Leaderboard

So absolutely delighted for Alex Samuel .He gives so much every week even though he gets battered from one end of the pitch to the other .Well deserved MoM .Also happy for Wallace Duffy ….Now we got the result we really needed to give us any hope please don’t let it slip . Great effort from all today .C,mon we can do it …..Get behind the team..Looking forward to Queens .

Deserved win in terrible conditions at times. Thought we played at a better tempo today and created a lot of chances. Arbroath were poor but some of our interplay was really good and sharp. Samuel fully deserving of MOM but was kicked and held the whole game with no protection from the ref. Officiating was really poor again, do we actually train referees any more or are they just allowed to make up their own decisions.

The Supporters Trust launched Stronger Together today at the Fans Meeting at the Caley Club. Full details are on our website (see the link below), but this is the announcement released today: Fan investment is the way forward for a stronger and community focused ICT An initiative that aims to increase the shareholding of Inverness Caledonian Thistle fans has been launched by the ICT Supporters Trust. The group aims to achieve the greatest possible supporter and community influence in the running and ownership of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. The Trust has called on fans to invest in the Stronger Together Fund, which aims to increase their shareholding of the football club and assist in creating a sustainable football club with supporters at its heart. A longer-term goal of ensuring that a democratically elected fans’ representative sits on Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC’s Board of Directors is also key to the plans. The Trust aims to make sure that the voice of ICT supporters is heard and that fans are communicated to with honesty and transparency. The Supporters Trust already hold 108 Ordinary Shares which carry an enhanced voting right totalling a minimum of 10 per cent. The Trust also holds a further 13,658 Ordinary Shares which carry normal voting rights. Investment in the football club by the Stronger Together Fund will be made at the discretion of the Trust Board, with the prime objective being to increase their shareholding in the football club. The Trust aim to bridge the perceived gap between the club and its supporters, using any income generated by the Stronger Together Fund to purchase shares in the club, with a view to gaining a seat on the Board. They believe that supporter’s issues can then be raised at board level, ensuring fans are properly represented and have a say in the running of their club. Jennifer Aitchison, Chairperson, ICT Supporter’s Trust said: “This is a crucial time for the football club, both on and off the pitch. We must come together in order to ensure the future of the club for generations to come. “One of the most common and regular pieces of feedback we receive is that fans have become disengaged with the club and no longer feel a local affinity. We have already highlighted some instances where the club could be engaging better with fans, through affordable hospitality, season ticket deals, stewarding at games, and where we feel they could be driving better income streams from match, match-ball and man of the match sponsorships as well as player sponsorships. “The club has rightfully been chasing the pounds lately to ensure the long-term future of the club but we also feel that ICT is missing out on contributions that derive largely from engaged supporters who feel they have a real stake in the club. The Stronger Together Fund provides an opportunity for Caley Thistle fans, both locally and around the world, to directly influence the running of the football club.” The initiative gives supporters the opportunity to donate as much or as little as they can afford, either as a one-off payment or by regular monthly contributions. Payments will be made to the Supporters Trust, not to the club. The Supporters Trust launched Stronger Together with a brochure which explains the initiative in detail, and includes details of how to make a donation to Stronger Together. The brochure is available here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/stronger-together The launch was very well received by the many fans present at the meeting. The Club Chairman and SLO had been briefed on the initiative during the week, and were supportive of it too. We hope that many fans, whether located locally or afar, will see the merit in supporting this initiative. If anyone has any questions, either post them in this thread, e-mail us at info@ictsupporterstrust.org or by completing the form on our "contact us" page: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/contact Activity like this has worked successfully for clubs like Falkirk, Morton and Hearts, and we hope to make this scheme similarly successfully over time. An update on the other issues at today's Fans Meeting will be posted in the next couple of days.

