Huisdean

Totally agree and it seems strange the SFA can use TV evidence to charge a player for an offence the referee has missed (witness the Dundee UTd player offered a 3 match ban for allegedly kicking a Celtic player) but cannot or will not use the TV evidence to rescind a decison that is so obviously wrong. Surely the SFA do not operate double standards!!.

Tichy if I'm trolling its certainly not intentional In my opinion no self respecting Caley fan would ever wear the away top As long as ICT continue to display the Thistle on the badge I personally won't purchase club merchandise but I certainly am not stopping any of my fellow ICT fans from doing so, like I said its my personal opinion Dougal Take away the thistle and the fekkin eagle falls on its ass How very true Alex. Hopefully some posters may take note of this including Dougal.

Perhaps one of the biggest factors in attracting decent numbers of fans back is actual competition. Many fans realsie their team will not win the league so for them, they don't see any point in attending. Many years ago, the majority of fans would attend no matter what but with so many other attractions these days, this could account for a large chunk of fans and maybe explain why, when we had a successful season, still no upturn in crowds.

I agree that somethings cost money and will be a non starter in these difficult times. An example of this would be the installation of large TV screens in corners of the ground but unless we have a willing sponsor to do this.......... However, i was thinking about specific deals for season ticket holders or specific events just to try and make it more than a ticket just to watch football. This could be a free draw for a hospitality once a quarter or discounts on hospitality packages/exclisive to season ticket holder hospitality packages. Point I am trying to make is to make a season ticket more than just that to try and increase numbers and market the club more.

I tend to agree with RIG on this but think that the club could look at making the season ticket more of a package than just a ticket for football. This doesn't just apply to ICT as I think clubs have to do more to make the game on a Saturday more of an experience and greater fan/audience participation. I will be the first to admit i don't know how we can do this or start to go about this but I still think the season ticket idea is worthy of some thought.

Tichy if I'm trolling its certainly not intentional In my opinion no self respecting Caley fan would ever wear the away top As long as ICT continue to display the Thistle on the badge I personally won't purchase club merchandise but I certainly am not stopping any of my fellow ICT fans from doing so, like I said its my personal opinion This is my personal opinion as well but I find your post very depressing. There are no Caley or Thistle fans any more only ex Caley or Thistle fans and Inverness Caledonian Thistle fans. If the word Thistle is in the name, it is logical that it appears on the club crestespecially as it was a merger of two sides that led to ICT, not as many Caley fans still seem to think, a takeover. I was a Thistle fan for many years and still consider myself proud to have supported Thistle but I am now an ICT fan, end of story and to those fans who still cannot do something because Caley or Thistle are mentioned in the name, it's time to get a life and move on. Dougal

Really disappointing if we are around the same levels as last year given last season. I do think, as another poster has already mentioned, that we could do more to market the club and it's products but too late now. Fro various poster as well, it seems that some have not purchases seasonn tickets but will apy at the gates for games that can/want to attend. I guess therefore that it may take many games into the season to see what the impact is on attendances but as Alex has said, they are not the be all and end all and, in my opinion, probably damaged the financial structure of clubs as years ago, season tickets were a relatively small percentage of ticket sales. If more people are going to turn up for games on the day however, the club has to work at making the matchday experience as pleasureable as possible.

On the bright side, possibly 3 home fixtures after the split if County and Aberdeen and ourselves make top 6!

Maybe you should heed your own advice! It's a shame actually; this thread could have been quite interesting, but due to it's derailment by the regular suspects/aliases/trolls it's become less "Merger Talk" and more like "Merger Cringe". Well said that man.The fact that some posters still think it is important to harp on about how big Caley etc were in the 80s as if that really matters now is laughable. I know IHE clearly stated IF Caley had got the financial backing, they would have progressed to where ICT is today, very debateable point in my opinion, but if they had, it would not have been becuase it was it was Caley but the fact that more people would attend to watch a higher grade of football, not because they were caley supporters

Absolute nonsense Dougal. In the 80s and 90s, the Highland League was becoming dominated by the teams from the East and all three Inverness teams were not as strong as they had been. The fortunes of the Inverness teams tended to move in cycles with Caley/Clach and Thistle all having dominant spells although admittedly Caly were more dominant in the latter years. Before the mergers, both teams were dying on thier feet in terms of support and, while the merger certainly galvanised the caley support, it wasn't reflected in a massive surge in attendances. Can we put all this to bed once and for all. I was and remain an ardent Inverness Thistle supporter but ICT are now my team and I support them 100%. If people still choose not to attend gamnes because of the merger then sod them and if they are supporting Ross County as IHE states, then I for one, don't want them in our support. Absolute nonsense Huisdean , Caley won the league 4 times and were runners up on 3 occasions during the 80's . I realise this is no great achievement compared to thistles record from the same era True but 4 wins from 1980 to 1994 is hardly being a dominant force although, as you say certainly better than my team's achievments.

