DoofersDad

concrete

Bughtmaster has nailed it. Personally I think these clips are generally pretty meaningless. Most of us on this site will have played football at some time in our lives and I am sure most of us have stand out memories of goals we scored, tackles we made, inch perfect through balls we played which if filmed and shown together would make us seem like the next Lionel Messi. Truth is that whilst a poor player may be able to do something special once in blue moon, quality players display those skills on a regular basis. I am sure that the lad has genuine potential (just like our other signings of obscure players from down south) but if he was as good as some seem to be expecting then he would have been obviously a class above players in the league he was playing in and an obvious target for richer clubs than us. The recent history of our club suggests that of the new signings, some will do very well, some will be OK and some will simply not live up to the promise seen in them. If they come good, then great - let's rejoice in that. But if they don't, let's not knock the club for signing rubbish players or knock the players for not meeting our expectations. Let's give them support and encouragement when they are here

The youngters on the forum want to learn who we are signing for next season, what the new away strip will look like and whether or not smoke bombs at derby matches are a wise idea. Then no doubt they will read the threads that talk about those things. My advice for folk who are sick and tired of the merger debate is not to look at threads about the merger.

B - A secret agent in the pay of a rival SPL club with a mission to attempt to sew discontent among ICT fans Well, Charles, there's an interesting concept - sewing discontent rather than sowing discontent! Does this mean that where discontent exists it is an attempt to mend it and to bring or merge the two sides together? Or is it just another good old journalistic typo?

posh

He's a lot better than bang average. Flood has won a player of the year award with Utd and if the fans are now saying they are not bothered then that just reflects the typical reaction to fans when good players leave. Of course they are bothered. Flood played very well against us and it could be that had he not been in the Utd side for our last home game, the result would have been different and we would be looking forward to Europe with OTJ still in the squad. As for OTJ, I am sorry to see him go. He was more effective than many gave him credit for. He certainly looked as though the work rate was not as good as some but he read the game well and generally his distribution was good. I did, however always feel he should have delivered more in an attacking sense, particularly with his poweful shot which seemed to come from very little backlift and which therefore could catch keepers off guard. He's a bit like Shane - seemed to promise a good bit more than he delivered. We just have to hope that neither delivers on the promise at our expense.

I've got a cousin whose best mate's nephew's girlfriend knows a girl at her work who's Mum is a friend of the mother of the girl who does Terry Buthcher's wife's hair - and I can assure you there's nothing to worry about - Billy's staying.

With the problems getting across the bridge in the evening these days, we could do with a ferry here.

Jeffers must be one of the best bits of business Everton ever did. Sold for £8million to Arsenal in 2001 at the age of 20, Jeffers has, in the 12 years since, scored fewer goals than our own Billy MacKay scored this season. He must be a prime example of what the margins are between success and failure. It is quite a sad story really. In his early days at Everton he showed huge promise, including 13 goals in 16 games for the England U21 side but he has been useless since then. He clearly has the raw talent, but whether it is a consequence of his injuries or a psychological thing, he has never been able to find the scoring freedom of his youth. I don't see the comparisson with Kevin Phillips. Phillips has been a class act throughout his career and has scored wherever he's been. He has a far superior record than Jeffers. It may be that as Jeffers heads towards the end of his career, he gets back into the frame of mind to simply enjoy his football and not think too much about it. If he lets his inate skill come to the fore he may start knocking a few in again. I wouldn't put my money on it though and I very much doubt that the club will either.

Brilliant news. I think he has been one our most important players this season. Sure, his final ball is often not the best but that will improve. What is so impressive about Doran is his ability to make himself available and to get involved with the play. He may not be as exciting to watch as Jonny Hayes on song but he gets far more involved and contributes far more to the team than Hayes ever did. I also think Doran has been a key factor in the more obvious success of MacKay and A Shinnie this season. I would have been delighted with a further one year contract but a 3 year contract is just fantastic news. It could be just about the best bit of business the club has ever done.

