CaleyD

IMO a good number of fans are currently feeling a little disillusioned when it comes to ICT. Some aren't liking the performance by the players, some are pulling their hair out at the actions of the manager and some don't like the way certain things are being done off the field. Whether you agree with the thoughts of these people or not, they all believe they have just cause for their complaints. Whilst the weather and so called credit crunch may be factors in people deciding not to go to the football and genuine reason on their own for others, it's really just another excuse for those who are swithering to decide not to attend. Prices are much the same as they were last season, and as others have said, I don't think the so called "credit crunch" will be effecting as many people as we might think. It's the same with the weather. It's not as if ICT fans aren't used to cold, wet and windy weather at TCS and it's never done much to put off the fans in the past, so I don't see it as being a key issue all of a sudden. The underlying issue is that there's a large number of disgruntled fans. If fans are content with the product and the way they are treated as a "customer", then they are less likely to look for excuses to stay away...and if you can go so far as to create happy fans, then they'll start coming up with excuses to attend as opposed to excuses to stay away. For me personally, satisfaction comes from seeing the squad giving 100% for the time they are on the park and having a manager who motivates and drives the team on to get the best from them. If I'm witnessing that, then I leave the stadium content knowing that win, lose or draw, we gave it our best shot....had we been doing that this season and were still in the same league position then I could accept that things just weren't going for us and that so long as we kept plugging away then our time for a wee run of good results would come. What I can't accept is that there's 5 or 6 (sometimes more) players out there on a match day who just don't seem fired up for the game, and I can't accept that (from what I see) the Manager is doing little to address that problem. How motivated is a player going to be for the next match if, during the last one he was having a good game yet still finds himself hooked? How hungry are the guys on the bench going to be if they know that the best they can expect is 10 minutes (or less) at the end of the game? How can we expect the team to be fired up enough to push for a win when a manager is making substitutions which scream "we're dropping back and going on the defensive"? or when we're out there losing the battle and we make "like for like" changes....and these are just the things we see on match days. Aside from the footballing reasons, there's also a good few who refuse to put cash in to the club whilst it employs or is being run by certain people. Again, you may or may not agree with them, but it's a perfectly valid stance for someone to take. Some people don't buy certain newspapers or shop at certain shops or buy certain brands because they don't like or believe in something they have done or are involved in or because they have caused them grief at some point in the past. We/You can sit here and decry these people, tell them that none of the above matters and it's all about supporting the team "no matter what" and that their excuses are nonsense etc etc.....or we can, as fans, help put pressure on the club to deal with the issues that are giving these people an excuse to stay away in order to help bring more fans to every game, to increase numbers through the gates and improve on the money available for improving the team. Things will only start to improve when the club, and fans as a whole, start addressing the real reasons numbers are declining. It's easy to look at the surface and blame the credit crunch and bad weather and bury your head to the root causes, but in the long run it fixes nothing and when the credit crunch subsides and the weather improves these excuses will just be replaced by other ones. Don't get me wrong...those making the excuses have their part to play also. They need to have a good hard think as to why they are really not bothering. Until they stop taking the easy excuse and put their hands up and honestly say "well, had we been playing decent recently and the club showing that they are doing all they can then I might have attended regardless of the weather and the credit crunch, but the truth is, my hearts just not in it just now and that was as good an excuse as any" That's exactly where I am at the moment, and it does upset me to be sitting at home listening on the radio, but I just can't bring myself to give financial support to the way certain things are/have been done off the pitch. I don't want season after season of "survival is enough" only for us to keep sailing so close to the edge that we eventually fall out of the SPL and perhaps worse. I want people running the club who's ambitions are more than that, who will stand up and say "Survival is NOT enough", that ICT is better than that regardless of what money we have in the bank, and who instil that desire into everyone involved with ICT, be it employees, manager, players or fans. If we're not good enough, then we're not good enough...such is life, and if you're of the mind that our day will come when we will be relegated, just like any of the 10 teams outwith the OF, then I sure as hell don't want to go down without a fight and without being able to say "we gave it our best"....and that goes for every aspect of ICT, not just what happens on the pitch. It's time for people to set aside personal agendas, grudges and grievances and to start doing what's best for ICT....if they can't do that then ship out and make way for someone else who can, because until that happens then more and more fans are going to become disillusioned and sub 3000 crowds will become the norm.

