay who put in a tremendous shift and were composed and very solid. Coll kept Shankland under control for most of the match and made charges forward later in the game which reminded me of Darren Dods years ago and then there's Brad McKay who is showing a lot of composure and maturity just now. Sean Rooney defending did little wrong though some of his passing could be better and he looked to get up into the Ayr half as much as possible to support the midfield. Later in the game as the game opened up and we pushed further forward you could see Coll Donaldson getting quite animated while talking to himself, sometimes scolding himself for every error including giving away a free kick just a few yards away from the penalty area which was a wrong call by the referee. What I saw of our back line today gave me hope that we are going to have a solid defence that is not going to give much away a real solid base for the season ahead.

Here’s the thing: no player deliberately plays badly. Some will give their eye teeth for the team and some don’t really give a stuff for the club they happen to be at. Polworth is in the eye teeth category - he’s come through the ranks and will try his hardest for the club. This strength is also his weakness, because when things are against him or the team, he takes it personally and his performance drops. That’s because he cares. Personally, I’d have 11 Polworths who cared for the club any day ahead of guys who are passing through. The personal cricism will cut deeper with him than any other player in our team. If I were him, I’d stick my fingers up to the support and further my career. ICT would be the losers because any fee would go to the bottom line, not to a better replacement. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it.

I've heard this case made a few times over the years and it's one made purely on direct income....no credit is ever given to it's value as a marketing/PR/communication tool. We'll spend thousands on marketing companies/consultants etc but baulk at the idea of losing a few quid producing a programme. Very shortsighted, IMO.

Sorry as per last year home support targetting players is atrocious. We had the iain vigurs and polworth threads last year and thought we had lost the boo boys. I try to always be positive and if i wanted to support a winning team i would be with a bigger club.. So get behind or get out the way. Things will not be perfect but we make them play worse not better.

My restrainted was held back because of my children. She ok but hopefully it not put her off football.

Some level of whataboutery here. You know fine well what the chants were. Criticism of a poor performance is all fine & well and go with the territory of being a professional footballer. However chants of personal nature about a players sister and family are completely unacceptable. If you can't see that then perhaps you need to step away until you grow up a little bit.

https://youtu.be/8Rc-mXIEf0g

Or you could look at it from the point that Shankland has scored 9 goals this season so far and the defence managed to stifle him effectively.

This was one of my earliest ICT memories and it involved Hercher. After going 2 - 0 up on Livi in the (Scottish?) Cup we were eventually pegged back to 3 - 2 but then, pretty much right from kick off, Hercher was played in and he stabbed home the winner

You've gained absolutely nothing by posting this and no one else has gained anything by reading it. A complete waste of energy which just makes you sound like a bitter old man. It's no wonder the club struggles to attract fans of that age demographic with people like you posting irrelevant, moaning, petulant and frankly abusive posts like that. I highly doubt you were born at age 30 and invite you to imagine how you'd have reacted if someone said that to a teenage you.

Pollys no Pirlo but he's our best midfielder by a country mile be sorely missed if he goes to St Mirren Trafford and Chalmers were sh@te today where's Beith?? We should've hammered Ayr they're awful players looked scared to take a shot then the long balls lumped up to White was so easy to defend against ! Miss the glory days of the messiah Yogi Hughes

As long as he aims about 6 foot left of the goal ?

Polly deserved everything he got today he's already thinking he was meant to be passing to team mates in black and white sooner he goes the better absolutely awful