Harry Chibber

Long shot but does anyone still have the photo of Derek Adams/Terminator kicking about?

Many thanks
:) 

Beautiful :) 

1 hour ago, Kingsmills said:

It would be fantastic to keep Draper and I very much hope we will and I agree that County's current offer is nowhere close to his worth but we have to be realistic. We are in no financial position to make him or anyone else an 'offer he can't refuse'. Perhaps if he stays and we are fortunate enough to get promoted out of what will be a very tough division we can look at a contract extension then. For the time being, the reality is that we are a Championship club who are going to have to survive on a modest parachute payment and crowds unlikely to average more than a couple of thousand or so and will need cut our cloth accordingly.

The long term secure future of the club is much more important than retaining the services of one player no matter how good or influential that player may be.

What sense is that if the long term future is us banding about the lower leagues?

If we keep Draper we have a chance of promotion and if he walks after then good luck to him, we could both part on good terms, or we would be in a stronger position to negotiate a new contract. 

If we sell him we get a minimal fee and not his true worth, we have less chance of promotion and he would be going to our rival and making them stronger. 

If County want him, make them pay over the odds because we would need that to replace him. 

If negotiating I'd be asking for £300k off the bat and no less than £250k ... enough that if we don't get promoted this term then we have something to fall back on next season.  If they are not willing to pay that then he doesn't go anywhere and sees out his contact with the club but at least we wouldn't be getting bullied by county

On ‎14‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 10:35 AM, ictchris said:

Of those who've been linked with the job I think Paul Sheerin and Danny Lennon both have better, more recent experience.  But also, I don't know who applied, who expressed an interest and who the club spoke to.  You just don't know what sort of people were available, who we sought out (if anyone).

I hope he succeeds but it seems as though we're just appointing the people who are slap bang in front of us rather than trying to do something different.

Normally think you're on the money with ICT ... stuff .. but I'm not sure how you could say Sheerin has experience, recent or not, he's managed at Arbroath (done well mind you) but managing a team demanding promotion would be a completely different ball game.  I love Sheerin, probably my favourite player at ICT over the years but I'm delighted he didn't get the job until he at least has one more managerial position. I'd have hated to see him bomb out

Lennon? Maybe.. but has done nothing since leaving St Mirren and dived at Alloa 

"After gaining just five points from their first sixteen games of the 2015–16 season, Lennon resigned as manager of Alloa Athletic on 7 December 2015" - Wiki

I didn't even have Robbo on the radar but it was obvious that we need an experienced manager after we decided to take an utter punt on Foran, who had absolutely no experience at all, at any level, anywhere.  I thought Butcher was a shoe-in but hated the way he left us ... Robbo does "know the club" which is the normal cliché with ICT managers but I can definitely see reason behind his appointment ... and a feck lot more sense than putting Foran in charge, which a lot of you seemed delighted with at the time and look at the mess that got us in.

Need to look at the pros and cons ... there are definitely more on the side of Robbo than anyone else on the bookies list and I can't think of anyone better... except Hartley but he doesn't seem to be interested.

First post in a while but I am much happier Robbo at the helm and the thought process behind it, compared to last year.  I still think we were in the wrong about Yogi and should have backed him at the time, even if it meant going into a bit of debt to speculate for a bit... no excuse for how he reacted but it was a by-product.  We should never have put Foran in charge but we are where we are now and for me the best chance of getting back to the SPFL is to have a manager with experience, someone happy to be in Inverness and capable of attracting players up North ... I think we have that.

Onwards and upwards

36 minutes ago, us2 said:

Don't want to burst bubbles but this guy hasn't really played many games in 3 years joined Fulham and has only played 1 game says a lot really positive he played when on loan at Shrewsbury last season

We've been signing non league players up until now .. I'll happily take a young player with pedigree from a Championship team. 

No risk for us in a 6 month loan .. if it doesn't work out then he leaves at Christmas.

We needed some sort of signing to get kids interested in ICT again since they can't even buy a football strip! Imagine being in school and saying the guy ICT signed was in the same youth team as Pogba (the most expensive player in the world)... Will make them proud to say they support ICT .. I'm buzzing ffs! 