Game should have been over 1st half. we were all over them Great save from Arbroath keeper boruc ( cousin of ex Celtic keeper artur boruc ) from a Samual hit from edge of box heading in top bins but he got fingers on it to put it onto bar and out for corner. couple of mins later Samuel had a turn and hit from inside the box but boruc got down low to his left to save again. late on in 1st half Anderson was played in but his poor effort couldn’t beat boruc from a couple of yards. was disappointed how we started 2nd half. Tippy tippy nonsense across the back line, no urgency to take throw ins and free kicks. One ball went out for a bye kick. Instead of taking the spare ball from the ball boy behind the goal ridgers walked slowly over to the corner flag to retrieve the original. We’re we counting down the clock that early. I felt we were not building on the performance of the first half and letting Arbroath come at us instead. Turned to my mate and said this is going to cost us. Arbroath took the gift and a fantastic hit from outside the box whissed past ridgers for the equaliser. Loud boo’s from the home support. I have seen this tactic from Ferguson before, when we are up he tends to defend the lead rather than try to extend it. samual had no right to win the ball in the box, turn and smash in the winner. It was pure strength. if we had taken our chances it could have been 3 or 4 goal win and confidence boost to take to Hampden especially after queens 5 goal hammering today.

It’s a long time since I’ve left the ground feeling as good as I did today. In difficult conditions, I thought we did very well. We won the toss and chose to play with the wind. With the wind advantage, we seemed eager to play more directly than in recent home games and to press Arbroath and even shoot on sight. We could easily have been two up after five minutes, with Samuel hitting the bar and their ‘keeper saving a good effort. The game settled and I was worried our territorial advantage and chances were not going to see us get a lead, but a very good finish by Duffy got us in front. In the second half, we were less direct, presumably as we were playing into the gale, but we made the better chances. Arbroath scored with their only attempt on goal in the whole game, but credit our players for digging deep and getting the win with a tremendous finish by Samuel (who took some stick from the Arbroath defence all game but kept looking for more). We thoroughly deserved the win and hopefully we now have momentum for the critical visit to Queens Park next week. Well done to all!

Well done to all today on a very tough day at the office

Samuel!!

Cheaper than taking him to the Innes! And i'm back from hols, so i'll be there!

Good to experience that winning feeling again. Having said that, we did make life difficult for ourselves by not capitalising on our first half dominance. Let’s face it, Arbroath were awful. On a day made for shooting from distance, we were again generally shot shy. Hopefully others will take a cue from the excellent Alex Samuel. The one disappointing thing for me today was that despite some good noisy support from the North stand, only Ridgers and Samuel could be bothered to come anywhere near the fans at the end. Given the cheers and prolonged applause which followed the final whistle I would have thought the guys would have been keen to have some positive interaction with the home crowd for a change. Maybe most of them are not expecting to be here next season.

Spare a thought tonight for Remi Savage who took a significant boot in the face. Hope he is well. Alex Samuel was superb today in a very good team performance. With Luis Longstaff back today we had a slightly stronger bench. Under no circumstances do we want to lose next week.

Good result considering our defensive setup - looking at how poor arbroath were for most of the first half I'm surprised we continued with 3 CB's. Showed them too much respect and almost paid the price for it...they scored with their only shot. Hope some confidence has been restored with the result, quite a few decent performances today but again not enough converted chances. Hats off to Samuel, he was up for it from the first minute and deserved his reward. A good platform to build from next week.

Massive 3 points

I was worried we didn't manage to make the most of the wind on our side first half. Thought we might collapse when they equalised,but credit to boys for holding on. The first period of second half we lost our way and I think the sending off changed things. What a cracker by Samuel who was easy the best player on the park. I thought we could have got fresh legs on sooner. I think that is our 3rd home win this season which is not good enough to be honest but let's be delighted that for once other results went our way. What a big game next week is going to be.

