bdu98196

Unlike the message from public enemy - they do believe the hype. We seem to suffer from managers having some success or taking the club forward with plaudits from media and peers then they seem to go off the rails and become ego maniacs. Rather than continue their initial philosophy and humility which brought success they become so hungry for more they end up destroying what they built or inherited to promote themselves further.

The Tokely and Munro situation was similar yet different, both were stalwarts and club legends who had given so much, but both were past their best and fading fast - it was never going to be an easy decision or time to move them on but had to be done. Raven however is still performing at the highest level and has consistently done so since arriving with probably another 2 years left at least.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36100893 Interesting approach that St J are increasing their player budget due to the arrival of a newly promoted club, seeing them as potential rivals. Given all the discussions of how qualification for Europe losses money for Scottish clubs, then to spend more to try maintain position seems odd. As a team similar in fan base and level to us, is this the right approach and will others do the same to keep up and try avoid the relegation battle? We saw before that clubs spending money they don't have such as Hearts, Rangers and Dundee - this may not be to the same level yet but to increase expenditure based on promotion of one club seems speculative at best. If others follow this, then ICT will find recruitment and retention even harder, personally I'd rather see our club maintain the philosophy of spending what we have and living within our means even if we end up with a weakened squad and potentially relegation battles - so long as we have a team that tries, plays the best they can and we see signs of development for the future, this has to be better than speculative spending and the potential issues that inevitably come with this?

All we hear from yogi is how hard it is to sign players and how low our budget is, lets hope this isnt a sign of all we can afford. I still expect yogi signings of vigurs, wedderburn, horner, mutumbo maybe even hughes and fisher to stay - none have been consitently high performers and might see staying as the best option for them. Whether thats best for the club to develop or maintain the status quo im not sure or excited about it.

Celtic will opt for Lambert or Lennon as both are out of work 'cheap' options, there will be stories of Rodgers, Monk, Moyes but its likely all 3 will be after jobs like Villa and will see opportunities for high profile championship or lower premiership clubs as a bigger draw than a fleeting European adventure followed by travelling to provincial Scottish grounds. Yogi - not a hope in hell of a job the profile of Celtic. If Hibs don't go up Stubbs might be out anyway but not sure Yogi would be high on that radar either. Sadly for Yogi I don't see many upwards steps available in Scottish football only sideways or backwards.

I would expect to start seeing more of Horner playing, JH seems to be keen to oust some of our key players over the last few seasons in favour of those he is bringing in whether better quality or not - similar to his match tactics he is becoming more stubborn in his approach at the club. Very disappointed to see DR leave, but really comes as no surprise - he has been a great player at RB and really made the position his own - I will be even more gutted if he goes to another SPFL club which I'd say looks probable. He will forever be remembered for running into the box and scoring the winning goal to get us to the Scottish cup final.

That makes no sense. The commentator is to remain impartial and unbiased, yet tailor their language to only praise the team doing well and not comment negatively on the opponent as this may affect future crowds? So to recap - they have to remain positive at all times even if one team is bobbins (hence lying) to try and emphasise the entertainment part as it may get fan numbers up - although this is not his role for any club as he is impartial so will have to mention all 42 senior clubs during every commentary?

Its unlikely, given that Yogi has a 2 years left on his contract, he hasn't had an awful season for the board to want to sack him and even if they did can we afford the compensation. That means he has to walk away and given the lack of other jobs out there he would be a fool to walk out of a regular job for 2 years, so unlikely as is another club coming in for him. The end of this season is a little flat, probably because we are mid table with nothing to really fight for, we are bottom 6 which isn't where we hoped to be, but fortunately far enough ahead that relegation is almost improbable. I think we all looked at the cup draw when we saw that if we beat hibs at home in the replay we could face a struggling DUtd side, that failed to materialise and I think for many we look at the high of last year and see this as a huge chance lost to get back to Hampden and given the semi opponents probably consecutive finals. Had the results been different I think the mood all round would be much more positive.

100% agree and in most business there is always a deadline and take it or leave it date. However the criticism of the board on here does not indicate that ICT taking a hard stance would go down well with a lot of fans, many believing that the club don't do enough as it is. If it became known as a club we were 'letting' key players leave without continually offering deals and discussions up until expiry of contract many would cite that the board just aren't trying and they both they and the manager should go etc.

"I’m keen to sort out my future as soon as possible and get it out of the way. It doesn’t play on my mind as it’s out of my hands. People who speak for me just need to sit down and sort it out," he said. That is exactly everything that's wrong with modern football, I'm all for some protection to ensure the players are not ripped off, exploited and remunerated fairly, but they should be involved or leading the discussions with the agent as a 3rd party IMO, not the primary party. Here we have a player keen to stay but that hinges on T&C's being sorted out by agents and club representatives, which if an agent its beneficial to drag this out as long as possible in order to keep the door open for counter offers. So perhaps all the fan criticism directed at the club and board is not all fair as their is a significantly influential additional party which has a different agenda to the club and player in many cases. Lets hope this gets resolved soon.

