dougal

Afraid the heat wave if that's what it was is long gone Pimple

Absolutely pissing it down in Inverness today, Black Isle show, moy game fair and belladrum all look like wash outs, sad times

Dougal

Quite like the direction the club have gone with this top, i've said before on numerous occasions that the home top should be a Caledonian strip while the away one should be a Thistle one or something that sort of looks similar to one

Wouldnt be surprised if we also see the club badge modified on next year tops what with it the club being twenty years old

Dougal

It's all very well scorning about so called glamour friendlies but it would be interesting to know how much profit County made on Saturday

Nearl 4500 there despite it being £20 a ticket so a tidy sum

I'll never understand this clubs yearly trudge around the diddy highland league grounds pre season, that's spending money not making it

County I believe are now off to Holland to play a couple of top Dutch clubs while we visit Gayfield, there's no comparison really if we are to be honest

Dougal

How embarrassing imagine being in an Inverness night club while in your thirties

I'd strip him of his captaincy immediately till he finds a more suitable establishment to drink in with folk his own age

Dougal

As long as Alex Salmond is at the helm of the SNP Scotland will remain very much part of the union

There will be no independence in my lifetime but that's not to say it will never happen

If the vote was taken tomorrow I reckon 75% No to 25% Yes

Too much braveheart watchers on this thread, Scotland is not ready for independence at this time and nor will it be in 2014

Independence at present would result in a mass exodus of some of the main businesses based in Scotland across the border or further afield i.e abroad

Dougal

Keeping up the good name of Scottish Football ??

 

Eh so what songs did you sing in the jungle back in the day then?

The septics and the orcs supporters are scum is it any wonder no one in England wants them to join the Premiership

Having said that the tartan army don't really behave that much better when it comes to over indulging on the drink, I've personally witnessed the mess that's left behind foreign cities squares once the tartan army have called

Dougal

I voted slightly concerned but to be fair I thought the same at the start of last season and look how good that turned out

My concerns are the numbers of new players that have arrived with little if any pedigree as they've plied their trade in the depths of English football

I know Terry seems to have unearthed a few gems in the last couple of years but if it was that much of an untapped Market more clubs would be going down that route would they not?

I don't really have a problem creating his very own little England but it's a gamble on his part

From what I've seen the new players seem ok but we have hardly played any opposition that's worthwhile yet (Charlton will be the tester IMO and a decent performance and a result may go a long way in shaping our start to the domestic campaign)

Dougal

The lack of Scottish players in our squad is deeply worrying and before I get accused of being a County fan yet again I include County's squad as well

Ok it maybe reflects the state of Scottish football but ourselves and County should be concentrating on signing home grown players primarily with the odd Jonny foreigner thrown in and not the other way about

Dougal

Ok it looks tragic but the issue isn't really the colours it's the portacabin/open skip or whatever it is

To have that in front of the main stand shouts lack of professionalism if I'm being honest

Our club shop should be an integral part of the stadium and should be situated inside the stand itself or in the town centre

Dougal

It is merely becos he knows that the Merger reality differs significantly from his memories and writings.

Well said Ender, Bannerman should really stop posting now as he is becoming a complete laughing stock

His hatred for Caledonian Fc is quite clear probably because in them days he had to pay to get in and that's why he went to Telford St on very few occasions over the decades

Anyway the similarities with this guy in the following link are uncanny

http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=%2F#/watch?v=yfAeMtcURg0

COMICAL CHARLIE

Dougal

It's quite simple Caledonian Fc had outgrown the Highland League, crowds were dwindling because by the late eighties there was no achievement in winning the title as it meant absolutely nothing

Had their been a proper pyramid system in the Scottish game Caley would have left Thistle a long way behind years ago, jags fans don't like hearing this but deep down they know had they not been taken over by Caley they would no longer be here in name at all

Jags fans to me are a very very strange breed, ICT are widely called Caley by 99% of Invernessians and also by the local and national media

The predominantly blue strip, The Caledonian Stadium etc etc I could go on but I don't really want to rub further salt in the wounds

Caledonian had the biggest support in the Highland League a lot larger than Ross County yet County have always had the better average attendances than ICT while they were in the same leagues

The merger has severly stunted crowds in Inverness no matter what the Jim Leishman worshippers like to spin as their story

I've said it before it will take a generation or two to pass before ICT will recover from the damage done twenty years ago

Dougal

Either he failed a medical or he was not the kind of persona the manager wanted. Did he cup his ear when they told him to get on his bike?

