rinomac

It has to be against Dundee, with our home crowd. I can't wait to see the look on Brian Kerr's face :D

I would hope, that if we were to go up to the SPL, that he would stay with us over St Johnstone. However, I do think he will move on to a bigger club at some point in the future, although whether it is this summer or not, we will just have to wait and see.

Aye, very mature from Adams. It was Malpas that went to get the ball. Anyway, I thought Rooney put in some shift tonight, and Cox played very well in the middle of the park. Foran and HAyes did well first half, then the second half was a bit of a let down after three goals in the first 45. I was praying towards the end that the floodlights wouldn't pack in! I will be looking forward to the after match comments from Adams and Butcher in the papers....

0-0 was a good result for us - especially with how we played in the first half, according to the radio. All the other games went our way as well, with the exception of Dunfermline. True, it would have been good to get 3 points, but since we have lost to County twice this season in the league and Dundee lost today, I will take the draw. County have Hibs and Dundee before we play them again so maybe they will be tired after 2 big games and we can take advantage in the next derby.

From the day the fixtures were released I thought this would be the case. Before the start of the season, I would have taken that. Dunfermline have been steadily picking up points although I wonder if they have left it just too late, as they are 6 points behind Dundee, 2 behind us, having played a game more than both of us. The game against County is massive for us, and if we can take it to the last day against Dundee, I would hope that we would have learnt our lesson by then from all the draws in the league and the Alba Cup defeat that if we lead against them, we have to keep it/build on it! If it did come down to the last day, and we were 4-0 up, I still don't think I would feel safe after all our capitulations....

Excellent stuff! Dundee play Airdrie this weekend, and I'm pretty sure their record against them this year is not very good.....

Foran - and I agree with what Caley Stan said. Although I wasn't at the Morton game, I heard we missed him a fair bit. Others come pretty close though - Esson has saved us a few times this season, and Hayes has been good as well.

Well with Dundee not playing at the weekend, I hope we can win and pile the pressure on them. They would then have a game in hand but the psychological advantage for us if we can close the gap would be huge. Dundee have not been particularly outstanding at any point in the season and although there is pressure on us to go up, I think they will be feeling the heat more than us after all the money they have spent. I hope they do a Clyde and their bottle completely crashes. Again.

I would take this! Sounds like a plan. I think Rooney has been playing brilliantly this season and after Foran saying he was going to get 20 goals it's good that we have another forward who has been getting them. He puts himself about and plays the lone striker role really well. Griffiths who?

Yep. I think this could be our chance to start reeling in Dundee, like we did to Clyde.

I think his best performances come when we are away from home, probably because we play our counter-attacking football and the games are more open, giving him more space to pick out the killer passes and play people in. At home, he is maybe not as effective due to other teams sometimes coming to TCS to sit in and defend. As said, his decision-making at times can leave a little to be desired, but he is definitely the most creative player we have at the moment.

penalty - rooney 3-3 A point at least i suppose

Yes, I'm liking the new formation and can't wait for this game. It's almost like the Pele days: score more than they do. I will go for ICT 3-1 RC.

Looking forward to having the chance to win some silverware, for the first time in years. What date is the final on?

Yes, but as you say, we need to start competing. I think this Sunday could be the turning point in our season. A win against the tinks, a win at home for a change and getting to the final of the ALBA cup would set us up nicely for the QoS game.

Well if that's what they are using as rules, and try to be consistent with them, then I don't think there will be anyone left in the stadium at half time! :)

I think ICT will probably be no more than a 'yo-yo' club, like Falkirk for example, spending a few years in the First Division, maybe earning a few years in the SPL, before being relegated again. This year, I think our board have gambled on trying to get back to the SPL, and if we are not in the top 3 or 4 at Christmas, we can forget about it this year. That could then have a knock-on effect in the next few years where we would have to cut costs and consolidate in Division 1. As for getting rid of Butcher and Malpas now, we don't have the money for a start, and what would really be the point when their deals expire at the end of this season. Leave it until the end of the season, and see what they have done and where ICT are. The whole of Scottish football in general are having financial problems. It really is about time that our game had a makeover, from top to bottom, with ONE governing body. Then have two tiers of 16 or 18. In ten years time...I reckon it all depends on what happens this year and next. If we somehow manage to get promoted, then the gamble will have paid off. If not, then we will probably have to reduce wages, playing squad etc. and we would be a First Division team for some while.

Against Dundee, we came flying out, only for them to score first against the run of play. I think it was in the cup game against Partick that we scored inside the first 10-15 minutes or so? At home, I think the players are more nervous as we don't play in our counter attacking style that we use away from home, where we pick up more points, and this makes us slower to get going in home games. If we could start games better we would definitely be picking up more points, especially at home. An early goal would give the team so much more confidence and we may then play better football, instead of hoofing it all the time when we run out of ideas!

:D That's some effort!

I definitely think that being a 'newish team' leads to having a smaller percentage than others. The merger caused problems for our support, unlike Livingston, and most people from Inverness and the surrounding area had a 'big' team, like the OF or Aberdeen. As our club progresses over the next 10 years or so, I would expect to see our attendances gradually rise (if we are still doing relatively well). I am 19 and people from my generation and younger will have grown up hearing about ICT in the city. My dad took me to my first game when I was 5 and since then I've always supported ICT and they have always been my 'first' team. If kids are taken to ICT games by a parent or whoever, they may be less inclined to support the OF and we could see our percentage increase. Not too sure about the Hearts and Hibs %. The population of Edinburgh changes throughout the year with events like the festival and even students moving in again in September so maybe that affected that one?

That's what I was saying with Mikoliunas. They need to be consistent or it is never going to work banning one high profile player every so often, or one from a high profile game.

And how to you work that one out? Have you been to our games?

Does this not make UEFA look reeeeally stupid? They gave the guy a 2 match ban for blatant cheating, then as soon as Arsenal appeal, oh yes, sorry we were wrong! If they want to stamp out diving then they have to start banning these guys, and make an example of them. And it has to be consistan. It's not going to work if they ban Mikoliunas and then a year or so later, ban Eduardo. All Football Associations should be clamping down on the cheats in the game. If Aiden McGeady was sent off the other week for a second yellow for simulation, then why isn't he being banned? What really gets me is how UEFA banned him for diving and then the appeal comes through and after another look, he suddenly didn't dive. Unbelievable. Just goes to show that it's not only the SFA who get things wrong.

Aye Burley has only had 8 games in charge and there is no way a club manager would only be given that amount of time. If we were to get rid of a manager after every failed qualification campaign we would eventually run out of managers. We just have to face it, that we aren't very good!

There weren't really any other candidates for the job who would have done any better with the players at their disposal, if Burley had been given the boot. I don't think that the next campaign will be hit by everything we had to deal with this time - like the immature numpties Ferguson and McGregor, Boyd and McCulloch, and that idiot, George Peat. He should resign and take most of the SFA with him for our game to stand any sort of a chance of progressing in the next few years.