14 shots 10 on target

Sporting the best tan in the North Stand

The Supporters Trust launched Stronger Together today at the Fans Meeting at the Caley Club. Full details are on our website (see the link below), but this is the announcement released today: Fan investment is the way forward for a stronger and community focused ICT An initiative that aims to increase the shareholding of Inverness Caledonian Thistle fans has been launched by the ICT Supporters Trust. The group aims to achieve the greatest possible supporter and community influence in the running and ownership of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. The Trust has called on fans to invest in the Stronger Together Fund, which aims to increase their shareholding of the football club and assist in creating a sustainable football club with supporters at its heart. A longer-term goal of ensuring that a democratically elected fans’ representative sits on Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC’s Board of Directors is also key to the plans. The Trust aims to make sure that the voice of ICT supporters is heard and that fans are communicated to with honesty and transparency. The Supporters Trust already hold 108 Ordinary Shares which carry an enhanced voting right totalling a minimum of 10 per cent. The Trust also holds a further 13,658 Ordinary Shares which carry normal voting rights. Investment in the football club by the Stronger Together Fund will be made at the discretion of the Trust Board, with the prime objective being to increase their shareholding in the football club. The Trust aim to bridge the perceived gap between the club and its supporters, using any income generated by the Stronger Together Fund to purchase shares in the club, with a view to gaining a seat on the Board. They believe that supporter’s issues can then be raised at board level, ensuring fans are properly represented and have a say in the running of their club. Jennifer Aitchison, Chairperson, ICT Supporter’s Trust said: “This is a crucial time for the football club, both on and off the pitch. We must come together in order to ensure the future of the club for generations to come. “One of the most common and regular pieces of feedback we receive is that fans have become disengaged with the club and no longer feel a local affinity. We have already highlighted some instances where the club could be engaging better with fans, through affordable hospitality, season ticket deals, stewarding at games, and where we feel they could be driving better income streams from match, match-ball and man of the match sponsorships as well as player sponsorships. “The club has rightfully been chasing the pounds lately to ensure the long-term future of the club but we also feel that ICT is missing out on contributions that derive largely from engaged supporters who feel they have a real stake in the club. The Stronger Together Fund provides an opportunity for Caley Thistle fans, both locally and around the world, to directly influence the running of the football club.” The initiative gives supporters the opportunity to donate as much or as little as they can afford, either as a one-off payment or by regular monthly contributions. Payments will be made to the Supporters Trust, not to the club. The Supporters Trust launched Stronger Together with a brochure which explains the initiative in detail, and includes details of how to make a donation to Stronger Together. The brochure is available here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/stronger-together The launch was very well received by the many fans present at the meeting. The Club Chairman and SLO had been briefed on the initiative during the week, and were supportive of it too. We hope that many fans, whether located locally or afar, will see the merit in supporting this initiative. If anyone has any questions, either post them in this thread, e-mail us at info@ictsupporterstrust.org or by completing the form on our "contact us" page: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/contact Activity like this has worked successfully for clubs like Falkirk, Morton and Hearts, and we hope to make this scheme similarly successfully over time. An update on the other issues at today's Fans Meeting will be posted in the next couple of days.