Fans deserve some hope and a reason to turn out to games. It's why I keep banging on about the importance of investment in the team .. It can pay for itself 

Played in good company.. same youth squad that produced Pogba, Lingard, Ravel Morrison, Will Keane and Tunniclife .. so must have something. This could be a great wee signing 

If we keep a hold of Tansey and Meekings then this could be a very decent window 

told you there was money to spend!!!! 

Massive win this.  For all my negativity in other posts this season... I celebrated that last min winner like it was Raven's goal in the cup semi final

I still think we are well off a squad that can compete in the SPFL over a season but at least gives us a bit of hope and gives Foran a boost of confidence going into International break

Happy with McKay .. as Yingwie said, I thought this as a straight replacement for Devine. He's a young, Scottish, SPL experienced player so seems a good signing

But..... just reading off BBC gossip some tweet (no idea of substance) to say Meekings to Rangers, Tansey to Aberdeen as a swap for Scott Wright

I would be absolutely devastated with that .. but both moves seem feasible

Just speculation at the moment so trying not to over react but that would be 1 step forward and 5 back

2 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

Regardless of the Hughes/board and press issues which led to his sacking/resigining there was a strong voice from many fans before then, that they wanted Hughes out as he had huge budgets and reverted to boring football. While at times it was tepid, negative and often lacked entertainment perhaps what we really are seeing is that the squad isnt as good as we (the fans) think it was and perhaps he played this way beacuse we kept gradually getting weaker loosing players like McKay, Christie, Watkins, Ofere where the goals and creativity came from - maybe Hughes had no choice and keeping us at the level we were and the success we had was a bigger achievement than some would ever like to acknowledge.

Definitely agree with this .. we couldn't be as expressive because we didn't have the players to compete so instead we had to be smart in possession, which was perceived as negative tactics. Possibly what Foran is finding out now that we don't have the quality to open up against teams. 

Quote

People may cite the Christie transfer fee, how much has been paid is unclear or the terms, but with the horrendous injuries last year extra players had to be brought in and the Storey loan had a fee - its likely there is nothing of this left.

I don't buy it at all.  The largest transfer fee we have ever received has been eaten up by one loan deal and 3 short term deals? You make a good point about the increased contracts (although not all the players mentioned are on long term contracts) but we have also moved high earners like Shinnie and Mckay off the wage bill.  We have not increased spending to an extent that would eat up that amount of money and the rest of the profit taken from that season.  By that logic we must have been making a loss on previous seasons because we have never received that sort of money in one season and probably wont again. I can't believe that our fans are being so tolerant and not asking questions about this ... 

48 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

You seem to be absolving the manager of responsibility for the most awful, embarrasing month in our history (and it's not over yet!).

Was it lack of money that made us lose to part-time Alloa? Or to be well beaten by Partick and County, whose budgets can't be significantly different to ours?

Was it lack of money that has caused our experienced, established defenders and keeper to suddenly leak soft goals all over the place, with some seriously amateur defending?

Was it the board that chose the summer signings, who, so far at least, seem to have very little to offer?

I feel sorry for Foran just now and hope it is just a case of a rookie manager finding his feet, working out the best way for the team to play, and learning from his mistakes along the way.

Not absolving him but right now I don't think there would be a more difficult job for a rookie manager to walk into... got to look at who appointed him.  What were they expecting? He's lost key squad players and from what I've seen the best replacements we have is only on loan and a striker that was playing non-league in England before (it isn't always going to work).  

To be clear, I do not expect unreasonable spending or even a transfer fee but there must be money to replace what we've lost .... maybe 1 player for the fans to get excited about.  As it stands, I don't expect the players out of contract for next season to stick about (I'm thinking Draper & Meekings).  If not signing anyone .. at least get these contracts extended now so they can't walk away for nothing  

Getting pissed off yet? 

Where's the money? 

