Bridge_Ender

Don't have any problem with Ryanair personally, use them and EasyJet pretty much as first port of calls when booking flights. You pay for what you get, sure Ryanair can be a bit cute about prices/charges etc. but they are still considerably cheaper than most other operators. I've flown Ryanair loads of times dotting around Europe for Scotland games and never had a problem. Same with Easyjet. Only time I've ever been subjected to overbooking was with BA on a return from JFK to Heathrow and I was left with a $200 hotel bill which I never managed to reclaim from them... que sera. To me flying is just the quickest means of getting from A to B and the budget airlines do that for a great price and without the outdated exclusivity pretensions you find from some of the other carriers. Cattle class is still cattle class whatever the airline!

I've only recently moved back to Inverness (6 months or so ago) after being away for about 9 years and the changes I see are massive. Most of them have been covered elsewhere so won't bore anyone with my interpretation, but I really believe that until Inverness gains a credible University and begins to address the 'brain drain' from the area to Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, etc. the decline will continue. The 2 main things lacking in Inverness, for me anyway, are a decent social scene for 18-30 that doesn't involve being surrounded by blind drunk neds in the centre and also the distinct lack of graduate/middle level employment in the area. I think until a University is established (UHI has a very long way to go before it can be classed as such, IMO) and hopefully brings with it increased economic benefits and enhanced career opportunities as a result, it is going to be very hard for Inverness to avoid simply becoming a satellite town to the central belt.

If I remember correctly his debut was in the Scottish Cup v. Livi in 1999? Along with a couple of other young players of the time, possibly David Hinds and Andrew Allan?!

Definitely 1st Team: Esson, Proctor, Tokely, Munro, Golabek, Duncan, Cox, Hayes, Foran, Rooney Potentially 1st Team: Odhiambo, Bulvitis, Sanchez, Eagle, Duff Back Up: Allison, Stratford, Ross, Shinnie, McBain Required: Back up Keeper, a Centre Half, 2 x full backs/wide midfielders, 2 x central midfielders, an attacking midfielder and a Striker

They're all 20 now.

The ICT support has always been pretty reserved at home, don't remember it ever being particularly raucous or intimidating apart from odd occasions, the 4th goal today being a prime example. It's a kinda old argument though, it's just the way the Highland support is.

Absolutely brilliant display of determination, commitment and character - for the last 15 mins or so! I thought we took Raith too lightly today, maybe a combination of fatigue from amount of games or maybe the attitude wasn't right. We lost the early goal which woke us up and after getting to 3-1 stepped right back off the gas which let Raith back into the game. Hopefully the players and management realise now this league is far from won and the attitude has to be spot on every game. Having said that, the euphoria around the stadium and from the players and the bench after Richies 94th minute overhead kick winner was absolutely brilliant and just proves we have got what it takes to win this league!

Still a very long way to go. The attitude wasn't right today at all, whether it was tiredness after a heavy run of games or a belief that all we needed to do was turn up and we would win, we were far too relaxed at the start and rightly fell behind. The response to the wake up call was to get ourselves in front before half time and when it hit 3-1 we stepped right off the gas which allowed Raith back in. Cue a frantic scramble and a 94th minute overhead kick winner that Roy Race would have been proud of! The commitment and character to grab the winner was fantastic and gives me hope for the final push. Hopefully the first half of today reinforced the fact that we need to be up for every game.

100% agreed. It's in our hands and we are playing well but there is still plenty of games to go and nothing has been won yet.

Very foolish...

Just 2 pumped up guys who wanted to win last night. Was probably forgotten about by the time the next ball came within 20 feet of them. Definitely not an issue! More a positive!

Thanks for coming County - remember to close the door on you're way out!!

The Division 3 promotion season. Think that included 11 straight victories If I remember right??

Division One winners since 2003/04 2008/09 St Johnstone 65pts 2007/08 Hamilton 76pts 2006/07 Gretna 66pts 2005/06 St Mirren 76pts 2004/05 Falkirk 75pts 2003/04 ICT 70pts I can't see us going unbeaten until the end of the season, as much as I would like to. For the sake of argument this is how I think the forthcoming games are going to fall: Tuesday, 30 March Ross County (h) - Draw Saturday, 3 April Raith (h) - Win Tuesday, 6 April Morton (a) - Win Saturday, 10 April Queen of South (a) - Lose Saturday, 17 April Dunfermline (h) - Win Saturday, 24 April Ayr (a) - Win Saturday, 1 May Dundee (h) - ???? We're on 52 points right now, I think we'll pick up another 13 points which will take us onto 65 points which would equal St Johnstone's winning total from last season. This would still be pretty solid form until the end of the campaign from us. However, having a look at the run in for Dundee it looks like that won't be enough to win it before May 1st, assuming that the poor run they are on doesn't continue. For the sake of argument I think their results will fall something like this: Tuesday, 30 March Dunfermline (a) - Draw Saturday, 3 April Ayr (h) - Win Saturday, 10 April Partick Thistle (a) - Draw Saturday, 17 April Morton (a) - Win Wednesday, 21 April Raith (a) - Win Saturday, 24 April Raith (h) - Win Saturday, 1 May Inverness CT (a) - ???? 14 points on top of the total of 51 they have at the moment gives them 65, which would be the same as us. I think it's definitely going to be another last day shoot out, which is the one scenario I really do not want to happen!!

