Scarlet Pimple

Whether it's fair ,or whether we like it or not, ICT will invariably be seen as the "wee-er "of the teams and always , seemingly to the beaks, playing above our place in the general scheme of things and who should stay in the lower leagues where they belong and will always be seen, though, as a danger to their plans. Hence, despite the wrath of J R to recent events , there simply will not be much change. He will have to counsel our team to be ultra careful not to give-away soft or stupid penalties and bad fouls, control individual tempers and not to do things that give refs an opportunity to come down on ICT like a ton of bricks. So, what about "heat of the moment " tantrums though--well, JR will simply have to say "play on MacDuff and don't respond to deliberate dunts. In other sports, teams hire what they call "enforcers" ....they go after opposing players who deliberately do bad things and make them pay a high price. Especially when it's behind the ref''s back and such players have honed their emotional skills to make it seem as if the other player started the fracas in the first place. Also, ICT can school their players to commence a whispering campaign whereby the blue shirt whispers in the ear of the other offending player that if he does that again he will land up in hospital before the end of the game AND then get JR to hire a very large and imposing defender----er maybe Alan Simpson will be interested : what with your talking skills you can bamboozle the guy from the first sentence and sow the fear of death into him from one of your scowls accompanied by a reflex of your muscular flame. something like.. "Listen, Jimmy, wanna Go.....? Anyway, roll on next season. Hope John Robertson stays on. P.S. Lovely day here in La La Land...sun's out and Spring is springing. Time for me to get on the bike and limber up for a walkie in the sun..eh?

Na! Na! Kingsmills, She is an office boffin up country in a main office and I suppose she can wear a Shetland Cardigan or something like it when she goes to work. Besides ,she recently was awarded a citation for 25 years of "excellent service" and for also putting together a presentation with her staff which convinced the Canadian Courts to act on prosecutions without having to process tons of paper......something to do with placing all evidence into/onto an online frame... so I think that she has some pull.

AS? I am wondering If half of the posters who are down on you ,Alan , are desperate to add another "S" onto that word. Now that would be uncalled for and deffo rude so if I were you I would just sit back and smile at how easy it is to rile up some folks....just because you are slightly different to these guys. Tut! Tut! If it gets too bad you can always send for the Mounties in Canada. My daughter is a plain clothes Mountie and what would be so difficult about her sending over about ten wild stallions to snort outside the doors of the perfect patter merchants. And Canajin stallions are wild and wise beasties-they never forget a slight so you had better be wearing a red tunic and knee-high leather boots and a stylish hat when you hear them coming. I'm telling you straight, compared to Custer's last stand which was all bells and whistles after he took on 3,000 Indians with about 300 Troopers, it would be by far the scariest thing you have ever heard. Isn't that right, Scotty.?

John Robertson must have suffered a lot this season and he certainly tried very hard. Therefore award John the Managership again ,and soon, to make it clear to him that he is appreciated. Bring in new management after such a disappointing season would seem to me to be premature. After all,what has J R done wrong? He sweated blood for the team and only got angry when it was clear that terrible refereeing was about to blow him and his best efforts away. Perhaps the best course is to assemble videos of all the crap refereeing and then request a meeting with the beaks with the view expressed that ICT can play a big part in the development of better quality decisions. NO SCREAMING, NO VITRIOLIC REMARKS ,,JUST PLAIN ,CALM ,SOLID COMMON SENSE. THEY WOULD HAVE TO LISTEN WOULD THEY NOT? If they didn't, JR could publicise this as one of the reasons the team was sunk before they started. ETC.,

WEll…...at least it would have to be with Satan in charge! Of course that then raises the ugly thought of what we would have to do with John R. Hostility would then be part of the ticket price and would waken up all the fans who proclaim to be supporters but have rarely showed up this last season.