Hughes was used as a scapegoat for the lack of investment and ineptitude from the board... you only have to look around the SPFL to see it is littered with players that should still be wearing an ICT shirt if we had been proactive with contracts or offered a competitive salary.  We don't know what was going on behind closed doors but I imagine it was a constant argument between Hughes and the board whilst he tried to get something off them.. when he got nowhere he tried to force the clubs hands through the media (not very classy).  I don't blame him and still maintain he is the best manager we have ever had at the club and we paid his severance package the next season after he won us the Scottish Cup and got the club in Europe.. madness!

We now have Foran, who wouldn't have been my choice but you can't doubt his commitment to the club.. understandable considering he must be one of our highest ever paid players and was given a 4 year contract which he was injured throughout (not his fault though).   I have been impressed with his interviews and would love him to become the manager the board expects him to be ... but he is being hung out to dry here and NEEDS money to sign players or it's only a matter of time before the fans turn on him and it is not his fault. 

We hare going backwards.. not only on the pitch but off it.  

I was looking after my daughter today so couldn't make the match .. been struggling a lot over the last few seasons to get to games but don't care any less about our future. 

This isn't an overreaction to the 5-1 .. it's been on the cards for a long time.  5 subs on the bench today, none of them that you could argue should start (maybe Doran) ... there is no competition for places and although I do think there is quality in the 11 that were picked today complacency is inevitable.

Some of our fans need to wake up and see that we can't keep letting players leave the club for nothing and I hold the board solely responsible for the situation we are in at the moment. Might only be the start of the season but we are almost nailed on for relegation due to lack of investment and planning.

4 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

Harry, I see what you are trying to say, but what I have been responding to is your reference to "the club's refusal to put money into the team".

What I have been saying is that the money has simply not been there to do this. That is indisputable and you cannot "refuse" to put in money you don't have. You, meanwhile, are offering a possible reason for the lack of money relating to contract lengths which is a different issue. While what you say may or may not be the case, it doesn't describe a situation of "refusal" to put money into the team.

One important concern here is that we don't know in any detail what factors the board have had to take into account in the process of establishing financial and signing strategies. Even the club accounts aren't required to reveal very much at all and don't, for instance, give a separate figure for the global player wage bill. (On mention of "global"...  I see that reports today begin to lift the lid on the magnitude of Ross County's financial backing.) Returning to ICT, yes there is a need for more productive income streams and the one that I hear most frequently mentioned - amid concerns that the Kingsmills Suite is hugely under employed Saturday pre-match - is hospitality. Anyway... I digress.

One fairly recurring feature of football seems to be criticism of decisions taken on the basis of very limited knowledge of the real situation and certainly much less than those who made the decisions. In the case in point, financial strategies are being criticised despite virtually no knowledge of the prevailing conditions. Similarly managers' tactics, substitutions, team selections etc come equally under fire despite the critics having no knowledge whatsoever of a whole raft of behind the scenes factors. And then there's the absolute incompetence of any referee compared with any fan in the back row of the stand 80 yards away.

But to return to matters financial, I think it's unlikely that Inverness Caledonian Thistle would have done what it has since 1994 on very limited resources if it had been such a victim of financial mismanagement.

"I see what you are trying to say" you couldn't be more condescending Charles

You also decided not to bother quoting my second paragraph which answers the point you are trying to make.  There clearly was an increase in revenue when we received £150k for Mckay, close to £500k for Christie, the money for cup run and highest ever league finish and the contract money for players that have left the club.. where is this money? 
Has it been used to pay debts, was it withdrawn by majority shareholders, used for investment in a training ground or investment in the stadium? It has definitely not gone back into the team... and there seemed to be plenty of money available when the board decided to pay a severance package for Hughes.

You digress because you are failing to make any relevant sense.

