gingerjaggy

Im sorry but this is turning into a witch hunt of Hughes. The majority have been against his appointment and then since then anything that he can be criticised about they have got there teeth stuck in. So what if he says that a lot of people said the same thing before last season who assumed our first finish in the top 6 was a one off. Im sure Hughes knows we are capable of better and I remember him saying he wants to take us back to the final after last years so i'm sure he does have greater ambitions.

The article is certainly uplifting after the last few suggested we may not get anyone in. He does also mention that he may look to some loans and that in his words has an iron in the fire would mean there maybe someone coming in on loan. Under butcher loanees were a waste of time as butcher never used them but Hughes maybe different and he did get Anthony Stokes in.

I think the reason for it is we usually have made a few signings by now as we have had to rebuild after losing some key players and letting some fringe players go. But in the last few seasons we haven't had to do major rebuilds and i think because we only need one or two extras we are not in the news with signing anyone while teams like county have been getting a few in but i know which situation i would rather be in. We need a striker to help take off some of the burden to Billy and maybe give him some competition to keep him hungry and maybe one more but that's it so im not worried on the signings front.

I know it isnt season ticket specific but this article is a good read about Roy Macgregor http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ross-county-chairman-roy-macgregor-3632540 Im not suggesting we implement what he has as we cant afford it but the idea of engaging with the community makes a lot of sense and i feel we are doing that

England for me

The squad is pretty good but we need back up for Billy. Midfield we have lots of choice, defence is pretty strong while we have to decent keepers. We only need 1 maybe 2 players and then we should be in good shape for next season

I don't really understand why people want to know if Butcher did this or did that during his time here because it has gone. Terry Butcher has turned this club into a top six side atm and whatever he was up to behind the scenes he did a brilliant job. Got us back up first time of asking, got the club into the top six for the first time ever, had us looking at Europe rather than a relegation battle and almost got us to a cup final. Butcher has done this club far more good than he did harm but he wasn't perfect and had flaws which many has alluded to over his time with us. I think he did love it here but with his reputation restored he was always going to leave to bigger things at sometime and yes i didn't think it would be Hibs but they are a bigger club with more resources than us and so i don't resent him for that. What i do resent him for is his immediate lack of respect for the club that gave him his redemption and the fans that loved him for taking the club on to a new level. That will always tarnish the good work he did here but does it really matter to find out more of whether he wanted out by applying for loads of jobs. It didn't change what happened in his 4 years and its not going to change anything now as he is well gone. He ruined his own image with his disrespect and that should be that we should move on and enjoy how ironic it is that everything he did and said when he moved have seen him eating those words big time. So well done Terry you may get that success Hibs were wanting by winning promotion in 2 or 3 seasons.

Technically they are but not for the premiership

have a few with Richie against raith being up there and johnny's screamer against rangers but it has to be Nick Ross v hearts in the semi final this year as the absolute jubilation was beyond normal emotion it was bedlam and i was right at the front of it

The day I fell in love with the club and what a dramatic day it turned out to be on and off the pitch. I had only been living in Caithness for 3 years and during that time me and my dad went to a few home games every season and if people think are attendances are bad now then this was horrific with say 50 people standing on the away terrace at most and maybe 1500 and no more in the home ends. That season things got better and better and I remember sitting at home with my sister and parents watching soccer Saturday and even though we were not die-hards to see Stevie Hislop's name come up on the videprinter sent our whole house wild. For the whole week i begged my dad to take us and we did but we didn't get tickets, his reasoning being that with the ground always usually empty it will be fuller but there would be tickets (have to say my dad is a fool). On the day of the match me and my sister put on our scarves that we recently bought from Hampden for the Semi Final with Dunfermiline. We left early and had MFR on the radio and i remember the two presenters were talking about the game and one asked the other "are you going to the game" and the other replied "no I couldn't get a ticket they were all sold out". We pulled in layby and i got so angry at my dad for being so naive to think that tickets would be available in the biggest game of the clubs history. We choose to carry on and there was no chance to get a ticket but we didn't miss out as all 4 of us plus maybe another 50 to 100 people all stood on the bridge side watching the game as cars tooted there horns at us. When the game ended we ran down and got into the stadium as the gates were opened and we watched as the trophy was held a loft. I wanted a season ticket but going to Aberdeen was to much to do but the very first full season back in inverness i got a season ticket and i have supported the club passionately ever since. Even though I was present much more on our return to the top flight in 09/10 (although i missed Ayr ) i will always remember that day best as the atmosphere was great and began my life as a proper Inverness Caledonian Thistle supporter