Which makes the one and only appearance when he started against Hibs in he cup even more bizarre, he hasn't featured even for a few mins as a sub since yet played 90 mins that night?

Who picks the days and times, only one 3pm Sat fixture out of 5?

Not sure what the point being made is? These are 2 players St J developed and sold. One went to the 2nd biggest club in Scotland with the 2nd biggest budget although in a lower league, much like Ryan Christie going to the biggest, the other went to an English Championship side like A.Shinnie, B.McKay (who we got a transfer fee for), Watkins did from us. Stevie Mays wages are so high that nobody in the SPFL could afford to take him back on loan last year. Players leave St J, ICT, D Utd and the others every season, but any club is lucky if 1 out of 10 commands a transfer fee - yes, it would be great if we sold Ryan for a higher fee and got money for the Shinnie's, Ross etc, but then how many other clubs all say the same about their talent. Buying clubs can look at what's on offer and if for example Adam Rooney is valued by Aberdeen at £1M, but Billy McKay is only £100k then they may see better value, prospect and opportunity with the cheaper deal - a club like ICT have to avoid pricing themselves out of the market when selling a player and ending up with them leaving for nothing - afterall if the player wants away they just run down the contract, nobody can force them to sign if they don't want, just the same as during the contract we cant sell them unless someone wants to buy them. Maybe this needs to be put into perspective - SPFL players (like ours) can leave for the English lower leagues where the clubs down there can afford the gamble of salaries many times our first team players for a reserve or prospect. Put really simply we have 29p so can buy a tin of Lidl beans in the hope they taste good, of we are lucky we may get some Tesco beans reduced on an offer, but we will never be able to afford Heinz and certainly not high end Harrods (unless out of date and past their best) - unless of course we decide to do without bread - only giving half a meal?

Preferred option Fon Williams Raven(Horner) Warren Meekings D.Williams Draper Tansey Roberts Polly Mutumbo Storey What I expect, given Hughes has frozen out Roberts and D.Williams it seems, possibly Raven too even if fit Fon Williams Meekings Warren Devine Tremarco Draper Tansey Polly Mutumbo Vigurs Storey

Agreed we need him back and put Meekings back to the CB position, however sadly I think Yogi may argue now that with it so close to end of season and Raven clearly not in his plans, he may want to continue with the defence as is giving more time in preparation for next year. Odds are we may never see Raven in an ICT shirt again, except for some kind of cameo prior to season end as a farewell - but I really hope that I'm very wrong on this as he is better than both Meekings and Horner at RB.

Without having any figures, I'd expect Hamilton to have the lowest budget in the league as they have the lowest average attendances and really struggle to get fans through the gate even more so than we do, then ICT followed by Partick/Kilmarnock and St J. One thing that might be more interesting is to define performance based on budget and we will probably find that over the last 5 years ST J come out on top as a team that consistently over-achieve based on investment and salaries.

Realism, is what we need now - we were lucky to have built up a great team on a small budget with the gamble of signing unproven players working and everything aligned and clicked with limited injuries, bits of luck like Meekings handball and our fans pulling down the Celtic players in the cup final, even the season before to come back and beat Hearts in the LC semi against the odds. Like many other smaller clubs who do well, we may look back and think - what if we'd kept that team together how far would they have gone, I bet hibs say the same about their early 2000's team before the OF picked off all the talent, or DUtd now they are staring relegation in the face compared to 18 months ago. As said we are a mid to lower SPFL team, where top league survival is the aim each season, but foremost we want to be entertained. If the team looses that should be accepted providing they show desire, work-rate, fight and at least try to entertain the fans - unfortunately this season there have been spells lacking in some of these areas. We now need to make the transition to Yogi's team, let him bring in who he can or wants and let those who want to move on do so. But it has to be remembered that we can only attract those who are in our budget and want to come to Inverness. Biggest disappointment this season is meekly loosing to Hibs in the SC QF, a team with poor form who cant pick up a win recently yet beating us on our own patch, this season ICT should have been back at hampden and with the draw we could have been looking at a final place. Sadly these occasions cannot be taken for granted, much like our SPFL status or the calibre of players at our club. Bigger, more well supported, higher budget and some may argue better clubs than us have been relegated recently and will be in the future, therefore we are not immune and its probably inevitable that unless our crowds grow and therefore budgets we will eventually stagnate or start to fall back with relegation at some point.

Andy Robertson moved to DUtd at 18 where a development fee was paid, where do you suggest ICT get that money from? We can't afford transfer fees, not even development. Additionally for every Robertson there is an Aiden connelly who moved in the same deal, where is he now, unable to make a struggling DUtd team - investments like this are a gamble and for and club with our limited finances not very viable.

