DoofersDad

What adds a bit of spice this year is that we don’t know when the season will end. There might still be 5, 3 or even only 1 game to go. Difficult to time your late run when you don’t know where the finishing line is!

Vincent will always be remembered for his cup winning goal, but apart from that never really set the heather on fire. He was, however, quietly effective and I am surprised he hasn’t done a bit better since he left us. I’d rather Chalmers wasn’t going, but if he is, I’d be happy to see Vincent return.

Great result last night. This makes us clear favourites to go through but we must be wary about complacency. Ayr only need to score first and it gets nervy from our perspective. There can be no better example of how to turn around a tie than Liverpool’s stunning performance last night. I am sure Robbo will ensure we don’t let that happen to us. Hopefully there will be a good crowd on Saturday to witness a great game.

HT. 0-1 FT. 1-1 ICT. white Opp. Shankland Crowd. 2166

The bit that has been cut and pasted above is a bit ambiguous. The bit for season ticket renewals does not specifically state that this is an early bird price nor does it state that the price offer ends on May 25th. One might read it as implying that existing season ticket holders could renew at that price after the 25th. However, the article posted on the website and the communications sent to existing season ticket holders makes it clear that this is an early bird price. Non early bird prices have not yet been announced. This will be because we don't know which division we will be playing in next season and the price will be higher if we are promoted. If that is the case, then the early bird prices for current season ticket renewals will almost certainly be more than 10% below the price of a non-renewal, non early bird (standard) season ticket. Whether the non early bird price for renewals would be more than 10% below the price of a standard season ticket we don't know, but we must assume for now that they will be if we are promoted.

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Yup. Too many armchair fans in Inverness.

The increase is very small and I would think the games with County would account for the difference. If both they and Dundee Utd go up and Falkirk go down, that would result in the loss of a not insignificant proportion of the number of visiting supporters. It would make it very, very difficult to retain gate receipts at the same level next season.

Funny that the 3 seasons with our lowest crowds in the Premiership were the 3 seasons Yogi was here! But to be fair to Yogi, the main reason for the drop off in crowds will undoubtedly be due to the absence of certain big teams from the top flight. Not just the absence of The Rangers but Hibs and Hearts too. What would be far more meaningful in understanding how local support has changed over the years would be details of the numbers coming through the home turnstiles. These figures will also be influenced by who the opposition is but not by anything like as much as the total crowd figures will be. Unfortunately the club don't release these figures

That's a terrific bit of news. Ridgers has done really well this season and having someone reliable between the posts helps to build confidence through the team. Let's hope this news helps encourage others to renew and extend contracts too.

I think you're right. I seem to remember having got mine just before the early bird deadline and I got mine on the 29th of May.

I noticed this game was on earlier this afternoon but unfortunately too late to go along. There was a note posted on the ICT website yesterday saying that a win would secure the U18 Performance Tier League title for the lads. So, seeing as they won the game, they must have won the title so huge congratulations to the youngsters and to the coaching staff for what is undoubtedly a very impressive performance. It's just a shame I didn't know about this earlier or else I would have gone along. Let's hope the club is doing all it can to ensure those deemed good enough to get contracts with the first team squad are signed up on deals beyond a single year and with sell on clauses. Having achieved what they have, some of them will undoubtedly be subject of interest from bigger clubs than us.

Agree. Donaldson has been excellent for us and demonstrates qualities that should see him develop into a very solid Premiership player. At his age, his transfer value should be more than Draper's was and one trusts there will be a significant sell on clause. Chalmers is also progressing well but I can't see him as someone who would strengthen County in their Premiership campaign. As usual, it looks as though our inability to pay players the kind of wages which would tempt them to stay will mean we lose several of our better players at the end of the season. Fortunately we have a manager who has demonstrated real talent for bringing in players with the potential to develop. Whether we get through the play-offs or not, those skills are going to be badly needed again during the summer break.

QOS play Partick next week and so it is impossible for both of them to overtake Dunfermline. As Falkirk also can’t overtake them, Dunfermline are now safe.

Maybe not available yet but only available until the day before the 2nd leg of the play off final. Don’t think that is a coincidence somehow!

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Some battle to avoid the drop though! With just 2 games to go, Dunfermline who are in the top half of the table could still finish bottom. And it was only on Saturday that their promotion hopes ended.