Merge with Clachnacuddin, hand-off the criticism, and use all of the town's junior players' resources to bring on these youngsters for ICT exclusively. Old loyalties are like old soldiers--they fade away. And ICT are, frankly, at the crossroads as I see it. Innovation is imperative for this club's survival. Not only that, but surely the citizens of Inverness should then support the team on every alternate Saturday. If not, why not?

Mc ART- - Ideal signing and hopefully he will develop further into a very valuable player who will relish being with the club that offered him the main chance ; and stay a longer time than most of the others. To build this club back up for a stable future you need quality, resilience, development and the cosseting of these younger players. Also a touch of tough love. All of which, in turn, should help with the development of their loyalty and their appreciation of what ICT is all about. I hope.

Well , MAYBE COUNTY ARE TRYING TO SWALLOW ALL OUR PLAYERS SO AS TO GIVE US A REAL HEADACHE NEXT TERM BECAUSE THIS WILL, INEVITABLY LEAD TO MORE WORRY AND MONEY EXPENDITURES ,ETC. JUST A THOUGHT?

Aye ! IHE. And he IS a breath of fresh air which, for me at least, does tend to soften the blow of another season without a really successful outcome Also he can certainly can take it on the chin without flinching and doesn't over-react.

Correct Jaggernaut. BUT...…….. Alan..why don't you exaggerate the positive and avoid the negative completely. It's how to win friends and influence people . Yessssssssss! I promise that your feelings about ICT will change for the better and you will garner soooooo many "likes" that your life will change. And you will become the top banana on here.

Och, IBM, You will be the first to know when the guys in my consortium of spies based in Fort George advise me of developments. Might be a whiley though…….

And this guy is only 63, bejabbers ! Wait until he gets past 80....OMG! And his mind starts to go as well. Believe it or not I can step down from my house into the garage with my car keys in my pocket and then I forget what I am in there for..... I then have to phone IHE to see if he can remember why I am there and I forget his cell phone number. And then...………………….

Just so long as John Robertson doesn't leave......eh?

I'm now used to watching ice hockey players at the top level of the game and watching how they perform as associated with how fit they are. The top, highly motivated, players are in the gym daily and work out with their individual coaches on engaging in very strenuous routines which embrace top physical equipment that does cost thousands of dollars. No doubt Caley Thistle can't afford this type of equipment but how strenuous are the work-outs that the individual players do since they are also full professionals with, presumably, no other outside jobs so should they not be in top condition? On the ice, the pace can be torrid and the positioning of each player carries expectations and skilful instructions and demands from the trainers and their assistants. There is huge money involved , of course, and it's at that point that comparing the two types of game slows to an agonising crawl.However, IMHO, top fitness for our team, perhaps beyond their normal expectations, can pay high dividends by the end of the season. And unless we can entice the crowds back to more than a mere few then where do we really go from here? The coffers won't be filled and the wages will remain low and the players will wonder about their futures. And what about the dodgy officiating and decisions that seem to enrage the average , but fair , punter? Unless some form of instant review (i.e. by TV or by access to a large computer) is introduced then it may take a long time for the beaks at the top of Scottish Football to stop yawning and really get a grip of this very poor situation. Whether these beaks are biased or corrupt is not the point. The point is … when are they going to change the system? So, compare ice hockey :- There are cameras everywhere following every move of the action (even including close-ups of these moves ) and if the senior referee is undecided, even after consulting the other two refs (total of 3 refs on the ice), then he can phone the Head Office of the National Hockey League in Toronto thousands of miles away and request an immediate review on the screens of the bosses. Within a minute or two the decision is handed down from Toronto to the senior referee on the ice and that's that. Often the decision is not what the refs may state or want but it's "Over and out'." Generally it's a very fair route to go. A few within the home crowd may mumble but accept it because it is as good an outcome as can presently be devised because, also, the film can be played back by Toronto in slow motion! And the risk of inflaming the tempers of the average over 20,000 fans in the rink is far too high to not have top experienced officials sitting in the judges' seats. Here , in Scotland, no matter how bad the refereeing, who does a review instantly at a senior level ? No one!!! Is this not unfair and pathetic in a time period where the computerisation of sport is now well-advanced? Anyone agree with me? Crucial decisions HAVE to be made on all this as I see it.