Is there any point in this thread anymore? Everyone is allowed an opinion and debate is good but it is boring seeing long posts of facts that have been used to argue each side over and over again. The biggest fact remains that if we have no money to add players to the playing squad (i think we will have enough for one or two which is all we need) then we wont have money to pay off Hughes for the rest of his contract so people can argue until they are blue in the face but he wont be sacked any time soon. As for my stance i am worried that a fluid team that played teams off the park has suddenly started spluttering like an engine on the last few few drops of fuel. The style he wants to create is good however and given pre season hopefully the players will be more responsive come the start of next season. Time needs to be given and we shall then see what happens we as supporters can only support the team and i hope for Hughes that next season this thread becomes null and void

Wasnt at the game but im very worried if Hughes has said he wont bring new faces in. We may not have a large budget and probs wont have alot to bring a lot of players in but we should get two or three surely

wasn't the worst i have ever seen but for all this talk of Hughes trying to instil neat passing football there was allot of high balls tonight. When we did have it i thought we looked dangerous but we lacked a final ball on most occasions or were not willing to shoot when the shot was on. Gary Warren was MOTM so why meekings got the sponsors is a complete joke in fact i thought he was a little to lax at the back and became sloppy. Warren was the leader we all know he is and did absolutely everything for the cause. Upfront and tonight could have been a different story Billy maybe shown a little bit more composure and bury the chances that he was taking at the start of the season. The thing i have noticed though is we dont get enough forward when attacking. The example being Tansey who hit the bar when he made a run beyond Billy to get into the box, i think we need more of that to cause teams problems. James Vincent was played in his right position tonight but he looked off the pace and lacked any real spark to be a major creator for Billy. We looked far more threatening when Christie came on but we just didnt keep it on the deck for long enough.

Obviously we want to finish as high up in the table as possible but its going to be a big ask to get the top 3 now. The only other chance after that is Dundee Utd manage to pip either one of the Dons or Motherwell into the top 3 and win the Scottish cup. Then 4th place becomes active and we would also have to overtake one of the two in 2nd and 3rd currently. Its not over and we should get behind the boys as much as we can as we have nothing to lose but it is a long shot of European qualification now.

Playing with Width doesn't necessary mean that we putting crosses in every 2 seconds. We don't have a tall imposing striker to lump balls in there i agree but even a small striker like Billy can cause problems with movement if the cross is good enough. My main point though is having width means there should in theory be more space in the middle to exploit. We have struggled to beat teams recently because the tempo is slow and being narrow makes it so much easier for teams to defend the width of the penalty area. If you try and play with more width and stretch out the pitch then it will pull defenders out and create that space on the edge of the area that wont be there if they play narrow. I will use a perfect example from a game i went to this week. I went to the United Bayern match at Old Trafford and it was obvious how we managed a draw from that game. United sat deep and defended the penalty area and Bayern with 2 of the best wingers in the world (Ribery and Robben) kept cutting inside trying to play neat one two passes and flicks in the united area to get through which they failed every time. Now had they gone wider towards the touchline then the full backs would have go out to cover and then there would have been more space in the middle to exploit. Celtic do it week in week out by pulling teams out of position to get there goals so all in all playing with some width is an advantage in my view.

It must be a good performance if Dave the rave is willing to try his luck from 30 yards and get it tipped over. Just going back to Yogi he has to make some tough decisions because Foran and Draper did not feature. Had they been fit then would he have played that team? I think one is easy as Draper can come back and Shinnie move back to left back but when Foran is fit we have to make a decision as we can't play all of them as showed in our past few games.