It's Now or Never That's what Elvis used to say. We are in deep trouble up to our necks with no signs that we can turn this around. Defeat to Arbroath could be the final nail in our coffin with only fifteen points available to us ahead of this game. The play-offs are looking more likely by the minute, but it's not beyond the realms of possibilty that automatic relegation is still an option should Arbroath beat us on Saturday. With the long suffering fans rapidly losing faith in Big Dunc, it's crunch time as Arbroath head North to the venue they won at the last time they were here. Sadly they come to the Caledonian Stadium off the back of a 2-1 midweek defeat to Airdrie, and we could all but relegate them on Saturday with a win. However, that's nothing to gloat about as we could be next... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Bring a friend for £5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue - H2H v Arbroath Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 25 17 4 4 60 21 +39 Away 25 11 7 7 36 30 +6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 50 28 11 11 96 51 +45 Big advantage to us at home over the years, but there's a different feel about our squad this season. Many feel it's the worst squad we have ever had. There's no hiding place now, it's time to stand up and be counted. We lost our last home game against Arbroath, and that gives many of us the fear given our struggles to score goals and turn things around. The 3-2 win at Gayfield was Ferguson's first game in charge. To be honest, it's been downhill shortly after the new manager bounce wore off. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 4 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) Should we need one, here's a reminder of our last home game against Arbroath: 1 - 2 Looking Down: With both sides losing in midweek, this game took on more significance for Big Dunc's side and Jim McIntyre was also looking to get away from the bottom of the table after he replaced Dick Campbell. David Wotherspoon was fit enough to start and good to see Keith Bray return to the squad alongside Robbie Thompson. Arbroath came North with only four on the bench with Michael McKenna and Ricky Little still out injured and O'Brien suspended. As it turned out we are now looking down the table instead of up after back to back defeats to the two teams who were below us only four days ago as Arbroath won 2-1. That was new manager Jim McIntyre's first win and it moves Arbroath off the bottom of the table. one point behind Inverness. All the goals came in the first half from Jay Bird, Billy Mckay and two minutes later David Gold. Looks like a few will be going cheap in the January sales. Last Time Out After an encouraging point at Tannadice we were looking for more of the same at Firhill. Alas we went down to the only goal of the game from Robinson to leave us staring into the Abyss. We gave as good as we got at Firhill but that age olde problem of not scoring goals was evident once more. To add insult to injury Cammy Kerr was red-carded after an hour although we will be appealing this decision as his first booking for simulation seemed unwarranted, therefore his red card could be rescinded. Last Five: W D L D L Arbroath have lost twice over the last week. Defeat by Partick Thistle last weekend was quickly followed by a 2-1 loss at home to Airdrieonians on Tuesday night. Jay Bird hit a late consolation for the Smokies and Leighton McIntosh saw his penalty saved just before the interval. However two second half strikes from Fordyce and McGill were enough to give Airdrie all three points in a game they pretty much dominated, and that's five defeats on the bounce for Arbroath. Last Five: L L L L L Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Dundee Utd 31 18 8 5 59 21 62 Heading to the Premiership 2. Raith Rovers 30 17 7 6 49 38 58 3. Partick Thistle 31 13 10 8 57 49 49 4. Airdrieonians 30 12 6 12 36 35 42 5. Dunfermline 31 11 8 12 37 41 41 6. Morton 30 11 7 12 37 34 40 7. Ayr United 30 11 5 14 43 54 38 8. Queens Park 31 9 9 13 43 50 36 Below here you are in the play-off and also Fecked 9. Inverness CT 31 7 11 13 34 36 32 Below here you are definitely Fecked 10. Arbroath 31 6 5 20 33 70 23 Saturday 6th April Airdrie v Morton Dunfermline v Partick Thistle Inverness CT v Arbroath FC Queen's Park v Dundee Utd Raith Rovers v Ayr United Latest Team News Cammy Kerr has had his first yellow card rescinded which in turn makes his second yellow (still stands) and the subsequent red card that followed null and void. The correct decision and Cammy will be available for selection this weekend. However, it does not get us back the points that we may have got as a result of his sending off. In saying that, we performed better with ten men. Big Dunc said: So, this weekend we need to treat it like an away game. With that in mind the team will leave the Caledonian Stadium at 09:00 on Saturday morning and go for a three hour run in a D&E bus, returning at 12:00 to prepare for the game where we will start with just ten men. Ferguson said in his press conference that "this could be key to our survival and we will give it a go, won't we. We were excellent, we're no in trouble yet but it's getting close, isn't it". Carragher and Ujdur have picked up a sickness bug and will need to be assessed. Other than that no major changes expected. Here's what he actually said>>> Looks like the Smokies time in the Championship is up even if they avoid defeat on Saturday. They have had some great results in their five season stint in the Championship and have proven to be difficult to beat at times, especially at home. However, all good things come to an end. Five defeats in a row since they beat Raith Rovers 3-2 on the 1st of March has them 9 points adrift at the foot of the table and heading into League 1. With a massive minus goal difference of -37 that's worth another point and I can't see even the Caley Jags throwing that away over five games........ fingers crossed Arbroath team on Tuesday night v Airdrie Boruc Walker Teale Little Lyon Gold Mackinnon (Slater 66) Stewart McKenna (Bird 67) Dow (Stowe 77) McIntosh (Robinson 77) Subs Not Used: Gaston; Steele, Jacobs, Murray, Dünnwald-Turan It's not that I don't have any friends. It's just that nobody wants to come and watch this dross

I agree although I think Savage has been good playing for us. On the game today as others have said we were very good in the first half played well, quick passing, going forward with the ball at speed and and Arbroath struggled to cope, we could have had a few goals if it wasn't for their keeper! In the second half we were our usual at home sitting back and we struggled. We have to play a full game at the tempo that we played the first half if we are going to stay in this league. A lot happier than I have been for a long time but we have to keep pushing!