The first division has been a refreshing change and it's been enjoyable going back to some of the grounds but the novelty will have worn off again by August if we miss out on promotion. As far as football and the future of the club is concerned, the SPL is the only place to be though.

Being allowed to buy a beer at the football.... *sigh*

Realistically, prices are not going to change. It's the nature of the beast and what happens when you use contracted services, prices go up as more people need to make their margins and the knock on effect on prices is felt by the consumer. Throw in a good dollop of captive market and you have a no win situation for the customer. As for queues etc, I thought the van being inside at the NE corner was a good move and would have helped to take the congestion out from the concourse area under the Main Stand at that end.

Re: the catering, I thought moving the burger van inside the ground at the North East corner was a very good idea. Had no need to go under the main stand last night at all so not really sure the impact it had on queues and access to toilets but can only imagine that it was a help in easing congestion. At least there is evidence concerns have been taken on board and different ideas are being tested out.

I really hope it is all done and dusted by the 1st of May... Not sure I could handle another last day shootout, memories of Falkirk are still too fresh... Having said that, it would be some game if it does come down to it. And wouldn't it be nice to pass Falkirk on their way down?

To be honest, I don't really see where the negative Grant Munro stuff comes from... Grants a no-nonsense defender who doesn't take risks. He is Inverness through and through, as far as I'm aware he is respected by everyone at the club and does everything that is asked of him. He's been club captain through 3 different managers now (Brewster - twice-, Charlie and Terry) so must be doing something right for all these guys to rate him. Sure, sometimes the big punt up the park isn't the greatest option and it would be nice to see some ball playing. The alternative would be to have Lionel playing at centre half and dribbling out every time and I'm not sure that would be any better received!! I think he is an honest pro who realises he isn't Baresi and can't play his way out of trouble. He invariably wins his headers and tackles, is very rarely caught out of position and is mobile enough to quite often cover for the rest of the defence when they are out of position. As for motivating and leading, he isn't a shouter but watch his body language and when he chooses to shout. To me he clearly lets his team know what he thinks and what he expects to be done better without chastising them in front of the crowd and the opposition. Captains don't always have to be shouty, aggressive Roy Keane types. I think Munro is pretty much everything you could want in a captain and a decent, solid centre half to boot (no pun intended!).

I was thinking that it might be something the Supporters Club or Trust would be interested in running as a fund raiser with no involvement from Football Aid. It seems to be a relatively low cost/high return fund raiser, assuming the club is co-operative and allows use of the stadium etc. and like Top Six says, it would be a great part of an end of season do, i.e. fans game in the afternoon followed by dinner and dance/disco kinda thing at the stadium. People could come for the whole afternoon/evening and enjoy (laugh at!) the 'footballers' on show or just arrive for the meal and entertainment later on?

Dunno if people are aware of Football Aid or not but every year I see it I wonder why ICT aren't involved or maybe even run a similar event themselves. This isn't a criticism of off-field activities before the thread descends into that, more a fundraising idea that a group, perhaps the supporters trust or supporters club, would like to adopt to raise funds for the club and charity. For those unaware of the process it is essentially a fundraiser using football as the vehicle. Players bid for positions on the pitch for a match played at the club stadium, some are 45 min and others are 90 min, with a few 'buy it now' positions. Obviously for every 45 min position there is a substitute one too so usually about 16 players in each squad. A club 'legend' plays as part of the experience and usually the manager is also a club stalwart. Prices vary from club to club, obviously, but surely even if 30 odd players are paying ?100 to play (and you'd expect some would pay considerably more) that is ?3k instantly, along with flogging tickets to friends and family for say a fiver each (what Football Aid charge). Seems to me to be an incredibly easy fundraiser to organise and generate a bit of goodwill which would be a lot of fun if it was played, for example, at the end of the season so there are no wear and tear issues on the pitch etc. A perfect Xmas/Birthday present certainly!

Could not agree more... I want ICT to be back in the SPL next season and quite frankly don't really care how we do it! I'll take a 1-0 win in every match from now until the end the season from a long ball quite happily. It's in our own hands now and people want to change things?! Madness. Personally I thought Butcher got it tactically spot on for the County game. After Morton he realised how much we miss Foran and the way he holds the ball up and brings Rooney in to things, knew how much damage a loss would do to our title hopes and sent a team and tactics out to achieve a result. If we'd nicked it, great, but we didn't lose and that was mission accomplished.

There are going to be a few twists and turns yet in this league, no way anyone is going to put a 10 game winning run together. It's exciting, we just need a bit of luck and to win as many games as possible between now and the end of the season. The way we've been playing in the last couple of months we should fear no one, certainly capable of beating everyone else in this league.

Interesting certainly... While the offside rule is obviously a major part of football and has been for a very long time, abolishing it would certainly make games much more open with more space to exploit. However, I think it would be a disaster. The only way I could see it developing would be to descend into a type of Gaelic Football/Aussie Rules style game with players marking each other all over the pitch, the quick ball to the forwards becoming the standard tactic. There would be no more clever midfield passes through congested defences, flying wingers spinning full backs, strikers springing high defensive lines or the mini teams (defenders, midfielder, attackers) working together as part of the greater team effort. Leave it as it is, the offside rule is an important part of football and helps make the game what it is.