There could be, but there are 2 factors a) We are no longer in the 3rd or 4th tier of Scottish football so the step up to SPFL from part time is huge. We were lucky that guys like Munro, Tokely, McBain, Christie managed to take us through the levels to SPL, however during that time we signed players of a level at the league we were in and players moved on. We are finding players who are full time in leagues down south struggle and its a higher level, just because someone is from locally and feels affinity doesn't mean they will be good. b) Some player like Rory MacAllister and others are part time and want to be, they may have good qualifications and a well paid job with a supplementary part time football wage on top - this may actually amount to more than our wage budget can stretch for a full time (entry level pro) - many don't want the gamble of dropping salary in the hope they 'may' make it. If we want local players, we have to take youngsters and give them a proper grounding and development where they can get into the first team - which was done with Christie and Polly, sadly guys like Ferguson & Sutherland haven't developed to that level yet. Basically if we were picking up good enough youth players then they would be in the team, but how many SPFL teams are churning out lots of high quality young home grown local talent - its sporadic at best throughout.

I'm not overly impressed with how our form has dipper, our style of play recently and some of JH comments in the press, however I'm not one to call for someone to loose their job. Regarding RF, other than an appearance in the cup game V hibs where oddly he got 90mins yet seems to be on the bench again and never near even a sub appearance - is it wrong to wonder if there is an underlying story about his fitness? As for RF taking over as manager what has he done over the layoff period to demonstrate coaching skills, is he a leader and does he have the attributes to be a successful coach - I don't know the guy so cant comment, however I can say that during match days Esson appears much more proactive in talking with the management and players than RF - perhaps we should be asking if Esson might be a better option for stepping up in the coaching team (although keepers rarely make it as anything other than keeper coaches). My feeling is that an RF appointment would be a short one and when I look around the club for suitable players to move into management (again without knowing them as people) I would suggest that Warren comes across as a determined, driven, motivated leader on the park with that bit of intelligence that could make him a success. However Yogi has a contract and unless either another club comes in to 'sign' him, he decides to walk away (why would he) then he will see that contract out as ICT are not in the financial position to pay off him and his backroom team - therefore making this thread pointless and redundant for another 2 seasons.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35979886 The man is an arse, he has no place at the top in the game in this country - lauding how great the return is and will be of such benefit, yet no acknowledgement of his error on 'armageddon' or praise for how the entertainment and fans have increased over the 4 years. Talking up the OF game in the cup next wknd and how the smaller clubs that have had the 'pleasure' of the Rangers 'fans' visiting should be grateful - no mention of the numerous sectarian crowd behaviour issues and general vile that's continued to follow them around. Rather than citing this as a return, Doncaster should be using this as an opportunity to define it as a new dawn - laying down the rules regarding sectarianism, bigotry and what is acceptable behaviour for both the OF, making it clear that extreme sanctions are in place with a no nonsense approach, instead its welcome back and as you are. Putting all political, financial and footballing indiscretions of the club aside as if in awe of them. If the return is so great we should be looking at bumper TV deals, new ways to promote the SPFL product and innovations to increase attendance, instead we have crap long terms TV deals and the product inevitably will suffer as fans get bored of the duopoly and politics that follow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35974305 I'm sure those at the top in the Scottish game will be happy, but already next season is starting to loose its appeal - obviously we are struggling, but I expect that for the next 4 months this is all that the media will write about. All the bigotry, bile and sectarianism will be forgotten as we are all supposed to rejoice at Armageddon ending - sadly I doubt most fans outwith the 2 ugly clubs will agree. I do find it interesting though, that a club humped last year so convincingly in the play-offs by an average Motherwell now have a test against Celtic in the cup, almost as if to let them gauge where they sit in terms of squad quality and preparation - a cynic would think its almost fixed? The re-birth of the SPFL was fun while it lasted, while some would say this is the resurrection of Scottish football, I think its more likely the death of much of the positivity and 'fun' over the last few years.

In many of these games they were away from home - we sit in and teams attack us then which allows us to break and in many cases take the lead. Unfortunately we then fail to capitalise when the opposition open up to come back at us and often find that after sustained periods of pressure we fall to the inevitable and conceede. The real issue is our inability to score 2 goals or more to kill off a game - as they say 1-0 is a fragile lead. While defensivly we make mistakes a big part of the problem is lack of goals and goalscorers to relieve that pressure.

Brill Raven Meekings Warren D.Williams Draper Tansey Doran Vincent Roberts Storey Bench - Fon Williams, Devine, Tremarco, Polworth, Mutumbo, Ferguson, Fisher Consier missing players from that line up are Esson, Foran, Wedderburn, Hughes, R.Williams, Horner, Sutherland

Midweek rescheduling a midweek reschedule of an original wknd fixture is an opportunity lost. As per my earlier post, should have put it on Sat 16th as both teams are out of the cup and hopefully would have drawn a decent size crowd with a reasonable kick off time. Chance for common sense missed again. Disappointing but not surprising.