Caley Stan

Of course you're old enough. The mann4thejob's only 15!

Exactly. He looked uncomfortable with the abuse he was taking the last time we were in Dingwall. Unfortunately the team couldn't put him under any pressure. He's a young, inexperienced goalkeeper so we should get stuck right into him - fans and team.

Does anyone know why that game was played on a Saturday? Was it an international day? I thought i might find the answer to this question by googling "inverness cup final" 1995, but this just leads to threads from 2003 where ICTChris and Charles Bannerman are reminiscing about that great afternoon at Clach park.

That was great. Robbo shouts goal and the cheers of the crowd make it clear that we scored it. I'm relieved.

They were due to plat Ayr that midweek. Apart from this week, County won't have another free midweek until the end of the season. If they get to the semis then that's another postponment - will they make them play 3 times in a week or extend the season? Either way, they're bound to start dropping a few more league points soon.

Where can i find a pot calling the kettle black smiley?

Nearly half of the team that won on Tuesday night played in the team of 2004 - Tokely, Munro, Proctor, Golabek and Duncan. I think that might stand us in good stead in the run-in. The other half of the team is potentially as exciting as the 2004 team, but we do lack the experience brought by the likes of Ritchie, Wilson and Bingham. This the team that won on the final day while i was asleep: Brown, Tokely, Golabek, Mann, McCaffrey, Hart, Wilson, McBain, Ritchie, Keogh, Bingham. Subs: Munro, Proctor, Thomson, Hislop, Fraser.

I was watching the Champions League but i'm having much more fun looking at the First Division table and fixture list now.

:D

It's the first time we've scored the opening goal at TCS since the 12th of December.

Wooooohooooooooooooooooooooo

As many folk have said throughout this thread, we still have a chance of winning the league. There's still a third of the season left and so there's still time for things to go horribly wrong, but i'm delighted that we're in with a wee shout and i find it strange that so many folk on this week's matchday thread seem ready to write off our chances.

Nothing. Writing my dissertation but dreaming of Dens. I've had a couple of phone calls form Caley100 after the goals. It's sounding very boisterous.

Potentially. Of course a draw would neither make nor break our title challenge. I'd take that in the hope that Dundee drop 3 more points than us before the final game.

Me neither

Butcher interview with Herr Bannerman. I get the impression he had to go and ask for his contract.

Had you beaten Ayr as i fully expected you to, i would have mebbes agreed with you Alex,but dropping those points and tomorrows postponment puts the pressure right on ICT, must win game for you lads or yer teas oot eh reckon. I'd be happy with a draw. If we can win our game in hand then we'd be 6 points behind with 11 games left for both teams. We'll both drop points in those games and hopefully Dundee drop 3 more than us leaving us with a real must win game on the 1st of May. Having said that, i think we're fecked if we lose at Dens.

Since we started playeing 4-2-3-1, our league stats are as follows: Won 7 Drawn 4 Lost 2. We're also on an 8 game unbeaten run in the league, so changing the formation, dropping Proctor and Sanchez and moving Hayes over to the left doesn't seem to make any sense at all.

I'm a big fan, although i do get the impression that home fans don't see the best of him. In away gamed, Dani gets more time on the ball and has more space in front of him to thread through those delightful little through balls. Some of his best performances this season have come against Dundee and i think it's no coincidence that those games have been amongst the most open of the season. Hopefully he can make the difference at Dens next week. I agree with some of the points made about his lack of confidence in the penalty area though. Earlier in the season, i thought he might just need a couple of goals to set him on his way but it hasn't panned out like that. Does anyone know what his scoring record was like at previous clubs, or even which clubs he played for before joining us?

B)

Where did Jimmy Calderwood fail? He failed to win the league in his first season at Dunfermline - they got promoted in 2nd place due to SPL expansion. It was a bit cheeky to add his name to the list, especially as your original quote was: I still disagree strongly with that statement. Do you really believe that Butcher should be sacked if we finish in 2nd place? Anyway, more to the point, where's the money? And what the **** is an aquifer?

No, not negative, just unrealistic. I happen to think that it is highly unlikely that we will be promoted. I just feel that sacking (or not offering a new contract to) the management team should not be dependent on winning an ultra-competitive league, which until recently contained six contenders, three of which, it could be argued, are bigger clubs than ICT.

So how long do we run with that policy? As we all know, the last relegated team to win the First Divison was Hibs in 1999. By demanding that Butcher delivers where Jimmy Calderwood, Billy Stark, Jim Duffy, John Robertson and Stephen Kenny all failed seems to be setting a ridiculously high target.

Surely it's possible to offer contracts that provide different terms according to which divison we're playing in. With a bit of forethought, players who the club want to retain could have been told before the January window exactly what terms they would be offered. I found it very distrurbing to hear Rosscoe saying to the papers last month that none of the players had heard anything about contracts. As much as anything, it's disrespectul to leave employees in limbo. Without a doubt. They have signed about half of our current squad and that squad has continued to improve as the season has progressed. If we end up spending 5-10 years in this division, should we change the manager at the end of each season if they fail to win promotion? Building a team takes time, especially without much cash to splash. Pele needed 3 seasons in mid-table before his team could start to push for promotion.

My team would be (using squad) - Gordon - Hutton - Caldwell - Berra - Wallace - Thompson - - Brown - Fletcher - - Miller - - - McFadden- - Boyd - I think that's pretty close to our best 11 and i think that Levein will certainly opt for some variation on 4-5-1. The line-up you offer should be great for when we play Liechtenstein, but for the Czechs and the Spanish i think we will need to be a bit more conservative. With the same defence: -------------Fletcher-----Thompson------------- Robson-------------Brown---------------McFadden ----------------------Miller------------------------ Steven Fletcher could also be considered for the lone striker's role, with Boyd coming of the bench if need be.