Sneckboy

Did Spartans not get to the quarters a few years ago? They've reached this stage (last 16) twice before - (2004) Spartans 0-4 Livingston (2006) St. Mirren 3-0 Spartans (after 0-0 draw) They're playing 'catch up' with Edinburgh City in the Lowland League, so they have to try not to become too distracted by the Scottish Cup - but, I reckon they'll make the Scottish League before too long.

Obviously need to win tomorrow night first, but Partick Thistle at Firhill is another tough tie! However, only a maximum of 4 Premiership clubs will be in the Quarters.... Huge incentive for Spartans/Berwick/Albion Rovers to reach the last 8. I think, that if Spartans got through, it would be only the second time a non-league club has reached the quarter-finals. Elgin City (then Highland League, of course) did it in 1968.

Happy with a draw today. If you don't lose - you win the Cup! Outstanding result for Spartans! Huge boost for the Lowland League and the Scottish Cup to have a non-league in the last 16....Spartans. It would be great to win the replay and then get drawn against them - we'd be crossing-swords again after many years and resuming a friendly rivalry.

Game on... Dundee v Aberdeen starting the weekend of cup fixtures. Huge opportunity for a smaller team to go on a run - a 'freak' draw, pairing all the 'top' sides together means there'll be a maximum of 7 Premiership clubs in the last 16.

Yeah, their last few home crowds have been 2,800 and 2,500 but they've had the 'benefit' of games against Celtic, Aberdeen and Dundee which has helped boost their average for this season - so far. Looking at last season's averages against this seasons, St Johnstone will doubtless claim that they've successfully retained some of the 'cup final fans' - but it would be fairer to examine the stats at the end of the season. Rounded to two significant figures, for clarity, the 10 teams with comparable records to last season are below. Partick Thistle seem to be experiencing second season novelty drop-off, and Motherwell's poor season looks to have had an impact at the gate. But, early days!

I can't remember when we went full-time. I was thinking it may have been a little later than the move to TCS. Perhaps it happened after we were promoted to the old First Division? As for the BBC, they irked me the other day! Was reading an article about Celtic's ambitions to one day move to either England or a European league. The journalist said something along the lines of (paraphrased) ....frankly, Celtic should be playing the likes of Inter Milan instead of Inverness.... Obviously playing on the initial 'I', for effect, but why not use Real Madrid/Ross County or Dortmund/Dundee!

Swap

There's no mention of St Mirren fans?! I The content of the link must have changed.

"crowds at Telford Street in these days and I remember the crush..." Paraphrasing the original post to emphasise the 'crush' aspect. I remember ending up on my face, eating turf, once at a Telford Street, a Caledonian game - circa 1984,/85 when an advertising hording gave way. It wasn't even considered a big deal. Nobody injured - game on. It's a good memory for me. Nowadays, it's an embarrassed 'sorry' or 'excuse me', 'just squeeze past!' as one shuffles along sideways like a crab, bothering everyone in their row of seats. It's like being at Eden Court! Then the further annoyance - excruciatingly, the half-time eating brigade, start returning - in phases! (you need durable thighs and a good temperament) You can't bargain with them - you're up - down - covered in sauce - accused of being in the wrong seat...

Probably common knowledge for some, but I've just learned that Ross Tokely is off to work in Angola over the winter. He's due to return by February so will be available for the anticipated pyramid play-off. He'll be a miss for Brora's cup game at Queen of the South on Saturday.

Some bizarre 'logic' there! I would argue that over the long term, average crowds of 3,000 will not be sustainable and rather than staring up at the glass ceiling, we'll be looking down at the trap door!