From what I heard today albeit still rumours is that he's possibly on his way to the Orcs

If my source is correct he will be offered a contract from Ibronx this coming week

Seems an awful waste of talent to me to suddenly drop down to the bowels of Scottish football but they will no doubt treble or quadruple his wages

Dougal

An enjoyable afternoon I travelled through to Dingwall on the train had a nice bar meal in the Mallard and a few pints before and after the game so not long back in the door

I know the result wasn't really that important but I thought it was fairly competitive and there were certainly some good players on show from both sets of fans

ICT just lacked that bit of quality up front, it looked like at times we were playing with only one up front (number 15), what a mare he had but in his defence it's not easy playing that role in the modern game

Dougal

Considering the populations of Perth and Inverness both clubs supports are an absolute disgrace

The fact that both stadiums are miles out from the centre of town is not a coincidence either but I think the problems run a lot deeper than just that

I know I'll get my usual slating for this but I find County's support quite remarkable considering they had less of a following than the three Inverness clubs back in the day

Whatever they have done they have recruited excellently and I don't think I would have been the only one to see the amount of cars etc returning to Inverness on Sunday evening with those of a County persuasion

It's certainly worth looking into the County set up to see if we could benefit

Dougal

As well as looking at lower league players from England maybe we should be looking at what County are doing and taking in European players on trial

Looking at the players County signed in January there is definitely a market there

Quite short sighted if we only look at players that ply their trade in the British isles

Dougal

Interesting comments from some people elsewhere online saying how they'd heard that the ICT board didn't want Europe due to it being too expensive.  Seems a bit far-fetched to me.

 

Also, has anyone else seen Tade's comments?  What an utter prat of a man.

Can't see a trip to Albania being much of a money spinner somehow can you?

Chances are the round we would have entered would have paired us with some obscure diddy club from obscure corner of Europe

I'm not saying for one moment the ICT board did not want Europe but there's a fair chance that the club could have come out of it with a financial loss

I'd personally rather enter Europe when we are in a much better position financially

Dougal

Let's be brutally honest here St Johnstone have the better team, stadium and set up in Perth than we do at present, a European trip would be nice but I personally don't think we were ready for it

A step too far but that's not saying we can't improve on the park and improve facilities at the Caledonian Stadium in the very near future to make that step

It will be very interesting to see who the Saints draw but I'd hazard a guess they will get a right good hiding home and away and we will all be grateful we missed out this year

Dougal

We sadly never competed and were second to every ball, ok there were injuries but it's like Butcher set out for a draw thinking that his Orc mate at Motherwell would do him a favour but it backfired badly

Wrong tactics in my opinion we should have taken the game to County, they strolled it and they really should have won by two or three goals

Dougal

You've got to love the absolute mess that is Ian Vigurs. He didn't even score the goal on Sunday and the first thing he did was to run to our fans with a wee GIUY celebration. I've no problem with players who score after getting pelters doing it but it's a bit sad that his first reaction was to do that instead of celebrating with the guy who actually scored.

 

I guess it shows just how much of a seething mess he is.