Watched the game on BT Sport and I was very impressed. I read Yogis post match interview on the BBC which he makes reference to the games at County and Aberdeen where we ripped them apart and won quite comfortably. Now in each occasion we played with width even though the County game was a 4-4-2 which must tell yogi that he used two different systems in our two best performances of his tenure and yet they both worked because it had width, pace and drive. I said on another thread that if a passing game is what he wants then brilliant but the Barca ticka tacka i find boring compared to the more direct and fast paced Bayern. I would rather see games like tonight where we play with width and drive into that space then try and pass pass pass in congested areas with no room to go so fair play to Yogi. I know most people are gunning for him but he isn't stupid and surely he must watch recent performances (if he dares) and then watches tonight he must surely keep this from now one. But enough of Yogi and the past month it has been done to death tonight was great. Adams has no case for penalty and the disallowed goal looked offside in both phases of the play so they dot have a leg to stand on. Tremarco was lucky even though he got the ball which may have saved him but the amount of chances we created was great to see and hopefully we play like that until the end of the season i am sure we keep ST J of our backs and maybe pinch 4th which we know may still give us a European chance.

Ive got a better idea as everyone seems confused about how we are playing and that the players are not adapting at all. Maybe members of the media team when they do these interviews with Hughes should ask him properly what he wants to do and how it will affect us. Its just a suggestion but a little bit of communication may help a little. On both Cup occasions (semi and Final) Charlie Christie was in the BBC studio and on both occasions he said what John Hughes is trying to do, the benefits will be seen. Im not asking for him to be grilled but to quell some fans fears they should just ask the question.

I know that it is a huge disappointment when we could have kept in European contention but maybe the only light at the end of the tunnel is that the players use the time plus pre season to get used to new approach and maybe we will will be much better when the new season kicks off. The other thing is we do need more options up front so i know we aint going to see a whole new team come through the door but maybe we will get one or two gems which will make next season work to how he wants the players to play. Maybe im clutching at straws and i know some of performances have not been very good but i do feel that saying that we will suddenly become a bottom 6 six side next season is a little harsh. Tiredness doesn't help but in my view is not the biggest factor in the slump as you look at Motherwell who are slightly bigger but not huge by any means still fighting for second. I hope we can end the season better and pick up a few results along the way keeping us ahead of St Johnstone. We wont get Europe which i suppose Yogi has to say we have a chance but I cant see Aberdeen, United or Motherwell dropping the points that is needed for us to catch. But more to the point I cant see us winning all our remaining games to make it possible anyway. But i hate being negative that's not me I am optimist and although we are clearly frustrated by this terrible run of results we are not losing many games by a huge margin apart from the back to back 5-0s when he played 4-4-2. However we Finish this season I will always remember it for giving me the best day out in my life as a football supporter

Tiredness maybe a factor but it cant be that much of a determining factor for such a bad slump. As for tactics it doesn't make any sense what so ever. Our ground is one of the widest in the league so why are we cutting our face off to spite our face. Clearly playing narrow at home isn't nullifying the opposition but ourselves and it looks like everyone is getting in each others way. Now some people think Barcelona and Spain play beautiful football and to start with it was but it has got boring where as the German sides combines excellent ball retention but with some direct drive as well. Now under Butcher we played like that with some pace, direct running and some brilliant passing football. But Hughes has taken that away and sadly i dont know how things will get better unless he admits defeat and abandons this way. We can still be attractive and entertaining to watch by playing with wingers so i dont understand this need to congest the middle. I have been on here a few times to try and calm people down as it is only early in his tenure but it is so exasperating that we losing so many games and hearing people may stop going when the attendances are already small.

