Sneckboy

Bit early for the whiskghyey, OCG?

The 'Did well at Alloa - That's it. Means nothing' comment has moved me to post! Steve Paterson guided us from League Two to the Championship! Although it took longer, Paterson's rightly viewed as a messiah by most fans, including me. Paul Hartley took over a relegated, unfashionable part-time team, in Alloa, and guided them instantly from League Two to League One. His mandate there (League One) was to initially 'keep them up'. But no, instead, Paul guided them to promotion! A hot property who was ripe for us to pick up. Hartley's now on the verge of successive promotions from League Two to League One to the Championship to the Premiership. Nobody can realistically doubt the man has been able to adapt seamlessly at every level of management he's encountered thus far. We were in the right place at the right time to get him. The geographical location would not have been a problem. Folk in football know that moving location is part of the 'job' and a sacrifice they have to make. Total smokescreen. Huge opportunity missed. There were also many better suited candidates for the post. Sadly, It'll only get worse before it gets better. But he (Hughes) won't be going anywhere - we're stuck with him. I can see us returning to our 'natural level' and fighting relegation next season. We should, in most probability, be a yo-yo club, but have managed to punch-above-our-weight for the most part through shrewd managerial appointments - of which, our latest, is not one.

Most recent change: Ben Greenhalgh out on loan. Signed up until the end of season 2016-17: • Richie Foran Signed up until the end of season 2015-16: • John Hughes - Manager • Russell Latapy - Assistant Manager • Aaron Doran • Carl Tremarco • Danny Williams • Dean Brill • Ryan Esson • James Vincent • Ross Draper Signed up until the end of next season (2014-15): • Greg Tansey • Daniel Devine • Graeme Shinnie • Nick Ross • Marley Watkins • Gary Warren • David Raven • Josh Meekings • Billy McKay • Ryan Christie • Liam Polworth Signed up until the end of this season (2013-14): • Jason Brown • Joe Gorman • Cammy Mackay • Matthew Cooper • Ali Sutherland • Conor Pepper • Calum Howarth • Jay Cheyne • Ben Greenhalgh (On loan at Stenhousemuir until end of this season) • Nick Draper • Calum Ferguson (On loan at Montrose until end of this season) • Adam Evans

Not sure where you're getting your stats from, rocky1! The reality is quite different. Here are the stats for every referee who's sent off an Inverness player in all competitions since (and including) our first SPL season. We've had 45 red cards, of which Collum is now responsible for 4. Note, some of these refs are now retired. (names in brackets). Iain Brines seems to be our 'favoured' ref with just 1 red card issued in 24 games. Collum had been top of the list with 1 red in 28 Inverness games prior to his last 2 games officiating us! The columns (no pun intended) are: number of games - number of red cards - frequency (number of games per red card)

Brilliant post, Renegade. Sums it all up, in a nutshell.

Although worthy moments, the last 2 didn't happen at the stadium!

You're right Alex, I shouldn't fault his barrier-method! If only our strike-force wasn't so impotent! But, I'm sure Deano was annoyed at his 'error' against United. I bet he was raging that night - I wouldn't have liked to face the 'morning-after Brill'! But the lack of height in our team does cause concern - the manager needs to sort out this erectile dysfunction!

Probably Brill - as he doesn't keep many clean sheets!

It's such a specialised role, goalkeeping. years ago, if you were a good 'shot-stopper' and could gather crosses, you'd be a top 'keeper....in the days when you could simply pick the ball up from a back pass! (It looks totally 'alien' now if you ever see a clip of that happening from old footage). Can't remember if it was Peter Shilton or Ray Clemence, but one of those former England goalies has since said that he was glad to have retired before the passback rule was changed, as he was 'hopeless' with a 'live' ball at his feet! Nowadays, a goalkeeper needs to be competent with both feet at clearing, despite oncoming strikers closing him down. It pains me to admit it, but Andy Goram was terrific at clearing danger and was comfortable on either foot. I remember when I was at school, and my PE teacher was ex-Caledonian custodian Derek Dewar, he gave me a rollicking for scoring an own-goal from an intended pass-back. His advice was logical and simple - when passing back to your 'keeper, play the ball back in a committed fashion so you don't under hit it and let the striker nip in, but more importantly, place it wide of the goals, so that the goalie isn't obligated to deal with it to prevent a goal - only a corner would be conceded. It's literally schoolboy stuff!