How about people try and put their point over without resorting to name calling? There's a lot of valid points being made, but the moment you start calling people this, that and the next thing, then you're just blowing any chance you have of anyone listening right out the window.

Photo Galleries from the game now added to the Gallery - Clicky Clicky

I have to say that my picture was about the only accurate part of my involvement in the article. I'm trying to just laugh it off, but those are not my words that are quoted in the article, which kinda come across as a bit of a "desperate fat bloke who's sole wish was to get a top that fitted". It also makes no mention of the fact that an ICT XXXXXL is about the equivalent of a XXXL elsewhere. I should know by now that reporters are not to be trusted, but I really wasn't expecting the "lets have a pop at fat fans" angle that's been employed and it was sold to me as being more of a curiosity story about the fact only Rangers and ICT did XXXXXL sizes.

When I got the call to do the photo, they said they needed a fan with stature and presence....on that basis, how could I have refused!!! All a bit of fun, although admittedly had it been a couple of years ago then they would have needed a few more X's still. My aim is to now get down to a 4XL for next season (so roll on a new kit supplier with larger made sizes) Thankfully the picture isn't included in the online article

Come on Alex...other managers have managed to produce a far better product on the park than Brewster has and on far smaller and tighter budgets, so I don't buy this "it's the fault of the fans for not turning up and making the money available" nonsense. Granted a bit more money might make the job easier, but we don't have it, and if Brewster isn't capable of producing a team on what is available then he's not the man to be leading ICT. We had experienced Strikers, but they were let go and we had ample time to be finding replacements and all we've brought in are youngsters. Me, and many others were saying long before the season started that we would struggle to find goals due to lack of experience up front, and unfortunately that's proving to be the case. I don't blame the young lads, they are being sent out there to do a job they simply aren't experienced enough to do and they are taking pelters for it from some fans week in week out which isn't exactly helping the situation. Brewster is the manager, so the buck stops with him. He's the man that's selecting the team to go out there every week and he's the man responsible for making sure the players are fired up for it and raring to go. If they aren't, then something is wrong somewhere, and whilst one or two players might have an off day, we're seeing far too many situations where the majority of the team seem to be having an off day or just aren't up for it....the question is why? and the the only person that can put it right is the manager.

God almighty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bit of a negative Substitution!!! Hope we're doing something like pushing Imrie forward to support Wood....and can't fathom why we've taken off our goal scorer.

Oh Yeah....Uh Huh.....1-0

I would have had Vigurs in ahead of Duncan to give some creativity going forward from the centre of the park.

'THE BIG ONE' Car Boot Sale ICT Events are proud to announce their latest venture aimed at giving Car Booters the ultimate car boot experience, as they launch 'The Big One', a monthly car boot sale to be held here at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. The first car boot sale will take place on Sunday 2nd November with gates opening at 7.30am and will become a regular feature on the first Sunday of every month (The Christmas Big One will be on Sunday 7th December). Commercial Manager Darren Mackintosh commented "This is a fabulous opportunity for fans and the people of Inverness to get a head start to earn some extra cash for Christmas with proceeds going towards the ICTFC Youth & Community Development Programme. The stadium is the perfect venue for such an event as it is easy to get to and has ample parking, so we hope the locals will mark this Sunday in their diaries as something not to be missed. The first event will take place in the front car park and will be ?10 for cars and ?15 for vans, traders are asked to contact Darren Mackintosh direct on 01463 227455. Parking will be free with toilets and catering also available on site. So, start hunting round your loft and garage and join us next Sunday at 7.30am for 'The Big One' Downloadable PDF File - Car_boot_sale.pdf

The reason we lose games is because we concede goals. If we didn't do that, we'd never lose a game!!!

I thought this might have been a thread about Bobby Mann!!!

I think a large part of the issue comes about as a result of segregation. Yes, their were certain events/issues that led to it's introduction, but I think in the long term it has created more problems than it solved. Never fails to amaze me that you can go to Basketball, Rugby, Hockey, Shinty, Ice Hockey....in fact, just about any other spectator sport and not have segregation and not have any trouble, but that there's this almost incessant need for it at football...football fans demand to be caged...I don't think I will ever understand why.

