SMEE

I admire what they have done because, like ourselves, they have had a pretty quick rise to the top given our failry humble beginnings. However, while they may not have had similar assistance to us from INE or the local council it cannot be claimed that they have got as far as they have on the back of hard work alone alone. I would be very interested to see how much money County have thrown at wages and signing players over the last 10 years. They have got where they are through a combination of hard work and a benefactor with a wealth of resources to call upon when needed. Not many clubs would have the financial backing to remain a full time club if they were relegated to the second division! Other first division managers have been very vocal (Pressley to name one) in claiming that County have far greater resources available to them than other first division clubs so while they must be congratulated on their success the background on how they have been able to achieve it should not be forgotten IIRC, MOST of the development at Victoria Park was done with handouts from various pots of money over the years.

My avatar should be animated...but its not. I really feel everyone is missing out. Can it be sorted at all?

Oh No they arent!!....football offers very poor value for money, for what is 90 Mins entertainment. I could take a family of 4 Ice skating for 150 mins, and buy them all a drink for the same price as a cheap adult seat at an ICT game

I don't see why not. It wouldn't have taken long for people in Inverness to see the benefit of the town having a senior football team. Money that was directed at ICT could just as well have been directed at any Inverness team. And without the merger baggage, whichever Inverness team decided to go it alone, could have hit the ground running and perhaps made even quicker progress than ICT. But it's all academic now, although it's always interesting to imagine what might have happened. And I do get a bit tired of reading that "it couldn't have happened without the merger." Of course it could - look at Ross County! I agree with this. I have yet to see anyone provide any evidence that had Caley gone it alone in the league that they would have been any less sucsessful or as attractive a proposition. People come out with this community and business backing reluctance pish. Caley were the most popular and high profile Highland league team by some way and i believe the people and business community would have backed Caley in the SFL etc to an equal, possibly increased extent. Let me tell you....David Sutherland is a savy businessman, he would have been unable to resist getting involved in a lone Caley bid, for the betterment of his business. Had Both Caley and Thistle tried to go it alone, i think both would have found it difficualt to get the level of backing ICT have, But if only one had gone it alone, i think it would have received the same level of suppert as the merged team has

Dougal Said "the vast majority of howdenenders never embraced the new club from day one and even till this day they and their families/friends take nothing to do with ICT" Well.....i used to go to Caley games in the HL with about 5 or 6 others and all of them went on to follow ICT. Im sure we are not an isolated case. And i can tell you....i have stumbled across many ex Caley fans faces in the crowd at ICT games. So i dont think that point holds much water. Also....whether you like it or not, by merging, ICT are getting an average attendances multiplied by 7 or 8 times that what Caley were getting. And this is coming from a man who was Caley thro and thro...way more so than ICT

Two points here. 1 - On the subject of money allegedly being thrown around, where did ICT's £2 million + debt of 1999- 2000 ultimately disappear to etc etc etc? 2 - Show me the evidence that Ross County "always outspent Caley Thistle" in the lower leagues? For instance I am looking for numbers which outrank £30,000 for Iain Stewrt in the summer of 1995 and another £50K for Brian Thomson and Mike Teasdale a few months later. Point two......Macgregor may not have splashed out on Transfer Fees, but its a widely known he was paying high wages compared to the other teams and especially ICT. Didnt County at one point have a first team squad of about 40 players or so?

Apparently....Rangers still owe Hearts about £500k for a player, and the money is due in July. As chic young says, if he got a car via a credit agreement, and didnt keep up the payemnts, the car would be reclaimed. I wonder if the same is true with football players?

Being overdrawn is one thing, Tax avoidance is quite another. There's no law against being overdrawn! I'm pretty sure not many of the clubs you mention were tax dodging in their pursuit of success

About to EXPLODE here...but resisting temptation :P

I think, all things considered, getting a point would be a good result

Used to get a lovely Bridie at shop at Caley Park.....and aa cup of bovril....mmmmmmmmm

I thought Tade was on a one year contract?

This is pretty much how i feel. I raised the possibility of this this happening last pre-season, and it seems i was justified to do so. We ALWAYS had something that no amount of money could buy...and that was team spirit, they fought for each other on the pitch. Now...i dont see/feel that there is much of that left. ICT is now a zombie team, full of 11 players going thro the motions and doing the minimum to scrape by.

Who can tell me.....of the current squad, who all are likely to be here next season. I know we have some loan players and players on one year contracts etc etc, but i couldnt even begin to tell you who is on what deal. Im curious to know how much work has to be done in the summer.

Terry brought these guys in...so must have thought they were up to the job. How many of Terrys purchases have been a match/an improvement on what we already had? I think Johnny Hayes is one of the very few sucsess stories, but i cant recall if it was even terry who brought him in?

FOOK aff with the talks of budgets etc. ICT NEVER needed them before....as we had teamspirit. and THAT is what we are missing now. I dont know if its because most of the team are on short term contracts or on loan...but NONE of them seem to be playing with any passion for the club. Most are mercinaries and would jump ship if they got an extra fiver in their wagepacket. Thats how i see it. ICT strength lay in the camoradarie of the team......a few new faces every season...no wholsesale changes.....and it worked for us.....until tinkering terry came along. Well, i hate to say it...but i believe we have seen all we are going to see from him, i would be preparing for a survival scrap next season

Praising the team (when its merited) is not good enuff for some on here. You have to be creaming yourself over every performance...otherwise...your seen as negative on here by some

Absolutley CMIB! This is my main bugbear regarding our situation. I posted last summer as to whether or not we would benefit from the Terry Butcher approach to things. I think its safe to say...things have not gone to plan. Will he learn from it or continue to flog a very dead horse. The latter seems to be his chosen option

I kind of agree with you, but wonder if your opinions come from viewing the games in person or jumping on other people's bandwagons? You always seem to say you cant make it to games but also say its the worst football you have witnessed. As a matter of interest, how many times do you witness it in person at the stadium in an average season? You dont need to pyshically be at the games in 2012 to be able to reach conclusions. I have seen/heard enuff full games this season to qualify making a statement about things. Then we have all the other posters on here who seem to suggest all is not well with ICT. Also.... ever heard the saying that the league table dont lie?

Your missing out last season when we done exceptionally well i thought. So good i thought Butcher ruined it by ditching half the squad that almost got us top 6. This is where my problem starts with Butcher, up until this point i thought he had done a great job. Bottom line is.......i fear for ICT under Butcher. I think he has long since run out of ideas. I dont mind being 11th in the league...as long as we had a bit of fight about us. To be where we are, and playing some of the worst football i have ever witnnessed, well, that dont sit so well with me.

Lets be honest.....we still went down in out first half season with Butcher, a situation which was salvageable when he took over. Second season, we went up from a league which is notriously difficult to win. Season three.....we allow Butcher to throw the whole ICT ethos out the windows and we have struggled ALL season, and have regularly played some of the most clueless football i have seen from an ICT team. Thank fook we have had a team who couldnt buy a win at home all season in the league....or we would have been looking at our second relegation under Butcher in three seasons

And i agree wholeheartedly. I dare say i will be singled out and attacked for that, as i often seem to be anytime i inject a large dose of reality. I think maybe my cute little avatar makes me an easy target.

Amen to that...i think sheer Desperation is the answer!

getting beat by inferior teams is a worrying trend!

Out of interest...would you care to share the names of the ones you think are decent? Im curious to know how many of this current squad people actually think are up to the job