A96

The humble pie is hard enough to eat but this hat is proving even tougher to chew and swallow. :icon_sailor:

Had a good game v Dunfermline today.

Me and the boy. Best of luck to the singing section against the hostile hordes of the yellow-jacketed Gestapo! Hope you get to see most of the match IHE! :D

Its banter (most of the time). :D

Mixed feelings. I want County to win the Cup but don't welcome the "England 1966" factor that would come with it.

Best fans in the world? Easy. Its the Tartan Army!

Me too. We miss all the penalty kicks.

Keddie? Prone to rash last-man tackles like the one in the recent derby? Nah, too risky. :004:

Derek Adams, stay or go? No question, C*unty should sack him. He's just not delivering the goods for them! :004:

The ICT Post-Match Thread is a bit quieter than usual (only on second page). Pretty much sums up this season. While everyone has been talking about County, ICT have quietly and effectively climbed from mid table to take command of Div 1 with not an awful lot of attention from the media. Helps take the pressure off us I reckon.

The prize for County winning today is much bigger than the reward we got - but out our result was much bigger. We were only six years out of the Highland League (with some ex HL players - Christie, Calder) and we played Celtic off the park on their own turf. It was conceivable that County - an established SFL club - could win against Celtic today, on a neutral venue. No-one in their wildest dreams ever expected the result we pulled off on 8 Feb 2000. Different times, bigger shock waves then.

Anyone who was at Victoria Park the day County got relegated will remember the number of Inverness fans there wearing their ICT shirts. There were ICT supporters on both sides. A number danced in delight with the Gretna fans at their victory (and County's relegation) but there were far more Inverness supporters standing in support with the County fans than were with the Gretna fans. The point is that most ICT fans will have nothing to do with the hate-filled venom that characterises the Old Firm divide. We are Highlanders and we are above that. Well done County for beating an OF team and for doing the Highlands proud. I hope you win the cup. And I hope we will be celebrating the League Championship before you get to Hampden. I would sooner take promotion than cup glory. I will miss the local derbys though. Few things are sweeter than beating our poor cousins from over the Bridge! :022: Like many other ICT fans I was once an Old Firm fan - and a supporter of an Inverness club that now no longer exists. My support for both of them is well in the past. I delight in the defeat of either half of the OF by any other Scottish side. We can choose to live in the past or live in the present. I much rather the present where Highland teams can beat anyone in Scotland and win major trophies. Got to move on from the past!

Hats off to the guys that do the video highlights!! Your hours spent on top of a gantry in sub-zero temperatures are not in vain!! Really impressed with roar recorded after Richie Foran scored the winner v Raith. I was pretty loud.

Now that wasn't so bad after all, was it? You were so engrossed in watching the 3-0 demolition of C**nty that it never crossed your mind that people all around were laughing at you and saying "What a sad loner - he's got no mates. He must have a personality disorder or hygiene problems". A person who can sit alone and enjoy a football match - without the "security blanket" of mates - is someone who is at peace with the world and 'happy in his own skin'. With or without mates matters not. Its all about enjoying a game of football.

Based on the statistics that relegated teams don't usually come back up to the SPL at the first attempt, I didn't believe we would have any great hope of promotion. Also, based on our awful football and careless defending in the earlier part of the season, I never thought we would ever catch Dundee let alone overtake them. Beating R*ss C**nty on Tuesday is crucial. That would be a real achievement as it would knock the stuffing out of their League hopes.

Well done to the village team from across the bridge. Good result v Hibs. But - County - don't get ideas above your station. Doing well in the Second Division is fine and well - but thoughts of getting into the SPL and getting to the Cup semi-final is going too far. Remember, as feeder team to the Highland's premier football club, your role in life is to exist for the benefit of the mighty ICT and to help make us great. :024:

A bit harsh. Some of the other Celtic players might want to score a goal too. :D Some cracking goals tonight. Foran's, Munro's and Hayes's - all net-bursting raspers. Could have been double figures. Sanchez should have had an easy hat-trick. Hard to believe Airdrie beat Dundee 3-0 going by tonight's showing. Things are looking good. We just need to keep the nerve now that the season is coming to a head. Defence is doing a good job. Goal difference has been given a boost. Plenty reasons to be cheerful. Three points against C**nty next week would be just superb.

Aye No. We've tried that before and it was a disaster. Today we had a problem with players hiding. Some were an exception, like Russell Duncan. He was prepared to get stuck in. Others were afraid to take risks. We have too many players who are afraid to take risks. They are shot-shy and would rather pass the ball back than take a player on. Cox was looking good but would bottle it when there was a chance for a shot. Rooney was also looking good but wasn't getting the service. I am delighted we got 3 points but we desperately need players out there who are not afraid to have a shot (Rooney and Duncan apart).

Having not seen the team play for a while (due to weather and work commitments) I have to say that I thought ICT were a much improved side with some good passing play and a fair bit of style. At least that was the case for the first 24 minutes! I am puzzled as to why Adam Rooney was playing up front as a lone striker. This was a game for two out-and-out strikers (Rooney and Foran). We seemed ok in midfield - its just a pity we were woeful in attack and defence. One of the main problems with our players is that they are still shot-shy and afraid to shoot on sight. We need risk takers who will have a blast from outside the box whenerver they get the chance. This was a good game for the neutral - and the 35 Ayr United supporters - but Ayr should have been well and truly buried by half-time.