"One fairly recurring feature of football seems to be criticism of decisions taken on the basis of very limited knowledge of the real situation and certainly much less than those who made the decisions"
Luckily we don't live in a world where you are dictator.  Imagine, football fans having and expressing an opinion!? Of course you don't know everything, that does not make the manager/club/official exempt to criticism.  I can only call it as I see it   
 

3 hours ago, Scotty said:

HarryChibber makes some very good points, and I would agree that our start has been less than acceptable, and that none of us want to see RF fail, but I would take issue with a few things

1. Dont think this is our worst result ever. Bad? absolutely, but worst? no.  only a handful of others I can think come close 
2. There's a couple of references to the club being unable to afford sports specialists or refusing to put money into the team. I have a simple question. Where is the money coming from ? As a club we make a six figure loss every single season unless we have a cup run or windfall of some description. This is not bad management of our finances, it is simple math based on our incomings and outgoings and low crowds. There are certain levels and standards we have to meet to play in the top league and the club have also been careful when it comes to other things that we might like (eg a streaming audio/video service) where costs may take away from the playing budget. The board run a very tight financial ship. I just made the point we don't have any specialists but I would say there are ways of being creative with this. Fans can be used as tools to produce statistics etc. just look at what you and Caley D have done with websites etc.  I worked for Falkirk for a bit doing a bit of scouting in the central belt and wasn't even that bothered about the money was just looked after with corporate days and sports equipment. Offer work experience posts etc. etc. 
3. It constantly winds me up that people only see one side of the story ... be that the so-called happy clappers, or indeed the doom and gloom merchants. There's a fine line between top and bottom six every season and although it is true to say we were in the bottom six last year we were not really in any danger of relegation. Also, when we lose players every year sometimes its because we just cant keep them either because they want more money than our finances can afford, because they themselves (or their agents) want to move, or yes, in some cases because the manager deems them surplus to requirements. its not always one-sided. I want us to do well and was optimistic after watching us destroy Arbroath but we were rotten against Alloa.  We looked as though we really lacked quality and work ethic. As for losing players, it is inevitable at times but the board should be proactive to make sure it is not a massive turnover every year by offering contracts earlier to players we think might demand a fee or are worth the investment for more than just 2 years.  
4.  John Hughes wasnt sacked. He engineered his own way out after his working relationship with the chairman broke down. Not sure anyone but the chairman and JH and maybe a few others know the exact ins and outs of this but Craig Brewster remains the only manager we have sacked.  John Hughes was trying to use the media to get investment from the board to progress the club.  The way he went about it was wrong but I agree with his intentions... if you are not moving forward your are moving backwards.  It's the board's job to secure investment and they need to work harder to do it. Sounds ungrateful but it's the harsh reality  

 

2 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

No it's not. It's living in cloud cuckoo land. How often does it need to be explained that the money simply isn't there - and if it was, it would indeed be prudently spent on the playing squad? You can't spend money you don't have and if you try to do so, you will soon go the way of Dundee, Motherwell, Rangers, Livingston etc. For the last 16 years the directors of Caley Thistle have - mercifully - been very aware of The Micawber Principle (as stated in Dickens' David Copperfield) and have at least ALMOST been able to put it into practice.

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery."

But for the board's long term efforts to live by that principle, Caley Thistle would have long since gone the way it very nearly did in 1999-2000. I just don't understand how some fail to grasp the concept that you just can't go into the player market with closed eyes and open cheque book. You need to live within your means and if you don't you will soon head for the lower leagues or worse. It's a minor miracle that, with the income streams that have been available, Caley Thistle has been able to field a team which has done what it has. To have maintained an almost unbroken SPL/Premiership presence since 2004 on the kind of resources we are talking about is an incredible feat and you just have to laugh at these suggestions that they should just go and spend their way out of any problem.

Look at it an alternative way - if you want to be entertained by better players than the club's finances can currently afford, how much more would you be prepared to pay for tickets in order to obtain the improved product? I've already said elsewhere that the cost of running the club under its present, prudent regime is around £44 per bum on seat.

Tuesday night the worst result ever? I don't think so. Off the top of my head I could think of a League Cup defeat - at home - by Queens Park, a 5-1 defeat - at home - by Ross County, a 4-0 humiliation - at home - by Forfar at the end of D3 championship season and a complete stinker off the back of the Ballistic night, the details of which I forget. There are doubtless more.