It didn't seem to do much harm this season did it? Yes it did. 5 draws and 2 defeats in the first 7 games is the sort of form that makes challenging for a European spot very challenging indeed. It is remarkable we did as well as we did this year after that start but we shouldn't think we will go on a superb run like that in the coming season. We need a much more solid start if we are going to be competitive next season. You can get some understanding of new team mates against lesser opposition but to my mind it is important to get 2 or 3 tough matches against quality opposition to get into the right mindset of what is expected and to test out the new found relationships under a bit more pressure.

Sometimes what Butcher says is best taken with a pinch of salt. I think we should call him Tequila Terry.

I understand where you are coming from but this thread is titled "The Inquest". That implies that despite this being our best season ever, it could, and perhaps, should have been better still. It is therefore reasonable to express views as to why that might be and whether there are implications for next season. If you don't want to contribute constructively to that kind of debate then you should have given this thread a miss rather than have a pop at those that do. I've looked to the light and thoroughly enjoyed it - but what a miserable life if you don't aspire to better still.

Of course it's not a blessing. I fully accept his point that we are not geared up for Europe as a club but that spectacularly misses the point . None of us would be expecting success in Europe - it would just be nice to be there for one round even if we did get gubbed by some team from Moldova I've never heard of. Apart from an early pre-season there would be no gearing up neccessary. All the club would need to do is turn up on the day and enjoy the experience. For ever after the club and all the supporters could say we've been in Europe.

I think Kingsmills in post 19 and Yngwie in post 21 have hit the nail on the head. Of course we should all be delighted that we have ended as high as fourth, reached a semi final, scored loads of goals and had players called up for international duty but if we are going to build on what has been acheived we have to look beyond that general picture and look a bit more at the detail. It has been a season not so much of 2 halves, but of three phases. We started playing a more attractive style but not getting results. In the first 7 games we only got 5 points and failed to win a single game. We then went on a terrific run both in the league and the cups, success which led to Terry being courted by Barnsley. There was joy unreserved when he turned Barnsley down and the response was to thump Aberdeen. During that great run we took a massive 32 points from just 15 league games. Then reality set in. Since then we have lost both cup matches and have got just 17 points from 16 matches. In that time, we have only won 4 games and all of those by a single goal margin. We did not just "bottle" it today or last week, we have missed out on a European place because of a marked loss of form over a prolonged period. The reality is that since the turn of the year when Terry announced he was staying, our record has been very mediocre at best, In fact, during that period our form has been that of a team struggling to avoid relegation. If we want to have any hope next season of emulating or even surpassing the overall success of this season, we need to face the reality of what our recent record has been and try to understand the reasons for it. My own view, for what it is worth, is that having the manager heading down to Barnsley for talks really knocked the confidence out of the players. I argued at the time that he had won nothing yet, but if the season produced as much as it promised then he would suddenly be a far more marketable commodity. By making it clear that he wanted a move away sooner rather than later, he gave the message to the players that he did not have the belief in them that they would achieve. Once the euphoria of his "I'm staying " announcement was out of the way, the reality set in and all of a sudden, the players lost their belief and stopped playing with the kind of confidence they had been before. We need to be clear that if we pick up next season from where we have left off this season, we will not be 4th next season - we will be relegation candidates. That sounds depressing I know, but the positives of the situation are that we have a lot of our better players already signed up for next season and the brilliant period up to the defeat by St Mirren proves that the team is capable of winning whilst playing great attacking football. Because of the overall success of this season there will be an expectation that we are top 6 next season. But we will not achieve that unless we can get that spark of confidence reinstalled at the beginning of the season so that we can get off to winning ways from the outset. Yes, it has been our best season ever overall and it is right to celebrate that, but there is some serious thinking to be done behind the scenes if we are to match or better it next season.

