absent friend

I am a wee bit of a loss here - what relevance has Hastings 'not going forward' to do with our goals against, last season. I would have felt that going forward, as a defender, leaving the position vacant, could result in more goals against and not less! I though our right back attracted lots of (uncalled for) criticism due to his forward runs!!

Could not agree more with Caley100 - surely it is not too difficult/expensive to raise the area in front of the north stand a bit, to offer better vision, to the disabled, or some such work. I realise disabled people are very much in the minority but surely disabled people matter or should that be, surely ICT fans caring for them, matters!

My golfing pals, here in Aberdeen, would have welcomed a phone call as one renewed his seat at Pittodrie, where they have sat, side by side, for 6 years and the other was a day late and is now a row away. They would definitely not have complained at a phoned reminder! Poor administrators -damned if you do - damned if you don't!

It is interesting to read in the press that we have at least one happy chappie at ICT - even if he is not here next year! I wonder how many clubs will receive the thanks, bestowed by him upon ICT, from any of their players. He not only mentioned the club but fellow players also received a mention. It is perhaps worth remembering, at this time, the amount of flak this guy received on this forum from many quarters, and has ended up grateful to be here!! God knows what the Romanian supporters are like if he feels welcomed and 'at home' in Inverness! Some of the description regarding him, on here, come to mind- crap, lazy, overpaid, no touch, can't head the ball, no assists(at a time when he was 2nd in the SPL stats!), etc., etc. I wish we had some more players that came into the above bracket so that we could make 'loads o' money' from them as well!! I think the whole Niculae time at the club has proved that we may have some contributors that have a problem judging a players ability or at least, are at odds with the Romanian managers opinion.

Caley D, Are you saying that this course is a resit for one that CB has already failed??

I don't understand all this negativity regarding our signing plans!! We are not told what irons are in the fire and indeed in the Barrowman affair we have a lot of one sided info. CB is away studying and therefore, I would suggest, Borrowman can say what he likes without reply and knows it! This is not a reason for all this ''hope we get relegated'' crap!! OUR team will still be feared by all the other teams in the SPL - no small feat for a 'diddy' team. Last season we had a bad run of results, calling for CB's head along the way, and then a run of better results at the tail end of the season - a bonus for Brew and Marius - and at one point we were looking good for the top six, above Aberdeen( who ended up coming 4th!) Now we are even candidates for the chop before we kick a ball, according to our own support! The OF we may never be - but we will compete with the best of the rest. We have the history to prove it!! ( Aberdeen don't count - roll on the first game of next season!!) I realise that I am not a manager of a football team but, looking at stats, I would suggest that the Borrowman affair is less important than signing a **** good stopper!!

''touching cloth'' It does not appear to be hands that are touching your kilt, Scarlet!!

I recall the waygoing of Dargo and how he was going to come back and make us regret his leaving and I hear the same sentiments for Denzil now. Well with our defence having the worst record in the SPL(forget Gretna, they don't count unless you are looking at our latest win against them!) I doubt, looking at the scoring statistics of the pair of the above mentioned forwards, any sleep will be lost by whatever players make up our defence next season, whenever St Midden comes to town!! A cause for not renewing your season ticket?? I think NOT! They are history - get over it! I think Brewster had a reality check when he changed his mind or had his mind changed for him, over the contract and I think this time next year we will appreciate the sensible course of action that was. For the record, I don't like Brewsters management style - or should that be, lack of management style.

Point Taken - Thanks!

I seem to recall that an accountants value of a player is related to:- Ability - Goes without saying His Age - Younger increasing in value - Older reducing in value Playing Position - Forwards are past it at a youger age and therefore their value reduces quicker - defenders retain their value longer. Potential Transfer Value - is related to the foregoing and the time left on their contracts Why therefore is there an apparent move to shorter contracts, for younger players, at ICT?? If this be the case, does this not reduce the net worth of the player/club?

I think only 2(3?) teams have performed above us in the last six games - or is that clutching at straws too?? Maybe it is going in the correct direction!

Best PR coming out of the club for a while! At the same time as we are trying to recruit and fighting against our geographical position and lower wage structure. 'Caring employer' is a selling factor!! Maybe the club have an insurance plan that pays/part pays on a serious injury claim and it is not the cost to the club that we assume. If not, maybe the cost to the club will be recouped by the aforementioned PR allowing a decent signing to be made due to this course of action.

I think mayde our average gate receipts will create a problem here, L_G!!

I don't think that there will be much money forthcoming from Tulloch Homes, Barrett Homes or any other Homes for the next two years or so!!

Having lived in Falkirk/Bathgate/Edinburgh and now Aberdeen, I do accept that to anyone in central Scotland, Inverness is another country!! However when they do arrive there it appears to change and indeed I have known many who would not now leave Inverness and regard it as their home. I agree that it is an Inverness trait to put the area 'down' - something I find hard to understand as coming home is still a big thing for me. The first glimpse of Sneck is worth all the miles under the wheels!! On the football front, however, I think that we are somewhere for a player to prove themselves and once this happens they will move on, as we cannot offer the income offered elsewhere. We will, of course, be able to retain some 'good' players - journeyman types - that will do a good job for us but may not shine sufficiently brightly to be the subject of transfer talks. The strength, due to the foregoing, will be team togetherness, something Brew does not appear to want and I feel that we will therefore not see the team 'punching above their weight' for sometime.

