Caley Mad In Berks

Darren will have done his chances no harm by taking lowly Brechin into the championship by beating Alloa in a penalty shoot out. I watched the last few minutes of normal time plus all of extra time and penalties on Alba. Very enjoyable, and either of these teams, on current form, would be a handful for us in the Championship. Get darren Dods back to the Longman I say.

Nor, if indeed these two young players were indeed 'bad apples', would a stronger manager have let them get away with it. So it sounds like a pretty pathetic excuse for his own incompetence.

I'd be very surprised if the likes of Draper and Fisher are still with us in the Championship. Some of the 'old stagers' like Warren, Esson, Raven may stick around for another season, as, to be honest, their Premiership days are probably behind them now. It is rebuild time for ICT, starting immediately, I sincerely hope, with a new manager.

I'm sure there are several small shareholders who would only be too willing for you to buy their shares right now!!!!

Doug Imrie scored one of Hamilton's goals in their 4-0 win over Dundee, which saw us relegated today (20 May)

I'm afraid so. The damage, of course, was done weeks/months ago. I just hope the mini revival over the last couple of weeks doesn't give the powers that be the excuse to stick with Richie for another season. I feel sure we will struggle , even in the Championship, with him at the helm.

I can foresee Nick, with Dundee down to 9 men, scoring an injury time equaliser, to send Hamilton down, as we will pump Motherwell. Groundhog day or what?

Tonight (17 May), Graeme Shinnie and Ryan Christie got Aberdeen's goals in a 2-1 win at Ibrox, and Rory McAllister scored for Peterhead in a 2-1 loss to Forfar.

Wow, am I dreaming this? And still the fat lady won't sing ......

.........and the fat lady still refuses to sing! Let's hope she has laryngitis for the next couple of weeks too.

Whilst many of us would have wanted Foran to leave weeks or even months ago, I think your last few words about Foran are totally uncalled for and not worthy of a member of this forum. Also, is it just me or do any others feel that writing a rant like that with no correct punctuation is at best laziness, or at worst , an indication of illiteracy?

Rory McAllister scored twice for Peterhead this afternoon (13 May) in their 3-0 SL1 play off game v Montrose.

I wonder what odds I'd get on a bet that ICT will avoid relegation? Must be approaching 100-1, what with us having to take 6 points from two games, Hamilton to take no more than 1, and then a play off tie to win over two legs as well. Maybe I'll just keep my money in my pocket!

Johnny Hayes scored Aberdeen's goal and Stuart Armstrong got one of Celtic's three in tonight's (12 May) match at Pittodrie.

Scorers this afternoon (7 May) were :- Adam Rooney in Aberdeen's 2-1 win at Hearts , and Sam Winnall for Sheffield Wednesday in a 2-1 home defeat by Fulham.

6 May 2017 SL1 R McAllister (Peterhead 3 - Alloa 2) EL2 J Roberts (Crawley T 2 - Mansfield 2) Hungary T Kink (Mezokovesd 1 - Honved 5)

That's a bit better. Could have had a barrowload of goals in first half. Hope it doesn't get down to GD. Obviously we're still favourites for the drop, but, the fat lady has not yet sung.... It could still come down to a grand stand finale v Motherwell. But first we need at least 4 points before we play them, and then it could be interesting Hope springs eternal...

4 May 2017 And again! In another early kick off this morning Ryan Williams scored the winner for Ottawa Fury v Edmonton in the Canadian Championship.

In a game starting at midnight (can you believe?), Canadian time, Ryan Williams scored his first goal of the new season today, for Ottawa Fury in a 2-2 draw with Charleston. Also, I have just noticed that Alex MacDonald left Oxford United at the end of January for Mansfield Town in EL2. So far he has scored once for his new club.

The sad and frustrating thing is that many of us saw this coming and have been calling for him to be replaced for months. Here are a couple of quotes of my own taken from posts on 28 January and 1 February ...... 1 "He doesn't look the part, sound the part, or act the part of someone who knows what they are doing. I fear the worst, and can only hope that I am wrong." 2 "Give another management team the chance to rebuild , get the squad sorted out, and get them playing with some passion. I fear saving us from the drop would now need a miracle, and the new management primary role should be aimed at preparing us for Championship football." If we humble fans could see the problem back then, or even before then, I find it beyond belief that those running the club could choose to ignore the issue until it is too late to save us. Are they just naive, pig-headed or incompetent? Whatever the answer, we fans deserve better.

Only scorers today (Sat 29 Apr) were both for Brora in their 3-1 North of Scotland Cup win at Nairn :- Andrew Grieg got two and Zander Sutherland the other one. Also, I missed a hat trick on Thurs night (27 Apr) by Ibra Sekajja for Dulwich Hamlet in the Ryman league. How we could have done with him this past month. He has scored 8 goals for DH in April alone!

What a shambles. I couldn't watch the game live as I had a commitment I couldn't get out of, so I recorded it. Just watched first half with my whisky glass covering my eyes for a lot of it. Gave up then and flicked to BBC to see the full time score. Not surprised that it got even worse.. Nothing more to add. Feel sure that with this manager, no matter how much the squad might be improved, we will struggle again in the championship. I said months ago that we should bin Ritchie, get new blood in and prepare for lower league football. Even more important now that a new man is appointed quickly to give him some time in the summer to try and get some organisation and dicsipline into a new squad. Thanks anyway ICT for giving me a few years of top flight football, and of course, the brilliant cup win, and even a taste of European football, none of which I could even of dreamt of, when growing up in Inverness after second World War, and watching Caley play at Telford Street for a tanner (2.5pence in todays money) ,in the glory days of the early 50s. Hopefully, I'll still make it up north occasionally for the odd game to meet up with old friends, especially if we manage a decent cup run from time to time.

I got back from holiday last Saturday and saw the post split fixture list for the first time (having had little or no internet whilst away). I was gutted to see that our first match is against County tomorrow, knowing that I have a long term commitment tomorrow night and won't even be able to catch the match live on TV. My only hope is to record it and hope that no kind sole gives me any match updates whilst the game is on. My phone will be off I assure you! As to the match itself, I can't ever remember feeling so apprehensive in the pre match build up to any other important match in our history. Nothing has happened this season either on the park, or in particular from a management point of view that gives me any optimism whatsoever that we can get a result. I suspect many of us feel the same if the noticeable absence of pre match posts on this forum is anything to go by. I can only hope I'm wrong and that we can produce a few miracles over the next 5 games. Good luck to the team anyway. I'm sure for me, and I hope for most of us, that ICT is 'in our blood' and that we will support them loyaly whether in the dizzy heights near the top of the Premier league or even down in the lower leagues.

I didn't credit Hayes with the 3rd goal as BBC have it down as an og.

Jason Oswell voted Newtown AFC's player of the season (2016/17) by their supporters.