Finally... those who have swung from the "Foran is Messiah" euphoria of the Dundee United and Arbroath outcomes and performances to the "Foran is the Devil Incarnate" doom and despair of Partick Thistle and Alloa should either acquire a sense of balance and proportion or a source of lithium!

Charles your opinion is so biased it is beyond belief.. if the board had been proactive with longer contracts rather than reactive then we would have received the greater investment from the sale of players like Shinnie, Christie, Watkins, Mckay, Ross.. and so on.  Instead they negotiated minimum contracts and tried to negotiate extensions when there was already interest elsewhere and we couldn't compete .. running a business isn't the same as running a household.  You have to speculate to accumulate and by deciding what risks are worth taking and by using the judgement of their coaches to identify which players could produce a fee in the future and then back them.  We have lost money by them being so financially prudent.  

In fact the only time we decided to offer a reasonable length contract to a player when for some ridiculous reason they offered a 32 year old Foran a 4 year playing contract, which he was injured for the majority of ... and then they promote him to manager and again offer another 4 year contract for his first job as manager.  It is complete madness.... who would have predicted a 33 year old player might be more susceptible to injury... maybe they thought he was going to demand a high transfer fee!?   

That is not the point though.. the club have actually somehow managed to bring in additional finance over the last 4 years due to cup runs, and high league finishes, the sale of Christie and Mckay (although for less that we could have received for both) .... all the contracts for higher earning players in the Scottish cup winning team when they left and were never replaced .... NONE OF THIS MONEY HAS BEEN REINVESTED! If that money has only balanced the books then they are doing a pi55 poor job of running the club because we were operating at our peak and will be lucky to see those days again. 

No one expects us to be offering thousands of pounds for players but we have shown absolutely no progression since winning the Scottish Cup, the players we have signed since then have not been of the same or better standard. Would any of them get in that first team? We are going backwards and Foran will have to work miracles in his first job to see us safe from relegation ... how can that be what the fans should expect given where we were only 2 years ago?

4 hours ago, AlexJones said:

Stay calm and believe in Richie. Alloa were always going to be a potential banana skin, especially on their astro turf pitch. Lower division teams are much more professional and technical than back in the day. Losing is disappointing, but hardly a fiasco. When we reached the Final of this competition recently, we did so only after scraping past Stenhousemuir on Penalties. Success and failure in Scottish football comes down to fine margins. Individual results mean little in isolation, it's long term trends that matter, and we don't have enough data to assess Richie yet.

As for the benching of Draper, I can recall him taking pelters for being worse than the proverbial man short in our opening games last season, particularly against Astra. People were even calling for Wedderburn to play ahead of him. Players have pre-season programmes tailored to their individual physiological requirements, it might just be that big Drapes is a naturally slow starter. Perhaps this is why he's being eased into competitive action. The insinuation that he's simply out of favour doesn't hold water. Foran will be fully aware he's the lynchpin of our team having played alongside him for years. Don't panic!  

 

Alex ..  sorry but that's a load of rubbish.  If our players went out last night with that attitude its of little wonder we got beat ... by Alloa .... a team from 2 divisions lower than us ... in what is possibly our worst result since we were formed as a club.  It isn't acceptable for an SPFL team to lose to Alloa, as it wasn't acceptable to scrape past Stenhousemuir.  The fact our fans are defending that result or accepting failure just shows we are going backwards..  if it was Yogi we would be asking for his head right now.. that doesn't mean the same rules apply to Foran but he shouldn't escape criticism because he loves the city.  I am fully behind Foran as manager and want him to do well for ICT, what ICT fan wouldn't, but the writing is on the wall for this season already.  That wasn't a second team out on the pitch last night that was our best 11 as picked by Foran.  On occasions teams can get caught cold by underdogs but we had just lost the first game of the season against a comparable rival, we knew Alloa had quality because they beat County but there was absolutely no reaction from the team.  Either that is lack of quality, motivation or interest.