Evicts

Gaelic is part of Scotland's heritage and should be supported to an extent, however, the funding given to it is disproportionate - 99% of the population of Scotland consider it to be alien. There are more Polish speakers! Similarly, shinty (apologies to Charles Bannerman), is something of a relic nowadays - it doesn't 'capture the imagination' of the public. The Camanachd Association are again thinking of a 'league reconstruction' in an attempt to keep it relevant. Is Inverness such a hot-bed of cricket that it needs TWO teams!? Both, if there must be two, should play at Fraser Park in Kingsmills Road. The Northern Meeting Park could then be used for Inverness City FC's games - a progressive club - yet it would still be available for Craig Hill's annual Hogmany sickfest. Shinty in Inverness is genuinely of such poor calibre, that nobody would even notice if they nipped across to the Queen's Park to hit their balls inside the running track! Inverness have an 'American Football Team'? Inverness Dolphins or Ness Monsters or something? Okay, dudes - go play your 'football' at Millburn or Charleston - they'll be happy to book you - you both 'win'. Inverness & District Amateur League's summer games could be held on the Culloden pitches or other available sites such as North Kessock, Avoch, Ardersier, Maryburgh, Farr, Cubokie etc. The Bught would then be available! A central location. Bulldoze the pitches! Not sure if the current small wooden stand is 'listed' or not. It could be utilised if needed - a players' gym, a fans' snack bar - a pub!? Nevertheless, could we plan for a small, 4-sided stadium with 8,000 capacity - over the huge expansed of the remaining Bught area. There would be acres to build a car and bus parking area. The planned crossing from the Lochardil/Holm area to Torvean/Kinmylies would obviously help with traffic. I'm probably in cloud-cuckoo-land, but I'm certain that a Bught Park venue would attract more fans than the Longman. It certainly wouldn't attract any less!

Hear, Hear! Totally agree, Kingsmills. A timely, call-to-arms! And I concur with your reckoning that 2,500 is our hardcore fan-base these days. And I think Renegade's spot-on with his observation about the stadium. I stumbled upon an article on the Daily Record website today - regarding our support. Credit to the author and I apologise if he's a member on here with an alias. I don't mean to plagiarise. But I'll do it anyway! The article outlines our disappointing crowds with reference to the stadium as a primary factor. (as mentioned above, by Renegade). There are some other links on that page which have some brilliant articles and insights in to Inverness CT from the perspective of a fan. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/record-fc-inverness-time-caledonian-4666547 If it doesn't work, the text is: Inverness: Is it time the Caledonian Stadium was flattened? Record FC blogger Paul Irving wonders whether Caley's stadium is holding fans back from coming to watch the team. "ICT have announced a “pay what you like” scheme for the forthcoming game against St Johnstone. This is a nice idea and is one in a line of offers in order to get more people through the turnstiles. The attendance seems to be the flavour of the month around these parts and for good reason. It seems to be a common occurrence now that ICT struggle to get anymore than just over 3,000 to games. Compare that to when we first brought football in the top tier to Inverness in 2005 (remember we played the first half of the season at Pittodrie), where over 4,000 was a regular occurrence and for important matches and those against the Old Firm, crowds were almost always over 7,000. This scheme has obviously been inspired by Albion Rovers who did it last season for a match against Montrose. It worked very well, with 700 in attendance as opposed to the 300 they got for the fixture the last time round. Hopefully Caley Thistle can see a similar upturn in takers. I think where attendances are concerned, there’s is a massive elephant in the room for ICT - the stadium. An ugly, unfinished, poorly placed mess. We’ve got a very open stadium in what must be one of the coldest and windiest places in the town. It’s not rocket science, that when winter comes, it becomes a freezing tundra which isn’t exactly an appetising place for old people and casual fans to spend their afternoon. It’s also so open that any atmosphere is instantly lost, as well as being in a location that is a long walk from the city centre with little public transport nearby. The new stands that were build behind each goal are also quite a distance from the pitch, while the side opposite the Main Stand is essentially wasteland. No stand can ever built there due to gas pipes under the soil, which to move would cost an absolute fortune. Why wasn’t that considered at the time? Many people are quick to point the finger at why crowd numbers are down and there may well be a lot of truth in what they’re saying, but perhaps the poor planning and poor design by the club itself means it should also take some of the blame. If we want to get more people through the turnstiles, we either need to heavily re-develop the Caledonian Stadium or knock it down and go somewhere else. If something like that doesn’t happen, it’s inevitable that crowds will drop to even lower levels than they are now."