Bit of a stange day and rather mixed emotions. I am not as down as last week and I suppose, at the end of the day, that means a place in Europe would have been the icing on the cake but finishing above County was what really mattered to me. OK. I know, that's a pretty negative attidude - but I'm a fan of my team and the bragging rights over the local rivals are the number one priority. I was baffled by the team selection. It was a real blow to lose OTJ to injury on top of Foran and Draper to suspension and I was astonished that in the circumstances neither Ross or Sutherland started. County were always going to close us down quickly and Pepper in particular really struggled. I have been feeling a bit sorry for him as he made some promising contributions as a sub early in the season but has hardly had a look in since. To then throw him in the deep end in such a high pressure match without the support of the more experienced players was a big ask and I'm afraid he was not up to it today. For me, the match was set up for Sutherland. Because of the size and state of the pitch and County's pressing game, often the only option was the old hoof up the park which gave poor Billy no chance again. We needed Sutherland's bigger physical prescence up front. He was, as usual, played wide when he came on but neverthesless, we certainly looked a bit more of a threat when he belatedly came on. Also, it looked as though G Shinnie had been told to stay back - surely it would have been better to have him in midfield with Taylor dropping to left back. But credit to County. They were far the better side on the day and they will feel they deserved to win by a bigger margin. Biggest plus point today (not that there were many) was the crowd. A really good atmosphere and just great to see so many stay for so long and make so much noise after the game. It was a great send off for the team and competely overshadowed the appreciation the County players got (and make no mistake, they have had a superb season). I left the ground some 15 to 20 minutes after the final whistle and could still hear the Inverness supporters in the ground as I crossed the Railway Bridge. Well done, lads, brilliant stuff!

Really sorry to see Shane go. I think he's a great player in the making but it just hasn't quite clicked for him. He has been consistently played out of position and never been given a decent run in the team. If he goes down a division or two I think he will score a hatful of goals and then have the confidence to succeed at SPL level. Never quite developed the composure here to take the chances here when they came his way. He'll not be forgotton - there's plenty of dents in the back of the North Stand to act as permanent reminders of his time here.

Coming so soon after Fergie's resignation! Can we now expect City to announce the appointment of a manager with a proven track record?

I think it's fair to say we've exceeded expectations.

Fair do's. Motherwell have been good this season. Let's hope McCall and his team win something on Sunday as well.

I think you'll find the word "scum" fits in better with the rhythm of the tune. But should a song not be about what is good about Doran and not one that has a pop at our rivals? How about Aaron, Hair on his chest, He may be small, but Doran's the best!

Is that the same players who chose not to acknowledge the support before going up the tunnel. I'm surprised there has not been more comment on this. Maybe it was because there were so few of us left in the ground to witness it but frankly I was astonished at how many people left. OK, so we lost a match we should have won but the players gave it their all and after the game we were still in 3rd place with just one game to go! It was the last home game for some of the guys who are leaving and who have contributed so much to the club and it is reasonable to think that the vast majority would stay behind to acknowledge that. When Utd's 2nd goal went in there was a mass exodus - it was as though we needed a win to avoid relegation and the goal was the final nail in the coffin. Just unbelievable. Is it any wonder the players left the field in such a dejected manner. Football is a game of tiny margins and had one little thing gone our way and we had ended up winning rather than losing then it would no doubt have been joy unreserved and not a soul would have left. That would have been great, but whether we won or lost, in the grand scale of things it makes little difference to what has been achieved this season. If some players were wondering whether or not to sign new contracts I guess Saturday's mass exodus will have made their minds up for them. I can only hope that after the low of Saturday and the disrespect shown to them by at least 90% of the crowd, the players will be able to pick themselves up and demonstrate the same level of commitment on Sunday. And win, lose or draw and regardless of what happens in Perth, I really hope that the fans all stay behind on Sunday and acknowledge the team for what has been a magnificent achievement in attaining the best league position ever by a Highland team. Clinching a European place would be the icing on the cake but not clinching it will not represent failure. The players and officials have done a great job this year, now it is time for the supporters to stand up and be counted and show the team and the club some real support and loyalty.

If they're not good enough for a team languishing in the bottom half of the table, what on earth makes anyone think they're good enough for the team that's 3rd?

But the site is all the better for his contributions.

He'd have shown a bit more respect for us if he'd missed. Seriously though, I also noted his muted celebration - it was almost an apologetic acknowledgment of scoring. That doesn't fit with showing respect as a former player if he's only played for a week as a trialist. It may be that he turned down an offer from us and in truth, it probably was not a particularly attractive offer. These lads need to make a living - he may have had a better offer from Utd but maybe his heart is in the Highlands and he'd like to see us do well.