No what's sad was the vile and sickening songs that were sung for his benefit albeit by the moronic minority I may add

Think Vigurs was well entitled to give it to us back considering the abuse he was receiving

Not that it well ever happen now sadly, but I would love to see Vigurs back at ICT he has developed into a top player and his close control and touch is top notch

A huge mistake by Butcher showing him the door in the first place

Can see him getting plenty of offers this summer from north and south of the border and he will be a loss to Highland football when he moves on but a player of his quality deserves a bigger stage

Dougal

Ok the result was disappointing but what I really found galling was the scorer of their winning goal

The same lad if I'm not mistaken that wasn't good enough for us yet he's gone on to be one of the best young talents in the country

There's something far wrong when a lad with such talent is only given a short run out at Clach before being told NO

Maybe a review on the way we offer trials or the period of time lengthened needs addressing

Dougal

BUTCHER OUT!!!!!

Grow up little boy!!!!

Unlike a fair few that could be mentioned on CTO I've never posted wanting Butcher sacked

I'm not blaming Butcher at all for the failure to give Mackay Steven a contract, I'm blaming the short sightedness of the ICT board

Dougal

How about "Temporary North Stand" don't think there's any point bigging it up into something it's not

Dougal

Very strange time for this sort of article to be released in the press is it not?

Someones going to look a little bit silly next Sunday should it go all wrong and European football is not achieved

Sounds like a grovelling apology to me albeit twenty years too late, and one I personally won't be accepting

Dougal

I read this as an article celebrating 20 years since inception. 20 years since a few people had the foresight to realise that an Inverness team could do what many other teams have failed to do even though they've been established for a hell of a lot longer. What I cant see is any reason why anyone would need to apologise for success.

Precisely right Alex. There had been previous half baked suggestions about mergers for decades, but - apart from the 1973 vote when Thistle unsuccessfully went it alone - there was never an opportunity to put one into practice. May 1993 provided just that opportunity.

I was going to say it's a pity that there are just a few people like Doogie who remain in denial and cannot acknowledge the reality that what happened between 1993 and 1996 has been a roaring and still developing success, which of course makes it stick in the throat of those who did their utmost to prevent it from happening and keep Inverness football in the dark ages.

 

I am also now wondering if Dougal is really a staunch pro-mergerite having a long term laugh by posing as some kind of caricature Caley rebel and posting the stuff he does. I'm not really convinced that anyone could sustain the posting of such demonstrable rubbish and actually mean it.

Oh the irony Bannerman, you accuse me of posting rubbish yet you wrote a book full of complete and utter rubbish

If it's such a roaring success then why are we the worst supported club in the SPL?

Maybe you can explain to me why County have always had a higher average attendance than us when we've both being in the same division?

Can you also explain why there are so many Invernessians that have turned their back on the local side to travel 14 miles north for their football?

This season has been the most successful in the clubs history yet the attendances are getting worse, id hate to think what we would be getting through the turnstiles if we were in the bottom six at the moment

The merger has happened and I agree there is no turning back but I will never sit back and accept things that were done wrongly and pretend things are all rosey in the garden while reading drivel posted by numpties like yourself

Dougal

If we are lucky enough to get over the line next week you can be sure Dougal will see the negative side of it.

Nah qualifying for Europe would be a progressive step for the club and I would see that as a positive to be honest

As ive stated on another thread my only worries would be getting a bad humping by a club from Ireland or some other diddy country which could do more damage than good for the long season ahead when expectations are now higher than they ever were before due to this seasons success

It all depends on the draw, realistically we are looking at only one tie, I can't see many travelling to some hovel in Albania or Kazackstan can you?

Dougal

Very strange time for this sort of article to be released in the press is it not?

Someones going to look a little bit silly next Sunday should it go all wrong and European football is not achieved

Sounds like a grovelling apology to me albeit twenty years too late, and one I personally won't be accepting

Dougal

Well those of you who followed Caley or Thistle in the heady pre-merger days - would you ever have dared to dream that you would - one day - be standing in the away end at Dingwall, on the last day of the season, in the top division of Scottish football, with the prospect of European competion football the reward ?

 

I suppose my only regret is that it is'nt Borough Briggs !!

Yes you would never have thought about this scenario while waving your tricolour furiously in the Jungle

Dougal