Apologies to Lewis Horner - he 'slipped off' the end of my cut-and-paste! He's another player 'out of contract' at the end of this season. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12040/9417504/spfl To be honest, I wouldn't be alarmed at Horner being released. Signed up until the end of season 2016-17: • Gary Warren • Richie Foran Signed up until the end of next season (2015-16): • John Hughes - Manager • Russell Latapy - Assistant Manager • Dean Brill • Aaron Doran • Danny Williams • Ryan Esson • Ryan Christie • Carl Tremarco • Ross Draper • James Vincent Signed up until the end of this season (2014-15): • Greg Tansey • Daniel Devine • Graeme Shinnie • Nick Ross • Marley Watkins • David Raven • Josh Meekings • Billy McKay • Liam Polworth • Lewis Horner • Jaime Wilson (Development Squad) • Kane Hull (Development Squad) • Jason Brown (Development Squad) • Struan McArthur (Development Squad) • Blair MacLennan (Development Squad) • Calum Howarth (Development Squad) • Chris Brown (Development Squad) • Ali Sutherland (Development Squad) • Stephen Rennie (Development Squad) • Cammy Mackay (goalkeeper) (Development Squad) • Chris Blackett (Development Squad) • Daniel Hoban (goalkeeper) (Development Squad) • Calum Ferguson (Development Squad) • Ryan Baptie (Development Squad) Signed up until January 2015 • Ibra Sekajja

The dripping-tap method isn't getting through to me! OKay!

Signed up until the end of season 2016-17: • Gary Warren • Richie Foran Signed up until the end of next season (2015-16): • John Hughes - Manager • Russell Latapy - Assistant Manager • Dean Brill • Aaron Doran • Danny Williams • Ryan Esson • Ryan Christie • Carl Tremarco • Ross Draper • James Vincent Signed up until the end of this season (2014-15): • Greg Tansey • Daniel Devine • Graeme Shinnie • Nick Ross • Marley Watkins • David Raven • Josh Meekings • Billy McKay • Liam Polworth • Jaime Wilson (Development Squad) • Kane Hull (Development Squad) • Jason Brown (Development Squad) • Struan McArthur (Development Squad) • Blair MacLennan (Development Squad) • Calum Howarth (Development Squad) • Chris Brown (Development Squad) • Ali Sutherland (Development Squad) • Stephen Rennie (Development Squad) • Cammy Mackay (goalkeeper) (Development Squad) • Chris Blackett (Development Squad) • Daniel Hoban (goalkeeper) (Development Squad) • Calum Ferguson (Development Squad) • Ryan Baptie (Development Squad) Signed up until January 2015 • Ibra Sekajja

We've done really well keeping the majority of our squad intact over the past few seasons - having the players committing to extended contracts has been key to team continuity and harmony, as well as sending-out the message that Inverness CT is a more than 'viable' place to progress one's career. However, time seems to have flown (!) and many of these guys are approaching the expiry date of their contracts... All 9 are important, for different reasons - I would love us to retain all of them, obviously! Shinnie - goes without saying. The best left-back in the league. That said, I agree with the manger, another season with us would benefit both. Devine - not a first-team regular, but certainly the immediate pick if/when Warren or Meekings are out through injury or suspension. Tansey - has been a revelation since returning. Certainly a better, more 'rounded' player after his spell down south. Polworth - a squad player, but holds his own whenever needed and whose best years are yet to come. Would be a waste if he was released, to say, Elgin! McKay - proven goal-scorer at Scottish Premiership level and a vital player for us - I'd expect renewed interest in Billy, come January. Raven - a mainstay of the team, for a few years now - often unspectacular but reliable and seems settled here. Ross - Nick's a local lad, but sentiment aside, is a terrific player with an abundance of experience for his age. Keep! Watkins - outstanding this season. An integral part of the team who must be kept. Meekings - improving all the time. Will certainly be drawing attention, but at 22 should be looking to develop further, with us, for at least another season.

Tomorrow's game (25th Nov) away against Celtic, has been postponed. Not sure why! I assumed that they were wanting to 'save' the pitch for the European game on Thursday - but then noticed that Celtic play their Development League games at Cappielow. So it can't be that. It'll be something else not suiting Celtic!

Premiership Adam Rooney (Partick Thistle 0-1 Aberdeen)

I couldn't go today but am delighted to hear that we won - and convincingly! Very encouraging...

Just reading that Martin Laing's 4 goals were scored between the 61st and 68th minute! He'll certainly have set some sort of record - the fastest hat-trick maybe...but almost, surely, the 'quickest' four-goal-haul' in Highland Football League history!

Reading the report, that's an interesting stat - the first ever FA Cup tie played on 3G 'turf'! That's also the first time I've seen Greenhalgh's name since he left us!

I assume the O.P. meant the complete OPPOSITE of what he posted - in typical nationalist, Freudian-ship fashion! "Many people, who may have voted yes, had their minds made up by the VOW from the three stooges a couple of days before the referendum"

Well done to Ryan - he helped the Scotland U21s to a 1-1 draw in Switzerland in midweek, collecting his second cap.