Yeah , but it's still an interesting list isn't it?

Right-on, Kingsmills. We should just run them ragged--and all in the first 45 minutes. I hate to admit it, being a stoic auld fool nowadays, but I'm really getting butteflies in my stomach. And I might have to turn to IHE offering my trembling hand to grasp the pick-me-up or summat. that I just know he will offer. But is he awake yet....?

Cable Guy. Tut Tut! Re your comments about opinions - all of which , apparently, you think stink-- so that's your opinion then is it...?

Well, Caley are not the worst but who is then over the last season? Ross County were somewhat worse than ICT etc.:- https://www.cumbernauld-news.co.uk/sport/football/spfl-dirtiest-teams-most-yellow-and-red-cards-in-scottish-football-2018-19-1-4922782?page=1 Enjoy! SP

It's not the first time that we have fallen under the ref's decision in similar cases but apparently he was not a good referee anyway. But if high heels were the reason for the sending off then our team has to keep that in mind and come our wearing plimsoles. Either way, it is what it is and we will have to get over it but deffo no appeal should be made since I don't think for a minute that the Beaks care a hoot about such an appeal from ICT. And let's not forget that they favour bad refs …..so...…?

Donview - - haven't heard from you for a long time. Glad to see you are still alive and kicking. With your propensity for mild and modest humour still intact too. Wheee!

Why did we play more defensively today than aggressively in order to try to score? One goal and the team would have bean home and dry? And some live and die by the motto that attack is the best form of defense...….?

Since I've lost touch with all the footie things, apart from Caley Thistle that is, then all this cloak and dagger stuff and "he says she says" , most of which seems non productive and even against the existence of Caley Thistle, seems mindless and counter-productive to any real thought of progress In the Capital of the Highlands relating to the major development of one really strong and impressive city team. Financially, a merger just seems to be a no-brainer which will strengthen the hopes and progress of a merged team tremendously. I am not putting down past loyalties to one team or the other but, individually, neither Caley nor Clach can make any real impact in the Scottish Leagues without it IMHO. If Clach had the potential resources to do this then they would have taken action to achieve this before now. They can now (IMHO) be only a feeder team to Caley from this point and so why not jump on the bandwagon and merge forces so that the whole of inverness is behind them? Why not? Such a joining of loyalties and energy from both sides could make such a difference in the income of the club, support for the team and set the tone for future goals and how to achieve these goals and earn respect from the upper echelons of Scottish Footie in spades.Plain as a pikestaff! Maybe ICT could meet up with the movers and shakers of Clachnacuddin and work out a formula to achieve this. Great Oaks from Little Acorns grow. Aye!

Does this only service the needs those fans who use Twitter. Or will older , but passionate, fans like me have no access to the commentary, etc.?

Putting individual loyalties aside (smile) why don't Clach conjoin with Caley Thistle and form a really solid, successful, upwardly mobile unit? This would increase the chances of getting into the Premier league as a permanent home, better teams would be visiting Inverness and it would do absolutely no harm to the status of the Highlands and Inverness in particular. Serious replies welcome...no abuse please.

It isn't that easy, surely, to just get rid of the "poorer" players and replace them with better ones at the drop of a hat? The former need to still be paid their full contractual dues if the deal was for another season or more unless their contracts are about to expire. And if you bring in a better player is it not likely that he will be asking for a higher wage than what has been paid to the "non-performer" just released? Especially when it seems that ICT doesn't have the resources at their disposal to just run wild signing better players. If the club is able to get promoted this season then the pressure on it financially will surely ease but how long will take to accumulate extra finance to ease that pressure? ICT may get better crowds initially in the Premier League but if they don't get on a winning streak right out of the gate then how long will it likely be before the crowds start to disappear?