Only four Scots in our starting line-up today. A statistic that concerns me. We've lost the heart of our team. Our ex-players meantime are shining elsewhere. Gary Wood gets a hat-trick today and Dougie Imrie gets MOTM in the SPL. Our defence has never been the same since Darren Dodds left. Maybe we should start doing what we always did in the the past - buy up all the decent R*ss C**nty players. Mind you, they are still in the cup, scoring lots of goals, winning games and chasing promotion to the SPL. Why would any of them want to come to ICT? Can't fault our front players today though they deserved a few goals - but for an inspired Killie goalkeeper. Defence was mince. Usual suspects at fault.

Fair comments re atmosphere, Cairngorm. Any time our supporters have sung and danced the yellow-clad gestapo are in there to break it up and chuck the ringleaders out (usually Johndo/IHE). Having the worst stadium in Western Europe doesn't help with atmosphere either. The Main Stand is so exposed that they rustle sweetie papers there to keep warm. :dancing03: There was a buzz briefly today when things got a bit more exciting. Getting the three points was important but good play is the key to getting the fans going again. Wins and goals have been in pretty short supply at home games during 2009.

Were you at today's game? I was - and last week's too - and lots of others where I've watched dreadful, careless football full of basic errors. It's no fun sitting in the freezing cold seeing an ICT team play a disorganised long-ball-up-the-park game. Someone mentioned lack of atmosphere. Very difficult to get excited about poor quality football where your team constantly gives away possession under no pressure and are (much of the time) too frightened to do the risky thing - like take a shot at goal. We have seen ICT abandon their clever passing game for a predictable long-ball game. We have talented players in our team. Its just that that talent is not being used to its potential. We were playing the relegation contenders at home. A team from higher up the Division would have torn us to shreds today. But let's be grateful for 3 points - and well done to those players who did play well today. We are desperately missing the midfield passing skills of Ian Black - and our defence has been fragile ever since the Darren Dodds left. Priority in the January window must be to get a dominant central defender and an achor man in midfield who can hold the ball and distribute it well. In the meantime, maybe our current squad could practice their passing skills at training and learn how not to give the ball away cheaply.

Good to get the three points. Brilliant goal by Oidhambo to secure the win. But if you weren't at the match - don't be fooled by the scoreline. This was an inept performance against a lowly team that should have been well out of sight by early in the second half. Our team have more than their fair share of players who seem incapable of passing or retaining possession. Our keeper had plenty to do and Airdrie would have well deserved a goal or two. Some of our players are shot shy and are afraid to take risks. I'd rather they ballooned the ball over the bar than never try at all. Bulvitis played much better this week. Rosscoe was tearing down the wing as usual and getting some good tackles in. Johnny Hays contributed well when he came on. Adam Rooney has quality and showed it in flashes today. Foran had a poor game. Dougie Imrie is an enigma. He has talent and is capable of some brilliant stuff. But he is equally capable of some really stupid, careless stuff - notably giving the ball away when under no pressure. Concentrate 100% of the game Dougie, do the simple thing well and you will be a much better player. ICT have traditionally been a passing team but we are seeing too many long balls hoofed up the park nowadays. Still, after the humiliation of being beaten by R*ss C**nty last week it was good to see our team get a win - especially at home!

Yes, Proctor might not have X Factor but he has been scoring some vital goals for us recently. A useful utility player. Today, against C**nty, Bulvitis was woeful and Odhiambo pranced about doing very little. These are both weak players who will do nothing to help us make progress. TB has passion and is way up there in terms of achievement as a player but I feel someone like Robbo is what we need as manager- and I would love to see Bazza and Wyness back in some capacity. Our problem, as far as signings are concerned is always one of geography. Our most settled and most effective players have always been those who come from a line north of Perth. Being in Div One should be the right time to rebuild from young or established talent from the North of Scotland as they are less likely to head back home to the Central Belt or elsewhere after a season or two (as have Dargo, Dodds, Rankine, Bingo etc.).

Three main reasons: 1. The loss of Darren Dodds and failing to find a suitable replacement in central defence. 2. Yes, you are right - signing Niculae was a big mistake. It unsettled the whole team, broke the team spirit - and while the other players were complaining and refusing to sign contracts, they took their eye off the ball and the team performance suffered. Niculae was a prima donna we couldn't afford. Yes, he was talented but he was lazy. He only scored 8 goals for us and some of these were against the diddiest of opposition. 3. The real fault for ICT being relegated can be laid squarely at the door of the Board. Brewster should have been replaced well before Chritsmas but the Board dithered into January by which time we were in deep trouble. It was clear for all to see by November 2008 that Brewster was failing. Yes, he was a good player and a reasonable player-manager. But he was never going to be a success as a manager. That was plain to see from his time managing Dundee United. Taking him back for a second time was a mistake - but failing to sack him in time is what did the real damage.