Why are people getting so het up about next season. Who knows how we will do next season and yes under Yogi so far it has been far from perfect but that doesnt mean we will be fighting relegation next season. It seems that we have all become a little bit over the top when it comes to the exception of where the club should be, it is good to have higher expectations but we get small crowds, have one of the if not the lowest budget in the top flight and one of the smallest squads. this falling off near the end isnt new as it happened last season and this season it looks worse because we are further down although we have to factor in a resurgent Aberdeen and Dundee Utd to the equation. Yogi is making mistakes and people are perfectly in there own right to complain but we still have to give him time to see what he can do. The squad is signed up for next season but need a few more faces to help. Billy is our only trusted striker at this level so we need competition. Yes on the form he has shown it would be hard for other to get in to the team but he may be burnt out now or we need to find a way to support him better but maybe he lacks a little bit of competition as well and maybe with the tiredness he has lost that edge. I like how Yogi is trying to make us adaptable to different formations but i agree with everyone that Vincent just isnt a wide man and we need to bring him back into the middle. There is a parallel to Man Utd in the fact that Mata and Kagawa get played out wide and they want to come in and play in the number 10 role well Vincent is the same. At the cup final when Vincent was on the ball he looked more dangerous in the middle but then we look unbalanced then by losing the width on that side so for me it isnt a hard decision. It is a flat ending after promising so much but i think it was always going to be a tough ask playing all those games in such a short time scale when other teams have had a week to prepare. Hopefully we will win a few more games as we have seen some really good games like Aberdeen, County and Dundee Utd away but the consistency is not there but all in all this season has been another build on last season.

Its a comedy of errors which happened whoever you blame. Meekings does have to take some blame for failing to hit the pass harder which is an elementary mistake in such a dangerous position. Brills clearance was not very clever and the rest is history but we should not be arguing about whose fault it is but why this has become an issue. There are lots of wolves on this forum looking to get there teeth stuck in Hughes. But we must give him time because there have been flickers of what sort of team we can be under Yogi we just havent done it consistently. The passing out of defence is the best option for us with such a small striker but players must take responsibility as well as the manager if things go wrong. Hughes is trying to stamp his authority on the side but the players also have to use common sense and have a little bit of game sense. Meekings who i believe was the player also involved in the cup fiasco for United's second goal has to have some sense of danger.

Hughes is trying to get us to recycle possession and keep it but I think we need to revert to being more direct. Direct doesn't mean long ball but we need our quick players to get hold of the ball and run at there men, we need quicker passing from front to back because without it Billy Mckay does not get a lot of space do anything. We don't have many players in the team that can unlock the defence when the tempo is slow but our early season form was because we stretched teams with good passing but pace that teams couldn't cope with. Hughes is attempting the right formula as we all want to see an entertaining team on the park but i think he has to also mix in our fundamental strength which is to be physically strong. I don't want to see Meekings and Warren be passing the ball about the box i want to see them dominate attackers and get the ball forward to more creative players. In our short history we have been hard to beat because we have had strong players and we need that combined with neat passers of the ball. Maybe its worth pushing Shinnie further forward and play tremarco at the back and without making excuses i dont think the fixture pile up has helped. We have a small squad and i think it is showing which is why i agree that we should be allowing the younger players more of a chance to play and maybe add some fresh and youthful exuberance to the team. Lastly we have great options in the centre of midfield and unless he starts playing Vincent back in behind Billy before his injury then we drop one of him Draper or even Foran because we cant accommodate all 3 as one will be out of there best position and therefore will disrupt the balance of the team

screamer from polworth still time for a point

Im no longer a season ticket holder due to not being in the area but Davie is right in the clubs strategy. I got quizzed by my best mate who is a Heart fan about the Cup final attendance. I told him that the reasons for our low base is mainly due to history as we have none really to buy into as we are so young. Because the Highlands ws left isolated for so long Highland League football was maybe entertaining but most people had a big team including the Old Firm. Most supporters of the Highland league sides have embraced the unified side and seen us climb to today where we are an established Premiership team ahead of teams that have been in existence far longer. But because of that isolation lots of people didnt go and see Highland league football and wanted to support a bigger side. That is now what the club is competing with and it is very hard to change peoples allegiances but in working hard in the community to engage younger people then the club have a better chance to increase the fan base that way. In the short term however well we are doing at the moment is unlikely to see any mass rises in attendances but if the club can engage younger people then we have a chance to develop over a longer term. There are teams in worse positions than us like Kilmarnock and even St Johnstone. These clubs have been around for years but have very small crowds in large stadiums which they have to close part of just so they dont lose money.