The club can't even afford sports analysts so who do you believe is creating the individual programme for Draper's "physiological requirements"?  He had the same time off as everyone else and started pre-season with the team, if he was injured fair enough but I saw no sign of that when he came on the park last night.  That was a decision made by Foran and he got it wrong.  No point in dressing it up as something else

We have consistently lost quality players year after year and the club's refusal to put money into the team is going to back fire big time this year.. that isn't panicking, that is being realistic.  Last year we finished bottom six after being a regular in the top 6, if you are going to sack the most successful manager in our history and replace him with a novice you need to back him financially and give the guy a chance. Vincent, Brill, Devine, Williams, Storey, Mutombo aren't players of enormous quality but they were all capable of challenging for a jersey.... that's after losing the load of players from the previous year... Shinnie, Watkins, Mckay, Christie... and whoever else.  Everyone was quick to jump on Yogi's back about his outbursts in the paper but who can blame him when you are rebuilding every season.

Sorry Alex that's not all aimed at you but we are in bad shape this season and now Foran is going to his first derby with massive pressure when you look at the next few fixtures -

Hearts at home, St Johnstone away, Celtic, Aberdeen ...

2 hours ago, TheMantis said:

Wasn't really surprised at the selection, probably saw this as an 'easier' fixture giving the players a chance to make amends for Saturday, always expected he would be starting Draper against County.

That's naïve of him if he did considering Alloa already beat County and topped their group.  We were talking about this being a tough game in the car on the way to the game so you would think Foran should have expected the same. Goodwin was in their 11 ffs.. there was always going to be a physical battle in the middle of the park, which neither Polworth or Tansey were interested in

That's the same starting 11 he's used in the last 3 games.. so why would you think that Draper would be kept back for the County game if he wasn't started against Partick or last night? Either he wants him in his first 11 or not.. didn't seem to be carrying a knock and wouldn't need rested so that's just down to his mis-management nothing else. 

McNaughton is not a centre half - played full back for the last decade so why would he now be our solution to the hole in the middle of the defence? Every time he plays a pass into midfield he wants to follow, he doesn't want to win headers and he looks lost at times.

For a young manager, I don't understand why Foran would not be using players he can rely on... like Draper.  Can't get my head round it to be honest... was wrong not to use him at Partick and wrong not to use him last night.  Shows no respect for a player that the team should be built around.  Tansey & Polworth played well against Arbroath on a big pitch, at home, where they had plenty of time on the ball but was he really expecting that sort of game at Partick and last night?!

Only seen Fisher on a couple of occasions now (Stirling and last night) but he is out his depth and we look so short up top I hope Foran is making that his priority.  Boden is a decent player but difficult to ask him to step up so many levels and then be our number 1 striking option ... we need another option up there.  El Alagui was in the stand last night  ... not sure if that performance would encourage him to sign for us but if he does, I think his experience in the SPL would serve us well.

Mulraney was lost on such a tight pitch... looked a different player at TCS when he had space to run into.  As Alternative Maryhill said, he was limited because he couldn't cut in on his left but the way he played against Arbroath I definitely think he will be effective for us.

King was one of our best players last night (if there were any) he didn't get a lot of joy down the wings but didn't let it discourage him and was one of the few that never gave up last night. He'll do well for us this season.

That 4 year contract handed to Foran seems absolutely mad right now ... we have a horrible run of fixtures coming up and I'd bight your hand off for a draw against County this weekend.

If someone acted like that in the opposing side then all those defending Silva would be first on here labelling that player a cheat/diver etc. etc. 

Possibly the most renowned example for play-acting was this - Rivaldo 

The differences? Silva was punched in the face whilst Rivaldo was hit by the ball in the legs... yes... but the fundamentals are the same.  Both aggressors deserved to be sent off and both recipients acted poorly. 

Do I care? Not a jot... we needed a win at all costs and Silva's reaction might have helped us to get the win. The ref might not have seen it and responded as he did if it wasn't for Silva falling to the ground like a bag of spuds and Hearts could have got an equaliser with 11 men on the park but it was the correct decision in the end.

He should be get a good slagging by the senior players in the team for acting like that but the worse crime was the muppet in the Hearts shirt that threw the punch. There's no moral high ground in Silva's actions but I'd take a team of winners over do-gooders any day of the week. 