There are a number of areas to consider here. Brew as a manager - It would appear he has made a huge mess of this, both the initial situation and the current handling of it. Club - They are also to blame for allowing this situation to develop and not stepping in to resolve the problem. The above two parties are supposed to be professional and it is their positions to behave accordingly. Black - He is a footballer and does not profess to be a PR guy and therefore he is MORE entitled to speak out of turn but, I accept, there must be a limit that the manager will allow. It was however behind closed doors!! Team ICT - The weakening of the team on Saturday, due to the non-inclusion of Black, was unfair on the players and fans and indeed could alter our final position in the league with, I think, a loss of finance to the club. Solution 1 - Black will have to toe the line and apologise to get back in the team but he must be on the way away right now, either in his mind or his managers mind! Brew upset the dressing room at Dundee Utd and it was assumed, at that time, that this was because he was dealing with experienced pros and was having a hard time from them, due to his inexperience - well Black is not an experienced pro and he obviously can't handle him! Solution 2 -For the good of ICT Brew must not be allowed to create any more mayhem, at Inverness, than he has already carried out AND MUST GO!! Any talk of comparing this with Fergie is nonsense - we cannot offload a ?15million player and buy in a ?20 million one in his place! We are lucky to have a player of Black's ability in our team and we will not be able to financially afford to replace him, in my opinion. Lets use him in the first team whilst we have him.

CCATWEASEL '' Typical of Inverness folk & their narrow mindedness'' How to win friends and influence people!! This is an INVERNESS CaleyThistle site!! OR has nobody told him!!

Now lets think - Caley d's thought out presentation, Scotty's thought out presentation or Johnboy's dozen sarcastic words. I think the IQ (or lack of it) is showing through!!

It would appear that Brew has made a number of errors due to his management style. He has lost the players. How can this be reversed? Change Brew or change the team! The latter is already happening and I only hope it is not too late to salvage something from the remaining players - FOR A NEW MANAGER - as Brew will not change and has to go! We are still an SPL team and managers will come begging for the post.

If this is a pride thing with Brew, he only has to look at the other dugout on Saturday to see what infantile management can do! If we win, Aberdeen are going to lose out big time by not making the top six. The reason?? JC took the huff with his keeper in the close season and dropped him, only accepted his mistake when his team was at the bottom(ish) of the league. When he reinstated him, his keeper was now a Scottish cap prospect in his opinion!! EH!! If they do not make the top six it will be a big management mistake. BREW BE AWARE - BE VERY AWARE!!! We will not make the top six but if we are humilated by a team as crap as Aberdeen, due to mis-management, it will do none of us any favours.

Tug, it is refreshing to read your concern without all the normal malice against one person, be it Brews selection or any other person at the club. I do feel that, excluding Gretna, the teams around us are well coached and fit, an area we excelled in under Brew last time round, so we are therefore just one of the other teams who are good on their day but can be awful on other days. We do seem to rise to the challenge of bigger teams but, as fans, we dread facing the teams we should be beating. Alex has answered the Duncan situation very well and, as you say, he has to do the best for his family but it still leaves a bad feeling! I employ staff here in Aberdeen - train them and very often, due to this training, lose them to the oil industry as I can not compete with the oil incomes. Am I surprised - a bit, am I hurt at their lack of loyalty -a bit, would I do it if I were them - of course I would. Are some of them left with egg on their faces- of course, they are found out to have less ability than they thought they had and perhaps would have been better staying. Likewise ICT can not compete with some other teams on income structure but, hey... it is not the end of the world if Russell leaves! If we had 7000 through our gates every home game then our pay structure would be more flexible, I'm sure.

I am bringing up this thread again as, following my only opportunity to see him (Mondays review of Saturdays match), I am surprised that I am the only one to comment. I am sure other people, like me, have yet to see him play a match so I waited for some comments. I would rename the review, all two minutes of it, the Imrie show! He was so involved in the game(edited highlights, I accept) that it would appear Brew will have a job hanging on to him - ?50k! I bet we will get a big reward for unearthing him and giving him his chance in the big time. Time will tell, but he is looking a super prospect.

I was watching the match on TV and all the first half the match was ''dead...flat...poor Rangers team....devoid of ideas...etc'' according to the pundits and in no way was Rossco allowing Burks freedom to do anything. It was when Burke was switched that he created his runs down the right. If the other players offered the same commitment to ICT each game, that Rossco does, we would be a few points better off, in my opinion!! I am also of the opinion that if someone 'misses a sitter' if there is such a thing, it does not nulify the previous 90 mins work that went before and therefore it is still possible to be man of the match and be the one that put the ball over the bar.

My post did indeed start off with lots of praise and it was well merited!! Super, super support! That, however, perhaps makes me that wee bit more disappointed when I hear the F.. word being sung loudly, from our choir and ...No .. I did not hear it from the opposition support. No Clacher, the families did not tell me that they moved because the swear words were being shouted but, assuming you were there, you will appreciate that we all had a great view of the park and moving did not offer a better view or a warmer seat etc. - the timing of the move and the direction, was a dead giveaway. However, to finish on the same note as I started, to be part of this support is a privilege, in my opinion.

Rather like Alex's first post, I also enjoyed the support on Saturday and felt we were a lesson to most clubs on how to support your team! The noise coming from the choir and especially the ''****** home support'' directed at the Hibs fans was excellent. The black mark and yes, the mark was rather big - was the use of the F.. word in a chorus. 'Reduce the kids ticket price and have parents take their kids to the game and increase the attendance' - what a super idea - and then we can all sing the F... word to them and everyone will go home happy, and come back for the next game!! Aye Right!! The two families that moved away from the choir TOWARDS THE HIBS FANS did not indicate, to me, that they went home happy and will return next week!