You did indeed make that observation last year IHE, and expressed some reservations about Brill's competence with the ball at his feet, despite most other posters indicating that he was the best keeper we've ever had!

That would have to come with your 'train fare back to Leith' and a miniature replica of the League Cup trophy, engraved with "let's look at what you could've won!"

That wonderful performance where some fans were even on the pitch showing their appreciation - St. Johnstone win to secure SPL football Elton John gig.

Yeah, a bit like Toby getting a game as a sub for a token appearance near the end - he'd get stripped, get on, then come-off two minutes later!

A number of errors in your table, Laurence, but I've got a program that shows the table between any given dates. What really strikes me is the 'goals scored' column - we're easily the poorest in the division since Hughes arrived.

We've got games coming up before the split in the next few days against County and Motherwell. If we were to be 'given' 4 points for these games without kicking a ball...you sound like you would go with a win against County and a draw against Motherwell despite the reverse being better for the club. Indeed, I would suspect from your parochial stance that you'd be happier with us finishing 8th (for example, in any given season) ahead of County - rather than us finishing 3rd with County runners-up?!

Sam Winnall at Scunthorpe is easily the top player in League 2. Likely be snapped up by a Championship side in July. One that got away!

Yeah, he's got family links somewhere up here and visits on holiday. He has directly mentioned managing here as a possibility, but that was years ago. If I remember, it was along the lines of the "Inverness job" not being big enough for him at the time. In other words, it would be like an end-of-career, play-thing; a wee hobby - no thanks.

On results obviously, not on league positions. I totally disagree. Leaving the emotive issue of Terry Butcher out of this, surely positions are what teams play for, rather than 'results'! Perceived 'good results' can only be defined as such if those results are better than the teams you compete against? Positions are king, and dictate where teams finish, whether that be as Champions, 'top 6', European qualification or relegation. It's particularly poignant as we managed 37 points the season we were relegated - a total that has also seen teams finish 9th. Surely you can appreciate that a team with 40 points in a given league could be relegated, yet similarly a team could only get 30 points and survive. 'Good' results are only relative to the teams you play against at that particular time. An example could be a Champions League group: Would you rather have 'good' results and win 4 games from 6 but be eliminated (with 12 points)...? Or have such 'not good' results and win no games, draw 4, and have only 4 points but qualify for the lucrative knock-out stage?! Every European Club manager would opt for the latter. Football results can only be classed as 'good' or 'bad' by directly associating them with a tangible constant which is measurable - i.e. league tables and the positions within - it's why they exist all levels of football!

Although Daryl Duffy was a guy I thought would develop into a really class player, he's maybe lost his way a little of late. I just don't think he's what we'd be looking for. There's a reason he's there - he's not good enough and it certainly would be no 'coup' to be signing him. Decent scoring record as he has, I feel that at his age of 29, he should be at the peak of his career, not playing in the football backwater of India. He's actually at the club that Claude Gnakpa was/is at! Maybe says it all! But, I do totally agree that we need another striker!

st mirren.jpg Don't think that's a good top at all, yet the colours do 'work' together when the hoops are broadened. For example, Kingussie shinty club famously have red and blue hooped shirts and it's a nice looking shirt.

Premiership Adam Rooney (Ross County 1-1 Aberdeen) English Championship Andrew Shinnie (Millwall 2-3 Birmingham City) English League Two Sam Winnall TWO GOALS (Cheltenham Town 0-2 Scunthorpe United)

'Most fans actually work on weekends' is simply inaccurate. But I sympathise with your plight; I too have to work some weekends and even xmas days at times. However, I'm aware I'm in the vast minority when doing so. To suggest that 'weekend work' is a valid reason for our dreadful attendances borders on farcical. Supermarkets report their highest 'foot-fall' of the week as occurring between 2.30 and 4pm on Saturday afternoons.

http://www.retroworldfootballshirts.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1623&tracking=4fbf6191253f6

Depends how you look at it. Butcher took-over at Hibs when they were 7th. They remain 7th. Hughes took-over at Inverness when they were 2nd. They're now 5th.

With due respect, we're on a pretty sticky-wicket if our sustainability depends on whether-or not we're in the same league as that grotesque Govan outfit.