Agree, hope the guy is OK but it got devine on, who is a fighter and battler. To me the kind of guy you want on the park and plays like it means something to him in every game.

Absolutely, I hope Kerr's foot is OK.

It looked a really sore one when he was caught by Cammy Kerr. It looked like he (Savage) tried to pull out but too late.

I’m really surprised we are not using MacGregor. I’ve no issue with Lawal, who works hard and has some nice touches, but MacGregor should be in the team ahead of him.

What's the maths, and how much needs to be raised to achieve to goal?

Did you mean to miss the “r” ??

Notable that McGregor was overlooked again, Longstaff and Doran being preferred from the bench.

Great 3 points, and glad we didn't crumble when they equalised. Only saw the second half, but I feel we're coming to regret letting Welsh go. We sit with the ball between 3 CBs and no midfielder is dropping deep to collect and push play forward. We spent the 25 mins of that half just launching balls long into the wind, if we're going to do that, lose a CM and have another striker up top. Once they went down to 10 men we pushed forward and we're able to create a few things. Positives though, we've scored more than one, thought the defence handled what was thrown at them for the most part, and Big Dunc started with a win Arbroath so here's hoping for another hot streak

Attempts on goal 14-1 is a pretty impressive stat. Have we improved or was it because we were playing a really poor side?

Ball moving about wildly in the wind, we hit the bar in the first few mins, so rather than just pepper the goals with shots all half we continue to form with tepid tippy tippy **** Not convinced a single goal will be enough fighting against the wind

Duffy Dog nets but please tell me we are with the gale now

Drinks are on you ?

Now expect the Arbroath keeper to score direct from a goal kick without the ball touching the ground

Fever pitch excitement over this but we are going absolutely batter these fish lovers. 2-0 with Billy finding his shooting boots at the right time to bag a hat-trick

We are better than Arbroath, we can win this and set our sights on 8th place.

Bring a fiend for a Fiver. I'll take Johndo

They should follow your suggestion of the three hour bus journey!! The forecast is for wind tomorrow which hopefully doesn’t make the game a lottery. We need to go for it from the first whistle and shoot on sight. It’s now or never for saving our season.

Does he play shinty now?

Come on peeps - we need to instill a Dogs of War mentality in the stands to supplement the desire and application on the pitch. Dunc can't do it alone.

I don’t think giving someone a fiver is a big enough incentive…

New podcast out featuring an interview with Ross Draper which is nice

I would be intrigued to know exactly what motivated Ferguson to take the job. I agree with IHE that he has been up against it from the off - so why take the job on? O.K. he would be looking for a position where he would have the potential to get some success at a lower level and improve his managerial credentials, but what made him think the ICT job was it? It seemed pretty clear that when he first arrived here, he knew precious little about the club and the Scottish Championship more generally, so I can only assume that he was tempted by promises of significant resources for new players on the back of the Battery project which, he would have been told, was a certainty to go through. Keeping us up this year and then challenging hard for promotion the following 2 seasons would be something which would raise his stock. He'll be all too well aware now that things at the club are not quite what he was led to believe when he signed his contract. Obviously it is rubbish when he says the team were "brilliant". He knows and we all know that it's nonsense, but I would prefer that to him publicly slagging the team off. Do we really want him to behave like Derek Adams? I'm far from convinced about his style of play and his tactics, but I do have a bit of sympathy for him. Other teams have been able to strengthen their squads in the January window. We did not have that luxury and added to that, we have been hard hit with injuries. We have one of the poorest squads in the club's history and that is not Ferguson's fault. I think the guys on the pitch are putting in a good shift and doing the best they can for the manager. I am sure we would be isolated with Arbroath at the bottom if Dodds was still here. Dig Dunc may not be the greatest of managers and the squad may not be as good as we would like, but they are not the ones who are responsible for the mess the club is in. If we are to avoid relegation we need to put a good string of results. To achieve that the guys on the pitch need the fans to get behind them and give support rather than criticism. Let's support the team and point the finger of blame to where it rightly belongs.