Again I think some of the comments on here are a bit on the harsh side. This was always going to be a tough game. Utd needed to get something out of the game to secure 2nd spot and a place on the playoff semi-final, and they were obviously really up for the game. We had a significantly weakened side missing Ridgers, Tremarco, Donaldson and Welsh from our defence, plus it looked as though Doran was carrying an injury and he duly got subbed on the hour mark. I thought that we did pretty well. For the most part we showed some real desire although Chalmers was not at his best today. I thought Cammy Mackay did well in goal. I don't think he could have done much with either goal but generally he looked pretty assured and his kicking and distribution was good. McCart was excellent and my MOTM whilst McHattie looked pretty solid at left back. Generally we kept possession well and worked hard to get the ball back when Utd had possession. As often this season, we tended to be a bit slow getting forward but nevertheless we created a lot of chances. We had 15 attempts on goal which was more than any other team in the division this weekend apart from Partick. What we lacked was that bit of composure at both ends when it really mattered. For their first we failed to pick up Safranko although to be fair to the lad, it was a very well taken goal. And we just stood around appealing for handball for the second rather than playing to the whistle. We then took Doran, Walsh and Polworth off and played the last 25 minutes of the game with only 4 of our preferred starting 11 on the pitch. We ended with just 3 after Brad Mackay got sent off for slipping on the wet grass. (or did I miss something?) Austin will want to forget today, but both McDonald and McCauley were excellent when they came on. So all in all, I thought there was quite a lot to be positive about. Despite the loss we have confirmed a play off place with two games to go. That is an improvement on last season and given the financial position of the club, that is an achievement for which Robbo and the players deserve great credit. We now have the opportunity to rest any players who are carrying slight niggles and ensure they are fit for what could be a strenuous play-off campaign. Hopefully this will be an opportunity to see a little more of our home grown talent which is so important to the future of this club.

If asked for my top 5 I think I would have picked 4 of the 5 the club have listed but I don't understand the rationale for limiting it to 5. For a start, who is it in the club who decides who the 5 nominees are? It can't do a great deal for players like Jordan feeling appreciated by the club if they are not included in the list. Secondly, surely the whole point of a fans vote is that it is the fans who decide. With an open vote, I am sure both Jordan and Liam would get more votes than 1 or 2 on the list (although not mine as it happens!) How can the players know the level of support they have if the fans are not allowed to vote for them?

I would let Austin go. He has scored 2 or 3 very nice goals with some composed finishes but that is the exception rather than the rule. He has had a lot of game time and in general he has failed to impress. He gets himself into decent positions and has had some decent service but all to often he doesn''t seem to be committed enough or have enough belief in his own abilities and ends up turning a half chance into a no chance. His strike rate is not bad but he doesn't offer a lot else apart from the occasional goal. He's better in the air than Jordan White but Jordan has other attributes which put him well ahead of Nathan in my book. At 25, I 'm not sure he's really going to get much better. Kevin McHattie is also 25 but shows a good bit more maturity than Nathan. He's had less game time than Austin but done well when called upon. He had a pretty decent game today as part of a makeshift defence. He was obviously highly regarded as a youngster with Scottish Caps at both under 17 and 21 levels. His career has been dogged by injury, but if he can remain largely injury free then I feel he could be a real asset to us both at Championship and Premier division level. Carl will be 34 later this year and sadly will be approaching the end of his career soon. If he can be retained, it would not surprise me if he had established himself as first choice left back by this time next year.

Great work down the left with McDonald firing a shot in which went just wide. Austin had got himself into a good position but the shot was a good option. Had McDonald seen Austin and tried to play the ball to him I think it may well have been intercepted so the shot was a fair enough option. Had Austin been a bit more aware I think he could have got onto the back post and tapped the misplaced shot in. It was one of those agonising ones where had it been a better shot it would have gone in but had he pushed it a bit wider it might have fallen to Austin. Anyway, Austin was totally out of order at the way he had a go at young McDonald. It was a shame some supporters started booing Austin though. Whatever they do on the park they need our encouragement and this is an issue I am sure Robbo will deal with appropriately behind the scenes. As for the Brad Mackay sending off, I may be wrong, but my impression was that having evaded one player he simply slipped and fell onto his knees which the referee interpreted as a dive. Whether he was given a 2nd yellow card for simulation or for dissent at a foul being given for simulation I don't know, but it certainly looked like a genuine slip to me. Interesting that Brad gave away a penalty the other day for holding in the box. Today White was was held in the box with the defender's arms right around him with the referee less that 2 yards away. Nothing given. I don't know what it is with Jordan but it is as though the SFA have give a diktat that he can be held, pushed, elbowed as much as a defender wants and a foul will not be given.

Fair point. Equally one might question why our leading goal scorer is not on the list either!

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Aaron’s under contract till the end of next season so a transfer fee would be involved. I doubt Hamilton could afford £500,000!

With Polworth off, I agree we would need to secure Chalmers for another season but even more so Sean Welsh if his contract does not already extend beyond this season.