Doesn't look much on the first replay but there is a good shot of it from behind the goal... clenched fist so it's a punch.  

Tansey was excellent tonight I thought... get yer specs on oldyin!  

Yaaaaaasssssssssssss!!!

Order restored!

On Silva... yeah don't like it but he has been punched in the face so he has every right to make the referee aware of it.  Better that than getting involved and sent off.. 

Storey, might just be what we are looking for

Get in.. great start to the weekend!!

We were always going to have a hangover from the club's most successful season in our history but there has been a huge turnover in players so after D-Day this is our lot - 

2014/15 Losses

• Billy Mckay - £150k (January) - Striker
• Graeme Shinnie - PCA - Left Back 
• Edward Ofere - Free transfer - Striker 
• Nick Ross - PCA - Versatile Midfielder
• Marley Watkins - PCA - Forward/Winger
• Tarmo Kink - Free transfer - Forward/Winger 
• Ryan Christie - £600k (best estimate) - Versatile Midfielder/Forward

Other losses earlier in the season Pepper, Greenhalgh & Sekajja (a few others but not first team players)

2015/16 Gains

• Dani Lopez (free transfer from from La Roda) - Striker
• Jordan Roberts (free transfer from Aldershot) - Versatile Midfielder 
• Nathaniel Wedderburn (free transfer from Cowdenbeath) - Holding Midfielder
• Owain Fon Williams (free transfer from Tranmere) - Goalkeeper
• Iain Vigurs (free transfer from Inverurie Locos) - Versatile Midfielder 
• Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo (free transfer from ÉFC Fréjus Saint-Raphaël) - Forward/Winger 
• Tobi Sho-Silva (6 month loan from Charlton) - Midfield/Forward
• Miles Storey (6 month loan from Swindon) - Striker
• Ryan Christie (Season loan with option to recall) - Versatile Midfielder/Forward

Difficult to judge positions as a lot of the new guys have still to pull on a shirt but from the above we are actually up on numbers from last year with an additional keeper and holding midfielder.  For me the main difference is the quality and experience we have lost but you could argue, from what we have seen so far, Vigurs and Fon Williams would have competed for a position in last years squad. From what I've seen and read Mutombo, Wedderburn and Roberts (in friendlies) have all shown glimpses of quality.  I still think that Lopez could be a good signing for us but it is fair to say that he has not hit the ground running.  It's not new for us to pick players out of obscurity in the English lower leagues and let them make a name for themselves with ICT but it does annoy me that for the money that was earned last year we have failed to sign anyone with a decent record or any real experience at this level.  It is not as if we didn't know this was coming so where were the contingency plans? Do we have scouts actively making enquiries to present an affordable list of candidates to Yogi and if so, was this the best that could be achieved with funding available? Or have the board refused to make funds available?

At the same time if the board had over-reacted and made a panic buy last night which didn't work out then they would be under more scrutiny and out of pocket.    

I hope that the board use the next 6 months wisely because there is now no excuse for lack of investment and with only 5 players signed to 2017, I expect a lot of new contracts to be handed out in the coming months and a signing in January to get the fans excited.  I think the majority fans are grateful and take a lot of pride that we do things the 'right way' by not over spending beyond our means but the time has come to loosen the purse-strings just a bit. 

In the meantime hopefully injuries ease up and the new signings hit the ground running because this is our lot. 

Onwards and upwards. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ1on7_M5lw 

The boy's Storey.. see what I did there??!!

Not much of a scoring record but from those clips he might be the sort of player we need.  Plays on the shoulder and runs in behind, finishing looks alright as well... must be a reason why he hasn't scored goals for the amount of appearances he has but he's young so can learn and if he gets off to a good start then you never know. 

F U C K I N G  BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Caley D what's happening?? Any signings to be had or can I go get my kip??

Well this is what we signed

Tobi .. Tobi... Tobi... Tobi... Tobi.... Tobi Sho-Silva

Looks to be played as a front man in all the clips .. will be a big jump in class but at least he's not under any pressure to hit the ground running 

An hour left for the board to get their fecking fingers oot... geez a fecking decent striker FFS!!