Ridgers Duffy Devine Harper Carson Welsh McGregor Doran McKay Samuels 10 players that we had when Dodds was 45 minutes away from the Premier League. Ferguson had all of these players at his disposal when he joined and couldn’t do anything. I don’t think we can now blame Dodds for this, he was sacked in September.

That’s a masterful appraisal of the club’s status from Scotty there, although I do also agree with Johndo’s point that Duncan has been hamstrung by a very low budget. In that regard, I don’t think we know how good a job Duncan is capable of in the same way as we don’t know how good a dentist is if all they have to work with are hammer and chisel. Fundamentally, we have no way of finding out just how desperately low the player budget is and therefore whether we are having to rely on players who would struggle to get a full time contract anywhere else and loanees whose parent clubs have possibly been quite glad to get rid of them. Note that I am simply saying we don’t know here, because we have no way of even guessing how much is being spent on the squad - partly because the latest available accounts reflect a period that ended almost two years ago and also that they are not obliged to show earnings or expenditure, but simply the profit/loss situation (most recently a loss of £835K). All we therefore know is that we have a squad that isn’t performing but we don’t know whether we are simply getting what we have paid for and that neither Dodds nor Ferguson could be expected to make bricks without straw. Moving on to Scotty’s crystal clear appraisal of the club’s status, both historical and current, we need to come to terms with the fact that the club has been bailed out by well wishers for years now. For instance 2018/19 alone needed £1 million in new shares - ie financial gifts - and since then hands regularly been put into pockets. What makes this all the more egregious is that TWO YEARS of trying to raise cash by non-football means have been utterly wasted since one bright idea went bust and the other has hit serious trouble which was apparently not foreseen. Scotty also makes the point that the club’s local reputation has been substantially trashed as a result of these twin disasters. I would add that I felt distinctly ashamed at the last AGM when I pressed the top table on the failure of the Concert Company and received the almost triumphant reply that the football club had extracted money for stadium hire from the concert company BEFORE it went bust, leaving several local traders out of pocket. Add that to the bellicose and arguably coercive pronouncements emanating from the club during the recent planning process and I really do worry about local public perception of this club and hence willingness to support it should it run into even more serious trouble. As a veteran of the crisis of 1999-2000 when Tullochs had to intervene to spirit away £2.3 million of debt and before that of a multitude of existential cliffhangers during the merger, I am still finding it difficult to see how the club can escape from this one, especially in a local atmosphere where a body that should enjoy widespread esteem has got itself into a position where it is actively disliked in many quarters.

Best April fools I've seen today

I thought that's what he would be instilling but it certainly doesn't appear so from what I've watched. Also why would he be trying to foster a 'dogs of war mentality' when he feels we are, I quote 'excellent' and 'brilliant' according to him? I can only surmise that he is quite happy that the team is playing the way he wants, even if we lose/drop points. He seems completely unmoved but the urgency of the situation and how precarious things are not just for this season and relegation but for the future of our club. I wasn't hugely enamoured by his signing as I didn't see what he was bringing to the club for a 3 year deal. Limited managerial experience for a club our size, little knowledge or experience of Scottish football and a poor managerial track record. Just seemed to be on the back of his 'fame' and being someone Scot Gardiner would love to parade around. However I was happy to give him a chance as I am with all new players and managers but there's nothing I've seen to indicate a battling, seige mentality I thought he might bring, just ponderous, one dimensional football and referee blaming. Another masterstroke from our illustrious CEO.

Duncs has had every game since 30 Sep last year to shape this team and the cheap loanees you refer to are his signings. He has had plenty time now to make the situation better than he found it, but hasn’t. With 5 games remaining this season I would like to share your optimism, but don’t.

For context, Dodds averaged 1.50 in his time with us.