Following on from Saturdays events I am withdrawing my offer of assistance. Until such time as you lads learn the difference between supporting the club and bringing shame on them and yourselves then I want nothing at all to do with you.

This was mentioned at the time of his signing, although it just seemed to be glossed over and no details given. Provided it is structured in such a way so as to compensate ICT for the time he has been at the club should it be put into effect then I don't see any issue.

Don't you just hate it when players rub each other up the wrong way!!!

And I know your sailing close to the edge in regards to promoting the kind of bile this game can do without on this forum....want to keep pushing it?

Things don't always get done straight off...but we get their eventually

Your wee childish tantrums every time someone tells you that you can't do something are getting quite tiresome. Having to be at the game in order to be eligible to vote has always been the ruling for the POTY Polls, and it was clearly stated in the opening post before you decided to vote....so, it was your choice to go against that instead of enquiring first and making a case for the inclusion of posts for those watching the match on the box. It's not just you, there's others as well. Not to mention those who try to sneak in votes when they weren't at the game, and it wasn't even on TV. Why do some people seem so intent on creating extra work for us where it's not necessary?

Don't tell IHE, but I agree with his last post.

I don't make the law and I didn't make it a criminal offence for some of the songs/chants being used by a small group of ICT fans on Saturday to be sung. Whether we agree with the overly PC nature of the country/world these days or not, we have to operate within the boundaries that sets....we'd be fools to ignore the law, and I wouldn't want any part of running a forum that did as it would be putting me at personal risk of prosecution. The level of moderation which occurs on this site is over exaggerated, and it generally revolves around the same few people (usually the ones who are first to cry censorship) who feel the need to constantly try and push our buttons. These are now the very same people who are saying that we aren't "censoring" this subject enough. When it comes to matters of personal abuse and insults we generally don't get involved unless it is reported and/or it degenerates to such a level that the original point of a post is lost. Our actions on this occasion meet with that, and whilst their has been plenty of insults etc thrown around, it would have been near impossible for us to moderate every post that was being made. Our choices...we let it run it's course so long as the original point is still held within the discussion, or we remove the lot and people cry "censorship". The moderators who were around made the call that as we had no reported posts (at that time) then they would allow things to continue....the moment they felt it was getting to a stage where it was more about the insults than the topic in hand they closed the threads. Personally I think they made the right call and to have tried to do anything else would have made an unfortunate situation even worse. Not only that, those who like to have a go at the moderators at every chance would have found an excuse either way...but such is life

I'm sure someone is still due me a large dram for managing to mention Keoghs tadger on a BBC radio interview I did as well

Like it or not, this is a serious matter and the actions/songs/chants of those on Saturday are a criminal offence. I was just pointing out that when push comes to shove, it's not going to be my butt on the line because it's been discussed on here. We moderate to protect the forum and it's users and we get grief for it, we don't and we get grief for it....what we suppose to do?

I haven't (yet) had a chance to go through everything, but as it stood when I last looked we had no complaints, and I saw nothing which promoted sectarian/bigoted behaviour/chants/songs posted on the forums. Whilst some might think what happened on Saturday was disgusting (and I would agree) we have no power to take any action against those involved, and unless they start promoting such things on here then they aren't in breach of any forum rules. I was not at the game and did not witness first hand the events, however, there's one or two who have openly admitted their participation and once the mods have had a chance to discuss the matter we may decide that we do not want these people using this site...until that decision is made they are free to post, so long as they stick within the forum rules. With regards to the "Personal" insults and threats which have been exchanged...we have had nobody report these to us, but we will be reviewing the posts and where we feel any serious threat has been made we will take action. To be honest, my opinion at this moment is that the "threat" was provoked with the "internet hardman" allegation, and the whole topic surrounding this one line is nothing more than whataboutery which is being used to deflect attention away from the fact that we had some very silly wee (and not so wee) laddies in the North Stand on Saturday. I would also remind everyone that our Terms of Use and suggest that those admitting to what is, in all reality, a crime by partaking in some of these songs and chants pay particular attention to the following paragraph...