Absolute nonsense Dougal. In the 80s and 90s, the Highland League was becoming dominated by the teams from the East and all three Inverness teams were not as strong as they had been. The fortunes of the Inverness teams tended to move in cycles with Caley/Clach and Thistle all having dominant spells although admittedly Caly were more dominant in the latter years. Before the mergers, both teams were dying on thier feet in terms of support and, while the merger certainly galvanised the caley support, it wasn't reflected in a massive surge in attendances. Can we put all this to bed once and for all. I was and remain an ardent Inverness Thistle supporter but ICT are now my team and I support them 100%. If people still choose not to attend gamnes because of the merger then sod them and if they are supporting Ross County as IHE states, then I for one, don't want them in our support.

But then again, if the Jags had got into the league instead of Ferranti Thistle, they would surely have started to attract a bigger support similar to what you suggest for Caley. Let's be honest, both supports had dwindled dramatically pre the merger and the days of 5/6000 at local derbies had long gone.

Time to change that on Sunday then

And remember the fuss when we let Munro and Tokely go, perhaps Butcher got that correct (I think he did) despite all the nonsense spouted on here by certain posters

A classic case of Gollum evening things up after he realsied he had made a mistake for the Motherwell penalty perhaps?

Don't think Hogg will play as asking a lot for him to play 2 games on the trot after such a long time out. Meekings to centre back and Raven back in would be the only changes. We need to play as we did against Motherwell as if we can get ahead, Utd don't pose the same attacking threat as Motherwell. Need to get ahead early in this game and if we can do that, i am convinced we will win.

The problem that needs to be solved here however is that the fand want a bigger league but the clubs don't as it gives them less games and less revenue especially the clubs who want 2 games against Celtic, and previously Rangers as big money spinners. Until that is resolved, there is absolutely no chance of a bigger leagie in my opinion. I also think fans missed a big opportunity this season in that there was a lot of talk of boycotts of games, not turning up to watch your team again if Rangers were allowed to stay in the SPL/Division 1 as the clubs wanted their money. However the clubs listened to their fans, and by and large the fans kicked the clubs in the teeth by not turning up in greater numbers. Had the fans done so, there would have been a much better chance of getting bigger leagues agreed. I also think part of the problem is the increase in season tickets now sold. 20 years ago, it would have been nothing like the levels at all clubs today as more folk turned up on the day to watch and thiswas more affordable for them. Wioth the clubs relying so heavily on season ticket sales, I think that inflates the on the day price and is a barrier to some fans attending.

Not sure if intentional Scotty but two words in your post may well sum up IHE!!

Agree totally, he backs out of tackles and doesnt run with the ball. I know he is young but he should be loaned to a lower team first.. Why do you think he is with us!.

Sorry but are you genuine.? Roberts is the most Pish player we've ever had. Maybe not the best but that comment is just ridiculous and don't forget, he is still a youngster. He does have fair bit of skill but needs to improve his workrate and the defensive side of the game.

You're a hard man to please tm4j. I voted Reguero for 3 points as felt his handling was first class, he was alert throughout the game and gave the defence confidence throughout the game.

I think the only thing for sure on this is we will have Celtic and County away guaranteed.

True but in the heat of the moment and when you are disappointed, easier said that done when some idiot shouts abuse at you. There were a few comments from fans at the end of the game directed at Butcher from the main stand that were just ridiculous. Some fans really do need to get a grip and take a long hard look at themselves. I wonder why some of them even come to see us as some of these fans I have yet to hear shout anything positive or encouraging towards the team at all. What abuse was shouted ?Along the lines of you're ****ing useless Butcher, get xx(player) ****ing off as he's useless etc. The same people also are like that in most games with the players as well and I have had arguments with some of these people in the past about getting behind their team instead of always being negative. Perhaps, because of the low crowd, lebvel of disappointment and general quiteness of the fans, especially at the end, these commenst seemed to be more audible than usual.

Neigh lad Time to hoof this into touch (or maybe a burger)